A G R 



CTS, and members of the imiverfitiea : but Erafmus, in 

 fpcakiiig of this work, fays, " that on every occaiion he 

 laflios vice and commends virtue ; but there are pcrfons who 

 can bear nothing but praife." On tliis occufion, the em- 

 pcior, probably inlligated by Iiis fifter, whom the monks 

 had prejudiced agalnil Agrippa, withdrew his penCon, and 

 fuffertd him to be imprifuncd for debt at Brufiels, in 1531. 

 After the death of Margaret, Agrippa was releafcd from 

 prifou ; but he pubhilied another treatife at Antwerp, 

 " on Occult Philofophy," which revived the animofity of 

 liis enemies. The defign of this work was to explain, on 

 the principles of the emarative fyilem, the harmony of 

 the elementary, celeftial, i«id iutellcftual worlds. But the 

 clergy difcovered or fulpeftcd error and herefy ; and fuc- 

 ceeded in delaying the publication of a third edition. But 

 in 1533 it was publiflied at Cologne; and another edition 

 appeared in 1542, which is the moll complete, and the 

 moil fcarce. This publication was accompanied with an 

 " Apology forhimielf to the Senate of Cologne," which 

 excited violent reientment, and obhgcd him to withdraw 

 to Bonn; where he is faid to have divorced liis third wife, 

 ■wliom he had roanied after the death of his fecond in 

 1529, by whom he had live fons. The peculiarity of his 

 temper, and the uarrownefs of his cireumilances, impelled 

 him once more to try his fortune in France ; and accordingly 

 he returned to I^yons in the year 1535. Here his recep- 

 tion was veiy different fronr what he expefted : lie was im- 

 prifoned on account of feme fatirical papers which he had 

 publilhcd againll the mother of Francis I. Having ob- 

 tained a releafe, he retired to Grenoble in the fame year, 

 1535, and there he died, either in the hofpital of the city, 

 ©r in the houfe of a friend. 



As Agrippa was an adept in chemillr)', and profcfTed to 

 be an aftrologer, he was reputed to be a magician, and lup- 

 pofed to be accompanied by a genius, or devil, in the fliape 

 of a black dog. That he was not polfeffed of the grand 

 art of alchymy is plain, from the poor circumftances in 

 which he lived and died. He podeffed wonderful talents 

 for acquiring the knowledge of languages, and a verfatihty 

 of genius, which enabled hmi to adiune and exercife a 

 variety of profeflions. He was a foldier and a philofopher ; 

 a municipal officer and a leiSlurer ; a lawyer and a phylician ; 

 an aftrologer and a divine. Nevcrthelefs, he was always 

 cmbarraffed and diftreffed ; and though one flattering prof- 

 peft after another prefented itfelf, he could not fo avail 

 himfelf of them as to procure a permanent competence. 

 Such was the liberality of his mind, and the extent of liis 

 knowledge, that he might have been eminently ufeful in 

 inftruAing and reforming the age in which he lived, if he 

 had not been fickle and felfilh. Whilil he applauded Ln- 

 ther, he continued in the communion of the church of 

 Rome, and obtained the commendation of the pope for his 

 fidelity. " If he had any decided principles, they were 

 thofe of that myftical fyftem of philofophy, which finds a 

 fublime and fpiritual meaning in all the operations of nature, 

 and leads the foid, (according to iiis own language, in his 

 Epiftles) to a myfterious intercourfe, and an eifential and 

 immediate vmion with God. The moll valuable fervice 

 v.-hieh he performed to fociety was that of chaflifing the 

 fcillies of ignorance and the vices of pricilcraft, in his fati- 

 rical writings, which entitle him, in the fcale of letters, to 

 a place, though of inferior dillin6lion, with Erafmus. In 

 fine, Agrippa, though an extraordinarv', and on the whole 

 a fplendid charafter, was rather a dazzling meteor than a 

 Heady and ufeful himinarj-." 



