OTHER WRITERS.

THEOLOGY.

At the beginning of this period the controversy with the Deists was at its height. Tindal's Christianity as old as the Creation' had wrought the excitement to a frenzy. There was no lack of replies in various degrees of power; Leland enumerates as "valuable treatises" that appeared within the year 1730, works by Dr Thomas Burnet, Dr Waterland, Mr Law, Mr Jackson, Dr Stebbing, Mr Balguy, James-afterwards Dr-Foster, and a "pastoral letter" by Bishop Sherlock. There were many others. One of the most elaborate defences was made by Dr John Conybeare (1691-1757), afterwards Bishop of Bristol. This is praised by Warburton as "one of the best-reasoned books in the world."

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The Deists were reinforced by Thomas Morgan and Thomas Chubb. Morgan published in 1737 The Moral Philosopher, a dialogue between Philalethes, a Christian Deist, and Theophanes, a Christian Jew.' He does not hold with Tindal that the Christian republication of the law of nature is superfluous. He holds that Christ's promulgation of "the true and genuine principles of nature and reason were such as the people had never heard or thought of before, and never would have known, without such an instructor, such means and opportunities of knowledge." He calls himself a Christian Deist. But he repudiates both miracles and prophecy Christ, he holds, attained moral truth by "the strength and superiority of his own natural faculties," and in that sense may be said to have had the light of revelation! He attacks Judaism. "He representeth the law of Moses as 'having neither truth nor goodness in it, and as a wretched scheme of superstition, blindness, and slavery, contrary to all reason and common-sense, set up under the specious popular pretence of a divine instruction and revelation from God.' And he endeavours to prove that this was the sentiment of St Paul." Further, he attacks the preaching of the apostles "pretends that they preached different gospels, and that the New Testament is a jumble of inconsistent religions." Morgan was specially refuted by Joseph Hallet, Dr John Chapman, and Dr Leland. Thomas Chubb (1679-1747) was a selfeducated man, journeyman to a tallow-chandler, yet much taken notice of for his "strong natural parts and acuteness" by wealthy patrons of letters. In his True Gospel of Jesus Christ asserted,' and in his 'Discourse on Miracles,' he takes much the same ground as Morgan. He left for publication after his death a variety of tracts on the most important subjects of religion. In these tracts, among other sceptical views, he expresses uncertainty regarding a future life.

Among the Deists it is usual to reckon Lord Bolingbroke. His philosophical works, containing his arguments against orthodox theology, were not published till 1754. By that time the excitement had died down. His declamations against religion, which went far beyond all previous attacks, were replied to by Leland and Warburton.

By far the ablest of the Christian Apologists was Joseph Butler (1692-1752), Bishop of Bristol and Dean of St Paul's. His 'Analogy' (1736) is so compact and exhaustive, that it has superseded and destroyed the reputation of all the replies to the Deists then current. It was directed chiefly against Tindal's 'Christianity as old as the Creation.' In the first part he proves elaborately that there is a Moral Governor of the universe who has placed man in a state of probation, and rebuts any argument from the incomprehensibility of parts of the scheme of the world to the untruth of the leading doctrines of natural theology. In the second part he maintains Christianity to be a divine republication of natural religion, and marshals the various evidences. The work is most thorough. It is a sagacious digest of all that had been said in the course of the controversy. It is no paradox to say that the merit of the 'Analogy' lies in its want of originality. It came (1736) towards the end of the deistical period. It is the result of twenty years' study-the very twenty years during which the deistical notions formed the atmosphere which educated people breathed. The objections it meets are not new and unseasoned objections, but such as had worn well, and had borne the rub of controversy, because they were genuine. And it will be equally hard to find in the 'Analogy' any topic in reply which had not been suggested in the pamphlets and sermons of the preceding half-century." "Butler's eminence over his contemporary apologists is seen in nothing more than in that superior sagacity which rejects the use of any plea that is not entitled to consideration singly. In the other evidential books of the time, we find a miscellaneous crowd of suggestions of very various value; never fanciful but often trivial; undeniable, but weak as proof of the point they are brought to prove.' The matter of the work must indeed be of sterling value to retain it in the place it has permanently assumed as a text-book of Natural Theology. The style, as a style designed for general reading, could hardly be worse. would hardly be possible to make a book more abstruse and difficult. This probably arises partly, as Mr Pattison points out, from his aiming at logical precision, at arranging the arguments so that each shall have its exact weight, and no more. He is probably entitled to the merit of precision. But his sins against simplicity, against ready intelligibility, are heinous. His sentences are long 1 Mr Pattison-Essays and Reviews, p. 287, 289.

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It

and intricate, he studies to express himself in the most abstract form possible, and there are very few examples or illustrations to relieve the dry press of general statements. His defects as a popular expositor are most vividly felt when he is compared with Paley, who may be said to have interpreted him to the multitude.

In William Warburton (1698-1779), Bishop of Gloucester, we see a controversialist very different from the abstract and dignified Butler, a bold man, of great intellectual force and wide erudition. In his youth he was articled to an attorney. He took orders in 1727, and soon after obtained the rectory of Brand Broughton, in Lincoln. His first work was, in 1736, on the alliance between Church and State. His masterpiece is 'The Divine Legation of Moses' (1738). The leading idea, which immediately involved him in controversy, is the paradox that there is no mention of a future state in the Old Testament, and that this, so far from being an argument against its divine origin, is an argument in favour. With much learning and ingenuity he seeks to establish that no ruler except Moses has ever kept a people in subjection without the sanction of punishments in a future life, and argues that Moses could not have done so without supernatural assistance. Besides this great work, he published sermons and controversial tracts chiefly in defence of the Legation, and in refutation and abuse of Bolingbroke. One of his most famous exploits was his defence of Pope against the charge of Deism. Pope, it is said, had been led on the ice by his friend Bolingbroke, and had adopted doubtful tenets without being fully aware of their bearing. Warburton went opportunely to the rescue, and proved a redoubtable champion. În Warburton force predominated very much over judg ment. He delighted in upholding paradoxes and hopeless causes -arguing with great ingenuity, eking out his argument with plentiful abuse, and, when violently excited, even going the length of threatening his opponent with the cudgel. His command of language, if used with greater discretion, would have given him one of the highest places in literature. His style is simple, emphatic, and racy; diversified with clever quotations and pungent sarcasm (often taking the form of irony).

