BIO 



fen'ice of their fellow-creatures, it feems but a juft debt, 

 that tl'.eir memories fhould be perpetuated after them, and 

 that pofterity ftiould he made acquainted with their bene- 

 fatlors. This was no frrall incentive to virtue iu the pagaa 

 world ; and no one can be ignorant, on due refleftion, how 

 natural this paffion is to mankind in general. For this rea- 

 fon, as Dr. Ward prefumes (Orat. vol. ii. p. 252.), Virgil 

 has placed not only his heroes, but alfo the inventors of ufe- 

 ful arts and fciences, and other perfons of diltiuguilhed me- 

 rit, in the Elyfian fields, where he defcribes them (jf.r.. L vi. 

 V. 661.): 



" Here patriots live, who, for their country's good, 

 In fighting fields were prodigal of blood ; 

 Priells of unblemiflicd lives here make abode, 

 And poets worthy their infpiring god ; 

 And learching wits of more mechanic parts, 

 Who grac'd tlicir age with new invented arts ; 

 Thofe who to worth their bouuty did extend, 

 And thofe who knew that bounty to 'commend : 

 The heads of thefe with holy fillets bound. 

 And all their temples were with garlands crown'd." 

 In the lives of public perfons, theii- public chai afters are 

 principally, but not folely, to be regarded. The world is 

 inquifitive to know the condudl of princes and other great 

 men, as well in private as in public : and both may be of 

 fervice, confidering the influence of their examples. But to 

 be over-inquifitive in fearching into the weakneffes and fail- 

 ings of the greateft or bed men, is, to fay no more of it, a 

 ncedlefs curiofity. 



In this fpecies of writing Plutarch has no inconfiderable 

 merit ; and to him we are indebted for much of the know- 

 ledge which we polTefs concerning feveral of the mod emi- 

 nent perfonagcs of antiquity. His matter, however, is bet- 

 ter than his manner ; as he cannot lay claim to any peculiar 

 beauty or elegance. His judgment too, and his accuracy, 

 have fometimes been taxed ; but whatever may behisdefedis 

 of this kind, his lives of eminent men will always be confi- 

 dcred as a valuable treafure of inftruttion. He is remark- 

 able for being one of the moft humane writers of all an- 

 tiquity ; Itfs dazzled than many of them are, with the ex- 

 ploits of valour and ambition ; and fond of difplaying his 

 great men to us, in the more gentle lights of retirement and 

 private life. 



It has been a matter of difpute among the learned, whe- 

 ther any one ought to write his own hillory. No one, it 

 may be faid, can be fo much mafler of the fubjeCl as the 

 perfon himfclf ; and befides, there are many indances, both 

 ancient and modem, to juftify this praftice. But, on the 

 other hand, it mud be owned, that it is attended with many 

 inconveniences, fomc of which are mentioned by Cicero : 

 " If," fays he (Ad Famil. 1. v. epitl. 12.) " there is any 

 thing commendable, perfons are obliged to fpeak of them- 

 felves with greater raodefty, and to omit what is blame- 

 able in others. Befides, what is faid is not fo foon credited, 

 and has lefs authority ; and after all, many will not hefitate 

 in cenfuring it." To the fame purpofe it is well obferved 

 by Pliny (1. viii. ep. 1.) : " Thofe who proclaim their own 

 virtues, are thought not fo much to proclaim them, becaufe 

 they did them, as to have done them, that they might pro- 

 claim them. Hence, what would appear great, if told by 

 another, is loft, when related by the party himfclf. For 

 when men cannot deny the faft, they refledl upon the vanity 

 of its author. ^Vherefore, if you do things not worth men- 

 tioning, the aftions themfelves are blamed ; and if the things 

 you do are commendable, you are blam.ed for mentioning 

 them." Thejuftice of thefe reflcftions will be allowed; 

 and yet, confidering how natural it is for mta to love ihem- 



B I O 



felv«, ar^d to be inclined in their own favour, it feems to be 

 a very difficult taflc for any one to write an impartial hiilory 

 of bis own aftions. There is fcarcely any treatife of this 

 kind that is more celebrated than Csefar's " Commentaries ;" 

