£58 JON 
JONQUIE'RES, a town of France, in the department 
of the Vauclufe: four miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Orange. 
JON'QUIL and JONQUIL'LA. See Narcissus. The 
flowers of this plant are greatly efteemed for their ftrong 
fweetfcent. Miller . 
Nor gradual bloom is wanting, 
Nor hyacinths of pureft virgin white, 
Low bent and blufhing inward 5 nor jonquilles 
Of potent fragrance. Thomfon. 
JON'SAC, a town of France, in the department of the 
Lower Charente: nine miles fouth-fouth-eaft of Pons, 
and thirteen north-north-weft of Montlieu. 
JONS'BERG, a town of Sweden, in Eaft Gothland, 
near the coaft of the Baltic : twenty-two miles eaft of 
Nordkioping. 
JON'SIUS (John), a learned German philological and 
philofophical writer in the feventeenth century, was born at 
Rendfburg in Holltein, in the year 1624.. He was educated 
in his native place, and afterwards he removed to Frankfort 
on the Maine, where he cultivated literature and philofo- 
phy wdtb great fuccefs and reputation, and died prema¬ 
turely in 1659, when only thirty-five years of age. He 
was the author of, 1. a differtation De Hijloria Peripatetica, 
which Fabricius informs us was publiflied at Hamburgh 
in 1652, 4-to. and has given occafion for much regret in 
the learned world, that other diflertations of his, in con¬ 
tinuation of the fubjeft, have never feen the light. 2. De 
Spartis aliifque nonnullis Epiftola ad Marquardum Gu- 
den, 1654. 3. De Ordine Librorum Ariftotelis Fragmen- 
tum. Both thefe pieces may Ire found in the Syntagma 
rariorum Diflertationum ex Mufaeo Joan. Geor. Grsevii, 
publifhed at Utrecht in 1702, 4-to. 4. De Scriptoribus 
Hiftoriae Philofophicse, Lib. IV. 1659, 4to. of which a 
larger edition was printed at Jena by John Chriltopher 
Dornius, in 1716, including a continuation of the work 
to the editor’s own time. Moreri. 
jfON'SON, or Johnson (Benjamin), a poet once high 
in reputation, was the pofthumous fon of a clergyman in 
Weftminfter, where he was born in 1574, about a month 
after his father’s death. His family was originally from 
Annandale in Scotland, whence his grandfather removed 
to Carliflein the reign of Henry VIII. Benjamin received 
his education at Weftminfter-fchool under the learned 
Camden, and had made an extraordinary progrefs at the 
time when his mother, who had married a bricklayer for 
her fecond hufband, took him away to work under his 
Hep-father. It was not likely that one to whom the ftores 
of claffical literature had been opened fliould acquiefce in 
a mechanical employment ; he efcaped from it by enlift- 
ing for a foldier in the army then ferving againft the Spa¬ 
niards in the Netherlands ; and an exploit which he per¬ 
formed, of killing ar\ enemy in fingle combat, gave him 
occafion to boaft ever after of a quality which has not al¬ 
ways been found in conjunction with the fpirit of poetry. 
On his return he entered himfelf at St. John’s college, 
Cambridge; but the ftate of his finances obliged him foon 
to quit this defirable refidence. An inclination which he 
felt for the ftage then induced him to apply for employ¬ 
ment at the theatres; but his talents as ari aftor could 
only obtain for him admiilion at an obfcure playhoufe in 
the fuburbs, and he was even obliged to undertake parts 
of low mimicry and ridiculous rant. The circumftjmce 
of killing a fellow-aftor in a duel, for which he was 
thrown into prifon, brought him into a ftate of mind of 
which a popifh prieft took advantage to convert him to 
the catholic faith ; and he remained attached to his new 
religion for twelve years. 
Soon after his liberation from prifon, he married, and 
let himfelf in.earneft to the bulinefs of dramatic writing, 
in which he had already made lome unfuccefsful attempts. 
The liberal kindnefs of Shakefpeare cauled him to bring 
upon his own ftage a performance of Jonfon’s which had 
been rejefted by other managers, and himfelf to aft a part 
in it. He continued to patronife the young writer, and 
JON 
occasionally lent him affiftance in flnifhing his pieces. 
