BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF HUGO GROTIUS.

I.

THE remarkable man whose history we are about to present to our readers was born at Delft, in Holland, on Easter Sunday, 10th of April, 1583. He presents a signal exception to the rule which obtains in the ordinary course of things, i. e., that precocious children. exhaust their mental and physical powers in early life, and arrive at mature age with enfeebled minds and constitutions. Never was there, perhaps, a more wonderful development of the mind in early youth than in the case of Hugo Grotius, and seldom have the expectations formed of a child been so fully realized.

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Grotius. Meursius, Gilot, and Isaac Pontanus spoke of him in similar terms, and it was confidently affirmed that this child would soon excel all his contemporaries, and be fit to be compared with some of the most esteemed of the ancients. The circumstances which awakened such high expectations, were the great aptitude displayed by the child in the acquisition of learning, his taste, judgment, application, and wonderful memory. Some Latin verses written by him in his eighth year are said to be still extant. At a very early age he was sent to school at the Hague. He boarded with Mr. Utengobard, a celebrated clergyman among the Arminians, and to his connexion with that gentleman, for whom he formed a strong attachment, many of the proceedings of his after course may probably be attributed.

At the age of twelve, (or, as some say eleven) he was sent to the university at Leyden, which was at that time the most learned seminary in Europe. Here he continued three years, residing in the house of Junius, a distinguished professor of Divinity; and winning by his modesty and talents the attention and regard of Scaliger and other eminent men. When he had only reached the age of fourteen, Grotius defended public theses in mathematics, philosophy, and jurisprudence, and thus gained much applause, while he exhibited a maturity of talents and attainments far beyond his years. About this time he published some elegant Latin verses, and also a Greek ode addressed to the Prince of Orange. During the same year (1597), he accompanied Count Justin of Nassau and the grand pensionary Barneveldt to the court of France. Henry the Fourth received the young scholar graciously, decorated him with a gold chain, to which was appended a portrait of the monarch, and showing him to his court said, " Voilà le miracle de la Hollande!" Grotius remained in the French capital nearly a year, and was loaded with the most flattering distinctions. The young prince of Condé took great plea sure in his society, and named him his secretary, but the entreaties of his friends induced Grotius to return to Holland, and he departed for his own home after having taken his degree of LL.D. at the university of Orleans. From some unexplained cause Grotius missed seeing the celebrated President de Thou during his stay in Paris, but a friendly correspondence afterwards sprang up between them. De Thou in vain attempted to dissuade his young friend from entering on the path of religious controversy to which he was strongly inclined. The violent dissensions then existing between the followers of Calvin and Arminius excited the zeal of Grotius, and made him consider it as a duty to advocate what he believed to be the truth, for the sake of his country, his church, and those to whom he owed obedience.

Grotius was descended from a noble family, and enjoyed every advantage in his early education that could be procured for him by wise and judicious parents. It appears to have been the aim of his father, in particular, to make him a pious as well as a learned man, so that his infant mind was early imbued with Christian principles, the effects of which were visible throughout his subsequent career. Some of the historians of Grotius assert that his mother held the faith of Rome, and that when only twelve years of age Grotius earnestly sought to effect her conversion from a creed which he felt and believed to be erroneous. told that the attempt was successful, and thus we may conclude that amid more important benefits, he was the instrument of increasing domestic happiness and unity. Towards the close of his life, however, we find Grotius himself evidently leaning towards the opinions of the Church of Rome, and endeavouring by arguments which, even in his hands are feeble and unsatisfactory, to apologize for some of the prominent errors of that church. But to return to the period of his infancy, we must state that he displayed such extraordinary capacity that he was soon spoken of among learned men as the prodigy of the age. The poet Barlæus said that the childhood of Grotius astonished all the old men. Daniel Heinsius maintained that Grotius was a man from the moment of his birth, and never had discovered any signs of childhood. John Douza celebrated him verse, and said that he could scarcely believe that great Erasmus promised so much as the young

