ALEXANDER, an English poet of considerable celebrity, appears to have been a native of Scotland. The place of his nativity has indeed been disputed; but Bishop Bale, in a work published during Barclay's lifetime, mentions him as a Scotsman; and, according to Dr Bulleyne, another contemporary writer, he "was born beyond the cold river of Tweed." Holinshed likewise describes him as a Scot. On the other hand, Dr Pitts, who wrote at a more recent period, avers that he was an Englishman, and that his native district was probably Devonshire; but this averment is apparently founded on the mere circumstance of his having obtained preferment in that county. Wood, adopting a similar opinion, designates him Alexander de Barklay, and suggests that he seems to have been born at or near a town so called in Somersetshire. It is however to be remarked that the poet's name is altered to suit this hypothesis, and that there is no such town or village in the county of Somerset. Berkeley is the name of a place in the county of Gloucester, but Berkeley and Barclay are not the same; and we adhere to the opinion of Ritson, that "both his name of baptism and the orthography of his surname seem to prove that he was of Scotch extraction." Certain however it is that he spent most of his life in England. He is said to have been partly educated in the university of Oxford, and is conjectured to have belonged to Oriel College; but this account is apparently to be received with some degree of caution, and may rest on no better foundation than the fact of his having dedicated his Ship of Fools to Dr Cornish, provost of that college, and suffragan bishop of Tyne in the diocese of Bath. He describes himself as the bishop's humble chaplain, but this may perhaps be considered as merely a courteous form of speech; for in the poem itself, he represents himself as the "chaplaine and bedeman" of "my master Kyrkham." Barclay appears to have taken the degree of doctor of divinity. On one occasion he makes an allusion to what he had observed at Cambridge. It may be considered as highly probable that he completed his studies in one of those universities, and that the connexions which he thus had an opportunity of forming, induced him to fix his residence in the south; and when we suppose him to have enjoyed the benefit of an English education, it need not appear peculiarly "strange that in those days a Scot should obtain so great reputation in England." From his first eclogue, we learn that he spent some of his earlier days at Croydon in Surrey; and in the year 1508 we find him a prebendary of the collegiate church of St Mary Ottery.
---
1 "Alexander Barkeley, Scotus, rhetor ac poeta insignis." (Balei Illustrium Majoris Britanniae Scriptorum Summarium, p. 254; Gippeswich, 1548, 4to.) In a more recent publication, he mentions Barclay as a person, "quem alii Scotum, alii Angliam fuisse contendant." (Scriptorum Illustrium Majoris Britanniae Catalogus, p. 723. Basileae, 1559, fol.)
2 "Quibusdam Scotus fuisse videtur, sed Anglos vere fuit, patria ut probabile est, Devoniensis. Nam ibi ad S. Marian de Ottery presbyter primum fuit." (Pitseus De Illustribus Anglicis Scriptoribus, p. 745. Paris, 1619, 4to.)
3 Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. i. col. 205.
4 Ritson's Bibliotheca Poetarum, p. 46. in Devonshire. He afterwards became a Benedictine monk of the monastery of Ely, and at length assumed the habit of St Francis at Canterbury. Having survived the dissolution of the monasteries, he became successively vicar of Much-Badew in Essex, and, in 1546, of Wokey in Somersetshire; and was finally presented by the dean and chapter of Canterbury to the rectory of All-Saints in Lombard-street. As he retained some of his preferences in the reign of Edward VI., it is presumed that he must have complied with the changes of the times. Having reached a very advanced age, he died in the year 1552, and was interred at Croydon.
Barclay wrote at a period when the standard of English poetry was extremely low; and, as excellence is always comparative, this circumstance may partly enable us to account for the high reputation which he enjoyed among his contemporaries. If not entitled to the name of a poet, he is at least a copious versifier. His most conspicuous performance is the *Ship of Fools*, first printed by Pinson in the year 1590. The original design, and many of the details, were derived from Sebastian Brandt, a civilian of Strasburg, who in 1494 published a poem entitled *Das Narren Schaff* which was so well adapted to the taste of the age that a Latin and a French version appeared in 1497, and another French version in 1498. Barclay professes to have translated "oute de Laten, Franche, and Doche," but to the original cargo he has added many fools of English growth. Under the representation of a ship freighted with fools of various denominations, the poet exposes the prevalent vices and follies of the age; and although, as Warton remarks, the poem is destitute of plot, and the voyage of adventures, the general design was found to possess many attractions. Another publication of Barclay is the *Mirror of good Manners*, translated from the poem of Mancini *De quatuor Virtutibus*. His *Elogues* chiefly excite curiosity as the earliest specimen of pastoral poetry in the English language, but their other attractions are not very powerful. They are of a more recent date than Henryson's *Robene and Makyn*, and are certainly very inferior in poetical merit. Among his prose works we find a version of Sallust's history of the war with Jugurtha: it was twice printed by Pinson, and is an early specimen of an English translation from the classics.
