PUR 



P U R 



than our countryman. They had both, perhaps, more 

 grace and regularity, but infinitely lets pafTion and lire. 



The elder Scarlatti was more recherche and learned, but 

 never fo natural and cftedting. 



In Germany, if Keifer, during an aftive and much longer 

 life, furpalTed him in the number and exc.Uence of his dra- 

 matic compofitions, his produdlions for the church, could 

 they be found, would, we believe, bearno comparifon. 



LuHi, bleft likcwife with fuperior longevity, compofed 

 alfo more operas than Purcell, and was the idol of the nation 

 for which he laboured ; but tiiough his overtures long ferved 

 as models> even to Purcell, as well as to the compofers of all 

 the reft of Europe, and his mufic was performed by better 

 fingers, and a more numerous band, fupported by the pa- 

 tronage of a court, and all the fplendour of ingenious and 

 coftly exhibition ; it is eafy to fee that even his theatrical 

 works are more manicr'ees, monotonous, and uninterefting in 

 themfelves, than tliofe of Purcell ; but in relinquiiliing the 

 Itage, and flepping on holy ground, we (hould have found, 

 even in France, during all his glory, and the enthufiafm he 

 rarfed, none of his votaries who would attempt to put his 

 facred mufic in comparifon with that of our countryman. 



Rameau, the fucceflbr of Lulli in court and popular fa- 

 vour, and who had more learning and theoretical knowledge 

 in the art, than perhaps any practical mufician of modern 

 times ; yet, \\\ pathos and exprellion of words and the paf- 

 fions, he was Purcell's inferior, even upon the ftage ; and in 

 .the church, he had no claim to celebrity. 



Handel, who flourished in a lefs barbarous age for his art, 

 has been acknowledged his fuperior in many particulars ; but 

 in none more than the art and grandeur of his chorufes, the 

 harmony and texture of his organ fugues, as well as his 

 great ftyle of playing that inilrunient ; the majefly of his 

 hautbois and grand concertos, the ingenuity of the accom- 

 paniments to his fongs and chorufes, and even in the general 

 melody of the airs themfelves ; yet in the accent, paffion, 

 and exprellion of Englifb nuords, the vocal mufic of Purcell 

 is, fometimes to our feehngs, as fuperior to Handel's as an 

 original poem to a tranflation. 



PURCHAS, Samuel, was born at Thaxtead, in Eflex , 

 in 1577. He was educated at Cambridge, and was pre- 

 fented to a vicarage in his native county. This cure he 

 religned to his brother, and came to live in London, for 

 the purpofe of cnndufting the great work he had under- 

 taken. The firft volume folio appeared in 161 3, under 

 the title of " Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the 

 World and the Religions obfcrved in all Ages and Places 

 difcovered from the Creation unto this Prefent :" the other 

 four volurses were publiflied in 1625. To thefe the general 

 title is " HakJuytus Pofthumus, or Purchas his Pilgrims : 

 containing a Hiftory of the V/orld in Sea-voyages and 

 Laud-travels by Englifhmen and others :" the name of 

 Hakluyt is introduced, beqaufe Purchas became poflefTed of 

 the papers which he left behii.d him. This great work, 

 of which the objedt is to conneft ancient and modern hif- 

 tory, was well received, but probably involved the author 

 in debt. He had been collated to the reftory of St. Mar- 

 tin's Ludgate, and was chaplain to Abbot, archbifhop of 

 Canterbury. He died about the year 1628, at the age of 

 liftv-one. Biog. Brit. 



PURCHASE, in Laiu, in its largeft and moft extenfive 

 fenfe, is defined by Littleton to be the polieflion of lands 

 and tenements, which a man hath by his own aft or agree- 

 ment, and not by defcent from any of his anceftors or kin- 

 dred. In this fenfe, it is contradiftinguifhed from acqui- 

 fition by right of blood, and includes every oth'.r method of 

 coming to an eltate, but merely that by inheritance ; in 



which the title is vefled in a perfon, not by his own aft or 

 agreement, but by the fingle operation of law. (Co. 

 Litt. 18.) Purchafe, in its vulgar and confined accepta- 

 tion, is applied only to the acquifition of goods, lands, tene- 

 ments, or the like, by means of money, or fume other 

 valuable conlideration. 



What we call purchafe, perqu'ijtlw, the feudifts call con- 

 quejl, conqudtjlus, or conquifiiw, (fee Conquk.st) ; both de- 

 noting any means of acquiring an ellate out of the 

 common courfe of inheritance ; and this is ftill tiie pro- 

 per phrafe in the law of Scotland. The difTcrence, 

 in effedl, between the acquifition of an cttate by defcent 

 and by purchafe, confifts principally in thefe two points. 



1. That by purcliafc the eltate acquires a new inherit- 

 able quality, and is defcendible to the owner's blood in 

 general, and not tiie blood only of fome particular anceftor. 



2. An eftate taken by purchafe will not make the heir an- 

 fwerable for the afts of the ancellor, as an eltate by defcent 

 will. According to tliis legal fignification of the woxA pcr- 

 qujfuio, or purchafe, it includes the five following methods 

 of acquiring a title to eftates, viz. efcheat, occupancy, pre- 



fcript'wn, forfeiture, and al'icnni'ton, conveyance, or purchafe, in 

 its limited fenfe : under which latter head may becomprifed 

 any method in which eftates are voluntarily refigned by one 

 man, and accepted by another : whether that be effefled by 

 fale, gift, marriage-fettlcment, devife, or other tranfmillion 

 of property, by the mutual confent of the parties. See 

 the feveral articles, and Title. 



Natural perlons, incorporate perfons, fole or aggregate, 

 deaf, dumb, and blind perfons, minors, and all reafonable 

 creatures, may purchafe, except in fome cafes ; but fome 

 have capacity to purchafe, and not to hold, as aliens, 

 felons, &c. ; and others have ability to hold or not to hold 

 upon a purchafe, at the eleftion of themfelves or others, 

 as infants, and feme coverts, i Inft. 2, 3. ! i Rep. 77. 

 7 Rep. 17. 



Purchase and "value of land. See Valuation of Land, 

 and Political Economy. 



Purchase of ivrits. See Writ. 



Purchase, in the Sea Language, has the fame fignifica- 

 tion with dra'w in, at land. Thus, they fay, the capflern 

 purchafes apace, i. e. draws in the cable apace ; and when 

 they cannot draw or hale any thing in with the tackle, thej 

 fay, the tackle will not purchafe. 



Purchase is alfo a name given by failors to any mecha- 

 nical power employed in raifing or removing heavy bodies, 

 or in fix'ing or extending the (hip's rigging. Such are the 

 tackles, windlafies, capfterns, fcrews, and handfpikes. 



VuRCUASE- Booh, among Traders, is the name given to a 

 book, which is a kind of journal, containing an account of 

 all the purchafes made, or things bought in the day. 



PURCHASER, First, Perquifitor, in Law, denotes 

 the perfon who firft acquired an eftate to his family, 

 whether the fame was transferred to him by fale or by gift, 

 or by any other method, except only that of defcent. See 

 Descent. 



PURCHASING of EJlates, in Agriculture, the bufinefs 

 of buying landed property. In order to perform this fort 

 of bargain with propriety, and to the beil advantage, atten- 

 tion is neceftary to be had to a great variety of circum- 

 ilances of different kinds, which refpedl the nature, 

 quality, fituation, condition, value, and conveniences of the 

 property. See Valuation of Land. 



But it is probably beft done, when to any extent, by a 



furveyor or other perfon who is perfedlly converfant with 



the nature of the bufinefs, and fully acquainted with the 



I real 



