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His next communicalioii to the public, and tlie work on 

 •wliicli liis chai-a'-^tr as a (clioljr imill ultiinately rell, was 

 liis " Ke.v SylU-m, or Analyfis of Ancient Mythology ; 

 wherein an Attempt is made to divcll Tradition of Fable, 

 and to redjcc Truth to its original Purity." Of tliis pub- 

 lication the f.rjl and ylr^j/j^y volumes canic forth together, in 

 1774, and "tlic ih'trd followed two years after. It being 

 hi? profefTed dehgn to prefent a hillory of the Babylonians, 

 Clialdjcans, Ejjyplians, Canaanites, Hclladians, lonians, 

 Lclci;es, Dorians, Pelafgi, and other ancient nations, his 

 rcfcarehts for this purpoi'e were not only of necefllty recon- 

 dite, but in many inllanees uncertain ; but to facilitate his 

 paflage through the mii^hty labyrinth which led to his 

 primary object, he not only availed himfelf of the fcattered 

 fragments of ancient hillory wherever he could find them, but 

 alio of a variety of etymological aids ; for beinp: pcrfuadcd that 

 the human race were the offspring of one ttock, and con- 

 ceiving thence that their language in the beginning was one, 

 this favourite notion was excmplitied by him in the invefti- 

 gation of radical terms, and applying thefe as collateral 

 aids. Confidering that his knowledge of the Oriental dia- 

 lers was very confined, it is to be lamented that upon I'ome 

 occafions he has indulged too freely to fancy ; yet thus 

 much mull be confefled, that his defefts in this kind of 

 learning form a llrong plea in his favour ; for if, without 

 underrtanding thefe languages, he has fuccecded in tracing 

 oiit fomany radicals as his table of them exhibits, and more 

 efpeeially if he has been right in explaining thtm, it will 

 follow that his explanations mull be founded on truth, and 

 therefore are not chiniencal. In oppofuion, however, to 

 them, Mr. Bryant experienced fome fcvere and petulant 

 attacks : firll, from a learned Dvitchman, in a Latin review of 

 hi work ; and fhortly after from the late Mr. Richardfon, 

 ■who was privately affillcd by Sir William Jones; a circum- 

 ftance which there is reafon to think Mr. Bryant never 

 knew. 



To their ftritlures Mr. Bryant replied in an anonymous 

 pamphlet, of which he printed a few copies for the perufal 

 of his friends, but never profefTcdly publifhed. It is hoped, 

 however, that, in the next edition of his Mythology this 

 tracl will be added, as it is among the bell of his works. 



Amongft other parts of the Mythology which were at- 

 tacked with afperity, that which relates to the Apamean 

 medal was fevercly affailcd. Mr. Bryant defended himfelf 

 in a feparate publication (which alfo fhould be fubjoined to 

 the new edition) ; and though what he offered on the fub- 

 jec\ was lightly treated by fome, who highly appreciated 

 their knowledge of medals, yet the opinion of profeffor 

 Eckhel, the firll medalill of his age, has decided on the 

 cont'overfy in favour of Mr. Brv-ant. 



Whatever may be the merit, in the opinion of the learned, 

 of Mr. Bryant's Neto Syjlem at large, no ptrfon can pofiibly 

 diCpute, that a very uncommon llore of learning is percep- 

 tible through the whole ; that it abounds with great origi- 

 nality of conception, much perfpicacious elucidation, and 

 t'le mod happy explanations on topics of the higheft import- 

 ance : in a word, that it ftands forw;vrd amongft the firft 

 works of its age. 



About this time the Vindiciae Flavians, a traft on 

 the much difputed teilimony of Jofephus to Chnft, was 

 printed, and a few copies fent to a b*okfeller in either 

 jmiverfity ; but as the pamphlet appeared without the 

 name of its author, and no attention was (hewed it, Mr. 

 Bryant recalled them, and fatisfied himfelf with dillributing 

 the copies thus returned amongtl a few particular friends. 

