BAR 



PontamouTon, founaed by the duke of Lorrai;! ; he was 

 aLfo appoiiiteJ by this duke counfcilor of {Ute, and ma.'ter 

 of requd'u. In i58f, he manied a ladv of Lorrain, by 

 whom lie had a fon, who was the caufe of his cciiteft with 

 the_Jefuits, by whofe influence he was reduced to the ne- 

 cclTity of quitting Lorrain. He then came to England, 

 and was offered a place in the council of James I. with a 

 confiderable penfion, on condition of his embracing the elta- 

 biilhed religion ; but declining the offer, he returned to 

 France, and accepted the profefforfliip of civil law in the 

 univeifity of Anjjers, where he taught for fome time with 

 reputation. Here he died as fome fay in 1605, according 

 to others in 1609, or 161 1. The chief of his works are 

 " De Rc^no et Regali potentate, adverfns B-.ichananum, 

 &.C." publifned at Paris in 1600; " De poteilate Paps, an 

 et quate-!us in regcs ct principes feculares jus et ixperium 

 hube?.t," Francof. 1609, 1613, 1629. Hannov. 1612, 8vo. 

 Lond. in Enghlh, in 161 1, 410 ; "A Commentary upon the 

 title of the pandeds, Je rebus crecliiis et de jurcjurando ;" 

 Paris, 1605, 8vo. ; and " Praemetia in vitam Agricolx," 

 aris, 1599, 2 vols. 8vo. Gen. Did. Biog. Brit. 



BARCLAY, John, the fon of the preceding, wne born at 

 P:>!iLamou(ron in 1582, and dillinguirned himfclf betimes as 

 a proficient in polite hterature. The jcfuits wiflied him to 

 enter into their fociety ; but his father incuiTtd their refent- 

 mcnt by preventing it, and taking him to England, at the 

 bL-nir.ning of the reign of James I. He had already, viz. in 

 1601, publiflied a commentary on the Thebaid of Statius. 

 He alfo prefentcd to James, a Latin poem upon his cor<;na- 

 tion ; and in 1603, p'.iblifhed the finl: part of his " Satiricon 

 Euphormionis," which was dedicated to the king. He 

 accompanied h!s father to Angers, with whom he continued 

 till the death of the latter, and thea removed to Paris. In 

 160^, became over to England, where he obtained confider- 

 able employments under king- James, and was made gentle- 

 man ot the bed-chamber. He is faid to have afDftcd this 

 prince in a controve fial work, which cccafioned fome un- 

 founded fufpicions of his orthodoxy. Having finiftied his 

 " Euphomiio," he publilhed an apology for it in 1610. 

 Upon his return to Paris, he printed in 161 2, a work in- 

 titled " Pietas," bting a vindication of a performance of 

 his father againil the po-.ver arrogated bv the popes over 

 crowned iieads, which had been attacked by Beilarmine. 

 Nevcrtheiefs, he was invited to Rome by Paul IV., and re- 

 fided there during the latter part of his life, carcfTed by 

 Beilarmine, and pofTtfling fome lucrative employments, in 

 return for which he wrote a work of cor.tioverfy, int:tled, 

 " Parxncfis ad Seflarios." Whilfl he was employed in fu- 

 periitcnding the firll edition of his principal work, inti- 

 tled the " Argenis," he died of the flone at Rome, in 

 1621. The difpofition of Barclay was of a melancholy 

 cail ; his mornings were uninterruptedly employed in ftu- 

 dy, and the afternoons were devoted to his garden. His 

 reputation, both as a fchoiar and a writer, was extremely 

 high in his own times ; but his works were not of a na- 

 ture, calculated to command lading attention. His La- 

 tin llyle was much admired by fome, and feverely cenfur- 

 ed by others. Pttronius was his model, but he fome- 

 what partakes of the fiorid affeftation of Apuleius in his 

 profe, and of the bombaft of Lucian in r.ts vcrle. His 

 •' Euphormio," and " Argenis," both works of invention, 

 paflcd through feveral td'tions in various languages. The 

 latter is a kind of politic d allegory, exhibiting a pifture 

 of the vices and revolutions of courts, with real charac- 

 ters under fictitious names. It difplays great ingenuity 

 and learning, and abounds with lively imagery- and ele- 

 vated fcntinieats, but with too much pnrade. It was 



Vol. IlL 



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read with svidity whilfl the fubjefls were recent ; ar.d a 

 tranflation of it in Englifh by a lady appeared in 1772, 

 without attraAing much notice. Gen. D^dl. Biog-. 

