172 COO 
the adversaries and anfwerers of lord Shaftefbury 
and his principles: fuch however has been his fate, 
that, while fome, only captivated with his'wit and hu¬ 
mour, have highly extolled him for thing's delivered 
perhaps too freely, though bearing no relation to his 
phdolbphy,, and others on the oppofite fide have been 
wholly employed in cenfuring tlie'fe freedoms; his real 
fyftem and opinions have in a manner been overlooked, 
or treated at lead as a vifionary fcheme of his' own in¬ 
venting, to idolize moral virtue : though they may be 
proved in every part t.o be infadt. no other than the 
concurring fentiments of the bed writers among the an¬ 
cients. Even thofe who have didinguifhed themfelves 
bv' their dire 61 oppolition to' many of the fentiments 
which occur in the Charadteriftics, have neverthelefs 
mixed no fmall degree of applaufe with their cenfures. 
<l I have again perufed, with frefli pleafure and frefh 
cencern (fays Dr. Balguy, late archdeacon of Winchef- 
ter, in his Letter to a Deid,) the volumes of Charac- 
teriftics. I heartily widi the noble author had been as 
unprejudiced in writing as I was in reading. If he had, 
I ain perluaded his readers would have found double 
pleafure and double inftrudtion. It feems to me, that 
his lord(liip had little or no temptation to ptirfue any 
Angularities of opinion by way of didindfion. His fine 
genius would fufficiently have didinguifhed him from 
vulgar authors in the high road of truth and lenfe ; on 
which account his deviations feem the more to be la¬ 
mented. The purity and politenefs of his dyle, and 
the delicacy of his fentiments, are and mud be acknow¬ 
ledged by all readers of tade and lincerity. But neyer- 
thelefs, as his beauties are not eafy to be overlooked, fo 
neither are his blemifhes. His works appear to be 
ftained with fo many grofs errors, and his fine thoughts 
are fo often mingled with ahfurdities, that however we 
maybe charmed with the one, we are forced to condemn 
the other.” Dr. Balguy hath farther obferved, with 
regard to the Inquiry concerning Virtue, which is the 
immediate objedt of his animadverfion, that though he 
cannot agree in every particular contained in it, he finds 
little more to do than to tell how much he admires; 
and that he thinks it indeed, in the main, a performance 
fo juft and exadt, as to deferve higher prailes than he is 
able to give it. 
COO'PER (Maurice Alhley), a very learned Englifh 
nobleman, fon to the fecond earl of Shaftelbury, and 
brother to the third, who was author of the Charadter¬ 
iftics. He tranflated Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, or the In- 
ftitutions of Cyrus ; to which he has prefixed a philo- 
fophical dedication, addreffed to his lifter, who was mo¬ 
ther of the late Mr. Karris of Salifbury, and conie- 
quently grandmother of lord Malmelbury. It was firft 
printed in two volumes, odtavo, 1728, foon after his de- 
ceafe : it palled through another edition, and a third 
was printed in 1770, “not with the eclat of popular ap¬ 
plaufe, but with the filent approbation of a ftudious few.” 
COOJPER (Thomas), a learned Englifh biftiop, born 
at Oxford about 1517, and educated in the fchool ad¬ 
joining to Magdalen-college, where he was made perpe¬ 
tual fellow. He quitted his fellowfhip in 1546 ; and 
when queen Mary came to the crown, applied himfelf 
to the ftud.y of phyfic, and, taking a bachelor’s degree, 
pradtifed at Oxford. He did this becaufe he was inclined 
to the proteftant religion; and therefore, upon the death 
of'that queen, returned to his former ftudy of divinity. 
In March 1567, he took the degree of dodtor of divinity, 
and about that time was made dean of Chrift-clmrch. In 
- 1569 he was made dean of Gloucester, and the year after 
biftiop of Lincoln. Upon the difeovery of Parry’s trea- 
fon, he drew up an order of prayer and thankfgiving for 
the preservation of the queen’s life and fafety, to be ufed 
in the diocefe of Winchefter ; and, November 17, 15S8, 
preached at St. Paul’s crofs, that being a day of public 
thankfgiving, as well for the queen’s acceffiori, as for 
the victory obtained over the Spanilh armada. lie died 
x 
PER. 
