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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
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THE
BRITISH PLUTARCH,
CONTAINING
THE LIVES
O F T H E
Mofl Eminent Statesmen, Patriots, Di- vines, Warriors, Philosophers, Poets, and Artists, of Great Britain and Ire- land, from the Acceflion of Henry VIIF. to the prefent Time. Inckiding a Compendious View of the Hiflory of England during that Period,
IN EIGHT VOLUMES.
<KO\^J^i}I^l !
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VOL VII.
Arl^^~:^(^^^'^^
THE THIRD EDITION,
Revifed, corre£led,, and confid-er^bly .enlarged by the Add'irfcin 6f^New',LiY|;£'.; I ■'
L O N
D
''c^'Hi'.' I
Printed for CHARLES DILLY, in the Poultry M sec :^ci •
CONTENTS
O F T H E
SEVENTH VOLU M E.
The Life of Francis Atterbiiry, Bifliop of Rochef- ter — — — page i
The Life of Sir Richard Steele — 33
The Life of Daniel De Foe — 62
The Life of Benjamin Hoadly, Bifhop of Win- chefher -— — 80
The Life of Dr. Young — — 9g
The Life of Samuel Richardfon — I03
The Life of Henry Fielding — — • 114
The Life of Dr. Nathaniel Lardner 13Q
The L.ife of William Hogarth — 145
The Life of Dr. John Jortin — i6a
The Life of Thomas Gray — - — 17^
The Life of David Hume — — 197
The Life of William Shenftone — 220
7 he Life of i homas Newton, Bifliop of Briftol 229 The Life of Dr. Akejafide., .- \:-t'\ ^'t*^ 239
THE
O N T E N
OFT H E
F I R S r V O L U M E.
THE Life of John Colet, D. D. Dean of St, Paul's — — page I
The Life of Cardinal Wolfey i8
The Life of Sir Thomas More — • 63 The Life of John Fifher, Bifliop of Rochefler 95 The Life of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Effex X05 The Life of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk^ with Memoirs of his Family, particularly of Sir Edward Howard, Lord High Admiral of Eng- land — — 121
The Life of Edward Seymoar, Duke of Somerfetj with Memoirs of his Brother, Sir Thomas Sey- mour, Lord Sudley — — 131 The Life of John Dudley, Duke of Northumber- land — — ' — 170 The Life of Hugh Latimer, Bifliop ot Worcefter. with Memoirs of Nicholas Ridley, Biiliop of London — ■ — — 190 The Life of Stephen Gardiner, Bifliop of Winchei- ter, including Memoirs of John Hooper, Bilhop ofGloucefter — — 224 7*he Life of Thomas Cranmer, Archbiiliop ot Canterbury — — ■ 24 '< The Life of Cardinal Pole, including Memoirs of Edmund Bonner, Bilhop of London 270 The Life of Sebaitian Cabot — — 288
THE
t X 3
THE
BRITISH PLUTARCH.
The life of FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. (A. D. 1662, to 1731.)
IN the former editions of this work the lives of feme eminent perfons were omitted, which it has been thought proper to introduce into this new and improved edition. It has, therefore, h-icu found expedient to make fome little devia- tion from the chronological order, Vv'hich could not fo well be exa^lly adhered to, on account of the arrangement of the former volumes, which had a particular reference to, and was naturally con- ne6led with, that view of the public tranfa(9:!ons of the times which is Interwoven in the work. Go- ing bacli, therefore, a little in point of time, we Vol. VII. B fliail
t FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
fhall here give fome account of the life of Dr. Fran'cis Atterbury, bilhop of Rochefter, who was too celebrated and confide rable a writer to be wholly omitted in a work of this kind.
This prelate was born at Milton, or Middle- ton Keynes, near Kewport-Pagnel, in Bucking- hamfhire, on the lixth of March, 1662. He w^as fon to Dr. Lewis Atterbury, who was re<5tor of Milton, and was educated at Weftminfter-fchool. From thence he was removed to ChrifUchurch-col- • lege in Oxford, where he foon diftinguiHied hini- felf by his wit and learning. He gave early proofs of his poetical talents, in a Latin verlionofMr. Dryden*s Abfalom and Achitophel ; an epigram on a lady's fan, which has been much admired, and tranflations of two odes of Horace, both of which have uncommon merit. He took the degree of ba- chelor of arts in 1684, and that of mafter in 1687. In that year he publillied, *' An Anfwer to fome Confiderations on the Spirit of Martin Luther, and the Original of the Reformation." Mr. Atterbury'* piece was written in oppofition to Obadiah Walker, and in vindication of Luther and the Reformation. During his flay at the univerfity, he had a confi- derable fhare in the famous controverfy between Dr., Bentley and the Honourable Mr. Ch-irles Boyle, afterwards earl of Orrery, concerning the genuinenefs of Phalaris's cpillles ; and it appears that more than half of the book, publifhed under the name of Boyle, w^as written by Atterbury. He was not quite fatisfied with his iituation at the uni- verfity, and ihouglit himfelf qualified for more ac- tive and important fcenes. In a letter to his fa- ther, dated Oxford, Ucl. 24, 1690, he fays, " My pupil I never had a thought of parting with till I left Oxford. I wifli 1 could part with him to-mor- row on that fcore j for 1 am perfedily wearied with
this
BISHOP OF PvOCHESTER. 3
tills naufeous circle of fmall affairs, that can now neither divert nor inftrnft me. I was made, I am fure, for another fcene, and another fort of con- verfation ; though it has been my hard iwck to be pinned down to>his. I have thought and thought again, Sir, and for fome years, nor have 1 ever been able to think otherwife, than that I am loiing time every minute I llay here. The only benefit I ever propofe to myfelf by the place is ftudyingi and that I am not able to compafs. Mr. Boyle takes up half my time, and 1 grudge it him not ; for he is a fine gentleman ; and while 1 am with him I will do what I can to make him a man : col- lege and univerfity bufincfs take up a great deal more ; and I am forced to be ufeful to the dean in a thoufand particulars j fo that 1 have very little time,"
His father, in return, in a letter dated the firft of November following, expreffes himfelf thus : *' I know not what to think of your uneafinefs. It ihews unlike aChriftian, and favours neither of tem- per nor confideration. I am troubled to remem- ber it is habitual. You ufed to fay, " When you had your degrees, you Ihould be able to fwim with- out bladders." You feemed to rejoice at your be- ing moderator, and of your quantum and fuble6turer; but neither of thefe pleafed you ; nor was you wil- ling to take thofe pupils the houfe afforded you, when mailer ; nor doth your lectures pleafe, or noblemen fatisfy you. But you make yourfeif and friends uneafy : cannot truft Providence.
'* Do your duty, and lerve God in your ftation, until you are called to fomev/hat better. Mari's ways are not in himfelf, nor can all your proje^l-. ing change the colour of one of your hairs, which are numbered, and a fparrow falls liot to the ground without a divine overfight. What may we tliink
B Z ' of
4 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
of ou'" ftatlons ' You iieed not Jcubt but I could wil'h you all the great things you are capable of; but { can neither fecure them to you nor myfelf; but mufl leave all to time and Providence. I am not wanting in pains and profpeft, and deny myfelf more in toiling and fpaiing than you ever did or will do, and all 1 fee to little purpofe, when it is of no better effecl with you."
It is not certainly Known at what time he entered into holy orders ; but, in 1693, upon the death of his father, he made application to the earl of Not- tingham to fucceed in the reftory of Milton. He did not, however, obtain the living ; and being of an afpiting temper, and tired of a college life, he refolved to quit the univerlity, and exhibit himfelf in a more acHve fcene. Accordingly making Lon- don his refidence, he foon diftinguifhed himfelf; fo that he was ele£led one of the chaplains in ordi- nary to king William and queen JNlary, and was ele6ted preacher at Bridewell, and le6lurer at St. Bride s.
In 16.4, he preached a remarkable fermon at Bridewell chapel, before the governors of that and Bethlem hofpital, on the pcwrr of charity to cover Jin -, to which Mr. Benjamin Hoadly, afterwards billiop of VV'inchefter, publlhed fome exceptions. Some- what earlier than this pferiod Mr. Atterbury married Mifs Ofborn, a relation of the duke of Leeds, a great beauty, and polTelfed of a fortune of 7,000!. who lived at or in the neighbouihood of Oxford.
In I "OO, he encaged in the coritroverfy with Dr. Wake, afterwards archbi(hop of Canterbury, and others, conctriung the rights, powers, and privileges of convocations. His firfl piece upon that fnbjeift was eniituled, *' The fvights, Powers, and Privileges, of an Englifh Convocation ftated and vindicated, in anfwer to a Jate book of Dr. 4 Wake's, '
B[:5HOP OF ROCHESTER. 5
Wake's, eiuituled, The Authority of Chiifliaii Princes, &:c." This book appeared at firft without the author's name ; but the year following Mr. At- tejbury pubhfhed a fecond edition, with his n^.me prefixed to it, and very coniiderable additions, lii this piece he treated Dr. Wake s book, as " a ihai- low empty performr.nce^ wiit'en without anv knowledge of our conftitution, or any ikiii in the particular fubjed of debate ; upon fuch principles as are deftructife of all our civil, as w^ell as eccleii- affical liberties; and with fuch afperiions on the clerg\% both dead and living, as Wei e no iefs inju- rious to the body, than his doftrine " ~" 1 he
very beft conftrucSfion (he tells us) that has been put upon Dr. Wake's attempt by candid readers, is, that it was an endeavour to advance the prero- gative of t*ie prince in church matters as high, and to deprels the interefl of the fubjeft fpiri- tual as low, as ever he could, with any colour of truth." — ■' Were all Dr. Wake fays il:ridlv true and juflifiable (adds Mr. Atterbury), yet whether the labouring the point ib heartily as he does, and jlievving himleif fo willing to prove the church to have no rights and privileges, be a very decent part in a clergvman, 1 leave his fiiends to confider. But, when all a man advances is- not only ill-defigned, but ilhgrounded, and his principles are as falle as they are Icandalous (as 1 have evidenrlv proved his to be), tliere are no names and cenfures too bad, to be beltovved on fucli writers and their wri- tin^is."
o
Bifhop Burnet \vrote a piece againft this per- formance of Atternury's relative to the rights of convocations ; wherein he obferves, " that he had fo entirely laid afide the fpirit ofChrill:, and the charaders of a Chriftian, that, without large al- low\ances of charity, one can hardly think that he ' B 2, " did
6 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
did once reflefl on the obligations he lay under to fc'Iow the humility, the meeknefs, and the gentle* nefs of Chrift. So far from that, he feems to have forgot the common decencies of a man, or of a fcholar." His lordlhipadds, that ^^ A book writ ten with that roughnefs and acrimony of fpirit, if well received, would be a much ftronger argument againft the expediency of a convocation, than any he brings or can bring for it."
Dr. Wake, in the preface to his *' State of the Church and Clergy of England in their Councils, Synods, Convocations, &c." fays, that, upon his firft perufal of Dr. Atterbury's book, he faw fuch a fpirit of wrath and nncharitablenefs, accompanied with fuch an affurance of the author's abilities for fuch an undertaking, as he had hardly ever met with in the like degree before.'* He afterwards fays, ** In my examination of the whole book, I find in it enough to commend the wit, though not the fpirit of him who wrote it. — To pay what is due even to an adverfary; it muft be allowed, that Dr. Atterbury has done all, that a man of forw^ard parts and a hearty zeal could do, to defend the caufe which he has efpoufcd. He has chofen the mod plaufible topics of argumentation ; and he has given them all the advantage, that either a fprightly wit, or a good alTurance, could afford them. But he wanted one thing ; he had not Jruih on his iide : and "error, though it may be palliated, and by an artificial manager, fuch as Dr. Atterbury without controverfy is, be difguifed fo as to de- ceive fometimes even a wary reader, yet it will not bear a ftricl examination. And accordingly 1 have fhcv,7n him, notwithflanding all his other endow- ments, to have deluded the world w^ith a mere Ro» mance ; and, from the one end of his difcourfe to the other, to have delivered a hillory, not of what
was
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 7
was really done, but of what it was his interell to make it believed had been done.'"
But Mr, Atterbury's zeal for the high claims of the church gave fo much fatlsfaft'ion to the lowcr- houfe of convocation, that they returned him then- thanks for his book in 1701 ; and the univerfity of Oxford alfo conferred, en him the degree of do<Slor in divinity, by diploma, without perform- ing exercifes, or paving fees. Before this he had alfo been infialled archdeacon of Totnefs, being promoted to that dignity by Sir Jonathan Trelawny, then biihop of Exeter. The principles of that pre- late, both refpeding church and ilate, were ex- tremely fimiiar to thofe of Dr. Atterbury, who, therefore, frequently correfponded w^ith him con- cerning the tranfa^lions of the convocation. In one of Atterbury's letters to the biihop is the fol- lowing paiTage : ** Things go not well here : the fpirit of moderation prevails to an immoderate de- gree, and the church is dropped by confent of both parties. Carftaires, and the agent for the Irifh Prefoyterians, are more familiarly feen, and more eaiily received, at the levees of fome great minif- ters (W'ho are called our friends) than honefler men." In another letter, dated March u, 170G-1, Dr. Atterbury fays, " Dr. Jane has taken the chair in the committee for infpefting books written againll the truth of the Chriltian religion. We fat to- day ; and feveral books were brought in to be cen- fured, and an extra£l from one Toland's " Chrif- tianity not myfteriou^i" laid before us. Dr. Jane is very hearty in it, and moved, that we might fit cie die in diem till we had finilhed our bufmefs. I bring in to-morrow a book of one Craig, a Scotch- man, chaplain to the bifhop of Sarum (Dr. Bur- net)^ to prove, by mathematical calculation, that, according to the pretenfion of the probability of hif- B 4 tarical
8 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
toiical evidence, in fuch a fpace of time (which he mentions), the Chriftiaii religion will not be credi- ble, it is dedicated to the biihop. VVe have made a previous order, that nothing done in this com- mittee fhall be divulged till all is finillied ; and, therefore, 1 mull: humbly beg your lordiliip to keep thefe particulars fecret."
Upon tlie acceffion of queen Anne, in 1 702, Dr. Atterbury was appointed one of her chaplains in ordinary •, and about this time he was engaged, w^ith fome other learned divines, in reviling an in- tended edition of tlie Greek Teflament, with Greek fcholia, collected chiefly from the fathers, by Mr. Archdeacon Gregory. He alfo publifhed feveral other pieces relative to the rights and pov>^ers of convocations. In 1703, when Dr. Hooper, dean of Canterbury, was nominated to the bifhoprick of St. Afaph's, Dr. xA.tterbury wrote in the following terms to his friend biihop Trelawny : *' If the dean of Canterbury be made biihop with a deiign to give liim the chief hand in the adminiftration of eccieii- ailical affairs (as is fuppofed, and as indeed the cir- cumftances of his advancement feem to Iliew% for that fouglit him, and not he it ; and my lord trea- furer wrote a letter to him, telling him it was the queen's command that he fhould take it, and ne- ctlTary in order to her affairs ; and your lordfhip fees that he hath more favour Ihewed him in the commendam tlian ever any billiop in your lord- Ihip's time had) — If fo, my lord, lam fure to be opprelTed and kept under as much as if archbifliop 1 iilolibn were alive, and at the helm : for that I prepare myfelf, and God's will be done in it 1 However, let the dean of Canterbury be as great as he will, 1 muft take the liberty to lay, that it was my poor labours that made him fo. For had not that book I wrote procured a convocation, and
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 9
given him by that means an opportunity of form- ing a ftrong body of the clergy, and placing hlmfelf at the head of them; he could not have^ made it nccelTary for the crown to take notice of him, in order to bring things to a temper j but would have continued dean of Canterbury ftill. In re- turn for this, I know, I am to be neglected and facri:Sced, as far as he is able to bring it about : but, as long as I have your proteflion and favour, I will not be difcouraged.
In another letter to the fame prelate, dated from Chelfea, Nov. 23, 1703, Atterbury fays, " We are to meet in convocation again to- morrow, and I will fee if I can then put a little life into our af- fairs." But it appears that he was not very fuc- cefsful ; for in another letter, dated Nov. 26, he fays, *' We did nothing in convocation yeflerday, but only getting a day to be appointed for the fitting of our two committees of books and grievances. We who met were but few ; about fifteen on our fide, and two or three on the other ; all difpirited, and ftaring one upon another : not a man from Ox- ford, but the prolocutor alone." In another letter, dated the 9th of December following, he fays, *' On Wednefday were carried up two papers to the bi- fhops ; one, a general reprefentation about the mifchievous books lately publifhed ; the other, a requeft to join with them in preparing a bill for the more fpeedy and eifedual levying of rates for the repair of churches.'* In another latter, dated the 3Cth of the fame month, he complains, that Dr. Hooper, the new bifliop of St. Afaph, afted in fuch a manner as evinced him to be his enemy. " He leaves,*' fays he, " no flone unturned to mil- chief me. His converfation with two confiderable men hath come to my knowledge, wherein J was reprefented as a man that wanted temper and difcre- B s tion.
lo FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
^ion, and as fond of my own opinions, and vinfiJ: ^o be countenanced in any degree, left I Ihould be enabled by that means to be more troublefome. God forgive him ! It is a very ill return for my making that fcuffle which fet him at the head of the lower clergy, and, confequently, made him what he is now.'*
In another letter to bifhop Trelawny, dated Chel- fea, Jan. 6, 1703-4, Dr. Atterbury fays, ** The convocation of Ireland will a£V upon the iith, and in the firft place addrefs the queen, thanking her for rejior'ing their rights, and in other words that imply it to be matter of juftice, rather than favour. Ihey will alfo make a declaration in behalf of the divine right of epifcopacy, and their billiops will unanimoufly fubfcribe it ; which will be a decent leproach to ours, who decline joining in that decla- ration."
As archdeacon of Totnefs, Dr. Atterbury ad- drefTed fev eral vifitation-charges to the clergy of that archdeaconry ; and in one of thefe, delivered in i*'03, js the following pafTage : *' The men who take pleafure in traducing their brethren have en- xleavoured to expofc thofe of them who appeared fteadv in this caufe, under the invidious name of High Churchmen. What they mean by that word, i cannot tell. But if an high churchman be one who is for keeping up the prefent eccleliaf- tical conilitution in all its parts, wkhout making any illegal abatements in favour of fuch as either openly oppofe or fecretly undermine it ; one who though he lives peaceably with all men of different periuafions, and endeavours to win them over by methods of lenity and kindnefs, yet is not charita- ble and moderate enough to depart from the efta- blifhment (even while it ftands fixed by a law), in order to meet them half way in their opinions and I practices j
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. ii
pra£tices ; one, who thinks the canons and rubrick of the church, and the ads of parliament made in favour of it, ought flriftly to be obferved and kept up to, till they fhall, upon a profpe£l of a tho- rough compliance from thofe without (if fuch a cafe may be fuppofed), be releafed, in any refpecl, by a competent authority : I fay, if this be the charac- ter of an high churchman (how odious a found fo- ever that name may carry), I fee no reafon why any man fhould be difpleafed with the title, be- caufe fuch an high churchman is certainly a good Chriftian, and a good Englifhman.'*
He alfo fays, in the fame charge, *' The more obftru£lions we find towards exerting the fynodical power of the church, the more reafon we have to make inferior jurifdidlions ufeful; and to do all that we can, in our feveral places and ftations, to preferve the poor remains of church -difcipline we enjoy in their due life and vigour, fince we are not as yet likely either to retrieve what is loft, or en- force what is left by nev/ fanflions ; a work which deferves the beft wiihes and affiftances of every man who has a regard for the intereft of religion, and for the honour and authority of the church of England."
In Odlober, 1704, Dr. Atterbury was advanced to the deanery of Carlifle. About t\vo years after this, he had a difputewith Mr. Hoadly, concerning the advantages of virtue with refpeft to the prefent life , and fome time after he engaged in a frelh difpute with him concerning the doiSrine of paffive obedi- ence. In 1707, his friend Sir Jonathan Trelawny ap- pointed him one of the canon refidentiaries of the cathedral cf Kxeter ; and he was afterwrards made preacher of the Rolls chapel. In 1708, he pub- lilhed in one volume, 8vo. fourteen fermons^ which he dedicated to his friend bilhop Trelawny^ B6 At
12 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
At the beginning of the year 1709, he appears to have been greatly offended becaule the queen had prorogued the convocation. Dean Swift, in one of his letters written at this period, fays, " As for the convocation, the queen had thought fit to pro- rogue it, though at the expeoce of Dr. Atterbury's difpleafure, who was defigned their prolocutor, and is novv^ raving at the difappointment."
In 17 10, came on the famous trial of Dr. Sa- chcverell, whofe fpeech was generally fuppofed to have been drawn up by Dr. Atterbury, in conjunc- tion with Dr. Smairidge and Dr. Freind. The fame year, Dr. Atterbury was chofen prolocutor of the lower-houfe of convocation, and had the chief management of affairs in that houfe. In 171 1, a committee was appointed to draw up a reprefenta- tion of the prefent Hate of the church, and of reli- gion in the nation; and, after fome heads were agreed upon, Burnet fays, that " Atterbury pro- cured that the drav/ing-up of this might be left to him : and he drew up a moll virulent declamation, defaming all the adminillrations from the time of the Revolution. Into this he brought many impi- ous principles and pra£lices, that had been little heard of or known, but were now to be publifhed, if this ihould be laid before the queen." The lower houfe, .he adds, agreed to Atterbury's draught ; but the bifhops laid it afide, and ordered another reprefentation to be drawn in more general and more modeft terms.
In the Reprefentation of the State of Religion, drawn up on this occaiion by Atterbury, of which Eurnet fpeaks, are the following paffages : *' We cannot, without unfpeakable grief, reflect on that deluge of impiety and licentioufnefs which hath broke in upon us, and overfpread the face of this
church
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 13
church and kingdom, eminent in former times for purity of faith and fobriety of manners.
'' The fource of thefe great evils, as far back as we have traced it, feems to have been that long, un- natural rebellion which loofened all the bands of difcipline and order, and overturned the goodly frame of our eccleliaftical and civil conftitution.
'* The hypocrily, enthuiiafm, and variety of wild and monftrous errors, which abounded during thofe contufions, begat in the minds of men (toa eafily carried into extremes) a difregard for the very appearances of religion, and ended in a fpirit of downright libertinifm and prophanenefs, which hath ever fince too much prevailed among us- It was, indeed, checked and kept under for a time, by the legal reftraints laid on the prefs, and by the jufl dread of Popery which hung over our heads : but as foon as thefe fears were removed, and thofe reltraints were taken off, it broke out with the grcateft freedom and violence.
** We forbear to wound your pious ears by a par- ticular mention of thofe many blafphemous paf- fages which have been publiflied from the prefs. Keverthelefb, in difcharge of the trufl repofed in us by your Majefty, vve think ourfelves obliged to lay before you fome account of the various fteps taken to undermine the foundations of Chriftianity, and to infeft the minds of your people with Atheifm, Deiim, Herefy, and every pernicious and deilruc- tive error.