Their genius, however, was fo diflimilar, that little har¬ 
mony could refult from their combined efforts; and in 
the plays of Jonfon, as they have been left to us, there 
are no traces of the hand of Shakefpeare. The firll come¬ 
dy which Jonfon printed was Every Man in his Humour, 
afted in 1598; and he continued to furnifli a play yearly, 
till his time was occupied by the compofition of the 
niafques and other entertainments with which the accef- 
fion of James was celebrated. Much pedantry and much 
adulation rendered thefe pieces grateful to his majefty ; 
yet he had nearly fallen a facrifice to his abufe of the 
Scottifii nation in a comedy entitled, Eaftward Hoe, writ¬ 
ten in conjunftion with Chapman and Marfton. The 
three compofers were committed to prifon, and threatened 
with the pillory and lofs of ears and nofes ; but a timely 
pardon prevented the difgrace. At an entertainment 
which Jonfon gave on his releafe, his mother, a woman of 
a maiculine fpirit, drank to him, and fliowed a paper of 
poifon, of which file had intended to give him a portion, 
taking the reft herfelf, had the ignominious fentence been 
perfifted in. He Continued to write with improved expe¬ 
rience, and in 1609 produced his Epicene, or Silent Wo-, 
man, accounted the molt perfefl of his comedies. His 
Alchemift, afted in the following year, alfo obtained much 
applaufe. 
A tour in France in 1613 gave Jonfon an opportunity 
to enlarge his views and refine his manners, which were 
coarfe and rude; yet in this lull particular he feems never 
much to have improved. He was honoured by an inter¬ 
view with the celebrated cardinal Perron, in which he 
very bluntly told the cardinal that his tranllation of Vir¬ 
gil was a bad one. On his return, he had the quarrel 
with Inigo Jones, as mentioned in the life of the latter, 
and ridiculed him on the ftage in a comic charafter. So 
indultrious had his mufe been, that in 1616 he publiflied a 
folio volume of his works ; and his reputation at court 
was fealed by a grant from the king of the falary of poet- 
laureat for life; the office itfelf was at this time occupied 
by another. His poetic fame caufed him to be invited 
by Dr. Corbet to Chrift-church college in Oxford ; and, 
during his agreeable vifit there, the univerfity'prefented 
him with the honorary degree of M. A. Upon the death 
of Daniel, the laureat, in 1619, Jonfon fucceeded to the 
poll. Soon after, he went to Scotland upon a vifit to the 
celebrated poet of that country, Drummond of Haw- 
thornden, and paffed fome months with him in the inti¬ 
macy of friendlhip. But, though Jonfon feems to have 
been extremely well pleafed with the interview, Drum¬ 
mond, who has left minutes of their converlation, fcruples 
not to give a very unamiable charaffer of his friend, with 
whofe rudenefs and intemperance he was probably much 
difgufted. Indeed it is acknowledged that he was not 
only deficient in courtefy, but had many radical faults of 
temper, fuch as a high degree of pride and felf-conceit, 
irritability, and pronenefs to abufe and difparage all who 
incurred his jealouly or difpleafure. He was, however, 
fond of convivial fociety ; and great traditionary fame 
has attended the club over which he prefided at the Devil- 
tavern, near Temple-bar, and for which he compofed in 
Latin a fet-of leges convivalcs. 
He continued to write mafques for the court, and now 
and then a comedy, of whidi one, afted in 1629, was 
hiffed from the ftage; and the poet revenged the infult by 
an ode to himfelf, in which he threathened to quit the 
theatre. Ills negligence and difpofition to conviviality 
likewife reduced him to necefiitous circumftances, although 
he obtained an advance of his falary as laureat to one 
hundred pounds per annum and a tierce of lack; the pay 
which, with the office, has continued to the prefent time. 
A ftory has been current, that, on hearing of his condi¬ 
tion, the king, Charles I. fent him a prefent of ten pounds, 
and that Jonlon laid to the meffenger, “ His majefty has 
fent me ten pounds, becaufe I am old and poor, and live 
in an alley ; go and tell him that his foul lives in an al- 
1 ley.” 