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Grotius, who had resolved to make the law his profession, was called to the bar in 1599, and pleaded. his first cause at Delft. But while diligently engaged in the studies connected with his profession, he also found time to superintend the publication of some learned works, which he had prepared for the press. The first of these, commenced when he was only fourteen years old, was a new edition of the works of Martianus Capella. Rightly to understand Capella, Grotius needed an acquaintance with all the sciences, and Burigny, his biographer, cannot help suspecting that the learned Scaliger had some hand in the undertaking, though we find that Scaliger was one of those who bestowed the most flattering encomiums on the young author, and celebrated in verse the publication of such a work by a child of fifteen. Burigny tells us that Grotius took no money from his bookseller, but only required a hundred copies of the work, handsomely bound, to present to his friends. His next work was a translation into Latin of a work on Navigation, which showed his profound acquaintance with mathematics. This he dedicated to the Republic of Venice. The year

following, he published a poetical treatise on Astronomy, written in Greek by Aratus, more than two hundred years before the birth of Christ, with Cicero's Latin translation, as far as it has been preserved, Grotius supplying the vacancies. The best judges of the time considered this work as a prodigy of science and erudition, the parts supplied by Grotius being deemed nowise inferior to those written by Cicero, while his notes displayed an acquaintance with Rabbinical writings, and some knowledge of Arabic. When Grotius published this work he was seventeen years of age, and he received the complimentary remark from more than one learned writer, that, although so young, he had accomplished by force of genius and labour what few could do in the flower of their age. Grotius received these honours very modestly, and acknowledged the assistance of his father in some of these works. At the same time that the young author was astonishing the world with his profound learning, he found time to indulge his taste for poetry. Besides lesser poems he wrote three tragedies, Adam in banishment, Christ suffering, and the Story of Joseph in Egypt, Lauder accused Milton of having borrowed from the second of these tragedies. Speaking of these poetical compositions one of his biographers remarks that an eminent rank among the Latin poets has always been assigned to Grotius, whose diction is always classical, while his sentiments are just; but that "those who are accustomed to the wood notes of the bard of Avon, will not admire the scenic compositions, however elegant and mellifluous, of the Batavian bard."

The literary reputation of Grotius procured for him the unsought honour of being appointed Historian to the Republic; and his brilliant success at the bar led to his promotion, at the age of twenty-four, to the important office of Advocate-General of Holland and Zealand.

The method followed by Grotius in his pleading may be gathered from the advice which he gave, in after years, to his son. He says

That you may not be embarrassed by the little order observed by those against whom you speak, mind one thing, of which I have found the advantage. Distribute all that can be said on both sides under certain heads, which imprint strongly in your memory; and whatever your adversary says, refer it to your own division, and

not to his.

That his employment as an advocate, notwithstanding the honour it brought him, was not entirely consonant with his feelings, appears in the following extract from one of his letters:

Besides that law-suits are improper for a peaceful man what doth he derive from them? They procure him hatred from those against whom he pleads, small acknowledgements from his clients, and not much honour from the public. Add to this that the time spent in things so little agreeable, might be employed in acquiring others more useful.

Soon after he was made Advocate-General, Grotius married Mary Reigesberg, of one of the first families in Zealand, whose high encomium is that she was worthy of such a husband. The most perfect harmony subsisted between them, and Grotius held her in the highest esteem. A number of poems were written in celebration of this alliance; and Grotius himself made it the subject of verse in Latin, and also in French. About this time he was occupied with a professional work which appeared in 1609. It was his Freedom of the Ocean, or the Right of the Dutch to trade to the Indies. This led to much controversy, and Grotius found an antagonist worthy of him in the celebrated Selden. In 1613, Grotius was made pensionary or syndic of Rotterdam, and fixed his residence in that city. In the course of the same year, he was sent on a mission to the court of England to remonstrate against the arbitrary proceedings of the English, in claiming an exclusive right to the Greenland fisheries. His visit was ineffectual as to his principal object, but he deemed it a

high privilege to form a personal acquaintance, at the English court, with Isaac Casaubon, a man of great worth and learning. King James also gave Grotius a most honourable reception, and was charmed with his conversation and manners. Casaubon and Grotius possessed, in addition to their mutual learning, another bond of sympathy and union. They both longed earnestly to advance a scheme, which has met with its supporters in later times, but will probably ever remain impossible to be accomplished. This was to unite the differing views on religious subjects, and to bring all Christians, of whatever denomination, to profess one and the same creed. Much as all true Christians desire and pray for unity, it cannot be promoted by the sacrifice of principle, and such a sacrifice, according to the system of Grotius, would, undoubtedly, have been required of the Protestant church generally. Yet that he was actuated in his endeavours by the best motives, there is every reason to believe, and we cannot read Casaubon's description of him, at this period, without feeling that he must have been a singularly gifted and a good man:

I cannot say enough (says this eminent individual,) of my felicity in enjoying the friendship of such a great man as Grotius. O that incomparable man! I knew him divine genius, one must see him, and hear his conversation. before but fully to comprehend the excellency of his His countenance speaks probity, and his discourse discovers the deepest learning, and the most sincere piety. Think not that I only am his admirer; all learned and good men entertain the same sentiments for him, particularly the King.

