putation. Cardinal Campejus, the pope's legate, however, and the cardinal de la Mark, bishop of Liege, spoke in his favour; but could not procure him his pension as historiographer, nor prevent him from being thrown into prison at Brussels, in the year 1531. When he regained his liberty, he paid a visit to the archbishop of Cologn, to whom he had dedicated his Occult Philosophy, and from whom he had received a very obliging letter in return. The inquisitors endeavoured to hinder the impression of his Occult Philosophy, when he was about to print a second edition with emendations and additions; however, notwithstanding all their opposition, he finished it in 1533. He staid at Bonne till 1535; and when he returned to Lyons, he was imprisoned for what he had written against the mother of Francis I.; but he was soon released from his confinement, at the desire of several persons, and went to Grenoble, where he died the same year. Some authors say, that he died in the hospital; but Gabriel Naudé affirms, it was at the house of the receiver-general of the province of Dauphiny. Agrippa had been twice married. Speaking of his first wife, lib. II. ep. 19. "I have (says he), the greatest reason to return thanks to Almighty God, who has given me a wife after my own heart, a virgin of a noble family, well behaved, young, beautiful, and so conformable to my disposition, that we never have a harsh word with each other; and what completes my happiness is, that in whatever situation my affairs are, whether prosperous or adverse, she still continues the same, equally kind, affable, constant, sincere, and prudent, always easy, and mistress of herself." This wife died in 1521. He married his second wife at Geneva, in 1522. The latter surpassed the former very much in fruitfulness; he had but one son by the former, whereas the latter was brought to bed thrice in two years, and a fourth time the year following. The third son by this marriage had the cardinal Lorrain for his godfather. She was delivered of her fifth son at Antwerp, in March 1529, and died there in August following. Some say that he married a third time, and that he divorced his last wife; but he mentions nothing thereof in his letters. Mr. Bayle says, that Agrippa lived and died in the Romish communion; but Sextus Senensis asserts, that he was a Lutheran. Agrippa, in some passages of his letters, does indeed treat Luther with harsh epithets; however, in the 19th chapter of his Apology, he speaks in so favourable a manner of him, and with such contempt of his chief adversaries, that it is likely Sextus Senensis's assertion was founded upon that passage. Bishop Burnet, in his History of the Reformation, speaks of Agrippa as if he had been an advocate for the divorce of Henry VIII. Mr. Bayle refutes this, and says that the ambassador of the emperor at London wrote to Agrippa, desiring him to support the interest of the queen: Agrippa replied, that he would readily engage, if the emperor would give him orders for that purpose; and declares that he detested the base compliance of those divines who approved of the divorce: and with regard to the Sorbonne, "I am not ignorant (says he), by what arts this affair was carried on in the Sorbonne at Paris, who by their rashness have given sanction to an example of such wickedness. When I consider it, I can scarce contain myself from exclaiming, in imitation of Perseus, Say, ye Sorbonnists, what has gold to do with divinity? What piety and faith shall we imagine to be in their breasts, whose consciences are more venal than sincere, and who have sold their judgments and decisions, which ought to be revered by all the Christian world, and have now sullied the reputation they had established for faith and sincerity, by infamous avarice." Agrippa was accused of having been a magician and sorcerer, and in compact with the devil; but it is unnecessary to clear him from this imputation. Bayle justly says, that if he was a conjuror, his art availed him little, as he was often in want of bread. From the whole history of Agrippa, says Brucker, it appears that he was a man of eccentric genius and restless spirit. In the midst of such numerous changes of situation and fortune, it is surprising that he was able to acquire such extensive erudition, and to leave behind him so many proofs of literary industry. There can be no doubt that he possessed a vigorous understanding, which rose superior to vulgar superstitions, and which prompted him to maintain a constant warfare with the monks. Though he did not chuse to offend those princes to whom he looked up for patronage, by deserting the church of Rome, he saw with great satisfaction the bold attack made upon its corruptions by Martin Luther: and he himself, like Erasmus, Faber, and others, perpetually harrassed the monks by satirical writings. His cynical severity, and above all the disposition which he discovered to make his fortune by practising VOL. I. R His upon vulgar credulity, must not pass without censure. occult philosophy is rather a sketch of the Alexandrian, mixed with the Cabbalistic theology, than a treatise on magic. It explains the harmony of nature, and the connection of the elementary, celestial, and intellectual worlds, on the principles of the emanative system. His treatise on the Vanity of the Sciences is not so much intended to traduce science itself, as to ridicule the follies of the learned, and expose the numerous absurdities of the established modes of education. His attention to magical studies began early, according to Meiners; in youth he joined a secret society at Paris which was defended against the profane by peculiar rites of admission. The separation of this cabbalistical brotherhood did not occasion the dissolution of their lodge; on the contrary, each of the members endeavoured to found in his own neighbourhood corresponding societies for similar purposes. In 1510 Agrippa was sent to England on some commission, relative, probably, to the treaty between Henry VIII. and the French king; and on this