THOMAS, one of the most learned men whom Scotland has produced, was born at Cliftbog in Aberdeenshire, on the 23d of August 1579, being the twenty-fourth out of twenty-nine children by the same mother. His father, who bore the same name with himself, he describes as proprietor of Muresk, Auchterless, and Killessmont, and prorex, or lieutenant, of the county of Banff and the district of Buchan. His mother was Jane, the sister of Lesley of Balquhan; and one grandmother was daughter to the last earl of Buchan, of the family of Stewart, and the other was sister to Lord Forbes. He was born during the lifetime of his grandfather; at whose decease, the family, more distinguished by its gentility than its opulence, was left in very unprosperous circumstances.
According to his own account, his first step in learning was as wonderful as any part of his subsequent progress; for, at the age of three years, he completely mastered the alphabet in the space of a single hour. He was afterwards committed to the care of Andrew Ogston, a schoolmaster at Turrell, and was next removed to Aberdeen, where he was initiated in classical learning by Thomas Cargill, an excellent grammarian. In the mean time, the family was involved in ruin, chiefly by the misconduct of James, his eldest brother; of whom he has given an account which it would have been much wiser to suppress. This brother took the extraordinary step of marrying his father's concubine, Isabella Gordon of Achavach; and having consequently been disinherited, he attempted to revenge himself by collecting a band of Gordons, and making a violent assault upon his father when he was one morning proceeding on horseback, with the view of transacting some public business. Several attendants of the latter were slain in this encounter, and amongst others, his brother-in-law Gilbert Lesley; he was himself dangerously wounded. Two of the Gordons were likewise left dead on the field, and several were wounded on both sides. In order to cut off all hope of succession from such an heir, he sold to the earl of Errol his estate of Muresk, situated in the county of Aberdeen; but the bargain was never fulfilled by the other party, and he was unable to recover either his lands or their price. Thus, we are told, he only left to his son Thomas an empty title. But Thomas, who represents himself as the twenty-fourth child, does not venture to assert that, if the estate had still remained in the family, he was next in the order of succession; and when in various works he styled himself baron of Muresk, he must have been aware, even taking baron in the sense of laird, that his title was as empty as could well be imagined. After this act of atrocious violence, his brother James fled to the northern islands, and having there collected a band of ruffians, he lived in open defiance of the laws, till he at length set fire to the bishop of Orkney's palace, and then returned to the country which he had been compelled to abandon. His wife, who had become the mother of seven children, was now discarded; and having made choice of another companion, he sought an asylum in the Netherlands, where
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1 Laurus Lesbana explicata, § 61. Graeci, 1692, fol. 2 Dempsteri Historia Ecclesiastica, p. 673.—In the dedication of his Antiquitates Romanæ to King James, he alludes to the same atrocious attempt. Here his father is described as "Banflie et Buchanice praefectus atque iurearcha." Dempster began to teach humanity; but his zeal in contending for Dempster, the interests of the university excited the resentment of certain individuals of rank or influence, and he again thought it expedient to change his place of residence. His views were next directed to a professorship of philosophy at Montpellier, whither he appears to have been invited by his countrymen Adam Abernethy and Andrew Currie, the former of whom is still remembered as an author; but, in the mean time, he made his appearance at Nismes, where the professorship of eloquence was to be awarded to the most deserving competitor, and where only one of twenty-four judges decided against him. As this was a seminary appropriated to the Huguenots, Bayle conjectures that he must have suspended his zeal for the Romish faith. One of the unsuccessful candidates, Jacob Grassier of Basel, sought to avenge himself by making a violent assault upon Dempster, by publishing a libel against him, and by applying for a legal interdict to prohibit him from discharging the duties of his office; but the professor, who possessed courage as well as strength, repelled the joint attack of Grassier and some of his associates, and found means to have him committed to prison, first at Nismes, and afterwards, when he had made his escape, at Montpellier, and again at Paris. After a tedious litigation of two years, the cause was at length decided in his favour by the parliament of Toulouse, and the libel published against him was ordered to be burnt at Nismes by the hands of the executioner.
Nor did he long retain his professorship of eloquence. After making a journey into Spain, he accepted the appointment of preceptor to Artus d'Espimay, subsequently bishop of Marseille, a son of the famous Sainte Luc, grand-master of the artillery of France, who was killed at the siege of Amiens in the year 1597. But a quarrel in which he involved himself at Brissac with one of his pupil's relations, hastened the termination of this engagement, and he now adopted the resolution of returning to his native country. With the view of recovering some portion of the family property, he brought an action in the court of session, and, according to his own impression, would ultimately have succeeded, if he had not found it expedient to withdraw before the decision was pronounced. His relations were either reduced to poverty, or were unwilling to assist him, on account of his adherence to the popish faith; and for the same reason he was exposed to persecution from the Scotish clergy, chiefly, as he conceives, at the instigation of William Cowper, afterwards bishop of Galloway. With this divine he was for three days engaged in a theological disputation at Perth, and he appears to have been extremely well satisfied with the manner in which he acquitted himself. To the resentment of Cowper in being foiled, not by a theologian, but by a lawyer, he imputes the injurious representations which were made to the king. He again had adieu to Scotland, and, returning to Paris, was for seven years employed, with honour as well as emolument, as a regent in four different colleges, those of Lisieux, Grassins, Du Plessis, and Beauvais.