 The new light, however, which Mr. Bryant threw upon 

 the fubjed, and the acutenefs with which t'ae difficulties 



6 



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attending it were difcuffed, foon caufed the Vindicia; to be 

 known, and at length to be publiflied with his name. 



Dr. I'rielUcy having, by his llatement of the doArine of 

 philofophical necefhty in a lefs exceptionable point of view 

 tha'i that in which it had been heretofore feen, attradled at- 

 tention to the fubjcci, Mr. Bryant was alarmed at the per- 

 nicious tendency, as he conceived, of the doftrine ; and 

 with the dtlign of checking its advancement, addrefied the 

 Doclor on the fubjetl. But whatever imprefiion this addrcfs 

 might have produced on other readers, it certainly left his 

 antagonill unconvinced ; which, however, was not the cafe 

 in a former inllance, for Dr. Pnellley liberally conftfftd 

 that, in relpecl to the teilimony of Jolephus concerning 

 our S:iviour, Mr. Bryant had made limi completely a 

 convert. 



The poems attributed to Rowley having been publiHied 

 by Mr. Tyrwhitt, Mr. Bryant's attention was next drawn 

 to them. From the communications of his friend Dr. 

 Glynn, and his own enquiries at Brillol, Mr. Bryant hav- 

 ing acfjuired fuch information as convinced him, that 

 thev had their foundation in reality, and were not entirely 

 of Chatterton's fabrication, embarked in the contell ; but 

 though he failed to produce conviftion in feveral particulars, 

 his book difcovers confiderable talent, as well as much 

 knowledge of Englilh antiquities and literature, and 

 abounds with arguments which cannot be repelled. 



The hypothefis of Mr. Bryant in reference to the original 

 language was always kept in view by him, and as refearches 

 were extended on all fides to obtain elucidations, the lan- 

 guage of the giplies engaged his attention ; accordingly 

 the collections which he made from it, were publilhed in the 

 Archseologia, vol, vii. 



His next production, but which ftill remains unpublifhed, 

 was an illuftration in Latin of gems in the pofTeffion of the 

 duke of Marlborough, engraved for his Grace by Baito- 

 lozzi. Of this magnificent work Mr. Bryant's obfervations 

 formed the text of the firll volume, that of the fecond was 

 written by Dr. Cole, prebendary of Wcllminfter. 



The friendibip which fublifted between Mr. Bryant and 

 the family of his patron, prompted him on all occafions to 

 fubferve their wilhes, and to this difpofition are the pubhc 

 indebted for hisTreatife on theAuthenticityof the Scriptures 

 and the Truth of the Chrillian Religion, which was written 

 to gratify the dowager lady Pembroke, and is an excellent 

 book for popular inllrutlion. 



In two years after (for the treatife juft mentioned ap- 

 peared in 1792) the world vi-ere obliged by a large volume, 

 entitled " Obfervations upon the Plagues infiicled upon the 

 Egyptians ; in which is (hewn the Peculiarity of thofe 

 Judgments, and their Correfpondence with the Rites and 

 Idolatry of that People ; with a Prefatory Difcourfe can- 

 cerning the Grecian Colonics from Egypt." This is cer- 

 tainly to be reckoned amongft Mr. Bryant's bell perform- 

 ances, and as fuch will be itudioudy read. 



Profeffor Dalzcl having communicated to the Royal So- 

 ciety of Edinburgh, and afterwards publilhed in a feparate 

 volume, M. le Chevalier's " Defcription of the Plain of 

 Troy," Mr. Bryant, who many years before had not only 

 confidered, but written his fentiments on the Trojan war, 

 firft publilhed his obfervations on M. Ic Chevalier's treatife, 

 and afterwards a differtation concerning the war itfelf, and 

 the expedition of the Grecians as dcfcribed by Homer ; 

 with the view of (hewing that no fuch expedition was ever 

 undertaken, and that no fuch city in Phrygia exifted. [The 

 elegant treatife of Mr. Wood on the genius and writings of 

 Homer, were edited, for his deceafed friend, by Mr. 

 Bryant.] 



The 



