About this time having fixed on the Civil Law for his profeffion, he entered upon that line in the

"to our hiftorians. Saunders and Caufin heretofore, and of "late Mr. Maimbourg and Monf. Varillas, have thought them"felves qualified for this employment. Among the reft," continues he, "Mr. Varillas has ufed his pen with fuch a partial "extravagance, and with fo little regard to modefty and "truth, that he has not only provoked the learned of the re"formed profeffion to chaftife his impudence in their publick "writings, but has alfo drawn upon him the fcorn and indig"nation of feveral gentlemen of his own communion, who, "in a fenfe of honour and common ingenuity, have taken "fome pains to lay open the fmooth impotture. Mr. Hofier, "Genealogift to the King of France, in his Epiftle declares "himself to have difcovered in him above four thoufand er"rours. Pere Bohours in a difcourfe of his makes it his bufi"nefs to expofe him. Even his old friend Mr. Dryden feems "to have forfaken him, and gone over to his adversary Bo"hours, from whose original he is now translating the life of "St. Xavier. To be free, there is almoft as many faults in 66 every fingle page of Mr. Varillas as in a printer's table of "Errata: and if the Archbishop of Paris would do his duty, "he would find himself bound to put holy cenfure upon

his penfioner; and as he was lately very forward to compel "thofe of the reformed religion to a recantation of their "faith, fo he ought here to oblige Mr. Varillas to an abjura"tion of his hiftory." We muft not omit, in justice however to Varillas, to obferve, that as to the matter of this penfion he abfolutely denied it. It is true Le Long tells us that he was offered fuch by several French noblemen as well as foreigners, which he always refused; and particularly the States of Holland offered him one in 1669, to engage him to write their hiftory; but he also refused this by the advice of Mr. Pompone: he accepted that only of the clergy of France, which Mr. de Harlai, Archbishop of Paris, had procured for him. But T'olume I.

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univerfity, and at the regular time took his Doctor's degree therein, which qualifying him to plead in the courts of the Civil and Ecclefiaftical law, he was admitted an Advocate, and refiding at Doctors Commons foon grew into confidcrable repute, and had great practice as a Civilian. In the interim Lord Molefworth publishing his Account of Denmark in 1692, our Author took up his pen once more in his country's cause, the honour of which was thought to be blemished by that Account. Animated with this fpirit he drew up a cenfure of it, which he printed under the title of Animadverfions upon the pretended Account of Denmarkt. This was published in 1694,

Varillas contradicts this, and in his Anfwer to Bishop Burnet fays that he "never accepted the pention which Mr. Harlai "had obtained for him from the clergy of France in 1670, nor 66 yet that which he procured of the King for him, charged 66 upon the Abbey of La Victoire, in 1672; and that all that "he received by the Archbishop's means was a present from "the affembly of the clergy in 1670, and a gratuity from the "King of two thoufand livres in 1685." However that be, our Author having observed that these Reflections on Vârillas's Account of Wicliffe contain fome memoirs of that great man, who was as it were the morning ftar of the Reformation, proceeds thus: "It were to be withed," fays he," that "from the many volumes of his works ftill remaining a hi66 itory of Religion of that time were compofed, which would "give great light into the affairs of England."

+ Our Author acquaints us that thefe Animadverfions were wrote at the requeft of the Rev. Mr. Brink, Minifter of the Danith church in London, a perfon whofe merit, travels, and

and was fo much approved by Prince George, confort to the Princess (afterwards Queen) Anne, that the