Of the decision and ferocity of his character he exhibited a notable instance in the last of these colleges. Granier, the principal, having occasion to absent himself from Paris, appointed Dempster to act as his substitute, being no doubt persuaded that he had sufficient energy to maintain the most rigid discipline. A student challenged one
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1 Bayle, Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, tom ii. p. 996. 2 Dempsteri Historia Ecclesiastica, p. 193. 677. 3 A. du Saussay, bishop of Tulle, in his continuation of Bellarmine, has mentioned Dempster in the following terms: "Docuit magno disciplolorum concursu, nec minori omnium doctorum estimatione et plausu: inter ejus auditorios in maxima juventute constiti. Caeterum tantus vir pugnaci animo et contentioso ac instabili fuit, quo genio ductus plurimum domicilium mutavit." (De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, p. 82. edit. Colon. 1684, 4to.) Dempster of his companions to fight a duel: the vice-principal was moved with indignation at such a proceeding; and having seized the offender and unstrung his points, he placed him on the back of a sturdy knave, and, in the presence of the whole college, gave him a sound flogging. The young gentleman, burning with resentment, brought one day to the college three of his kinsmen who served in the guards; but Dempster, undismayed at this military invasion, put arms into the hands of the servants, and having ordered them to kill the horses which were left at the gate, made so formidable an attack on the soldiers, that they were speedily reduced to the necessity of begging for mercy. Their lives were spared by the victor, who however detained them for a short time as prisoners in the college belfry. When they had thus ascertained that he was a match for them at their own weapons, they endeavoured to find a more competent remedy; and as he was not persuaded that a legal enquiry into his proceedings would tend to his advantage, he quitted his station in the College of Beauvais, and sailed for England. According to one of his Irish antagonists, the cause of his flight was of a much more foul description; but the work which contains this statement displays such a fierce spirit of detraction, as must deprive it of all historical credit.
He had been invited to England by King James, who bestowed upon him the title of historiographer royal, and made him a present of two hundred pounds, which at that period was no inconsiderable sum. This gift he received in the thirteenth year of the king's reign, namely, in 1615 or 1616. At London he married Susannah Waller, a woman of great beauty and elegance, who afterwards proved a very precarious acquisition. His hopes of obtaining preferment were defeated by the remonstrances of the clergy, particularly Dr Montague, bishop of Bath and Wells; they endeavoured to impress the king with a sense of the impropriety of thus taking under his protection, and into his favour, a known and zealous catholic. He therefore took his leave of the learned monarch, and again directed his course towards Italy. When he arrived at Rome, he was suspected of being a spy, and for a single night was detained in custody; but his character and pretensions were easily ascertained, and from the pope and several cardinals he obtained letters of recommendation to the grand duke of Tuscany, Cosmo II. Being likewise befriended by Guicciardini, the duke's ambassador at the court of Rome, he proceeded to Florence, and in the year 1616 was appointed professor of the Pandects in the university of Pisa. He had previously distinguished himself by the publication of various works in prose and verse, and had earned the reputation of extensive erudition. At an early period of his life he had betaken himself to the study of the law; and by his edition of the Antiquitates Romanae of Rosinus, printed in the year 1613, he had evinced his proficiency as a civilian. The study of the Roman law is so closely blended with the study of Roman history and antiquities, that the one cannot be safely disjoined from the other.
Soon after he had been admitted to this office, he was furnished with letters and money by the grand duke, and returned to England for the purpose of conveying his wife to Italy. They proceeded by way of Paris; and when they were one day walking in the street, his lady attracted a crowd of gazers, not merely by the beauty of her person, but chiefly by exhibiting a more ample portion of her bosom and shoulders than suited the established usages of the country. So great was the concourse of people, that they were obliged to fly for shelter to an adjoining house. In due time he returned to Pisa, and read his inaugural lecture on the second of November. His salary was augmented to four hundred ducats, and he now appeared to have a fair prospect of honour and emolument. He recommended himself to the duke by undertaking his great work De Etruria Regali, which he must have completed with wonderful energy and dispatch. In the year 1617, he paid another visit to Britain, with the view of arranging some private affairs. But his restless and turbulent disposition did not long permit him to enjoy tranquillity. He involved himself in an angry and pertinacious dispute with an Englishman, whose name he has not thought proper to mention, nor is the origin or progress of this dispute rendered in any degree intelligible by his abrupt narrative. It however appears that his antagonist, who was probably an ecclesiastic, succeeded in producing a favourable impression on the grand duke, who only left Dempster the alternative of making an apology or quitting the Tuscan dominions. The learned civilian was of too stubborn a nature to be readily convinced that he was in the wrong, and too proud to stoop to what he considered as an unworthy compliance: he accordingly accepted the latter part of this alternative, and took his departure from Pisa on the 21st of July 1619.