ROUGHNESS of manners, far from being in itself a mark of sincerity, as is sometimes supposed, is merely the natural expression of one character, as gentleness is of another; and it should always be remembered, that to connect the idea injustice to the character of virtue. of a good quality with a disagreeable appearance, is to do

A JUDICIOUS observation, a rational maxim, a generous sentiment, when unaffectedly introduced in the course of conversation, may make an impression on those who are not in the habit of thinking for themselves.

THOSE qualities that dispose us to make a right use of the knowledge of mankind, contribute at the same time to increase that knowledge. The heart which is merely selfish does not understand the language of benevolence, disinterestedness, and generosity, and therefore is very liable to misinterpret it; while those who feel themselves capable of great and worthy actions, will find no difficulty in believing that others may do so too, and will have an idea of a character which can hardly ever be perfectly understood by those who feel nothing like it in themselves.BoWDLER'S Essays.

THERE is a kind of literature, a knowledge falsely so called, that deserveth not to be pleaded for. But the noble and generous improvement of our understanding faculty, in the tributes of God, in this great fabric of the universe, cannot true contemplation of the wisdom, goodness, and other ateasily be disparaged, without a blemish cast upon the Maker of it. Doubtless, we may as well enjoy that which God hath communicated of himself to his creatures, by this larger faculty of our understandings, as by those narrow and low faculties of our senses; and yet nobody counts it to be unlawful to hear a lesson played upon the lute, or to smell at a rose. natural understandings, may be as well subservient and And these raised improvements of our subordinate to a Divine light in our minds, as the natural use of these outward creatures here below to the life of God in our hearts. Nay, all true knowledge doth of itself natu rally tend to God, who is the fountain of it; and would ever be raising of our souls up upon its wings thither, did not we detain it, and hold it down, in unrighteousness. All philosophy to a wise man, to a truly sanctified mind, work upon. Religion is the queen of all those inward as he in Plutarch speaketh, is but matter for divinity to endowments of the soul: and all pure natural knowledge, all the virgin arts and sciences, are her handmaids, that rise up, and call her blessed.-CUDWORTH.

LESSONS FROM CLOUDS.

O Thou whose hands the bolted thunder form,
Whose wings the whirlwind, and whose breath the storm;
Tremendous God! this wond'ring bosom raise,
And warm each thought that would attempt thy praise.
O! while I mount along th' ethereal way

To softer regions and unclouded day,

Pass the long tracks where darting lightnings glow,
Or, trembling, view the boiling deeps below:
Lead through the dubious maze, direct the whole,
Leud heavenly aid to my transported soul.-OGILVIE.

NATURE and grace mutually illustrate each other. Every object in Creation points our attention to a hidden cause, by which all the parts, great and minute, are kept in order, are directed to their proper purposes, and rendered subservient to the whole system. From thence revelation fetches many of its aptest similitudes and most sublime elucidations.

If nature simply makes a confession of divine power and wisdom, in her origin and preservation; the word of God sanctifies all her works, and turns them into preachers of righteousness.

The humble insect which crawls in the dust, and, guided by instinct, provides for her future support, teaches man the lesson of practical prudence, in all that concerns his temporal and eternal welfare. Notwith standing his elevated rank in the creation, and the enlarged and various powers with which he is endowed, inspiration sends him for instruction even to the insects and the flowers of the field. From contemplating the economy and pursuits of animated nature, his mind is raised to survey the wonders which are scattered in rich and abundant variety above him. It is the continuation of the same lesson of wisdom; and the whole is designed to render man humble and vigilant, steady and prudent in all the concerns of human life, yet aspiring to higher scenes, and seeking an inheritance beyond the skies.

