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*of an excellent mind, that with him, an injury which he "had forgiven, was as ftrong a claim to his protection, as a "favour received could be to his gratitude.

"This bright picture is not without its fhades; he had "faults; the impetuofity of his nature, and the eagerness "with which he pursued his objects, carried him fometimes

lengths not juftifiable; and the high opinion he juftly "entertained of his own parts, made him too easily the "dupe and prey of interested and designing persons, whom his cooler judgement would have detefted and defpifed, "had they not had cunning enough to discover and flatter "his vanity, and fufficient art to avail themselves of abili"ties which they did not poflefs.-But let it be remembered, "that his failings were thofe of a warm temper, and un"guarded difpofition; his virtues thofe of an heart formed "for every thing amiable in private, every thing great in "public life."

dies.

HESIOD, a very ancient Greek poet, but whether contemporary with, or older or younger than Homer, is not yet agreed among the learned; nor is there light enough in antiquity to fettle it exactly. His father, as he tells us, was Opera & an inhabitant of Cuma, in one of the Æolian Ifles, now called Taio Nova; and removed from thence to Afcra, a village of Boeotia at the foot of mount Helicon, where Hefiod was probably born, and called, as he often is, Afcræus from it. Of what quality his father was, is no where faid; but that he was driven by misfortunes from Cuma to Ascra, Hefiod himself informs us. His father feems to have profpered better at Afcra, than he did in his own country; yet Hefiod could arrive at no higher fortune, than keeping of sheep at the top of Helicon. Here the Mufes met with him, and entered him into their service. To this account, which is to be found in the beginning of his "Generatio Deorum," Ovid alludes in these two lines:

"Nec mihi funt vife Clio, Cliufque forores,
"Servanti pecudes vallibus, Afcra, tuis."

Nor Clio nor her sisters have I seen,

As Hefiod faw them in th' Afcræan green.

Upon the death of the father, an eftate was left, which ought to have been equally divided between the two brothers Hefiod and Perfes; but Perfes defrauded him in the divifion, by corrupting the judges, Hefiod was fo far from refenting

this injuftice, that he expreffes a concern for those poor miftaken mortals, who placed their happiness in riches only, even at the expence of their virtue. He lets us know, that he was not only above want, but capable of affifting his brother in time of need; which he often did, though he had been fo ill ufed by him. The laft circumftance he mentions relating to himself, is his conqueft in a poetical contention. Archidamas king of Euboea had inftituted funeral games in honour of his own memory, which his fons afterwards took care to have performed. Here Hefiod was a competitor for the prize in poetry, and won a tripod, which he confecrated to the Mufes. Plutarch, in his "Banquet of "the Seven Wife Men," makes Periander give an account of the poetical contention at Chalcis, in which Hefiod and Homer are made antagonists. Hefiod was the conqueror, and dedicated the tripod, which he received for his victory, to the Mufes, with this infcription:

"This Hefiod vows to th' Heliconian nine,

"In Chalcis won from Homer the divine."

We are told, that Philip of Macedon and his fon Alexander had a difpute on this fubject. The prince declared in favour of Homer: his father tells him, "the prize had been given "to Hefiod;" and asks him, whether " he had never seen "the verfes Hefiod had infcribed upon the tripos, and dedi"cated to the Muses on mount Helicon ?” Alexander allows it; and fays, that Hefiod" might well get the better, "when kings were not the judges, but ignorant ploughmen "and ruftics." But the authority of thefe relations is queftioned by learned men; efpecially by fuch as will not allow thefe two poets to have been contemporaries, but make Hefiod between 30 and 40 years the older of the two.

Heficd, having entered himself into the service of the Mufes, left off the paftoral life, and applied himself to the ftudy of arts and learning. When he was grown old, for it is agreed by all that he lived to a very great age, he removed to Locris, a town about the fame diftance from Parnaffus, as Afera was from Helicon. The story of his death, as told by Solon in Plutarch's "Banquet," is very remarkable. The man with whom Hefiod lived at Locris, a Milefian born, ravifhed a maid in the fame houfe and though Hefiod was entirely ignorant of the fact, yet being maliciously accused to her brothers as an accomplice, he was injuriously flain with the ravifher, and thrown with him into the fea. We have the knowledge of fome few monuments,

which were framed in honour of this poet. Paufanias, in
his "Boeotics," informs us, that his countrymen the Boo-
tians erected to him an image with a harp in his hand: and
relates in another place, that there was likewise a statue of
Hefiod in the temple of Jupiter Olympicus. Urfinus and
Boiffard have exhibited a breast with a head, a trunk with-
out a head, and a gem of him; and Urfinus fays, that there
is a ftatue of brafs of him in the public college at Conftan-
tinople. The "Theogony" and "Works and Days" are
the only undoubted pieces of this poet now extant: though
it is fuppofed, that these poems have not defcended perfect
and finished to the prefent times. The "Theogony, or
"Generation of the Gods," Fabricius makes indifputably Biblioth.
the work of Hefiod; 66
nor is it to be doubted," adds he, Græc. V. 1.
"that Pythagoras took it for his, who feigned that he faw
" in hell the foul of Hefiod tied in chains to a brass pillar,
"for what he had written concerning the nature of the
"Gods." And this doubtlefs was the poem, which gave
Herodotus occafion to fay, that Hefiod and Homer were the Lib. ii.
firft who introduced a Theogony among the Grecians; the
firft who gave names to the Gods, afcribed to them honours
and arts, and gave particular defcriptions of their persons.
The Works and Days" of Hefiod, Plutarch affures us,
were used to be fung to the harp. Virgil has fhewn great
respect to this poet, and taken occafion to pafs a very high
compliment on him:

"Hos tibi dant calamos, en accide, Mufæ,
"Afcræo quos ante feni, quibus ille folebat
"Cantando rigidas deducere montibus ornus."

