BOYLE

BOYLE (Robert), one of the greatest philosophers as well as best men that our own or indeed any other nation has produced, was the seventh son and the 14th child of Richard earl of Cork, and born at Lismore in the province of Munster in Ireland, January 25. 1626-7. Before he went to school, he was taught to write a very fair hand, and to speak French and Latin, by one of the earl's chaplains, and a Frenchman that he kept in the house. In the year 1635, his father sent him over to England, in order to be educated at Eaton school, under Sir Henry Wotton, who was the earl of Cork's old friend and acquaintance. Here he soon discovered a force of understanding which promised great things, and a disposition to cultivate and improve it to the utmost. While he remained at Eaton, there were several very extraordinary accidents that befel him, of which he has given us an account; and three of which were very near proving fatal to him. The first was, the sudden fall of the chamber where he was lodged, when himself was in bed; when, besides the danger he ran of being crushed to pieces, he had certainly been choked with the dust during the time he lay under the rubbish, if he had not had presence of mind enough to have wrapped his head up in the sheet, which gave him an opportunity of breathing without hazard. A little after this, he had been crushed to pieces by a starting horse that rose up suddenly, and threw himself backwards, if he had not happily disengaged his feet from the stirrups, and cast himself from his back before he fell. A third accident proceeded from the carelessness of an apothecary's servant,

who, by mistaking the phials, brought him a strong vomit instead of a cooling julep.

He remained at Eaton, upon the whole, between three and four years; and then his father carried him to his own seat at Stalbridge in Dorsetshire, where he remained for some time under the care of one of his chaplains who was the parson of the place. In 1638, he attended his father to London; and remained with him at the Savoy, till his brother Mr Francis Boyle espoused Mrs Elisabeth Killigrew; and then, towards the end of October, within four days after the marriage, the two brothers, Francis and Robert, were sent abroad upon their travels, under the care of Mr Marcombe. They embarked at Rye in Sussex, and from thence proceeded to Dieppe in Normandy: then they travelled by land to Rowen, to Paris, and from thence to Lyons; from which city they continued their journey to Geneva, where his governor had a family; and there the two gentlemen pursued their studies without interruption. Mr Boyle, during his stay here, resumed his acquaintance with the mathematics, or at least with the elements of that science, of which he had before gained some knowledge. For he tells us in his own memoirs, that while he was at Eaton, and afflicted with an ague, before he was ten years old, by way of diverting his melancholy, they made him read Amadis de Gaul, and other romantic books, which produced such a reflexion in him, that he was obliged to apply himself to the extraction of the square and cube roots, and to the more laborious operations of algebra, in order to fix and settle the volatile operations of his fancy.

In September 1641, he quitted Geneva, after having spent 21 months in that city; and passing through Switzerland and the country of the Grisons, entered Lombardy. Then, taking his rout through Bergamo, Brescia, and Verona, he arrived at Venice; where having made a short stay, he returned to the continent, and spent the winter at Florence. Here he employed his spare hours in reading the modern history in Italian, and the works of the celebrated astronomer Galileo, who died in a village near this city during Mr Boyle's residence in it. It was at Florence that he acquired the Italian language; which he understood perfectly, though he never spoke it so fluently as the French. Of this indeed he was such a master, that as occasion required he passed for a native of that country in more places than one during his travels.

About the end of March 1642, he began his journey from Florence to Rome, which took up but five days. He surveyed the numerous curiosities of that city; among which, he tells us, "he had the fortune to see Pope Urban VIII. at chapel, with the cardinals, who, severally appearing mighty princes, in that assembly looked like a company of common friars." He visited the adjacent villages which had any thing curious or antique belonging to them; and had probably made a longer stay, had not the heats disagreed with his brother. He returned to Florence; from thence to Leghorn; and so by sea to Genoa: then passing through the county of Nice, he crossed the sea to Antibes, where he fell into danger from refusing to honour the crucifix: from thence he went to Marleilles by land. He was in that city, in May 1642, when he received his father's letters, which informed him that the rebel-

Boyle. lion had broken out in Ireland, and how difficultly he had procured the L. 250 then remitted to them in order to help them home. They never received this money; and were obliged to go to Geneva with their governor Marcombes, who supplied them with as much at least as carried them thither. They continued there a considerable time, without either advice or supplies from England; upon which Marcombes was obliged to take up some jewels upon his own credit, which were afterwards disposed of with as little loss as might be; and with the money thus raised, they continued their journey for England, where they arrived in the year 1644. On their arrival, Mr Boyle found his father dead; and though the earl had made an ample provision for him, by leaving him his manor of Stalbridge in England, as well as other considerable estates in Ireland, yet it was some time before he could receive any money. However, he procured protections for his estates in both kingdoms from the powers then in being; from which he also obtained leave to go over to France for a short space, probably to settle accounts with his governor Mr Marcombes.

