others, and given many repulses in the defence of patients; but when his own turn came, he submitted with a meek, rational, and religious courage. “He might have made good the old saying of 'Dat Galenus opes,' had he lived in a place that could have afforded it. But his indulgence and liberality to his children, especially in their travels, two of his sons in divers countries, and two of his daughters in France, spent him more than a little. He was liberal in his house-entertainments and in his charity. He left a comfortable but no great estate, both to his lady and children, gained by his own industry. "Such was his sagacity and knowledge of all history, ancient and modern, and his observations thereupon so singular, that it hath been said by them that knew him best, that if his profession and place of abode would have suited his ability, he would have made an extraordinary man for the Privy Council, not much inferior to the famous Padre Paolo, the late oracle of the Venetian state. "Though he were no prophet, nor son of a prophet, yet in that faculty which comes nearest it he excelled, i. e. the stochastic, wherein he was seldom mistaken as to future events, as well public as private, but not apt to discover any presages or superstition.” Dr. Johnson affirms that "it is not on the praises of others, but on his own writings, that Sir Thomas Browne is to depend for the esteem of posterity; of which he will not easily be deprived while learning shall have any reverence among men; for there is no science in which he does not discover some skill, and scarce any kind of knowledge, profane or sacred, abstruse or elegant, which he does not appear to have cultivated with success": and he also declares that "there is scarcely a writer to be found, whose profession was not divinity, that has so frequently testified his belief of the sacred writings, has appealed to them with such unlimited submission, or mentioned them with such unvaried reverence." In arranging this edition, the notes and readings adopted by several other editors of Sir Thomas Browne's writings have been largely consulted. Especial use has been made of the labors of Henry Gardiner, M. A. of Exeter College, Oxford, and of the late Rev. Alexander Young, D. D., of Boston. It is hoped that the endeavor to supply a more perfect text than has hitherto appeared has been a successful effort on the part of the Editor and of those friends who have kindly aided him with their corrections and annotations. others, and given many repulses in the defence of patients; but when his own turn came, he submitted with a meek, rational, and religious courage. "He might have made good the old saying of 'Dat Galenus opes,' had he lived in a place that could have afforded it. But his indulgence and liberality to his children, especially in their travels, two of his sons in divers countries, and two of his daughters in France, spent him more than a little. He was liberal in his house-entertainments and in his charity. He left a comfortable but no great estate, both to his lady and children, gained by his own industry. "Such was his sagacity and knowledge of all history, ancient and modern, and his observations thereupon so singular, that it hath been said by them that knew him best, that if his profession and place of abode would have suited his ability, he would have made an extraordinary man for the Privy Council, not much inferior to the famous Padre Paolo, the late oracle of the Venetian state. Though he were no prophet, nor son of a prophet, yet in that faculty which comes nearest it he excelled, i. e. the stochastic, wherein he was seldom mistaken as to future events, as well public as private, but not apt to discover any presages or superstition." Dr. Johnson affirms that "it is not on the praises of others, but on his own writings, that Sir Thomas Browne is to depend for the esteem of posterity; of which he will not easily be deprived while learning shall have any reverence among men; for there is no science in which he does not discover some skill, and scarce any kind of knowledge, profane or sacred, abstruse or elegant, which he does not appear to have cultivated with success": and he also declares that "there is scarcely a writer to be found, whose profession was not divinity, that has so frequently testified his belief of the sacred writings, has appealed to them with such unlimited submission, or mentioned them with such unvaried reverence." In arranging this edition, the notes and readings adopted by several other editors of Sir Thomas Browne's writings have been largely consulted. Especial use has been made of the labors of Henry Gardiner, M. A. of Exeter College, Oxford, and of the late Rev. Alexander Young, D. D., of Boston. It is hoped that the endeavor to supply a more perfect text than has hitherto appeared has been a successful effort on the part of the Editor and of those friends who have kindly aided him with their corrections and annotations. |