'* The difpute with our enemies of the church of Rome (managed with fo much honour and advan- tage to the church of England) was no looner hap- pily ended, but other adverlaries aroie, who openly attacked the fundamental articles of the Catholick Faith, and fcattered the poifon of Ariaa and Soci-
iiiau
14 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
nian herefies through all the parts of this king- dom
*' The doctrine of a Trinity of Perfons in the Unity of the Godhead was then denied and fcoffed at ; the fatisfaftion made for the lins of mankind by the precious blood of Christ was re- nounced and exploded ; the ancient Creeds of the Church were reprefented as unwarrantable impofi- tions, and treated with terms of the utmoil con- tumely and reproach. And the divulgers of thefe wicked errors and blafphemies proceeded w^ith as little difguife and caution as if fome new law had been made in their favour ; notwithftanding that care had been taken, by thofe who pa^ed the Aft of Indulgence, exprefsly to exclude them from the benefit of it.
*' In defiance of this aft, and of all the laws then in force, they not only owned their peflilent errors, but fet up for making profelytes, by a multitude of wicked books and pamphlets, which for fome years they difperfed from the prefs, without controul or diicouragement.
** They at laft proceeded fo far as even to fet up a Religious AiTembly, where divine vyorfhip was pub- lickly performed in a way agreeable to the princi- ples of the I nitanans, and weekly fermons were preached in defence or them.
*' Nor have thefe Hereticks been with-held by the public notice lately taken of their wicked pofition, from venting them anew, and with yet greater boldnefs. Even at the time when we are thus met by your majeily's writ, and exhorted by vour gra- cious letter, to confult of methods for repreffing fuch impieties, a book hath been printed, wherein the Arian coftrine is avowed and maintained, and a promife is made of evincing the truth of it, by large and elaborate proofs, in other treatifes from
the
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 15
the fame hand, which are foon to follow. To this book the author hath prefixed his name, and hath not been afraid to dedicate it to the archbilhop, bjlhops, and clergy, of this province in convocation alTembled : being, as we have feme reafon to be- lieve, fupported in this undertaking, and encou- raged to profecute it, by the liberal contributions and infidious applaufes of thofe who are the deter- mined enemies of all religion and goodnefs.
*' It was by fuch men as thefe that the Socinian tra6^s, when firfl publilhed, were much coun- tenanced and recommended : for they well knew that, the chief articles of the Chriflian faith being once fhaken. a way would by that means be opened, and the minds of men prepared for the attacks which might afterwards be made on Chriftianity it- felf, and into which the Socinian controverfy foon was improved.
** Nor ought we among the feveral inflances of infidelity, and of the approaches made towards it, to omit the mention of thofe damnable errors which have been embraced and propagated by the fe£l of Quakers; who, in feveral of their treatifes, in their Catechilms and Primers, have taught the rudiments of the Chriflian Faith in fuch a manner, as to make it feem to be little more than a complicated iyf* temofDeifm and Enthufiafm.
•* We pretend not to have made a full difcovery of all the dark and fubtle wiles by which the inftru- ments of Satan have endeavourtd to eftablilh his kingdom, and to introduce a general 1-ofenefs of principles and pra£lices among us : but thefe, which we have now laid before your majeliy, are too ob- vious and manifeft not to be obferved and com- plained of by us.
*' However, neither thefe nor any other wicked arts and methods, how craftily fosver contiived,
and
i6 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
and bow induftriouily foever purlued, would have met with fo remarkable fuccefs, had not other caufcs and circnmiiances concarred to help forward the event, and favour the growth of irreligious opinions.
" Amonj^ the chief of thefe, we reckon the re- moval of tiiat reftraint which the wifdom of for- mer times had laid upon the prei's ; and which no fooner ceafed, than thole peip-icfous principles, that before had been whifpeied only in corners, among the diflblute and lawlefs, were now proclaimed in our ftreets, and fent abroad to pollute the minds of your majefly's lubje£ls in all parts of your domi- nions.
*' The meanell: and mofl ignoran.t of the people, who had any degree of curiofity and Itifure, were then tempted to employ it in fearches for which they were no ways qualified,: they were furnilhed every day from the prefs with obje£lions againft religion ; and taught to doubt of thofe truths, which it had otberwife a ' er once entered into their hearts to quellion.
" This general libe ly of the prefs happened not long after tlie time v, lien, by reafon ot coniufions and diforders that v/fually attend great changes of ftate, the rtins of government were unavoidably slackened, and parties of men wee fuffered to ex- preis their mutual rcfentmeHts, and mar^age their debates againft each ether, with a freedom not of- ten permitted or pra£liled in more quiet and fettled times.
*' We cannot hut obferve to your majefly, that they who derided churches, and creeds, and m)f- teries, were the iaiiie who infulted the memory, and ji:{lih':d the n:-urder. of the royal martyr; ap- plauded the rebellion railed agaiiifl: him, and have taken a great deal of wicked pains in collecting and
pubhfliing
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 17
publKhing the works of thofe writers who were the moll declared and irrecoiicileable enemies to monarchy."
Hope was afterwards exprelTed of the great ad- vantages which might be derived from the exercife of tiie powers of convocation. '* Nor are we with- out hope," it was faid, " that thefc our fynodical alTembhes, regularly and conftantly held, may be one uleful means of checking the attempts of pro- fane men, and preventing the growth of pernicious errors ; efpecially if, by the authority or interven- tion of fuch fynods, fome way might be found to rellore the difcipline of the Church, now too much relaxed and decayed, to its priftine hfe and vigour; nd to flrengthen the ordinary jurifdi£tion of eccle- fiafiical courts, iiow too much reflrained and en- feebled : both which ends, as far as they Ihall ap- pear to be fubfervient to the interefls of religion and virtue, and no ways to interfere with the laws and liberties of our country^ we do not, under the propitious influence of your majefty's adminiftra- tion, defpair of attaining/'
*' But that for which we at prefent in modearneft and mofl humble manner adJreis ourfelves to your majefty is, that, by your royal interpofition, ail aft .may be obtained for reftraining the prefent ex- celhve and fcandaious liberty ot printing wicked books at home, or importing the hke from abroad, in fuch manner as to the wifdom of your majelly and parhament Ihall feem moft expedient : for, as we take this to have been the chief fource and caufe of thole evils whereof we now complain ; fo we queftion not but that the removal of it would be the mofl fpeedy and efFeftual cure of them.'*
In 17 12, Dr. Atterbury was made dean of ChriH-church, and flill continued to fupport very high eccleliallical claims, and to manifeil a great
' zeal
i8 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
zeal againft herefy. In a letter written by him to bifhop Trclawny, at the beginning of the year 1713, is the following pafTage ; *' 1 have received two letters, for which I am to thank your lordfhip, and will thank your lordfhip as long as I live. For though I have received many kind ones from your lordfhip, and particularly two (never by me to be forgotten) wherein your lordfhip was pleafed to beftow the archdeaconry of Totnefs and a ca- nonry of Exeter upon me ; yet permit me to fay, my lord, that even thofe were not more welcome than the two lail which you were pleafed to fend xne, and in which your lordfhip has drawn a lively pidure of that zeal for the true faith of Chrift, and for the dignity and honour of the prieflhood, which are, and ever have been, a diflinguifliing part of your loidfhip's chaia6ler.
** I entirely agree to all your lordfhip fays in the former part of your letter with refpeft to the blaf- phemies of Mr. Whiflon and Dr. Clarke (for I cannot give the tenets even of the latter a fofter name) ; and wifh with all my foul it were as much in my power, as it is in my inclination, to procure any thing to be done (either in or out of convoca- tion) that might effedually check and difcourage them."
In June, 17 13, Dr. Atterbury was advanced to the' bifhoprick ofRochefter and deanery ofWefimin- fter; ani was confecrated at Lambeth on the 4th of July following. It has been faid, that he had in view the primacy of all England ; and that his credit with the queen and miniftry was fo conlider- able, and his fchemcs fo well laid, as probably to have carried it, upon a vacancy, had not the queen's death, in Auguft, 17 14, prevented him. But Dr. "Warton fays, " It was with difficult) queen Anne was perfuadcd to make Atterbury a bilhop ; which
(he
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 19
fhc did at laft, on the repeated importunities of lord Harcourt, who preffed the queen to do it, becaufe fhe had before difappointed him, in not placing Sa- cheverell on the bench. After her deceafe, Atter- bury vehemently urged his friends to proclaim the pretender ; and, on their refufal, upbraided them for their timidity with many oaths ; for he was ac- cuilomed to fwear on any ftrong provocation."
At the commencement of the reign of George I. Atterbury's tide of profperity began to turn ; his politics were well known ; and he was coldly re- ceived at court. In return, he confiantly oppofed the meafures of the court in the Houfe of Lords, and drew up forae of the warmeft protefts with his own hands. Thus he went on till the year 1722, when the government, having reafon to fufped him of being concerned in a plot in favour of the pic- tender, he was apprehended on the 24th of Auguft ; and, after an examination before the privy-council, was committed prifoner to the Tower. He was continued in a very clofe and rigorous confinement, and, as the adminiflration were not pofrefled of any evidence fufficient for his conviction, on the 23d of March, 1722-3, a bill was brought into the Houfe of Commons *' for infiiCling certain pains and penalties on Francis Lord Bifhop of Rochef- ter;" a copy of which was fent to him, with no- tice, that he had liberty of counfel and foUcitors for making his defence. Under thefe circumilances, the bifiiop applied, by petition, to the Houfe of Lords, for their diredion and advice refpeding his conduft in this conjundlure ; and, on the 4th of April, he acquainted the Speaker of the Houfe of Commons by a letter, that he was determined to give that houfe no trouble in relation to the bill depending therein ; but Ihould be ready to make his defence againft it, when it fhould be argued in
another
20 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
anotlicr houfe, of which he had the hofiour to be a meiuSer. On the 9th the bill pafTed tb.e Houfe of Commons, and was the fame day lent np to the Ho'jfc of [.ords for their concurrence. On the 6th of iViav, being thevlirrt read 1 12,- of the bill, bifhop Atterbury vvas brought to ^Veftminfler to make his defence, whicii he did by his counfeh 1 he pro- ceedings continued above a week, and, on Saturday- May II, the biihop vvas permitted to plead for himfelf ; which lie did in a very eloquent Ipeech, from which we fnah ffle£f a few pallages. He be- gan in the foHowing manner :
" My Lords,
** I have beeti under a very long and clofe con«- finement, in which 1 have been treated by the per- i'on in whofe immediate cuitody 1 was with fuch feverity, and fo great indignity, as, I believe, no prifoner in the Tower of my age, infirmit-ies, func- tion, and raiik, ever underwent : by which means, what httle ftrength and ufe oi ray limbs 1 had> when committed in Augull lau, is new fo far im- paired, that 1 am unfit to appear before your lord- fliips on anv occalion ; efpecialiy when I am to make my defeni-c againfl a bill of fo extraordinary a nature and tendency.
*^I mention this, at the entrance of what I have to fay, not (o much in the wav of complaint, as cxcufe ; lioping that, if 1 fhould fail in any part of my own judification, your lordibiips will impute fuch defeat to the true caufe ; not my want of in- nocence or arguments to fupport it (my counfel, I thank them, have amply lliewed that 1 want nei- ther), but to the great weaknels of body and mind, niider which T at pr fent labour. Such ufage, fuch bardfliips of every kind, fuch infults as 1 have un- dergone, might have broken a more refolute fpirit,
and
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. ar
and a much lirmer conHitution than has fallen to my Ihare."
He afterwards flated the proceedings and refolu- tions of the Houfe of Commons againfl him ; and, fpeaking of the pains and penalties which were to be infli<fled againfl him by the bill, fays, ** The perfon thus fentenced below to be deprived of all his preferments, to fuffer pn-petual exile, to be rendered incapable of any ojice or employment^ or eyen of any pardon from the crown^ and with whom no man miiil hereafter converfe, or correfpond by letter, 7ne[fugc^ or otlierwife, without being guilty of felony^ is a bifnop of this churchy and a lo^d of parlia- ment ; the very fi'/l inftance of a member of thh houfe, fo treated, fo prejudged, fo condemned, originally in an-ther, and may it be the la/i I though fuch precedents, once fet, feldom liand lingle ; but are apt, eyen without a bleffing, to be fruitful and muhiply in after-times ! a rrfle6\ion that deferves ferioufly to be coniidered by tliofe who, obferving that this cafe has never before in all its circum- ilances happened, may too ealily conclude that it will never happen again !"
The biihop afterwards enters into a particular examination of the nature and circumftances of the evidence againfl him, and then fays, *' Our jaw has taken care that there fliould be a more clear and full proof of tr-ofon th^n of any other crime whatfoever. And reafonable it is, that a crime, attended with the highefl penalties, fhould be made out by the clearefl and tuUefl: evidence. And yet here is a charge of hiiih treafon brought againfl me, not only without evt ence, bat without any evidence at ^./, i. e. any luch evidence as the law of the land knows and allows. And what is not evidence at law (pardon rae for what I am going to fay) can never be made fuch, in order to punilh what is
pall,
22 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
paft, but by a violation of the law. For the law? which prefcribes the nature of the pr^c/ required, is as much the law of the land, as that which declares the (rime; and both mufl join to convidt a man of guilt. And it feems equally unjuft to declare any Ibrt oi proof Ug2i\, which was not fo before a profe- cution commenced for any a£t done, as it would be to declare the afi itfelf ex-pofi-fa^o to be cri- minal.
'* Shall I, my lords, be deprived of all that is valuable to an Englifliman (for in the circumflances to which I am to be reduced, life itfelf is fcarcely va- luable) hy fuch an evldnue as this ! fuch an evidence as would not be admitted, in any other caufe, in any other court ! nor allowed, 1 verily believe, to condemn a Jew in the Inquifition of Spain oi Portu- gal ! Shall it be received againfl me, a bifhop of this Church, and a member of this Houfe, in a charge of high-trcafon brought in the high Court of Par* liament ? God forbid I
'* My ruin is not of that moment to any man, or any number of men, as to make it worth their while to violate (or even feem to violate) the con- Hitution in any degree to procure it. In preferv- ing and guarding that againfl all attempts, the fafety and the happinefs of every Englifhman lies. But when once, by fuch extraordinary fieps as thefe, we depart from the fixed rules and forms of juftice, and try untrodden paths, no man knows whither they will lead him, or where he fhall be able to ilop, when prefled by the crowd that follow him.
*' Though 1 am worthy of no regard ; though whatever is done to me may be looked upon as jull ; yet your lordfhips will have fome regard to your own lafting interefts, and thofe of the Hate ; and not introduce into criminal cafes a fort of evidence with which our conflitution is not acquainted, and
which
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 23
which, under the appearance of fupporting it at •firft, may be afterwards made ufe of (I fpeak my honefl fears) gradually to undermine and deltroy it.
*' For God's fake, my lords, lay afide thefe extra- ordinary proceedings ! fet not thefe new and dan- gerous precedents ! And I for my part will volun- tarily and chearfully go into perpetual exile, and pleaie myfelf with the thought that 1 have in fome meafure preferved the conllitution by quitting my country : and I will live, wherever I am, praying for its profperity, and die with the words of Father Paul in my mouth, which he ufed of the republic of Venice, '^ Efto perpctuaV The way to perpetu- ate it is, not to depart from it. Let me depart ; but let that continue fixed on the immoveable foun- dations of law and juflice, and ftand for ever.*'
On the i7th of March, the bill againfl the bifhop palTed the Houfe of Lords, and foon after received the royal aifent. The tenor of the aft is as fol- lows: '* That after the firft of June, 1723, he Ihall be deprived of all his offices, dignities, pro- motions, and benefices, eccleliailical, whatioever, and that, from thenceforth, the fame fhali be ac- tually void, as It he were naturally dead ; that he fhall for ever be difabled, and rendered incapable, from holding or enjoying any office, dignity, or emolument, within this realm, or any other his majefly's dominions ; as alfo from exercifmg any office, ecclefiaftical or fpiritual, whatever; that he Ihall fufter perpetual exile, and be for ever banifhed this realm, and all other his majefty's dominions ; that he Ihall depart out of the fame by the 25th of June next ; and if he return into, or be found within this realm, or any other his majefly's domi- nions, after the faid 25th of June, he, being thereof lawfully convifted, fhali fuffer as a felon, without
benefit
24 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
benefit of clergy, and fhall be utterly incapable of any pardon from his majeftv, his heirs, or fuccef- fors : that all perfons who fhall be aiding and af- liflinsr to his return into this realm, or any other his maiefly's dominions or Iball conceal him with- in the fame, being lawfully convifted thereof, fhall be adjudged guilty of felony, without benefit of clergy : that if any of his mv^jelly's fubje£ls except fuch perfons as fhall be licenfed for that puipofe under the fign manual) fhall, after the 25th of June, hold any correfpondence in peifon with him, within this realm, or without, or by letters, meffages, or otherwife, or with any perfon em- ployed by him, knowing fuch perfon to be fo em- ployed, they fl:iall, on convi£lion, be adjudged fe- lons, witheut benefit of clergy : and, laflly, that offences againfl this aft, committed out of this reahn, may be tried within any county of Great Bri- tain."
The bill agalnft Atterbury w-as vigoroufly op- pofed by many members of both houfes ; and parti- cularly in the Houfe of Peers by earl Cowper, though his political principles were extremely dif- ferent from tho'e of the bifhop. Indeed, whether Atterbury was, or was not, guilty of being con- cerned in the plot with which he* was charged, t.he proceedings againft him were extremely unjuftifia- ble and unconflitutional. As no proper knd legal evidence was produced aoainll him, they were a flagrant violation of thofe principles of juflice, law, and liberty, to maintain which the Revolu- tion was effefted, and the Houfc of Hanovej: raifed to the throne of England.
Before the bilbop left the kingdom, he receive the following fine letter from Mr. Pope, between whom and Atterbury there was a great intim.acy ;
f' Once
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. £5
■** Once more I write to you as 1 promired, an& 'tills once, I fear, will be the lail ! The curtain will foon be drawn between ray friend and me, and nothing left but to wilh yau a long good- night. May you enjoy a f^ate of repofe in thi^ life, not unlike that fleep of th-e foul which ibme have be- lieved is to fucceed it, where we lie utteily forget- 'ful of that w^orld from which we are gone, and ri- pening for that to which w€ are to go ! If you rev- tain any memory of the pail, let it only imagine to you what has pleafed you beft ! fometimes pre*- fent a dream of an abfent friend, or bring yofe back an agreeable converfatien ! But, upon the whole, 1 hope you v/ill think lefs of the tmie pafc than of the future; as the foimer has been lefs kind to you than the latter infallibly will be. D6 not envy the world your ftudies ; they will tend "to the benefit of men againfl w^hom you can havb no complaint, I mean of all pofterity : and per- haps, at your time of life, nothing elfe is worth your care. What is every year of a wife man's life but a cenfure cr critique on the pafl ? Thofe whofc •date is the fhorteft, live long enough to laugh at one half of it : the boy defpiles the infant, the man the boy, the pbilofopher both, and the Chriftiaii all. You may novv begin to think your manhood was too much a puerility ; and you'will never fuf- fer your age to be but a fecond infancy. The toys and baubles of your childhood arc hardly now more "below you, than thofe toys of our riper and ot our declining years, the drums and rattles of ambiticii, and the dirt and bubbles of avarice.^ At this time, when you are cut off from a little fociety, and made a citizen of the world at large,' you fhoukl bend your talents, not to ferve a party, or a lew, but all mankind. Your genius (honld . mount above that mill in which its participation . and. VoL.YlI. C i^eigh*'
26 FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
neighbourliood with earth long involved it ; to fhine abroad and to heaven, ought to be the buii- nefs and the glory of your preient fituation. Re- member it was at fuch a time, that the greatefl hghts of antiquity dazzled and blazed the moll, in their retreat, in their exile, or in their death : but why do 1 talk of dazzling or blazing ? it was then, that they did good, that they gave light, and that they became guides to mankind.
Thofe aims alone are worthy of fpirits truly great, and fuch I therefore hope will be yours. Refent- ment indeed may remain, perhaps cannot be quite extinguifhed, in the noblefl minds : but revenge never will harbour there : higher principles than thofe of the firil:, and better principhs than thofe of the latter, w^ill infallibly intiuence men, whofc thoughts and whofe hearts are enlarged, and caufe them to prefer the whole to any part of mankind, cfpecially to fo fmall a part as one's lingle felf.
Believe me, my lord, I look upon you as a fpirit entered into another life, as one juft upon the edge of immortality ; where the pallions and affec- tions mull be mucli more exalted, and wdiere you ought lu ceipife all little views, and all mean re- trofpefls. Nothing is worth your looking back ; and therefore lock forward, and make (as you can) the world look after you ; but take care that it be not with pity, but w^ilh efteem and admiration.
I am, with th-^ greatell iincerity, and paffion for your fame as well as happinels, yours, 5cc.
A. Pope.
On the 1 8th of June, 1723, bifhop Atterbury embarked on board the A Id borough man of war, and landed the Friday following at Calais. From thence he went to HrulTels ; Hut he afterwards left that place, and relided at Paris, where he foftened the rigours of his exile by fludy, and by converfa-
tioa
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 27
tlou and correfpondence with learned men. It ap- pears, however, that he occalionally employed his time in a different manner; for it is proved from fome letters, which were firft printed at Edinburgh, in 1768, that, in 1725, the bifhop was concerned in a plot for ftirring up a rebellion in the High- lands of Scotland, in favour of the pretender j but the fcheme proved abortive.
The exile of bifliop Atterbury was embittered by its obliging him to be feparated from his daughter, of whom he v/as very fond, and who was equally attached to him. This lady was married to Wil- liam Morice, Efq; high-bailiff of WeflmJnfter; but in 1729, though in an infirm ftatc of health, ihe conceived an ardent defire to fee her father again ; and accordingly fet out when very ill, and performed with great difficulty and pain a journey and voyage from V/ellminfler to Bourdeaux, and thence to Touloufe, where the bifhop came to meet her. She died in a few hours after their meeting. A very pathetic narrative of that event was written by Mr. J. Evans, a gentleman who accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Morice on their voyage from Dover to Bourdeaux, and from thence to Touloufe, and who alfo wrote an exaft diary of this journey and Voyage, which is truly interefting,, and all which was firfl publifhed by Mr. Nichols. Soon after liis daughter's death, the biftiop wrote the follow- ing letter to Mr. Pope :
Nov. 20, 1729. ** Yes, dear fir, I have had all you defigned for me ; and have read all (as I read whatever you write) with eftecm and pleafure. But your laft let- ter, full of friendfhip and goodnefs, gave me fucli impreffions of concern and tendernels, as neitlier I C 2 c^ii
f:^ FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
can exprefs, nor you, perhaps, with all the force of your imagination, fully conceive.
