and if so, the saying of Theodorus Gaza was not extravagant. This learned man, and great preceptor of the Greek tongue at the revival of literature, being asked by a friend "If learning must suffer a general shipwreck, and he have only his choice of one author to be preserved, who that author should be?" answered, "Plutarch." But although it is unquestionable that in extent and variety of learning Plutarch had few equals, he does not appear to have excelled as much in depth and solidity of judgment. Where he expresses his own conceptions and opinions, he often supports them by feeble and slender arguments: where he reports, and attempts to elucidate, the opinions of others, he frequently falls into mistakes, or is chargeable with misrepresentations. In proof of this assertion, Brucker mentions what he has advanced concerning Plato's notion of the soul of the world, and concerning the Epicurean philosophy. Brucker adds, that Plutarch is often inaccurate in method, and sometimes betrays a degree of credulity unworthy of a philosopher.

There have been many editions of Plutarch, but he came later to the press than most other classical authors. There was no edition of any part of the original Greek, before Aldus printed the "Morals," which was not until 1509. The "Lives" appeared first at Florence, by Junta, in 1517. The first edition of the "Opera Omnia," was Stephen's, at Paris, in 1572, Greek and Latin, 13 vols. Dr. Harwood calls it one of the most correct books H. Stephens ever published; but other critics are by no means of this opinion. The next was that of Cruserius, at Francfort, 1599, 2 vols. folio, which has the advantage of Xylander's excellent Latin version, who himself published two editions, Francfort, 1620, and Paris, 1624, 2 vols. folio; both valuable. Reiske's, of Leipsic, 1774, &c. 12 vols. 8vo, is a most elaborate edition, which, however, he did not live to finish. But the best of all is that of Wyttenbach, published lately at Oxford in quarto and octavo, and too well known to scholars to require any description.

Plutarch's Works have been translated into most European languages. There is an indifferent one in English by various hands of the "Morals," printed about the beginning of the last century, in five volumes, octavo; which was accompanied, about the same time, by the "Lives," translated by Dryden and others: a very superior translation of the latter was published by Dr. Langhorne and his brother,

which has been since corrected, and very much improved, by Mr. Wrangham. A good translation of the "Morals" is still a desideratum.1

PLUVINEL (ANTOINE), a gentleman of Dauphiny, is recorded as the first who opened a school for riding the manege in France, which, till then, could be learned only in Italy. He flourished in the reign of Henry IV. who made him his chief master of the horse, and his chamberlain ; besides which, he sent him as an ambassador into Holland. He died at Paris in 1620, having prepared a work, which was published five years after, entitled "L'Art de monter à Cheval," folio, with plates. The figures are portraits, by Crispin de Pas. 2

POCOCK (EDWARD), a learned English divine, and the first Oriental scholar of his time, was the son of Edward Pocock, B. D. some time fellow of Magdalen college, Oxford, and vicar of Chively in Berkshire. He was born at Oxford Nov. 8, 1604, in the parish of St. Peter in the East. He was sent early to the free-school of Thame, where he made such progress in classical learning, under Mr. Richard Butcher, an excellent teacher, that at the age of fourteen he was thought fit for the university, and accordingly was entered of Magdalen-hall. After two years residence here, he was a candidate for, and after a very strict examination, was elected to, a scholarship of Corpus Christi college, to which he removed in December 1620. Here, besides the usual academical courses, he diligentlyperused the best Greek and Roman authors, and, among some papers written by him at this time, were many observations and extracts from Quintilian, Cicero, Plutarch, Plato, &c. which discover no common knowledge of what he read. In November 1622, he was admitted bachelor of arts, and about this time was led, by what means we are not told, to apply to the study of the Eastern languages, which at that time were taught privately at Oxford by Matthew Pasor. (See PASOR). In March 1626, he was created M. A. and having learned as much as Pasor then professed to teach, he found another able tutor for Eastern literature in the Rev. William Bedwell, vicar of Tottenham, near London, whom his biographer praises as one of the. first who promoted the study of the Arabic language in

f

Europe. Under this master Mr. Pocock advanced consider ably in what was now become his favourite study, and had otherwise so much distinguished himself that the college admitted him probationer-fellow in July 1628. diw dquois

..

As the statutes required that he should take orders within a certain time, he applied to the study of divinity and while employed in perusing the fathers, councils, and ecclesiastical writers, he found leisure to exhibit a ispecit men of his progress in the oriental languages by preparing for the press

men of his those parts of the Syriac version of the

New Testament which had never yet been published in Tgnatius, the patriarch of Antioch, had in the sixteenth cen tury sent Moses Meridinus, a priest of Mesopotamia,b into the West, to get the Syriac version of the New Testament printed, for the use of his churches. It was accordingly printed by the care and diligence ef Albertus Widmanstad, at Vienna in 1555. But the Syriac New Testament, which was followed in this edition," wanted the second Epistle of St. Peter, the second and third Epistles of St. John, the Epistle of St. Jude, and the whole book of the Revelations, because, as Lewis de Dieu conjectures, those parts of holy Scripture, though extant among them, were not yet received into the Canon by those Oriental Churches. This defect no one had thought of supplying until De Dieu, on the encouragement, and with the assistance of Daniel Heinsius, set about the Revelation, being furnished with a copy of it, which had been given, with many other manu̸scripts, to the university of Leyden by Joseph Scaliger. That version of the

