I. o w 



LOW 



believer in the Chrillian revelation, fo he had imbibed the" 

 fpirit which it recommends ; and thofe virtues and duties 

 ■which he inculcated upon others he carefully praftifed 

 himfelf. Ciojr Brit. 



LOW^DSITZ, in Geography, a town of Bohemia, in the 

 circle of Leitmeritz ; four miles W.S.W. of Leitmeriiz. 

 N. lat. 50 50'. E. long. 14" 9'. 



LOVVOWECH, or Neustat, a town of the duchy of 

 Warfaw; ^3 miles W. of Pofen. 



LOWREY, a town of Hlndooflan, in the circar of 

 Gohnd ; 36 miles E.S.E. of Raat. 



LOWTAIAH, a town of Algiers ; 27 miles S. of 

 Tubnah. 



LOWTH, William, in B'wgrnphy, a learned Englifh 

 divine and commentator of the fcriptures, fon of an apo- 

 thecary, was born in the parifli of St. Martin's, Ludgate, 

 in the city of London, in the year 1661 : he was inftrufted 

 in the clafTics at Merchant Taylors' fchool, and made fuch 

 progrefs iii them that he was deemed fully qualified for 

 the univerfity before he was quite fourteen years of age, 

 and was accordingly elefted from thence into St. John's 

 college, Oxford, in 1675. ^^^ took his <iegree of M. A. in 

 1683, and proceeded bachelor of divinity in 1688. His 

 firil publication was "A Vindication of the divine Autho- 

 rity and Infpiration of the Old and New Teftament,'' in 

 anfwer to Le Clerc's famous five letters on this fubjeft. 

 This work attracted public notice, and he was appointed 

 chaplain to Dr. Mew, bilTiop of Winchefter, and ihortly 

 promoted to a prebend in th; cathedral church of that fee, 

 and to a redory in Hampfiiire. Mr. Lowth ne.^t publish- 

 ed a fmall piece, which has been very frequently reprinted, 

 entitled " Directions for the profitable reading of the Holy 

 Scriptures," Sec. In 17 14 he publilhed two fermons, and 

 alfo " A Commentary on the Prophet Ifaiah," in quarto, 

 which was followed, in 1718, by "A Commentary on the 

 Prophet Jeremiah." In 1 723 he gave the world his " Com- 

 mentary on the Prophet Ezekiel,'' and foon after one on 

 Daniel, and the minor prophets. Thefe illuitrations of the 

 prophecies were afterwards collected in a folio volume, as a 

 continuation of biihop Patrick's Commentary on the other 

 parts of the Old Teliament, in which form they have been 

 frequently reprinted. Mr. Lowth, though an able fcrip- 

 ture expofitor, was a good general fcholar, and furnillied 

 Dr. Potter, afterwards archbifliop of Canterhiury, with notes 

 on Clemens Alexandrinus, which were publilhed, with the 

 author's name to each, in the doftor's edition of that father. 

 He communicated to Dr. Hudfon remarks on Jofephus, of 

 which that editor availed himfelf, and acknowledged his 

 obligations in the preface to his edition of the Jewifli hillo- 

 rian. To the labours of Mr. Lowth many other learned 

 men and valuable writers have been indebted, befides thofe 

 above referred to. He died in 1732, being in tile leventy- 

 third year of his age. He was ditlinguiihed for unafFedted 

 piety, a mod exemplary zeal in the difcharge of the palloral 

 functions, and for an unremitting defire of being ufcfnl' to 

 his pariihioners. Biog. Brit. 



Lowth, Robert, fon of the preceding,wasborn at Win- 

 chefler in the year 1710. Here he was educated in gram- 

 mar learning at the fchool founded by William of Wykeham, 

 in which he acquired an accurate knowledge of the Greek 

 and Roman claffics, and made confiderable progrefs in 

 oriental hterature. Even at fchool he difcovered a poetical 

 genius, and among other pieces which he wrote at that 

 perio'd, was a beautiful poem on " The Genealogy of 

 Chriit," as it is reprefented on the eaft window of Win- 

 chefter college chapel ; and another, which appeared in tlie 

 twenty-third volume of the Gentleman's Magazine, entitled 



" Catherine's Hill," the place where the Winchefter fcho- 

 lars are allowed to play on hofidays. In 1 7 28, he was 

 fent to New coihge, Oxford, of which inflitution he was 

 eledted a fellow iti 1734: took his degree as M.A, in 

 1737, and was, in 1741, elected profeffor of poetry in the 

 univerfity of Oxford. In the difcharge of the duties of this 

 office he delivered his " Prslefliones" on Hebrew poetry, 

 which will be noticed more at large hereafter. His firft 

 preferment in the church was the redtory of Ovingdon, in ' 

 Hampfhire, to which he n-as prefented by bifhop Hoadly. 