*' T am not yet maftcr enough of myfelf, after the late wound 1 have received, to open my very heart to you ; and am not content with lefs than that, whenever I converfe with you. My thoughts are at prefent vainly, but pleaiingly, employed on what 1 have loii, and can never recover. I know well I ought, for that reafon, to call them off to other fubjeds; but hitherto 1 have not been able to do it. By giving them the rein a little, and fufFering them to fpend their force, I hope in forae time to check and fubdue them. Alultis foriunce vulncribits ferculjui^ huic itni me impare^n fenfi^ i^ pen} Juccumbu't. This is v\'eaknefs, not v/rfdom, 1 oven ; and on that ac-cou-nt titter to be truiled to the bofoni of a friend, where I may fafely lodge all my infirmities. As foon as my mind is in fome meafure corre£ted and calmed, I will endeavour to follow your advice, and turn it tovv'ards fomething of ufe and moment ; if I have flill life enough left to do any thing that is worth reading and preferving. In the mean time 1 (hall be pleafed to hear that you proceed in what Tou intend, without any fuch melancholy interrup- tions as 1 have met VvMth. You outdo others on all occalions ; my hope, and my opinion is, that on moral fubjefts, and in drawing characters, you will outdo yourfelf. Your mnid is as yet unbroken by- age and ill accidents ; your knowledge and judge- ment are at the height ; ufe them in writing fome- what that they may teach the prefent and future times ; and, if not gain equally the applaufe of both, may yet raife the envy of the -one, and fecur-e the admiration of the other. Remember Virgil died at 52, and Horace at 58 ; and, as bad as both conilitutions were, yours is yet more delicate and tftiider. Employ not youi- precious moments and
great
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, 2^
great talents 011 little men and little things : b-ut chiife a fiibjeft everv way worthy of you ; and han- dle it, as yon can, in a manner which nobody tlfc can equal or imitate. As^ for me, ray abilities, ii I ever had any, are not what they were ; and yet i will endeavour to recoiled and employ them*
^ '* — ■ — frelidiis tardante fenefla
*■* Sanguis habet, frigentque e&eto i'A corpore vires.'
However, T fhould be \ingrateful to this place, if 1 did not owii'that 1 have gained upon the gout ia tlie South of France much more than I did at Parisj though even tliere I fenfibly improved. What hap- pened to rae here lafl fummer was merely the tffsik. of my folly, in trufting too much to a phyfician, who kept me fix weeks on a milk-diet,, without purging me, contrary to all the rules of the faculty^ The milk, threw me at laft into a fever; and that fever foon- produced the gout ; which, finding my i^omach weakened by a long difufe of meat, attacked it, and had like at once to have difpatched me, 1 he excellive heat of this place concurred to heighten the fymptoms-: but, in the midft of my diftemper, I took a llurdy reiblution of retiring, thiitv miles- into the mountains of the Cevennes ; and there I foon found relief from the coolnefs o£ the air and the verdure of the climate,- though not to fuch a degree as not to feel fome reiiques of thole- pains in my ftomach-, which till lately i had never- felt. Had I flaid, as L intended, there till the end of 0(Stober, i believe my cure had been perfe£led ;, but the earnefl defire of meeting one 1- dearly loved called me abruptly to Montpellier ; where, after Continuing two months under the cruel torture of a hd and fruitlefs expcdtation, 1 was forced at laft to C 3 take.
so FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
take a long journey to Touloufc ; and even there I had miifed the perfon I fought, had fhe not, with great Tpirit and courage, ventured all night up the Garonne to fee me, which (lie above all things de- (ired to do before fhe died. By that means fhe was brought where 1 was between feven and eight in the morning, and lived twenty hours afterwards ; which time was not iofl on either Ijde, but palTed in fuch a manner as gave great fatisfadion to both, and fuch as, on her part, every way became her circumliances and charader ; for (^^c had her fenfes to the very laft gafp, and exerted them to give me in thofe few hours greater marks oF duty and love than Ihe had done in all her life-time, though (lie had never been wanting in either The laft words fhe laid to me were the kindeft of all ; a retiedioii on the good nefs of God, which hsd allowed us in this manner to meet once more before we parted for ever. Not many minutes after that, fhe laid herfelf on her pillow, in a fleeping pofture,
** • placidaque ibi demum morte quievit."
** Judge you, Sir, what I felt, and flill feel, on this occalion ; and fpare me the trouble of defcrib- ing it. At my age, under my infirmities, among titter ftrangers, how fliall i find out proper reliefs and fupports ! 1 can have none, but thofe with which reafon and religion furnifh me ; and on thofe 1 lay hold, and make ufe of, as well as I can ; and hope that He w^ho laid the burthen upon me (for wile and good purpofes, no doubt) will ena- ble me to bear it, in like manner as 1 have borne others, with fome degree of fortitude and firmnefs.
You fee how ready i am to relapfe into an argu- ment which i had quitted once before in this letter. I Ihall probably again commit the fame fault, if I
continue
BISHOP OF ROCHESTER. 31
continue to write ; and therefore I ilop fhort here ; and, with all fincerity, afFe£lion, and elleem, bid you adieu, till we meet, either in this world, it'God pleafes, or elfe in another.
*' A friend 1 have with me will convey this fafely to your hands ; though perhaps it may be fome time before it reaches you : whenever it does, it will give you a true account of the poflure of mind I was in when I wrote it, and which I hope may by that time be a little altered."
The bjfhop died at Paris on the 15th of Febru- ary, 1 731-2. His body was brought over to Eng- *land, and interred, in a private manner, in Welt- miniler-abbey, on the 12th of May following. He had one fon, Ofborne Atterbury, who was or- dained in 1742 by bilhop Hoadly, and who, in 1746, obtained the living of Oxhill, Warwickfliire.
Bifhop Atterbury was a man of fine genius, of confiderable learning, an elegant writer, a very able fpeaker in parhament, and an excellent preacher. But with all thefe accomplilhments, he had other qualities of a lefs commendable nature. He was of a reftlefs, turbulent, and ambitious difpolition. He was no friend to liberty, either civil or religious. Eccieiiaftical claims were carried by him to a very great height. It is manifell:, from his own writings, that he would have perfecuted, if he had been pof- felTed of power ; and that he was an enemy to the freedom of the prefs.
Dr. Warton fays, " Atterbury was, on the whole, rather a man of abiUty than a genius. He writes more with elegance and corredtnefs, than with force of thinking or realoning. His letters to Pope are too much crowded with very trite quota- tions from the claffics. It is faid, he either tranf- lated, or intended to tranflate, the Georgics of Virgil, and to write the Life of Cardinal Wolfey, C 4 whom
f^ FRANCIS AITERBURY, &c,
whom he much refembled. Dr. Warburton had a ineaa opinion of his critical abilities, and of his ^Difconrie on the lapis of Virgi-K He was thought to be the author of the Lire of Waller, prefixed to the iirft odavo edition of tiiat poet's works. The turbulent and imperious temper of this haughty prelate were long felt and remembered in the col- lege over which he preiided."
Another writer lays, '* His perfon was very well made ; he had a gracefulnefs in his behaviour, and a- kind of majeftic gra^-vity in his looks, that befpoke him reverence wherefoever he came.' His voice ^vas not llrong ; but there was fomething fo fweet in his pronunciation, and fo infmuating in his ad- diefs, as gained him the pofTeffion of an audience whenever he began to fpeak : belides this, he had a quick penetration, an ex-quiiite underflanding, aru eafy comprehenlion, a fprightly fancy and imagina- tion, and folid judgement aiid g^ood feiife, all uni^ ted together."
Bifliop Atterbury's fermons, which have greafe merit as compofitions, have been publiflied in four voIum.es, 8-vo., The two nrft were publiflied by himfelf in his life- time, and the two laft were publifl^jed, after his death, by his ch.aplain, Dr. Thomas Moore. In 1783 were piibhflied. in two. volumes, 8vo. the Epillolary Conefpondence, Vi- ikation Charges, Speeches and Mifcellanies, o£ bilhop Atterbury, with Hillorical Notes, by Mr.. Nichols-, who afterwards alio publifhed two addi- tional volumes. The whole is a valuable collec-. tion ; and we have derived much alTiflance from it,^ m the account which we have here given of this, celebrated- prelate.
*^.^ Aut^orl'ies. Biographia Britannica. Atter-. bury's Epiilolary Correfpondence, 4 vols. 8vo.
Ths
I 33 1
Tii^ LIFE OF
SIR RICHARD STEELE.,
(A.D. i6;6— 1729.)
THIS ingenious and celebrated writer was a native of Dublin, where he was born about the year 1676. A branch of his family was pofleiled of a conli- Jerableeftate in the county of Wexford, inlreland; and'; iiis fatlicr, who was a counfeUor at hw, was forae time private fecretary to James, the firil doke of Ormond. As- the father was of Englilh extra6^ion, he carried hi.^ fon Richard, while very young, to London, and put him to fchool at the Charter-houfe, where he frrii contracted his intimacy with Addifon. From- the Charter-houfe he was fent to Morton -college in Oxford, where he was admitted a poftmafter in 1692. He had made a good proficiency at the Cliar- ter-houie ; and at college he gave fome fpecimens of his abilities, and of his tafte for polite literature; he even proceeded fo far as to compofe a comedy; but, by the advice of a brother collegian, he was prevented from making it public. As he had a good deal of vivacity in his difpolition, he formed about this time a defigu of entering into the army, and accordingly" left the univerlity without taking any deg;ree-. This C 5 i^tep
34 THELIFEOF
ftep was highly difpleafing to his friends ; but the ardourof his pairion for a military life was then fo great, that he was deaf to every other propofal. Being thus determined to gratify his inclination at all events, and jiot having it in his power to obtain a better ftation, he entered as a private gentleman in the horfe-guards ; which gave fo much offence to his friends, that he thereby loft the fucccffion to a very good eftate in the county of Wexford in Ireland. ,
Mr. Steele was extremely well adapted by nature to the way of life that he had chofen. His difpofitioii was remarkably gay ; and he not only abounded with good-nature and generolity, but was diftinguifhed by the brilliancy of his wit, and his engaging manners; Xior was he by any means deftitute of courage. Thefc qualities rendered him the delight of the foldiery, and procured him an Enfign's commiilion. In the mean time, as he had made choice of a profelhon which fet him free from rellraint, fo he was eafily led away into every kind of riotous dilTipation; and all his line talents, and his many amiable qualities, were un- liappiiy proilituted in the fervice of licentious plea- fare. But thefe revels did not pafs without fome cool hours of reiledion; and in thefe it was that he drew ■up. for his own private ufe, a little treatife, entitled, ** The Chriftian Hero {" with a defJgn (as he h:mfclf sifuies us) principally to fix upon his mind a ftrong imprefiion of virtue and religion, in oppoiition to a ilronger i ropenlity to unwarrantable pleafares. For even wbilft he was rioting in fcenes of fenfual delight, he v^as thorcughly convinced of the impropriety of his condu^l, and conftantly condemned himfeit for thofc iirecjular gratifications which yet he had not {"ufhcitnt refolution to renounce. The fecret admo- nition of this treatife, however, whilft it remained in his own hands only, was weak and inefFedual; and
there*
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 55
therefore he dererrrrined to print the book, with his name, in hopes, that, by thus placing himfelf in a new'iight before his acquaintance, and drawing their attention upon him, by fuch an open teftimonv a-. gainft his own eondu6t, he might have a new check upon his paffions, and might be reftrained from un- lawful pleafures, by the fl:iame of appearing to know and to approve what was right and fit, at the very time that he purfued what he felt and maintained to be wrong. Accordingly he printed his Treatife, in the year 1701, with a dedication to his patron, lord Cutts, w^io appointed him his private fecretary, and had likewife procured for him aCompany in lordLucas's regiment of r ufileers. But fo dire6i: and notorious was the contradi6i:ion between the tenour of this book, and the general courfe of the Authors Life, that it not only expofed Mr. Steele to much raillery amongit: his acquaintance, but was attended with more un- welcome and unexpe£ted confequences. From being elleemed a very delightful companion, he was foon reckoned a difagreeable fellow. One or two of his acquaintance thought fit to m/ifufe him, and to try their valour upon him ; and every body that he knew meafured the leaft levity in his w^ords and actions with the charafter of '* The Chriftian Hero."
Our Author's declarations in regard to religion, inilead of procuring him the efteem and favour of his com.panions, having fubje^ted himfelf to fuch contemptuous and infolent treatment, he thought it neceffary for him to enliven his chara£ter, and with this view he cbmpofed his Comedy called " The Fu- *' neral, or Grief a la-iVlode ;" in which, though the incidents that move laughter be numerous, yet vir- tue and vice appear juft as they ought. This per- formance was brought upon the ilag.e the fame year, where it met with a very favourable reception j but
C 6 its
36 THELIFEOF
its fuccefs was chiefly owing to Mr. Steele's interc^ in the army, and the zeal of hi^ fellow-lbldiers. It is an obiervation of our Author, that " nothing ever *-* makes the town fo fond of a man, as a fuccefsful ** play ;" and accordingly this recommendation, with fome other particulars enlarged upon to his ad- vantage, procured him the notice and regard of his- majefly ; and his" name, to be provided for, was (he. fays) in the laft table-book ever worn by the glorious and immortal King William the Third. But his hopes were fruftiated by the death of his Royal Patron.
At the beginning of queen Anne's reign, through, the intereft of the earls of Halifax and Sunderland, to-, whom he was recommended by Mr Addifon, he was, appointed writer of the Gazette. Soon after his pro-- inotion to this office he produced his fecond comedy^, called '* The Tender Hufband;" in which he was. affifted by his friend Mr. Addifon, and which was aiSled in the year 1704 with great fuccefs. But his next play, '' The Lying Lovers,'* met with a very different reception. In his other comedies, our au- thor had fieadily preferved the j>oint of morality; but^ in ttis he paid a more fcrupulous attention to the ijitertfls of virtue. For being juilly offended at the- deficiency of the Englifn ffage in this refped, and at- the fame time animated by the writings of Mr. Jere- my Cpilier (which were then much read, and of; which he profclfed.himlelf an admirer), he thought it- would be an honeft ambition to attempt a comedy that miglit be no improper entertainment in a Chrif-. tian commonwealth ; and he determined to w<riteone- in all the.feverity that Mr, Collier himfelf required. With this view he compofcd the '* Lying Lovers,'*- and brought it on tlie ftage without delay. I^ut his., laudable attempt did not fuQc«^ed: for he had thc:
iBor-
Sir RICH AR-I> STEELE. 37
mortification to fee his play immediately condemned; or, as he himfelf exprefles it, " damn'd for its piety."
Being thu-s difappointed in his expectations of in- culcating morality with a good efFedt upon the ilage,. Mr. Steele turned his thoughts to other vehicles o£ inilruftion ; and, in the year 1709, he began to pub-- lifn *' The Tatler." This excellent paper was un-. dertaken in concert with Dr. Swift, who a httle be- fore had publifiied fome humorous pieces, in the: name of Ijaac Bickerjiaff^ which had been fo univer- fally admired, that our author, obferving an inchna-. tion in the town towards any thing that ihould appear, under the fame name, wavS induced to aff-jme it, the- better to recommend his lucubrations to the publick.. Having at the fame time fecured the alliilance of the. writer, who had given fuch fplendour to the name of Bickerftaff, his new work made its appearance to the beft advanf^ge, and was received with general ap-. plaufe.
Mr. Steele had not been long engaged, in the *' Tat«. ** ler," before Mr. Addifon, who was then in Ire- land, accidentally difcovering that the publication was, carried on under his direftion, voluntarily contri- buted to its fupport ; and our author himfelf ac*. knowledges, that he was indebted to this- excellent friend for fome of the moft admirable difcourfes on, ferious fubjedts, and fome of the finell: ftrokes of wit. ^nd humour tliat are to be found in, all the work. 1 he general purpofe of the " Tatler" was (as. the. author obferves^ " to expofe the falfe arts of life, to *' pnl- off the difguifes of cunning, vanity, and af- *• feftation, and to recommend a general flmplicit^ ** in our refs, our diicourfe, 'and our behaviour,'* ISothing more v. as aimed at while Dr. Swift wa$. spuycrned in it; nor did the papers rife above this
defign
S8 THELIFEOF
deiijin till the change of the Miniilrv, when Mr. Adciilbn had Icifure to engage more conftantly in the work ; by whofe affiftance it became a greater things than the author originallv intended, and its reputa- tion was proportionably inci eafed. The air of the familiar was raifed into the fublirae ; and the moft important fubjeds were treated with all fhe elegance, puritv, and correclnefs, which they deferved.
It was more than a year before he began to pub- lifli the Tatler when Steele married his fecond wife. His hrft wife was a lady of Barbadoes, by wliom he became pofielTed of a plantation in that iiland, which was efliraated at more than eight hundred pounds a year ; but it was encumbered with confiderable debts and legacies. His fecond wife was Mary Scurlock, daughter of Jonathan Scurlock, Efq. of I angunnor in AVales. This lady was very handfome, and he was flrongly attached to herto the end of her life. In one of his letters to her when courting, he fays, *' The vainefl woman upon earth never faw in her glafs half the attradions which 1 view in you. Your air, your fhape, your every glance, motion, and gefture, have luch peculiar graces, that you poiiefs my whole foul, and 1 know no life but in the hopes of your approbation: I know not what to fay, but that I love you with the iincereil pallion' that ever entered the heart of man. I will make it the bulinefs of mv life to iind out the means of convincing you that i p-efer you to all that is pleafing upon earth."
In the "Epiitolary Correfpondence of Sir Richard ** Steele,** publilhcd by Mr Nichols, in 1787, in two volumes, fmall 8vo are many curious letters from' Steele to this lady, after they were married > from which we Ihall feledt the following:
<* Mj
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 39
'* My dear wife, Oa, 8, 1707.
*' You were not, I am fure, awake fo loon as I was for you, and delired the blelTing of God upon you. After that firft duty, my next is to let you know I am in health this morning, w^hich I know you are folicitous for. I believe it would not be amifs if, fome time this afternoon, you took a coach or chair, and went to fee a houfe next door to lady Balkley's, towards St. James's- lireet, which is to be let. I have a foiid reafon for quickening my diligence in all affairs of the vvorid, which is, that you are my partaker in them, and v/ill make me labour more than any inclination of ambition or wealth could do. After I have implored the help of Providence, I will have no motive to my actions but the love of the befl creature living, to whpm lam an obedient hulband.
'' Rich. Steele."
** Deareft Being on Earth, Oft. 16, 1707,
** Pardon me if you do not fee me till eleven o'clock,
having met a fchooifellow from India, by whom I
am to be informed in things this night which ex*
tremely concern your obedient hulbaiid,
*' Ri£H. Steele.'*
** Dear Ruler, Dec 8, i/Oy.
*' I cannot wait upon you to-day toHamptoii- Court. I have the Vv eft- Indian buiinefs en my hands, and find very much to be done before 1 hurfday's pod:. 1 Ihali dine at our table at Lourt, where the hearer knows hov/ to come to me with any orders for your moft obedient hulband, and moii: humble iervant,
" Rich. Steele,"' " My duty to my mother,''
40 T H E L I F E O F
** My dear, dear wife, Dec. 22, ijof^
" I write to let you know I do not come home to dinner, being obliged to attend fome bulinefs abroad^ of w4iich 1 fhallgive you an account (whenl fee you in the evening), as becomes your dutiful and obedient hufband^
** Rich. SieeleJ'
** Dear Prue, May 19, 170^,
Lord Sunderland's Office, Eleven o'Clock. ** I defire of you to get the coach and you^felf ready as foon as you can conveniently, and call tor me here, from whence we will go and fpend fome. time together in the frefh air in free conference. Let mv beft periwig be put in the coach-box, and my ;i€vv fhoes, for it is a comfort to be weil-drefTcd in agreeable company. You are vital life to your, obliged, aiFedtionate hufband, and humble fervant,
*' Rich. Steele.^
** Dear Wife, Aug. ir, 1708.
" I have ordered Richard to take your directions, whether you will have the chariot with two or four horfes to fet you and your friend down at your houfe at Hampton-Court. Watts is gone over the water, and fays fne. has your commands to follow in the llage- coach. 1 fhall make it the bu- lincfs of my life to make vou eafy and happy. Con- fult your cool thoughts, and you will know that it. is the glory of a v/oman to be her hufband's friend and companion, and iiot his foverei^n director. I^ am, with truth, fincerity, and tendernefs, ever your faithful hufband, '* Rich. Steele.'*
** Pray ict the gardener put the place in order."
*' Madam,
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 41
*' Madam, Aug. 12, 1708.
" I have your letter, wherein you let me know, that the little difpute we have had is far from being a trouble to you ; neverthelefs, I afTure you, any dif- turbance between us is the greateft affliction to mc imaginable. You talk of the judgement of the worlds I Ihall never govern mva6lions by it, but by the rules of morality and right reafon. I love you better than the light of my eyes, or the Jife-blood in my heart; but, when T have let you knov/ that, you are alfo to underfland, that neither my fight Ihall be fo far in- chanted, or my afFe^ion fo much mafter of me, as to make me forget our common intereit. To attend- my bufinefs- as L ought, rjid improve my fortune, it- is necelTary that my time and my will fliould bs- uiider n,o direction but my own. Pray give my moft humble fervice to- Mrs,, Blnns. I write all this rather to explain my own thoughts to you thaiK #£ anfwer to you distinctly. I inclofe it to you, that, upon fecond thoughts, you may fee the refpeftful: manner in which you treat your aire6tionate, faith-, fui hufband, ** Ki.ch. Steele.'*'
** Madam, Aug. 13', 1708.
*■' I hope this wiM find you in good health, as I am St this prefent writing, thanks be to God for it.
" 1 have not only rebelled againil you,jbutall the refs of my governors^ from yourfeif, whom I acknow- ledge to have ti e right of partnerfhip, to the loweft perfon who had to do with me. I have a very jufl: fenfe of your merit, and thi k, when 1 have put yoa into the proper methods which you ought to follow, Ii Ihall be the happielt man living in being your molt affedlioilate huiband, and humble fcrvant.
** Rich. Steele."- ** Dear
42 T H E L I F E O F
" Dear Fiue,
iMondav Morning, Aug. 16, lycB. *■' T hope you have compofed your mind, and are convinced that the methods I have taken were abfo- lutely neceffary for our mutual good. I do aiTurc you, there is not that thing on earth, except my hon- 4 our, and that dignity which every man who lives in. the world mult preferve to himfelF, which I am not ready to facrifice to your will and inclination.
'M dined yefterday with my lord Halifax, where the beauties In the ga^ritn were drunk to. I have fettled a great deal of bufinefs within thefe few days, of ail which I will give vou an accouiit when we meet. 1 am, with the moil lincere affeflion, your obhged hafband,
*' Rich. Steele.*'
** I ^t\\x you fome tea on Friday lad. My moft humble lervice to Mrs. Binns.'*
*' Dear Prue, Aug. 28, 1708.
*' The afternoon coach fhall bring you ten pounds. Your letter fhews you are palhonately in love with me. But we m.ull: take our portion of life as it runs, without repining; and 1 confider that good-nature, added to that beautiful form God has given you, would make an happinefs too great for human life. Your mofl obliged hulband, and moil: humble fervant,
Rich. Steele.'*
" Dear Prue, Sept. 8, 1708.
