S 1 M 



S I M 



thufiaftic admii-ers from lamenting that he had not, early in 

 life, applied himfelf to the violoncello. 



But if its general ufe had continued, or were rellorcd, 

 this book of Simpfon, from the univerfal change of talle 

 and ftyle of every fpecies of mufic, would be of but little 

 ufe to a lludent on that inftrument now ; when rapid di- 

 vifions, of no other merit than the difficulty of executing 

 them, have been totally fupplanted by vocal cxprefTion, 

 learned modulation, and that rich harmony to which the num- 

 ber of its Itrings is favourable. Rough, but warm enco- 

 miallic verfcs, are prefixed to Simpfon's works by Dr. 

 Colman, John Jenkins, Mathcw Lock, and others, which 

 only fliew with what periihable materials mufical fame is 

 built ! 



A trandation of this book into Latin, for the ufe of fo- 

 reigners, with the original text on the oppofite page, was 

 publifhed by the author in 1665, under the title of " Chelys 

 Minuritionum ; Editio fecunda," thin folio. 



Bcfides thefe, Simpfon publiftied, in 1667, " A Com- 

 pendium of praftical Mufic, in five Parts, containing i. The 

 Rudiments of Song. 2. The Pnnciples of Compofition. 

 3. The Ufe of Difcord. 4. The Form of Figurate Def- 

 cant. 5. The Contrivance of Canon." 



Whoever expefts to learn the whole principles of an art 

 by a fingle book, or, indeed, any number of books, with- 

 out oral inllruftion, or great ftudy, praftice, and experience, 

 mull be difappointed. This compendium, like mod others 

 of the kind, more frequently generates new doubts and per- 

 plexities, than removes the old. However, fomething is to 

 be learned from mod books ; and what a ftudent is unable to 

 find in one, if out of the reach of a mailer, mull be fouglit 

 in another. 



Simpfon, in his younger days, ferved in the royal army, 

 railed for Cliarles I. by Cavendifh, duke of Ncwcaftle ; he 

 was a Roman Catholic, and patronized by fir Robert BoUes, 

 of Leiceller-Pbce, with whom he rcfidcd during the Inter- 

 regnum. He feems to have been in clofe friendlhip with 

 Jenkins and Lock, as, on all occafions, they reciprocally 

 praife each other. 



Simpson, Redmond, an eminent performer on tlie haut- 

 bois. He was a natural fon of Dubourg, the famous per- 

 former on the violin, and ferved an apprcnticcfliip to Low, 

 the hautbois player and copyift. Simpfon, when out of his 

 time, improved in the performance on his indrument fo 

 much, as to be thought, till the arrival of Fifcher, fupcrior 

 to all the hautbois players of his time, except T. Vincent, 

 the difciple of Martini. On the death of Richard Vincent, 

 in 1777, firll hautbois, during more than thirty years, of 

 Covent Garden playhoufe, and of Vauxhall gardens, father 

 of the firft hufband of Mifs BurchcU, Simpfon was en- 

 gaged as firll hautbois at Covent Garden, and in a few years 

 rendered himfelf fo ufeful in bringing out mufical per- 

 formances at that theatre, that he was appointed joint ma- 

 nager ; and was an aftive and important perfonage at the 

 meetings of the mufical fund ; was one of the afiillant di- 

 reftors at the commemoration of Handel, in 1784; had a 

 turn for bufinefs ; and after ceafing to play in public, lie was 

 often ufeful in Hating, calculating, and fettling the accounts 

 of the fociety, to the time of his death, in January 17S7. 

 He was buried in the cloiller of Wellminlier Abbey, his 

 funeral being attended by the principal profcdbrs in London. 

 SlMi'sON, in yl^ricullur'; a provincial term apphed to 

 groundfcl, a troublefome weed in fome fcjils. 



Simpson'/ IJland, in Geography, a fmall ifland in the 

 South Pacific ocean, difcovcred by captain Carlirct in 

 1767 ; 4 miles W. from Carteret ifland. S. lat. 8° 26'. E. 

 long. 159° 20'. 



