volume, p. 74, of the octavo edition.. of Anarcharsis, he has drawn the characters of the Duke and Duchess de Choiseul under the names of Phédime and Arsame.

In 1789, he was urged to accept the vacant seat in the French academy; and, though he had several times before declined it from pru dence and modesty, he at length yielded to the pressing solicitation of his friends, and took his place where his reputation had gone be fore him, his voyage of Anacharsis having been published in the preceding year. Of this incomparable work, replete with taste and erudition, it is unnecessary to say more than that it is in the hands of all the world, and that it will be read again and again with unceasing de light and instruction.

D'Aiguillon, and banished to Chan teloup, where Barthelemy did not hesitate to follow him; and, when that minister was compelled to re. sign his office of general of the Swiss, he would have given up the place of secretary immediately, had not M. de Choiseul prevailed upon him to retain it until he could obtain an indemnity for it. He went therefore to Paris, and offered the surrender of his brevet to the Comte D'Affry, who refused to accept it; and, with many other considerable persons about the court, shewed a great inclination to protect Barthelemy if he would consent to give up his patron. This he positively refused to do, upon which M. D'Affry,. much to his honour, terminated the business by accepting his resig. nation, and granting him 10,000 livres out of the annual profits of the place; and Barthelemy set off the next day for Chanteloup. He was now in possession of 35,000 livres per annum, 10,000 of which he distributed annually to men of letters in distress, and enjoyed the remainder in a manner becoming a philosopher. He educated and established in the world three ne. phews; he assisted what remained of his family in Provence; and he collected a numerous and well chosen library, which he sold some years before his death. By the suppression of his places and appointments, he was, at the close of his life, reduced to great difficulties; but was never known to complain; and might be seen daily traversing Paris on foot, bent double with age and infirmity, and paying his accustomed visits to his respectable friend Madame de Choiseul. In the 5th vo lume, p. 136, and in the 7th

In 1790, on the resignation of M. le Noir, librarian to the king, that honourable post was offered to Barthelemy by M. de St. Priest, He declined it, however, being unwilling to engage in the detail f an employment that would obstruct his other literary pursuits, especially as he was now occupied in preparing for the press a work he had long meditated, namely, an exact description, and catalogue raisonnée of the rich cabinet which had been so long under his eare and inspection. In this favourite project, however, he was defeated by the peculiar circumstances of the times.

:

he with his nephew, and six other persons belonging to the public li. brary, were denounced, under pretence of aristocracy, by persons he had never seen or known. Being then at Madame de Choiseul's, he was removed from her house, and conducted to the prison called Les Magdelonettes. Though, from his great age and bodily infirmities, he was sensible he could not long survive the severity of confinement, still he submitted to his fate with that calmness and serenity of mind which conscious innocence can alone inspire. So great was the general estimation of his worth and character, that he was met at the prison gates by all the prisoners, who vied with each other in testimonies of affection and respect; and, in justice to the jailor, Vau, bertrand, it must be admitted, that he shewed him every humane attention and regard. A separate chamber was allotted to him and his nephew; where they received, On the evening of their imprisonment, an early visit from Madame de Choiseul. Such was her sen sibility and friendship for Barthelemy upon this occasion, that she, with others of his zealous friends, lost no time in going to the committees of government to convince them of the innocence and purity of the Abbe's conduct. They hastened to rectify, the mistake, and declared. they had no inten. tion of including this worthy man in the general order of arrest of all persons employed in the public library; and they immediately gave directions for his release; in consequence of which he was before midnight carried back from prison to the house of Madame de Choiseul, whence he had been taken

the same morning. In farther testimony of his virtues and talents, and to compensate in some degree for the insult offered to both, by the momentary suspicion and im. prisonment which he had sustain ed, in the October following the office of principal librarian being vacant by the death of Carra, and the resignation of Chamfort, it was offered to him in the most flattering manner; but he chose to decline it on account of his age and infirmities. These last increased visibly; and, about the beginning of 1795, being then in his 80th year, his end rapidly approached, and was probably hastened by the extreme severity of the season. He died on the 30th of April, with little corporal suffering, preserving his senses so entirely to the last, that he was reading Horace two hours before his death, and was probably unconscious of its approach.