Two, Afternoon, Sandy-end. ** Having reached London about eleven, difpatched what was further neceflarv after what papers Mr. Ad- difon had before lent to the prefs, I am juil now ar- rived
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 43
rived here to dinner. You defire me to make fub- m-.ffions in my cpiil:Ies, which I think is, not to be iniifled upon ; but, if acknowledgements will fatisfy vou» I cannot but own to you, what you too well know, that you have a power aimoil fovereian over your moil enamoured huiband 5 and humble fervant,
" Rich. Steele," ** Mr. Addifon is your humble fervant.^'
It appears, from many of the letters publiflied III this col]e£iion, that the temper of Steele and his wife were in feme refpecls very different, which often oc- cafioned difag^recments between them. Pie was im- provident, little attentive to his expences, and gener- ous to a very high degree ; while ihe vvas not merely prudent, but parfimonious, and too fond of money ; and, though file had a valuable cftate in Wales, hoarded np the greateft part of the income of it, and kept it aimoil entirely in her own hands.
Steele's inattention to oeconomy often involved him in great difficulties. Dr. Johnfon fays, * Steele, whofe imprudence of generofity, or vanity of profu- lion, kept him always incurably necefiitous, upon fome' prefling exigence, in an evil hour, borrowed an hundred pounds of his friend Addifon, probably without much purpofe of re-payment ; but Addifon, who feems to have had other notions of a hundred pounds, grew impatient of delay, and reclaimed his loan by an execution. Steele felt with great fenfibility the obduracy of his creditor ; but with emotions of forrow rather than of aneer.' Of this tranfaclion, which Johnfon has repiefe'nted in a manner injurious to Addifon, the following appears to be the true ac- count. Steele had built, and inhabited for a few years, a fmall but elegant houfe adjoining to the iide of the palace of Kampton-court^ and to which houfe
he
44 T H E L I F E O F
he gave the name of the Hovel at Hampton-wlctr- Here he Hved in a manner which his finances would: by no means adroit ; and, being much embarraffed for money, he borrowed a thoufand pounds of Ad- difon, on this houfe and its furnitm*e, giving bond and judgment for the re-payment of the money at the end of tweh^e months. Addifon found, that it would be a great benefit to Steele, to compel him to quit his houfe at Hampton. On the forfeiture of hi-s bond, therefore, he directed his attorney to proceed to- execution. The houfe and furniture were accord- ingly fold; and the furplus Addifon remitted tOr Steele, with a genteel letter, ftating the friendlv reafon of this extraordinary proceeding, namely, "to awaken him, if poffible, from a lethargy which mufl end in his inevitable ruin." Steele received the letter with his ufual compofure and gaietv, met his friend as nfual, and declared, that he always confidered this- Hep as really intended by Addifon to do him fervice. The great fuccefs, which the Tatler juflly obtained>, was highly favourable both to the intereft and the re- putation of Mr. Steele ; and, during the courfe of this publication, he was made a conimijlioner of the flarap-duties, in the yepr 1710- Vv-un the change of the minift-rv, that- fame year, he lided with the duke of Marlborough, the honour of whofe elleeni and friendihip he had; for fome time enjoyed ; and when his Grace was difmilTed from all emplovments, he addrelfed a letter of thanks to him for the feivicea he had done his country, -under the title of " The EnglilhnTan's Thanks to the Duke of Marlborough." However, as our author ftill continued to hold his place in the Stamp-office, under the new adrii'inftra- tion, he reflrained his pen from ^political fubjefts-; and, having dropt tlie ^' Ta" i-:-!/' he formed the plan of ** The Spectator/* ill conceit with his ereat friend^
Sir RICHARD STEELE. . 45
Mr. Addifon, whofe afTiftance was the chief fupport of that admirable work, which made its firft appear- ance in March, 1710-11, and was continued with- out interruption tili December, 1712, when it was difcontinued for a while ; but, being refumed on the 18th of June, 1 714, it was completed on the 20th of December, in the fame year.
The ** Speflator'' was received with fuch unri- valled approbation and applaufe, that Mr. Steele wa§ encouraged to profecute the fame defign, urxder a dif- ferent title ; and accordingly, foon after the Spc6la- tor was difcontinued, be began " The Guardian ;*' the firft number of which was pubHfhed in March, and the laft in 0£lober, 17 13. But, in the courfe of this Paper, his thoughts took fuch a poHtical turn, and he gave his pen fo free a fcope, that fome of his friends were diliatisfied with his manner of condu£l~ ing it; and Mr. Pope and Mr. Congreve withdrew their afliftance. This, however, was no check to the ardour of Mr. Steele, who had engaged with great warmth againft the Miniftrv, and was determined to exert himfelf to the utmoft in his favourite caufe. With this view he refolved to procure a feat in the Houfe of Commons, at the enfuing ele6lion ; for no other reafon (as he obferves) but to fay more for the good of his deluded country ; and, that there might be no obftacle in his way, he immediately re- figncd his office as CommilTioner of the Stamp-Re- venues, and his penfion as fervant to his late Royal Highnefs, Prince George of Denmark, which her Majefty had been gracioufly pleafed to continue to him ; the fame mark of refpe£l being fhewn to the whole family of that Prince. Having taken thefe previous meafures, he renewed his attack upon thcMi- niftrv ; and on the 7th of Auguft, 1 7 1 3, he publilhed his famous Letter to *' The Guardian," on the demo- lition of Dunkirk; and, the Parliament being diffolved 6 the
46 T H E L I F E O F
the next clay, he wrote feveral other warm polhlcal tra£ls againftthe Admiiiiflration.
In Augufl, I7i3» he was ele(5led member of par- liament for Stockbridge ; and he foon after began to v/rite *' The EngHHiman," a paper publifhed three days in a week, the firfl number of which is dated 06lober 8, 17 13. During the courfe of this pubhcation, Mr. Steele alfo pubhfhed, *'* The Crifis, or a Difcourfe, reprefenting, from the moil antient Records, the jull Caufes of the laxe Revolution, snd the feveral Settlements of the Crown of England and Scotland on her Majelly ; and on the demife of her Majefty without iiTue, upon the mod illuftrious Princcfs Sophia, EletStrefs and Duchefs Dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being Pro- teilants, bv previous a£ls of both Parliaments of the late kingdoms of England and Scotland, and confirmed by the Parliament of Great Bri- tam. With fome feafonable Remarks on the danger of a Popifh SuccefTor."
The publication of this piece was produ£\ive of very ferious confcquences to the author, who had been, from the firfl, aware of the danger to which it would expofe him. The nature of the treatife, and the occaiion of his writing it, he hi mfelf explains in his " Apology ;'* where he tells us, that the plan of the work was firft hinted to him by his friend, Mr. More, of the Inner Temple; a gentleman well fkilled in the laws and conllitution of this kingdom ; who, in fome incidental difcourfe on politicks, took notice of the insinuations, daily thrown out, of the danger the Protellant fucceffion was in, and con- cluded with faying, that he thought Mr. Steele, from the kind reception the world gave to what he pub- liflied, might be more inilrumei^tal towards curing the evilof difaffe£lion to the Honfe of Hanover than any private man in England, After much folici- 3 tation.
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 47
tatioii, Mr. More further obferved, that the evil feemed only to flow from mere inattention to our real obligations to that ilFullrious Houfe ; and, there- fore, faid he, if the laws to this purpofc were reprinted, together with a warm preface, and a well-urged pero- . ration, it is not to be imacrined what 8;cod effefts it would have. Mr. Steele was much flruck with the thought, and, prevailing with Mr. Moore to put the law part of it together, he finifhed the reft ; but he would not venture to publifh it, till it had been fub- niitted to the infpeftion of fome other friend?. *' When the Crilis," fays he, " was written hand in hand with Mr. More, 1, who was to anfwer for it with my ^//, would not venture upon my own lingle iudgment; therefore I caufed it to be printed; and left one copy with Mr. Addifon, another with Mr. Lcchmere, another with Mr. MinfliuU, and another with Mr. Hoadly. From thefe corrected copies the '* Crifis'* became the piece it is. When 1 thought it my duty, I thank God I had no further confideration for myfelf than to do it in a lawful and proper way, fo as to give no difparagement to a glorious caufefrom my indifcretion, or want of judgment.' 1 was willing to ripen the queftion of the fuccetlion upon mv own head."
I'he "Crilis" was immediately attacked with great feverity by Dr. Swift, in a pamphlet, entitled, *' The Publick Spirit of the Whigs fet forth, in their gener- ous Encouragement of the Author of the Crifis." But it was not till the 12th of March, 171;^- 14, that it fell under the cognizance of the Houfe of Commons; where, at the meeting of the new Parliament, Mr. Steele had taken his feat, being returned a member for the borough of Stockbrid^e. I he probable confequences of this election had been foreken by the oppolite party, and had even been pointed
est
48 THE LIFE O F
out by the author of " The Examiner;" who, m one of his papers, obferved, that Mr. Steel« was never fo dear to the Whigs as fince he let them know, that he durfl infult the Queen. *' This,'* lays he, *' has made him their favourite ; and one of •their authors has made iiis dull panegyrick vpon hina -already for it ; while another fet of them ai-e to get him chofen for the next Parliament^ that he may carry on his infults there, and obtain the honour, as another of their haughty leaders has already done, of being expelled the Houfe."
The event fhewed that this prophetick warning was not giv^n without reafon ; for when the Parliament met, after two or three gentlemen had propofed Sir Thomas Hanmer for Speaker of the Houfe of Com- mons, Mr. Steele rofe, to exprefs the fame honour- -able fentiments of that gentleman ; and proceeding in his fpeech to animadvert upon fom-e recent tranfac^ tions, he did it in a way that gave great offence to -the friends of Adminiilration, and occaiioned no fmall commotion in the Houfe. This fpirited beha>- viour was extremely unwelcome to the Miniflry and their adherents ; w4io therefore determined to lofe no time in endeavouring to obviate the efforts of fo re- folute a Member. Accordingly, on the 12th of March, 1714, Mr. Auditor Foley, coufin to the Earl of Oxford, made a complaint to the Houfe of three printed pamphl-ets, publilhed under the name of Mr. Steele ; as containing feveral paragraphs tend- ing to fedition, highly refiedling upon her Majeily, and arraigrting her adminiflration and government 5 which pamphlets being brought up to the table, Mr» Steele was ordered to attend in his place, the next morning.
Mr. Steele attending in his place, according to ©r-der, on Saturday, the 13th of March, feveral para- graphs in the printed pamphlets, complained of the
day
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 49
day before, were read ; after which Mr. Steele flood up, and defined time to make his defence; which, after great debates, was granted till the Thurfday following. This day being come, and Mr. Steele ap- pearing in his place, when the order of the day had been read, for taking the pamphlets into confideration, Mr. Foley, the accufer, moved, that, before they pro- ceeded farther, Mr. Steele fhould declare, whether he acknowledged the writings that bore his name. Mr, Steele accordingly declared, that he did freely ac- knowledge the pamphlets, and the feveral paragraphs therein, which had been complained of and read to the Houfe, to be part of his writings ; that he wrote them- in behalf of the Hcufe of Hanover, and novT owned thern with the fame chearfulnefs and fatisfac- tion with which he had abjured the Pretender. A debate then arifing upon the method of proceeding, Mr. Foley propofed, that Mr. Steele (hould withdraw; but it was carried, without dividing, that he fhould flay and make his defence. He defired that he might be allowed toanfwer what might be urged againfl him, paragraph by paragraph ; but though he was power- fully fupportcd by Mr. Walpole, General Stanhope, Lord Finch, and Lord Hinchinbroke, yet his ac* cufers infilled, and it v*^as carried, that he fhould proceed to make his defence gensraHy upon the charge againft him. Mr. Steele had chcfen to make his ap- pearance near the bar of the Houfe ; and he mentions one circumftance in this fcene, that, he fays, very much fvveetened bis affli£l;on ; which was, that he had the honour to (land between Mr. Stanhope and ?vlr. Walpole, who condefcended to take upon them the parts of his advocates ; (o that, being thus fup- portcd, he proceeded, with great fortitude, to make his defence ; in whi.h he was likewife aflifted by his friend, Mr. Addifon, member for Malmfbury, who fat near him to prompt him upon occafion. He began Vol. Vn. D his
«;q
THE LIFE OF
hit defence with theufual preface of befpeaking favour to any miitr.kes that might efcape him therein -y, and he f^roke for near three hours in vindication of the feveral Leads extracted from his pamphlets, (which had b.-en primed, and given to all the members) wiih fuch temper, modeftyj unconcern, tafy and manly elo- quence, as gave entire fatisfad^ion to all who were not inveterately prepoflefied againft him.
When Mr. Steele was withdrawn, it vi^as expe£led, that Mr. Foley would have fummed up, and anfwered his defence, paragraph by paragraph; but he con- tented himfelf with faying, in general, '*that, without amufing the Houfe with long fpeeches, it was plain that the writings which had been complained of were leditious and fcandalous, injurious to her Majefl:\'s Government, the Church, and the Univerfitie^ ; and thereupon he n oved, that the quefticn ihculd be put. This cccaGoned a very warm debate, which Lfi.ed till eleven o'clock at night.
The 'firft that role in favour of Mr. Steele, was Mr. Robert Walpole, w-ho, in a )cng nnd mcft elf quent ipeech, went to the bottom of the affair. He fliewed, that this viojent profecution ftruck at the liberties of the fubje6is in general, and of the members of the Houfe in particular; he jiiftificd Mr. Steele on all the heads of the accufation urged againfl: him ; and faid, he hoped the Houfe would not facriiice ore of their members to the refentment and rage of the Miniftry, for no other ciime than his expcfirg their notorious mifmanagement ; and, like a good patriot, warning his countrymen againft the immment dangcis with "which the .nation in general, and her Majefty's lacred J etfon in particular, were threatened, by the v.fible encouragem'-nt that was given to the pretender's friends.
Mr. Walpole w."S feconded by his brother Horace, lord Finch, lord Lum^ey, lord Hinchinbrcke, and
fome
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 51
fome other members who fpoke with great fpirit in favour of Mr. Steele, and againfl: the conduct of the miniftry: But Mr. Foley, Sir William Wyndham, the Attorney-General, and fome other courtiers^ being fupported by a great majority, flill inliiled on the queftion, fo that at laft it was carried by 245 voices againfl: 152, Firil, " That a printed pamphlet, intituled, The Englijhman, being the clofe of the paper fo called, and one other pamphlet, intituled, The Crifii, written by Richard Steele, Efq. a member of this Houfe, are fcandalous and feditious libels, containingmanyexpreliionshighly reiievStingupon her majefty, and upon the nobility, gentry, clergy, and univerlities of this kingdom, malicioully inlinuating, that the Proteftant Succcffion in the Houfe of Ha- nover is in danger under her majefty's Adminiflra- tion, and tending to alienate the affe6lions of her majefly's good fubjefts, and to create jealoufies and divifions among them. Secondly, that Richard Steele, Efq, for his offence in writing and publilbing the faid fcandalous and feditious libels, be expelled this Houfe."
Mr. Steele, being thus expelled from the Houfe of Commons, determined to exert his talents in the v/ay to which he had been fo long accuftomed; and pxcordingly he began to publifh two periodical papers ; the firft of which, intituled *' The Lover," appeared on the 25th of February, 1714; and the fecond, called ** Ihe Reader," on the 2 2d of April follow- ing. In the fixth number of this lafl paper, he gives an account of his defign to write the Hiflory of the Duke of Marlborough, from the date of his Grace's commillions of Captain-General and Plenipotentiary, to the expiration of thefe commillions ; the proper materials for wdiich hiflory were, he tells uS;, in his cuftody :- but the work was never finilhed.
Dz He
52 THELIFEOF
He wrote, however, feveral political pieces at this time ; and he likewife publiihed a treatife, intituled, '* The Romilh Eccleiiaflical Hiftory of * late Years.'* This, he obferves, is no more than an account of fome collateral and contemporary cir- cumflances and fecret paffages, joined to an account of the ceremony of the laft inauguration of Saints, bv his hohnefs the pope ; which account, fays he, "' gives us a lively idea of the pageantry ufed in that church to flrike the imagination of the vulgar, and needs only to be repeated to give any ferious man an abhorrence of their idolatry." The deiign of this publication was to prejudice the caufe of the pre- tender, which \vas fuppofed to be gaining ground in England ; and there is an Appendix fubjoined, confifling of particulars, very well calculated for this purpofe.
As Steele was extremely zealous for the fucceilioii of the houfe of Hanover, he prefented to king George 1. on the 8th of April, 1715, an addrefs, which had been drawn up by himfelf, from the lieutenancy of Middlefex and Weilminfler. He had fome time before been appointed a jufcice of peace, and one of the deputy-lieutenants, for the county of Middleiex. On prefenting the addiefs Mr. Steele received the honour of knighthood ; and he v.as foon after appointed fuiveyor of the royal Stables at Hampton-court. On the 28th of May following, being the king's birth-day. Sir Richard particularly diilinguilhed himfelf, by giv- ing a fplendid entertainment to more than 200 gen- tlemen and ladies. He afterwards obtained a Ihare in the patent of one of the play-houfes, which was produdiive of fome conliderable emokiment to him ; and he was e ■ £ted member of parliament for Boroughbridge in Ycrklhire. But notwithftanding his zeal for the houfe of Hanover, and his fervices
to
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 53
to it, he never received from the court any com- penfation adequate to his merit. And as he con- tinued to want oeconomy, he was llill often in- volved in difficulties ; and his behaviour on fonie of thefe occafions had in it more of humour than of prudence. One of the inftances of this kind, which is recorded, is the following : Sir Richard having invited to his houfe a great number of per- fons of the firil quality, they were furprized at the number of liveries which furrouded the table ; and after dinner, when wine and mirth had fet them free from the obfervation of rigid ceremony, one of them enquired of Sir Richard, how fuch an expenfive train of domeftics could be conliftent with his fortune? Sir Richard frankly confelTed, that they were fellows of whom he would very willingly be rid. And being then a(l:ed why he did not dif- charge them ; he declared, that they were bailiUs who had introduced themfelves with an execution, and whom, fince he could not fend them av/av, he had thought it convenient to embellifh with li- veries, that they might do him credit whilft they ilaid.
His friends were diverted with the expedient, and by paying the debt difcharged the attendance, hav- ing obliged Sir Richard to promife that they lliould never find him again graced with a retinue of the fame kind.
Asa member of parliament. Sir Richard Steele appears always to have behaved with great public fpirit and integrity ; but this did not tend to ad- vance his fortune, either in the reign of queen Anne, or in that of king George 1. He alfo en- gaged in fome projc6ts, which were not advantage- ous to him. In 17 17, he w^as appointed one of the commiffioners for inquiring into the eflates for- feited by the rebellion in Scotland, which appoint- D 3 ment
^ T f I E L I F E O F
ment carried him into that part of the united king- dom, where he received from fomc of the nobihty 2.nd gentry the mofl diilinguiflied marks of refpe6t. In the following year he buried his fecond wife, and he afterwards ahb loft two of his children ; and tkefe domeftic calamities greatly afflided him.
In 1 7 IQ, Sir Richard Steele pubiifhed a Letter to the earl of Oxford, concerning a bill for limiting llie peerage j v;hich bill he oppofed in the Houfe of Commons. He alfo wrote againfl: it in a periodical paper called *' The Plebeian," which occaiioned a very unpleafant contell between him and his friend Addifon, who wrote againft him in another perio- dical paper called " The Old Whig."
i^bout this time his licence for a£ling plays was revoked, and his patent rendered ineffeftual at the inilance of the lord-chamberlain. Sir Richard did his utmoft to prevent fo great a lofs ; but he had the misfortune to find all his . endeavours vain. This ftroke was the more fevere and affli(Sting, as it came from the hand of the fame noble perfoa to whom he had dedicated his political writings, and whofe patronage he moil gratefully acknow- ledges. This was the duke of Newcaftle, who, when he was made chamberlain, lent for Sir Richard Steele, and the otlier fharers in the ma- nagement of the playhoufe, and, in an abfolute manner, offered them a licence, and demanded a reiignation of the patent ; v.^hich bir Richard pre- fumed as abfolutely to refufe : this refufal he made iia writing, and petitioned the king for his protec- tion in the grant which he had given him. Thus the matter refted for many months. The next raoleflation the managers received was by an order, figned by tlie chamberlain, to difmifs Mr. Gib- ber ; which order they obeyed : but Sir Richard prefumed to write to the duke againft it, ex-
preffing
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 55
preffing his forrow that his grace would give him no better occafion of fhewing his duty than bv bearing opp.reffion from him. This freedom pro- duced a meiTage from his grace, forbidding Sir Ricliard ever to viGt him, or to write, or fpeak to him more. Oar patentee received this meiTage in a becoming manner, and immediately took occa- lion from it to make his appeal to the pubiick. He had, a little before, formed the plan of a perio- dical paper, to be publilhed twice a week, under the title of *' The Theatre;" fome numbers of which had appeared ; and he now embraced the opportunity of this publication to give a particular accoufit of the origin and progrefs of this unfortu- nate alTair ; which he did in a letter addrellld to his grace. From this fpirited and manly epiille, it appears, th2\t when the Chamberlain perfifted in his meafures %ainft the patentees. Sir Richard drew up a petition to the king, which he delivered in his grace's prefence j the prayer of which was, ** that the petitioner might not be any v/ay molefted but by due courfe of law." But this petition had no effeft ; and the next news Sir Richard heard was the royal order revoking the patent, accompa- nied with an order of filence from the chamberlain, addreiTed to the gentlemen managing the company of comedians at the Theatre in Drury-lane, p.nd to aJl the comedians and afters there. It was upon the receipt of thefe orders, that Sir Richard ad- dreffed his letter to the Chamberlain ; but this ll:ep proving as inclTeftual as the reft, he publifhed foon after, " TUq State of the Cafe between the Lord Chamberlain of his Majefly's HouHiold, and the Go- vernor of the Royal Company of Comedians, with the Opinions of Pemberton, Northy, and Parkei', conceriiing the Theatre." In this pamphlet he feates the account of the lofs he fullained by this D 4 pro-
56 THELIFEOF
proceeding, which he computes at little lefs than ten thoufand pounds. He then declares, that he never did one a£l to provoke this attempt ; *' nor," fays he, " does the chamberlain pretend to afiig-"! any direcft realbn of forfeiture, but openly and wit- tingly declares he will ruin Steele ; w'hich," adds our author, '* in a man in his circumflances againft one in mine, is as great as the humour of Mala- gene, in the comedy, who valued himfelf upon his activity in tripping up cripples.
Whilft our author was finking under this perfe- cution from the hand of power, he was rudely at- tacked from another quarter. When he began his paper, called " The Theatre,*' he had affumed the feigned name of Sir John Edgar ; and under that appellation he v/as now very injurioufly treated by Mr. John Dennis, the noted critick, in a mofl abu- five pamphlet, intituled, " The Gharafier and Conduct of Sir John Edgar, called by him- felf Sole Monarch of the Stage in Drury-Iane ; and liis three Deputy-Governors ; in two Letters to Sir John Edgar." To this infultour author replied in ** The Theatre ;" and as the impotence of the Cri- tick*s attack was unworthy a ferious rebuke, he treated him with his ufual gaiety and good hu* mour.
