other valuable manuscripts, under an express injunction to present them to the University of Oxford, and from that learned body received in return the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by Diploma*. In 1681, in order to secure himself from the horrors of the persecution then ready to burst forth, he fled to England, where protection was liberally accorded. He was appointed Keeper of the Royal Library at St. James', and retained that office till the time of his demise, when he was succeeded by the illustrious Bentley.

In May, 1671, Mr. Hickes returned to England. When it was objected to him, in the latter period of his life, that while he was abroad he communicated with the French Protestants who professed the same principles with the Presbyterians and equal hostility to the Church of England,' he made the following reply, in a letter addressed to Dr. Turner, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford :-" When I was in France thirty-four years ago, I went to Charenton, and once there received the sacrament, and afterward at Blois. But when I came to Montpelier, I declined the sacrament, though I went to the

* In this Diploma his character as a scholar is thus expressed: Non modò omni scientiarum et virtutum genere per se excelluit, verùm etiam parentis optimi et eruditissimi Christoph. Justelli doctrinam et merita ornando atque excolendo sua fecit.

(Wood's Ath. Ox. II. 199.)

temple; having by reading, and conferring about the mission of the French Protestant Ministers, altered my opinion. We went from Montpelier to Lyons, where I was a month, and never went to the temple: thence we went to Geneva, where once, out of curiosity, I went to the great church, and once to the church on the bridge upon invitation to hear their most celebrated preacher, who preached one of Dr. Sanderson's sermons in French. There, also, I was invited to the sacrament by Mr. Diodati: but not going, he told me, he believed I absented myself, as many English did, who questioned their mission; and, afterward, he grew cold and dry in his conversation with me."

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Nothing could exceed the affection shown by Mr. Wheler to the friend of his youth, who has thus expressed the sentiments of his grateful heart: Among the many other favours received from you, I cannot here forbear to mention the kind and seasonable offer you made me to accompany you in your travels at the time when my physician charged me, as I loved my life, to leave the College for a year, and travel about my own country. No blessing, Sir, ever happened more providentially to a man, than this did to me. For while I travelled with you at your own charges in France, I perfectly recovered my health; and therefore you must allow me to say, that to you, under God, I owe my life." It

is pleasing to add, that these two persons maintained throughout their lives the utmost harmony of friendship.

Mr. Wheler having employed nearly two years in surveying various parts of France, Switzerland, and Italy, resolved to make a voyage into the Levant, and for this purpose hastened to Venice; where he engaged Dr. Spon, a member of the College of Physicians at Lyons, to accompany him. This discreet and ingenious man, the learned son of a learned father*, was a native of Lyons. With a taste for antiquities considerably improved by the instruction of the celebrated M. Vaillant, whom he attended in a journey through Italy, it was impossible for Mr. Wheler to have selected a companion better qualified to assist him in his investigation of the monuments of ancient literature. They were congenial in their dispositions and pursuits. Of their travels a very interesting history is given by

*That father lived to see his son more illustrious than himself. To him were applied the lines in Ovid,

......

natique videns benefacta fatetur

Esse suis majora, et vinci gaulet ab illis.

Mr. Boyle's eulogy of the worth of Spon is strictly just, when he declares, that "the qualities of a learned and of an honest man were never more happily united than in him." He represents his compagnon de voyage as a Gentilhomme d'honneur, qui n'a pas moins de sincerité-ayant eu d'aussi bons yeux que moi.

Mr. Wheler himself*.

His laudable motives

for undertaking this work cannot be more clearly expressed than in his own words: "When I considered the many and imminent dangers and difficulties I had by God's wonderful providence been delivered from, the many obligations and signal honours I had received from several illustrious societies and generous friends, both at home and abroad, with the happiness, peace, freedom, and tranquillity I was returned to, and we of this country enjoy above any nation in the world; I concluded it would misbecome me to bury such blessings in oblivion, without erecting the least monument of gratitude in remembrance of them. Therefore enjoying some leisure in the country-solitudes I chose to retire to after my return, I made this and my books my divertise

*The excellency of Mr. Wheler's volume of Travels is acknow. ledged by every one, who has traversed the same districts. The admirer of classic antiquity will be highly gratified by it's account of ancient medals and inscriptions: but, above all, the botanist, notwithstanding later improvements in his favourite science, will find a rich fund of entertainment. Nor wil less delight arise from the incidental elucidation of other parts of natural history. See, particularly, the description of the Camelion (III. 247.) and compare it with that of the same animal given in Hasselquist's Travels into the East. Spon has, also, employed six pages (I. 373-379.) upon the subject. Mr. Wheler, however, in his Preface, modestly acknowledges "that others have published writings on great part of this subject, aided by parts and learning, far exceeding any thing he could pretend to." (p. i.)

ment." Spon had already published an account of the same tour*. The perusal of these volumes, and a more careful examination of his own papers, were peculiarly pleasing to Mr. Wheler. Though they have slightly varied in some matters of no very great moment, their disagreement tends rather to strengthen, than to invalidate, the credit due to their respective narratives.

Previously to their setting off for the East, they determined to spend a short time in visiting the University of Padua, in order to inform themselves of some important matters regarding the state of Venice, as the greater part of their journey would probably lie through the Venetian territories. The history of this Republic Mr. Wheler could not contemplate without admiration. He considered it as one of the noblest, wealthiest, and securest cities in the world. It's most Serene Republic,' as it was usually stiled, was the oldest free state then existing, and from it's extensive and fertile territories the object of the envy and jealousy, not only of the Grand Signor, but also of most of the Christian Princes, it's neighbours. Alas! how has it since been stripped of it's greatness? By the treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, it's states,

* In three volumes, 12mo, under the title of Voyage d'Italie, de Dalmatie, de Grece, et du Levant fait aux années 1675 et 1676, par Jacob Spon, Docteur Medecin Aggregé à Lyon, et George Wheler, Gentilhomme Anglois.' A Lyon, 1678.