His figure was tall, and of good proportion; and the structure of his frame seemed well adapted to support the vigorous exertions of his mind. Houdon has finished an excellent bust of this ornament of his age and country. His relations cherish his memory with filial pie ty; his friends feel his irreparable toss with constant regret to the learned he has left a model of imi. tation, and to all mankind a use ful example.

The following is a list of his works:

1. Travels of Anacharsis in Greece, in the middle of the 4th century before the Christian æra, 4 vols. 4to. 7 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1788; with a volume of maps, memoirs and descriptions, inserted in the collec tion of the Academy of Inscriptions.

2. On the Pactolus, vol. xxi. p. 19.

3. Remarks on the Medal of Xerxes, ibid. 404.

4. On the Inscription of Amyda, vol. xxiii. p. 394.

5. Essay towards a Numismatic Paleography, vol. xxiv. p. 30.

6. Dissertation on the two Samaritan Medals of Antigonus, King of Judea, ibid. p. 49.

7. Remarks on Medals published by several authors, vol. xxi. p.532.

8. Dissertation on the Arabian Medals, ibid. p. 557.

9. Reflections on the Alphabet and Language of Palmyra, ibid. P. 577.

10. Memoirs on the Monuments of Rome, vol. xxiii. p. 579.

11. Reflections on some Phoenia cian Monuments, vol. 30, p. 405. 12. Explanation of the Palestine Mosaic, ib. p. 503.

13. General Reflections on the Affinity of the Egyptian, Phoenician and Grecian Languages, vol. xxxii. .p. 212.

14. Remarks on Medals pub. lished by different authors, ib. p. 671.

15. Explanation of an Egyptian Bas-relief, and of the Phoenician In. scription which accompanies it, ib. P. 725.

16. Remarks on the Number of Pieces which were represented in the same Day on the Theatre of Athens, vol. xxxix. p. 172.

17. Remarks on the Medals of the Emperor Antonius, vol. xli. p. 501.

18. Letters to the Authors of the Journal de Seavans: on Phoe nician Medals and Inscriptions, in vol. August, 1760, 4to. p. 495; Dec. 1761, p. 871; Sept. and Nov. 1763, on Samaritan Medals, April, 1799. He wrote also many ar.

ticles in the Collection of Antiquities, by the Count de Caylus, in the Journal des Scavans for April, 1754, and June, 1760. He made the extracts of the Ruins of Balbec and Palmyra. He wrote for M. Bertin a Memoir on the Mexican Paintings; which was lost. He intended to have published a collection of all his Disser tations, with alterations and additions; which his nephew hopes one day or other to accomplish.

Character of Erasmus, from Mr. Gibbon's Posthumous Works, pub. lished by Lord Sheffield.

IF we consider the character of Erasmus, we shall be immediately struck with his extensive erudition; and that heightened by two cir

cumstances.

The

First, that he was scarcely ever fixed six months in a place (excepting at Basil) that to this wandering life, which deprived him both of books and leisure, must be added, a continued bad state of health, and the constant avocation of a vast correspondence. Second ly, that his learning was all real, and founded on the accurate peru sal of the ancient authors. numerous editions he published sufficiently evince it; and besides, those convenient compilations of all sorts, where a modern author can learn to be a profound scholar, at a very small expence, did not then exist; every thing was to be sought for in the originals them. selves. But besides this learning, which was common to many, Eras mus possessed a genius, without which no writer will ever descend to posterity; a genius which could see through the vain subtleties of the Aa+ schools,

schools, revive the laws of criti. cism, treat every subject with elo. quence and delicacy; sometimes emulate the ancients, often imitate them, and never copy them. As to his morals, they had the poor merit of being regular. In the nobler part of his character I find him very deficient. A parasite of all the great men of his time, he was neither ashamed to magnify their characters by the lowest adulation, nor to debase his own by the most impudent solicitations, to obtain presents which very often he did not want. The adventure of Eppendorf is another proof how much dearer his money was to him than his character. Notwithstanding these faults, never man enjoyed a greater personal consideration. All the scholars, and all the princes of Europe, looked upon him as an oracle. Even Charles the Fifth and Francis the First agreed in this. inquire why this happened to him rather than to some other great men of a merit equal, and perhaps superior to Erasmus, we must say that it was owing to the time when he lived; when the world, awaking from a sleep of a thousand years, all orders of men applied themselves to letters with an enthusiasm which produced in 'them the highest esteem and vene. ration for one of their principal restorers. Besides, as the general attention, from piety, from curiosity, from vanity, and from interest, was directed towards the religious disputes, a great divine was the fashionable character, and all parties endeavoured to attract or to preserve him. But to which of those parties did Erasmus adhere? His writings, and even his conduct, were olten equivocal.