In the raidd: of thefe private concerns, SirRichard found time to employ his pen in the fervice of the puhlick, by writing againft the South-Sea fcheme, in the year 1720. His firft piece op this fubjedt was intituled, '* The Crifis of Property j" which was foon followed by *' A Nation a Family ; or, A Plan of the Improvement of the South-Sea Propo- pofals.'* He likcwife introduced this matter into *' The Theatre;" and by his fpirited oppofition to, that Iniquitous projcd he greatly increafed his re- putation as a patriot.
When
Sir RICHARD STEELE. sy
When our author's patent for the theatre was re- voked, his friend, Sir Robert Walpole, was out of favour at court, having refigned his place of firft commifTioner of the treafury : but in the beginning of the year 1721, he was recalled to that fiation ; and Sir Richard foon experienced the benefit of this change, being refhored, within a few weeks, to his former office and authority in Drury-lane.
This alteration in his circumftances gave our author new fpirits ; and it was not long before he brought upon the ftage his celebrated Comedy called " The Confcious Lovers," which was a6ted with the greatefc applaufe. The profits of this fuc- cefsful play mull have been very coniiderable ; and he publifhed it foon after, with a dedication to the king, for which his majefly made him a prefent of live hundred pounds : but, notwithilanding this ample fupply, it was not long before he was reduced to fuch extremity, that he was obliged to throw his affairs into the hands of lawyers and truflees ; in confequence of which his fliare in the playhoufe was fold, and a law-fuit commenced with the other managers, which, in 1726, was determined to his diiad vantage.
His heedlefs profulion, and utter want of oeco- nomy, having brought our author's fortune into this fituation, he determined, from a principle of juftice to his creditors, to withdraw himfeiffroni the expences of the town, while he had yet a fair profpe£l of fatisfying ail their demands. Accord* ingly he retired to his feat at Languannor, near Caermarthen, in Wales; but his good intentions V7ere in a great meafure difappointed ; for he had not been long in this retirement before he was feized with a paralytick diforder, Vv'hich greatly im- paired his underilanding ; and, having languifhed for fome time under this deprivation of his faculties, D 5 he
5^ THELIFEOF
he died on the 2ifl of September, 1729, and was privately interred, according to his own defire, in the church of Caermarthen.
It is juflly obferved of Sir Richard Steele, in the Biographia l^ritannica, that he was a man of un- dilTembled and extenfivc benevolence ; a friend to the friendlefs, and, as far as his circumftances would permit, the father of every orphan. His works are chafte and manly ; he himfejf admired Virtue, and he drew her as lovely as ihe is. He celebiates a generous adion, with a warmth that is only peculiar to a good heart. He-was a Granger io the moft didant appearance of envy or malevolence, never jealous of any man's growing reputation, and fo far from arrogating any praile to himfelf from his conjunftion with Mr. Addifon, that he was the firil who defired him to diftinguifh his pa- pers in the Speftator ; and, after the death of that friend, was a faithful guardian of his fame. Sir Richard's greateft error was v^'ant of ccconomy. It is faid, in Gibber's Lives of the Poets, " He was the moft agreeable, and, if we may be allowed the exprelTion, the moft innocent rake that ever trod the rounds of indulgence."
The following chara£ler was alfo publifhed of Sir Richard Steele foon after his death. *' This excel- lent man was born to a fortune much inferior to his merits : his early life was formed in camps, and feafoned to the toils of war ; yet, gre>Ttly brave, and of unqueilioned honour, his w^as a lettered ge- nius, nor fond of military glory. He flione dii'tin- guifhed, even whilft in humble privacy ; obfcured rot mere by his low rank in life than by his native modefty. Here he was fele£led by the braye lord Cutts, whofe difcernment knew the noble genius c\en in a private foldier.
** He
Sir RICHARD STEELE. ^9
*^ He had a great vivacity and ready addrefs ; was diffident of his own judgement, and yielding to other men : he had fine wit and true humour ; a wit w^iich was candid and good-natured : he was always willing to do good offices, and far from being envious of merit in ot*lier men. Hence he was loved and honoured by all men. None was more happy or extenfive in his acquaintance : none was a more agreeable companion, or ufeful friend. This was his private life, and this might well re- commend him to public efteem.
*' To him we owe that valuable work which he commenced in *' The Tatler," and, affiled by the immortal labours of his ingenious friend Mr. Ad- difon, carried into numerous volumes. Here he began a work which at once refined our laiiguage and -improved our morals. None ever attempted with more fuccefs to form the mind to virtue, or polilh the mamiers of common life ; none ever touched the paffions in that pleafing, prevailing me-* thod, or fo well inculcated the molt ufeful and in- flruclive lelTons. I fay, none did ever thus hap- pily perform fo important a work as tliele illuftri- ous colleagues, v/ho, by adapting themielves to the pleafures, prom^oted the bell virtues of human na- ture * infmuatcd themielves by all the arts of fine perfuafion ; employed the mcit delicate wit and humour in the caufe of truth and good fcnfe; nor gave offence to the moil rigid devotees, or loofell dehauchees, but foon grew popular, though advo- cates of virtue.
*' He fpoke in parliament, and appeared from the prefs, with a warm and generous freedom : he dif- fered from thole in authority, without libelling tlieir perfons ; no fcandalous parallels, no ungentle- manlike inve6lives, or womanifn railings, are to he found in his writings : he fpoks to fa»5ls, and D 6 things
6o THELIFEOF
things of public concern ; nor invented, nor re- vived, any little flories to blacken the reputation of others : in fhort, he was at war with no man's fortunes or places ; and he greatly defpifed all lucra- tive conliderations.
** Add this to his charafler, he had an entliufiafm of honour, infomuch, that he was always moft ready to appear for the truth when it was moft dif- ficult and dangerous : he thought himfelf obliged to Hand in the breach when no man elfe would ; and his intrepidity was a public advantage.
*' Witnefs his memorable Addrefs to the Clergy in Defence of the Revolution ; I mean, his " Cri- fis," for which he was immortalized by the refent- nientofhis enemies, and by the noble ftand he made againft them in his brave defence : for this he was expelled the Houfe of Commons, whilft he tri- umphed in the judgement of his country ; and raifed fuch a fpirit in the people by his writings, as greatly contributed to fave our declining liberties, and eftablilh the precarious fucceffion.
** Such was his condu«Sl, fuch his character, which was invariably honeft ; he flattered not his friends in their power, nor infulted his enemies in their diilrefs : he oppofcd any meafures which he could not approve, and exa£lly adliered to that ex- cellent fentence, fari qua fentiat.
*' This, indeed, was his principle ; and if ever man always a6led inviolably by his opinion, or dared to preferve his integrity upon all occafionsj Sir Richard Steele was the perfon."
By his fecond wife Sir Richard Steele had one fon, and two daughters ; but only one of his daughters, named Elizabeth, furvived him. She was married young, in 1731, to the honourable John Trevor, then one of the Welch judges, and afterwards Baron Trevor of Bromham.
la
Sir RICHARD STEELE. 6i
In 1787, Mr. Nichols publifhed ^^ The Epifro- lary Correfpondence of Sir Richard Steele," in two voinmes, imall 8vo. containing many letters to his wife, and his friends ; and to this publication we have been much indebted in the coiirfe of this life. lu 17B7, Mr. Nichols alfo" republlfhed feve- ral of Sir Pvichard's pieces, in one volume, 8vo. in a colle£iion, intituled, '' 7^he Town Talk ; The *' Fifh Pool; The Plebeian; The Old Whig; The *' Spinfter, &c. By the authors of the Tatler, '^ Spectator, and Guardian. Now firfl colle£led, '• with Notes and Illuflrations.''
*^^ Authorities. Biographia Britannica. Bri- tifh Biography, 8vo. vol. Vlil, Gibber's Lives of the Poets. Epiriolary Correfpondence of Sir Richard Steele. Notes' to the New Edition of the Tatler,
Ta^
[ 6. ]
The life op DANIEL DE FOE.
[A. D. 1663, to 1731,]
THIS ingenious writer was born in the city of London about the year 1(363. He was the foQ of James Foe, butcher, of the parifh of St» Giles, Cripplegate. It fecms to have been from fome diflike to his original name, that he after- wards changed it to De Foe, by which he was ge- nerally known. As his father was a Proteilant. Diffenter, he was brought up in the fame princi- ples, to which he always adhered. He was educa- ted at an academy at Newington Green, which was kept by Charles Morton, who was a DilTenter. la 1683, when he was about twenty years of age, he pubiilhed a pamphlet againft the Turks, relative to the war which was then carried on between them and the Auftrians. He was early attached to Whig principles, and fo avcrfeto the adminiftration of James II. that, before he was twenty- three years of age, he went into the Weft of England, and appeared in arms for the duke of Monmouth. He efcaped, however, frdm that unfortunate en- terprize without profecution ; and, after his return to London, he publiflied another pamphlet, to warn the Diirentcrs againil: the infidious toleration which was offered them by king James. He after- wards engaged in trade as a hofe-favSlor, in Free- man's
D A N I E L D E F O E. 63
maa's Yard, Cornhill, and was alfo concerned in carrying on fome brick and pantile works near Tilbury Fort in EiTex. But in trade he was not fuccefsful ; and, in the year 1692, was obhged for fo'iie time to abfcond from his creditors. " An an- *• gry creditor," fays Mr. Chalmers, *' took out 3 ** commiffion of bankruptcy, which was foon fu- *' perfeded on the petition of thofe to whom he ** was moft indebted, who accepted a compofitioii *' on his iingle bond. This he pundualiy paid by *' the efforts of unwearied diligence. But fome of *' thofe creditors, who had been thus fatisfied, falling " afterwards into dillrefs therafelves, De Foe volun- " tarily paid them their whole claims, being then ** in riiing circumftances from king William's fa- ** vour. This is fuch an exam.ple of honefty, as ** it would be unjufl to De Foe and to the world '* to conceal."
In 1695, he was appointed accountant to the commilhoners for managing the duties on glafs ; and, in 1697, he pubhilied an Eflliyupon Proje£ls. The fame year he alfo pubiiilied an Inquiry into the occalional Conformity of DiiTenters in Cafes of Preferment, 4to. At the beginning of the year 1 701, he publifhed, in 4to, the I'rue-born Eng- liiliman, which had a great fale, and paiTed through many editions. He alfo publifhed, '* Reafons *' againft a War with France," and '^ The Free- " holder's Plea againft Stockjobbing Eie£lions of *' Parliament-men."
In 1702, he publiflied, in folio, *' The Original '' Power of the Collective Body of the People of *' England, examined and aiferted." This is a piece o-f great political merit, and has been fcveral times printed ; and we fnall feledt from it the fol- lowing pafTages:
^* I. 6"^/^^^
64 THE LIFE OF
" I. Salus Populi/uprema Lex, all government, and confequently our whole conftitution, was originally defigned, and is maintained, for the fupport of the people's property, who are the governed.
'' 2. Ihat all the members of government, whe- ther king-, lords, or com.mons, if they invert the great end of their inftituticn, the public good, ceafe to be in the fame public capacity.
** And power retreats to its original.
'* 3. That no colleclive or reprefentative body of men whatfoever, in matters of politicks any more than religion, are, or ever have been, infallible.
'* 4. That reaion is the teft and touch ilone of laws, and that all law or power that is contradic- tory to reafon is, ip/o fpM',, void in itfelf, and ought not to be obeyed.
** Some other maxims lefs general are the confe- qucnce of tliv.fe : as,
'*,Firft, That fuch laws as are agreeable to reafon and juflice being once made, are binding both to king, lords, and commions, either feparately, or conjunftivcly, till they are a£lually repealed in due form.
** That if either of the three powers do difpenfe with, fufpcnd, or othervvife break any of the known laws fo made, they injure the conlbitution ; and the po-.ver fo acting ought -to be reftrained by the other powers net concuriinp, according to what is lately allowed, that every branch of power is de- ligncd as a check upon each other.
*' Hut, if all the thrte powers Ihould join in fach- an irregular adlion, the conftitution fuffers a con- vuUion, dies, an:; is diilolved of courfe.
*' Nor does it iuiBce to fay, that king, lords, and
commons, c:;n do no wrong; fince the mutual con-
fent of parties, on which that foolifli maxim is
3 grounded.
D A N I E L D E F O E. 6^
grounded, does not extend to every action king, lords, and commons, are capable of doing,
** There are laws which refpeft the common rights of the people, a^ they are the parties to be governed, and with refpedt to thefe the king can do no wrong, but all is laid upon his miniiters — who are ac- countable,
*' And there are laws which particularly refpetft the conftitution ; the king, lords, ar.d commons, as they are the parties governing : in this regard each branch may wrong and opprefs the other, or altogether may do wrong to the people they are made to rovern.
*' The king rnay invade the people's properties ; and if the lords and commons omit to defend and prote6l them, they all do wrong, by a tacit approv- ing thofe abufes they ought to oppofe.
*' The commons may extend their power to an- exorbitant degree, in imprifoning the fubjefts, dif- penfing with the Habeas Co'pui A61, giving "unli* raited power to their fergeant to opprefs the people in his cuftody, withholding writs of eleftion from boroughs and towns, and feveral other ways ; which if they are not checked either by the king, or the lords,, they are altogether parties to the wrong, and the fubje6l is apparently injured.
^' Tlie lords may err in judicature, and deny juf- tice to tl>e commons, or delay it upon pun6tilios and lludied occaiions ; and if neither the king nor the commons tah: care to prevent it, delinquems are excufed, and criminals encouraged, and all are guilty of tlie breach of common juftice.
'* That, to prevent this, it is abfolutely neceilary, that in matters of difpute the fingle power fliould be governed by the joint, and that nothing fnould fo be inhfted upon as to break the correfpondence.
" That
66 THELIFEOF
** That the three fhould be dire£ted by the laW, and where that is filent, by reafoii.
•* That every perfon concerned in the law is in liis meafure a judge of the realbn, and therefore in his proper place ought to be allowed to give his reafon in cafe of diffent.
*' That every fingle power has an abfolute nega« tive upon the a£ls of the other ; and if the people, who are vvithoi t doors, find reafon to objed, they may do it by petition.
*' But becaufe, tinder pretence of petitioning, fe- ditious and turbulent people may foment diftur- bances, tumults, and diforders, the lubje£ls' right of petitioning being yet recognized and preferved, the circumftances of fuch petitions are regulated by laws, as to the numbers and qualities of the perfons petitioning.
*' Bu. the laws have no where prefcribed the pe- titioners to any form of words ; and therefore no pretence of indecency of expreliion can be fo crimi- nal as to be deilruftive of the conftitution, becaufe though it may deferve the refentment of the peti- tioned, yet it is not an illegal acl, nor a breach of any law.
** x\nd yet the reprefentative body of the people ought not to be bantered or aitronted neither, at the will and pleafure of any private perfon without doors, who finds caufe to petition them.
'* But if any expreliion be ofrenfive to the houfe, it feems reafonable that the perfcps who are con- cerned therein fliould be required to explain them- felves : and if upon fuch explanation the houfe find no fatisfadtion as to the particular affront, they are at liberty to proceed as the law diredls, but n® otherwife.
** And to me the filence of the law in that cafe fecms to imply, that rejedling the petition is a con- tempt
DANIEL D E FOE. 67
tempt due to a?iy indecency of that nature, and as much refentment as the nature of the thing re- quires : but as to breaking in upon perfonal hberty, which is a thing the law is fo tender of, and has made fo ftrong a fence about, I dare not affirm 'tis. a juftifiable procedure; no, not in the Houfe of Commons.
'* It is alleged, that it has been praflifed by all parhaments ; which is to me far from an argument to prove the legahty of it.
*' 1 think it may pafs for a maxim, that a man cannot be legally puniihed for a crime which there is no law to profecute. Now, lince there is no law to profecute a man for indecency of expreinon in a petition to the Houfe of Commons, it remains a doubt with me how they can be legally puniihed.
** Precedents are of ufe to the Houfes of Parlia- ment where the laws are filent in things relating to themfelves, and are doubtlefs a fufficient autho- rity to a£l from. But whether any precedent, ufage, or cuftom, of any body of men whatever, can make a thing lawful, which the laws have ex- prefsly forbid, remains a doubt with me.
" It were to be wifhed fome of our Parliaments would think fit, at one time or another, to clear up the point of the authority of the Houfe of Com- mons in cafe of imprifoning fuch as are not of their Houfe, that having the matter flated by thofe who are the only expofitors of our laws, we might be troubled v^ith no more legioyi Uhtls^ to tell them what is, or is not, legal in their proceedings.
" The good of the people governed is the end of all government, and the reafon and original of go- vernors; and upon this foundation it is, that it has been the practice of all nations, and of this in par- ticular, that if the mahadminiilration of governors has extended to tyraimy and opprellion, to the de-
llru6tioi4
68 THELIFEOF
ll:ru(ftIon of right and juHicc, overthrowing the conflitution, and abuiing the people, the people have thought it lawful to re-aflume the right q£ government into their own hands, and to reduce their governors to reafon."
The fame year De Foe publiflied, in 4to. ** The fhortcft Way with the DifTenters." This was an ironical attack upon the high-church party, in which he ridiculed the injuflice and abfurdity of their oppreffive views refpe6ting the Diflenters. But for this pamphlet, which was lliyied fcandalous and fcditious, he was tried; and the jury, from igno- rance, or pufillanimity, found him guilty of a li- bel. He was fentenced to the pillory, and ad- judged to be fined and imprifoned. It was this circumftance which led Pope to introduce De Foe into his Dunciad, in the following line :
Earlejs en high flood unahajhj' d De Foe,
But De Foe had no claim to any place in ths Dunciad. The annotator on that poem acknow- ledged, that he was a man of parrs ; and the line is' only an evidence of that petulant malignity, of which too many inftances occur in the writings of Pope. De Foe appeared in the pillory with great fortitude ; and, indeed, had no reafon to be afhamed. The fentence againft him was a very infamous one ; and he was probably a much abler, and a much lioneRer man, than the judge v. ho tried him. He foon after publilhcd a Hymn to the Pillory, at the conclufion of which, fpeaking of the pillory aad himfelf, he fays,
'' 7 he 7nimfl(ri that flacd him here, " Jtc fcandah to the times,
*' jire at a lojs to find his guilty
*' jind cant commit his crimes.
During
D A N I E L D E F O E. 69
During his confinement in Newgate, De Foe proje(5led The Review, a periodical paper in 4to, which was firfl publifhed on the 19th of February, 1703-4; and which was intended to treat of news, foreign and domeftic, ofpoHtics, and of trade. It was extended to nine volumes, and difcontinued in the year 17 13.
De Fo-e was releafed from prifon, by the influence of Mr. Harley, then fecretary of Hate, in Auguft, 1704. Queen Anne herfelf alfo was now inclined to favour him, from a conviftion that his profecu- tion had been more rigorous than defenfible. As to Harley, he was not really a Tory in principle, and only profefled himfelf fo from motives of per- gonal ambition : fo that he was not infenfible of De Foe's merit, and feems to have been defirous of fecuring him ta his intereft. But after De Foe came out of prifon, he retired for fome time to St. Edmund's Bury, and foon after publillied two poems, in honour of the duke of Marlborough and his victories. He alfo afterwards re-publilhed fome of his pieces, in two volumes, 8vo. under the ti- tle of " A true Colle£lion of the Writings of the Author of the True-born Englifliman."
In 1706, he publilhed '* An EUay at removing *' national prejudices againft a Union with Scot- *' land." The fame year he pubiiflied, both in folio and oftavo, '* Jure Divino, a Satire on Ty- ranny and raffive Obedience.'* He alfo publilhed fome other pieces in favour of the Union ; and vv^as fent into Scotland by the government in order to promote that important meafure. He arrived at Edinburgh in Oftober, 1706. Mr. Chalmers fays, *' His knowledge of commerce and revenue, " his powers of insinuation, and, above all, his rea- *' dinefs of pen, were deemed of no fmall utility " in promoting the Union." — '' He attended the
" com-
70 THE LIFE OF
** committees of parliament, for vvhofe ufe he made ** feveral of the calculations on the fubje£l of trade «* and taxes." — ** He endeavoured to confute all *' that was publilhed by Webfter and Hodges, and ** the other writers in Scotland, againft the Union : ** and he had his fliare of danger, fince, as he fays, *' he was watched by the mob; had his chamber-win- *' dows infultcd: but, by the prudence of his friends, *' andGod*s providence, he efcaped." — *' During all ** thefe labours and rifques, De Foe publilhed, in *' December, 1706, Caledonia, a poem in honour <* of the Scots nation."
In what manner De Foe w^as rewarded for his fervices in Scotland, w^e are not informed ; but, in 1709, he publilhed in folio, with an appendix of original papers, **TheHiftory of the Union bet^^eeri England and Scotland." A fecond edition of this v/ork was pi%>lilhed in 17 12 ; and a third in 4to. in 1786, to which a life of the author was prefixed, written by Mr. Chalmers. That gentleman, fpeak- ing of the Hiftory of the Union, fays, " This nar- ** rative of De Foe is a drama, in which he intro- *' duces the higheft peers and the loweft peafants, ** fpeaking and a£ling according as they were each ** adluated by their charafteriftic paflions ; and *' while the man of tafle is amufed by his manner, ** the man of bufinefs may draw inftruftion from *' the documents, which are appended to the end, *' and interfperfed in every page. This publication *' had alone preferved his name, had his Crufoe •' pleafed us lefs."
Ihe fam? year De Foe publilhed *' The Hiflory *' of Addrefles." in 8vo. and of this performance he two years after publilhed a fecond part. Not- withflanding his obligations to Harley, he was not influenced by them to defert his owMi opinions, or to write in fupport of fentiments which he difap-
proved.
D A N I E L D E F O E. 71
proved. On the contrary, he wrote exprefsly againll the peace of Utrecht; but when the peace was made, and could not be altered, he faid It was the bufinefs of the nation to make the beft of it, and to confider in what manner, as affairs were then circumftanced, the pubHc intereft could be befl: promoted.