Barclay, William, M.D., was the brother of Sir Patrick Barclay of Tolly, and was likewise related to his learned namesake mentioned in the next article. This latter fact is ascertained by the hendecasyllables subjoined to his notes on Tacitus, and bearing the subsequent inscription: "Nobili et clarissimo viro Guil. Barcelayo cognato meo, pro explicato Taciti Agricola, Joannes Barclayus Guil. F. scripsit." The writer of these verses, we may remark, must then have been only seventeen years of age. Barclay prosecuted his studies in the university of Louvain under Justus Lipsius, a great master of Roman literature; and to him this distinguished professor has addressed two of his printed letters. He describes himself as A.M. and M.D.; but where he took those degrees we are not informed. Having been appointed a professor in the university of Paris, he there taught humanity for several years, and acquired a considerable share of reputation by his talents and learning. He afterwards visited his native country, where he appears to have followed the medical profession; but it may be inferred from Dempster's brief notice, that, in consequence of his adherence to popery, his situation was rendered uncomfortable by the clergy, and having returned to France, he resumed his former occupation at Nantes in Bretagne. The same literary historian mentions, that, at the period of his writing, Barclay was residing in Scotland, and, according to his information, was pursuing the practice of physic.
The following is a list of all the publications of Dr Barclay with which we are acquainted.
1. Guilielmi Barclayi Oratio pro Eloquientia. Ad v. cl. Ludovicum Servinum, Sacri Consistorii Regii Consilium, et in amplissimo Senatu Parisiensis Regis Advocatum. Paris. 1599, 8vo.
2. C. Cornelii Taciti Opera quae exstant, ad exemplar quod J. Lipsius quintum recensuit. Scorsim excusi commentarii ejusdem Lipsii meliores plenioresque cum curis secundis, et auctariolo non ante addito. Guili. Barclayus Praemita quaedam ex Vita Agricolae libavit. Additi sunt indices aliquantum ditiones. Paris. 1599, 8vo.—Menage, in his *Remarques sur la Vie de Pierre Ayrault*, p. 230, has ascribed these *Praemitia* to the civilian, and the same error has been committed by other writers.
3. Nepenthes, or the Vertues of Tabacco. By William Barclay, Mr of Art, and Doctor of Physicke. Edinb. 1614, 8vo.—This tract is dedicated to the author's nephew, Patrick the son and heir of Sir Patrick Barclay of Tolly; and the dedication is preceded by "A merie Epistle of the Author to the Printer," who is no other than "good Master Hart." To this worthy friend he makes the following communication: "If I find favour in this essay, I shall send you shortly, Godwilling, a scholasticall subject, and a curious little worke, fit only for those which aspire to the top of Pindus. The one will bring to your shop the common sort of people, the other the most learned." At the end of the tract he has inserted six little poems, the first of which is addressed to Alexander Craig.
4. Guili. Barclayi, Ameniorum Artium, et Medicinae Doctoris, Judicii de Certamine G. Eglisemni cum G. Buchanan, pro Dignitate Paraphrascos Psalmi ciii. Non violandi Manes. Adjecta sunt, Eglisemni ipsum Judicium, ut editum fuisset Londini, typis Eduardi Aldaei, an. Dom. 1619; et, in gratiam studiose juventutis, ejusdem Psalmi elegans paraphrasis Thomae Rhedi. Lond. 1620, 8vo.—Dr Eglisemi, like a fair as well as a bold critic, exhibited his own verses in competition with those of Buchanan,
---
1 Sebastian Brandt, doctor of laws, was born at Strasbourg about the year 1458. He studied in the university of Basel; and after having publicly taught there, as well as in his native city, he became syndic of Strasbourg, where he died in the year 1520. (Adami Vitae Germanorum Jurisconsultorum et Poetarum, p. 5; edit. Franco. ad Moen. 1706, fol.) He is extolled by his contemporary Tritheim as "utriusque juris professor insignis, et tam in divinis Scripturis, quam aliis secularis literaturae disciplinis egregie doctus, poëticam non modicum callens, ingenio subtilis, eloquio disertus, consilio ac actione praeposuit." (De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, f. ccii. a. edit. Paris. 1512, 4to.) His writings embrace a considerable variety of subjects. We have a copy of one of his professional works, entitled *Titulorum omnium ad partem Civilitatis quam Canonici Expositiones*. Lugduni, 1666, 8vo.
2 See Dr Ebert's *Allgemeine Altertumsgeschichtliche Lexikon*, Band i. S. 230.
3 Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. i. p. 74.
4 Dr Barclay has himself mentioned the place of his birth. "Nam Collonia (sic castrum vocatur in quo primum terram tetigi) sita est in littero quod 'tam vasto atque aperto mari pulsatur.' Quo loco, ut obiter dicam, non paucis sunt vestigia veterum bellorum, cum Anglis presertim. Est in eodem littero, in territorio gentis Barchelayanae, portus quidam, qui nostra lingua Audibesser appellatur." (Prometia, p. 561.)
