TAYLOR. 



his claflical (ludics and mathematics under a private tutor ; 

 and in 1701, at the age of 15, he was entered a fellow, 

 commoner at St. John's college, in the univerfity of Cam- 

 bridge. Sucli was his affiduity in the profccution of 

 mathematics, that in 1708 he compofed his treatife " On 

 the Centre of Ofcillation," which was publilhed in tlie 

 Phil. Tranf. In the next year he took his degree of 

 bachelor of laws, and in 17 12 he was elefted fellow of the 

 Royal Society. By a letter addrefTed to Mr. Machin, dated 

 in this year, it appears that he had then given a folution of 

 Kepler's famous problem, pointing out its importance and 

 life. He alfo at the fame period prefented to the Society 

 three papers, -vis. " On the Afcent of Water between two 

 Glafs Planes ;" " On the Centre of Ofcillation ;" and " On 

 the Motion of a ftretchcd String." In confideration of his 

 fervices to the Society, and diflingui(hed qualifications for 

 the office, he was ekfted their fecretary in 17 14, taking in 

 the fame year his degree of doclor of laws at Cambridge. 

 In 1715, he pubhflied his " Methodus Incrementorun ;" 

 a curious efTay, preferved in the Phil. Tranf. entitled, " An 

 Account of an Experiment for the Difcovery of the Laws 

 of Magnetic Attraftion ;" and alfo a treatife, of high value 

 and reputation, " On the Principles of Linear Perfpec- 

 tive." His correfpondence this year with count de Mont- 

 mort on the tenets of Malebranche was ably conduced, and 

 gained for him an eulogy from the French academy ; and in 

 1716, on his vifit to Paris, he was treated with great per- 

 fonal rcfpeft. Upon his return to London, in 17 17, he 

 compofed three treatifes, pubhfhed in the 30th volume of 

 the Phil. Tranf. ; the titles of which are, " An Attempt 

 towards an Improvement of the Method of approximating 

 in the Extraftion of Roots of Equations in Numbers ;" 

 " A Solution of Demoivre's 15th Problem, with the 

 Affiftance of Combinations and infinite Series ;" and " A 

 Solution of the Problem of G. G. Leibnitz propofed to the 

 Enghlh." His health being impaired by intenfe apph- 

 cation, he was obliged to feek relief at Aix-la-Chapelle. 

 Upon his return, in 1719, he direfted his attention to (Indies 

 very different from thofe to which he had been accuftomed ; 

 and the fruits of thefe ftudies have been found among his 

 papers by his grandfon fir Wilham Young, in detached 

 fragments of a treatife on the Jewifh facrifices, and a dilTer- 

 tation on the lawfulnefs of eating blood. His leifure hours 

 were ftill devoted to the application of mathematics in tlie 

 improvement of the arts ; and with this view he revifed his 

 treatife on Linear PerfpeAive, which appeared in a new and 

 enlarged form. Drawing was alfo a favourite amufement. 

 His treatife on Linear Perfpedlive, which has been held 

 among mathematicians in the higheft eftimation, pro- 

 duced at this time a controverfy, which terminated in a very 

 ferious mifunderftanding, between him and J. Bernouilli. 

 This treatife, abftrufe to thofe who confult it for mere 

 praftical purpofes, was rendered more plain and perfpicuous 

 by Mr. Kirby, in an edition, entitled " Brook Taylor's 

 Perfpeftive made eafy." Our author's anfwer to BernouiDi 

 is preferved in the 30th volume of the Phil. Tranf. Soon 

 after his return to England in 1 721, he publifhed the laft 

 paper that appears with his name in the Phil. Tranf. en- 

 titled " An Experiment made to afcertain the Proportion 

 of Expanfion of Liquor in the Thermometer, with regard 

 to the Degree of Heat." 



Dr. Taylor was twice married : his fecond wife was a 

 daughter of John Sawbridge, efq. of Olantigh in Kent. 

