£6 Memoirs of Dr. Waring. 
thufiafm of liberty, it alfo ached under 
the fevere humiliations of a conftrained 
captivity. 
In this diftreffing embarrafsment, the 
Earl of Moira, whofe miad and whofe 
conduct do honour to human nature, re- 
ceived intimation of the Duke’s confine- 
ment; and, by his interference and friend- 
fhip, Biron was liberated. ‘But the pow- 
‘erof legal profecution had only augmented 
the enthufiafm of freedom; and ,he re- 
turned to Paris, to unite with the moft po- 
pular leaders ofthe revolution, 
‘here he renewed his friendfhip with 
the Duke of Orleans (who had affumed the 
title of Egalité); and, by his influence, 
sas prevailed on to/take the command of 
the army of La Vendée. Whether Biron 
feit the dreadful effects of anarchy, while 
he hourly received accounts of maflacres 
and horrers; or whether the fufferings of 
the ill-fated and perfecuted Marie An- 
toinette impreffed his fenfible and philan- 
thropic mind, is not clearly afcertained ; 
but he certainly evinced an imattivity of 
foul, which terminated in his deftructien. 
He was recalled to Paris, deprived of the 
rank which he held im the army; impri- 
foned ;. and executed ! 
Here let the fenfible reader beftow a 
tear, while-refleCtion fhews the progrefs of 
Biron’s fall from power to degradation ; 
from the moft {plendid altitudes of fame 
and fortune, to the gloomy platform of 
the guillotine! and, while memory tran- 
{cribes his many virtues, his gallant ac- 
tions, his amiable fenfibility, and his ro- 
mantic enthufiafm on the page of Time, let 
Pity efface with her fpontaneous tears, 
the frailties of human nature, and the Jaft 
dad clofe of his unfortunate deftiny. 
M. R. 
Sa : 
SOME ACCOUNT OF DOCTOR WARING, 
THE LATE CELEBRATED MATHE- 
MATICIAN. 
EDWARD WARING, Lucafan Pro- 
feffor of Mathematics in the Univerfity 
of Cambridge, was the fon ofa wealthy far- 
mer, of the Old Heath, near Shrewibury. 
The early part of his education he re- 
ceived at the free-fchool in Shrewfbury ; 
whence he removed to Cambridge, and 
was admitted on the 24th of March 1753 
a member of Magdalen College. Here his 
talents for abfirufe calculation foon de- 
veloped themfelves, and, at the time of 
taking his degree, he was confidered as a 
prodigy in thofe fciences which make the 
fubjeéct of the bachelor’s examination. The 
name of Ssnior Wrangler-or the firft of 
. the year was thought fcarcely a. fuficient 
proofs of their qualifications. 
-and- abroad. 
[Feb. 3, 
honour to diftinguith one whi fo far out- 
fhone his cotemporaries; and the merits of 
John Jebb were fufficiently acknowledged, 
by being the fecond in the lift. Waring 
took his firft, or bachelor’s degree, in 
1757, and the Lucafian Profeflorfhip be- 
came vacant before_he was of fufficient 
ftanding for the next, or Mafter’s degree, 
which is a neceffary qualification for that 
office. This defect was fupplied by a 
royal mandate, through which. he became 
Mafer of Arts in 1769; and,_fhortly after 
his admiffion to this degree, the Lucafian 
profeffor. 
The royal mandate is too frequently a 
fcreen for indolence ; and it isnow become 
almoft a cuftom, that heads of colleges, who 
ought to fet theexample in difcipline toothers 
are the chief violaters of it, by making their 
officea pretext for taking their Doétor’s de- _ 
gree in Divinity, without performing 
thofe exercifes which were defigned ag 
Such indo- 
lence cannot be imputed to Waring; yet 
feveral circumftances previous to his elec- | 
tion into the profeflorial chair, difcovered 
that there was, at leaft, one perfon in the 
Univerfity who difapproved of the antici- 
pation of degrees by external influence. — 
Waring, before his election, gave a {mall 
fpecimen of his abilities, as proof of his 
qualifications for the ofticewhich he was then 
foliciting ; and a controverfy on his merits 
enfued: Dr. Powell, the mafter of St. 
John’s College, attacking, in two pam- 
phlets, the Profeflor ; and his friend, after- 
wards Judge Wilfon, defending. ‘The 
attack was {carcely warranted by the er- 
rers in the f{pecimen; and the abundant 
proofs of talents in the exercife of the profef- 
-forial office are the beft anfwers to the 
farcafms which the learned divine amufed 
himfelf in cafting onrifing merit. An of- 
fice held by a Barrow, a Newton, @ 
Whifton, a Cotes, and a Sanderfon, 'muft ° 
excite an ingenuous mind to the greateft 
exertions ; and the new profeffor, whatever . 
may have been his fuccefs, did not fall 
behind any of his predeceffors, in either 
zeal for the {cience, or application of the 
powers of his mind to extend its bounda- 
ries. In176z, he publifhed his Mifcella- 
nea Analytica, one of the moft abftrufe 
books written on the abftrufeft parts of Al- 
gebra. ‘This work extended his fame over 
all Europe. He was elected, ‘without fo- 
licitation en his part, member of the fo- 
cieties cf Rononia and. Gottingen; and 
received flattering marks of efteem from 
the moft eminent mathematicians at home 
The difficulty of this work 
may be prefumed from the writer's own | 
words, 