5 Lipsii Epist. select. cent. iii. ep. xxxiii. Epist. cent. ad Germanos et Gallos, ep. ivi.
6 "Inde in Scotiam prefectus aliquantisper substitit, donee ministri illi Sathanas magna eum molestia afflicientes solum vertere coegerunt, qui in Gallis iterum docere bonas artes sustinuit Namneti in Britannia Minore." (Dempster Hist. Ecclesiast. Gentis Sco- Barclay, and had no reason to congratulate himself on the issue. He was likewise assailed by another learned physician, Arthur Johnston, who, in two sarcastic and elegant poems, treated his case as one of decided insanity.
5. Guil. Barclaii, M. D. Poemata. *Delitia Poetarum Scotorum*, tom. i. p. 137.—These poems only occupy four pages and a half.
Barclay, William, LL. D. A distinguished civilian, was born in Aberdeenshire in the year 1541. He spent the early part of his life, and much of his fortune, at the court of Mary queen of Scots, from whose favour he had reason to expect preferment. In 1573 he went over to France, and at Bourges commenced student of the civil law under the famous Cujacius. He continued some years in that seminary, where he took his doctor's degree; and was soon after appointed professor of the civil law in the university of Pontamousson, recently founded by the duke of Lorraine. That prince afterwards made him counselor of state and master of requests. In the year 1581 Barclay married Anne de Malleville, a French lady, by whom he had a son, who became a celebrated author, and of whom the reader will find an account in the next article. This youth the Jesuits would gladly have received into their society; but his father refused his consent, and for that reason these disciples of Jesus soon contrived to ruin him with the duke his patron. Barclay now embarked for Britain, where King James offered him a considerable preferment, provided he would become a member of the church of England; but not choosing to comply with this condition, he returned to France in 1604, and, soon after his arrival, was appointed first professor of the civil law in the university of Angers, where he died the year following, and was buried in the Franciscan church.
Barclay was a man of superior talents, and still maintains a conspicuous place among civilians. In his political opinions he was directly opposed to his illustrious countryman Buchanan, and was a strenuous defender of the rights of kings: his own speculations on the principles of government are best known to some readers from an incidental confutation by Locke, in his *Treatises on Government*. A list of his publications shall close this very brief notice.
1. De Regno et Regali Potestate, adversus Buchanannum, Brutum, Boucherium, et reliquos Monarchomachos, libri sex. Paris. 1600, 4to.—This volume contains, or ought to contain, a portrait of the author, which however has in many instances been transferred to the portfolio of some collector.
2. In Titulum Pandectarum de Rebus creditis et Jure jurando Commentarii. Paris. 1605, Svo.—This commentary is reprinted in Otto's *Thesaurus Juris Romani*, tom. iii.
3. De Potestate Papae; an et quatenus in Reges et Principes seculares jus et imperium habeat: Liber posthumus. Mussiponti, 1610, 8vo.—This work may likewise be found in Goldasti *Monarchia*, tom. iii. p. 621. It was translated into French; and an English version is printed with the treatise of Sheldon, *Of the Lawfulness of the Oath of Allegiance*. Lond. 1611, 4to. Barclay's two treatises, *De Regno* and *De Potestate Papa*, have repeatedly been printed in the same volume. Hanoviae 1612, 8vo. Ha. Noviae, 1617, Svo.
Barclay, John, son of the eminent civilian mentioned in the last article, was born at Pontamousson on the 29th of January 1582. He was there educated in the College of the Jesuits, and excited in his instructors so favourable an opinion of his capacity, that they made an attempt to entice him into their order; an attempt which was indignantly resisted by his father. At the age of nineteen, he evinced his literary ambition by publishing annotations on the *Thebais* of Statius. In 1603, when his father resigned his professorship in disgust, the young and aspiring scholar accompanied him to London; and at the beginning of the following year he presented his *Kalende Januarie* as a poetical offering to King James, to whom he soon afterwards dedicated the first part of his work entitled *Euphormionis Lusini Satyricon*. Both the father and the son were willing to accept of employment, and no doubt they both expected preferment. But, as Lord Hailes has remarked, "William Barclay was conscientiously attached to the church of Rome, and his son professed the religion of his forefathers. In those days a pension bestowed upon a Scottish Papist would have been numbered among the national grievances; and the vulgar would not have distinguished between favour shown to genius or learning, and partiality for the opinions of the person favoured." In the year 1604 they both returned to France, and Dr Barclay was again placed in a situation suited to his talents and learning, having been appointed first professor of the civil law in the university of Angers. His taste for external magnificence appears to have been somewhat prominent: when he went to read his lecture, he was dressed in a superb gown, with a massy chain of gold about his neck, and was followed by his son and two valets.
The younger Barclay, whose hopes of advancement had begun to revive, returned to England in 1605; but after a further residence of twelve months, he still found himself unsuccessful in his pursuit. His father died towards the close of the same year; and he afterwards removed to Paris, where he married Louise, the daughter of Michael Debonnaire, "Trésorier des Vieilles Bandes." He speedily fixed his abode in London, and there his wife bore him a son and two daughters, William, Anne, and Louise. M. de Peiresc, who was himself a man of learning, and was very extensively connected with the learned, found him in this metropolis in the year 1606, and their acquaintance was succeeded by an intimate friendship. During this year he published the second part of his *Satyricon*, which he dedicated to the earl of Salisbury; and likewise a brief narrative of the gunpowder plot, bearing the title of *Series patefacti divinitus Parietidii, in ter maximum Regem Renumque Britanniae copiati et instructi*. In 1610 he published an apology for his *Satyricon*, which had excited so much resentment that he found it necessary to attempt some palliatives and explanations. A tract was published at Paris in 1620, under the title of *Censura Euphormionis*; and this was answered in a *Censura Censura Euphormionis*, written by Pierre Musnier, canon of Vezelay.
