obelisks have their term, and pyramids will tumble; but these mountainous monuments may stand, and are like to have the same period with the earth." In the next he answers two geographical questions; one concerning Troas, mentioned in the Acts and Epistles of St. Paul, which he determines to be the city built near the ancient Ilium; and the other concerning the Dead Sea, of which he gives the same account with other writers. Another letter treats "Of the Answers of the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos, to Croesus, King of Lydia." In this tract nothing deserves notice, more than that Browne considers the oracles as evidently and indubitably supernatural, and founds all his disquisition upon that postulate. He wonders why the physiologists of old, having such means of instruction, did not inquire into the secrets of nature, but judiciously concludes, that "such questions would probably have been vain; for in matters cognoscible, and formed for our disquisition, our industry must be our oracle, and reason our Apollo." The pieces that remain are "A Prophecy concerning the Future State of several Nations "; in which Browne plainly discovers his expectation to be the same with that entertained lately with more confidence by Dr. Berkeley, “that America will be the seat of the fifth empire"; and "Museum Clausum, sive Bibliotheca Abscondita"; in which the author amuses himself with imagining the existence of books and curiosities, either never in being or irrecoverably lost. Some of the pieces above mentioned are of little value, more than as they gratify the mind with the picture of a great scholar, turning his learning into amusement, or show upon how great a variety of inquiries the same mind has been successfully employed. The other collection of his posthumous pieces, published in octavo, London, 1722, contains "Repertorium: or some Account of the Tombs and Monuments in the Cathedral of Norwich"; where, as Tenison observes, there is not matter proportionate to the skill of the antiquary. The other pieces are, "Answers to Sir William Dugdale's Inquiries about the Fens; a letter concerning Ireland; another relating to Urns newly discovered; some short strictures on different subjects; and a Letter to a Friend on the Death of his Intimate Friend," published singly by the author's son in 1690. 66 There is inserted, in the Biographia Britannica, a letter containing Instructions for the Study of Physic"; which, completes the works of Dr. Browne. To the Life of this learned man there remains little to be added, but that, in 1665, he was chosen honorary fellow of the College of Physicians, as a man, "virtute et literis ornatissimus ;- eminently embellished with literature and virtue,” and, in 1671, received at Norwich the honor of knighthood from Charles the Second. Thus he lived in high reputation, till, in his seventy-sixth year he was seized with a colic, which, after having tortured him about a week, put an end to his life at Norwich, on his birth-day, October 19, 1682. Some of his last words were expressions of submission to the will of God and fearlessness of death. He lies buried in the church of St. Peter, Mancroft, in Norwich, with this inscription on a mural monument, placed on the south pillar of the altar: M. S. Hic situs est THOMAS BROWNE, M. D. Et miles. Anno 1605, Londini natus ; Apud Oxonienses bonis literis In urbe hâc Nordovicensi medicinam Vir prudentissimus, integerrimus, doctissimus ; Pie posuit mœstissima conjux Near the foot of this pillar Lies Sir Thomas Browne, kt. and doctor in physic, Author of Religio Medici, and other learned books, Who practised physic in this city 46 years, And died Oct. 1682, in the 77 year of his age. In memory of whom Dame Dorothy Browne, who had bin his affectionate Wife 47 years, caused this monument to be Erected. Of every great and eminent character, part breaks forth into public view, and part lies hid in domestic privacy. Those qualities, which have been exerted in any known and lasting performances, may, at any distance of time, be traced and estimated; but silent excellencies are soon forgotten; and those minute peculiarities which discriminate every man from all others, if they are not recorded by those whom personal knowledge enables to observe them, are irrecoverably lost. This mutilation of character must have happened, among many others, to Sir Thomas Browne, had it not been delineated by his friend Mr. Whitefoot, "who esteemed it an especial favor of Providence to have had a particular acquaintance with him for two thirds of his life." Part of his observations we shall therefore copy. "For a character of his person, his complexion and hair was answerable to his name; his stature was moderate, and habit of body neither fat nor lean, but sagxos. "In his habit of clothing, he had an aversion to all finery, and affected plainness both in the fashion and ornaments. He ever wore a cloak, or boots, when few others did. He kept himself always very warm, and thought it most safe so to do, though he never loaded himself with such a multitude of garments as Suetonius reports of Augustus, enough to clothe a good family. "The horizon of his understanding was much larger than the hemisphere of the world. All that was visible in the heavens he comprehended so well, that few that are under them knew so much. He could tell the number of the visible stars in his horizon and call them all by their names that had any; and of the earth he had such a minute and exact geographical knowledge, as if he had been by divine Providence ordained surveyor-general of the whole terrestrial orb, and its products, minerals, plants, and animals. He was so curious a botanist, that, besides the specifical distinctions, he made nice and elaborate observations, equally useful as entertaining. "His memory, though not so eminent as that of Seneca or Scaliger, was capacious and tenacious, insomuch that he remembered all that was remarkable in any book that he had read, and not only knew all persons again that he had ever seen at any distance of time, but remembered the circumstances of their bodies, and their particular discourses and speeches. "In the Latin poets he remembered every thing that was acute and pungent. He had read most of the historians, ancient and modern, wherein his observations were singular, nor taken notice of by common readers. He was excellent company when he was at leisure, and expressed more light than heat in the temper of his brain. "He had no despotical power over his affections and passions (that was a privilege of original perfection, forfeited by the neglect of the use of it), but as |