S A I 
S A I 
nished powers, in what he, doubtless, thought useful instruc¬ 
tion to his countrymen and mankind. His last work pub¬ 
lished during his life, was “ Letters on the Spirit of Patriot¬ 
ism, and the Idea of a Patriot King,” 1749 ; at which 
period, the prospect of the succession of a prince indebted to 
no party for his crown, seemed to him a proper opportunity 
to inculcate the royal lesson of governing upon pare patriotic 
principles. He died'at Battersea, in November, 1751, at the 
age of 79, and was interred in the church of that place. 
His second wife died some years before him, and he had no 
issue by either marriage. 
The political character of Lord Bolingbroke is sufficiently 
elucidated by the history of his life. It was manifestly that 
of a confident and ambitious man, who could ill brook a 
superior, and was little scrdpulous in the pursuit of power, or 
the gratification of resentment. As a conspicuous figure in 
the literary annals of his time, he demands a more particular 
consideration. It is agreed that among the prose writers of 
his age (indeed, of any age of English literature), scarcely 
any one can be found who has united more excellences of 
style; his elegance, perspicuity, and strength, being accom¬ 
panied with that graceful ease which is rarely to be met with 
in those who have not been conversant with business and the 
world. When he appears as the correspondent of Swift and 
Pope, amidst a constellation of wits, he is distinguished by a 
polished freedom and air of good company, v/hich consti¬ 
tute the perfection of epistolary writing; and in his more 
elaborate compositions, he is equally free from the marks of 
effort or constraint. “ Whatever subjects (says Lord Ches¬ 
terfield) he either speaks or writes upon, he adorns with the 
most splendid eloquence; not a studied or laboured eloquence, 
but a flowing happiness of diction, which is become so habitual 
to him, that even his most familiar conversations would bear 
the press without the least correction as to method or style.” 
With respect to the matter of his writings, those on political 
subjects are in great measure of temporary interest, and tinged 
with his own particular views; but the Letters on History, 
and those on Patriotism, are of more general import. In 
the opinion of some critics, however, they are rather super¬ 
ficial and declamatory, than solid and profound. As a 
philosophical moralist, his sentiments are displayed with 
great brilliancy in Pope’s “ Essay on Man,” of which cele¬ 
brated poem the plan and design are avowedly his, and 
some of the finest illustrations, which are most admired in 
their poetical dress, have been found sketched by him in 
prose. To Pope he was, indeed, for many years, the “ guide, 
philosopher, and friend,” the object of his highest admira¬ 
tion and warmest attachment: nor is there a more finished 
passage in all that poet’s works, than the encomiastic address 
to this nobleman, which concludes the Essay. Bolingbroke, 
however, was more directly exhibited to the public in the 
characters of an ethical and theological writer, in his posthu¬ 
mous works. By his will he had left all his manuscripts to 
David Mallet, who, in 1753 and 1754, published “ The 
Works of the late Right Hon. Henry St. John Viscount Bo¬ 
lingbroke, complete in 5 vols. 4to.” Of these volumes, a 
considerable part was occupied by “ Letters or Essays, 
addressed to Alexander Pope, Esq., on Religion and Philo¬ 
sophy.” In them he appeared as a .declared theist and op- 
pugner of divine revelation; and in so formidable a light 
were his attacks upon the religion of his country viewed, that 
the grand jury of Westminster made a formal presentment 
of them as tending “ to the subversion of religion, govern¬ 
ment, and morality.” It is not necessary here to enter into 
a particular survey of his opinions and reasonings, upon 
topics on which he is judged to have entered with more con¬ 
fidence than his extent of learning would warrant. He is 
charged, indeed, with being at least as dogmatical as those 
whose systems he attempts to overthrow ; and, although in 
his censures of the abuse of authority in matters of religion 
and philosophy, and his exposures of ecclesiastical frauds and 
usurpations, he speaks the sentiments of many rational friends 
of revelation ; the arrogance of his tone, and the unmeasured 
reproaches which he casts upon divines of all denominations, 
Vox;. XXII. No. 1522. 
