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,„jr w-ith afTni-iitv to clafilc.ll literutore, in whicli i>c made 

 iTcat progrefs, he liad altcnd.ci to the lUidy of n.cc'.icine, 

 which he prattifed for » Iniall time at Oxford. Witli a 

 *iew of improvii.;r himfilf in that art, he ikteniiincd on 

 \ tilting the I'chooU on '.he coiilineiit ; but he wtiu tirll to 

 Irtlsml, where his mothrr then w;is with litr hulbaiid, fir 

 I'hnmas Dutton, who held a puft in that kingdom. With 

 him he travelled over the greatcH part of Inland ; and 

 iiavinp coileffed what might he gnlliered there, in furtlitr- 

 ar.ce of liis dclijn. he went to I'lance, and fpcnt fome time 

 lit Montp:l)ier.'^ He then vifited PaJiia, and thence pro- 

 ceeded to Lcydcn, wh re he continued, until he took his 

 degree of dodlor in medicine. This w\.s about the year 1633. 

 In 1634, he came to London, and foon rendered his name 

 }':moo», by the publication of his " Rcligio Medici ;" a 

 work of deep refledkion, and evidently the fruit of much 

 lludy and attention. It waa no fooner publilhtd, we are 

 told, tlian it excited the attention of the world, by tlie 

 novelty of paradoxes the dignity of fentimcut, the quick 

 flicccni >n of imagci, the multitude of abllrufe allulions, the 

 fubtltty of dil'quilition, and the ftrength of language with 

 which it was written. He begins with declaring liimfelf a 

 Chriftian, though he has been clalTed among the free- 

 thinkers. WTiatever might be his inconliltency on fome 

 points, he favoured the notion of guardian angels, allowed 

 the reality of apparitions, and of diabolical illufions ; and 

 atfiims fro:n his own knowledge, the certainty of witchcraft. 

 This latter opinion is laid to have had no fmall influence in 

 occafioning the condemnation of fome unhappy victims, 

 the execution of whom was one of the lateft inilance.'! of 

 the kind that difgrace the Englilb annals. His natural dif- 

 pofition, however, was avcrfe from feverity and intolerance; 

 he declares himfclf to be an enemy to pcrfecution, and he 

 was alm.->ft tempted by his beilevolence, to doubt of the 

 eternity of future ptinidiments, and the abfolute condemna- 

 tion of virtuous heathens. His fentiments were thofe of 

 philanthropy, and he inclined to a favourable opinion of 

 mankind in general. In his moral compofitions, however, he 

 feems to have been more influenced by vanity, than by a real 

 defireof improvingmankind. SirKenelm Digby publiihedob- 

 fcrvationsuponthe" Religio Medici," which arc now generally 

 fiound up withthe work. The remarksare acute and ingenious, 

 but what feems mod wonderful is, that it coft the writer only 

 twenty-four hoursin procuring, reading,and making his anno- 

 tations on the book. It was foon after tranflated into Latin 

 by Mr. Merryweather, a gentleman of Cambridge, and from 

 his verfion it was again iranllated into Italian, German, 

 Dutch, and French. An edition of the Latin vtrGon was 

 publifhed at Stralburgh, with large notes by L. Nicolaus 

 Moltfarius. The peculiarities of this book laifed the 

 author, as is ufual, Dr. Johnfou obferves, many admirers, 

 and many enemies ; it was only, however, profcfTedly anfwercd, 

 by one writer, Alexander Rofs, in a work, entitled " Me- 

 dicus Medicatus," which was never much noticed. In i6jy, 

 he was incorporated in the univeifity of Oxford, ar;d then 

 went and fettled at Norwich, where he was much rcfortcd 

 to, and attained high reputation, Anthony Wood "^ays, for 

 his (kill in his profcffioii, which, in a few years, procured 

 his admiflion as honorary member of the Royal College of 

 Phyficians in London. In j6-).i, he married Mrs. Dorothy 

 Micham, a lady of a good family in Norfolk, and of great 

 perfonal as well as mental endowments. Thcfe excellent 

 qualities of the lady did not free him from the farcafrns of 

 the wits who remembered the Dr. had exprefied a wilh, in 

 his famed works, that procreation or population might go on 

 without the cohabitation of the fcxes ; whicli he called 

 •• the fooLftiefl. thing a wife man did." The doftor and his 



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lady, however, lived together in great harmony for mrr*^ 

