the historian, has frequently been identified with the professor of the civil law, but it has at length been ascertained that they were different individuals. The father of the historian was Alexander Cunningham, minister of Ettrick, in Selkirkshire, and the owner of a small estate, named Hyndhope, and situated in the same county. The elder son, James, inherited this property, and left descendants. Alexander was educated at Selkirk school, and was originally destined for the church. According to one account, he prosecuted his academical studies in Holland; this account, which is sufficiently probable in itself, is contained in a communication from the late earl of Buchan to Dr Thomson. From a manuscript notice written by a descendant of his elder brother, we learn that, in the capacity of a travelling tutor, "he was employed both in the Argyle and Newcastle families;" that he afterwards studied the law of England, and was in great repute as a chamber-counsel, but never pleaded at the bar. He visited his brother at Hyndhope when Murray of Philippihaugh was sheriff of the county, but did not long remain in Scotland. His connexion with the Argyle family, as travelling tutor to Lord Lorne, was previously known from other sources of information. It was stated by the late earl of Hyndford that Cunningham travelled with his uncle and his father, James, afterwards earl of Hyndford, and the Hon. William Carmichael, afterwards solicitor-general for Scotland; that they passed two winters at Utrecht and Franeker, between the years 1692 and 1695, and subsequently travelled together for some time. "I have heard," says his lordship, "that the same Alexander Cunningham was afterwards tutor to an English nobleman, whose name is unknown to me." If we may rely on the notice already quoted, this young nobleman must have been connected with the Newcastle family. A letter from Cunningham to Carstairs, dated at Bruges on the 20th of October 1697, contains the subsequent gleanings of information. "My Lord Argyle has not yet written any thing concerning his son: he was gone from this place to his regiment before I came here, which I was glad of, for I know his l. colonel will take care of him.... As for the project, I know you will not only use all your credit with Secretary Ogilvy, but will also recommend the thing to all the Scots nobility and gentry you shall meet with at London. I have bought in this country a considerable number of books, in order to the carrying of it on; and, so soon as I am free of my L. Lorne, I resolve to set seriously about it."

Lord Lorne, though only about seventeen years of age, was now colonel of a regiment in Flanders. In the course of the following year, Dr Lister found Cunningham at Paris, and he makes an allusion to his having recently visited Rome. "I had a visit," he remarks, "from Mr Cunningham, tutor to my Lord Lorne, a very learned and curious man in books. I asked him (knowing him to have been lately at Rome) very particularly about the papers of Monsieur d'Azout. He told me that he saw him not half a year before he died, and was very intimately acquainted with him, and saw him for a twelvemonth very often. That he told him that he had about 80 difficult passages in Vitruvius, which he had commented and explained; and the correction of a great number of errata in the text. Also that upon Julius Frontinus (though that was a much less task) he had much more to say than he had upon Vitruvius." From a passage in Cunningham's history, Dr Thomson had inferred that the author must have accompanied Lord Lorne to Rome; but from the context he was led to suppose that this occurrence must have taken place about the close of 1699 or the beginning of 1700.

In the year 1701, Cunningham was employed in a new capacity. He was sent to France by the king's authority: the ostensible object of his mission was to conduct a negociation respecting the trade between Scotland and France, but he is supposed to have supplied the king with important information of another kind. During the reign of George I. he was appointed minister to the state of Venice, and he retained his functions from 1715 to 1730. How long he survived, we have not hitherto been able to ascertain, but the earl of Hyndford is known to have visited him in London in the year 1735. He was married, and had four sons and a daughter. His eldest son, Robert, a barrister, died unmarried. Thomas married, and had a son and a daughter. Robert died in 1748, and Thomas in 1749: their uncle, James Cunningham of Hyndhope, attended the funerals of both; and at that of the latter he acted as chief mourner, the only son of the deceased being then a child. Alexander, the third son, was educated at Westminster school, and afterwards went to Leyden, where he died. Jane, the historian's only daughter, was married to Mr Clayton, brother to the mayor of Newcastle. It is sufficiently evident that the historian was a different person from Alexander Cunningham, who died on the 15th of May 1737, and was buried in the chancel of St Martin's church. By his testament, registered at Doctors Commons, the latter makes a provision for nephews and nieces, without any mention of his own descendants.

Long after the death of Cunningham, his Latin history came into the possession of Dr Hollingbery, archdeacon of Chichester, who describes the author as nearly connected with his family. The original has not been published; but a spirited translation, executed by William Thomson, LL.D., made its appearance, under the title of "The History of Great Britain, from the Revolution in 1688 to the Accession of George the First." Lond. 1787, 2 vols. 4to. It is certainly a curious circumstance that, at so barren a period of its literary annals, Scotland should have produced two learned writers of the same name and surname. The identity of their pursuits and accomplishments... ments is likewise remarkable: both of them were travelling tutors, and both lawyers; both of them were great proficients in Roman literature, and both were famous for their skill at chess. When we consider all these coincidences, as well as the chronological agreement, it does not appear surprising that they should frequently have been supposed to be one and the same individual. It is remarked by Dr Thomson, that if we duly examine Cunningham's history, "we shall find reason to pronounce it a just and legitimate composition, and perhaps to rank its author in the first class of our historians." Most readers will at least be disposed to admit that he was a man of learning and talents, and that he has made some important additions to the common stock of materials for the history of the eventful period to which his work relates. His decided attachment to the principles of the Whigs, will further recommend him to those who prefer the interest of the great body of the people to the interest of a particular family and particular classes.

(x.) CUNOCEPHALI, or CYNOCEPHALI, in Mythology, from κυνος, dog, and ξεφαλος, head, a kind of baboons, or animals with heads like those of dogs, which were wonderfully endowed, and preserved with great veneration by the Egyptians in many of their temples. It is related, that by their assistance the Egyptians found out the particular periods of the sun and moon; that one half of the animal was often buried, whilst the other half survived; and that they could both read and write. This strange story, or fable, Mr Bryant imagines, relates to the priests of Egypt, to the novices in their temples, and to the examinations which they were obliged to undergo before they could be admitted to the priesthood. The death of one part, whilst the other survived, is understood to have denoted the regular succession of the Egyptian priesthood. The cynocephali are also found in India and other parts of the world.