COOPER, Anthony Ashley, Earl of Shaftesbury, was son of Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury, and grandson of Anthony first Earl of Shaftesbury, lord high chancellor of England. He was born in 1671, at Exeter House, in London, where lived his grandfather, who from the time of his birth conceived so great an affection for him, that he undertook the care of his education; and young Cooper made so good a progress in learning that he could write with ease both the Latin and Greek languages when only eleven years old. In 1683 his father carried him to the school at Winchester, where he was often insulted on account of his grandfather, whose memory was odious to the zealots for despotic power; he therefore prevailed with his father to consent to his desire of going abroad. After three years stay abroad, he returned to England in 1689, and was offered a seat in parliament for some of those boroughs where his family had an interest. But this offer he declined accepting, in order that he might not be interrupted in the course of his studies, which he prosecuted five years more with great vigour and success; till, upon Sir John Trenchard's death, he was elected burgess for Poole. Soon after his coming into parliament, he had an opportunity afforded him of evincing that spirit of liberty by which he uniformly directed his conduct on all occasions. This consisted of the bringing in and promoting "the act for regulating trials in cases of high trea-
son." But the fatigues of attending the House of Commons in a few years so impaired his health, that he was obliged to decline coming again into parliament after the dissolution in 1698. He then went to Holland, where the conversation of Mr Bayle, M. le Clerc, and several other learned and ingenious men, induced him to reside a twelvemonth. During this time there was printed at London, in Svo, an imperfect edition of Lord Ashley's Inquiry concerning Virtue. It had been surreptitiously taken from a rough draught, sketched when he was not more than twenty years of age. His lordship, who was greatly chagrined at this event, immediately bought up the impression before many copies were sold, and set about completing the treatise as it afterwards appeared in the second volume of the Characteristics. Soon after Lord Ashley's return to England, he became, by the decease of his father, Earl of Shaftesbury. But his own private affairs prevented his attending the House of Lords till the second year of his peerage, when he was very earnest in supporting the measures of King William, at that time projecting the grand alliance. So much was he in favour with the king, that he had the offer of the office of secretary of state; but his declining constitution would not allow him to accept of it. Though he was disabled from engaging in business, the king consulted him on matters of very high importance; and it is pretty well known that he had the greatest share in composing that celebrated last speech of King William, delivered on the 31st December 1701. Upon Queen Anne's accession to the throne, he returned to his retired manner of life, being no longer advised with concerning the public; and he was also removed from the vice-admiralty of Dorset, which had been in the family for three generations. In 1703 he made a second journey to Holland, and returned to England the year following. The French prophets, soon after this, having by their enthusiastic extravagancies made a great noise throughout the nation, and, among different opinions, some having advised a prosecution, the Lord Shaftesbury apprehended that such a measure would tend rather to inflame than to cure the disease. This was the origin of his Letter concerning Enthusiasm, which he sent to Lord Somers, then president of the council; and which being approved of by that nobleman, and other gentlemen to whom it was shown, was published in 1708, though without the name of the author, or that of the person to whom it was addressed. His Moralist, a philosophical rhapsody, being a recital of certain conversations on natural and moral subjects, appeared in January 1709; and in the May following, his Sensus Communis, an essay upon the freedom of wit and humour, in a letter to a friend. In the same year he entered into the married state with Mrs Jane Ewer, the youngest daughter of Thomas Ewer, Esq. of Lee, in Hertfordshire. By this lady, to whom his lordship was related, he had an only son, Anthony, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury. In 1710 was published his Soliloquy, or Advice to an Author, London, Svo. Whilst he was thus employing himself in literary composition, his health declined so fast that it was recommended to him to try the benefit of a warmer climate. Accordingly, in July 1711, he set out for Naples, and pursuing his journey by way of France, was obliged to pass through the Duke of Berwick's army, which at that time lay encamped near the borders of Piedmont. Here he was entertained by that celebrated captain in the most friendly manner, and every assistance was afforded to conduct him in safety to the Duke of Savoy's dominions. But our author's removal to Italy proved of no service to the re-establishment of his health; for after having resided at Naples about a year and a half, he departed this life on the 15th of February 1713, being then in the forty-second year of his age. The only pieces which he finished after he arrived at this city were the Judgment of Her-
cules, and the Letter concerning Design, which last was added to the impression of the Characteristics which appeared in 1732. It was in 1711 that the first complete edition of the Characteristics was published, in the order in which they now stand. But this publication not being entirely to his lordship's satisfaction, he chiefly employed the latter part of his life in preparing his writings for a more elegant edition, which was given to the world in 1713, soon after his decease. The several prints which were then first interspersed throughout the volumes were all invented by himself, and designed under his immediate inspection; and for this purpose he was at the pains of drawing up a most accurate set of instructions, the manuscript of which is still preserved in the family. That no mistakes might be committed, the earl did not leave to any other hands so much as the drudgery of correcting the press. In the three volumes of the Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times, he completed the whole of his works which he intended for the public eye. Not long before his death he had formed a scheme of writing a discourse on painting, sculpture, and the other arts of design, which, if he had lived to finish it, might have proved a very pleasing and useful work, as he had a fine taste in subjects of this kind; but his premature demise prevented his making any great progress in the undertaking. The Earl of Shaftesbury had an esteem for the works of the best English divines, one remarkable instance of which was displayed in his writing a preface to a volume of Dr Whichcot's Sermons, published in 1698. Copies of these sermons had been taken in short-hand, as they were delivered from the pulpit; and the earl had so high an opinion of them, that he not only introduced them to the world by his preface, but had them printed under his own particular inspection. In his Letters to a Young Man at the University, he speaks of Bishop Burnet and Dr Hoadley in terms of great applause, and he has done justice to the merits of Tillotson, Barrow, Chillingworth, and Hammond, as the chief pillars of the church against fanaticism. For a further account of his character as a philosopher and writer, we refer to Sir James Mackintosh's Discourse, in the first volume of this work.
COOPER or COOPER, Thomas, a pious and learned prelate in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was born at Oxford about the year 1517. He was educated in the school adjoining to Magdalene College, of which he was a chorister, and where also, in 1539, he was elected probationer, and fellow the following year. About the year 1546, having quitted his fellowship, he applied himself to the study of physic, took the degree of bachelor in that faculty in 1555, and practised as a physician at Oxford. Being inclined to the Protestant religion, this probably was only a prudent suspension of his final intentions during the reign of Queen Mary; for on the accession of Elizabeth he resumed the study of divinity, became a celebrated preacher, and was made dean of Christ-Church and vice-chancellor of the university, having taken the degrees of bachelor and doctor in divinity. In 1569 he was made Dean of Gloucester, and the year following Bishop of Lincoln; but in 1584 he was translated to the see of Winchester, in which city he died, on the 28th of April 1594. The several writers who have mentioned Dr Cooper usually describe him as an eloquent preacher, a learned divine, and a good man. He wrote, 1. The Epitome of Chronicles, from the seventeenth year after Christ to 1510, and thence to 1560; 2. Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae, and Dictionarium Historicum et Poeticum, 1565, folio; which was so much valued by Queen Elizabeth, that she determined to promote the author; 3. A Brief Exposition of such Chapters of the Old Testament as are usu-
ally read in the church at common prayer on Sundays throughout the year, 1573, 4to; 4. An Admonition to the People of England, 1589, 4to; 5. Some Sermons.