---
1 See Dr Browne's Remarks on the Study of the Civil Law, p. 25. 2 Hailes's Sketch of the Life of John Barclay, p. 2. 4to edit. 3 Menage, Remarques sur la Vie de Pierre Ayrault, p. 230. 4 On credit, pour quelques lire en passant, que Seton, Ecossais, est l'auteur de ce petit livre." (Menage, p. 233.) The writer apparently alludes to Dr Seaton, a learned civilian, whom Tomasini enumerates among the eminent scholars of the age. (Parnassus Euganeus, sive de Scriptoribus ac Literatis hujus Ævi claris, p. 8.) Patavii, 1647, 4to. Balzac celebrated him in his Latin verses; Sclopiss addressed the second epistle of his *Paradoxa Literaria*. "Guilhelmo Setonio Scoeto Jurisconsulto" and his name is mentioned with much respect by various other writers of the same period. He is highly extolled in Sir Thomas Urquhart's *Discovery of a most exquisite Jewel*, p. 177. Lond. 1652, 8vo. During the same year, 1610, he published an able work of his father, *De Potestate Papæ*, to which he prefixed a preface of nine pages, concluding with a clear intimation of his purpose to defend his father's memory against any unseemly attack. "Quod si aliquis hoc opus refellere instituet, velim ne oratoria fraude tantum levis acadam carpat, in quibus nec ipse author multum subsidii posuerit: sed ipsam vim rationum executat, dilendi aut asserendi vitia accusat. Si quis alter faxit, sciat Gulielmi Barclaii cineres loqui posse." It was not the object of this treatise to controvert the spiritual supremacy of the pope, which the author was ready to admit in its most orthodox sense; but while he acknowledged his power and jurisdiction in things spiritual, he strenuously contended against his usurped power over sovereign princes in things temporal. The work, which is written with learning and ability, excited no small degree of attention; and it was soon attacked by Cardinal Bellarmine, one of the most formidable defenders of the doctrines of the church, and of the pretensions of its visible head. The son was anxious to evince that the ashes of his revered father were yet capable of speaking. He had not neglected to study the law under so excellent a preceptor; and as he was by no means diffident of his own abilities, he did not shrink from a contest with so redoubtable an antagonist. He accordingly published a large volume bearing the title of *Joannis Barclaii Pietas; sive publice pro Regibus ac Principibus, ae privatae pro Gulielmo Barclaiio Parente Vindiciae, adversus Roberti S.R.E. Cardinalis Bellarmini Tractatum de Potestate Summi Pontificis in Rebus Temporalibus*. Parisiis, 1612, 4to. To this work the cardinal did not himself reply, but an answer was speedily published under the name of *Andrea Eudaimon-Johannis Epistola monitoria ad Joannem Barclaium de Libro ab eo pro Patre suo contra Robertum Bellarminum S.R.E. Cardinalinem scripto*. Col. Agrip. 1613, 8vo.
In 1614 Barclay published at London his *Icon Animorum*, which forms the fourth part of his *Satyricon*. This work is written with talent and vivacity, and may still be perused with pleasure. It is, as Lord Hailes has correctly stated, a delineation of the genius and manners of the European nations, with remarks, moral and philosophical, on the various tempers of men. For the land of his forefathers the author has not failed to testify a sufficient degree of affection. He duly extols the antiquity of the royal line, "inlyco sceptrum supra fidem et statum regnorum cæterorum." Nor is the literary character of the people left without its share of commendation. "Animi illis in quaestione studia inclinant, mirifice successu inclyti, ut nullus major patientia castrorum, vel audacia pugnae, et Musæ nunquam deliciatis habeant quam cum incidunt in Scotos." Some of his sketches of the national character are happy and graphic.