 and yet Suetonius tells us (In Vit. c. 56.), that " Afinius 

 PoUio, who lived at that time, thought that they were writ- 

 tea neither with due care not integrity ; that Csefar was too 

 often credulous in his accounts of what was done bv other 

 perfons, and mifreprefcnted his own actions, either defign- 

 ediy, or through forgetfulnefs ; and therefore he fuppofes 

 he would have rcvifed and corrected them." At fome times, 

 however, it may without doubt be juftifiable for a perfon to 

 be his own hiftcrian. Plutarch mentions two cafes, in which 

 it is allowable for a man to commend himfclf, and to be the 

 publilher of liis own'merits. Thefe are, " when the doinf^ 

 of it may be of conCdcrable advantage, either to l.imfrlf, or 

 to others." '-Anciently," fays Tacitus (Vit. Agric. c. 1..), 

 " many wrote their own lives, rather as a teftimony of their 

 conduft, than from pride;" remarking, "that the more vir- 

 tue abounds, the fooiier the reports ot it are credited." But 

 the ancient writers had a method of diverting the reader's 

 attention from thtmlelvcs, when they had occalion to record 

 their own aftions, and of thus rendering what they faid lefs 

 invidious, which was by fpeaking of themfclves in the third 

 perfon : thus Csefar never fays, " I did," or " I faid this or 

 that," but always "Cifar did," or "faid, fo and fo." Dr. 

 Johnfon has given an excellent paper on the fubject of bio- 

 graphy in the coUeftion of papers called the "Idler." Volney, 

 in his "Lefturcs on Hiflory," remarks, that biographv is the 

 only kind of hillory that is proper for young people. See 

 History. 



Dr. Prieftley has conftrufted and pubhlhed a " Biographi- 

 cal Chart," which is very ufefuL to ftudents in chronologv, 

 hiftory, and biography. This chart, which is about three 

 feet in length, and two feet in breadth, reprefents the inter- 

 val of time between the year i2CO before the Chriftian asra 

 and 1 8cc after Chrift, divided by an equal fcale into centu- 

 ries. It contains about 2COO names of perfons the moll di- 

 ftinguifhcd in the annals of fame, the length of whofe lives 

 is here reprtfented by fines drawn in proportion to their real 

 duration, and terminated in fuch a manner as to corrcfpond 

 to the dates of their births and deaths in univerfal time. 

 Thefe names are diftinguilhed into feveral clafles by lines 

 running the whole length of the chart, the contents of each 

 divifion being exprefled at the end ot it. The chrorolocry 

 is noted in the margin on the upper fide, by the year before 

 and after Chrift, ard on the lower by the fame sra, and 

 alfo by the fucceffioa of fuch kings as were the moft di- 

 ftinguifhed in the whole period. 



BIOLLE, L,A, in Geography, the chitf place of a can- 

 ton, in the diftrift of ChambeiT, and department of Mont 

 Blanc. The population of the place is eftimated at IC38, 

 and of the canton at 5625 perfons ; the territorial extent 

 contains 92' kiiiometrcs, and 10 communes. 



BIOLYCHNIUM, formed of ^.oj, /i/,, and \vxy<^., tight, 

 a name given By fcm.e phyficians to a fuppofed principle of 

 vitality inherent in the heart, or blood, and remaining t'lere 

 as long as Lfe continues. Of this principle, or innate heat, 

 different accounts have been given by different writers ; as 

 Gafp. Hoffman, Conrigius, &c. 



Beguinus has defcribed a procefs for preparing from hu- 

 man blood a vital balfam under this denomination ; and J. 

 Ern. Burgravius has written a treatife upon it. 



BION, in Biography, a native of Proconnefuf, vras con- 

 temporary with Pherecydes, and fluunlhed about the 59th 

 olympiad, or 544 years B. C. Clemens Alcxandriiius in- 

 forms us, that he copied the titles, and abridged the works 



of 



