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in the diftria of Gand or Ghent ; 9 miles N.W. of Ghent. 

 The place contains 6221, and the canton 18,800 inhabitants, 

 on a territory of 125 kiliometres, in 7 communes. 



SOMERS, John, Lord, in Biography, a diltinguilTied 

 lawyer and itatefman, born at Worcelter, in 1652, was the 

 fon of a refpedable attorney of that city. He received his 

 early education at the public fchoolof his native city ; and, 

 at a proper age, he was entered a gentleman-commoner of 

 Trinity college, Oxford. He quitted the univerfity with- 

 out a degree, but he had attained a good tafte for polite li- 

 terature, and being deitined by his father for the legal pro- 

 feflion, he fpent fome time as a clerk to iir Francis Winning- 

 ton, an eminent lawyer, after which he rerr.oved to the 

 Middle Temple. When called to the bar, he difplayed 

 ihofe talents which enfured his arriving .it profcfTional dillinc- 

 tion : at the fame time, though extremely diligent in his 

 legal {Indies, he did not abandon his claffical purfuits, but 

 tranflated the hiftory of the life of Alcibiades, and Ovid's 

 Epillle of Ariadne to Thefeus. 



He was an ardent friend of liberty, and in the latter part 

 of the reign of Charles H. he wrote fome political tradls ; 

 which, though they appeared without his name, were afcer- 

 tained to be from his pen. 



A piece entitled" The Security of Englifhmen's Lives ; 

 or the Trult, Power, and Duty of the Grand .Juries of 

 England, explained according to the Fundamentali of the 

 Englifli Government," was attributed to him by Mr. Wal- 

 pole, and is thought to be the fame with one alluded to by 

 bifliop Burnet, written in confequence of the grand juries 

 return of ignoramus to the bill again!! lord Shaftelbury. He 

 was moreover the reputed author of " A brief Hiliory of 

 the Succeffion of the Crown of England, collefted outof 

 the Records," the objedl of which was to prove the right 

 of parliament to regulate the defcent of the crown, with the 

 view of fupporting the intended exclufion of the duke of 

 York, on account of his religion. In 168 1 he took part in 

 publifhing " A juft and model! Vindication of the Pro- 

 ceedings of the two lalt Parnaments," originally written by 

 Algernon Sidney, but new-modelled by him. He was 

 counfel, in 1683, for the fheriffs of London, and for other 

 perfons who were profecuted for a riot in the city at the 

 eleftion of {heriffs. After the acceffion of James 1\. he 

 continued the firm oppofer of the arbitrary meafurcs of the 

 court, and obtained great credit as one of the counfel for 

 the feven bifhops. He moft heartily concurred in the event 

 of the revolution, and was one of the confidential advifers 

 of the meafure for bringing over the prince of Orange. He 

 fat as reprefentative of his native city in tiie convenl ion- 

 parliament, and was appointed one of the managers for the 

 houfe of commons, in the conference held with the lords 

 concerning the word abdicate, and his acute and fenfible ob- 

 fervations on the fubjeft were greatly admired. In 1689 he 

 was knighted, and made folicitor-general, and while he held 

 that high poll, delivered a fpirited and feafonable fpeech in 

 favour of the aft of convention for recognizing William and 

 Mary, the legaUty of which had been called in queftion by 

 a member of the houfe of commons. In 1692, the office 

 of attorney-general was conferred upon him, and in the fol- 

 lowing year that of lord-keeper of the great feal. When 

 advanced to the bench, his behaviour was that of an able and 

 upright magillrate, whofe love of juRice was tempered with 

 fmgular mildnefs and condefcenfion. At the fame time he 

 was in the higheft credit with the fovereign, and he made 

 ufe of his influence to ferve perfons of merit. He was a 

 patron to Mr. Addifon, and obtained for him an allowance 

 to enable him to make that tour in Italy, of which he has 

 printed an account. In 1695 he was advanced to the lord 



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cliancellorlhip of England, and was raifed to the peerage by 

 the title of lord So^ners, baron Evelham. At the lame time 

 he obtained certain gr.int3 from the crown, a circumllance 

 which has drawn upon him fome cenfurc ; though, without 

 this addition, his advancement to the peerage would have 

 been a punilhment inftead of reward, inafmuch as it would 

 have been impoffible for him to have maintained his rank in 

 the peerage. 