Dr John Leland (1691-1766), a Presbyterian minister in Dublin, acquired considerable fame in the deistical controversy, which he made the chief occupation of his life. He wrote separate works against Tindal, Morgan, Dodwell, and Bolingbroke. His 'View of the Deistical Writers' (1754), a brief work written in a spirit of praiseworthy moderation, is still a text-book for students of divinity. His great work, 'On the Advantage and Necessity of a Christian Revelation' (1764), is long since forgotten.

Dr Nathaniel Lardner (1684-1768), also a Dissenting minister,

published between 1730 and 1757 his voluminous 'Credibility of the Gospel History.' This vast quarry of learning supplied Paley with the material for his more neat and substantial Evidences'

Dr James Foster1 (1697-1753), another Dissenting minister -who, when he preached in London, drew wits and beaux to hear him, making something like the sensation afterwards produced by Edward Irving-took part against the Deists in various

tracts.

While the deistical controversy was raging, sacred literature was not wholly neglected. Bishop Robert Lowth (1710-1787) acquired great fame as a Biblical critic, translator, and commentator. Dr Kennicot (1718-1783) began in 1753 his great work of collating the MSS. of the Hebrew Bible. Bishop Thomas Newton (1704-1782), the editor of Milton, published in 1754 his famous 'Dissertations on the Prophecies.' Archbishop Secker (d. 1768), a man of somewhat eventful life, wrote lectures on the Catechism of the Church of England, which were widely circulated in their day. Bishop Edmund Law (1703-1787), who edited the works of Locke, and whose life is written by Paley, published 'Considerations on the Theory of Religion, and Reflections on the Life and Character of Christ.'

Three or four devotional writings (or works in "hortatory theology," as Dr Johnson calls them) that were written during this period still hold their ground. Law's 'Serious Call to a Holy Life' (William Law, 1686-1761) is remarkable, as the book that is said to have converted Johnson from youthful levity. Watts's 'On Improvement of the Mind' (Dr Isaac Watts, 1674-1748, a youthful prodigy, a well-known author of religious hymns) was published about the beginning of this period. Doddridge's 'Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul' (Dr Philip Doddridge, 1702-1751, one of the most distinguished of Nonconformist divines, and author of numerous religious works) was published in 1745Hervey's Meditations on the Tombs' (James Hervey, 17141758, took part against Bolingbroke, and had with Sandeman a controversy of his own concerning the nature of faith), upon its publication in 1746, achieved immediate popularity, and is still to be found in nearly every Scotch household-its somewhat bombastic ornaments being no blemish in the eyes of uncritical readers.

The most celebrated pulpit orators of this generation, with the exception perhaps of James Foster, belonged to the Methodists. The germ of the Methodist Society was the "Holy Club" at Oxford, which, in 1732, included the two Wesleys, John and Charles, Whitefield, and "Meditation " Hervey, and drew inspiration from the author of the 'Serious Call,' the spiritual father

1 All these three D.D.'s received the honour from Aberdeen.

of John Wesley. The name Methodist was first given to Charles Wesley, and from him extended to his companions.

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John Wesley (1703-1791), the son of an English clergyman, studied at Oxford and took orders. After officiating for some years as curate to his father, he returned to Oxford, was introduced by his brother Charles to the young "Methodists," and entered into their enthusiasm. He spent two years in evangelising the newly-established colony of Georgia (1735-37). Returning to England, he found himself one of the leaders of an impetuous religious awakening. In 1741 he and Whitefield agreed to separate. Wesley was comparatively a cold man, with a genius for ruling, and strove rather to restrain the impetuosity of his followers, acting as a drag upon their estrangement from the Church of England. He did not permit the independent organisation of Methodism till 1784. His preaching had not the melting power of Whitefield's. It would seem to have been more strenuous; at least it had the peculiar effect of throwing excitable hearers into convulsions.

George Whitefield (1714-1770), the founder of Calvinistic Methodism, was celebrated for the marvellous power of his oratory. He preached in many parts of England, America, and Scotland. Everybody is familiar with the anecdotes of his preaching; with his drawing tears from the eyes of the Bristol colliers, and money from the pocket of Benjamin Franklin. His published sermons are far from equal to his reputation; the charm seems to have been in his voice, elocution, and gesture.

The founders of the Secession Church in Scotland, the two brothers, Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine, were also noted preachers, especially Ebenezer. They were deposed by the General Assembly in 1740. The chief cause of the quarrel with the Established Church was the law of patronage. They are usually spoken of as heading in Scotland a religious revival such as Wesley and Whitefield began in England.

PHILOSOPHY.

The present is quite a flowering period in ethical and metaphysical literature. Hutcheson was in full vigour at the commencement of it; Edwards, Hartley, and Hume were publishing before it was far gone; Price and Adam Smith began to publish just before its close.

Francis Hutcheson (1694-1747), a native of Ireland, a student at Glasgow, received in 1729 the appointment of Professor of

1 Charles Wesley was six years older than Hervey and Whitefield, and was the originator of the Club. When he introduced his brother John to the Club, John, being a senior of about thirty years of age, was looked up to with respect, and soon became their leader.