After a residence of ten years in England, Barclay found himself without any sufficient inducement to prolong his stay. To some extent or other, he had experienced the bounty of the earl of Salisbury; and although it does not appear that he obtained any regular provision from the king, we may perhaps suppose that he at least received occasional gratuities; but his resources continued to be scanty, and his situation precarious. Towards the close of the year 1615 he proceeded to Paris, where he had the pleasure of meeting his friend M. de Peiresc, and the honour of being introduced by him to the keeper of the seals, Guillaume du Vair. Having been invited to Rome by Pope Paul V., he there fixed his residence in the beginning of the ensuing year, and by the publication of his next work he endeavoured to prove himself a worthy citizen of this pious city. The work to which we allude is entitled *Joannis Barclaii Parenesis ad Sectarios, libri ii*. Rome, 1617, 8vo. "It is probable," says Lord Hailes, "that by this exhortation to the sectaries, he meant to give evidence of his own orthodoxy, and to atone for the liberties, almost heretical, which he had taken, as well with the papal court, as with its most faithful adherents. But that court, which had Cardinal Bellarmine for its champion, required not the feeble and suspicious aid of the author of Euphormion.—Although Barclay found much civility at Rome, yet it does not appear that he obtained any emolument. Incumbered with a wife and family, and having a spirit above his fortune, he was left at full leisure to pursue his literary studies. It was at that time that he composed his Latin romance called *Argenis*. He employed his vacant hours in the cultivating of a flower-garden. Rossi (or Erythraeus) relates, in the turgid Italian style, that Barclay cared not for those bulbous roots which produce flowers of a sweet scent; and that he cultivated such as produced flowers void of smell, but having variety of colours. Hence we may conclude that he was amongst the first of those who were infected with that strange disease, a passion for tulips, which soon after overspread Europe, and is still remembered under the name of the *Tulipo-mania*. Barclay had it to that excess, that he placed two mastiffs as centinels on his garden; and, rather than abandon his favourite flowers, chose to continue his residence in an ill-aired and unwholesome habitation." The preceding account of his success at Rome is not reconcilable with that of Erythraeus, who avers that from Cardinal Barberini he obtained riches as well as civility; but as these benefits are said to have been conferred after the cardinal's elevation to the papal chair, the narrative is liable to some degree of suspicion. The election of Urban VIII. did not take place till the year 1623, and Barclay was then beyond the reach of preferment. It is not however probable that a writer of high reputation, who had been invited by the pope, and was caressed by cardinals, was left without some substantial mark of favour. Bellarmine, whom he had formerly undertaken to refute, was so far from cherishing any resentment, that he honoured him with various marks of kindness. Barclay died at Rome on the twelfth of August 1621, in the fortieth year of his age. The disease which proved fatal to him was the stone; a disease for which, in his *Satyricon*, he had pronounced the plant called golden rod to be a specific remedy. His remains were interred in the church of S. Onofrio; and at the church of S. Lorenzo, on the road to Tivoli, his widow erected for him a monument, with his bust in marble; but on learning that Cardinal Francesco Barberini had there erected a similar monument in honour of his preceptor, she indignantly caused the bust to be removed. The inscription on Barclay's monument was soon erased; but by whom, or for what reason, is not very clearly ascertained. There is however no improbability in the reason assigned by Freherus, who imputes this act to the vindictive feelings of the Jesuits, an order of men very frequently subjected to his satire.
---
1 Joannis Barclaii Icon Animorum, p. 92. Lond. 1614, 8vo. 2 "Qui dedice, ad Deo proximum, in terris, dignitatis locum erectus, Urbani VIII nomine, non modo illi utilitati et commodo fuit; nam et divitias et opes ac gratiam contulit, filiumque ejus majorem natu et pingui sacerdotio locupletavit, et honorarii intimi cubicularii titulo colonestavit." (Erythraei Pimacotheca, tom. iii. p. 79.) See likewise Imperialis Museum Historicum, p. 170. 3 Freheri Theatrum Vitrorum Eruditissime clarorum, tom. ii. p. 153.—"Inscriptionem ac statuam," says an earlier writer, "cautiore patres consilio sublatam ac deletam voluerunt." (Imperialis Museum Historicum, p. 171. Venet. 1640, 4to.) At the time of his death, the romance of Argenis was printing under the superintendence of Peiresc, and was soon afterwards given to the public. Paris, 1621, 8vo.
Besides a son and two daughters born in England, Barclay had a son who was born at Rome. His elder son is represented by Erythraeus as having obtained a rich benefice from Urban VIII. With one of his sons Menage was acquainted at Paris in the year 1652; and, in his opinion, "ce n'estoit pas un grand personnage." Like his father, he was a writer of Latin verses, and at this period he there printed an elegy. We are not aware that the descendants of Barclay are at present to be traced either in France or Italy.
This ingenious writer, who was thus arrested in the middle of his literary career, left an unpublished history of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Franks, and some fragments of a general history of Europe. Erythraeus informs us that he had himself transcribed a manuscript tract of his, relating to the defection of M. Ant. de Dominis, archbishop of Spalato; and that from his knowledge of the national character, as well as of the disposition of the king, the author foretold that he could not long remain in England.
The ambition of Barclay was greater than his fortune; nor did his propensity to satirize one class of individuals prevent him from offering abject flatteries to another. But at that period few men of letters knew how to blend self-respect with a proper deference to their superiors in the artificial scale of society. His personal character, with an ample allowance for his vanity as an author, appears to have been respectable. "Some very indecent descriptions in Euphormion," as Lord Hailes has remarked, "lead us to form an unfavourable conjecture as to the manners of Barclay. There is however no proof that he was a loose man; and indeed it is probable that he wrote loosely because Petronius, whom he had chosen for his model in satire, affected that style. Barclay entered into the married state at a very early period of life; and he appears to have continued the fond husband of his Aloysia... There is a presumption, at least, that he who was a good son and a good husband, was also a virtuous man in other respects; and if there had been any remarkable blemish in the morals of Barclay, some of his numerous and virulent adversaries would have pointed it out." He appears to have been subjected to considerable annoyance in consequence of the jealousy of his wife; but in many cases jealousy is a wayward passion, and proceeds from the mere excess of affection, as well as from the knowledge or suspicion of specific and painful facts.