at Winchefter, in April 1594, and was buried in the ca¬ 
thedral there. His writings were, 1. The Epitome of 
Chronicles from the feventeenth Year after Chrift to 
1540, and thence to 1560. 2. Thefaurus Linguae Ro¬ 
manic & Britannicie, &c. and, Didtionarium Hiftoricuni 
& foeticum, 1565, folio. This dictionary was fo much 
efteemed by queen Elizabeth, that fhe endeavoured, as 
Wood tells us, to promote the author for it in the church 
as high as the could. It is an improvement of Biblio¬ 
theca Lliota, Eliot’s Library or Dictionary, printed in 
1541; or, as fome think, it is taken out of Robert Ste¬ 
phens’s Thefaurus Linguae Latinae, and Frifii Lexicon 
Latino-Teutonicum. 3. A brief Expofition of Inch 
Chapters of the Old Teltament as ultially are read in the 
Church on the Sundays throughout the Year, 1573, 4to. 
4. A Sermon at Lincoln, 1575, 8vo. 5. Twelve Ser¬ 
mons, 1580, 4to. 6. An Admonition to the People of 
England, wherein are unfwered not only the ilanderous 
Untruths reproachfully uttered by Martin the Libeller, 
but alfo many other Crimes by fome of his Brood, ob¬ 
jected generally againft all Bithops and the chief of the 
Clergy, 1589, 4to. This was an anfwer to John ap 
Henry’s books againft the eftablilhed church, publifhed 
under the name of Martin Mar-Prelate. Ap Henry, or 
his club of puritans, replied to the billiop’s book in two 
ludicrous pamphlets, intitled, “ Ha’ ye any Work for a 
Cooper ?” and “ More Work for a Cooper.” 
COO'PER (Samuel), an eminent Englifh painter, was 
born in London in 1609, and bred under the care and 
difeipline of Mr. Hofkins, his uncle ; but derived the 
moft confiderable advantages from his obfervations on 
the works of Van Dyck, infomuch that'he.was commonly 
fliled the Van Dyck in little. His pencil was generally 
confined to a head only ; and indeed below that part he 
was not always fo fuccefsful as could be wiffied. But 
for a face, and all the dependencies of it, namely the 
graceful and becoming air, the ftrength, relievo, and 
noble fpirit, the foftnefs and tender livelinefs of flefh 
and blood, and the loofenefs and gentle management of 
the hair, his talent was fo extraordinary, that, for the 
honour of our nation, it may without vanity be affirmed, 
he was at leaft equal to the moft famous Italians; and 
that hardly any one of his predecell'ors has ever been able 
to fliew fo much perfedtion in fo narrow a compafs. The 
high prices of his works, and the great efteem in which 
they were held at Rome, Venice, and in France, were 
abundant proofs of their great worth, and extended the 
fame of this mafter throughout Europe. He fo far ex¬ 
ceeded his mafter and uncle Hofkins, that the latter be¬ 
came jealous of him; and finding that the court was 
better pleafed with his nephew’s performances than with 
Iris, he-took him into partnerfhip with him. His jealoufy 
increafed, and he dilfolved it ; leaving our artift to fet 
up for himfelf, and to carry, as he djd, moft of the bu- 
finefs of that time before him. He drew Charles II. and 
his queen, theduchefsof Cleveland, the duke of York, and 
moft of the court; but the two moft famous pieces of his 
were thofe of Oliver Cromwell, and of Swing-field. The 
French king offered one hundred and fifty pounds for the 
former, but could not have it; and Cooper carrying the 
latter with him to France, it was much admired there, 
and introduced him into the fftvour of that court. He 
likewife did feveral large pieces for the court of Eng¬ 
land; for which his widow received a penfion during her 
life from the crown. Anfwerable to Cooper’s abilities 
in painting, was his fkill in mufic. He fpent feveral 
years abroad, was perfonally acquainted with the greateft 
men of France, Holland, and his own country, and by 
his works was uniyerfally known in all parts of Chriften- 
dom. He.died at London in 1672, aged fixty-three, and 
was buried in Pancras churCh in the fields.—He had an 
elder brother, Alexander Cooper, who, together with 
him, was alfo brought up by Hofkins, their uncle. Alex¬ 
ander performed well in miniature ; and going dbroad, 
became limner to Chriltina queen of Sweden. He alfo 