Disgusted with Italy, he now reverted to the plan of settling in his native country; but on arriving at Bologna, he paid his respects to Cardinal Capponi, legate of that papal city, who prevailed upon him to abandon his intention, and within the short space of twelve days procured him the appointment of professor of humanity. This was an honourable and lucrative office, which had been held by men of high reputation, by P. Manutius, Sigonius, and Robertsonius. A new office naturally involved such a person in new contentions: the professor of humanity was entitled to take precedence of other professors; and as this place of honour was fiercely contested, he maintained his own rights with his usual pertinacity, and with more than his usual success.
More serious evils awaited him. The Englishman who had interrupted his tranquillity at Pisa, still infested him at Bologna: he accused the professor of being a catholic of dubious faith, and of being guilty of the crime of having heretical books in his library. Dempster addressed to his adversary a letter, which appears to have been so intemperate as to incur the censure of some of the cardinals; but he proceeded to Rome in person, and after obtaining more than one audience of the pope, was enabled to remove any aspersions which had been aimed at his character. A formal reconciliation was at length effected between these pertinacious antagonists, but the spirit of reconciliation was probably wanting in both parties. The professor mentions that he had prepared a full statement of his case, and that if his adversary recurred to his former practices, it should be transmitted to posterity. In the mean time, he discharged his duty in the university.
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1 Erythrae Pinacotheca Imaginum Illustrium Doctrinis vel Ingenii Laude Vlororum, tom. i. p. 24. Colon. Agrip. 1645-8, 3 tom. 8vo.—This account seems to receive some confirmation from Dempster's more brief statement: "A Joanne Robillardo Normanno Cadomensi periculum vitae adit, qui frequenti stationario militi comitante sub noctem irruitumpens, armis cum suis exitus ac in cadendum datus, iter conceptum Thomae acceleravit." (Historia Ecclesiastica, p. 677.)
2 Hiberniae, sive Antiquioris Scotiae, Vindiciæ, p. 52-3. Antwerp. 1621, 8vo.
3 Nichols's Progresses of King James the First, vol. ii. p. 136.
4 Fabroii Historia Academicae Pisanae, tom. ii. p. 234. Pisæ, 1791-3, 3 tom. 4to.
5 Erythrae Pinacotheca, tom. i. p. 25.
of a higher rank, and his salary was augmented to eight hundred crowns. His love of wandering seems at length to have abated; for he declined an offer of a thousand crowns a year as professor of the civil law in the university of Padua. Pope Urban VIII, who was himself a Latin poet, treated him with more than usual distinction, by conferring upon him the honour of knighthood, and accompanying this honour with an annual pension of one hundred pieces of money, but of what denomination, is not sufficiently apparent. Dempster likewise became a member of the Accademia della Notte, in which, according to the Italian fashion, he assumed the name of Evansius, and in the proceedings of which he is said to have taken a great interest. He now appeared to have reached a place of rest, when he was overtaken by the severest of all his calamities. After his arrival in Italy, his wife had born a daughter, who did not survive many days, and this was fortunately the only offspring of such a mother. On returning from one of his lectures, he discovered that she had made an elopement, in which one or more of his own pupils were either concerned as principals or accessories. He immediately commenced a pursuit of the fugitives, who seem to have added robbery to their other crime; but when he had proceeded as far as Vicenza, a city of Lombardy, he found that they must already have passed the Alps. This painful journey had been performed during the heat of the dog-days. Oppressed with fatigue of body and anguish of mind, he sought repose and tranquillity at Brescia, in the neighbourhood of Bologna; but having been suddenly attacked with a fever, he was removed to his own residence, and there died on the 6th of September 1625, soon after he had completed the forty-sixth year of his age. His remains were interred in the church of St Dominic, where his brethren of the Accademia della Notte erected a monumental stone to his memory, and added a Latin inscription written in a very quaint style. One of their number, Ovidio Montalbani, pronounced his funeral oration, which was published in the course of the following year.