Barclay was evidently a man of genius, and with a vigorous imagination he united a competent share of learning. His literary efforts were sufficiently variegated; quitting the regions of poetry and romance, he ventured to discuss subjects of jurisprudence and theology. His Latin poems exhibit marks of fancy and ingenuity, nor is his skill as a versifier less conspicuous. The Satyricon is formed on the model of Petronius, and includes occasional verses interspersed with the prose. The talent displayed in this work would alone have been sufficient to secure him a high reputation among the writers of the age; but the fame of all his other productions has in a great measure been eclipsed by that of his Argenis, which, after the lapse of two centuries, still finds readers and admirers. "Argenis," says Lord Hailes, "is generally supposed to be a history under feigned names, and not a romance. Barclay himself contributed to establish this opinion, by introducing some real characters into the work. But that was merely to compliment certain dignitaries of the church, whose good offices he courted, or whose power he dreaded. The key prefixed to Argenis has perpetuated the error. There are no doubt many incidents in it that allude to the state of France during the civil wars in the seventeenth century; but it requires a strong imagination indeed to discover Queen Elizabeth in Hyamsbe, or Henry III. of France in Meleander. On the whole, Argenis appears to be a poetical fable, replete with moral and political reflections." This is a sober and correct account of the work; but Cowper has expressed his approbation in more glowing terms. "The work I mean is Barclay's Argenis; and, if ever you allow yourself to read for mere amusement, I can recommend it to you (provided you have not already perused it) as the most amusing romance that ever was written. It is the only one indeed of an old date that I ever had the patience to go through with. It is interesting in a high degree, richer in incident than can be imagined, full of surprizes, which the reader never forestalls, and yet free from all entanglement and confusion. The stile too appears to me to be such as would not dishonour Tacitus himself." In another letter he expresses himself thus:—"I have also read Barclay's Argenis, a Latin romance, and the best romance that was ever written." This romance was a special favourite with Cardinal Richelieu, and also with Leibnitz, a much greater man than the cardinal.
Cowper appears to have been struck with the point and vivacity of his style, which indeed are sufficiently distinguishable; but for the purity of his Latin diction Barclay is not entitled to equal commendation. Being probably impelled by the rapid current of his fancy, he adopts a variety of words and idioms which well express his meaning, but which nevertheless do not belong to the best ages of Latinity. The distich of Grotius, engraved under Barclay's portrait, seems therefore to contain a compliment which must not be too literally interpreted:
Gente Caledonius, Gallus natalibus, hic est Romam Romano qui docet ore loqui.
Joseph Scaliger, whose literary judgments were frequently severe, and not unfrequently capricious, mentions Barclay's Satyricon in terms of great disparagement; but whether his censure is chiefly directed against the Latinity or against the general strain of the work, is not altogether certain. This book, whatever may be its merits, has passed through many editions, and has been translated into the French and German languages. It has likewise had the advantage of being illustrated with notes. Lugd. Bat. 1674, 8vo. The fourth part, the Icon Animorum, has repeatedly been printed in a separate form. One edition bears this inscription: "Joannis Barcalii Icon Animorum, celeberrimi viri Augusti Buchneri notis, adjecto rerum indice, illustrata." Dresden, 1680, 8vo. The book soon appeared in an English dress: "The Mirror of Minds, or Barclay's Icon Animorum; Englished by Tho. May, Esq." Lond. 1633, 12mo. Of this translation there is another edition in the same form; but the only copy
---
1 Gassendi Vita Nicolai Claudi Fabritici de Peiresc, p. 176. Paris, 1641, 4to. 2 Joannis Barcalii Poemata libri duo. Lond. 1615, 4to. Oxon. 1636, 12mo.—His poems may likewise be found in the Deliae Poetarum Scotorum, tom. i. p. 76. "Sed quid Joanne Barcalio Scoeto, etiam in hoc genere Musarum, exactius, numerosius, et qua- doque sublimius?" (Borricelli Dissertationes academicae de Poetis, p. 149. Francof. 1633, 4to.) 3 Hayley's Life of Cowper, vol. i. p. 243, 247. 4to edit. 4 "Quanti Euphormionem Barclai faciam, ex eo cognoscere potest, quo vid sex folia ejus legere potuerim." (Jos. Scaliger Epistola, p. 657. Lugd. Bat. 1627, 8vo.) See Colonensis Opincula, p. 157, and Menage's Remarques sur la Vie de Pierre Ayrault, p. 233. 5 Biographie Universelle, tom. iii. p. 300. Ebert's Allgemeines Bibliographisches Lexikon, Band I. S. 137. to which we have access contains a mutilated title; and we therefore cannot discover the date. Two French versions had appeared in the course of one year. "Le Portrait des Esprits de Jean Barclai, mis en François." Paris, 1625, 12mo. "Le Tableau des Esprits de M. Jean Barclay: par lequel on connoit les humeurs des Nations, leurs avantages et defaux, les inclinations des hommes, tant à cause de leurs propres naturels que des conditions de leurs charges. Nouvellement traduit de Latin en François." Paris, 1625, 8vo. The dedication of the duodecimo is subscribed Nantevil de Boham; and he has taken such liberties with the original, that his work can scarcely claim the name of a translation. There is a German translation of a very recent date: "Johann Barklai's Gemälde der menschlichen Charaktere nach Verschiedenheit der Alter, Zeiten, Länder, Individuen und Stände: aus dem Lateinischen übersetzt, und mit Anmerkungen und geschichtlichen Nachweisungen begleitet, von Anton Weddige, Pastor zu Lippborg." Münster, 1821, 8vo. A continuation of the Satyricon had been published by Claude Morisot, under the title of Altphiloi Veri-tatis Lacrymae; and Lord Hailes describes it as a masterpiece of absurdity.