He was indeed much obliged to him, and proposed him as his patron in his "Georgics," how much foever he may have excelled him. Manilius alfo has given a high charac- In Aftroter of Hefiod and his works. Heinfius in the preface to his nom. edition of Hefiod remarks, that among all the poets, he fcarce knew any but Homer and Hefiod, who could reprefent nature in her true native drefs; and tells us, that nature had begun and perfected at the fame time her work in these two poets, whom for that very reason he makes no fcruple to call Divine. However, in general, Hefiod's merit has not been set so high; and it is certain that, when.compared with Homer, he muft pafs for a very moderate poet : though in eftimating their different degrees of merit, it may perhaps be but reasonable to confider the different fubjects, on which the genius of each was employed. A good edi

P. 540, &c.

tion of Hefiod's works was published by Le Clerc at Amfterdam in 1701.

HESYCHIUS, a celebrated grammarian of Alexandria; whom Ifaac Caufabon has declared to be, in his opinion, of all the ancient critics, whofe remains are extant, the most learned and ufeful work for thofe who would apply themfelves in good earneft to the study of the Greek language. Who or what Hefychius was, and indeed at what time he lived, are circumftances which there is not light enough in Biblioth. antiquity to determine; as Fabricius himself owns, who has Græc. IV. laboured abundantly about then. He has left us a learned Lexicon or Vocabulary of Greek words, from which we may perceive, that he was a Christian, or, at least, that he had a thorough and intimate knowledge of Chriftianity; for he has inferted in his work the names of the apoftles, evangelifts, and prophets, as well as of those ancient writers who have commented upon them. Some fay, that he was a difciple of Gregory of Nazianzen, and that he was extremely well verfed in the Sacred Scriptures: and Sixtus Sinenfis is of opinion, that he ought to be placed about the end of the fourth century. The first edition of Hefychius's Lexicon was published in folio by Aldus at Venice in 1513; but the last and best came out at Leyden in 4to, in 1668, under the care of Schrevelius, all Greek, " cum notis variorum." A better was expected afterwards from the learned Kufter, who published Suidas; but this critic died before he had made any confiderable progrefs in it and indeed, if he had lived, he could not have reduced him, according to Bentley, to any tolerable degree of correctness. "In profane authors," fays this Ariftarchus, "whereof one manufcript only had the "luck to be preferved, as Velleius among the Latins, and "Hefychius among the Greeks; the faults of the fcribes are "found fo numerous, and the defects fo beyond all redress, "that notwithstanding the pains of the learnedeft and acuteft critics for two whole centuries, thefe books ftill are, and are like to continue, a mere heap of errors.”

Phileleuth.

Lipf. p. 92.

edit. 1743.

Julius Scaliger has fpoken with great contempt of Hefychius, and calls him a frivolous author, who has nothing that is good in him: " but," fays Baillet, "I believe this critic "is very fingular in his opinion. His fon Jofeph on the "contrary declares, that Hefychius is a very good author, "though we have nothing left of him but an epitome, and

66

though his citations are loft beyond recovery. Meric "Cafaubon also esteems him a moft excellent grammarian;

" and

"and Menage calls him the most learned of all the makers "of dictionaries. Well therefore might Barthius pronounce "it, as he does, a moft unpardonable crime in him, who Jugemens "took upon him to epitomize Hefychius, and to separate Tom. II. des Sçavans, " from the vocabulary the teftimonies of ancient authors." p. 585.

Paris, 1722.

HEVELIUS (JOHN), a celebrated aftronomer and mathematician, was born at Dantżick, Jan. 28, 1611. His parents, who were of rank and fortune, gave him a liberal education; in which he discovered early a propensity to natural philofophy and aftronomy. He ftudied mathematics under Peter Crugerus, in which he made a wonderful progrefs; and learned alfo to draw, to engrave, and to work both in wood and iron in fuch a manner, as to be able to frame mechanical inftruments. In 1630, he fet out upon his travels, in which he spent four years, paffing through Holland, England, France, and Germany; and upon his return was so taken up with civil affairs, that he was obliged to intermit his ftudies for fome years. Mean while, his mafter Crugerus, knowing well the force of his genius, and entertaining no small expectations from him, ufed all the means he could think of to bring him back to astronomy; and fucceeded fo well, that, in 1639, Hevelius began to apply himself entirely to it. He confidered very wifely, that hypothefes, however they might fhew the ingenuity of their inventors, were of but little ufe in the promotion of real knowledge; but facts were the only foundation, on which any folid fcience could be raised; and therefore, the first thing he did, built an obfervatory upon the top of his house, and furnished it with inftruments, which were proper for making the most accurate obfervations. He conftructed excellent telescopes himself, and began his observations with the moon, whose various phases and spots he noted very accurately; "with a view," as he fays, " of taking lunar eclipfes Præfat. ad with greater exactnefs, and removing thofe difficulties, Selenograp. " which frequently arise for want of being able to fettle more "precifely the quantity of an eclipfe." When he had finifhed his courfe of obfervations, and prepared a great number of fine engravings upon copper with his own hands, he published his work at Dantzick, 1647, under the title of, "Selenographia, five, Lunæ defcriptio; atque accurata tam

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macularum ejus quam motuum diverforum, aliarumque " omnium viciffitudinum phafiumque, telescopii ope depre"henfarum, delineatio:" to which he added, by way of appendix, the phases of the other planets, as they are seen

through

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