8 



SIMPULUM, among the Romans, a vcfl'el with a long 

 handle, and made like a cruet. It was ufed in facrifices and 

 libations, for taking a very little wine at a time. 



SIMRAR, in Geography, a town of Hindoodan, in 

 Oude ; 24 miles E.S.E. of Fyzabad. 



SIMREE, a town of Bengal ; 32 miles N.N.W. of 

 Boglipour. 



SI MS AT, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the govern- 

 ment of Diarbekir ; 54 miles W. of Diarbekir. 



SIMSBURY, a pod-town of America, in Hartford 

 county, Connefticut ; 14 miles N.W. of Hartford. Cop- 

 per-ore lias been found in this place. It contains 1966 in- 

 habitants ; 386 miles from Wadiiiigton. 



SIMSIA, in Botany, fo called by Mr. Brown, is a jnft 

 tribute to the botanical learning and (l<ill of Dr. John Sims, 

 F.R.S. and F.L.S. the continuator, fince the fourteenth 

 volume, of the popular and very uleful Botanical Magazine, 

 of the late Mr. William Clrtis ; fee that article. — Brown 

 Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. 10. 152. Prodr. Nov. Holl. v. i. 3C7. 

 — Clafs and order, Tetrandrla Manogynia. Nat. Ord. Pnt- 

 teacete, Jud. Brown. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. none, unlefs the corolla be taken for 

 fuch. Cor. Petals four, inferior, linear-oblong, equal, de- 

 ciduous ; reflexed at the extremity. Ncilary none. Stam. 

 Filaments four, awl-fliaped, prominent, iuferted into the 

 dilk of each petal ; anthers roundifli, cohering, fo that the 

 adjoining lobes of each make one common cell, at length 

 feparating. Pijl. Gcrmen fuperior, obovate ; dyle cylin- 

 drical ; digma dilated, concave. Peru. Nut inverfely co- 

 nical, of one cell, naked. 



EIT. Ch. Petals fonr, equal, reflexed, without neftari- 

 ferous glands. Stamens prominent. Anthers cohering, 

 tlieir adjoining lobes making a common cell. Stigma di- 

 lated, concave. Nut inverfely conical. 



A New Holland genus of finooth (hrubs, of humble 

 growth. Leaves alternate, thread-fhaped, forked ; their 

 footflalis dilated at the bafe. Floiuers fmall, yellow, fmooth, 

 compofing fmall, globofe, terminal heads, difpofed either 

 in cinders or panicles, with or without a Ihort common in- 

 voluerum, and with a minute IraClea under each flower. Tw o 

 fpecies only are mentioned. 



1. S. tenuifolia. Slender-leaved Simfia. — Heads naked, 

 molUy folitary on eacli branch of the panicle, accompanied 

 by fmall partial braftea^^. — Found by Mr. Brown, on dony 

 fides of hills, in Lewin's land, on the fouth coad of New 

 Holland. 



2. S. anelhifolia. Fennel-leaved Simfia. — Heads nume- 

 rous in each panicle, and about as long as its partial 

 branches, accompanied by imbricated involucral leaves. — 

 Gathered by Mr. Brown, on the fandy fea-(hores of the 

 fame country. 



SIMSKALA, Ofter and IVePr, in Geography, two fmall 

 iflands in the Baltic, E. of Aland, about four miles apart. 

 N. lat. 60° 21'. E. long. 20- 8'. 



SIMSON, RoBEiiT, in Biography, was born in the year 

 1687, of a very refpedable family, in the county of Lanark. 

 He was educated in the univerfity of Glafgow, where he 

 made great progrefs in his dudies, and acquired in every 

 branch of fcience a large dock of information, which, il it 

 had never been greatly augmented afterwards, would have 

 done great credit to any profeflional man. He became, at 

 an early period, an adept in what was denominated the phi- 

 lofophy and theology of the fcliools, and was able to fupply 

 with great credit the place of a fick relation in the clafs of 

 Oriental languages. While lie was purfuing a courfe ol 

 theology, as preparatory to liis entering into orders, mathe- 

 raalics took hold of his fancy, and he would, in after-life, 



fay 



