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reading, but his temper was of the acrid, controversial sort, and led him into several angry disputes. At one time he was among those who opposed Pope, but, on the appearance of the latter's Essay on Man, he entered the lists for the poet, and wrote a series of seven letters in vindication of the poem. This procured for him Pope's lasting friendship and good offices.

Works.-Warburton published some early pieces of translation from the Latin, and an inquiry into the causes of miracles. These works he afterwards suppressed. His first great work was a treatise on The Alliance between Church and State, a masterly argument in favor of an established church. To this succeeded his Divine Legation of Moses, an argument against the deistical philosophy of the day. Into this work, and the Vindication which he wrote in reply to attacks upon it, Warburton poured all the treasures of his learning. It was regarded at the time as one of the very masterpieces of English theology. It must be said, however, that Warburton's positions have since been abandoned by clearer and better informed thinkers of the present day. The style is rough and often confused, but abounds in brilliant passages, and is a strong testimonial to the author's erudition. One of the most striking features of the work is Warburton's anticipation of modern discoveries in Egyptology. His next important work was a Discourse on the Emperor Julian's attempt at rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem, soon followed by a treatise on The Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion, by a View of Bolingbroke's Philosophy, and by Remarks on Hume's Natural History of Religion. These works involved him in much controversy with the then deistical school, in which both sides lost their temper.

Not satisfied with his true reputation as a theologian, Warburton ambitiously undertook the editing of Shakespeare's plays. This elicited from Douce the compliment that of all the Shakespeare commentators Warburton was surely the worst.

According to Lord Jeffrey, Warburton was the last of the race of powerful English polemics, a giant in literature, but with many of the vices of the gigantic character. THOMAS EDWARDS, 1699-1757, was a lawyer by profession, but never practised. He was a zealous student of Shakespeare, and being indignant at the arrogance displayed by Warburton in his edition of Shakespeare, wrote a satirical piece, purporting to be Canons of Criticism and a Glossary, being a Supplement to Mr. Warburton's Edition. The prelate was enraged, and made an angry reply, which led to a lively controversy. Edwards seems to have had the best of it; but, after all, as Johnson well said, "A fly may sting and tease a horse, and yet the horse is the nobler animal."

Bishop Lowth.

ROBERT LOWTH, D. D., 1710-1787, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, was a man of eminent standing in the Church of England.

Lowth held in succession several important bishoprics, and declined the Archbishopric of Canterbury. His works are held in high estimation both for their theological and their literary value. Ilis chief work was Praelections on Hebrew Poetry, written originally in Latin, and afterwards translated into English. Next to this in value was his New Translation of Isaiah with Preliminary Dissertations and Notes. Both these are standard works. He wrote also an English Grammar, which was the foundation of Murray's.

WILLIAM LOWTH, D. D., 1661–1732, father of Bishop Lowth, was himself an eminent scholar and writer. Works: A ̧Vindication of the Divine Authority and Inspiration

of the Writings of the Old and New Testaments; Directions for the Profitable Reading of the Scriptures; Commentaries on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets.

JULIUS BATE, 1711-1771, was the author of a number of theological works. An Essay on the Third Chapter of Genesis, in answer to Warburton; The Philosophical Principles of Moses, in answer to David Jennings; An Inquiry into the Similitudes of the Lord God; A Hebrew-English Dictionary without Points; A New and Literal Translation of the Pentateuch and of the Historical Books to the end of Second Kings, with Notes. The two works last named were his principal literary performances. His Hebrew Dictionary is quoted with approbation by Parkhurst, but it failed to meet general acceptance. His Translation was so extremely literal as to be at times absurd and unintelligible. "By giving the Hebrew idiom too literally, he has rendered his version neither Hebrew nor English."-Lowndes. He was an advocate of the Hutchinsonian school of philosophy and theology, and very intolerant of criticism or contradiction, and not a man of much power, though abundantly active in the use of such powers as he had. "This mild Hutchinsonian is very angry with his humble servants, the Reviewers, whom he calls infidels and scorpions."— Allibone. "One Bate," "a zany.” -Warburton.

Dr. Dodd.

WILLIAM DODD, D. D., 1729-1777, was noted equally for his shining abilities as a preacher and a writer, and for his ignominious end.

Career. - Dr. Dodd was a clergyman of the Church of England. He was educated at Cambridge, and rose rapidly in church preferments. He was tutor to the young Earl of Chesterfield and one of the King's chaplains. Being fond of display, and living beyond his means, he ran in debt and resorted to fraud to extricate himself. He wrote an anonymous letter to a lady of rank, offering her £3000 for her influence in obtaining for him an important rectory. The letter being traced to him caused him to be dismissed from the King's list of chaplains. He forged the name of Lord Chesterfield to a bond for £4200, and, being convicted of the crime, he was executed for it at Tyburn. Works. - Dr. Dodd's publications are numerous and valuable: Discourses on the Miracles and Parables of Christ; Sermons to Young Men; The Visitor; Comfort for the Afflicted; Thoughts in Prison; Reflections on Death; Commentary on the Old and New Testament; Beauties of Shakespeare; Beauties of History, etc.