He

The catholics claim him, though they acknowledge that he was of ten indiscreet. Le Clerc challenges him for the Protestants, though he blames him for not professing what he knew to have been the truth; and attributes his reserve solely to timidity and self-interest. Erasmus has certainly exposed all the grosser superstitions of the Romish worship to the ridicule of the public; and had his free opinion been taken, I believe he was a protestant upon most of the contested points. But many other motives might restrain him from a déclaration. was always persuaded, that any speculative truths were dearly pur chased at the expence of practical virtue and public peace. Besides, many considerations might make him balance as to those truths: prejudices of education, the authority of the fathers, and a natural inclination to scepticism. Add to this, that really disapprov ing many things in the protestant communion, though more in the Romish, by remaining in the loose situation of a man who was un. willing to quit the religion of his ancestors, he could blame many things in it with freedom; whereas, had he deserted it, he must either have set up a standard himself, or else have enlisted blindly under that of Luther or Ecolam. padius. It is surprizing that Eras mus, who could see through much. more plausible fables, believed firmly in witchcraft.

Anecdotes of the late Dr. James Fordyce.

From the European Magazine. THIS gentleman was one of the twenty children, by one wife, of Provost Fordyce, of Aberdeen. He received his education at the Ma

rischal

Erischal College of that place, and early devoted himself to the ministry. His first preferment, at least that we know of, was to be minister at Brechin, where he officiated as early as the year 1752. He soon after became minister of Alloa, where he remained until about the year 1760. At that period he came to London, and proposed himself as a candidate for a vacancy at the. meeting at Carter's-lane, in which he was unsuccessful. On this occasion it was objected to him as strangely inconsistent, for any person who had subscribed the articles of, the Scotch confession of faith, to offer himself in the character of a mini, ster to a dissenting congregation which had so very different a creed. This objection, however, was not sufficiently powerful to prevent his being chosen as coadjutor to Dr. Lawrence, to the Pastorship at Monkwell-street, where he continued to preach to crowded audiences, for a great number of years. In that year he was ho. noured by the university of Glasgow with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In May 1771, he married Miss Henrietta Cummyng, and in 17.75 was involved in a dispute with his coadjutor, the Rev. Thomas Toller, son-in-law of Dr. Lawrence, at first, as it. appears, in the letters published on the occasion, on account of the omission of some ceremonials of politeness, which, by want of mutual conces, sions increased, until the breach became too wide to be healed. On this occasion Dr. Fordyce took a step which was not universally approved. of by his brethren the dissenters: he engaged to do the duty both of Mr. Toller and himself; and caused the former to be

ejected, without any charge against him (for he was a man of irre. proachable character), from his office in the meeting. From this period, if we are not misinformed, the meeting itself was less attended than before, and on Dr. Fordyce's feeling the infirmities of age growing on him, the congregation by degrees dwindled away, and the house itself has been since shut up. Finding himself incapable of con tinuing his exertions as a preacher, in the manner he had been used, he retired, first into Hampshire, and then to Bath, where he died the 1st of October, 1796, at the age of 75.

The following is the list of Dr. Fordyce's works.

1. The eloquence of the pulpit. An Ordination Sermon. To which is added, A Charge. 12mo. 1752.

2. An Essay on the Action proper for the Pulpit. 12mo.

Both these are printed at the end of Theodorus. A Dialogue con. cerning the Art of Preaching. By Mr. David Fordyce. Third Edi tion. 12mo. 1975%

3. The methods of promoting Edification by Public Institutions. An Ordination Sermon. To which is added, A Charge. 12mo. 1754.

These were delivered at the Ordi nation of Mr. John Gibson, Minister of St. Ninian's, May 9, 1754.

4. The Temple of Virtue. A Dream. 12mo. 1757. The 2d Edition, much altered, 12mo. 1775.

5. The Folly, Infamy, and Mi. sery of unlawful Pleasure. A Sermon, preached before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, May 25, 1760. 8vo. 1760.

6. A Sermon occasioned by the Death of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Lawrence,