formerly procured him an uncommon reputation in the schools. Some of these have frequently been printed. His famous tract De Sphæra was edited by Vinetus; his Computus Ecclesiasticus by Melanchthon,

Michael Scot, a man celebrated for his profound and extensive learning, also flourished during the thirteenth century. That he was a native of Scotland, has never been disputed till the days of Leland. On the authority of certain nameless individuals, this biographer would persuade us to believe, that Scot was born in the county of Durham. The character of such credible witnesses it certainly would be ungenerous to impeach but as more than two hundred years elapsed between the birth of Scot and that of Leland, we may at least be permitted to express our surprize at the accuracy of their recollection.

Scot is said to have studied at Oxford and Paris, and to have attained to wonderful proficiency in philology, mathematics, natural philosophy, and theology. He appears to have translated several Greek books into Latin; and the service which he thus rendered to the cause of learning, is commemorated, as Leland informs us, in Roger Bacon's unpublished treatise De Linguarum Utili

a "Nam à fide dignis didici eum in Dunolmensi ditione genitum et ortum fuisse, et prima in literis incrementa Dunolmi imbibisse."

LELAND. de Script. Britan. tom. i. P. 254.

tate. His version of Aristotle's history of animals is preserved in manuscript in the National Library at Paris". His knowledge of what is termed natural magic procured him, among the vulgar, the appellation of an enchanter: and in this light he is also represented by Dante and Theophilo Folengio. From the charge of sorcery he was vindicated, when such a vindication might still be necessary, by the learning of Gabriel Naudé.

His principal work, entitled De Secretis Naturæ, is a treatise on the procreation and physiognomy of the human species. It is inscribed to his patron, Frederick Emperor of the Romans. His dedication concludes with the following complacent sentence: "Finally, if thou art solicitous to become acquainted with the manners of men, and the nature of domestic animals, read Michael Scot." Those however who peruse his work with such an expectation, will probably experience considerable disappointment: it is indeed extremely curious, but does not seem to display much superiority of intellect. The reputation which he formerly enjoyed, may be suspected of having somewhat exceeded his intrinsic desert. The renowned Prince of Mirandula appears to have viewed him with no high degree of admiration".

b Notices des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Nationale, tom. vi. p. 387. c Naudé, Apologie pour tous les Grands Personnages qui ont esté fausement soupçonnez de Magie, p. 495.

d" Crevit autem per ea tempora studium mathematicæ, sicut totius

This production of Scot was frequently printed". The second part would seem to have been edited in a separate form; for Michael Scot De Physiognomia is mentioned by Conrad Gesner as having been published at Venice in the year 1503f.

John Duns, the Subtle Doctor, flourished about the year 1300. He is claimed by the English as well as by the Irish. He is styled an Englishman, if we may credit Henry Wharton, in certain copies of his works transcribed not long posterior -to his own ages. The copies to which the writer alludes, are undoubtedly the same with those mentioned by Leland. The date of the transcript Leland has past over in total silence; and Wharton does not pretend, that the MSS. were ever inspected by himself. In the library of Merton College, Oxford, says Leland, are several copies which contain the following colophon: "Expli

quoque philosophiæ disciplinarum omnium in Hispania, in quo cum regnaret Alphonsus, in numeris mathematicis et cœlestium motuum supputatione diligentissimus; amaret quoque divinatricem vanitatem, alioquin philosophiæ studiis non imbutus; et in ejus gratiam Arabum et Græcorum multa ejus artis monumenta ad nos pervenerunt, per Joannem præsertim Hispalensem et Michaelem Scotum scriptorem nullius ponderis, multæ verò superstitionis."

J. P. MIRANDULÆ Disputationes in Astrologiam, lib. xii. c. vii.

e The edition which I use, is printed with Albertus Magnus De Secretis Mulierum, &c. Amst. 1665, 12mo. I have seen another edition of the same kind, published at Strasburg in decimo sexto in the year 1615.Scot's Quæstio Curiosa de Natura Solis et Lunæ occurs in Zetzner's Theatrum Chymicum, tom. v. p. 753.

f Gesneri Bibliotheca Universalis, f. 513. a. Tiguri, 1545, fol.

8 Wharton, Append. ad Hist. Literar. Cave, p. 2.

cit lectura Doctoris Subtilis in Universitate Oxon., super libros Sentent. scilicet Doctoris Joannis Duns, nati in quadam villula de Emildun, vocata Dunstane, in comitatu Northumbria, pertinente domui scholasticorum de Merton Haule in Oxonia, et quondam dictæ domûs socii"." This inscription is probably the fabrication of some illiterate scribe and if Leland regarded such an authority as paramount to all others, his notions respecting the laws of evidence must have been extremely defective. "It may be probably supposed," says Archbishop Spotswood, "that he living at Oxford in England when the wars were so hot betwixt the two kingdoms, did dissemble his country, and pretend himself to be an English born, to eschew the hatred of the students. In Colen, where he might without danger shew of what country he was, he did profess himself a Scot, and the Minorites (of which order he was) did therefore upon his tomb, erected in their church, at the end of the quire nigh unto the high altar, set this inscription, which is there yet to be seen:

Scotia me genuit, Anglia suscepit,

Gallia edocuit, Germania teneti."

Wharton affirms, that all the writers who flourished before the sixteenth century, have consi

h Leland. de Script. Britan. tom. ii. p. 317.

i Spotswood's Hist. of the Church of Scotl. p. 54.

dered Duns as an Englishman; but the only writer whom he particularizes is Bartholomæus Albicius. The assertion may be regarded as rash and unfounded. Duns is pronounced a Scotishman by Trithemius, whose biographical work was finished in the year 1492). And a more extensive research would probably enable us to add other names. Of the later writers who have investigated the subject, a great majority will be found to have decided in favour of Scotland. Paulus Jovius informs us, on the authority perhaps of some early writer, that Duns was born within the limits of the Caledonian forest. That he was a native of Scotland, is also the decided opinion of Bellarmin, Labbe, Possevin', Sixtus Senensis", and, in fine, of almost every author unbiassed by national prejudice. Paganinus Gaudentius, Professor of Eloquence in the University of Pisa, and author of the work De Philosophie apud Romanos Initio et Progressu, maintains the same opinion in one of his epigrams:

j Trithemius de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, f. 76. a. Basil. 1494, fol.This edition, which is beautifully printed, is apparently the first. The work has frequently been republished. It is inserted, together with the similar productions of St Jerom, Gennadius, Sigebertus, Isidorus Hispalensis, and other writers, in the curious collection of Fabricius, entitled Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica. Hamb. 1718, fol.

k Jovii Elogia Virorum Literis Illustrium, p. 9.

1 Possevini Apparatus Sacer, tom. i. p. 868.

m Sixti Senensis Bibliotheca Sancta, p. 269. VOL. I.

D