No objects are more striking, though none are more familiar, than CLOUDS. They are perpetually varying their appearances, and frequently indicate the grandest and most terrible effects in the atmosphere. Now, they are beheld with a calm and pleased eye, which follows them in their wanderings and changes, delighted at the effects produced thereby on the landscape beneath, and with the soft tint diffused over all the cerulean arch

above.

But how soon does the mind collect its powers into an awful contemplation of the blackened hemisphere; and behold with fearful apprehension the portentous elements gathering together, as it were, in battle array, and, in the language of our great epic poet,

With heaven's artillery fraught, come rattling on,
then stand front to front,

Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow

To join their dark encounter in mid-air.-MILTON.

Of all the objects in the Creation, none surely supply such a grand variety of imagery for poetical description, as the clouds; whence we find the father of song often comparing the exploits and characters of his heroes to the nature and actions of the elements. But how feeble and contracted is all the beauty and elevation of poetical description, when compared to the sublimity contained in the scriptural adaptation of the Same imagery. If we admire the art with which Homer likens his heroes to a tranquil cloud, what Shall be said of that description which figures to us the Omnipotent as" covering himself with light as with a arment; and as stretching out the whole expanse of the heavens for the curtain of his pavilion: who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds his chariot; and walketh upon the wings of the wind." Psalm civ.

Here, indeed, the idea of security and dominion is expanded to the utmost stretch of human comprehension. The Almighty is introduced not merely as

"ruling the whirlwind and guiding the storm," but as actually walking, with sober and majestic step, upon the wings of the wind.

When we behold the clouds of heaven flying rapidly before a mighty tempest, we may endeavour to catch the force of the magnificent and tremendous idea conveyed in the words of the Psalmist. And yet the page of inspiration goes far beyond even this exquisite painting; and, collecting all the variety of celestial phenomena together, embodies them into an obedient train round him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightabout the throne of God: "A fire goeth forth before nings enlightened the world: the earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord: at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth." Psalm xcvii. In the prophetic style of exhibiting the Divine judgments upon sinful nations, the same images are generally used, but with a heightened effect, as well to mark the certainty of the event predicted, as to impress upon the mind a deep sense of the absolute power and justice of God. Thus, in the prophecy of Nahum, the Divine Majesty is delineated riding in the gloomy combustion of the elements, as figurative of his dominion over all nations, and of the equity of his proceedings in converting all natural and moral evil to the punishment of the wicked, and the happiness of the righteous. "The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence; yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him." Chap. i. 3—6.

This picture of a tempestuous scene displays all that is terrible in nature,—the conflict of electric clouds above pouring forth livid sheets of fire, and the loftiest mountains on earth sinking away into nothing at the mere touch of the destructive element. Thus does the language of inspiration represent to us, under the most terrific phenomena in the creation, the agency of the Almighty in the moral world, and the faithfulness of his judgments upon the sons of impiety and pride.

Scripture describes the changes which occur in the moral system of the world by images drawn from the corruptions of nature. Thus an apostle, writing against the deceivers, in his time, who despised dominion, and spake evil of dignities, compares them to "clouds without water carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth without fruit; twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame; wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." (Jude, ver. 12, 13.) When such men gain an ascendancy, and their pernicious principles produce a total indifference to religious truth and virtuous practice; though all may seem quiet and serene around, the stillness is portentous, and this moral lethargy is the sure sign of those terrible convulsions which shake the

mightiest empires to their foundations.

Yet, even in all this work of desolation-in the midst of this elemental war, there will be many to perceive the hand of God directing the whole for universal good, and to listen to "his still small voice" encouraging them to abide in his mercy till the indignation be overpast. Such a state of contemplative serenity may be happily imagined from an account related by the scientific traveller, Don Ulloa, when in Peru, for the purpose of measuring a degree of the meridian on the summit of Cotopaxi. "The sky was generally obscured with thick fogs; but when these dispersed, and the clouds moved nearer the surface of the earth, they surrounded the mountains to a vast distance, representing the sea with our rock, like an island, in the centre of it. When this happened we heard the horrid noises of the tempests, which discharged themselves on Quito and the neighbouring countries. We saw the lightnings issue from the clouds, and heard the thunders roll far beneath us. And whilst the lower regions were involved in tempests of thunder and rain, we enjoyed a delightful serenity. The wind was

hushed, the sky was clear, and the enlivening rays of the sun moderated the severity of the cold.

