EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
687
to the college, among other gifts presented to the university a fount, or cast, of Hebrew, and another of Greek types, both of which were of the size of long primer. The Greek was not used until 1761, when the government of the college had •& work printed, entitled PieUa el gratvUtio cMegii Cantabrigientit amid Novan- glot, dedicated to king George III., on his accession to the throne; two of these poetical essays being written in Greek, called these types into use. They were never used but at that time, and were, in January, 1764, destroyed by the file that consumed Harvard halt, one of the college buildings in which the types and college library were deposited : the cast of Hebrew escaped, having been sent to Boston some time before, to print professor Sewall's Hebrew Gram- mar." Green left a large family behind him, and his descendants continued to exercise the business of printers at Boston, until the com- mencement of the revolution in 1775.
1702, March 8. Died, William III, king of England, in the fifty-second year of his age. With respect to his character, William neither merited the encomiums of his friends, who have asserted that he possessed every virtue; nor the severe censure of his enemies, who have dressed him in every vice. He was more indebted to steady perseverance, than to peculiar talents, for bis higb military reputation. He possessed na- tural courage, energy of mind, and firmness in the execution of his plans. In person he was ungraceful, his manner cold and repulsive, and bis temper silent and unsocial. He recommended the practice of virtue by his example, but it had little effect on men who were corrupted by the licentiousness of the former reigns. In excuse for the intrigues which he entered into to de- throne his uncle and father-in-law,* a late histo- rian says, " As William's heart seems to have been as dead to the sympathetic feelings, as his soul was insensible to the charms of literature and the beauties of the elegant arts, it is possible that, while he was guiding the great political system, he might be led by the illusions of am- bition, under the appearance of principle, to think the ties of blood and the right of inheri- tance as necessanr sacrifices to the welfare of Europe, and the interests of the reformed reli- gion. England, at least, was obliged to him for supporting her cause in a grand struggle for li- berty and a protestant succession. But she has dearly paid for those blessings, by being involved in destructive foreign wars, partly, indeed, ren- dered necessary by the supmeness of her two preceding reigns, but in which she ought natu- rally to have had no concern; by the introduction of the infamous practice of corrupting parlia- ments, in order to eng.-ige them to support those wars; and by their unavoidable consequence, a grievous national debt, which daily accumulating and augmenting the weight of government, threatens us with the worst of evils."
- James II. died >t St. GemwuM, in Frwce, September
If, 1701, *ced 68 years.
William's death was occasioned by the stumb- ling of his horse, near Hampton-court, by which his collarJ)one was dislocated, and a trifling in- jury to a feidtk. body brought death upon him in a few days. On his left arm was found a rib- bon, which had tied to it a gold ring, with some hair of the late queen Mary. His last words were, Je tire vert ma fin. I draw near my end. William expired in his palace at Kensington, on the 8th of March, and in the fifty-second year of his age. After the body had lain some days in state, it was interred in Henry VII.'s chapel, Westminster abbey.
1702. Edmund Bohun, a voluminous, politi- cal, and miscellaneous writer, and licenser of the {iress.* Dunton says that "he was our last icenser before the act of printing expired, and he licensed for me that remarkable book called The tecond Spira, and was wont often to visit me; he used great freedom of speech as one that would neither seek nor dread the power of an^. He once took the Shortest way with tht Dusentert and was noticed as a furious man against them. He has a wit so pregnant and prompt to every thing, that you would think it was formed for the very thing, whatsoever it was he was about. He is sufficiently qualified to be a licenser, for he is a man well skilled in most kinds of literature. Besides (under the rose) he is a pretty author himself; has written a Geo- graphical Dictionary, revised and enlarged Hey- lins Cotmography, and, were it not for his former
- John Dunton also chsractertsed the three foUowinff
Ucensera :—
Mr. Edward Cook received Ills authority from the principal secretary of state, and was a lit licenser to sue ceed Mr. Fraaer, for he was no bigot to any party j Imt was true and Just to churchmen, presbyteilans, and dis- senters of all sorts. Hewas a good lawyer, and furnished with a lari^ stocli of wit and moderation : he luul no nar- row thoaghts, nnr no superstitions opinions in religion, and therefore as he did not shut Umself up within a party, so neither did he shut any party out from him, but was a licenser generally loved and respected by all men : many of our city aldermen treated him with a respect so peculiar and generous, and he was so well known in London, that it was impossible that common artlflce should defiune and slur him. His character was unblemished, his virtue too bright to be soiled by the highflyers, and his carriage was very sweet and obliging, so that the natural kindness and serenity of his mind gave liim the hearts of all the book- sellers. In a word, Mr. Cook was a very active ingenious man, and had such an interest at court, that he procured for me the royal privilege mentioned in page 163; and had the act for printing continued in force, Mr. Cook had been licenser to this day.
Ma. HaaoN, our fifth licenser, had a comely mien, and an ■Irofpleasantness in bis countenance- He was famished with a large stock of learning, and a great master at Ui temper. Willie he was very young he hit naturally on the true method ofstndy, and contracted friendship with great
men, particnlarly with the earl of , who obsen1n(
his great piety and zeal for the church, made him a licen- ser. His acquaintance at court, and love to bis studies, contributed to the pofection of his mind, and were pro- phetic symptoms of bis future eminence, yet no prefer- ment or science could divert ' him f^om the study d liim. self, as the regularity of his conversation abundantly shows. A becoming modesty and conduct appeared in the first stage of his life, and continue like a guardian angel to attend him to this day, so that liis life shines in every part, both private and public; and thoueh he continned licenser but four months, yet be left his place with a great deal of honotu", and never jusUy displeased any man. —
Ma. NiCHOisTS was a man of easy access, and ready to licenK; and that is all I shall say of him, for I never desired his imprimature. •
VjOOQ IC