The editions and versions of the Argenis are much more numerous. An edition with notes appeared under the title of "Joannis Barclai Argenis, nunc primum illustrata." Ludg. Bat. et Roter. 1664, 8vo. This was followed in 1669 by a uniform edition of the continuation: "Archibrotus et Theopompus, sive Argenis secunda et tertia pars, ubi de Institutione Principis." The notes, which are not held in much estimation, were written by Bognot, a Benedictine who taught rhetoric in the abbey of Tiron. Lord Hailes mentions a French translation published at Paris, 1622, 8vo; and another with the subsequent title now lies before us: "L'Argenis de Jean Barclay: traduction nouvelle, enrichie de figures." Paris, 1625, 8vo. There are other two French versions of a more recent date, one by the Abbé Josse, a canon of Chartres, 1732, 3 tom. 12mo; and another by M. Savin, Paris, 1776, 2 tom. 8vo. Barclay's romance soon appeared in Spanish; and a copy of this rare version belongs to the Astorga collection in the Advocates Library: "Argenis, por Don Joseph Pellicer de Salas y Tobar. A Don Antonio de Negro, Noble de la Sereníssima Republica de Genoasa." Madrid, 1626, 4to. Don Joseph has somewhat unfairly excluded Barclay's name from the title-page. An English version was speedily published by Sir Robert Le Grys and Thomas May, Esq. Lond. 1628, 4to. And another was executed by Kingsmill Long, Esq. Lond. 1636, 4to. After a long interval appeared "The Phoenix or, the History of Polyarchus and Argenis. By a Lady." London, 1772, 4 vols. 12mo. The preface of this publication states that "the editor has made use of both the former translations occasionally, and, whenever a doubt arose, had recourse to the original." Lord Hailes has judiciously enough suggested that "the lady would have done as well had she made use of the original, and only consulted the translations when any doubt arose." The Argenis was at an early period translated into German: "Joan. Barclai Argenis, verdeutsch durch Martin Opitz." Amsterdam, 1644, 12mo. In this country, the version of Opitz is extremely rare; and the only copy that has fallen under our inspection belongs to the writer of the present notice. Another German translation was published by J. Ch. L. Haken. Berlin, 1794, 2 Bde. 8vo. An Italian version was executed by Francesco Pona; and this celebrated romance has even been translated into the Polish, Swedish, and Icelandic languages. Among the northern manuscripts in the Advocates Library there is a Saga of Argenis, translated in the year 1694 by a schoolmaster named Einarson.
Barclay, Robert, one of the most eminent among the Quakers, the son of Colonel David Barclay, was born at Edinburgh in 1648. He was educated under an uncle at Paris, where the Papists used all their efforts to draw him over to their religion. But he joined the Quakers in 1669, and distinguished himself by his zeal and abilities in defence of their doctrines. In 1676 he published, in Latin, at Amsterdam, his Apology for the Quakers, which is the most celebrated of his works, and esteemed the standard of the doctrine of the Quakers. The Theses Theologicae, which were the foundation of this work, and addressed to the clergy generally, were published before the Apology, and printed in Latin, French, German, Dutch, and English. The dedication of his Apology to king Charles II., is very remarkable for the uncommon frankness and simplicity with which it is written. Amongst many other extraordinary passages, we meet with the following: "There is no king in the world who can so experimentally testify of God's providence and goodness; neither is there any who rules so many free people, so many true Christians; which thing renders thy government more honourable, thyself more considerable, than the accession of many nations filled with slavish and superstitious souls. Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity; thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native country, to be over-ruled as well as to rule and sit upon the throne; and being oppressed, thou hast reason to know how hateful the oppressor is both to God and man; if, after all those warnings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who remembered thee in thy distress, and give thyself up to follow lust and vanity, surely great will be thy condemnation." He travelled with the famous William Penn through the greater part of England, Holland, and Germany, and was everywhere received with the highest respect; for though both his conversation and behaviour were suitable to his principles, yet there was such liveliness and spirit in his discourse, and such serenity and cheerfulness in his deportment, as rendered him extremely agreeable to all sorts of people. When he returned to his native country, he spent the remainder of his life in a quiet and retired manner. He died at his own house at Ury, on the 3d of October 1690, in the 42d year of his age.