What a sublime scene for contemplation is this to the philosophical observer; and how little for the moment do the most formidable phenomena of nature appear in the midst of the vast expanse around him! He looks down with a calm and steady eye upon the rolling tempest, lashing the surges of the ocean into mountainous heaps, and tearing up the pride of the forest by the roots. The pealing thunder, which shakes the loftiest edifices and appals the stoutest hearts, seems to him only as the distant sound of artillery; and the flashes of vivid lightning, which rend the very rocks in sunder, are but like the sportive fireworks exhibited on a night of rejoicing.

In like manner the soul, raised above the world, and seated in the bosom of religion, enjoys the tranquillity of a pure and unruffled atmosphere, while the rest of mankind are agitated by the storms of passion, and perplexed by the contentions and fall of nations. Amidst the wild uproar and the fearful expectations which prevail below, the mind that is elevated above the earth, and freed from the corrupting influence of its cares and follies, looks down with pity upon the miseries which it cannot prevent, at the same time adoring Providence for producing general good by means which superficial observers presumptuously censure as unwise and unjust.

It is the happy privilege of religion to turn distresses into blessings, and to draw from the storms and tempests of life matter of instruction and comfort. But

the agitations of nature, as well as the visitations of Providence, are the necessary parts of an organized and benevolent plan. However violent and destructive such judgments may be for the time, they are calculated to remove greater disorders, and by a strong operation to carry off corruptions which, by accumulation, would produce pestilence and death. In all cases we are taught to admire that wisdom and goodness, which makes even evil correct itself, and after raging for a period with the utmost violence, become gentle and salutary to mankind. The atmosphere appears more beautiful after a tremendous storm, and the clouds, which were then charged with fury and raged with terror, are now carried about by every gentle zephyr, and drop fatness where before they menaced destruction. Thus the economy of nature is continually preserved, and the general order and good of the system maintained, amidst the endless variety of weather and of seasons.

Nor is the regularity less in the government and preservation of the Church of God. Storms and persecutions have raged against it from the very beginning; but these visitations only served to strengthen the principles of truth, to root them deeper in the soil, and to spread forth the branches with a more luxuriant foliage.

The clouds exhibit a very remarkable phenomenon which the Almighty has adopted as a covenant sign with man never more to destroy this globe by a watery deluge. What our translation of the Bible rather ambiguously renders "I do set," should be, according to a more correct version, "I have set my bow in the cloud;" as it were" Behold that variegated and magnificent arch touching the extremities of the horizon, and reaching to the zenith: see it erected as a trophy of my power, dominion, and justice, over a sinful world; behold it also as the covenant of my mercy in saving you from the devouring flood; and transmit to your posterity the remembrance of this stupendous event, and the assurance of my grace and loving kindness to man."

When, therefore, we contemplate this glorious spectacle in the concavity of heaven, let it be accompanied with a grateful and devout affection of heart to our great Creator and Redeemer, who in the midst of judgment remembest mercy, and in all the varieties of life,

gives peace, security, and comfort, to those who put

their trust in Him.

Hereby we have an assurance that every promise and prophecy contained in the sacred code, shall as certainly receive a complete accomplishment as the elements discharge their regular duties. As the earth is replenished and rendered fruitful, by the continual action of the air and distillation of the clouds, so the moral world is regulated by an unerring Providence, and all its mutations are subservient to a predisposed plan of universal good. This truth is admirably though simply expressed in the following stanzas of a very old English poet:

The raynbowe bending in the skye,
Bedeckte with sundry hewes,

Is like the seate of God on hye,
And seems to tell these newes:
That as thereby he promised

To drowne the worlde no more,
So by the blood which Christ hath shed,
He will our health restore.

The mistie clowdes that fall sometyme,
And overcaste the skyes,
Are lyke to troubles of our tyme,
Which doe but dim our eyes:
But as such dewes are dryed up quite
When Phoebus shewes his face,
So are such fansies put to flighte
When God doth guide by grace.

GEORGE GASCOIGNE'S Good-Morrow;
Written about the year 1570.

[Abridged from BASELEY'S Glory of the Heavens.]