553 
cannot but offend every candid reader. His writings met 
with more effectual and appropriate refutation than the pre¬ 
sentment of a grand jury; and their effects on the public 
opinion seem to have been much less than either the friends 
or the enemies of revealed religion expected. Biogr. Bri¬ 
tan. Month/. Rev. 
SAINT JOHN’S BREAD. See Ceratonia. 
SAINT JOHN’S WORT. See Hypericum. 
ST. JOSEPH, a fort built by the French, in the country 
of Gallam, on the upper part of the Senegal, with the view 
of carrying on their trade in gold and slaves with Bambouk, 
Bambarra, and other countries in the interior. It has always, 
however, been maintained with difficulty, on account of 
the hostility of the natives; and in the course of the late war 
with Great Britain, the French were obliged to abandon all 
their settlements in this part of Africa. Since the peace, 
they have been making efforts to re-establish them; but 
these have been considerably delayed by the disasters attend¬ 
ing the first expedition sent out in the Medusa frigate. 
SAINT-LAMBERT (Charles Francis de), was born at 
Nancy, in 1717, and became distinguished in the republic of 
letters: he was admitted a member of the French academy, 
and afterwards of the National Institute. He died in 1802. 
His principal works are, “ The Feats of Love,” a comedy ; 
“ Essay on Luxury ;” “ The Four Parts of the Day;” 
“ The Seasons,” which, it is said, Voltaire preferred to the 
works of Thomson on the same subject; and “Oriental 
Tales.” 
ST. LOUIS, a town built by the French, at the mouth 
of the Senegal, with the view of carrying on their trade upon 
that river, and with the interior of Africa. See Senegal. 
ST. LUCIA, one of the smaller Cape de Verd Islands, 
situated between St. Nicholas and St. Antonio. It is about 
24 milesjn length, and 5 in breadth, rugged and mountain¬ 
ous. It contains no inhabitants, but is filled with bullocks, 
goats, and asses, which the inhabitants of the neighbouring 
islands join in hunting. It contains two good bays, but the 
channel between it and St. Vincent, is rocky and dangerous. 
ST. MARY, a small island, one the Azores. It does not, 
like the rest, contain any volcanic remains, though it bears 
traces of the action of an earthquake. The soil is a loose and 
friable clay, extremely fitted for the culture of wheat, which 
is exported to St. Michael’s, to the annual amount of about 
1500 tons. The island contains also a species of earth fit 
for pottery. Nearly the whole is the property of a single 
convent. Lat. 37. N. long. 25, 6. W. 
ST. MATTHEW, a small island in the Atlantic ocean, at 
aconsiderable distance from the coast of Africa, and about 300 
miles due north from that of Ascension. It was discovered 
in the year 1516, by the Portuguese, who formed a settle¬ 
ment upon it, which is used by vessels for the purpose of 
obtaining refreshments. Lat. 1, 45. S. long. 13. W. 
ST. MAWES, a small borough town of England, in the 
county of Cornwall, situate on a neck of land, Ion the east 
side of the entrance into Falmouth harbour. It is chiefly 
inhabited by persons concerned in the fishery. It is governed 
by a portreeve, who is complimented with the title of mayor, 
and it sends two members to Parliament. The privilege of 
sending members was conferred in the 5th year of the reign 
of Elizabeth, and the right of election is vested in the mayor 
and resident burgesses, who at present amount to about 20. 
The town is of very remote origin, and is supposed to have 
existed prior to the days of Christianity. An ancient chapel 
was formerly in the town, but that was demolished, and a 
new one erected at the expense of the late marquis of Buck¬ 
ingham, whose family possesses the chief influence and pro¬ 
perty in the borough. St. Mawes’ castle is nearly opposite 
that of Pendennis, which forms the chief defence of Fal¬ 
mouth harbour, but it is much inferior to that building, 
both in size and in point of situation ; the works being'com¬ 
pletely commanded by a hill, which rises immediately be¬ 
hind them. St. Mawes was built in the reign of Henry 
VIII., and in time of war has been regularly fortified and 
garrisoned. It has still an open battery in front. There 
7 B is 