Such was the turbulent life, and such the premature death, of Thomas Dempster, a man distinguished by some eminent endowments of body as well as mind. In his person, he was above the ordinary size, and was possessed of proportional strength. He had an ample head, with black hair, and a dark complexion, so that in Italy he might easily have been mistaken for an Italian. He was a man of a noble aspect, and was possessed of undaunted courage. The irritability of his temperament involved him in many quarrels, nor was his sword less formidable than his pen. He never acquired the habit of restraining the natural impetuosity of his mind, and was equally decided and undisguised in his friendships and in his resentments. To his friends he was very pleasant, and equally obdious to his enemies. Little inclined to forgive injuries, he pursued his enemies with the most violent animosity, and expressed his tumultuous feelings without any scrupulous regard to decency. In several of his works, we find sufficient evidence of his being somewhat loose in his assertions; Dempster, and indeed men of a violent and perverse disposition seem frequently to be incapable of distinguishing falsehood from truth; they are much inclined to embrace as true whatever is best suited to the state of their mind during its morbid excitement.
Dempster's intellectual endowments were likewise of a mixed character. He was endowed with such extraordinary powers of memory, and read with such indefatigable diligence, that he was regarded as a speaking library. It was customary with him to devote fourteen hours a day to study. He was allowed to possess an equal knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages; and his knowledge of both was so familiar, that in either language he undertook to dictate verses as rapidly as the pen of a ready writer could commit them to paper. He was a poet and philologer, as well as a civilian and historian. He evinces no mean portion of poetical fancy, and his verse is more elegant than his prose. His Musae is one of the few Latin poems, written by natives of Scotland, which the learned Wasse has recommended for republication. In his more elaborate works, he displays very extensive and diversified erudition, but in many instances his learning appears superior to his judgment. The life which he led was subject to many vicissitudes, and his writings partake of the same desultory character. His style is unequal, and frequently unpolished, nor is he sufficiently scrupulous in selecting words of the purer ages of Latinity.
His principal work, De Etruria Regali, was completed in the space of about three years; and when we consider its great extent, and its ample stores of recondite knowledge, we cannot but regard it as a wonderful performance. Errors and defects may naturally be expected to occur in a work relating to such a subject, and executed with so much rapidity; but sufficient room is still left for our admiration of the author's vivacity of mind, and resources of learning. His edition of Rosinus likewise displays the copiousness of his reading, and it has supplied materials to all those who have subsequently laboured in the department of Roman antiquities. His juridical works entitle him to a respectable place among civilians. Ludewig, who is himself an able writer, has expressed a wish that his notes on the Institutes of Justinian should be reprinted. As a classical critic, his character is chiefly to be ascertained from his editions of Claudian and Corippus, two poets who belong to the declining ages of Roman literature, and one of them indeed belongs to the latter part of the sixth century. The editor might easily have selected purer models of language and taste; but on various occasions he chose to travel in a by-path of his own, and his annotations on Corippus, as well as on Claudian, have contributed to his reputation as a man of miscellaneous erudition. Among his own works he enumerates notes on Statius and a commentary on Ælian, but there seems no reason to believe that they were ever printed.
On the ecclesiastical and literary history of Scotland, some of his publications are very slight and unsatisfactory. His Menologium and Scotia Illustrior are so much occu-
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1 Ragionamento funebre havuto publicamente nell' Accademia della Notte, per la Morte dell' eccellentissimo Torasso Dempster, Bologna, 1626.—This publication, which we have never seen, is mentioned by Bayle, and likewise by Niecron, Memoires pour servir à l'Histoire des Hommes illustres dans la République des Lettres, tom. xxviii., p. 314. 2 "Moribus ferox fuit, apertus omnino, et simulandi necesse, sive enim amore, sive odio aliquem prosecutetur, utramque palam consuetudine jucundissimus, amicis obsequentissimus, ita infidelis maxime infensus, acceptoque injuriae tenax, easm aperte agnoscens ac repetens." These are the expressions of Matthæus Peregrinus, who has completed the account of Dempster which occurs at the end of his Historia Ecclesiastica. 3 Wasse's Memorial concerning the Desiderata of Learning; Bibliotheca Litteraria, No. iii. p. 11.