Ir the mind be neglected in childhood, and we suffer it to pass from wants to passions, without availing ourselves of the interregnum to plant in it certain powerful ideas, or first principles, that shall fix it for life, it will soon be therefore, in all respects, a necessary point of support, which hurried away by the torrent of the world. Religion is, it behoves the educator, the moralist, the legislator, and the politician, to employ, for the purpose of fixing the opinions and actions of men on more solid bases.

MEN have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite, sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes for ornament and reputation; and sometimes to enable them to triumph in wit and contradiction; and seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason to the benefit and use of men: as if there were sought in knowledge a couch whereon to rest a searching and restless spirit; or a terrace for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect; or a tower of state, for a proud mind to raise itself upon; or a fort, or commanding ground, for strife, or contention; or a shop, for profit or sale; and not a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator, and the relief of man's estate. But this is that which will indeed dignify and exalt knowledge, if contemplation and action may be more nearly and straitly conjoined and united together than they have been. Howbeit, I do not mean, when I speak of use and action, that end before mentioned of the applying of knowledge to lucre and profession; for I am not ignorant how much that diverteth and interrupteth the prosecution and advancement of knowledge, like unto the golden bowl thrown up before Atalanta, which, while she goeth aside and stoopeth to pick spoken of Socrates, to call philosophy down from heaven to up, the race is hindered. Neither is my meaning, as was converse upon the earth; that is, to leave natural philoso phy aside, and to apply knowledge only to manners and policy. But as both heaven and earth do conspire and contribute to the use and benefit of man, so the end ought to be, from both philosophies to separate and reject vain speculations, and whatsoever is empty and void, and to preserve and augment whatever is solid and fruitful.-LORD BACON.

JOHN W. PARKER, PUBLISHER, WEST STRAND, LONDON

HOLBEIN AND HIS WORKS.

II.

DURING his long residence in England Holbein painted the portrait of his patron, Henry the Eighth, several times, as also the portraits of the principal persons of the court. The king from time to time manifested the great esteem in which he held his artist, and upon the death of Queen Jane, his third wife, sent him into Flanders to draw the picture of the Duchess Dowager of Milan, widow to Francis Sforza, whom the Emperor Charles the Fifth had recommended to him for a fourth wife; but the king's defection from the See of Rome happening about this time, he preferred a Protestant princess. Cromwell, then his prime minister (for Sir Thomas More had been removed and beheaded), proposed Anne of Cleves to him; but the king was not inclined to the match, until her picture, which Holbein had also drawn, was presented to him.

An anecdote is related of Holbein illustrative of his hasty temper, and the favour in which he was held by his royal master. A nobleman of the first quality called one day to see the artist when he was taking a portrait. Holbein sent to beg his lordship to defer the honour of his visit to another day; which the nobleman taking for an affront, rudely pushed open the door and went up stairs. Holbein hearing a noise, left his chamber, and meeting the nobleman at his door, fell into a violent passion and pushed him backwards from the top of the stairs to the bottom; but immediately calling to mind

VOL. XXIV.

the imprudence of his conduct, Holbein escaped from the tumult he had raised, and made the best of his way much as he pretended, was there soon after him, and to the king. The nobleman, much hurt, though not so upon stating his grievance, the king ordered Holbein to ask pardon for his offence. But this only irritated the nobleman the more, who would not be satisfied with less than his life; upon which the king sternly replied, "My lord, you have not now to do with Holbein but with me; whatever punishment you may contrive by way of revenge against him, shall assuredly be inflicted upon yourself: remember, pray my lord, that I can, whenever I please, make seven lords of seven ploughmen, but I cannot make one Holbein even of seven lords."

The works of Holbein are exceedingly numerous, and besides those that are genuine, says Bryan, a number of wretched productions are attributed to him which are totally unworthy of him. Of Holbein's historical works little is known in England, where he was chiefly employed in portraits, or in what may be called historical portraits. The two emblematical subjects of Riches and Poverty, formerly in the hall of the Company of the Steel-Yard, are extremely doubtful. Of his public works in England the most considerable is the celebrated picture in Barber-Surgeons' Hall, Cripplegate, (copied in our frontispiece), of Henry the Eighth granting the charter to the Company of Barber-Surgeons; the character of the king is admirably represented, and all the heads are finely drawn. Another large picture by Holbein is in the hall of Bridewell, representing Edward

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