scripts, to the un Apocalypse was printed at Leyden, in

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1627, but still the four Epistles were wanting, and those Mr. Pocock undertook, being desirous that the wholė New Testament might at length be published in that lan guage, which was the vulgar tongue of our Saviour himself and his apostles. A very fair manuscript for this purpose he had met with in the Bodleian Library, containing those Epis tles, together with some other parts of the New Testament. Out of this manuscript, following the example of De Dieu, he transcribed those epistles in the Syrine chat racter: the same he likewise set down in Hebrew letters, addling the points, not according to the ordinary, but the Siac rules, as they had been delivered by those learned Maronites, Amira and Sionita. He also made a new translation of these epistles out of Syriac into Latin, comparing it with that of Etzelius, and shewing on various

De

Occasions the reason of his dissent from him. He also added the original Greek, concluding the whole with a number of learned and useful notes. When finished, although with the utmost care and exactness, yet so great was his modesty and distrust of himself, that he could not be persuaded to think it fit for publication, till after it had lain by him about a year, when he was induced to consent to its publication by Gerard John Vossius, who was then at Oxford, and to whom it had been shown by Rouse, the public, librarian, as the production of a young man scarcely twenty, four years old. Vossius not only persuaded him to allow it to be printed, but promised to take it with him to Leyden, for that purpose. It was accordingly published there in 1630, 4to, after some few corrections and alterations in the Latin version, in which Mr. Pocock readily acquiesced, from the pen of Lewis de Dieu, to whom Vossius committed the care of the work.

In Dec. 1629 Mr. Pocock was ordained priest by Corbet, bishop of Oxford, by whom he had some time before been admitted into deacon's orders, and was now appointed chaplain to the English merchants at Aleppo, where he arrived in Oct. 1630, and continued five or six years. Here he distinguished himself by an exemplary discharge of the duties of his function, and when the plague broke out in 1634, was not to be diverted from what he thought his duty, when the merchants fled to the mountains; but continued to administer such comfort as was possible to the inhabitants of the city; and the mercy on which he relied for his own preservation, was remarkably extended to his countrymen, not one dying either of those who left, or those who remained in the city. While here he paid considerable attention to the natural history of the place, as far as concerned the illustration of the Scriptures, and besides making some farther progress in the Hebrew, Syriac, and Ethiopic languages, took the opportunity which his situation afforded of acquiring a familiar knowledge of the Arabic. For this purpose he agreed with an Arabian doctor to give him lessons, and engaged also a servant of the same country to live with him for the sake of conversing in the language. He also studied such grammars and lexicons as he could find; read the Alcoran with great care, and translated much from books in the Arabic, particularly a collection which he procured of 6000 proverbs, contain ing the wisdom of the Arabians, and referring to the most

remarkable passages of their history. These opportunities and advantages in time reconciled him to a situation which at first greatly depressed his spirits; the transition indeed from Oxford and its scholars to Aleppo and its barbarians, could not but affect a man of his disposition.

Another object he had ry much at heart while here, was the purchase of Arabic MSS. in which he had considerable success. This appears at first to to have been done at his private expence and for his private use, but in a letter from Laud, then bishop of London, dated Oct. 30, 1631, he received a commission from that munificent prelate, which must have been highly gratifying to him, especially as he had no previous acquaintance with his lordship. The bishop's commission extended generally to the purchase of ancient Greek coins, and such MSS. either in the Greek or Eastern languages, as he thought would form a valuable addition to the university library. Whether any the MSS. afterwards given by Laud to the Bodleian were procured at this time seems doubtful. In a letter from Laud, then archbishop, dated May 1634, we find him thanking Pocock for some Greek coins, but no mention of manuscripts. Th this letter, however, is the first intimation of the archbishop's design with respect to the foundation of an Arabic professorship at Oxford, and a hope that Pocock, before his return, would so far make himself master of that language as to be able to teach it. And having carried

his design into execution about two years he

invited Mr. Pocock to fill the new chair, with these encouraging words, that he could do him no greater honour, than to name him to the university for his first professor. His departure from Aleppo seems to have been much regretted by his Mahometan friends, to whom he had effdeared himself by his amiable manners; and it appears also that he had established such a correspondence as might still enable him to procure valuable manuscripts M On his return he was admitted, July 8, to 16369 the degree of bachelor of divinity. On the 8th of August following Dr. Baillie, president of St. John's, and vice-chancellor, informed the convocation that archbishop Land, then chancellor of the university, in addition to his benefaction of Arabic books to the Bodleian, had founded a to the had founded a professorship, and had settled 40%. a-year, during his life, on a person who 'should read a lecture on that language: He then mentioned Mr. Pocock of Corpus Christi as the