 tlia'n forty years, and left a fon, who was educated to medi- 

 cine, and three daughters. In 1646, he publifted his trea- 

 t'fe on vulgar errors, " Pleudodoxia Epidemica." In this 

 he combats, with great learning and ingenuity, numerous 

 notions or opinions on natural and other objcfts, which had 

 obtained general credit, not only arrong the common peo- 

 ple, but among phyficians and other literary perfons. The 

 work is, of courfc, mifccllaneous, and occupies as many 

 chapters as there arc errors he wilhed to reform ; but as it 

 is ill general circulation, and has been freqviently reprinted, 

 it is unnecefTary to fay more of it, than that it added con- 

 lideiably to the fame the author had obtained by his former 

 work. In this work, however, he oppofed the Co.iernicau 

 fyftem of aftronomy, and contended for the immobility of the 

 earth. In i6;i, he was iiiiiglited by king Charles IJ. in his 

 paffage through Norwich, and with particular marks of 

 clleem. He had before, viz. in 1658, publilhed " Hydrio- 

 taphia, or Difcourfe on LTni-burial, together vi'ith the Gar- 

 den of Cyru';, or the Quincunxial Lozenge, or Net-work 

 Plantation of the Ancients, &c." In ttiefe he treats. Dr. 

 Johnfon fays, with his ufual learning, on the funeral rites of 

 the ancient nations ; exhibits their various treatment of the 

 dead ; and examines the fubllanccs found in his Norfolcian 

 urns. There is not, perhaps, any one of his works which bet- 

 ter exemplifies his reading or memory. It is fcarcely to be 

 imagined how many particulars he has amafled together, in 

 a treatife which feems to have been occafionally written ; 

 and for which, therefore, no materials could have been pre- 

 vioufly collected. This is the laft work our author pub- 

 liflied ; but he continued to live efteemed for his virtues, as 

 well asfor hisliteraiy attainments, until he had completed his 

 77th year, when he was feized with an afFe<Sion in his bowels, 

 which put an end to his life at Norwich, on his birth-day, 

 the 19th of Nov. 1682. " Dr. Browne left feveial trafts 

 in his clofet, which, Whitefoot fays, he defigned for the 

 prefs." Of thefe two coUedlions have been publifhed, one 

 by Dr. Tennifon, in 1686 ; the other in 1732, by a namc- 

 lefs editor. " It is not on the praifes of others, but on his 

 own writings, tliat he is to depend for the efteem of pofte- 

 rity, of which he will not eaiily be deprived, while learning 

 flial! have any reverence among men ; for there is no fcience 

 in which he does not difcover fome fliill ; and fcaree any 

 kind of knowledge, profane or facred, abilrufe or elegant, 

 which he does not appear to have cultivated with fuccefs. 

 His ftyle is vigorous, but rugged ; learned, but pedantic ; 

 deep, but obfcure ; it ftrikes, but does not pleafe. His 

 tropes are harfli, and his combinntioiis uncouth. In defence, 

 however, of his uncommo.i words and expreffions, it (hould 

 be confidercd, that his fentiments were uncommon, and that 

 he v.'as not content to exprefs, in many words, that idea for 

 which any language could fupply a fingle term." I^ife of 

 Sir Thomas Browne, by Dr. Samuel Johnfon. Gen. Biog. 



Browne, Edward, fon of iir Tiiomas, was born at Nor- 

 wich, in 1642, where he received the rudiments of his 

 education. In 1657, when he was fifteen years of age, he 

 was fcnt to Cambridge, and there continued his iludies with 

 diligence until 1 665, when he took h.is degree of bachelor 

 in medicine. He now went to Merton college in Oxford ; 

 and at the end of two years proceeded dodor. To perfedl 

 himfclf in natural philolophy, he went to the continent, and 

 travelled over great part of Bohemia, Hungary, and Friuli, 

 countries abounding with mineral produitions, which he 

 examined with particular care. On his return, he fettled in 

 London, and there pub'.iP.ied, in 167,^, ia Ato. the obferva- 

 tions he had collected during his travels. This was fo well 

 received, as to induce him to revife, correft, and, at length, 



in 