—See likewise Borrichii Dissertations Academice de Poetis, p. 151. A selection from Dempster's poems may be found in the Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum, tom. i. p. 396. 4 J. P. de Ludewig Vita Justiniani, p. 45. Halle Sallus, 1731, 4to. 5 Leyscri Historia Poetarum Medii Ævi, p. 172. Halle Magdeburg, 1721, 8vo. Dempster, pied with fierce contentions "de lana caprina," that they can now excite little interest or curiosity. His *Nomenclatura* is a mere catalogue of names, which were to be illustrated in a subsequent work. In his native country, he is most generally known as the author of a book on which he has bestowed the title of *Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum*, a title which is by no means descriptive of its contents. It contains a long enumeration of Scottish saints, writers, and other worthies, who lived, or are supposed to have lived, at periods very remote from each other. Of many of his saints and writers, the very existence is considered as more than doubtful; and many of the rest belong, not to Scotland, but to other countries. It is not always easy to distinguish the early Scottish from the early Irish writers. The name of Scotia or Scotland has not been traced in any author who flourished before the third century. At first it was exclusively applied to the country now called Ireland; but after the descendants of the Irish had established themselves in the north of Britain, they still retained the appellation of Scots; although it was not before the eleventh century that the name of Scotland was transferred from the one country to the other. After that period, the green island gradually lost its ancient designation. Some degree of confusion may therefore be supposed to be connected with this identity of names, nor has it always been avoided by writers more accurate than Dempster. His notices of persons who lived in earlier times are necessarily very scanty, and are often very erroneous. Nor are his catalogues of books less remarkable than his list of writers: he ascribes various works to various individuals who flourished long before the art of writing was introduced into Scotland; and nothing can be more ludicrous than his formal enumeration of the productions of such imaginary authors. The principal value of his book consists in its notices of those writers who belonged to his own time, and particularly of those who passed the better part of their lives on the continent. Relative to these, he presents us with many curious gleanings of information, which is nowhere else to be found; and on many occasions his information is more authentic than his readers may be inclined to suppose. According to Bishop Lloyd, he "was as well inclined to believe a lie as any man in his time;" and to Dr. Towers he "seems to have thought it highly meritorious to advance the grossest falsehoods, if those falsehoods would, in any degree, contribute to the honour of his country." A person convicted of many errors is naturally suspected of many more. Thus, when Dempster speaks of Kidd, or Cadanus, as being an eminent professor of law in the university of Toulouse, and the author of several works in prose and verse, he has perhaps by some readers been suspected of introducing an imaginary character; and yet the same individual, utterly forgotten in his native country, is mentioned by Baluze as a professor of great ability and reputation.
On the continent there were many Latin poems and tracts published by natives of Scotland, during the age of Dempster and a short period immediately preceding; and such of them as were written by individuals who did not acquire any considerable celebrity, have in various instances left but few traces behind them.
The works of Dempster are very numerous and very miscellaneous. We subjoin a list, which is as complete as we have been able to render it; but he has himself enumerated various others, which do not appear to have been published. All the articles from No. 26 to No. 47 inclusive, are copied from his own list; and it is to be regretted that he has not described them in a more satisfactory manner.
1. I. Cl. Claudiani quae extant, cum notis Thomae Demptseri Scoti. Flexiae, 1607, 16to. 2. In Claudianum Commentarius lib. i. Lugduni, et alibi.—This commentary we have never seen, and it caused the researches of the younger Burman. 3. Epithalamion in Nuptiis generosissimorum Jacobi Comitis Perthani, Domini Drommundi, Baronii Stobhalliae, &c. et Isabellae, unicarum Roberti Comitis Wintonii, Domini Setonii, &c. fibre. Edinburgi, 1608, 4to. 4. In desideratissimum Rectoratum clariss. viri D.D. Jacobi Vassorii, SS. Theologiae Baccalaurei primum Licentiae, Noviodunensis Ecclesiae Episcopalis Archidiaconi meritissimi, &c. Panegyris extemporanea. Parisii, 1609, 4to. 5. Eucharisticum, dictum post Telemachum cl. v. D.D. Petri Valentis in Aula Montana Cal. Septemb. Paris. 1609, 8vo. 6. Corippi Africani Grammatici de Laudibus Justinii Minoris Augusti libri quatuor: Thomas Dempsterus a Murex, J. C. recensuit, lacunas supplevit, mendis expurgavit, commentarium adjectit, quo historia et antiquarii ritus elucidantur, variique scriptores explicantur, restituntur; item loca variarum redixit, qui Corippum citarunt, illustrarunt: cum indice pene omnium dictionum. His accessit pro corollario Constantini Manassae Gr. Carmen politicum in Justinum Minorem Imp. quod nunc primum profuit, cum versione metrica Fed. Morelli Interp. Reg. Paris. 1610, 8vo. 7. Musca; sive Strona Kal. Jan. ad illustrem nobilissimique virum D. Petrum Huraldum Hospitalium Fayum, Dominum de Bel-chatte, Magni Consili Senatorum Regionis, &c. Ejusdem Muscae Partes, ab excellentissimis ingenis. Paris. 1610, 4to.—There are other two editions. 8. Epinionicon; seu Victrix Academia. Natalium splen-