 On the death of his father, in 1729, he fucceeded to the 

 family eftate of Bifrons in Kent, and in the following year 

 his wife died in child-bed. About this time he probably 

 •Arrote the effay, entitled «' Contemplatio Philofophica," 



publilhed by fir W. Young m 1793. But though hi:i 

 mind might have thus obtained temporary relief, he furvived 

 his wife little more than a year, and died of a decline in the 

 46th year of his age, December 1731. " I am fpared," 

 fays his defcendant, " the neceffity of clofing this biogra- 

 phical flcetch with a prolix detail of^his charaAer, in the beft 

 acceptation of duties, relative to each fituation of life in 

 which he was engaged ; his own writings, and the writings of 

 thofe who beft knew him, prove him to have been the finished 

 Chriftian, gentleman, and fcholar." Life by his grandfon, 

 fir William Young, prefixed to his Pofthumous Works. 



Taylor, Jekemy, an eminent divine and prelate of the 

 eftablifhed church in Ireland, was the fon of a barber at 

 Cambridge, where he was born in the early part of the 1 7th 

 century. At the age of 13 he was admitted at Gonville 

 and Caius college in the univerfity of that place, where he 

 remained till he took the degree of M.A. Having taken 

 orders, he occafionally preached in London, and obtained by 

 the intereft of archbifhop Laud, in 1636, a fellowfiiip of 

 All Souls' college, Oxford. Here he refifted attempts 

 that were made to profelyte him to popery, and became 

 more eftabliftied in Proteftant principles. Laud appointed 

 him one of his chaplains, and procured for him the reAory 

 of Uppington, in which he fettled about the year 1640, at 

 which time he furrendered his fellowfhip and married. In 

 1642 he was chaplain in ordinary to Charles I., and ferved 

 his caufe by writing in defence of the church of England. 

 When the parhamcnt became viftorious, his living was 

 fequeftered, and he retired into Wales, where he was Itindly 

 received by the earl of Carbery, of Golden Grove, neai" 

 Llandilo, in Carmarthenlhire ; under whofe prote(Sion he 

 exercifed his miniftry, and kept a fchool for the fupport of 

 his family. In this ftate of retirement, he compofed thofe 

 difcourfes, which caufed him to be held in high eftimation, 

 as one of the firft writers in the Englifli language, " with 

 refpeft to fertility of conception, eloquence of expreffion, 

 and comprehenfivenefs of thought." At this period the 

 death of three hopeful fons difturbed his tranquillity, and 

 rendered it necefTary for him to change the fcene and to 

 remove to London, where he cxpofed himfelf to confiderable 

 danger by officiating in a private congregation of loyalifts. 

 Invited by Edward lord Conway to his feat at Portmore in 

 the county of Antrim, he remained in Ireland until the 

 Reftoration. On that event he came over to England, and in 

 January 1660- 1, his fervices were recompenfed by the pro- 

 motion to the fees of Down and Connor. He was alfo 

 made privy-counfellor of Ireland, and appointed to the ad- 

 miniftration of the bifhopric of Dromore, and honoured with 

 the oihce of vice-chancellor to the univerfity of Dublin. In 

 thefe high and refponfible ftations he paid fedulous atten- 

 tion to his official duties, exhibited an example of piety, 

 humihty, and charity ; and employed fo great a part of his 

 income in doing good, both privately and publicly, that 

 when he died at Lifburne in 1667, he left only moderate 

 portions to his three daughters. His perfon was comely, 

 his manners were polite, his voice was melodious, and his 

 converfation was agreeable. Of his works, which were 

 numerous, confifting chiefly of fermons and devotional pieces, 

 and printed in four, and alfo in fix volumes, folio, the 

 nioft remarkable is entitled, " Theologia Ecleftica, or a 

 Difcourfe on the Liberty of Prophefying ; fhewing the un- 

 reafonablenefs of prefcribing to other men's faith, and the 

 iniquity of perfecuting different opinions," 410. firft pub- 

 lilhed in 1647. The author, when this book was written, 

 belonged to a vanquiftied and perfecuted party ; and he 

 ftrongly and boldly pleads for liberty of confcience, and the 

 rights of individuals to iudge for themfelves in matters of 



religion* 