In March 1646, he retired to his manor at Stalbridge, where he resided for the most part till May 1650. He made excursions sometimes to London, sometimes to Oxford; and in February 1647, he went over to Holland; but he made no considerable stay any where. During his retirement at Stalbridge, he applied himself with incredible industry to studies of various kinds, to those of natural philosophy and chemistry in particular. He omitted no opportunity of obtaining the acquaintance of persons distinguished for parts and learning; to whom he was in every respect a ready, useful, generous assistant, and with whom he held a constant correspondence. He was also one of the first members of that small but learned body of men which, when all academical studies were interrupted by the civil wars, seceded themselves about the year 1645; and held private meetings, first in London, afterwards at Oxford, for the sake of canvassing subjects of natural knowledge upon that plan of experiment which Lord Bacon had delineated. They styled themselves then The philosophic college; and, after the Restoration, when they were incorporated and distinguished openly, they took the name of the Royal Society.

In the summer of 1654, he put in execution a design he had formed for some time of residing at Oxford, where he chose to live in the house of one Mr Crosse, an apothecary, rather than in a college, for the sake of his health, and because he had more room to make experiments. Oxford was indeed the only place at that time in England where Mr Boyle could have lived with much satisfaction; for here he found himself surrounded with a number of learned friends, such as Wilkins, Wallis, Ward, Willis, Wren, &c. suited exactly to his taste, and who had resorted thither for the same reasons that he had done, the philosophical society being now removed from London to Oxford. It was during his residence here that he improved that admirable engine the air-pump; and by numerous experiments was enabled to discover several qualities of the air, so as to lay a foundation for a complete theory. He was not, however, satisfied with this; but laboured incessantly in collecting and digesting, chiefly from his own experiments, the materials requisite for this purpose. He

declared against the philosophy of Aristotle, as leaving in it more words than things; promising much, and performing little; and giving the inventions of men for indubitable proofs, instead of building upon observation and experiment. He was so zealous for, and so careful about, this true method of learning by experiment, that though the Cartesian philosophy then made a great noise in the world, yet he would never be persuaded to read the works of Des Cartes, for fear he should be amused and led away by plausible accounts of things founded on conjecture, and merely hypothetical. But philosophy, and inquiries into nature, though they engaged his attention deeply, did not occupy it entirely; since we find that he still continued to pursue critical and theological studies. In these he had the assistance of some great men, particularly Dr Edward Pocock, Mr Thomas Hyde, and Mr Samuel Clarke, all of great eminence for their skill in the oriental languages. He had also a strict intimacy with Dr Thomas Barlow, at that time head keeper of the Bodleian library, and afterwards bishop of Lincoln, a man of various and extensive learning. In the year 1659, Mr Boyle, being acquainted with the unhappy circumstances of the learned Sanderfon, afterwards bishop of Lincoln, who had lost all his preferments on account of his attachment to the royal party, conferred upon him an honorary stipend of 50l. a-year. This stipend was given as an encouragement to that excellent master of reasoning to apply himself to the writing of "Cases of Conscience;" and accordingly he printed his lectures De obligatione conscientie, which he read at Oxford in 1647, and dedicated them to his friend and patron.