Barclay, John, M.D. a distinguished anatomist, was born in Perthshire in 1760, and died at Edinburgh in 1826. After the usual routine of parochial education, Dr Barclay was entered as a student at the United College of St Andrews, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar. He subsequently studied divinity in the same university, and was licensed as a preacher by the presbytery of Dunkeld. Having repaired to Edinburgh in 1789, as tutor to the family of Sir James Campbell of Aberuchill, Dr Barclay began to give his attention to the study of medicine, and particularly to anatomy, both human and comparative. He became assistant to the late Mr John Bell, and took the degree of doctor of physic in the university of Edinburgh in 1796, after having defended an inaugural dissertation, De Anima, seu Principio Vitali. This subject seems very early to have engaged his attention; and his last work, on Life and Organization, in which his views are more fully developed, affords a proof of the continued Barclay, assiduity with which Dr Barclay prosecuted his inquiries in this interesting field of research.
Immediately after his graduation, having determined, it is believed somewhat suddenly, to come forward as a teacher of anatomy, he repaired to London, and studied for some time under the late Dr Marshall of Thavies Inn, at that time a very distinguished teacher of anatomy in the metropolis.
Soon after his return from London, Dr Barclay commenced his lectures on anatomy in Edinburgh in November 1797; and by his punctual attention to his engagements, and assiduous devotion to the instruction of his pupils, he speedily attracted a respectable audience, which continued gradually to increase in numbers until the period of his retirement, a short time before his death.
Of Dr Barclay's professional writings, the earliest, we believe, was the article Physiology, which he furnished for the third edition of this work.
In 1803, six years after he commenced his career as a teacher, Dr Barclay attempted a reform in the language of anatomy, with a view to render it more accurate and precise; a task for which his acquirements as a classical scholar rendered him peculiarly fit. Although the Nomenclature which he published upon that occasion has not yet been generally adopted, we believe that the profession, with one voice, acknowledges the importance of the object which he had in view, and the talent and learning with which it was executed. Some of his illustrations of the defects in the existing language of anatomy, particularly in the terms expressive of position and aspect, were peculiarly striking, and highly characteristic of his overflowing humour. "The terms above, below, behind, and before," he used to observe, "would be sufficiently definite if the body were uniformly to preserve the same position; and so," said he, "would be the expression in Hudibras, where the author makes Crowdero apply a squeaking-engine to the north-east side of his neck: this would be sufficiently definite if one could ascertain, by compass, in what particular position the fiddler stood."
His next work, published in 1808, was a Treatise on the Muscular Motions of the Human Body, calculated to encourage a more attentive study of the simple and combined actions of the muscles, with a view to a more scientific and successful treatment of fractures and luxations; a department of surgery which, even now, although illustrated by his distinguished friend Sir Astley Cooper, can scarcely be said to be rescued from those popular prejudices under which it has so long laboured.
In 1812 Dr Barclay published the first edition of his Description of the Arteries of the Human Body; a work displaying much acute observation and laborious research, and which may perhaps be considered the most practically useful of all his writings. The labour which this work must have cost him may be judged of by the fact, that he wrote no description of any artery until he had studied its delineation, as given by Haller, and every other standard authority, and until he had actually examined its course and distribution in every preparation to which he had access; in some instances repairing to Glasgow to examine the excellent collection of vascular preparations then in the possession of his friend Mr Allan Burns.
His last publication, completed only a few years before his death, was An Inquiry into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, concerning Life and Organization; a work replete with learning and original criticism, and well calculated to check the progress of those idle and dangerous speculations by which some of our modern philosophers have been distinguished. This, like all his former publications, is dedicated to Dr Thomas Thomson, professor of chemistry in the university of Glasgow, one of the earliest and best distinguished of his numerous friends.
These several works, which afford such remarkable proofs of the inexhaustible energies of Dr Barclay's mind, were undertaken and completed amidst the incessant and laborious toils which his courses of anatomical lectures necessarily imposed upon him. Of these he gave two very full ones every winter, commencing each of them early in November, and terminating at the end of April. For several years previous to his death he had also given a course of comparative anatomy during the summer months. To this branch of study Dr Barclay had always shown a marked partiality, not only as an object of scientific research, but of great practical utility. He pressed upon the Highland Society of Scotland, of which he was a distinguished member, the propriety of giving encouragement to the study of veterinary medicine; and to him, in conjunction with his friend Mr Robert Johnston, the public is chiefly indebted for the establishment of the veterinary school, so successfully conducted by his pupil Mr Dick, under the auspices of the liberal and patriotic body above mentioned.
At the period of his death Dr Barclay was engaged in revising and preparing for the press his introductory lectures, which have since been published, and contain a valuable abridgment of the history of anatomy.
His successful progress as a teacher of anatomy Dr Barclay always gratefully attributed, in a great measure, to the patronage which, at an early period, he received from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; and to that learned and public-spirited body he bequeathed his anatomical collection, now known as the Barclayan Museum, which contains many valuable specimens in comparative anatomy, and some of the finest vascular preparations which are anywhere to be found.