Thomas James Mathias, FRS (c.1754 – August 1835) was a British

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-1960 ...

and scholar.

Life

Mathias was educated in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He held some minor appointments in the royal household (sub-treasurer, 1782 and treasurer). He died in Naples, Italy. Mathias became a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

after reading Mandeville's ''

The Fable of the Bees ''The Fable of The Bees: or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits'' (1714) is a book by the Anglo-Dutch social philosopher Bernard Mandeville. It consists of the satirical poem ''The Grumbling Hive: or, Knaves turn'd Honest'', which was first publis ...

''. He gave up all meat and lived on a diet of milk and vegetables.

Works

He was an accomplished

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

scholar, and translated various English works into Italian, such as ''Canzoni e prose toscane'', and vice versa. He also produced a fine edition of the work of

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

, on which he lost heavily. His chief work was ''The Pursuits of Literature'' (1794), an undiscriminating satire on his literary contemporaries that went through 16 editions, but is now almost forgotten. More so was his uncompromising criticism of the times. An example: :Here is another little ''capriccio'' of a man of no common sagacity, the late Adam Smith. He says seriously, by way of illustration; “No body ''ever saw a dog'' make ''a fair and deliberate'' exchange of ''one bone'' for another with another ''dog''." Smith's Wealth of Nations, Vol. 1, p. 20. Ed. 8vo. This philosophy is nearly of the same date as Adam's ancestor in Eden, and I can only say in reply, "Who ever ''expected'' to see a dog do so?"—We have all heard and read of that snarling sect the Cynics, and if we could convert dogs into philosophers, or what is harder still, philosophical propositions ''into meat and bones,'' (which I fear is more than most ''Scotch'' Professors can do) I should apply metaphorically the following lines from a celebrated Poet, a great observer of ''human nature'': ::“So when ''two dogs'' are fighting in the streets, ::With ''a third dog'' one of ''the two dogs'' meets; ::With angry tooth he bites him to the bone, ::And ''this dog'' smarts for what ''that dog'' has done.”

Selected publications

''The Pursuits of Literature''
(1798 edition)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathias, Thomas James 1754 births 1835 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British satirists Fellows of the Royal Society