Upon the restoration of Charles II. Mr Boyle was treated with great civility and respect by the king, as well as by the two great ministers the lord treasurer Southampton and the lord chancellor Clarendon. He was solicited by the latter to enter into holy orders, not only out of regard to him and his family, but chiefly with a view to serve the church itself; for Mr Boyle's noble family, his distinguished learning, and, above all, his unblemished reputation, induced Lord Clarendon to think that any ecclesiastical preferments he might attain would be worthily discharged, so as to do honour to the clergy, and service to the established communion. Mr Boyle considered all this with due attention; but, to balance these, he reflected, that, in the situation of life in which he was, whatever he wrote with respect to religion would have so much the greater weight as coming from a layman; since he well knew that the irreligious fortified themselves against all that the clergy could offer, by supposing, and saying, that it was their trade, and that they were paid for it. He considered likewise, that, in point of fortune and character, he needed no accessions; and indeed he never had any appetite for either. He chose, therefore, to pursue his philosophical studies in such a manner as might be most effectual for the support of religion; and began to communicate to the world the fruits of these studies.

The first of these was printed at Oxford in 1660, in 8vo, under the title of, 1. New experiments, physico-mechanical, touching the spring of the air and its effects. 2. Seraphic love; or some motives and incentives to the love of God, pathetically discoursed of in a letter.

letter to a friend. 3. Certain physiological essays and other tracts, 1661, 4to. 4. Sceptical chemist, 1662, 8vo; a very curious and excellent work, reprinted about the year 1679, 8vo, with the addition of divers experiments and notes about the producibility of chemical principles.

In the year 1663, the royal society being incorporated by king Charles II. Mr Boyle was appointed one of the council; and as he might be justly reckoned among the founders of that learned body, so he continued one of the most useful and industrious of its members during the whole course of his life. In June 1663, he published, 5. Considerations touching the usefulness of experimental natural philosophy, 4to. 6. Experiments and considerations upon colours; to which was added a letter, containing, Observations on a diamond that shines in the dark, 1663, 8vo. This treatise is full of curious and useful remarks on the hitherto unexplained doctrine of light and colours; in which he shows great judgment, accuracy, and penetration; and may be said to have led the way to that mighty genius the great Sir Isaac Newton, who has since set that point in the clearest and most convincing light. 7. Considerations on the style of the Holy Scriptures, 1663, 8vo. It was an extract from a larger work, intitled, An essay on scripture; which was afterwards published by Sir Peter Pett, a friend of Mr Boyle's.

In 1664, he was elected into the company of the royal mines; and was all this year taken up in the prosecution of various good designs, which probably was the reason why he did not send abroad any treatises either of religion or philosophy. The year following, came forth, 8. Occasional reflections upon several subjects; whereto is prefixed a discourse about such kind of thoughts, 1665, 8vo. This piece is addressed to Sophronia, under whose name he concealed that of his beloved sister the viscountess of Ranelagh. The thoughts themselves are on a vast variety of subjects, written many years before; some indeed upon trivial occasions, but all with great accuracy of language, much wit, more learning, and in a wonderful strain of moral and pious reflection. Yet this exposed him to the only severe censure that ever was passed upon him; and that too from no less a man than the celebrated Dean Swift, who, to ridicule these discourses, wrote A pious meditation upon a broomstick, in the style of the honourable Mr Boyle. But as his noble relation the late Lord Orrery has said, "To what a height must the spirit of sarcasm arise in an author, who could prevail on himself to ridicule so good a man as Mr Boyle? The sword of wit, like the scythe of time, cuts down friend and foe, and attacks every object that lies in its way. But, sharp and irrefragable as the edge of it may be, Mr Boyle will always remain invulnerable."

The same year, he published an important work, intitled, 9. New experiments and observations upon cold, 1665, 8vo. In the year 1666, he published, 10. Hydrostatical paradoxes made out by new experiments, for the most part physical and easy, in 8vo. 11. The origin of forms and qualities, according to the corporeal philosophy, illustrated by considerations and experiments. This treatise did great honour to Mr Boyle, whether we consider the quickness of his wit, the depth of his judgment, or his indefatigable pains in searching after truth. We must not forget to observe,

that, both in this and the former year, he communicated to his friend Mr Oldenburgh, who was secretary to the royal society, several curious and excellent short treatises of his own, upon a great variety of subjects, and others transmitted to him by his learned friends both at home and abroad, which are printed and preserved in the Philosophical Transactions.

