Born at Wrentham, Suffolk, England, Aug. 13, 1666: died at Buxted, Essex, Feb. 13, 1726. An English clergyman and scholar. He was educated at Cambridge, where he was admitted in his tenth year. He was a remarkable instance of precocity. When only twelve years old he was noted for his skill in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, three or four of the Eastern tongues, philosophy, mathematics, etc.; took his degree of B.A. in Jan., 1679, then knowing 12 languages; and became a fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1685. He became chaplain to the Earl of Nottingham and rector of Middleton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, in 1693, and prebendary of Salisbury in 1705. He is best known from his “Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning” (1694).
Personal
Last night I was with Mr. Wotton (who writ the “Essay on Ancient and Modern Learning”) at the tavern, together with Mr. Thwaites, and Mr. Willis. Mr. Wotton is a person of general learning, a great talker and braggadocio, but of little judgment in any one particular science.
Is perhaps the most remarkable of well-authenticated cases of intellectual precocity. When five years of age, he translated chapters and psalms from Hebrew, Greek, and Latin into English; in his tenth year he was admitted of Catherine Hall, Cambridge, and Dr. John Eachard, Master of the College, declared that “Gulielmus Wottonus, infra decem annos, nec Hammondo nec Grotio secundus,” (April 1, 1676;) at twelve years of age his skill in Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Chaldee, Greek, and Latin, arts and sciences, geography, logic, philosophy, mathematics, and chronology, was celebrated in an elegant copy of verses (In Gulielmum Wottonum stupendi ingenii et incomparabilis spei puerum vixdum duodecim annorum) by the learned Dr. James Duport, Master of Magdalene College and Dean of Peterborough; when twelve years and five months old, (in Jan. 1679), then being acquainted with twelve languages, he was made Bachelor of Arts,—a case unparalleled before or since; in the next winter, at the invitation of Gilbert (afterwards Bishop) Burnet, was brought to London, where he was introduced to the learned, and astonished Dr. Lloyd, the Bishop of St. Asaph, (he often accomplished similar feats), by repeating verbatim one of his lordship’s sermons after one hearing from the pulpit; in 1683 took the degree of M.A., and in 1685, at nineteen, became a Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge.
He retained a powerful memory throughout life, his learning was always ready, and he helped many other scholars, among them Browne Willis. His handwriting was of fine strokes and very clear. He was of a genial disposition and fond of smoking.
General
If some kind genius had not in pity directed the most learned Mr. Wotton to give us a visit, and an inestimable present too, his “Reflections on the Ancient and Modern Learning;” which, in recognition of yours, I should have sent you, but that I was confident you must ere this have seen it, and been entertained with as much delight and satisfaction as universally learned, and indeed extraordinary person, is able to give the most refined taste. This is he whom I have sometimes mentioned to you, for one of the miracles of this age, for his early and vast comprehension. Set him down, then, in your Albo, among the Gales and the Bentleys, as you will certainly do as soon as you know him.
Wotton argues with solid sense against the lively exotic fancies of Sir William Temple.
Of his literary character he supported the reputation which he had so early acquired by a variety of learned publications. Of these, one of the best known and the most remarkable is his “Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning,” first published in 1694, and intended as a refutation of Sir William Temple’s celebrated essay on the same subject. To the second edition of his book, which appeared in 1697, Wotton annexed, by way of appendix, the elaborate “Dissertations upon Phalaris” by Bentley, a proceeding which not only involved him in the far-famed dispute with Boyle, but exposed him to the irony and sarcastic ridicule of Swift; who, in his “Tale of a Tub,” and in his “Battle of the Books,” has omitted no opportunity of placing our author in a ludicrous light. Wotton endeavoured to reply and recriminate by a “Defence of the Reflections,” and by “Observations upon the Tale of a Tub,” but in vain; for the satire is preserved and the answers are forgotten. The “Reflections” of Wotton, which were written in his twenty-ninth year, display much literature and research, and are, at the same time, free from all traces of asperity or ostentation.
Wotton executed his work ably and judiciously: wide as the proposed range is, his inquiry proceeds with calmness and caution into every part, and evinces not only more candour, but a more extensive acquaintance with the topics under discussion, than had previously been exhibited in this controversy. This must have made his “Reflections” very edifying, after the loose and declamatory tracts which preceded them, and even now renders their perusal interesting and useful. Though professing the character of an umpire, he more frequently resists the arguments of Sir W. Temple; and this he does in the most efficacious manner, by destroying the premises upon which they are built, by giving a just view of the authorities for the alleged vast acquisitions of the ancient sages, and showing how ill they will bear the test of investigation.
The most solid book that was written in any country upon this famous dispute. William Wotton published in 1694 his “Reflections on Ancient and Modern Learning.” He draws very well in this the line between Temple and Perrault; avoiding the tasteless judgment of the latter in poetry and eloquence, but pointing out the superiority of the moderns in the whole range of physical science.
He died in 1726, leaving behind him no competitor, perhaps, in variety of acquisitions as a linguist.
Unlike most controversial writings it is chiefly devoted to the clear statement of facts, and may still be read as the best summary of the discoveries in nature and physical science up to its date.