Lord Somers was now regarded as the head of the Whigs, 

 and it was his aim to moderate the heat andjealoufy of that 

 party, and concihate to it both the king and nation ; hence 

 it has been averred that he was too compliant in fome points 

 to the royal pleafure ; which, however, did not prevent his 

 being made a facrilice when the Tories came into power. His 

 acquielcence in the firit partition treaty in 1699, with other 

 minillerial meafures, produced great complaints againll hira 

 in parliament, and an addrefs w.is moved in the houfe of com- 

 mons, praying the king that lord Somers might for ever be 

 removed from his majelly's prefence and council. This mo- 

 tion was, however, defeated by a large majority ; but the 

 king, foon after, to quiet th." difcontents, defired him volun- 

 tnrily to refign his feals. This he refufed ; and he was ac- 

 cordingly difmiffed from his office. In 1701 the houfe of 

 commons fent up to the lords an impeachment of lord So- 

 mers, which, howerer, was difmilfed by the peers, and the 

 profecution was not refumed. Very ihortly after this the 

 king died, and the new reign not being favourable to the 

 principles of lord Somers, he fpent his time in literary re- 

 tirement, and during this period of Icifure he was elected 

 prefident of the Royal Society. He was not, however, in- 

 attentive to public concerns, and vigoroufly oppofed the 

 bill brought into parliament by the high church party, to 

 prevent occafional conformity. In 1706 he drew up a plan 

 lor eifefting an union between England and Scotland, which 

 was fo much approved, that queen Anne nominated him 

 one of the managers for carrying that meafure into execu- 

 tion- He is alfo faid to have had a confiderable Ihare in the 

 bill of regency, by which the Proteftant fucceffion to the 

 crown was extended and fecured. Upon a change of mi- 

 niftrv in 1708, lord Somers was nominated to the poll of 

 prefident of the council, from which he was difmiflied in 

 1710; and though he continued for fome time to take an 

 aftive part in the bufinefs of the houfe of peers, it was not 

 very long before a decline in the (late of his health and fa- 

 culties rendered him unfit for public bufinefs. He died in 

 1716, at the age of 64. The memory of lord Somers is 

 ttill lield in high veneration by the friends of conllitutional 

 liberty ; to the eftablifhment of which, by means of the re- 

 volution and Proteltant fucceffion, no individual contributed 

 more than he. His abilities were very confiderable, his 

 manners highly ingratiating, and, notwithftanding the oppo- 

 fition which he had occafionally to encounter, few ftatefmen 

 have paficd through hfe with a purer cbarafter. He made a 

 large colleftion of fcarce and curious pamphlets, of which 

 there has been publifhed a feleftion in four parts, each con- 

 fifting of four volumes, 4to. His collection of original 

 papers and letters was unfortunately deftroyed by a fire, 

 which happened in the chambers of the Hon. Charles Yorke, 

 on the 27th of Jan. 1752. Biog. Brit. 



Somers, in Geography, a townftiip of America, in Connec- 

 ticut, and county of Tolland, containing 1210 inhabitants ; 



24 miles N.E. nf Hartford Alfo, a poft-townfhip of New 



York, on the N. line of Welt Chelter county, 50 miles N. of 

 New York, and 1 20 from Albany ; bounded N. by Duchefs 

 county, E. by North Salem and South Salem, S. by Bed- 

 ford and New-Caftle, and W. by York or Yorktown. Its 

 name, which was formerly Stephentown, was changed in. 



"1808. 