JAMES HERVEY, 1713-1758, a divine of the English Church, educated at Oxford, was a man of a very devotional spirit.

Hervey's works have been published in 6 vols., Svo. They consist of Theron and Aspasia, a series of Dialogues on important subjects; Remarks on Bolingbroke's Letters on History; Sermons, Letters, etc.; and Meditations. Of the Dialogues, many editions were published. But the most popular by far was The Meditations. "Hervey's Meditations, Pilgrim's Progress, The Whole Duty of Man, and the Bible, are commonly seen together on a shelf in the cottages of England." The sentiments are devout, and there is a good deal of poetical imagery, but the style is inflated and pompous. "I advise students of oratory to imitate Mr. Hervey's piety rather than his style."- Blair.

WILLIAM LAW, 1687-1761, a graduate and Fellow of Cambridge, gave up his Fellowship in 1761 and became a Non-conformist.

Law's works have been printed in 9 vols, 8vo. Most of them are controversial and are of no special interest except as a part of the history of the times. Others, as The Serious Call to a Holy Life, and The Treatise on Christian Perfection, are still among our most popular works on practical religion.

"When at Oxford, I took up Law's Serious Call to a Holy Life, expecting to find it a dull book (as such books generally are), and perhaps laugh at it. But I found Law quite an overmatch for me; and this was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest of religion after I became capable of rational inquiry."— Johnson. "He [Johnson] much commended Law's Serious Call, which he said was the finest piece of hortatory theology in any language."- Boswell's Life of Johnson.

"Mr. Law's masterpiece-The Serious Call-is still read as a popular and powerful book of devotion. His precepts are rigid, but they are founded on the gospel; his satire is sharp, but it is drawn from the knowledge of human life; and many of his portraits are not unworthy of the pen of La Bruyère. If he finds a spark of piety in the reader's mind, he will soon kindle it into a flame; and a philosopher must allow that he exposes with equal severity and truth the strange contradiction between the faith and practice of the Christian world.”— Gibbon.

EDMUND LAW, D. D., 1703-1787, was a metaphysician and a man of great learning.

His principal works are: A Translation into English of Archbishop King's Essay on the Origin of Evil; An Inquiry into the Ideas of Space, Time, etc.; Considerations on the Theory of Religion; An Edition of the Works of Locke, with a Life and Preface. Law's works, without having much originality, were yet the occasion of much discussion and earnest controversy, and are often referred to in the history of those times.

THOMAS NEWTON, D. D., 1704-1782, a graduate of Cambridge, and a Bishop of the English Church, is well known to theological literature by his large work on The Prophecies.

This was for a long time considered a standard work on this subject, but has of late lost much of its authority as a true interpretation of the prophetical writings. Newton published also numerous Sermons, and Dissertations on various parts of Scripture.

EBENEZER ERSKINE, 1680-1754, was a Scotch Presbyterian divine, educated at the University of Edinburgh. In consequence of his views respecting church patronage, he and sundry others separated themselves from the Church of Scotland, and formed the body known as The Seceders. His Sermons have been printed in 3 vols., 8vo, and are held in high estimation.

RALPH ERSKINE, 1685-1752, brother of Ebenezer, likewise joined the Seceders. He was a preacher of popular abilities, and was much honored for his Christian zeal and devotion. His works, mainly Sermons, have been published in 10 vols., 8vo. One volume of his works is made up of Poems. The poems are divided into Gospel Sonnets; Old Testament Songs; New Testament Songs.

JOHN ERSKINE, D. D., 1721-1803, an eminent divine of the Church of Scotland, was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and was a colleague of Dr. Robertson in the Old Gray-Friars' Church. "His sermons may be ranked among the best specimens of pulpit composition. They are distinguished by purity and energy of style, pre

cision of thought, and originality of sentiment."-Darling. They have been published in 2 vols., 8vo.

ROBERT ROBINSON, 1735-1790, received no more education than that of the grammar. school, and was for a number of years a hair-dresser's apprentice. When only nineteen years old, Robinson became a Methodist preacher. In 1759 he received the charge of a Baptist congregation in Cambridge. He was regarded as one of the most eloquent preachers of his day, even surpassing Robert Hall. Besides his pulpit labors, Robinson published a number of theological works, among which are A Plea for the Divinity of Jesus Christ; Lectures on the Principles of Non-conformity; a translation of Saurin's Sermons, from the French, etc. His sermons and original discourses appeared posthumously, in 1796.

ALEXANDER Cruden, 1701–1770, is known to literature by his one work, The Concordance to the Holy Scriptures.

