A New System

A New System; or, an Analysis of
Antient
by Jacob Bryant

The Project Gutenberg EBook of A New System; or, an Analysis of
Antient
Mythology. Volume I., by Jacob Bryant This eBook is for the use of
anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project
Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org
Title: A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume I.
Author: Jacob Bryant
Release Date: August 31, 2006 [EBook #19153]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A NEW
SYSTEM ***

Produced by Dave Maddock, Keith Edkins and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected:
they are listed at the end of the text.
A
NEW SYSTEM;
OR, AN
ANALYSIS
OF
ANTIENT MYTHOLOGY:
WHEREIN AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO DIVEST TRADITION OF
FABLE; AND TO REDUCE THE TRUTH TO ITS ORIGINAL
PURITY,
BY JACOB BRYANT, ESQ.
THE THIRD EDITION. IN SIX VOLUMES.
WITH A PORTRAIT AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR;
A VINDICATION OF THE APAMEAN MEDAL;
Observations and Inquiries relating to various Parts of Antient History;
A COMPLETE INDEX,
AND FORTY-ONE PLATES, NEATLY ENGRAVED.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. WALKER; W.J. AND J. RICHARDSON; R.
FAULDER AND SON; R. LEA; J. NUNN; CUTHELL AND

MARTIN; H.D. SYMONDS; VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE; E.
JEFFERY; LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND CO.; J. BOOKER;
BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY; J. ASPERNE; J. MURRAY;
AND J. HARRIS.
1807.
* * * * *
SOME
ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIFE AND WRITINGS
OF
JACOB BRYANT, ESQ.
* * * * *
The earliest authentic account we can obtain of the birth of this learned
and celebrated writer, is from the Register Book of Eton College, in
which he is entered "of Chatham, in the county of Kent, of the age of
twelve years, in 1730,"--consequently, born in 1718.
Whence a difference has arisen between the dates in this entry, and the
inscription on his monument, hereafter given, we are unable to explain.
The two royal foundations of Eton, and King's College, Cambridge,
justly boast of this great scholar and ornament of his age. He received
his first rudiments at the village of Lullingstone, in Kent; and was
admitted upon the foundation, at Eton College, on the 3d of August,
1730, where he was three years captain of the school, previous to his
removal to Cambridge. He was elected from Eton to King's College in
1736; took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1740; and proceeded
Master in 1744.

He attended the Duke of Marlborough, and his brother, Lord Charles
Spencer, at Eton, as their private tutor, and proved a valuable
acquisition to that illustrious house; and, what may be reckoned, at
least equally fortunate, his lot fell among those who knew how to
appreciate his worth, and were both able and willing to reward it. The
Duke made him his private secretary, in which capacity he
accompanied his Grace during his campaign on the continent, where he
had the command of the British forces; and, when he was made
Master-General of the Ordnance, he appointed Mr. Bryant to the office
of Secretary, then about 1400l. per annum.
His general habits, in his latter years, as is commonly the case with
severe students, were sedentary; and, during the last ten years of his life,
he had frequent pains in his chest, occasioned by so much application,
and leaning against his table to write; but, in his younger days, spent at
Eton, he excelled in various athletic exercises; and, by his skill in
swimming, was the happy instrument in saving the life of the venerable
Dr. Barnard, afterwards Provost of Eton College. The doctor gratefully
acknowledged this essential service, by embracing the first opportunity
which occurred, to present the nephew of his preserver with the living
of Wootton Courtney, near Minehead, in Somerset; a presentation
belonging to the Provost of Eton, in right of his office.
Mr. Bryant was never married. He commonly rose at half past seven,
shaved himself without a glass, was seldom a quarter of an hour in
dressing, at nine rung for his breakfast, which was abstemious, and
generally visited his friends at Eton and Windsor, between breakfast
and dinner, which was formerly at two, but afterwards at four o'clock.
He was particularly fond of dogs, and was known to have thirteen
spaniels at one time: he once very narrowly escaped drowning, through
his over eagerness in putting them into the water.
Our author must be considered as highly distinguished, beyond the
common lot of mortality, with the temporal blessings of comforts,
honour, and long life. With respect to the first of these, he enjoyed