In the year 1668, Mr Boyle resolved to settle in London for life; and removed for that purpose to the house of his sister, the lady Ranelagh, in Pall-Mall. This was to the infinite benefit of the learned in general, and particularly to the advantage of the royal society, to whom he gave great and continual assistance, as the several pieces communicated to them from time to time, and printed in their Transactions, do abundantly testify. Those who applied to him, either to desire his help, or to communicate to him any new discoveries in science, he had his set hours for receiving; otherwise, it is easy to conceive that he would have had very little of his time for himself. But, besides these, he kept a very extensive correspondence with persons of the greatest figure, and most famous for learning, in all parts of Europe. In the year 1669, he published, 12. A continuation of new experiments touching the weight and spring of the air; to which is added, A discourse of the atmospheres of consistent bodies: and the same year he revised and made many additions to several of his former tracts, some of which were now translated into Latin, in order to gratify the curious abroad. 13. Tracts about the cosmical qualities of things; cosmical suspensions; the temperature of the subterraneous regions; the bottom of the sea: to which is prefixed an introduction to the history of particular qualities. This book occasioned much speculation, as it seemed to contain a vast treasure of knowledge which had never been communicated to the world before; and this too grounded upon actual experiments, and arguments justly drawn from them, instead of that notional and conjectural philosophy which in the beginning of the 17th century had been so much in fashion.

In the year 1671, he published, 14. Considerations on the usefulness of experimental and natural philosophy; the second part, 4to. And, 15. A collection of tracts upon several useful and important points of practical philosophy, 4to. Both of which works were received as new and valuable gifts to the learned world. 16. An essay about the origin and virtues of gems, 1672, 8vo. 17. A collection of tracts upon the relation between flame and air; and several other useful and curious subjects: besides furnishing, in this and the former year, a great number of short dissertations upon a vast variety of topics, addressed to the royal society, and inserted in their Transactions. 18. Essays on the strange subtlety, great efficacy, and determinate nature, of effluvia; to which were added a variety of experiments on other subjects; 1673, 8vo. 19. A collection of tracts upon the saltiness of the sea, the moisture of the air, the natural and preternatural state of bodies; to which is prefixed a dialogue concerning cold; 1674, 8vo. 20. The excellency of theology compared with philosophy, 1673, 8vo. This discourse was written in the year 1665, while Mr Boyle, to avoid the great plague which then raged in London, was forced to go from place to place in the country, and had little or no opportunity of consulting his books. It contains a great

Boyle. great number of curious and useful, as well as just and natural, observations. 21. A collection of tracts containing suspicions about hidden qualities of the air; with an appendix touching celestial magnets; animadversions upon Mr Hobbes's problem about a vacuum; a discourse of the cause of attraction and fusion; 1674, 8vo. 22. Some considerations about the reconcilabilities of reason and religion. By T. E. a layman. To which is annexed a discourse about the possibility of the resurrection. By Mr Boyle. 1675, 8vo. The reader must be informed, that both these pieces were of his writing; only he thought fit to mark the former with the final letters of his name. Among other papers that he communicated this year to the royal society, there were two connected into one discourse: the first was intitled, An experimental discourse of quicksilver growing hot with gold; the other related to the same subject; and both of them contained discoveries of the utmost importance.

In the year 1676, he published, 23. Experiments and notes about the mechanical origin or production of particular qualities, in several discourses on a great variety of subjects, and among the rest on electricity. In 1678, he communicated to Mr Hook a short memorial of some observations made upon an artificial substance that shines without any preceding illumination; which that gentleman thought fit to publish in his Lectures Cullenianæ. 24. Historical account of a degradation of gold made by an anti-elixir. This made a great noise both at home and abroad, and is looked upon as one of the most remarkable pieces that ever fell from his pen; since the facts contained in it would have been esteemed incredible, if they had been related by a man of less integrity and piety than Mr Boyle. The regard which the great Newton had for Mr Boyle, appears from a very curious letter, which the former wrote to him, at the latter end of this year, for the sake of laying before him his sentiments of that ethereal medium, which he afterwards considered in his Optics as the cause of gravitation. This letter is to be found in the life of our author by the reverend Dr Birch.

