The LIFE of JOHN SWAMMERDAM. | xiii 
Bees fhould be publifhed in Dutch as well as Latin, as difplaying the wifdom 
and power of God in fo particular a manner. The little portion of life, that 
he enjoyed after this difpofal of his worldly concerns, he gave entirely to his 
{piritual ones, {pending his whole time in acts of love and adoration of the 
Supreme Being, and thus ended his courfe the feventeenth of February follow- 
ing. He conftituted Magaret Volckers, wife of Daniel de Hoeft, do&or of 
phyfic, his heirefs, and her and Chriftopher Van Wyland his executors, but 
‘Van Wyland dying foon after, the truft devolved wholly into the hands of 
Madam Volckers. 
As foon as our author’s executors had performed the laft rites due to 
their deceafed friend, Mr. Ort at their requeft gave Mr. Thevenot notice of 
the legacy left him in Wingendorp’s hands; for Swammerdam being little 
verfed in the Latin, in which notwithftanding he was defirous of feeing 
all his works publifhed, had given them to Wingendorp to tranflate into 
that language, as he had before done our author’s writings on the uterus. 
“Thevenot on this wrote feveral times to doctor de Hoeft, to defire he 
fhould immediately caufe his legacy to be delivered him; but Wingendorp, 
who was poor, and lived by his tranflations into various languages, after 
endeavouring by a thoufand frivolous pretexts to make a property of what 
he had only been entrufted with, at laft openly declared he would return 
nothing till compelled to it by due courfe of law. Upon this therefore 
a tedious and troublefome lawfuit enfued, in which however Thevenot 
at laft obtained a decree in his favour in May mpcixxxt1, when Swam- 
merdam’s papers in the hands of Wingendorp were delivered to Burcher . 
de Volder, a celebrated profeflor of anatomy and mathematics, whom 
Thevenot had engaged as a friend ‘to take his intereft in hand, and without 
whofe diligence and prudent management, it is poflible that Thevenot 
would have loft his legacy. As foon as Thevenot heard of his friend’s 
fuccefs, he gave orders to have the writings in queftion publifhed in Dutch, 
but foon altered his opinion, and fent for them. He then attempted fome 
alterations in them, as I could difcover by the erafements made here and 
there with his own hand; but in this he fell thort of anfwering Swam- 
merdam’s intentions, though probably only for want of abilities fuitable 
to fuch a tafk. Be that as it will, this valuable treafure, after Thevenot’s 
death, was purchafed by Joubert the king’s painter, whofe heirs afterwards 
fold it at the inconfiderable price of fifty French crowns to the: illuftrious 
Jofeph du Verney, with whom they lay hid and difregarded for a long 
time, At laft a report prevailing that the anatomy of infedéts was coming 
into great vogue, and that a hiftory of this part of the creation, compofed 
by the great anatomift juft now {poken of, was upon the point of ap- 
pearing at Paris, I requefted William Sherard my gueft at that time, and 
moft intimate friend, to obtain fome certainty for me in regard to this 
report, as he was then about making a journey into France. Accor- 
dingly on his arrival at Paris, he wrote that Swammerdam’s works were 
in the hands of Monfieur du Verney, and even fent me fome copper-~ 
plates after the drawings of our author, which when I examined, ferved 
only to excite my ambition of aflerting the right of my country to the 
honour of having produced the originals, and making without lofs of time 
all the inquiries I judged neceflary for that important end. At laft, by 
the afliftance of the reverend Mark Guitton, and the eminent William 
Roell, profeffor of anatomy at Amfterdam, both then tefiding in Paris, 
I fo far fucceeded, that they were purchafed for me the twenty-fixth of 
d 
March, 