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1 Usserii Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, p. 726. Dublin. 1639, 4to. 2 Pinkerton's Enquiry into the History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 228. 3 Post hos, rem literarum agereussem Dempsterus, omnia ad criticam severitatem minime exegit, sed multa futilla undique corravit: et quo fidem summam sanctificulis Romanis probaret, non putavit non religiosi et libertatis vindices identidem latrare. Nec tamen sine adeo fraudandus est. De meliore nota multa congeasit, de his praestantissimis scriptoribus qui, exules patriae, interiores et recentioris litterarum academici Gallarum, Italorumque et Germanorum, non sine gloria deceruerunt. Alli literas humaniores, mathematicae disciplinas ali jurisprudentiamve colentes, laudem haud mediocrem adepti sunt; professores vel etiam gymnasiarum presides sunt facti, nomenque Scoticum late per orbem terrarum propagantur. Viderat ipse Dempsterus multes, quorum memini, sacerdotes, professores, milites, et interdum mores hominum notat." (Pref. in Hist. Ecclesiast. editionem alteram, p. xii.) 4 Lloyd's Historical Account of Church-Government as it was in Great Britain and Ireland, when they first received the Christian Religion, p. 133, sec. edit. Lond. 1684, 8vo. 5 Bibliotheca Britannica, vol. v. p. 94. 6 Deinde per tres continuos annos in academia Tolosana, qua tum in jure docendo ceteras Europae facilissime antecedit, jus civile et canonicum audivit, usus magis doctoribus, Gulielmo Marano, Gulielmo Cadano Scofa, Vincentio Chabetio, et Jano a Costa, qui tum publice jus utrumque in ea civitate profetabantur. Sed in primis secentus est Cadanum, tunc interpretantem Novellam Constitutionem exiii. Imperatoris Justiniani, virum, ut ipse aciebat, in utroque jure consultissimum, sed qui canonicum callere ad mercurium, bonaque literas legum ac canonum cognitioni addidisset; eorumque tarditatem deploret, qui obscuritatem in Cadano depres- hendèrent." (Baluzii Epistola de Vita Petri de Marca, Archiepiscopi Parisiensis, p. 10. Paris. 1663, 8vo.) Dempster calls him James, instead of William. 7 P. Burmanni Secundi pref. in Claudianum, p. xi. D. Richardo de Pichon, causarum in summo Senatu Gallicorum patrono eloquentissimo. Paris, 1612, 4to.
9. Tragedia Decemviratus abrogatus. Ad illustris D. Jacobum Augustum Thuanum, &c. Paris, 1613, 8vo.
10. Antiquitatum Romanarum Corpus absolutissimum, in quo praece ca que Joannes Rosius delineaverat, infinita suppletur, mutatur, adduntur; ex critica et omnibus utriusque linguae auctoribus collectum, poetis, oratoribus, historiciis, jurisconsultis, qui landati, explicati, correcti; Thomae Dempsteri a Muresk, J. C. Scoti, auctore. Ad potentissimum augustinissimumque Principem Jacobum I. Monarcham Magnae Britanniae, &c. Lutetiae Parisiorum, 1613, fol.—Of this work there are many subsequent editions. One of these was published by Pitiscus, and another, which bears the following title, by J. F. Reitz: "Johannis Rosini Antiquitatum Romanarum Corpus absolutissimum, cum notis doctissimis ac locupletissimis Thomae Dempsteri." Amst. 1743, 4to. The edition is correct and elegant. Under the title of "Thomae Dempsteri Kalendarium Romanum," an extract from this work is inserted in Gravius's Thesaurus Antiquitatum Romanarum, tom. viii. col. 115.
11. Panegyricus augustiss. potentiss. q. Principi Jacobo I. Britanniar. Franciae, et Hiberniae Regi, &c. Domino suo elementiss. dictus a Thomae Dempsteri a Muresk, J. C. Historico Regio. Londini, 1615, 4to.
12. Strena Kal. Januar. ad Jacobum Hayum, Dominum ac Baronem de Saley. Londin. 1616, 4to.
13. Votum illustriss. generosiss. q. D. Roberto Caro, Periscelis Equiti, Regri ad Arcanum Consilii, Regiae Domus Majori, Somerseti Comiti, &c. 4to.—This publication consists of two leaves, without a title-page, and seems to have been printed in London.
14. Licitatio Professorum; sive Praefacio solemnis habita Pisii postridie Kal. Novembris M.DC.XVI. Ad illustissimum reverendissimumque virum D. Franciscum Bonianum, Archiepiscopum Pisaniun, &c. Pisii, 1616, 4to.
15. Troia Hetrusca; sive Gamelia Ludicra, sereniss. Federico Urbinateum Principi decursa, sereniss. Cosmo II. Magno Heturiae Duce edente. Ad sereniss. Franc. Mariam Urbinateum Ducem. Florentia, 1616, 4to.
16. Bandum Mediceum; sive Strema Kl. Jan. MDCXVII. de Stemmate, Pila, Hercule, Leonc. Sereniss. Princip. Cosm. II. Magn. Heturiae Duc. Florent. 1617, 4to.