In the year 1680, Mr Boyle published, 25. The aerial noctiluca; or some new phenomena, and a process of a factitious self-shining substance, 8vo. This year the royal society, as a proof of the just sense of his great worth, and of the constant and particular services which through a course of many years he had done them, made choice of him for their president; but he being extremely, and, as he says, peculiarly tender in point of oaths, declined the honour done him, by a letter addressed to "his much respected friend Mr Robert Hooke, professor of mathematics at Gresham College." 26. Discourse of things above reason; inquiring, whether a philosopher should admit any such; 1681, 8vo. 27. New experiments and observations upon the icy noctiluca: to which is added a chemical paradox, grounded upon new experiments, making it probable that chemical principles are transmutable, so that out of one of them others may be produced; 1682, 8vo. 28. A continuation of new experiments, physico-mechanical, touching the spring and weight of the air, and their effects, 1682, 8vo. In 1683, he published nothing but a short letter to Dr Beale, in relation to the making of fresh water out of salt. In 1684, he pub-

lished two very considerable works, viz. 29. Memoirs for the natural history of human blood, especially the spirit of that liquor, 8vo; and, 30. Experiments and considerations about the porosity of bodies, 8vo.

In 1685, Mr Boyle obliged the world with, 31. Short memoirs for the natural experimental history of mineral waters, with directions as to the several methods of trying them; including abundance of new and useful remarks, as well as several curious experiments. 32. An essay on the great effects of even languid and unheeded motion; whereunto is annexed an experimental discourse of some hitherto little regarded causes of the fallibility and insalubrity of the air, and its effects. None of his treatises, it is said, were ever received with greater or more general applause than this. 33. Of the reconcilabilities of specific medicines to the corpuscular philosophy; to which is annexed a discourse about the advantages of the use of simple medicines; 8vo. Besides these philosophical tracts, he gave the world, the same year, an excellent theological one, 34. Of the high veneration man's intellect owes to God, peculiarly for his wisdom and power, 8vo.

At the entrance of the succeeding year, came abroad his, 35. Free inquiry into the vulgarly received notion of nature; a piece which was then, and will always be, greatly admired by those who have a true zeal and relish for pure religion and philosophy. In 1687, he published, 36. The martyrdom of Theodora and Didymia; a work he had drawn up in his youth. 37. A disquisition about the final causes of natural things; wherein it is inquired, whether, and (if at all) with what caution, a naturalist should admit them; with an appendix about vitiated light; 1680, 8vo. In the month of May this year, our author, though very unwilling, was constrained to make his complaint to the public, of some inconveniences under which he had long laboured; and this he did by an advertisement, about "the loss of many of his writings addressed to J. W. to be communicated to those of his friends that are virtuous; which may serve as a kind of preface to most of his mutilated and unfinished writings." He complains in this advertisement of the treatment he had met with from plagiarists both at home and abroad; and though it might have been difficult in any other man to have done so without incurring the imputation of self-conceit and vanity, yet Mr Boyle's manner is such as only to raise in us an higher esteem and admiration of him. This advertisement is inserted at length in his life by Birch.

He began now to find that his health and strength, notwithstanding all his care and caution, gradually declined, as he observes in a letter to Mr Le Clerc, dated May 30th, 1689; which put him upon using every possible method of husbanding his remaining time for the benefit of the learned. It was with this view that he no longer communicated particular discourses, or new discoveries, to the royal society; because this could not be done without withdrawing his thoughts from tasks which he thought of still greater importance. It was the more readily to attend to these, that he resigned his post of governor of the corporation for propagating the gospel in New-England; nay, he went so far as to signify to the world that he could no longer receive visits as usual, in an advertisement which begins in the following manner: "Mr Boyle finds himself obliged

obliged to intimate to those of his friends and acquaintance, that are wont to do him the honour and favour of visiting him, 1. That he has by some unlucky accidents, namely, by his servant's breaking a bottle of oil of vitriol over a chest which contained his papers, had many of his writings corroded here and there, or otherwise so maimed, that, without he himself fill up the lacunæ out of his memory or invention, they will not be intelligible. 2. That his age and sickliness have for a good while admonished him to put his scattered and partly defaced writings into some kind of order, that they may not remain quite useless. And, 3. That his skilful and friendly physician, Sir Edmund King, seconded by Mr Boyle's best friends, has pressingly advised him against speaking daily with so many persons as are wont to visit him, representing it as what cannot but waste his spirits, &c. He ordered likewise a board to be placed over his door, with an inscription signifying when he did, and when he did not, receive visits."