 Brit. ^ 



Barclay, Robert, the famous apologift for the Q^iak- 

 ei-8, was the defcendant of an ancient fan i y in Scotland, 

 snd the fon of colonel David Barclay of Mathers. He was 

 born at Gordonftown in the lliirc of Murray, in 1648, whi- 

 ther his father had retired, after quitting the anr.v ; and 

 v,-as fent for education to his uncle at Paris, who was at 

 that time principal of the Sects college. Pains were taken 

 to profclyte him to the catholic religion ; and he acknow- 

 ledged that they were not altogether unfuccefsful. He re- 

 turned home, however, in his 17th year, and was diftinguifti- 

 ed by his accomplifliments in literature, and particularly by 

 his knowledge of the Latin and French languages. At 

 home he extended his acquaintance, bv diligent application, 

 with the Greek and Hebrew ; and being of a grave difpo- 

 fition, direftcd his inquiries towards theological fubjefts. 

 His father, having in 1666 becom.e a convert to quakerifm, 

 v/as foon followed by his fon ; whofe zeal, though generally 

 under the control of a fedatc temper and found jcdgment, 

 was not altogether free from enthuliafm ; for he conceived 

 himfclf obliged by di%'inc command to pafs through the ftreets 

 of Aberdeen clothed in fackcloth and afhes, and he a£lually 

 yielded to this impulfe. But he ferved the caufe, to which 

 he was attached from convidtion, much more effecSually b^ 

 his powers of reafoning in its defence. His firft publication 

 to this purpofe, intitlcd " Truth cleared of calumnies," &c. 

 was a reply to a work of W. Mitchell, a preacher near 

 Aberdeen, and dated at his father's houfe at Urie, in 1670. 

 This was followed by an appendix and addjtional treatife, 

 exhibiting a confiderable portion of controverfial acrimony, 

 but it had the effeft of filencing his anlagonill. In 1 673 

 he publifiied with a view of conciliating the good opinion 

 ct Proteilants, a fyftematic expofition of the doctrints of 

 his fcift, under the title of " A Catechifm and Confeflion of 

 Faith, approved of and agreed to by the general aflembly 

 of the Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apoilles, Chrift himfclf 

 chief Speaker in and among them," &c. The defign of 

 this work was to prove, that Quakerifm was the pertettion 

 of the reformed religion, and that Proteftants, as they re- 

 ceded from it, were fo far inconfiftent with themfelves, and 

 approached to Popery. His fundamental principle was, that 

 the feriptures alone v.-ere to be regarded as the foundation 

 of faith, and that Chriftians ought to receive no doArines 

 which were not capable of being proved by the exprefs 

 words of fcripture. This work excittd very general atten- 

 tion, and removed many prejudices that were entertained 

 againft the fociety. His next treatife, intitled " The Anar- 

 chy of the Ranters and other Libertines, the Hierachy of 

 the Romani.ts, and other pretended churches, equally refufed 

 and refuted," &c. was intended to mark the diffinftion 

 between the rationalifts of his feft, and the enthufiafts; 

 but fome fentiments concerning church difciphne, which it 

 contained, involved him in difputes with fome of his own 

 bretlu-en, and drew upon him attacks from fome members 

 of the univernty of Aberdeen, and from other quarters. 

 He perfiftcd, however, in his endeavours for formirg a 

 clear, methodical, and rational fyftem of Quakerifm ; and in 

 the year 1675, he was diligently employed in compofinj 

 the moll famous of all his writing', which is his " Apology 

 for the true Chrillian divinity, as the fame ii held forth 

 and preached by the people in fcorn called Qiiakcrs." This 

 was introduced by his •' Thefes Theologicae," written in 

 various languages, and addtefled to the clergy of all deno- 

 minations throughout Europe, rcqueiling their examina- 



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