Cruden was a native of Aberdeen, and was educated at Marischal College, with the intention of entering the ministry, from which however he was prevented by discovering symptoms of insanity. He went to London, opened a bookstore, and employed himself mainly as a corrector of the press. His Concordance was first issued in 1737. It will probably stand while the world stands, - or at least while the English is a known tongue, or the English Bible a book to be read and studied,

Cruden wrote some other books and short pieces, under the name of Alexander the Corrector, but they are of little account.

HUGH FARMER, 1714-1787, was a Dissenting minister, a pupil of Doddridge, and a man of great learning. His works are: Christ's Temptation in the Wilderness; A Dissertation on Miracles; Essay on the Demoniacs of the New Testament; Worship of Human Spirits in the Ancient Heathen Nations, etc.

"The works of Farmer are among the most ingenious and learned theological productions of the last century. At the same time they require to be read with caution. Our Lord's temptation, according to Farmer, was a divine vision; the demoniacs, merely persons strongly affected by certain diseases." - Orme.

Gill the Commentator.

JOHN GILL, D. D., 1697–1771, was a Baptist divine of great learning, though mainly self-taught.

While a mere boy, Gill was fond of frequenting the bookstores, so that it became a sort of proverb: "Such a thing is as sure as that John Gill is in the bookseller's shop." His chief publications are the following: Expositions of the Old and New Testaments, 9 vols., 4to; Exposition of Solomon's Song, which is different from the preceding, comprising the substance of 122 sermons on the subject, fol.; A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity, 3 vols., 4to; Prophecies respecting the Messiah; The Cause of God and Truth, in reply to the Arminians; Dissertation on the Antiquity of the Hebrew Language; Sermons, Tracts, etc.

"He moves through his Exposition like a man in lead, and overwhelms the inspired writer with dull lucubrations and rabbinical lumber. . . . If the reader be inclined for a trial of his thoughts and patience, he may procure the burden of Dr. Gill. He was, after all, a man of undoubted learning, and of prodigious labor." — Orme.

JOHN BROWN of Haddington, 1722-1787, was a man distinguished for his knowledge of languages, and was the author of several popular religious works: A Dictionary of the Bible, 2 vols., 8vo; A General History of the Christian Church, 2 vols., 12mo; SelfInterpreting Bible, that is, a Bible with marginal references and short notes.

JOB ORTON, 1717–1783, was an eminent Dissenting divine, associated in many ways with Dr. Doddridge.

Orton's chief work was An Exposition of the Old Testament for the Use of Families, 6 vols., 8vo, intended to be a companion to Doddridge's Family Expositor of the New Testament. Besides this, Orton wrote Memoirs of Doddridge; Discourses to the Aged; Sacramental Meditations; Letters to a Young Clergyman, etc.

Lardner.

NATHANIEL LARDNER, D. D., 1684-1768, wrote a work of immense learning on The Credibility of the Gospel History.

Lardner was a native of Kent. He studied at London, Utrecht, and Leyden, and became a Dissenting minister. The principal works of Dr. Lardner are: The Credibility of the Gospel History, published originally in 17 vols.; The History of the Apostles and Evangelists; and The History of the Heretics of the First Two Centuries. His works give evidence of immense reading and industry, as well as sound judgment, and are regarded as exhaustive of the biblical learning of the times.

SAMUEL PIKE, 1717-1777, a Dissenter, is known chiefly by his Cases of Conscience. He wrote also Philosophia Sacra, or The Principles of Natural Philosophy extracted from Divine Revelation, a Hutchinsonian work; Nature and Evidences of Saving Faith; Compendious Hebrew Lexicon, etc.

JOHN MASON, 1705-1763, a Dissenting divine, published a large number of works, of which, however, only one is now much known, and that is a treatise on Self-Knowledge. It has passed through numerous editions, and is still in active demand.

REV. THOMAS HARMER, 1715-1788, a Dissenting minister, celebrated for his learning, was a native of Norwich. Among his works may be named the following: Observations on Various Passages and Scriptures, with illustrations from travels and voyages, 4 vols., 8vo; Outlines of a New Commentary on Solomon's Song, etc.

FRANCIS BLACKBURNE, 1705-1787, a minister of the English Church, wrote numerous works, the chief of which was The Confessional, intended to oppose subscription to articles. It produced a war of pamphlets, no less than seventy having been written for and against his book. "His style is strong and animated, and his controversial writings are more entertaining than such compositions usually are.”— Darling. His works are published in 7 vols., 8vo.

JOHN CHAPMAN, 1704-1784, was the author of many theological and other works: Eusebius, or The True Christian's Defence against a late Book entitled The Moral Philosopher; Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity; The Expediency and Credibility of Miraculous Powers among the Primitive Christians, after the Decease of the Apostles, etc.

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