Among the other great works, which by this means he gained time to finish, there is great reason to believe, that one was a collection of elaborate processes in chemistry; concerning which he wrote a letter to a friend, which is still extant; wherein we read, that "he left it as a kind of hermetic legacy to the studious disciples of that art." Besides these papers committed to the care of one whom he esteemed his friend, he left very many behind him at his death, relating to chemistry; which, as appears by a letter directed to one of his executors, he desired might be inspected by three physicians whom he named, and that some of the most valuable might be preserved.

In the mean time, Mr Boyle published some other works before his death; as, 38. Medicina Hydrostatica; or, Hydrostatics applied to the materia medica, showing how, by the weight that divers bodies used in physics have in water, one may discover whether they be genuine or adulterated. To which is subjoined a previous hydrostatical way of estimating ores. 1690, 8vo. 39. The Christian virtuoso; showing, that, by being addicted to experimental philosophy, a man is rather assisted than indisposed to be a good Christian. To which are subjoined, 1. A discourse about the distinction that represents some things as above reason, but not contrary to reason. 2. The first chapters of a discourse intitled Greatness of mind promoted by Christianity. The last work which he published himself, was in the spring of 1691; and is intitled, 40. Experimenta et Observationes Physice; wherein are briefly treated of several subjects relating to natural philosophy in an experimental way. To which is added a small collection of strange reports. 8vo.

About the entrance of the summer, he began to feel such an alteration in his health as induced him to think of settling his affairs; and accordingly, on the 18th of July, he signed and sealed his last will, to which he afterwards added several codicils. In October, his distempers increased; and on the last day of December 1691, he departed this life, in the 65th year of his age. He was buried in St Martin's church in the Fields, Westminster, on the 7th of January following; and his funeral sermon was preached by Dr Gilbert Burnet, bishop of Salisbury. The bishop made choice upon this occasion of a text very apposite to the subject; namely,

"For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, knowledge, and joy." After explaining the meaning of the words, he applied the doctrine to the honourable person deceased; of whom, he tells us, he was the better able to give a character from the many happy hours he had spent in conversation with him, in the course of 29 years. He gives a large account of Mr Boyle's sincere and unaffected piety; and more especially of his zeal for the Christian religion, without having any narrow notions concerning it, or mistaking, as so many do, a bigotted heat in favour of a particular sect, for that zeal which is an ornament of a true Christian. He mentions, as a proof of this, his noble foundation for lectures in defence of the gospel against infidels of all sorts; the effects of which have been so conspicuous in the many volumes of excellent discourses which have been published in consequence of that noble and pious foundation. He was at the charge of the translation and impression of the New Testament into the Malayan tongue, which he sent over all the East Indies. He gave a noble reward to him that translated Grotius's incomparable book "Of the truth of the Christian religion" into Arabic; and was at the charge of a whole impression, which he took care should be dispersed in all the countries where that language was understood. He was resolved to have carried on the impression of the New Testament in the Turkish language; but the company thought it became them to be the doers of it, and so suffered him only to give a large share towards it. He was at 700l. charge in the edition of the Irish bible, which he ordered to be distributed in Ireland; and he contributed liberally to the impression of the Welsh bible. He gave, during his life, 300l. to advance the design of propagating the Christian religion in America; and as soon as he heard that the East India company were entertaining propositions for the like design in the east, he sent 100l. for a beginning, as an example, but intended to carry it much farther when it should be set on foot to purpose.

In other respects his charities were so bountiful and extensive, that they amounted, as this prelate tells us, from his own knowledge, to upwards of 1000l. a-year. But as our limits will not allow us to follow the bishop in the copious and eloquent account he has given of this great man's abilities, we must therefore content ourselves with adding the short eulogium by the celebrated physician, philosopher, and chemist, Dr Herman Boerhaave; who, after having declared lord Bacon to be the father of experimental philosophy, asserts, that "Mr Boyle, the ornament of his age and country, succeeded to the genius and inquiries of the great chancellor Verulam. Which (says he) of all Mr Boyle's writings shall I recommend? All of them. To him we owe the secrets of fire, air, water, animals, vegetables, fossils: so that from his works may be deduced the whole system of natural knowledge." The reader perhaps may here be pleased to know, that Mr Boyle was born the same year in which lord Bacon died.