knowledge of the world, had defervedly gained him the favour of the then present King of Denmark, upon whom he was an attendant at Venice; that from him, affifted by his Excellency Mr. Scheel, who refided here as Envoy Extraordinary, he had the memoirs which compofed those papers, which had the honour not to be unacceptable to his Royal Highness Prince George; and when fent to Denmark were by the late king's order turned into French, and read to him as faft as they could be tranflated; that he had feen two editions of them, one in Holland and another in Germany; that he thould be ungrateful if he did not acknowledge the great honour which the university of Copenhagen did him in a letter under the feal of that learned and flourishing body; that he took it as one of his greatest happineffes that by the means of his acquaintance with Mr. Brink he had accompanied him to his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Bishop of London, with letters from the Bishop of Copenhagen, teftifying the refpect he had for their Lordships, and his juft regard and veneration for the church of England. "As "to the matters of fact laid down in these papers," fays he, "I am no farther accountable, but believe none of them can "be contradicted." The book has a great many curious remarks upon the Danish conftitution both in church and state, one of which we thall mention as follows: "It is a general "mistake," he obferves, " in England, to call the notion of "the Lutheran Proteftants concerning the facrament Confub"flantiation, for no fuch word is used amongst them. Their "notion amounts to this, that they believe fledfaftly a real " and true prefence of the body and blood of Chrift in the fa "crament in a manner ineffable, which our Saviour himself " is beft able both to know and do; whereas Confubftantia. “tion would imply fomething more natural and material."

Doctor was appointed Secretary to her Royal Highnefs the fame year.

In 1697 attacked by Dr. Bentley, he took a share with his fellow collegians at Christ-church.in the difpute against that learned Doctor about the genuineness of Phalaris's Greek Epiftles. His zeal for the honour of his college glows with a fingular warmth in this controversyt.

+We have two letters of our Author which fhew how he came to enter into this difpute: they are addreffed to the Hon. Charles Boyle, Efq. who had applied to him for an account of what passed between Mr. Bennet the bookfeller and Dr. Bentley concerning the MS. of Phalaris's Epiftles; in anfwer to which he says, that among other things the Doctor declared that if the MS. was collated it would be worth "nothing for the future; and that his whole difcourfe was "managed with much infolence." This letter is dated Doctors Commons, October 13th 1697, and was written in Dr. Bentley's Differtation on the Epiftles of Phalaris and the Fables of Æfop, then just published: in which piece our Author finding himself treated with fome contempt addreffed another letter to Mr. Boyle in the following terms: "Give me leave, Sir, to "tell you a fecret, that I have spent a whole day upon Dr. "Bentley's late volume of fcandal and criticism, for every one "mayn't judge it for his credit to be fo employed. He thinks "meanly I find of my reading; as meanly I think of his "fenfe, his modefty, or his manners: and yet for all that I "dare fay I have read more than any man in England befides "him and me; for I have read his book all over.-If you have "looked into it, Sir, you have found that a perfon under the 86 pretence of criticism may take what freedom he pleases "with the reputation and credit of any gentleman, and that "he need not have any regard to another man's character

The following year came out his humorous piece entitled A Journey to London in the Year 1698, af

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"who has once refolved to expofe his own. It was my mif"fortune once in my life to be in the fame place with Dr. Bentley, and a witness to a great deal of his rude and scur"rilous language, which he was fo liberal of as to throw out "at random in a publick thop, and is fo filly now as to call it "eavesdropping in me, because he was fo noify and I was "fo near that I could not help hearing him.-You defired "me at fome years distance to recollect what paffed at that meeting, and I obeyed your commands. Shall I reckon it an "advantage that Dr. Bentley, who difputes the other tefti"monies, falls in entirely with mine? I would, if I were not "apprehenfive, on that very account, it might be one ftep "farther from being credited. However, fuch is his fpite to "me that he confirms the truth of all I told you; for the only "particular I could call to mind he grants with some flight "difference in the expreffion; and as to the general account "I gave of his rudeness and infolence he denies it indeed, but "in fo rude and infolent a manner that there is no occafion "for me to justify myfelf on that head. I had declared, it "feems, that he faid "The MS. of Phalaris would be worth "nothing if it were collated." He fets me right, and avers "the expreffion was, that "after the various lections were "once taken and printed the MS. would be like a squeezed 66 orange, and little worth for the future." The fimilitude of "a fqueezed orange is indeed a confiderable circumftance "which I had forgot, as I doubtlefs did feveral others: but "for all that I remember the general drift and manner of his "difcourfe as well as if all the particular expreffions were prefent to me; juft as I know his last book to be a difinge nuous, vain, confused, unmannerly, performance, though to my happiness hardly any of his awkward jefts or impertinent quotations stick by me.-I had owned it to be my opinion "that"a MS. was worth nothing unless it were collated,"

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