654 



BOYDELL-BOYLE. 



Hamilton, and his lady at Kinncil ; it being then the 

 fashion for pious persons of quality in Scotland to 

 retain one clergyman at least, as a member of their- 

 household. In 1623, he was appointed minister of 

 the large district in the suburbs of Glasgow, styled 

 the Barony parish, for which the crypts beneath the 

 cathedral church then served as a place of worship. 

 In Uiis charge he continued all the remainder of his 

 lil'r. In the years 1(334-35 and -45, he filled the office 

 of rector of the university of Glasgow; an office 

 which appears from its constituency to have then 

 been very honourable. In 1629, he published his 

 principal prose work, " The Last Batten of the Soule 

 in Death : whereby are shown tin- diverse skirmishes 

 that are between the soule of man on his death-bed, 

 and the enemies of our salvation, carefully digested 

 for tiie comfort of the Sicke." This was reprinted at 

 Glasgow in 1831, with a life of the author, by Mr 

 Neil. Besides this, he published various other works, 

 chiefly devotional, and left a large quantity of MS. 

 writings, which are preserved in the Glasgow college 

 library. Among the latter, is one entitled, " Zion's 

 Flowers," which consists of poems on select subjects 

 of Scripture history. This work is popularly called 

 " Zachary Boyd's Bible," and many absurd stories 

 are told of its contents. But although it abounds in 

 homely and ludicrous passages, it is not without a 

 fine strain of devotional feeling, and it owes much of 

 its character to the spirit of the age in which it was 

 written. Mr Boyd died in 1653 or 1654, leaving a 

 large legacy to the Glasgow college, in honour 

 of which a bust of his figure dignifies the court gate- 

 way. 



BOY DELL, John, an English engraver, but more 

 distinguished as an encourager of the fine arts, than 

 on account of his own productions. He was born in 

 Staffordshire in 1719, and was intended for his lather's 

 occupation, which was that of a land surveyor. Ac- 

 cident having thrown in his way " Baddeley's Views 

 of different Country Seats," he conceived so strong 

 an inclination for engraving, that he determined to 

 adopt it as a profession ; and, accordingly, when 

 above twenty, he bound himself apprentice for seven 

 years to Toms, a London engraver. In 1745, he 

 published six small landscapes, and afterwards exe- 

 cuted as many more views of places in and near 

 London as formed a volume, which he published by 

 subscription. With the profits of this work he com- 

 menced trade as a printseller, and by his liberality to 

 artists in general, established a high reputation as a 

 patron of ingenious men. Woollet was employed by 

 him to engrave the celebrated pictures of " Niobe " 

 and " Phaeton," and he furnished other eminent artists 

 with occupation, and was thus enabled to carry on 

 an extensive foreign trade in English prints, which 

 tended greatly to his own emolument and to the credit 

 and advantage of his native country. Having at 

 length established what may be termed an English 

 school of engraving, he next turned his attention to 

 the improvement ot the art of painting. With that 

 view, he engaged the first artists in the kingdom to 

 furnish the collection of pictures forming the well- 

 known " Shakspeare Gallery." The wars arising out 

 of the French rev olution having obstructed his con- 

 tinental trade, he was induced, in 1804. to solicit an 

 act of parliament to permit him to dispose of his gal- 

 lery and paintings by lottery. This he obtained, and 

 lived long enough to see every ticket disposed of, 

 but died before the lottery was drawn, on the 12th 

 of December, 1804, of inflammation of the lungs, 

 occasioned by standing in a damp room. Mr Boy- 

 dell was an alderman of the city of London, and, in 

 1790, held the office of lord mayor. He was suc- 

 ceeded in business by his nephew Josiah Boydell, 

 M ho also practised the art of engraving. He too 



was a member of the court of aldermen, but resigned 

 nis gown some time before his decease, which nap- 

 l-.-iiril in 1818. 



BOYLE, Richard, earl of Cork, a statesman of note 

 in the seventeenth century. He was descended from 

 a Herefordshire family, but was a native of Canter- 

 bury. After studying at Cambridge, he removed to 

 the Middle Temple, which he left to become clerk 

 to Sir Richard Manwood, chief baron of the ex- 

 chequer. In 1588, he went to Dublin with strong 

 recommendations to persons in power, whose patron- 

 age he obtained. In 1595, he married a lady of 

 fortune, whose death, a few years after, left him the 

 possessor of property to the amount of 500 a-year. 

 The state of Ireland at that time having rendered 

 land very cheap, he took advantage of the circum- 

 stance to make some considerable purchases, among 

 which was the estate of Sir Walter Raleigh, consist- 

 ing of 12,000 acres in the counties ot Cork and 

 Waterford, which he obtained on easy terms, lie 

 was then appointed clerk of the council under Sir 

 George Carew, the president of Munster, whom he 

 accompanied in various expeditions against the Irish 

 insurgents, in opposition to the English government. 

 On these, and other occasions, he distinguishtd him- 

 self by his talents and activity, and rapidly augment- 

 ed his political power and influence. King James I. 

 appointed him privy-counsellor for Munster, and 

 afterwards for the kingdom of Ireland; in 1616, he 

 was made a peer of that realm by the title of baron 

 Boyle of Youghall, and in 1620 he was created 

 viscount Dungarvan and earl of Cork. He was now 

 in the height of his prosperity, living in his castle of 

 Lismore in a style of grandeur more resembling that 

 of a sovereign prince than of a private individual. In 

 1629, he was made one of the lords justices of Ire- 

 land, and in 1631, lord treasurer of that kingdom. 

 Like most of the English riders of the sister island, 

 he seems to have employed his power rather for the 

 subjugation than the advantage of the native Irish. 

 He built and fortified towns and castles, and intro- 

 duced among the people arts and manufactures ; but 

 he put in force the severe laws of queen Elizabeth 

 against the Catholics, and transported multitudes of 

 the ancient inhabitants from the fertile province of 

 Leinster to the bogs and deserts of Kerry, supplying 

 their place with English colonists. Such measures 

 might be consistent enough with the views and prin- 

 ciples of a military despot like Cromwell, who, on 

 surveying the improvements of the estates of this 

 nobleman, is said to have declared " That if there 

 had been an earl of Cork in every province, it would 

 have been impossible for the Irish to have raised a 

 rebellion." But few persons would now be found to 

 bow to the ipse diait of the conqueror of Ireland, or 

 to doubt for a moment that the cruel and illiberal 

 policy of lord Cork and other mistaken, but perhaps 

 well-meaning statesmen, really contributed to cau*e 

 those popular commotions which desolated Ireland in 

 the latter years of his life. In 1641, the earl went 

 to England as a witness against lord Strafford, then 

 under impeachment; having quarrelled with that 

 nobleman during his vice-royalty. Soon after his 

 return home, the insurrection of the Irish broke out; 

 on which event he displayed his accustomed activity, 

 enlisting his tenantry under the command of his sons, 

 and taking other measures for the defence of the 

 country. But he lived only to see the commencement 

 of the calamities of his adopted country, dying in 

 September, 1643, aged seventy- six. Lord Cork is 

 principally memorable as the founder of a family, 

 several individuals of which have highly, distinguish- 

 ed themselves .as cultivators of literature, science, and 

 the arts ; yet it should not be forgotten that he 

 attained a high degree of contemporary fame, and 