As to the person of this great man, we are told, that he was tall, but slender; and his countenance pale and emaciated. His constitution was so tender and delicate, that he had divers sorts of cloaks to put on when he went abroad, according to the temperature,

Boyle. of the air; and in this he governed himself by his thermometer. He escaped indeed the small-pox; but for almost forty years he laboured under such feebleness of body, and such lowness of strength and spirits, that it was astonishing how he could read, meditate, make experiments, and write, as he did. He had likewise a weakness in his eyes; which made him very tender of them, and extremely apprehensive of such disempers as might affect them. He imagined likewise, that if sickness should confine him to his bed, it might raise the pains of the stone to a degree which might be above his strength to support; so that he feared his last minutes should be too hard for him. This was the ground of all the caution and apprehension with which he was observed to live; but as to life itself, he had that just indifference for it which became a philosopher and a Christian. However, his sight began to grow dim not above four hours before he died; and when death came upon him, he had not been above three hours in bed, before it made an end of him, with so little pain that the flame appeared to go out merely for want of oil to maintain it.

Mr Boyle was never married; but Mr Evelyn was assured, that he courted the beautiful and ingenious daughter of Cary earl of Monmouth, and that to this passion was owing his "Seraphic Love." In the memorandum of Mr Boyle's life set down by bishop Burnet, it is remarked that he abstained from marriage, at first out of policy, afterwards more philosophically; and we find by a letter of Dr John Wallis to him, dated at Oxford, July 17th, 1669, that he had an overture made him with respect to the lady Mary Hastings, sister to the earl of Huntingdon: But it does not appear from any of his papers, that he had ever entertained the least thoughts of that kind; nay, there is a letter of his, wrote when he was young, to the lady Barrymore his niece, who had informed him of a report that he was actually married, which almost shows that he never did. The letter is written with great poiteness, and in the true spirit of gallantry; and is a clear proof, that though Mr Boyle did not choose to marry, yet it was no misanthropic cynical humour which restrained him from it. It is impossible to entertain the reader better than by presenting him with that part of it which concerns the point in question. "It is high time for me to hasten the payment of the thanks I owe your ladyship for the joy you are pleased to wish me, and of which that wish possibly gives me more than the occasion of it would. You have certainly reason, madam, to suspend your belief of a marriage, celebrated by no priest but Fame, and made unknown to the supposed bridegroom. I may possibly ere long give you a fit of the spleen upon this theme; but at present it were incongruous to blend such pure railing, as I ever prate of matrimony and amours with, among things I am so serious in as those this scribble presents you. I shall therefore only tell you, that the little gentleman and I are still at the old defiance. You have carried away too many of the perfections of your sex to leave enough in this country for reducing so stubborn a heart as mine; whose conquest were a tale of so much difficulty, and so little worth it, that the latter property is always likely to deter any that hath beauty and merit enough to overcome the former. But though this untamed heart be thus infensible to the thing itself called love; it is yet very access-

sible to things very near of kin to that passion; and esteem, friendship, respect, and even admiration, are things that their proper objects fail not proportionably to exact of me, and consequently are qualities which in their highest degrees are really and constantly paid my lady Barrymore by her most obliged humble servant, and affectionate uncle, ROBERT BOYLE."

We shall conclude this account of Mr Boyle with the mention of his posthumous works, which are as follows. 1. "The general History of the air designed and begun." 2. "General heads for the natural history of a country, great or small; drawn out for the use of travellers and navigators." 3. "A paper of the honourable Robert Boyle's, deposited with the secretaries of the Royal Society, October 14th, 1680, and opened since his death; being an account of his making the phosphorus, September 30th, 1680," Printed in the Philosophical Transactions. 4. "An account of a way of examining waters, as to freshness or saltness." 5. "A free discourse against customary swearing, and a dissuasive from cursing," 1695, 8vo. 6. "Medicinal experiments, or a collection of choice remedies, chiefly simple and easily prepared, useful in families, and fit for the service of the country people. The third and last volume, published from the author's original manuscript; whereunto is added several useful notes explanatory of the same," 1698, 12mo. Beautiful editions of all his works have been printed at London, in 5 volumes folio, and 6 volumes 4to.