occasion, as appears by his published letters, he founded in London one of these secret societies for magical pursuits. The same biographer remarks, that a strange mixture of active and passive dupery characterises Agrippa; an alternation of sceptical contempt, and of superstitious credulity respecting the occult arts. If his assertions may be credited, he had attained that intercourse with demoniacal natures, which was the boast of Plotinus and Jamblicus; and his magical pretensions found so much credit with his contemporaries, that they describe him as carrying about with him a devil in the form of a black dog. The two principal works of Agrippa, already mentioned, were printed under the following titles: 1. "De incertitudine et vanitate Scientiarum, declamatio invectiva," without date, 8vo; Cologn, 1527, 12mo; Paris, 1531, 8vo; 1531, 8vo; 1532, 8vo; 1537, 8vo; and 1539, 8vo. These seven editions are complete, but what were published afterwards were castrated. The French translation by Louis de Mayenne Turquet, 1582, 8vo, is complete; but that by Gueudeville, Leyden, 1726, 3 vols. 12mo, with the essay on Women, is mutilated. This work has also been published in Italian, English, (by James Sandford, 1569) German, and Dutch. Mr. Granger thinks it has been greatly improved upon by Mr. Thomas Baker, in his admirable "Reflections upon Learning." 2. "De Occulta philosophia, libri tres," Antwerp and Paris, 1531; Mechlin, Basle, Lyons, and an edition without place, 1533, fol. Lyons, 8vo, translated into French by Le Vasseur; Hague, 1727, 2 vols. 8vo. 3. " De nobilitate et præcellentia fœminei sexus, declamatio," Antwerp, 1529, 8vo. 4. "Commentaria in artem brevem Raymundi Lulli," Cologne, 1533, Selingstadt, 1538, 8vo. 5. " Orationes decem: de duplici coronatione Caroli V. apud Bononiam; Ejusd. Epigram, &c." Cologne, 1535, 8vo. His entire works have been often published. The edition of Lyons by the Berings, Leyden, 1550, 8vo, 2 vols. contains a fourth book of the Occult philosophy, on magical ceremonies, which is not by Agrippa, and has perhaps contributed most to the opinion of his being a magician. AGUADO (FRANCIS), a Spanish Jesuit, and voluminous writer, was born 1566, at Torrejon, a village near Madrid, and entered the society of Jesuits at Alcale, in 1588, being then M. A. He was governor of several houses of the order in Spain, twice presided over the province of Toledo, and was twice sent as deputy to the congregations at Rome. The king, Philip IV. chose him for his preacher, and the count Olivarez, Philip's prime minister, appointed him his confessor. He died at Madrid, Jan. 15, 1654. His works consist of six folios, in Spanish, printed at Madrid in 1629, 1638, 1640, 1641, 1643, 1646, 1653, on various religious topics; and a life of father Goudin, the Jesuit, 8vo, 1643. He left also many treatises which have not been published. AGUCCHIO (JOHN BAPTISTA), archbishop of Amasia in Natolia, was born at Bologna, Nov. 20, 1570. He had the advantage of being educated under the care of Philip Sega, his uncle, who was raised on account of his distinguished merits to the rank of cardinal, by pope Innocent IX; and of Jerom Agucchio, his brother, who was made cardinal by pope Clement VIII. in 1604. His application to study was early, rapid, and assiduous, but particularly in the study of polite literature. This recommended him so much to cardinal Sega, that he carried him with him to France, when he went thither as legate from the pope. 1 Gen. Dict.-Moreri. - Biographie Universelle. -Fopper Bibl. Bal.-Brucker. -Martin's Biog. Philosophica. - Meiner's Biographies, in Month. Rev. vol. XXIV. Saxii Onomasticon. -Dibdin's Bibliomania, vol. I. p. 23-24.-Granger's Biographical History. R2 2 Moreri, After the death of Sega, Agucchio was appointed secretary to cardinal Aldobrandini, nephew to pope Clement VIII. and attended him when he went legate to Henry IV. of France, of which journey he wrote a very elegant account. The cardinal, after his return, committed the management of his house to Agucchio, which province he executed till the death of pope Clement VIII. and of his brother the cardinal Agucchio, when want of health obliged him to retire from the court. But after he had recovered, and had passed some time at Rome in learned retirement, cardinal Aldobrandini brought him again into his former employment, in which he continued till the cardinal's death. He then became secretary to Gregory XV. which place he held until the death of that pontiff. In 1624, Urban VIII. sent him as nuncio to Venice, where he became generally esteemed, although he maintained the rights of the see of Rome with the utmost rigour. The contagious distemper which ravaged Italy in 1630, obliged him to retire to Friuli, where he died in 1632. He was a man of very extensive learning, but appears in his private character to have been somewhat austere and narrow. His works are: "A treatise upon Comets and Meteors," "The Life of Cardinal Sega, and that of Jerom Agucchio his brother," and a letter to the canon Barthelemi Dolcini on the origin of the city of Bologna, "L'Antica fondazione e dominio della citta di Bologna," Bologna, 1638, 4to. He left also various letters and moral treatises, not published.1 AGUESSEAU (HENRY FRANCIS D'), a French statesman of great worth and talents, was born at Limoges, Nov. 7, 1668, the son of Henry d'Aguesseau, then intendant of the Limoisin, and afterwards counsellor of state. The family was distinguished for having produced many able magistrates, among whom was Anthony, the grandfather of the chancellor, who was first president of the parliament of Bourdeaux. Henry-Francis, the subject of the present article, was educated under his father in every species of knowledge which promised to qualify him for the office of magistrate. After being admitted, in 1690, an advocate, he became, a few months after, advocate-general of the parliament of Paris, at the age of only twenty-two years. 2 Gen. Dict.-Eryth. Pinacotheca, -Moreri.-Biog. Universelle. Saxii Ono masticon. |