MARK ALEXANDER BOYD. MARK ALEXANDER BOYD, an author of considerable note among the Scottish Latin poets of the sixteenth century, was the son of Robert Boyd, of Pinkill, in Ayrshire. He was born on the 13th of January, 1562, and is said to have come with teeth into the world. While yet a child, he lost his father, and came under the care of his uncle, James Boyd, Archbishop of Glasgow. As he grew up in years, he evinced a great aversion to study, and a disposition, restless, fiery, and ungovernable. Quarrelling with his preceptors, he eloped to Edinburgh, in the hope of pushing his way at court, by the force of natural talent alone; but it was not long till he discovered, that fate had made no exception in his favor, from the general necessity of toiling up the steeps of fame. All that he acquired in this stage of his progress, was the blockhead reputation of having fought one duel, and been the hero of numberless broils. Still, however, averse to books, he resolved to follow the profession of arms; and, furnished with a small stock of money, went over to France, with the intention of entering into the service of that country. Shortly after his arrival, he lost all his money at dice; and it would seem, that, with that, his military passion also passed away for the time. His misfortunes at the gaming table brought on a fit of reflection, which gave birth to a very wise re solution, of resuming those studies which, in his younger years, he had so foolishly forsaken and despised. At Paris, he studied philosophy with Amboise; eloquence, with Passerat; and the languages, with Genebrand. Afterwards, he went to the university of Orleans, where Robertus initiated him into the principles of the civil law; but in a short time, he deserted Robertus for his rival, Cujacius, of Bourges, the most celebrated civilian of his time. With Cujacius, Boyd contrived to get into high favor. The old professor had an exceeding admiration for the obsolete style of Ennius, and other Roman poets of the same æra; and Boyd, as a tribute of respect to this good taste, wrote some pieces in imitation of Ennius, which induced Cujacius to pronounce that he was formed by nature for this very species of writing; that is, formed by nature to write in a language and style which were a thousand years dead and gone. Let us hope, that the worthy professor did not, amidst this flow of commendation, forget the means by which old Ennius was inspired to write as he did. Ennius, ipse pater, nunquam, nisi potus ad arma Inspir'd with wine old Ennius sung, and thought Pitt. To a young, and certainly not a wealthy student, a bottle of the professor's Falernian would have been an agreeable compensation for the false direction which his praises served to give to his genius. Bourges being visited by the plague, Boyd took refuge at Lyons, and the same calamity having followed him thither, he afterwards fled to Italy. He formed here a familiar acquaintance with one Cornelius Varus, a Florentine; to whom, as he used often to declare, he was more indebted in his literary pursuits than to any other person in the world. If extravagant flattery could be admitted to form part of the character of a useful Mentor, there would be no doubt of Varus's claim to the title. In some verses of his which are extant, he asserts, that his friend Boyd surpassed Buchanan, and all other British poets, in a greater degree than Virgil surpassed Lucretius, Catullus, and all other Roman poets! A fit of the ague compelled Boyd, after a short time, to bid adieu to Italy and his Varus, and to return to Lyons. The civil war breaking out in France, revived in the breast of Boyd, that military ardour which had brought him to the continent, but had till now been suffered to remain dormant. He joined the army which came from Germany to the assistance of the Bourbons, but it was unfortunately destroyed before he had an opportunity of gathering a single laurel. A shot in the ankle, obtained in some bush fighting with the peasantry, was the only mark which he retained of perils past. Boyd now retired to Thoulouse, and resumed the study of the civil law. The faction of the League, however, soon after obtained possession of this place; and Boyd, for his short campaign in the royal cause, was thrown into prison. Through the interposition of some learned friends, he was soon released; went to Bourdeaux, which he did not like; removed to Rochelle, which he liked worse; and, finally, settled in an agreeable rural retreat on the borders of Poictou, where he gave up his chief attention to the study of polite literature. Remembrances of home would, however, often intrude on this retirement, and, at length, produced a resolution of returning to Scotland. He arrived there in safety, but did not long survive his return, dying of a slow fever in April, 1601, at Pinkill, the family seat, in the 39th year of his age. The merits of Boyd are thus depicted by a contemporary, whose manuscript fell into the hands of Sir Robert Sibbald. "In his person, he was tall and well proportioned; he had a handsome, sprightly, and engaging countenance, and in his discourse, aspect, voice, and gesture, there was something singularly noble. He was polite, pleasant, acute, courteous, a ready speaker, and entirely free from envy and avarice. He could easily bear with the boasting of the ignorant, but he disliked the coarse and abusive manner of writing which prevailed among the learned of his time. He thought it unworthy of a Christian, in a literary contest, to throw out any thing which should hurt the reputation of an adversary. In injuries of an atrocious nature, he chose to do himself justice by having recourse to the laws of arms. Among the antients, Xenophon was his favourite as a philosopher, Cæsar as an historian, and Virgil as a poet. So admirably was he skilled in the Greek language, that he could write, dictate, and converse in it, with copiousness and elegance. He despised the centos then much in vogue, and said, that the authors of them, however learned, were dull and ignorant men. To an excellent genius, he joined a happy memory and an admirable judgement. So lively and extensive were his abilities, that he could dictate to three scribes in as many different languages and upon different subjects. Besides his Epistles, after the manner of Ovid, and his Hymns, he wrote a variety of Latin poems that never saw the light. He was the author of notes upon Pliny, and published an excellent little book, addressed to Lipsius, in defence of Cardinal Bembo and antient eloquence. He translated, likewise, Cæsar's Commentaries into Greek, in the style of Herodotus, but would not permit his translation to be made public. He afterwards applied to the cultivation of poetry in his native language, and attained to such excellence in it, that he deserved to be placed on a level with Petrarch and Ronsard. In all his compositions, he displayed more genius than labour. So great were the elevation of his mind and strength of his ambition, that he always aimed at greater things than he could attain, and hence he neglected several opportunities of being advantageously settled, and led a wandering kind of life abroad during fourteen years." There is a good deal of the Varus in this account; but making every allowance for the partiality of friendship, we must still recognize in it many admirable traits of character, combined, however, with habits which furnish some reason to Pinkerton for saying, that Boyd was rather " a rambling literary charlatan, than a man of genius." Among the manuscripts which he left behind him, the following came into Sir Richard Sibbald's possession. "In Institu |