In 17 1 1, he publiflied *« AnEfTay on the South- *' Sea Trade, with an Inquiry into the Grounds *' and Reafons of the prefent Difiike and Complaint *' againft the Settlements of a South-Sea Company." The following year, his zeal for the fucceffion'of the Houfe of Hanover led him to pubhfh three pamphlets, under the following titles: 1. " Rea- *' fons againft the Succeffion of the Houfe of Ha- *' nover, with an Inq tiry how far the Abdication of " king James, fuppoling it to be legal, ought to *'■ affed the Perfon of the Pretender." 2. '* What ** if the Pretender fhould come ? or, fome Confi- *' derations of the Advantages and real Confe- *' quences of the Pretender's poiTeiTing the Crown '* of Great Britain-." 3. '« An Anfwer to a Queftion ** that nobody thinks of, viz. What if the Queen *' Ihould die ?" Thefe were ironical pieces ; and the titles of them v/ere intended to lead tliofe to read them who had been deluded by the Jacobites. Among other of his arguments in favour of the pretender, one was, that x* the prince would confer on every " one the privilege of wearing wooden-lhoes ;'* and at the fame time '*' eafe the nobility and gentry of " the hazard and expence of winter journies to par- ** liament." It is remarked by Mr. Chalmers, that '" thefe petty volumes were fo much approved by the zealous friends ot the Proteftant fuccefhon, that they were diligent to difperfe them through the moll diilant counties. And De Foe protells, that, had ti.e eIe£lor of Hanover given him a thou- fand pounds, he could not have fcrved him more ' I efFec-
7z THELIFEOF
efFe£lually, than by writing tliefe three treatifes." But for thefe pieces an infamous profecution was fet on foot againft Do Foe : he was committed to Newgate, tried in the Queen's Bench, and received fentence as a libeller. But after being fome time impriibned, he obtained a pardon in November, 17 13, by the intereil of Mr. Harley. His profe- cution, however, and his imprifonment, had been attended with great expences ; and tended greatly to impair his fortune.
Notwithftanding the zeal of De Foe for the houfe of Hanover, the fervices which he had rendered it, and the unjuft perfecution which he had fufFered in confequence, he met with no countenance or pa- tronage from the court after the accelTion of king George I. " Inftead of meeting with reward," fays Mr. Chahners, " for his zealous fervices in fupport of the Proteilant fucceffion, he w^as on the accef- fion of George I. difcountenanced by thofe who had derived a benefit from his aflive exertions.'* Much undeferved abufe was alfo thrown out againfl him in the publications of the times : fo that, in 1 7 15, he printed, *' An Appeal to Honour and Juf- *' tice, though it be of his worft Enemies. By Da- *' niel De Foe. Being a true account of his Con- *' duft in public Affairs." In this he very ably de- fended himfclf againil many of the unjuft charges that were brought againft him : but before he had finifhed it, he was ftruclc with an apoplexy j and Baker, who publiftied it, in its unfinifhed ftate, de- clared, in an advertifement prefixed to it, that it was the opinion of moft who knew him, that the treat- ment which he had complained of in it, and other inftances of ill ufage, had been the caufe of his diforder. He languiflied for fome time in a very low and weak ftate ; but he appears afterwards to have completely recovered. He Hved upwards of
iifteen
DANIEL D E FOE. 73
fifteen Years after, and produced many other works. But the ill ufage he met with, and the little en- couragement he received from that court from which he had fo well deferved, feems to have in- duced him from this time almofl wholly to quit politicks, and to turn his attention to fuch fubje(Sls, and waiting fuch books, as would bell procure him a fubfiilence.
In 1 7 15, he publlfhed, in 8vo, *' The Family *' Inflruftor, in three Parts, i. Relating to Fathers ** and Children : 2. To Mafters and Servants : 3. *' To Hull>ands and Wives." He afterwards added a fecond volume, in two parts ; " i. Relating to '* Family Breaches, and their obflruftiris; religious ** Duties : 2. To the great Miftake of mixing the '* Paiiions in the managing and correding of Chil- *' dren ; with a great Variety of Cafes relating to *' fetting ill Examples to Children and Servants." Of this work the fevcnteenth edition was publifhed in 1772.
in I 7 19, he publiflicd the moil celebrated of all his performances, under the following title : '* The '* Life and itrang-e furprif.r^g Adventures ofRobinfon ^* Crufoe of York, Mariner, who lived eight-and- *' tv/enty Years all alone in an uninhabited Ifland on *' theCoall of America, near the Mouth of the great *' River Oroonoque ; having been cafl on Shore by *' Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perilhed but " himfelf : with an Account how he was at lall ** ilrangely delivered by Pirates. Written by ^'himfelf." The fame year he pi.b!iflied, '' The *• farther Adventures ofRobinfon Crufce; being ^^ the fecond and laft Part of his Life, and of *' the flrange fiirprizing Accounts of his Travels '' round three Parts of the Globe : written by him- <' felf.' And the following year he publifhed,
Vol. VIL £ ' <' Serious
74 THELIFEOF
** Serious Reflcdlions, during the Life and furpriz- ing Adventures of Robinfon Crufoe ; with his Vifion of the AngeHc World." Mr. Chahners ob- ferves, that the reception of this work was *' im- mediate and univerfal ; and Taylor, who purchaf- ed the manufcript, after every bookfeller had re- fufed it, is faid to have gained a thoufand pounds. If it be inquired, by what charm it is that thefe furpriiing adventures fhould have inflantly pleafed, and always pleafed, it will be found, that few books have ever fo naturally mingled amufement with iiiflruflion. The attention is fixed, either by the iimplicity of the narration, or by the variety of the incidents ; the heart is mended by a vlndica" tion of the tuays of Gcd to man ; and the underftand- ing is informed, by various examples, how much latility ought to be preferred to ornament : the young are inftrufted, while the old are amufcd." — *' It was the happinefs of De F^oe, that as many writers have fuccecded in relating enterprizes by land, he excelled in narrating adventures by fea, with fuch felicities of language, fuch attraflive va- rieties, fuch infinuative inllruftion, as have feldoni been equalled, but never furpaffed." It has been pretended, that De Foe furreptitioufly appropri- ated the papers of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotch ma- riner, who, having hved in a folitary manner on the ifland of Juan Fernandez four years and four months, was relieved, at the beginning of the vear 1709, by captain Woodes Rogers, in his cruiling voyage round the world ; and that this was the ori- gin of Robinfon Crufoe. But this charge againft De Foe appears to be extremely unjufl. He pro- bably, indeed, derived fome general hints from the flory of Selkirk: j but this he, or any other mai], had a right to do, as Selkiik's flory had been pub-
hihed
D A N I E L D £ F O E. 75
lifhed by Woodes Rogers in his account of his voyage, which was printed in 17 12, levcn years before the publication of Robinfon Crufoe. As to the charge of making an unfair ufe of Selliirk's pa- pers, it feems to have been a mere fi6lion ; for, as Mr. Chahiiers has juflly obferved, it appears from Woodes Rogers's voyage, ** that Selkirk had pre- fervcd no pen, ink, or paper, and had lofi: his language ; fo that he had no journal, or papers, which he could communicate, or by others be Holen."
De Foe continued to produce other works of imagination; and, in 1721, puMiihed, in 8vo, *' The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moil Flanders." The following year, he pub- lifhed " Religious Courtfnip ; being Hiftorical Dif- courfes on the Neccllity of marrying religious Muibands and Wives only. As alfo of Hufoands and Wives being of the fame Opinions in Reli- gion with one another. W^ith an Appendix of the Necellity of taking none but religious Ser^ vants, and a Propofai for the better managing of Servants." This work has been fo well re- ceived, that the twenty-firft edition of it was pub- liihed in 1789. In 1723, he piibliflied, in 8vo. *' The Hiflory and remarkable Life of the trulv honourable Colonel Jacque, commonly called '' Colonel Jack." This was followed, the next year, by *' The Fortunate Miftrefs ; or a Hiftory *' of the Life and vafl Variety of Fortunes of Ma- ** demoifelle de Belau, afterwards called the Coun- tefs of Wintfelfheim in Germany. Being the Ferfon known by the Name of tlie Lady Foxana, in the Time of King Charles the Secon<i." 8vo.
In 1726, he publiflied, in Svo, " 1 he Political
^* Hiftory of the Devil, as well ancient as modern,
E 2 *^ in
S-
76 THELIFEOF
*' in two Parts. Part I. contaliiiiig a State of the *' Devil's Circumftances, and the various Turns of *' his Affairs, from his Expulfion out of Heaven, ** to the Creation of Man ; v^ith Remarks on the ** feveral Miftakes concerning the Reafon and Man- ** ner of his Fall. Alfo his Proceedings vrith Man- ** kind ever lince Adam, to the firil planting of *' the Chriftian Church in the World. Part II. ** containing his more private Condutfl, down to *' the prefent Times. His Government, his Ap- ** pearances, his Manner of working, and the *' Tools he works with.'* Of this work the fixth edition was printed in 17 JO. In 1727, he aifo pubhlhed, in 8vo, " TheCompleatEnglilh Tradef- *' man ; in Familiar Letters, dire6ling hiar in all " the feveral Parts and ProgrefTions of Trade, viz. " I. Of acquainting him with Bufinefs during his *' Apprenticelhip. 2. Of writing to Correfpond- " cnts in a Trading Style. 3. Of Diligence and •' Application, as the Life of ail Budnefs. 4. Cau- »* tions againfc over-trading. 5. Of the ordinary ** Occafions of a Tradefman's Rnin ; fuch as ex- *' penfive Living, too early Marrying, innocent *' Diverlions, too much Credit, being above Biifi- •' nefs, dangerous Partneribips, &:c. 6. Direc- '' tions in leveral Diilrcffcs of a Tradefman when *• he comes to fail. 7. Of IVadefmen compound- •' ing with other Tradefmen, &:c. 8. Of fradef- *' men ruining one another by Rumours and Scan- *' dal. 9. Of the cuftomary Frauds of Trade, and *' particularly of Trading Lyes. 10. Of Credit, and ** how it is to be fupported by Honefty. 11. Of *' pun£lual paying Bi4s, and thereby maintaining *' Credit. 12. Of the Dignity and Honour of Trade *^ in England, more than in other Countries," &c. The fame year hepublilhed a fecond volame of this
work^
D A N I E L D E F O E. 77
work, divided ii"ito two parts, the firfl: part being chiefly dircded to the more experienced tradefmen, with cautions and advices to them af^er they are thriven, and fuppofed to be grown rich ; and the fecond defcribing the principles and foundation of the home-trade of Great Britain, with tables of our manui'adures, calculations of the produ£f, flip- ping, can iage of goods by land, importation from abroad, confumption at home, &c.
i he writings of De Foe were io numerous, that our limits will not permit us even to attempt to give a complete lift of them ; and, indeed, the truth is, that with refped to fome of the pieces at- tributed to him, it is difficult to afcertain whether they were, or were not, really written by him. Eut thofe which we have mentioned were undoubt- edly his ; and he was certainly the author of many •others. He died on the 26th of April, 1731, ia the parifli of St. Giles, Cripplegate. He left a widow, and feveral children. His youngeft daugh- ter, Sophia, was married to Mr. Henry Baker, eminent for his fkill in natural knowledge, and author of two treatifes on the raicrofcope.
Mr. Chalmers fays, *' De Foe has not yet out- Jived his ceiUury, though he have out-lived moft of his contemporaries. Yet the time is come, when he muft be acknowledged as one of the ableft, as he is one of the moft captivating writers of which this iiiandcan boait." — "As a novelii^, everyone will place him in the foremoft rank, who conliders his originality, his performances, and his purpofe. The Shjj> of Focis had, indeed, been launched in early tim^es ; but who, like De Foe, had ever car- ried his reader to fea, in order to mend the heart, and regulate the practice of life, by fhewing his rea- ders the cffefts of adverfity, or how they might equally E 3 be
78 T H E L I F E O F
be called to fuftain his hero's trials as they failed round the world. Bur, without attradlions, neither the originahty, nor the end, csn have any fahatary confcquence. This he had forefeeri ; and for this }ie has provided, ^y giving his adventures in a ftyle fo pleafing, becaufe it is iimple, and fo interefling, becaufe it is particular, that every one fancies he could vv'rite a lirailar language. It v/as, then, idle in Eover formerly, or in Smollett lately, to fpeak of De Foe as a party-writer^ in litcle eJtvnaUon, The writings of 110 author iince have run through more numerous editions. And lie whofe v^orks h?.ve pleaied generally, and pleafed long, muft be deemed a writer of no fmall eftimalion ; the people's ver- dict being the pioper teft of wliat they are the pro- per judges."
J3e l^oe haj alio great merit as apolitical writer; and as a commercial writer, Mr. Chalmers fays, " til at " De Foe is fairly intitled to ftand in the forcmoft rank among his contemporaries, whatever may be their performances or their fame." — '* The diliinguifliing chara6^eriftics of De P'oe, as a com- mticial difquiiitor, are originality and depth. He lias many fentiments, with regard to traffick, which ^ are fcattered through his Reviews, and which I
never read in any other book." *' Were we ta
compare De Foe witli D'Avenant, it would be found, that D'Avenant has more detail from of- ficial documents ; that De Foe has more faft from wider inquiry. jj'Avenant is more apt to co.if.der laws in tiieir particular application ; De > oe more frequently inveftigates commercial le- giilation in its general effects. From the pub- lications of D'Avenant it is fufficiently clear, that he was not very regardful of means, or very attentive to confequences ; De Foe is more
correct
D A N I E L D E F O E. 79
correal in his motives, and more falutary in his ends,"
*.^^* Jiithoritus, Gibber's Lives of the Poets. Colleflion of the Writings of the Author of the l^rue-born Enghfhman, 2 vols. 8vo. Life of Da- niel De Foe, by George Chalmers, Efq; originally written to be prefixed to the edition of the Hiftory of the Union, pubiiihed in 1786; and afterwards enlarged, to be prefixed to a fplendid edition of Robinfon Crufoe, in two volumes, 8vo. with fine plates, pubiiihed by Mr, Stockdak in 1790.
E 4 Thb
[ So ]
Tu£ LIFE OF B E iN J A M I N H O A D L 7, ,
HIS HOP OF WINCHESTER,
[A.D. 1676, to 1761.]
H I S eminent and excellent prejate was the kcQivi Ion of the Rev. Mr. .^amuet Hoadly, and was bom at Weftram, in Kent, on the 14th of November, 1676. He was educated under the care of his father, \vho kept a private fchool, till he was adrailted of Catharine Hail, Cambridge, under Mr. Lon.g, afterwards bilhop of Norwich. As foon as ]-e had taken the degree of Mafter of Arts, he became a tutor, and di (charged that office two yt-ars w'ith the highell reputation. In 1698, he was admitted into deacon's orders by Dr. Compton, hi [hop of London ; and into prielVs orders in 1700, by the nme prelate. He was now appointed to ihe Iciflureihip of St. Mildred in the Poultry, in which office he continued ten years ; officiating at the fame time for Ivlr. Hodges, re6^or of St. .Sr.'i bin's, during his abfsnce at fea as chaplain- general of the fleet in 1702. Two years after he obtained the retlory of St. Peter's Poor, in Broad- fireet, London : and about this time he publifhed a piece, intituled, " The Reafonablenefs of Confor- '* mity to the Church of England," &c.
h\ 1705, Pvlr. Hoadiy preached a fermon hefore tlie Lord Mayor of London, which gave great of- tence to the Tories and High Churchmen. He
printed
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 8i
printed the fermon, and alfo defended it in a piece, intituled, " 1 he Meafures of Submiflion to ** the Civil Magiflrate conlidered : in a Defence of ** the Do6lrine delivered in a Sermon," &c. The following year he preached a fermon at the affizes at Hertford, which was printed under the title of ** The Happinefs of the prefent Eftabh'fhment, and " Unhappinefs of Abfolute Monarchy."
In 1709 Mr. Hoadly was engaged in a dif- piite with Dr. Atterbury, concerning Pafftve Obedience, occafioned by that Divine's Latin Ser- mon, entituled, " Concio ad Clerum Londinen- fem, hahita in Ecclefia S. Elphegi." — The Doftor, in a pamphlet entituled, *' Some Proceedings in ** Convocation, A.D. 1705, faithfully reprefented,'' had charged Mr. Hoadly (whom he fneeringly calls the modeji and m: derate Mr. Hoadly) with
* treating the body of the eflabliflied Clergy with
* language more difdain fid and reviling, than it would
* have become him to have nfed towards his Pief-
* byterian antagoiiin: upon any provocation; charg-
* ing them with rebellion iathe Church, whilft he
* himfelf was preaching it up in the State.*' This induced Mr. Hoadly to fet about a particular ex- amination of Dr. Atteibury's Latin Sermon; w^hicii he did in a piece entituled, '* A large Anfwer to Dr. Atterbury's Charge of Rebellion, &c ;" wherein be endeavours to lay open the Dcfior's artful management of the controverfy, and to let the reader into his true meaning and defign. This *-' Anfwer," was added to another Treatife, entitled, *' The Original and Infritution of Civil Govern- *' ment difcuifed, viz. i. An Examination of the *' Patriarchial Government. 2. A Defence of Mr, •* Hooker's Judgment, ho., againft the Gbiedions ■ *' of feveral late Writers." — In this debate, Mr. Hoadly lignalized himfelf in a very high degree;
E 5 ^.wk
82 BENJAMIN H O A D L Y,
and immediately after the publication of this laf! work, his conftant labours, in the caufe of civil and religious Liberty, were moll honourably diflin- guilhcd by a Vole of the Houfe of Commons in: his favour, which was expreiied in thefe terms : — *' Refolved, i. That the Reverend Mr. Benjamin ** Hoadly, Re£lor of St. Peter's Poor, London, for *' having often juftined the principles on which *' lier niaiefly and the nation proceeded in the late " happy Revolution, has juftly merited the favour ** and recommendaticn of this houfe. 2. That aa ** huir.biy addrcfs be prefented to her majefty, that " ihe wogkl be graciouily pleafed to beflow fome ** dignity in the church on Mr. Hoadly, for his *' eminent fcrviccs both to the church and llate." — The queen anfweied, *' That Hie would take a •* proper opportunity to comply Vvith their delires \^ v;hlch, iiowever, fne never did.
But tlioiigh our divine w^as not honoured with the ro\?.l patronage, the jull: and noble principles \\hich he had efpoufcd, notv;ith (landing they were extremely repugnant to the general temper of thofe times, recommended him to the favour and pro- It £lion of private munificence. For, in February, 1710, he was prefented by Mrs. Rowland to the nc\ory of Streatham in Surrey; as a qualification for which he was honoured with a chaplainfl^iip to his Grace Wriothelley Duke of Bedford. — 1 his a6t of gcnerolity was attended with fuch circumftances as greatly enhanced the obhgation ; the remem- brance of which Mr. Hoadly has gratefully endea- voured to perpetuate in his writings. " I cannot but *' think it a due, in point of gratitude to her me- *' moiy," fays he, fpeakingof his patronefs, " pub- '* licly to acknowledge this fijigular obligation to *' her, that in the year 17 10, when fury feemed to **bektlcofe, and to diflinguilli me particularly,
"ihe
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 83
*' {he herfelf, unaiked, unapplied to, without my *' having ever feen her, or been ken by her, chofe, *' by prefenting me to the reflory of Streatbam, ** then juft vacant, to fhew, in her own expreflion, ** That fhe was neither afhamed nor afraid to give ** me that public mark of her regard at that critical " time." — To her likewife he afterwards infcribed. his volume of fermons on '' The Terms of Ac- *' ceptance ;" and on the flrft of May, 1719* preached her funeral fermon in Streatham church. Mr. Hoadly was the reputed author of feveral occaiional little political pieces thrown out at this time, which were reprinted fome years after, in one volume, and called "A Colle<3:ion of feveral *' Pieces, printed in the year 1710.'* — He likewife diuinguifljcd himfelf in the proper bufinefs of his profefhon, by pubiifhing '' Several Difcourfcs on '* the Terms of Acceptance with God," kc. the occaiioii and defign of which he thus explains, in a preface addrelTed to the parifhioners of St. Peter's Poor : — '* It has been long m.y opinion," fays he, " that the bad lives of Chriflians are not owing fo ** much to their ignorance of what is truly evil and " finful, as to a certain fecret hope of God's favour, *' built -upon fomething feparated from the conflant '* practice of all that is virtuous and praifeworthy. *' This made me choofe to fpend fome time in '* eflablifning, after the moll: unexceptionable man- " ner, the true grounds upon which only it is rea- " fonable to build our expe£lations of happinefs,. *' and in demonflrating the great danger and weak-
*' nefs of depending on any other methods."
This publication v/as followed by fome OccafionaL Sermons, and Political Tra£ls, which, together with many other pieces of an earlier date, were colIe£led and reprinted, in one volume, in the year 17 1 5. — Mr. Hoadly was alfo the concealed, but E 6 undoubLedi
84 BENJAIMIN HOADLY, undoubted author of '* A large Dedication to the "■ Pope (Clement XL), giving him a particular Ac- ** count of the State of Religion ainongft Proteilants, "■ and of feveral other Matters of Importance rekt- ** ing to Great Britain ;" — a celebrated perforraace, which appeared about this time under the name of *' Sir Richard Steele,'* beiiig annexed to that gentleman's '* Account of the State of the Roman *^ Catholic Religion throughout the World.'*
Soon after the accefiion of George the Firft, our dunne was admitted and fworn king's cliaplain ; having before been honoured with the degree of dofcor in divinity by archbilliop Wake. "I'his was a prelude to higher promotions, which were not long delayed ; for in, December, 17 15, he was ap- pointed to the bilhoprick of Bangor, and confe- crated on the 18th of March following ; with which be held both his livings in Comtnindam,
1 he next vear his lordiliip publiilied a piece, in- tituled, " A Frefervative againft the Principles and ** Pradices of the Nonjurors both in Church and •* State ; cr, An Appeal to the Confciences and •' Common Senle of the Chriftian Laity." And in the year 171 7, he preached, before the king, his famous fermon on " 1 he x^'ature of the Kingdom or Church of Chriil ;'" which being immediately piintcd by fpecial command, fo great offence w^as taken by the-clergy at the do(5trines therein delivered, that it was refolved to proceed againft him in convo- catii;n, as foon as itlLiould lit. — Ihe lower houfe ac- cord ingly drew up tlieir reprefentation, &c. but be- fore it could be brought into the upper honfe, that whole a(Tembly v»as prorogued by a fpecial order from his majtfly ; nor was it permitted to fit, or do any bulincfs, till the refentment entirely fublided.
It was upon the publication of ths Lrmon, that
tht famous controverfy, whidi Lears our prelate's
6 name.
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 85
•nsme, commenced ; in the event of which, the death-llroke was given to the princip'es cf civil and cccleiiafliical tyranny. Dr. Snape's ^letter to the biihop of Bangor on this occaGon began the Ban- gorian controverfy ; but it may be faid to Ijave taken its rife from the feizing a number of copies of "A Collection of Papers," written by Dr. Hickes^ in 1716, defigned to inflame the people, and re- kindle an expiring rebellion, raifed b>y the joint forces of Papiiis, Nonjurors, and Church of Eng- land-men who had fworn to the government. This produced many defences of the Church of Eng- land ; but none fuch as the bcil: friends of the go- vernment and the Proteilant rehgion could reft fa- tistied with, till the tv/o lail-mentioiied pieces of the biihop appeared. Thefe went to the root. He lliewed, from the plaineft. Scriptures, that Chrift alone was King in his own kingdom, and fole Lawgiver ; — that for his laws we mull appeal to Him, and his infpired followers , — that he had declared his king- dom not to beof this world ; and that thefan6tionsofit were of the fame fpiritual nature, not of this world; . — and that confequently all encouragements and difcouragements of this world were not what Lhrift approved of, tending, as they did, to make men of one profeffion, not of one faith, hypocrites, not Chtiftians. — Thefe tenets were looked upon, though falfely, as de(igned againft all ellablilbmcnts, and that of the Church of England in particular ; and the biihop was attacked by the greateii names in the Church for the belt defences of both Church and State. Th-ir real arguments arid mifreprefen- tations he folidly confuted ; their llanders, calum- nies, and fallhoods, he forgave ; never a moment departing from the meanly charatlers of theChriHiaii divme, and the accomplifhed gentleman . making controverfy what he wiihed it^ and what he proved
by
86 BENJAMIN HOADLY,
by his example it might be, — the glory, and no-S the fhame, of Chriftianity.