His principal writings, befides thofe we have mentioned, 

 ■an J fcveral other pieces., were, *' A Dillertaliou vn Original 



A G R 



Sin," defigntd to prove that the fall of our fiHl parents 

 was the confequcnce of unchaile love : " A Deelanialion 

 on the excellence of Women," written to gratify Margaret 

 of Auflria : " A Comnicntai-y on iho Art of Raymond 

 Lully," which is as unintelligible and ridiculous as the origi- 

 nal. A mutilated edition of liis works was printed at 

 Lyons, in Svo, in 1586. They were publifhed in French at 

 Paris, in 1726. His " Vanity of tlie Sciences" was 

 printed in 4to, at Antwerp, in 1530, 1532, 1539; and the 

 fall edition has a head of the author. It was printed at 

 Paris, in 8vo. in 153 1 ; and has been traudated into Italian 

 and French. Gen. l)iil. 



Aci'ippA, fumamed Castor, flouriflied under the Em- 

 peror Adrian, about the year 132. Eufebius (Eccl. 1 lift, 

 lib. iv. c. 7. p. 120. Ed. Valef.) reprefents him as an ex- 

 cellent writer, who had ably confuted the enors of B.ifili- 

 des ; but his works are loil, and no confidcrable fragment 

 of tiiem remains. 



Agrippa I., Hero:), was the fon of Ariftobulus, by- 

 Berenice, the daughter of Herod the Great. He was 

 brought up at Rome, with Drufus, the fon of Tiberius ; 

 but having been reduced to penury by his liberality and 

 piofufion, he was under a neeeflity, upon the death of 

 Unifus, of retiring to Judsa, where he immured himfelf in 

 acallleof Idumea, and determined tikllarve himfelf to death. 

 His wife, Cyprus, the daughter of Phafael, and the grand- 

 daughter of Herod the Great, diverted his purpofe, by 

 procuring for him fome prefent relief. He alfo obtained 

 temporary alfillance from Herod, the hulband of Herodias, 

 who made him a magiftrate of Tiberias ; but afterwards 

 upbraiding him at a banquet with his kindnefs, Agrippa 

 was offended, and withdrew to Flaccus, governor of Syria, 

 and afterwards to Rome. Here he attached himfflf to 

 Caius Cxfar ; and having incenfed Tiberius, by fome cx- 

 preffions that fignified a wi(h for his death, and which were 

 reported to the emperor, he was thrown into prifon and 

 loaded with chains. Upon the death of Tiberius, and the 

 acceffion of Caius Caligula, he was imm.ediately releafed 

 and diftinguiflied by tokens of favour. The new emperor 

 arrayed him in purple ; exchanged his iron chain for one of 

 gold of the fame v\'cight ; put a diadem on his head, con- 

 ferred on him the title of king, and granted him the tctrar- 

 chy of his late uncle Phihp, and that of Abyleue, in Syria, 

 which had formerly belonged to Lyfanias, A.D. 37. After 

 continuing a year at Rome, he obtained leave to vifit his 

 new dominions ; and embarking at Puteoli, he failed over to 

 Alexandria, where his magnificent entr)' provoked the in- 

 habitants, and expofed him to infult and indignitv. The 

 condufl of Flaccus, the Roman governor, who rcfnfcd him 

 the redrefs which he demanded, and who was a violent pcr- 

 fecutor of the Jews in this city, was reported by Agiippa 

 to the emperor ; and by him he was ordered to be recalled, 

 ftripped of his wealth, and baniflicd into an ifland of the 

 Archipelago, where, at length, he was put to death. 

 Herod Antipas, who had, on a former occaiion, treated 

 Agrippa with contempt, beheld his elevation witii jealoufy 

 and envy ; and accompanied by his wife, Agrippa"s fifler, 

 he took a journey to Rome, in order to obtain fimiiar ho- 

 nours ; but Agrippa, in the mean while, aceufed Herod to 

 the emperor, as having been concerned in the coiifpiracy of 

 Seianus, and thus procured his difgraec and banilhmer.t 

 to Lvons, in France. Caius conferred the treafures of 

 Herod, and alfo the tetrarchy which he had poflelTed 

 43 years, on Agrippa. A circunillance, however, oc- 

 curred at this time, A. D. 39, which was a very fevere tell 

 of Caligula's attachment to Agrippa. The emperor had 

 ordered his ftatue to be cri.cle<l and worfliipped in the fanc- 

 •5 1 -' tuary 