 In 1748, Mr. Lowth accompanied Mr. LcRgo, afterwards 

 chancellor of the exchequer, to Berlin, uho went to that 

 CO .rt in a public charafter, and with whom, from his. ear- 

 liell years, he lived on ter.i.s of the moll uninterrupted 

 friendihip. In the following year be undertook the charge 

 of the fons of the duke of Devonftiire, as travelling tutor 

 on the continent. The duke was fo thoroughly fatisfied 

 with the conduft of Mr. Lowth in this office, liiat he after- 

 wards proved his fteady friend and patron. In 1 750 he 

 was appointed archdeacon of Wincheder, and three year* 

 after he was prefented to the reftory of Eaft Woodhay, 

 in the county of Southampton. lii 17^3 he publiflied his 

 work already mentioned, entitled " De facra PoeC He- 

 brieorum Praeleftiones Academicse ;" of which he gave 

 the public an enlarged edition in 1763, in two volumes 8vo. 

 The fecond volume confills of additions made to the work 

 by the celebrated Michaelis. This work, though entitled 

 oiily " Ledtures on Hebrew Poetry," will be found '< An 

 excellent compendium of all the betl rules of talie, and of 

 all the principles of compofition, illullrated by the boldcft 

 and moll exalted fpecimens of genius, which antiquity has 

 tranfniitted to us, and which have fcldom fallen under the 

 infpection of rational criticilm. But thefe lectures teach 

 us not only tafte, but virtue ; not only to admire and revere 

 the fcriptures, but to profit by their precepts. The au- 

 thor has penetrated into the very fanftuaries of Hebrew- 

 literature ; lie'has inveRigated, with a degree of precifion 

 which few critics have attained, the very nature and cha- 

 racter of their compofition : by accurately examining, and 

 cautioufly comparing every part of the lacrcd writings ; by 

 a force of genius, which could enter into the very defign 

 of the authors ; and by a comprehenfivenefs of mind, whick 

 could embrace, at a fingle view, a vaft feries of correfpond» 

 ing palTages, he has difcovered the manner, the fpirit, the 

 idiom of the original, and has laid down fuch axioms as 

 cannot fail to facilitate our knowledge and underllan'ding of 

 the fcriptures." Such is the opinion of this work given 

 by the tranflator of i', the late Dr. George Gregory. 

 Subjoined to the " Prileftiones" is " A fhort Confutation 

 of Bifhop Hare's Syllem of Hebrew Metre,'' In the year 

 1754, the univerfity of Oxford honoured the author with t'ne 

 degree of doCtor of divinity, and in the following year he 

 was nominated firft chaphiin to the marquis of Hartington, 

 lord lieutenant of Ireland. Thither he accompanied that 

 nobleman, and was, in a fliort time, offered the biihopric of 

 Limerick, which however he exchanged for fome prefer, 

 ment in the county of Durham, in his own country. In 

 1 758, Dr. Lowth preached a fermon at Durham, on Free 

 Enquiry in Matters of Religicn, which has been frequently 

 reprinted. In the fame year he pubhdied his " Life of 

 Wykeham, Lilhop of Wincheiler," and founder of the col- 

 leges in which lie had received his education. His next 

 piece has been exceedingly popular in our fchools, though 

 now generally fuperfcded by a work of the fame kind by 

 Mr. l.,indley Murray, w's. " .'\n Introdudtiou to Engliih 

 Grammar.'' Paffmg over a coiitrovcrfv between Dr. Lowth 

 and Dr. Waiburton, which did not rcHc^ mr.cli credit on 

 " ■ 3 V 2 tUa 