In 17 19, blfhop Hoadiy publifhed, in one vo- lume, 8vo, *' The Common Rights of Subje£ls: defended ; and the Nature of the Sacramental Teft conlidered : in Anfvver to the Dean of Chichef- tcr's (Dr. Sherlock) Vindication of the Corpora- tion and Teft Afts." In the preface to this very able performaiKe, bifhop Hoadiy fays, " The fol- lowing book is an anfwer to the moll planiible and ingenious defence that, I think, has ever yet been, publifhed, of excluding men from their acknow- ledged civil rights, upon the account of their dif- ferences in religion, or in the circumllances of re- ligion ; and of making the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, inftituted by our Lord, for the remem- brance of himfelf, the inftrument of this exclufion^ by a new human inflitution." The bifhop after- wards fays, " ]n the courfe of his work the dean is repeatedly careful to obferve, that, in vindicating the Teft and Corporation Adis, he endeavours to juftify the legiflature, and to juflify the laws of his. country ; which he reprefents me arraigning and condemning. I beg leave, therefore, here to tell him, o>ice for all, that there was a time v^hen the laws of this country were on the fide of a Popifli eftabliihment ; and that the writing on any fide of any law, as fuch, is not a thing greatly to be boailed of; and tliat the whole of the cjueftion is. Whe- ther the lav/s we defend be good aiKl juft, equitable and righteous ? and not whether thev be the laws of the land or not ? I ihall alfo obferve, that it is fo far from being a crime, or an affiont to any le- giflature, to endeavour to Ihevv the evil confc- (juences, or incquitablenefs, of any law now in being, that all law-makers, who adl upon princi- ples of pubhc juftice and honour, cannot but
efleem
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 87
efteem it an advantage to have fuch points laid be* fore them : and as to myfelf, 1 fliall ever, I hope, ef- teem it as great an honour to contend againil debaf- ingany ofChtift's inftitutions into political engines, as others can do to plead on the iide of an a6l of par- liament. And 1 Ihall add farther, that I enter into this caufe, both as a Chriflian, and, 1 trufi:, as one truly concerned for the public good of the fo- ciety to which I belong ; conlidering it not as the caufe of any particular body of men, or any parti- cular fort of Chriftians diftlndl from others, but as the caufe of all men Cvqually, and of all fcrts of Chriftians, who, in fcveral places, and at fcve* ral times, have an equal intereft in it."
After having very particularly and fatisfa£loriIy refuted the different arguments advanced by the dean, bilhop Hoadly conchjdes in the following words : *' 1 have now examined Vi\ Sherlock's ar- guments; firft, for the excluiion of good civil fub- jeds from ofiiccs merely upon account of their dif- aftc£tion to a Church eflablifhrn^ent ; or rather of their leffer degree of affedf ion for one Church than fcr another : and then, for employing to this fccu- lar purpofe the communion, a facred inftitution of our Lord himfetf, appoiixted for another purpofe, \\iioliy relatiiig to another world. And 1 liave Ihewn tliat his argum.ents are inconiiftent with the rights of all Chriftians, and contrary to the princi- ples of the whole Reformation: that his plaufible arguments for exclufive laws, upon religious confi- derations, drawn from feif-defence, or former be- haviour of predeceftbrs. hurt the Church of England itfelf in other places, times, and circumftances, as much as they' can pretend to help it here now : that they juftify the Heathens exclufion of Chrif- tians ; the Papifts excluiion of i^roteftants ; and the woiil of Proteftants excluiion of the beft from all
olfices
88 BENJAMIN HOADLY,
offices whenever power may be in their hands. I have alio ihewn, that it is a proftitution of the HoJy Sacrament, to apply it to a purpofe of a dif- ferent nature from what the great inflitutor folemn- ]y appropriated it to ; and to make that the tool of this world, which he ordered to have iefpe6V only to another. And I have proved, that the Teft and Corporation A6ls aj-e repugnant to leafon and to juftice.
*' What I have written may probably be mifre- prefcnted ; but whatever imputations may be thrown out againfl me, neither the dean of Chichefter, nor any one elfe, can rob me of the inward fatifr faftioii I enjoy, in the fincere endeavours I have ufed, in this piece, and in my former writings, to propofe and recommend fuch principles, as may at length, with the affiftance of more able hands, ef- fetSlually ferve to eilablilh the intercfls of our com- mon country, anJ our. common Chriftianity, of human fociety and true religion, of the prefent generation and the laleil: pofterity, upon one uni- form, fleadv, and confident foundation."
An abridgment of this work of bifliop Hoadly's Was publilhcd in 8vo. in 1787, under the following title: '* Bifhop Hoadly's Refutation of Bifhop Sherlock's Arguments againft a Repeal of the Telt and Corporation A6is ; wherein the Juftice and R.eafonab{enels of fuch a Repeal are clearly evinced."
In 1721, bifliop Hoadly w^as translated to the fee of Hereford ; and in 1723 was made bilhop of Sa- lifbury. In 1724, he publifhed a Vifitation Charge to the Clergy ot the Dioccfe ofSalifbury. In 1732, he drew up '' An Account of the Life, Writings, and Chaiafler of ir. Samuel Clarke;" Vvhich was prefixed to the poflhumous works of -that eminent divine, thai iirft publiihed ; — a lafling monument
to
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 89
to the memory of his illuftrions friend ! — In 1734, he was advanced, on the death of BiHiop Willis (whom he had alfo fucceeded at Salifbury) to the bi- fhoprick of Winchefter; and in the following year he publilhed a celebrated treatife, entituled, '* A plain Account of the Nature and End of the Sacra- ment of the Lord's Supper ; in which all the Texts in the New Teilament relating to it, are produced and explained ; and the whole Do6lrine about it is drawn from them alone."
In this treatife, the right reverend author endea- voured to eftablifh and explain the true nature, end, and effeft of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ; and, in order to a more clear underftanding of the fubjefr, he treated it in fuch a manner, as that all who are concerned might, he hoped, be led into the right way of judging about it; to which he endea- voured to guide them, by directing and confining their attention to all that is faid concerning^ this duty by thofe v;ho alone had -any authority to de- clare the nature of it j neither on the one hand di- niinifhing, nor on the other augmenting, what is declared by them to belong to it. As this mafterly performance, which was intended to reprefent one of our Lord's Inltitutions in its original iimpli- city, limited the nature and eiFe£ts of this pofitive rite to the declarations of our Lord himfelf, when he inftituted it, and to thofe of St. Paul afterwards fthe only certain and authentic accounts), it was confcquently unfavourable to the commonly re- ceived opinions of its peculiar etlicacies and bene- fits, and accordingly met with a very warm though weak oppofition. The fury of fuch affailants was fpent to little purpofe ; and when the utmofl efforts of their zeal had been exerted againft it, the " Plain Account,'* Hill remained uninjured and fecure. A
judi-
so BENJA.AIIN HOADLY,
judicious abridgment of this piece of bifhop Hoadly's was publilhed in 1774 by Dr. Difney.
Jn the year 1754, bifhop Hoadly publifhed a voliiQie of his difcourfes, intituled, "Sixteen Ser- mons formerly printed, now collected into one Vo- lume, &c. To which are added bix Sermons upon pubhc Occafions, never before printed," &c. And, in the following year, he publilbed, " Twenty- Sermons, the firil nine of them preached before the King in Lent," &cc. His lordfliip concludes his preface to the former volume (which he then thought his lafl publication) in terms which may as jufily be applied to his labours through life, as- to that particular occafion : ** If any fhall judge (fays he) from fome dilcourfes in this volume, that I ufed to entertain my parilhioners, in my Sunday difcourfes, with political and controverliai points, they will be as much miflaken as many others were heretofore difappointed, who came to hear me with the fame notion. The ** Sermons on the Terms of Acceptance," printed long ago, may beil fliew in how plain and how particular a manner I endeavoured to inflrud thofe in whom 1 was moil nearly concerned. The only inferences in my own favour, which I wifh to be drawn from what is now publiflied, are, that I never omitted any one pub- lic opportunity, in proper time and place, of de- fending and flrengthening the true and only foun- dation of all our civil liberties, when it was every day moil zealoufly attacked ; and of doing all in my power, that all the fubje£ts of this government, and this royal family, fhould underiland and ap- prove of thole principles, upon which alone their happinefs is fixed ; and without which it could ne- ver have been rightfully eilablillied, and mull in time fall to the ground : and alfo, that I was as ready, whenever occalion wai ofFercdj by the writ- ings.
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 91-
ingj- and attacks of unbelievers, and by the abfurd rep'-eientauons of others, to defend a religion, moii: amiable in all its precepts, and moft beneficial to human fociety, in the on'v way proper; by fhew- ipig it in its native light, with which it (hines in the N&w Teftament itfelf, free from all the falfe paint with which Ibme, or the undeferved dirt with which others, have covered it."
Notwithftanding the difputes in which biHiop Hoadly had been engaged, he paffed many years of liis life in great eafe and tranquiUity ; but when he had attained to a very advanced age, his repofe was cruelly and unexpe£ledly difturbed by the villainous attempt of one Bernard Fournier (a Popifh convert and a curate in Jerfey), to defraud him of no lefs a fum than 8800I. by fetting up a note of hand which he pretended to have received from his lord- fhip. This iniquitous fcheme was fo artfully con- trived, that, for the fecurity of himfelf and his fa» mily, the bifnop thought proper to iile a bill in chancery againft Fournier ; and, after a long trial, it was decreed, " That the note fet up by the de- fendant, Fournier, againft the plaintiff, the bifhop of Winchefcer, appears to be, and is, a grofs fraud and contrivance of the defendant Fournier.'* This decree, however, did not deter or abafh the defend- ant, who appears to have been dead to all fenfe of fhame. He had fiill the eifrontery to outbrave con- vidlion, and to treat the bifnop with imparalleled audacity ; whereupon his lordfhip, finding that he continued to be troublefome, and to enjoy, at the fame time, the countenance of his old patron (Mr» Chevailier, a gentleman of character), judged it ne- ctflary to pubhlh a detail of the proceedings^ and his reafonings upon them. This he accordingly did in the year 1798, in" A Letter from the Bifhop of Wincheiler to Clement Chevailier, Efq." wheie-
iu
92 BENJAMIN HOADLY,
in he gave a very particular and fpirited account of this extraordinary tranfadlion, this complicated and. wicked contrivance. The admirable accuracy and precifion with which his lordfl-jip's narrative was penned, bore a pleafing teilimony to the vigour- of his mental powers, and fhewed, that a venerable old age had not yet exhauiced that warmth and fpi- rit peculiar to him ; that fptrit which, many years before, animated the pen of liberty, and gave fo great a check to civil and ecciefjailical tyranny. — It was indeed an aftonifhing performance, for a divine turned of eighty-one years of age ; and he received many com.pliments on that account, both by vilits and letters, from feveral of the greatell lawyers of tlie age.
We are informed by the Bifliop's Narrative, that Fonrnier pretended to be a convert from Popery, and to have efcaped from a monaftery ; under which pretence he found it not difficult to raife patrons in England ; the common receptacle of refugees and adventurers of all forts. In May, 1740, he was introduced to the bilhop, with whom lie lodged an appeal from a fentence given in the Ecclefiafiical Court of Jerfey, by the dean of Jerfey and his af- feflbrs. The bilhop being of opinion, that the fen- tence was juft, and finding his appeal irregular in point of time, advifed him to go to his cuiacy, and ipend no more of his money and time upon fuch an affair. But he alleging that the irregularity pro- ceeded from the refufal of his appeal by the court below, and being importunate, the blfhop, with great good-nature, told him, that he fhould write to the dean, to know the reafon of fuch refufal ; and that fo foon as he Ihould receive an anfwer, he would, if Fournierflill infilled upon it; give him his judgment.
Soon
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 93
Soon after the blfhop went to Farnham, and during his flay in the country, Fournier forced him into a correfpondence by letters about his (iaufe. When he came to town, he told Fournier, that he faw no reafon to alter his judgment ; and added, that is was neceiTary for him to go immedi- ately to his curacy in Jerfey, or to quit it. To this Fournier made no obje£lion. but ran into com- plaints about the expences of his caufe, and of his journey, 6cc. whereupon the bifliop generoufly gave him five guineas to aflift him in his return ; hoping their intercourfe would now be at an end.
We are farther told that, in the year 174T, Four- nier an c fled tiie dean of Jerfey upon four promiffory notes ; but that the dean made oath they were a forgery : upon which affidavit Fournier's own at- torney had the honefty to decline the caufe. This difappointment, however, did not lliock the cou- rage or conicience of this fcrupulous convert; for, foon after, the bifliop difcovered that he had fhewn a note over his name, for no lefs a fum than 8800L In fome time the bilhop found means to gain a fight of this note, together with thofe over the dean's name, which were brought to him by one Mr. Tyrrell, accompanied with a clergyman. Tyrrell prelTed the bifhop to burn thefe notes, *^ that their faliity might not,'' as he faid, '* appear in. a court of juftice to the man's utter ruin.'* The bifhop, however, had too much difcretion to follow fucli inconliderate advice.
His lordfhip then takes notice of the various and inconfillent ftories Vv^iich Fournier told concerning the conlideration of this note ; and in particular of the contradi£lory accounts which at different times he gave to Mr. Chevallier himfelf. But notwith- Handing all thefe variations and falfehoods, Four- nier was hardy enough to brave the bifhop, and
defy
94 BExVJAMIN HOADLY,
defy deteftion : upon which his lordfhip (as we have feen) was obliged to call him and his note into chancery, w4iere he obtained a judgement in his favour, together wath all coils of fuit, amounting to 150!. and "upw^ards. The circum- Hances, which inconteflably proved the note to be counterfeit, are very accurately related by his lordfliip ; and it appeared from the particulars, which were coiiflrmed by depofitions in the caule, that the ingenious Mr. Fournier had drawn up at leaft three notes over the bifliop's name, on the franks in which his lordfliip's letters were inclofcd when he was artfully led into an epiftolary corre- fpondence. In fliort, the con.curring evidence of his guilt w-as more than fufficient to warrant the decree of a court of equity agaiiifi: Fournier.
Our prelate, with fome warmth, expredes his amazement that Mr. Chevaliicr, w-ho had the cha- rafter of a man of unblemilhed integrity, fliould patronize Fournier after the ftrongefl alTurances of his guilt, even from the contradictions which he heard from his ow^n mouth ; and he imputes a part of the trouble he had in the affair to this en- couragement and proteftion. He likewife, with great tendernefs, takes notice of fome inconliften- cies and contradiftions in Mr. Chevaliicr ; and con- cludes, with a truly Chriftian temper, that he for- gives him as fully and as lincerely as it is his duty to do.
Bifliop Hcadly died at the great age of eighty- five, at his palace at Chelfea, on the 17th of April, 1761. He w^as a man of great abilities, which he employed in the fervice of religion, ^ and in pro- moting the common rights of mankind ; and his pri- vate character was very amiable. He was twice married ; and by liis fiill ladv he had five children. His fon Benjamin became a phylician, an-d was au- thor
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 95
thor of tli€ celebrated comedy, called " The Suf- picious Hufband." Another of his fons, Dr. John Hoadly, became chancellor of the diocefe of Win- chefter. He was editor of a complete edition of the works of his father, which was publifhed in three volumes, folio, in 1773.
A few years before bifhop Hoadly's death, the following ode was addrefled to him. by Dr. Akeniide ; and which, it has been obferved, is a more lading monument in honour of him, than that which was executed by Mr. Wilton, and ere£led to his me- mory in the cathedral ofWinchefter:
Ode io the Right Rcv, Dr, B£NIAlv^^^ Koadly, B'J?jo^ of IVhubejfer,
I. I.
For toils which patriots have endur'd. For treafon q^uell'd and laws fecur'd, In every nation Time difplavs 1'hc palm of honourable praife. Envy may rail ; and faftion fierce May ftrive : but what, alas, can thofe (Though bold, yet Wind and fordid foes) To gratitude and love oppofe. To faithful flory and perfualive verfei I. 2. O nurfe of freedom, Albion, fay. Thou tamer of defpotic fway. What man, among thy fons around. Thus heir to glory hail thou founds Vv'hatpage, in all thy annals bright, Hail thou with purer joy furvey*d Than that where truth, by Hoadly's aid. Shines through the deep unhallow'd fhadc Of kingly fraud and facerdotal night?
96 BENJAMIN HOADLY,
To him the Teacher blefs'd Who fent rehgion, from the palmy field By Jordan, like the morn to cheer the wed:, And lifted up the veil which heaven from earth conceal'd, To Hoadly thus he utter'd his behefl : *' Go thou, and refcue my diflionour'd law ** From hands rapacious and from tongues im-
** pure : *' Let not my peaceful name be made a lure *' The fnares of lavage tyranny to aid : *' Let not my words be impious chains to draw *' The free-born foul, in more jhan brutal aw^e, ^* To faith without affent, allegiance unrepaid.'* IL I. No cold nor unperforming hand Was arm'd by heaven v;ith this command. The w^orld foon felt it : and, on high, To William's ear with welcome joy Did Locke among the bleii unfold The riling hope of Hoadly's name : Godolphin then confirm'd the fame ; And Somers, v;hen from earth he came. And valiant Stanhope the fair fequel told. IL 2. Then drew the law-givers around (Sires of the Grecian name renown'd). And liftening afk'd, and wondering knew. What private force could thus fubdue The vulgar and the great combin'd ; Coufd war with facred folly wage ; Could a whole nation difengage From the dread bonds of many an age, And to new habits mould the public mmd.
II. ?.
BISHOP or WINCHESTER. 97
II. 3.
For not a conqueror's fword, Nor the llrong powers to civil founders known, Were liis : but truth by faithful fearch explor'd,
And focial fenfe, hke feed, in genial plenty fown. Wherever it took root, the foul (reftor'd To freedom) freedom too for others fought. Not monkiih craft the tyrant's claim divine, Not regal zeal the bigot's cruel fhrine, Could longer guard from reafon's warfare fagc; Not the wild rabble to fedition wrought, Not fv'nods by the papal genius taught,
Nor St. John's foirit ioofe, nor Atterburv's rage.
III. I.
But where fhall recompence be found ? Or how fuch arduous merit crown'd ? For look on life's laborious fcene : What rugged fpaces lie between Adventurous Virtue's early toils And her triumphal throne ! The fliade Of death, mean time, does oft invade Her progrefs ; nor, to us difplay'd,
Wears the bright heroine her expelled fpoils. 111. 2. Yet born to conquer is her power: — O Koadiy, if that favourite hour On earth arrive, with thankful awe We own jufi: heaven's indulgent law. And proudly thy fuccefs beliold ; ^
We attend thy reverend length of days W^ith benediction and with praife, And hail thre in our public ways
Like fome great fpirit fam'd in ages old.
in 3-
While thus our vows prolong Thy fteps on earth, and when by us refign'd Thou join'ft thy feniors, that heroic throng- Vol. Vil. ' F ^Vhs
c^S BENJAMIN HOADLY.
Who refcu'd or prefcrv'cl the rights of human kind, O ! not unworthy may thy Albion's tongue Thee flili her fnenci and benefadlor name : O ! never, Hoadly, in thy country's eyes, iVlay impious gold, or pleafure's gaudy prize. Make public virtue, public freedom vile : Nor our own manners tempt us to difclaim That heritage, our noblefl wealth and fame,
Which thou haft kept intire from force and fac- tious iruile.
^"^ Jtiihrifics Biographia Britannica. Eri- tiili Biography, 8vo. vol. IX.
I 99 3
The life of
EDWx^RD YOUNG, LL.D,
[A. D. 1681, to 1765.]
DR EDWARD YOUNG was bom in the year 1684, at Upham, in Hampfliire, of which place his father, Dr. Edward Young, dean of Sarum, was then re£lor. At a proper age he was fent to Wincheiler-fchool, where he became a fcholar upon that foundation. From thence he was removed to Oxford; and, according to the ilatutes of each foundation, admitted of New Col- lege in the yean 703 ; but being fuperannuated, and there being no fellowfhip vacant, he' removed, be- fore the expiration of the year, to Corpus Chrifli College, where he entered himfelf a gentleman commoner. In 1708, he was put into a law-fel- lowfliip at All Souls by archbiihop Tennifon, into whofe hands it came by a devolution. In confe- quence of this preferment, in 1714, he took the degree of bachelor of laws ; and in 17 19 he be- came a doftor of laws. Two years after this, he was prevailed upon by the duke of Wharton, who patronized him, to offer himlelf a candidate for member of parhament for the borough of Cirencef- ter \ but in this attempt he was unfuccefsful.
F 2 la
ICC THELIFEOF
In the mean time he- had applied himfelf to the fludy of poetry with fuch fnccefs, that he pro- duced, the lame year, a Tragedy, called ** Bufiris," which wa?aded with great applaufe ; and, in 1721, this play was followed by another, entituled, *' The Revenge," which is efteemed his bell dramatic per- formance, and W'hich met with the reception it de- ferved. He afterw^ards brought a third tragedy upon the ftage, entituled, " The Brothers," which was alfo a(iled w^ith applaufe.
About the year 1723, our author publillied, " A Poem on the Lall Day, in I'hree Books ;" which, coming from the pen of a layman, was honoured with peculiar applaufe. This produ6lion was foon followed by another, entituled, " The Force of Religion ; or Vanquilhed Love ; A Poem, in Two Books ;" which was well received by the publick in general, and was particularly pleafing to the noble family who were more immediately interefted in the lubjeibt of his verfe.
As a poet, Dr. Young has other and far better claims upon poflerity for reputation than what arife from thel'e performances ; but, whatever may be their mtrinfic merit, they ferved to introduce him to the notice of fevcral of the nobility ; and the turn of his mind leading him to divinity, he quitted the lludy of the law, and entering into holy orders was appomted chaplain in ordinary to king George the fecond, in the year 1728. I'he fame year he divtinguiflied himlelf as a profe- writer, by publim- ing '" rV Vindication cf Providence: Or, A true Eil:mate of Huma?r Lite: in which the Palfions are conf;dercd in a new Light." The dccafioji which firll: lue<j;eilcd this fabie<if to hini was, as he himfelf informs us, the drath of the kir^g ((ieorge the Firll) , an event which led him mto a variety of reliedions that are, in general, extiemely jull : and
as
Dr. Y O U N G. lOi
as they are by no means drawn from books, but from the life, they have alfo an air of originality which renders them the more ftriking.