17. Bononia; sive Praefacio solemnis, habita ix. Cal. Novembris. Bononiae, 1619, 4to.
18. Scotorum Scriptorum Nomenclatura, &c. Bononiæ, 1619, 4to.
19. Scotia Illustrior; seu Mendicabula repressa, modesta Parecbasi; qua libelli famosi impudentia detegitur, mendacia ridicula confutantur, Scotiae Sancti sui vindicantur, ac bona fide assentur. Lugduni, 1620, 8vo.—The title-page is without a date, but the dedication is dated at Rome on the fourth of October 1620. This work is chiefly directed against a publication bearing the title of "Bridga Thaumaturna; sive Dissertatio partim encomiastica in laudem ipsius Santae," &c. Paris, 1620, 8vo. The anonymous author has subjoined a tract entitled "De Scriptorum Scotorum Nomenclatura a Thomae Dempstero edita Pracidaeum." This Irishman and his country Dempster treated with the utmost scorn and contempt; and in the following work he was answered in a similar strain: "Hiberniae, sive Antiquioris Scotiae, Vindiciae adversus immodestam Parecbasim Thomae Dempsteri, moderni Scotti, nuper editam: in quibus currente calamo innumeræ ipsius Dempsteri imposturae et mendacia dete-
guntur, atque ipse levi penicillo depingitur, ut intelligat Dempster, qui que vult dicit, quae non vult audit. His accessit Nomenclatura Scotorum et Scotiae, &c. Authore G. F. Veridico Hiberno." Antwerpia, 1621, 8vo. Sir Thomas Pope Blount has stated that in 1623 both Dempster's work and this answer were prohibited by the church. In 1621 his edition of Rosius was prohibited till it should be corrected.
20. Asserti Scotiae Cives sui, S. Bonifacii Rationibus ix. Joannes Duns Rationibus xii. Excerptum e libris de Scriptoribus Scoticis. Bononiæ, 1621, 4to.
21. Ulyssis Aldrovandi Quadrupedum omnium Bisulcorum Historia: Joannes Cornelius Uterverius Baro a Muresk Scottus, J. C. perfecte absolvis, Hieronymus Tamarinus in lucem edidit. Bononiæ, 1621, fol. Bononiæ, 1642, fol.
22. Menologium Scotorum; in quo nullus nisi Scotia genti aut conversatione: quod ex omnium gentium monumentis, pio studio Dei Gloriae, Sanctorum Honori, Patriae Ornamento, diligent, publicat, et inscribit illustriss. Principi, Mecenati suo, D. Maphaco S. R. E. Card. Barberino, Scotorum Protectori. Opus ecclesiastice hierarchie ac monasticæ vitae dignitati augendar, haresi in Scotia viginti confundendar, operose utile. Bononiæ, 1622, 4to.
23. Apparatus ad Historiam Scoticam lib. ii. Accesseunt Martyrologium Scoticum Sanctorum DCLXXIX. Scriptorum Scotorum MDCHI. Nomenclatura. Opus e perigrinis omnium gentium historis collectum, omnia orbis regna pio studio lustrantur, religiosæ S. R. E. familiae nobilitantur, historia patriæ augetur, sectariorum admonentur, catholica veritas contra hostes Dei et Scotiae firmatur. Justi et parati operis praemunia. Bononiæ, 1622, 4to.—The first book treats "De Religione," and the second "De Regno." The work was intended as a prelude to his Historia Ecclesiastica.
24. Κριτικός καὶ ὀξύς in Glossas lib. iv. Institutionum Justiniani. Bononiæ, 1622, 8vo.
25. De Juramento lib. iii. Locus ex Antiq. Rom. retractatus. Satisfactum Fame illæ, b. m. Cardinalis Belarmini, qui falsò insimulabatur, theologice, juridice, historice, antiquarie, ex utriusque lingua, omnium gentium, omnis ætatis monumentis. Illustriiss. Principi, Jo. Garzia S. R. E. Card. Millino, S. D. N. Vicario Generali, Mecenati suo. Bononiæ, 1623, 8vo.
26. Benedicti Accolti de Bello a Christianis contra Barbaros gesto, pro Christi Sepulchro et Judæa recuperandis, libri iii. Thomas Dempsterus, J. C. Baro a Muresk Scotorus, cum aliis scriptoribus collatis, et mendis expurgavit, et notis non vulgaribus illustravit. Florentia, 1623, 4to. Nunc denuo ad exemplar Florentinum CILOCCXXXIII. ab inumeris et fedissimis mendis expurgatum, emaculatus recudendos curavit Henricus Hofsnider, cum indice sat luculento. Groningæ, 1731, 8vo.
27. Lessus; sive Laudatio Funeris illustriss. D. Julio Cesari Signio, Episcope Reatinæ, dicta ad Divi Joannis in Monte: Extemporale Thomae Dempsteri, J. C. Scoti, Baronis a Muresk, Profess. Eminentis. Bononiæ, 1623, 4to.