]n the year 1730, Dr. Young was prefented by his college to the valuable redlory of Welwvn im Hertfordlliire ; and his fellowfhip being vacated by this preferment, he entered loon after into a mar- riage with the lady Betty Lee, widow of Colonel Lee, and daughter to the earl of Litchfield ; a lady of excellent endowments, and great Iweetnefs of temper. In the mean time, the duties of the clerical pro- feflton had not entirely withdrawn his attention from thofe elegant purfuits to which he was at- tached by nature and education. Polite literature ilill attrafted his regard; and, amidft his f^-verer lludies, he continued to cultivate his poetical ta- lent.
His farires, which were entituled, '^ The Love of Fame, or the Univerfal Paffion," and which were at firfl feparately prisited in folio, at different times, were well received by the publick ; but his moil celebrated performance is h's *- Night Thoughts." Dr. Young's lady had two children by her former hufband, a fon and a daughter, whofe amiable quahties ib entirely engaged his affections, that he loved them with all a father's fondnefs ; and as fhe had alfo brought him a fon, liis doineilic felicity was complete; but, in the year 1741, it was fuddenly and irretrievably interrupted i)y the death of his wife, her fon, and daughter, who were all taken from him within a ihort time o( each other. This was an affii6fion which called for every confolation that reaion and rehgion could in- fpire ; and how deeply he was aifc 61:ed by his lofs, ai-»d w^hat painful llruggles he underwent before he- could regain any tolerable tranquilHty of mind, is evident from the '' Night Thoughts/' that cele- F 3 brated
20% THE LIFE OF
brated poem, which was occafioned by this ca- lamity.
Notwithftanding the blemifhes and dcfecls of this performance, which are numerous and flriking, there was fomething in it i'o pecuharly noble and auguft, that, at its firll appearance, it was received with unbounded appjaufe ; and, without doubt, its various and tranfcendent beauties will be contem- plated with admu-ation and delight by a very re- mote poiterity.
]n 1755, hepublifhed, in 8vo. *' The Centaiif not fabulous. Jn Six Letters to a Friend, on tms Life in Vogue." An explanation of this lingular title will throw^ fome light on the nature of the v;ork ; and the autlior himfelf has thus given it to his readers: "The men of pleafure," fliys he, *' the licentious and profligate are the fubje^t of ihefe letters^ andjiii fuch, as inthe fabled Centaur, the brute runs away with the man ; therefore I call them Cenlaurs. And further I call them Centaurs not fabulous, becaufe bv their feat cely half-human coiidu6l and chara6lcr, 'th-at enigmatical and purely iderd iigure of the ancients is not unriddled only, but realized *' Jn the lirft four letters he attempts to m.ake the Ijifjdc] and the voluptuary fenfible of their error, and to recommend belief and virtue,, in the room of doubt and diifolutenefs. In the fifth and iixth he treats of tliefe five points ; *' Life's Keview ; The general Caufe of Security in Sin ; Thoughts for /^^ge; The Dignity of Man ; The Centaur's Refloration to Humanity." The three firft of thefe points, he tells his correfpondent, were naturallv fuggefted to him by the world's wick- ednefs, and the:r own; and by their advanced time of life. The fourth, viz. The Dignity of Man, fays he, is naturally fuggefied by the notoriety of its reverfe in tlioie for wliofe fake thefe letters are
princi-
D R. YOUNG. 103
principally ^Yrittcn. And the fifth point, viz. The Centaur's Reftoratiou to Humanity is forcibly impofed on me by the tranfporting tiiought that fuch an event is poifible.
The general Ihain of thefe letters is ftrongly cha- ra£leriific of the author of the " Night I'houghts,'* notwithllanding an air of gaiety, and even levity, which is occalionally affumed ; and they are, in many inftances, diilinguilhed by a ftriking origi- nality of fentiment, and peculiar brilliancy of ex- prellion.
As Dr. Young pofTefTed fo much merit, and had been appointed chaplain to king George 11. fo early as the year J 728, it has juflly been thought extra- ordinary that he never obtained any preferment in the church, but ended his days upon a livings Vvhich came to him from his college without au^ favour. ** To fatisfy curiofity'of this kind, fays Mr. Herbert Croft, is, at this difiance of time^ — ^ far from eafy. '1 he parties themfelves know not often, at the inflant, why they are ncgle6led. The negle£l of Young is by fome afcribed to his having attaclied himfelf to the prince of Wales, and to his having preached an olTenlive fermon at St. Tames's. It has been told me, that he had two hundred a year in the late reign, by the patronage of AValpoie ; and tliat, whenever the king was re- minded of Young, the only anfwer was, 'Miehas ' a peniion." All the light thrown on this inquiry by the following letter from Seeker, only ferves to fliew us at what a late period of life the author of the *' Night Thoughts" folicited preferment.
** Deanry of St. Paul's, July 8, 1758. Good Dr. Young, *' I have long wondered, that more fuitabic no- tice of your great merit hath not been taken by per- F 4 ions
104 T H E L I F E O F
foils in power. But how to remedy the omifTfOn^ I lee not. No encouragement hath ever been given me to mention things of this nature to his majefty. And therciore, in all likehhood, the only confe- queiTce of doing it would be weakening the little intiuence which elfe I may polllbly have on fome other occalions. Your fortune and your reputa- tion fet you above the need of advancement; and your icntimeiUs above that concern for it, on your own account, which, on that of the pubiick, is lincerely felt by
*' Your loving brother,
1 lie. Cant."
About two years before this he publillied a profe piece of great merit, entituled, ^' Conje£lures on Original Compofition, in a Letter to the Author of 'Sir Charles Grandifon." In this performance, fpeaking of the pleafures of compofition, Dr. Young fays, '* To men of letters,. and leifure, it is not only a noble amufement, but a fweet refuge ; it improves their p-Uts, and promotes their peace ; it opens a back-door out of the buflle of this bufy, and idle world, ii'ito a delicious garden of moral and intellectual fruits and flowers ; the key of which is denied to the reft of mankind. When flung with idle anxieties, or teazed with fruitlefs impertinence, or yawning over innpid divcrfions, then we fee the bleffings of a lettered recefs. With what a guft do we retire to our dinnterefted and innriortal friends in our clofct, and find our minds, when applied to fome favourite theme, as naturally and as eafily quieted and refre(hed, as a peevilh child (and peeviih children are vvc ail till we t'"all afleep) when laid to the brcail ! Our happi- ncfs no longer lives on charity ; nor bids fair for a fail^ by leaning on that moft precarious and thorny
pillow.
Dr. young. ics
prllow, another's pleafure for our repofe. How in- depenJeiit of the world is he, who can dailv ^find new acquahitance, that at once entertain and im- prove him in the little world, the minute but fruit- ful creation of his own mind .'
" .' hefe advantages compofition affords us, whe- ther we write ourfelves, or, in more humble amufement, perufe the works of others. While we buille through the throiiged walks of public life, it gives us a refpite, at leail from care, a pleaflng paufe of refreihing recollection. If the countrv is our choice, or fate, there it refcues us from floth and fenfuaiity, which, like obfcene ver- min, are apt graduully to creep unperceived into the delightful bowers of our retirement, and ta poifon all its fweets, Confcious guilt robs the rofe of its fcent, the lily of its luftre, and makes an Eden a deflowered and difmal fcene.
*' Moreover, if we conlider life's endlefs evilsy what can be more prudent than to provide for con- folation under them ? A confolation under them* the wifeft of men have found" in the pleafures of tlie pen; witnefs, among many mo-re, Thucydides,. Xenophon, TuUy, Ovid. Seneca, Pliny the Younger, who fays, *' in uxor is infirmitate, & amicorum periculo, aut morte turbatus, ad iludiay unicum doloris kvamentum, confugio/' And vA\y not add to tliefe their raodern equals, Chau- cer, Rawleigh, Bacon, Milton. Clarendon, under the fame fliield, unwounded by misfortune, and nobly fmiling in diltrefs B
" Compoiition was a cordial to thefe under the frowns of Fortune ; but evils there are, which her fmiles cannot prevent, or cure. Among thefe are the languors of old age. If thofe are held ho- nourable, who in a hand benumbed by time have grafpcd the juft fword in defence of their country ^ F 5 ilmli
ic6 T H E L r F E O F
fhall they be lefs ellccmcd, whofe unfleady pen vi- brates to the lail in the caufe of religion, of virtue, of learning? Both thefe are happy in this, that by fixing their attention on obje(Sl:s mofl important, they efcape nnmberlefs httle anxieties, and that Z^- dium viia which often hangs fo heavy on its even- ing hours."
Dr. Young's lafl- performance was a poem, entl- tuled, " The Refignation," which is inferior to- his other works, and was publiflied not long be- fore his death, w-hich happened at VVelwyn, on the 12th of April, 1765. He was buried under the altar-piece of that parilb-church, by the lide of his^ wife. His fortune, which was conliderable, he left to his only fon, with fome parts of v.'hofe condu6l he had been much dhpleafed, but to whom he was at laft reconciled, it ha.« been faid, that the cha- rafter of X<?rt'«zc in the Ntght Thoughts was intended- by Dr- Young for his fon ; but this appears to be entirely without foundation ; for the doctor's foiv was only {^vtn vears of age when the chara£ter of Lorenzo, in the " Night T houghts,'^ was iirft pub- lilhed. In juflice to Dr. Young's fen, it fliould alfo be obferved, that, whatever might be the faults or foibles of his youth, he now bears a very re- ipe£Labje character.
Dr. Young was a man of conliderable genius, of great pietv, and of amiable and virtuous manners in private life. The turn of his mind was natur lally folemn ; a?id, during Ins refidencc in the c ountrv, he conimonlv fpent fcj^ie hours in a dav ?.vr.or.gft the tombs in his- own church-yard. His v.onvtr.fation, as well as his writings, gerrerally had a reference to the life after this ; aiid the fam.e iiifpoiition diicovered itfelf even in the improve- rnents of his rural abode. And yet, notwithfland- ing this natural gloominefs of tenipcr, he was fo
fond 3
D- R. Y O U N G. 107
fond of innocent amufements, that be inf^ituted an aiTembly and a bowling-green in his parifh, which he frequently honoured with his prefence. — • In the earlier part of his life, he had been inti- mately acquainted with Ibme cf the firil: perfons in the polite and learned w^orld ; but he furvived ai- mofl all of them many years.
Dr. Young's greateft fault was too great a pro- pensity to flatter perfons in liigh fVations, and thofe from whom there was any probability of his ob- tainifig preferment. He rofe betimes, and obliged his domefticks to join with him iu the duty of morning-prayer. In his youth, as well as after- wards, he was often diflinguifhed by fomewhat of iingularity in his manners. It is a traditionary re- port at Oxford, that, when he was compoiing, he would fllut up his windows, and fit by a lamp even at mid-day; and that fculls, bones, and inftru- ments of death, were among the ornaments of his Itudy.
In 1762, Dr. Young publifhed a colleclion of fuch as he thought the bell of his wor^s in four vo- lumes, i2mo. under the title of " The Works of the Author of the Night Thoughts.'* A fifth vo- lume was publiflied after his death.
*^* Authorities. Biographia Britannica. Britifh Biography. 8vo. vol, IX. Johnfon's Lives of the Poets. Baker's Biographia Dramatlca.
F6 The
E io8 }
The life of Sx^MUEL RICHARDSON.
[A.D. 1689, to 1761.]
THIS ingenious writer was born in 1689, and is faid to have been the fon of a farmer in DerDyfl:iire. Of the earner part of his hfe few par- ticulars are prcfervcd. He appears not to have re- ceived much in{lru£lion in the learned languages ; but being brought up to the profellion of a printer, he carried on that bufinefs for a long feries of years, with great reputation, in Sahfoury- court, Fleet- flrcct. When the duke of Wharton, about the year 1723, was a6live in oppolition to the court;, and, in order to make hlmfelf popular in the city, became a member of the Wax chandlers company ; Mr, Richardlon was liis printer, and was much favoured by him, though he differed fro:n the duka in his principles.' Me printed for that noblemaw^ for a fhort time, a political paper, called '* The *' True Briton," which v/as publilhed twice a week ; but he fooi'i declined Iiaving aiiy concern in that publication, from an unwillingnefs to fubjeft him- lelf to any profecution from the govern- ment. He printed for Ibme time a news-paper, called '^'I he *' Daily- Journal/' and afterwards ''The Daily
<* Ga-
SAMUEL RICHARDSON. log
Gazetteer." He was patronized by Mr. Onflow, fpeaker of the Houfe of Commons ; and by his intereft was appointed to print the firft edition of *' The Journals of the Houfe of Commons." Mr. Onflow had an high eileem for him ; and it is faid, that he would have procured for him fome honour- able and profitable office under the government ; but Mr. Kichardfon, whole bulinefs v»'as extenfive and lucrative, neitl^er defired, nor would accept of, any thing of that kind.
in the year 1740, he publifhed his celebrated romance, entituled. Pamela, which procured him both fame and profit, it appears, from a letter of Mr. Aaron Hill's to David Mailet, that the latter had fufpeded that Mr. Hill had a band in this" performance. The pafiage in ?vlr. Hill's letter, which is dated January 23, i74i, is as follows: " You afk me, in your poiticript, whether you are right in guelTing, there are fome traces of my hand in Pamela ? No, Sir, upon my faith, I had not any (the minuteil Ihare) in that delightful nur- fery of virtues. The fole and abfolute author is Mr. Ricliardfon of Salifbury-Court ; and fucli 2;i author too lie is, that hardly mortal ever matched him for his cafe of natural power. He feems to move like a calm fummer fea, tliat, fvvelling upward, with unconfcious deepnefs, lifts the heaviefi: weights into the Ikies, and fhews no fenfe of their incumbency. He would, per- liaps, in every thing he fays or does, be more in' nature than all men before him., but that he has one fault to- an unnatural excefs — and that is, modefly. i he book was pubiilhed many months before I faw or heard of it ; and when he fsnt it me, among fome other pieces, it came with- out the fmaiieil: hint that it was his, and with a grave apology, as for a, trifie of too light a
fpecies^
no . THELIFEOF
fpecies. I found out whofe it was by the re- fenibling turn of Pamela's expreffions, weighed with fome which I had noted as pecuhar in his letters : yet very loth he was, a long time, to confefs it. And, to fay the leaft I can, of qua- lities which he conceals with as much fear as if they were ignoble ones, he is fo honeil, open, generous, and great a thinker, that he cannot in his waitings paint a virtue that he needs look farther than his heart to find a pattern for. Let me not, therefore, rob him for a moment, in fo juft a mind as yours, by interception of his praifes. The glory is, and ought to be, his only. And I am much mifiaken in the promife of his genius, or Pamela (all lovely as Ihe is, in her unheeded, hafty drefs) is but a dawning to the day he is to give us."
In 1749 hepubiilhed his mofl celebrated perform- ance, his Clarifla, in feven volumes, 8vo. In one of iVir. Hill's letters to Mr. Richardfon, on the publica- tion of this work, are the following pafHiges : Your CiarilTa '' is full of varied and improving beauties^ of fuch flriking force, that they monopolize my thoughts, and every thought throughout my fa- mily.— They give a body, and material tangibi- lity, to fancy ! take poiTeffion of the fleep, and dwell, like birdlime, on the memory ! — We are acquainted v;ith, and fee, and know, with the compleateft intimacy, each man, maid, woman^ tree, houfe, field, Hep, incident, and place, throughout thi£ exquii'ite creation! — We agree, and every day, afreln, remark to one another, that we can find no difference at all, in the impreilion of things really xlone, and paft, and recoUefted by us — and the things we read of, in this intellec- tual world, which you have naturalized us into."
♦* I never open you, v^ithout new proof of what
I have
SAMUEL RICHARDSON, m
1 have a thoufand times afTerted, that you are a fpecies in your lingle felf, that never had, nor will have, equal ; fuch a glowing Ikill you have to call out life, and paint the features of the foul fo fpeak- ingly ! — to conjure up, into the compafs of fo fmall a circle, fuch innumerable fpecimens of every humour, every paiiion ! — all the reprefen- tative difplays of nature !"
*' Inflead of viewing you engrolTed by a diurnal round of the fame bulinefs, one would think you had been verifying the ftory of the wandering Jew, and gathering all the fruits of feventeen a£tive ages, in all climates, and through all diverfities of con- verfation. But you have peculiarly, a namelefs fcrength, in locally inipreflive ima^gery, that goes beyond whatever was conceived by a poetic fancy I A certain happy force, of fiarting life from fomc quick tranfient glance, that opens its whole like- nefs at a iiafh, and ilamps it with a not to be re- lified permanency. Your moral hints are hidden, hke fhort lightning ; and they flrike with the i?me force and fubtilty i"
In 1753 he publiihed his '• Hiftory of Sir Charles *' Grandifon," in eight volumes ; which poirelTes a very high degree of merit, though it is thought not quite equ-al to his ClarifTa. Dr. Warton fays, *' Of all reprefentations of madnefs, that of Clemen- tina, in the Hiftory of Sir Charles Grandifon, is the mofl: deeply intereitiiig. I know not whether even the madnefs of Lear is wrought up, and ex- prelTed by fo many litt'e llri'£lures of nature ar,d genuine paffioii- Shall I fay it is pedantry to prefer and compare the madnefs of Oreiles in Euripides to this of Clementina?"
The year after the publication of this work, Mr. Richardfon became mailer of the Stationer's com- ■oany. in 1760 he purcbafeJ a moiety of the patent
112 THELIFEOF
of law- printer, and carried on that department of bufinefs in partnerfhip with Mrs. Cathe- rine Lintot. His country retirement was firft at North-end, near Hammerfmith, and afterwards at Farfons-green ; and his houfe was generally filled with the company of his friends of both fexes ; for he was extremely hofpitable, and fond of the com- pany of his friends. He died on the fourth of July,. 1 761, at the age of feventy-two, and was buried in* St. Bride's-church, London.
He was twice married ; and by his firfl wife, Martha Wilde, who was the daughter of Mr. Al- lington Wilde, printer, in Cierkenwell, he had' five fons and a daughter, who all died young. His fecond wife, who furvived him more than twelve years, was Ehzabeth, fiftcr of Mr. Leake, book- feller at Bath. By her he had a fon- and five daughters. The fon died voung ; but four of the daughters furvived Iii rn ; \iz. Mary, married in 1757, to Mr. Ditcher, an eminent furgeon at Bath; Martha, married in 1-7 6-2 to Kdvvard Eridgen, efq. fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and treafurer of the Society of Antiquaries j Anne, who drd not marry ; and Sarah, who married ^^^. Crow^- ther, furgeon, of Bofwell-court, London.
Mr. Duncombe, fpeakii:jg of Mr. Richardfon, fays, *' To this great *'mafcerof the heart," this Shakefpeare of Romance, who, in the words of the Rambler, '^ taught the pafl^.ons to move at the *' command of virtue," the Graces may be faid to have unveiled nature; and while our language lafls, or tafte and fenfibility remain, the madnefs of Cle- mentina in particular will be as much admired and fcit as that of Lear. And let it be remembered., that the virtues which Richardfon drew he copied from liis own heart, the benevolence which he mculcated'^ he conflantly pradlifed in its fullelft extent." it is
alfo
SAMUEL RICHARDSON. 113
alfo faid of him, " that, befides his being a great ge- nius, he was a truly good man in all rclpefts ; in his family, in commerce, in converfation, and in every inflance of condu£l. He was pious, virtuous, ex- emplary, benevolent, friendly, generous, and hu- mane to an uncommon degree ; glad of every op- portunity of doing good to his fellow -creatures in diftrefs, and relieving many without their know- ledge. His chief delight was doing good. He was highly revered and beloved by his domellicks, bc- caufe of his happy temper and difcreet conduft. He had great tendernefs towards his wife and children, and great condefcenlioii towards his fervants.'*
Mr. Richardfon's works have been tranflated into various foreign languages, and much admired by foreign writers of great celebrity. RoufTeau, in his letter to D'Alembert, fays, " There never has been written, in any language, a romance equal to, or approaching to, Clariffa." Monf. Diderot, in his " Eilay on Dramatic Poetry," fpeaking of Richard- fon, fays, " How ftrong, how feniible, how pa- thetic, are his dcfcriptions ! his perfonages, though filent, are alive before me ; and, of thofe who fpeak, the actions are fliil more afF^ding than the words."
*^* Juthorit'ie^. New and General Biog. Di£l. 8vo. edit. 1784. Nichols's Biographical and Literary Anecdotes of Mr. Bowyer. Works of Aaron Hill^ vol. IL
The
[ iH ] The life of
HENRi^ FIELDING
[A.D. 1707, to 1754.]
THIS celebrated writer was the foil of Ed- mund F'ieldi ng, who ferved in the wars under the duke of Marlborough, and arrived to the rank of lieutenant-general about the latter end of the reign of George I. or the beginning of George II. His mother was the daughter of judge Gould, the grandfather of the late Sir Henry Gould, one of the barons of the Exchequer : he was born at Sharphard-park, in Somerfctfliire, i'n 1707 ; and w^as the eldell of four liilers and a brother. Sarah Fielding, his third lifter, is well known to the literary world by feveral elegant performances.
His mother dying, lieutenant general Fielding married a fecond time ; and the ilTue of that mar- riage was fix fons, George, James, Charles, John, "William, and Halil. Of thefe Sir John Fielding, fucceeded his half-brother, Henry, in the com- miffion of the peace for the counties of Mid- dlefex, Surrey, Eifex, and the city and liberties of Weftminiler ; and who, by the improvements he made in our defedlive fvftcm of police, acquired great r'ipritation, and the honour of being confi- dered as the chief magillrate inthofc exteafive jurif- didions.
Henry
HENRY FIELDING. 115
Henry Fielding received the firft rudiiT.eiits of his education at home, under the care of the reverend Mr, Oliver, of whom he has given a very humorous and ftriking portrait in Jofeph Andrews, under the name of parfon TruUiber.
From Mr. OHver's care he w^as removed to Eton- fchool, where he became acquainted with the late lords Lyttelton and Holland, Sir Charles Hanbuiy Williams, Mr. Winnington, and lord Chatham. When he left this great feminary, he was faid t® be uncommonly verled in the Greek and Latin claffics ; for both which he ever retained a flrong; admiration.
From Eton he was fent to Leyden, and there he fludied the civilians for about two years ; but remit- tances failing, at the age of twenty, or thereabout, he returned from Leyden to London^ where, though under age, he found himfeif his own maf- ter ; from which fource flowed all the inconvenien- cies that attended him throughout the remainder of his life. The brilliancy of his wit, the vivacity of his humour, and his high relifh of focial enjoyment, foon brought him into requeft with men of tafte and literature, and with the voluptuous of all ranks. His finances v.'ere not equal to the frequent draughts made upon him by the extravagance which naturally followed. He u-as allowed, indeed, two hundred pounds a year by his father ; but, as he himfeif ufed to fay, any body might pay it that would.
The fa£l was, General Fielding, having married again loon after the death of