28. Votum Divæ Virgini SanLucianæ. Bononiæ, 1623, 8vo.
29. Tragedia Stilico lib. i. Sammaxentii.—His own list likewise contains the following titles: "Tragicomedia Maximilianæ lib. i." "Tragedia Maximilianæ lib. i. Duaci acta, scripta a puero." As he does not mention any place of printing, we may suppose these dramas to have been unpublished.
30. Epithalamium Marchionis Brandeburgici lib. i. Francforti.
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1 Pepe Blount, Censura celebriorum Authorum, p. 643. Lond. 1690, fol. 31. Epithalamium Vicecomitis Hadintonii lib. i. Londini.
32. Panegyricus Clementi VIII. Pontifici lib. i. Romae.
33. Panegyricus Paulo V. Pontifici lib. i. Romae.
34. Expostulatio cum Musis et Senatu Aremorio, dum custodiam suae innocentiae ulterius subivit. Nemausii.
35. Divinatio ad Regem lib. i. Londini.
36. Eucharisticum Alberto Archiduci lib. i. Dacii et Lovani.
37. Actio Scholastica de S. Catharina lib. i. Lutetiae.
38. Poemata de S. Thoma Aquinate lib. i. Tolosae.
39. Acrosticha de Europae Principibus lib. i. Dacii.
40. In Elizabetham Anglicam Reginam lib. i. Dacii.
41. Lachrymae ad Timoleontem d'Espinay Sanulicum in Funere Uxoris lib. i. Parisii et Lugdunii.
42. Judicium de omnibus omnium Gentium et Temporum Historicis lib. i. Parisii.
43. Notae in Sphaeram lib. i. Francofurti.
44. Politica Parechases, nuncupata Alexandro Razivillo, Principi Polono, auditori suo, lib. i. Parisii.
45. Genethliacon Delphini Franciae, nunc Regis Ludovici XIII. lib. i. Flexiae.
46. De Inundatione Anglicana lib. i. Flexiae.
47. Votum Scipioni Burghesio, S. R. E. Cardinali, lib. i. Romae.
48. Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum lib. xix. qua viri sanctitate, literis, dignitatibus, toto orbe illustres, et familiae Scoticae, in varias urbes transmissae, et praecipue Placentiam, recensentur. Illustrissimo viro Fabio Scotho Placido, Micieni Com. dicata. Bononiæ, 1627, 4to.—This posthumous work is printed in the most negligent manner, insomuch that very many passages are scarcely intelligible. It has recently been reprinted for the use of the Bannatyne Club: "Thomas Dempsteri Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum: sive, de Scriptoribus Scottis. Editio altera." Edinb. 1829, 2 tom. 4to. This edition was superintended by Dr Irving, who, in a preface of considerable length, has given an account of the author and his singular performance. He has endeavoured to amend a great variety of passages, by referring to writers whom Dempster quotes, by altering the vicious punctuation, by attending to the ordinary rules of grammar, and sometimes, where the sense seemed perfectly clear, by substituting one letter for another. Of the more material changes, he has given a detailed statement in the preface.
49. Cerasum et Sylvestre Prunum; opus pomicatum, de Virtutum et Vitiorum Pugna; sive Electio Status in Adolescentia: authore primo nobili Domino Alexandre Montgomerio Scotho, poeta regio, idiomatici materni laureato: nunc rursus auctum et in Latinos versus translatum, per T. D. S. P. M. B. P. P. in gratiam illustris et generosi herois D. Alexandri Brussii, Capitanei Cohortis Peditan Scotorum, Domini de Kinkell. Arctauri Francorum, 1631, 8vo. Edinburgi, 1696, 8vo.
50. De Etruria Regali libri vii. nunc primum editi, curante Thoma Coke, Magnae Britanniae Armigero, Florentiae, 1723–4, 2 tom. fol.—The title-page of the first volume bears an inscription "Regia celstitudini Cosmi III. Magni Duci Etruriae," that of the second, "Regia celstitudini Jo. Gastonis, Magni Duci Etruriae:" and Dr Towers has erroneously supposed that the work was published at their expense. It was published at the expense of the editor, Sir Thomas Coke, afterwards earl of Leicester, whose library contained the original manuscript, nor is the book unworthy of so magnificent an editor: it is elegantly printed, and is illustrated with engravings. A supplement to this work was published by Giambattista Passeri under the subsequent title: "In Thomae Dempsteri libros de Etruria Regali Paralipomena, quibus Tabulae eadem operi additae illustrantur. Accedunt Dissertationes de Re Numaria Etruscorum, de Nominibus Etruscorum, et Notae in Tabulas Eugubinas." Luca, 1767, fol.
Demester of Court, the name formerly given in Scotland to the common executioner or hangman.