sentence had expired; and, within a month after its termination, (on the 13th of April, 1713,) the queen presented him to the valuable rectory of St. Andrew's, Holborn. The first sermon which he preached in the church of that parish, he sold for £100, and forty thousand copies of it were speedily purchased. Ministers, according to Swift, hated, and affected to despise him; but he had sufficient interest to procure from them, in addition to his own preferment, a handsome provision for his brother.

He seems to have been still in high favour with the populace, during the first year of the reign of George the First; at whose coronation, it is related, the proceedings were repeatedly interrupted by vociferations of "Down with the Whigs!" and "Sacheverell for ever!" From this time, however, he gradually dwindled into insignificance; and signalized himself, only, during the remainder of his life, by contemptible squabbles with his parishioners; one of whom, the famous Whiston, he actually turned out of the church, because his avowed opinions were heterodox. Some years before his death, which took place on the 5th of June, 1724, one of his relatives left him a considerable estate in Derbyshire. By his will, Sacheverell

bequeathed £500 to Bishop Atterbury, who, it is suspected, wrote the defence which he made at his trial.

66

The Duchess of Marlborough describes him as having been an ignorant, impudent incendiary, who was the scorn even of those who made use of him as a tool. "He was," says Bishop Burnet, a bold, insolent man, with a very small measure of religion, virtue, learning, or good sense; but he resolved to force himself into popularity and preferment, by the most petulant railings at dissenters and low church men, in several sermons and libels, written without either chasteness of style, or liveliness of expression."

Sacheverell was evidently neither wise nor good: he disgraced the pulpit by political rancour, with a view to his own advancement, and to further his object, affected a religious zeal, which he never actually felt. Although for some time deemed an exalted character, he was, unquestionably, one of the most contemptible public men of his day. He is described as having been stout and athletic; but, on some occasions, so timorous, that Honeyman, the ventriloquist, one day, nearly frightened him into a fainting fit, by maliciously imitating the voices of several persons in his room.

JOHN, the son of Thomas Potter, a linen-draper, in Yorkshire, was born at Wakefield, in 1674. Dr. Parr supposes that he was brought up at a private school, "his Latin productions abounding with those faults which instruction at a higher seminary would have taught him to avoid." He was, however, at the age of fourteen, when he became a battler at University college, Oxford, deemed a great proficient in Greek. After taking the degree of B. A., he published, in 1693, his first work, entitled, Variantes Lectiones et Notæ ad Plutarchi Librum de audiendis Poetis; et ad Babilii Magni Orationem ad Juvenis, quomodo cum fructû legere possint Græcorum Libros; which he compiled at the request of

Dr. Chartlett, master of his college, at whose expense it was printed, for the purpose only of being presented, as a new-year's-gift, to private friends and deserving students. In the following year, he became fellow of Lincoln college, and proceeded to the degree of M. A. He soon after took orders, and distinguished himself as a private tutor. In 1697, he produced his elaborate edition of the Alexandra of Lycophron, and the first volume of his Archæologia Græca, of which the second and last appeared in the following year.

In 1704, he proceeded to the degree of B. D., and, becoming domestic chaplain to Archbishop Tennison, took up his abode with that prelate, at Lambeth palace. In 1706, he proceeded to the

degree of D. D., and was made chaplain to Queen Anne. In 1707, he printed A Discourse on Church Government; in which he maintained ecclesiastical to be distinct from civil authority, and that episcopacy was of divine institution. Notwithstanding the support which he thus gave to high-church principles, he seems to have been regarded as a staunch Whig; and, during the last-mentioned year, he was triumphantly elected, by his party, regius professor of divinity, and canon of Christchurch, in opposition to Dr. Smalridge, a conspicuous Tory.

The

In 1715, he was raised, by George the First, to the see of Oxford; and, about the same time, he published an edition of Clemens Alexandrinus, with an entirely new version of the Cohortations. celebrated Bangorian controversy soon afterwards commenced, in which, with Sherlock and others, he accused Hoadly, then Bishop of Bangor, of having, in his sermon preached before the king, in 1717, on civil and religious liberty, avowed opinions hostile to all establishments, and particularly to that of the church of England. In 1722, he entered into a correspondence with Atterbury, as to the period when the four gospels were written. He preached the sermon at the coronation of George the Second, who raised him to the archbishopric of Canterbury in 1737. He died in January, 1747, leaving two sons and three daughters.

Dr. Potter was possessed of great learning and much talent. His works have deservedly obtained extraordinary commendation, as well on the continent as in this country. Dr. Harwood enthusiastically pronounces his Alexandra to be an everlasting monument of

the learning of its illustrious editor; and Gronovius deemed the Archæologia Græca (which has passed through many editions, and is still deemed a standard work) worthy of a place in his celebrated Thesaurus Antiquitatum Græcorum. Although haughty and morose, he seems to have been highly esteemed by a great portion of his cotemporaries; by many of whom he was admired and eulogized, for his vigilance, zeal, and talent, as a defender of orthodox opinions. Whiston, on the other hand, accuses him of extreme pride, court adulation, neglect of christian discipline, and strenuous hostility to those who attempted to effect any reformation in the church. He procured a preferment of £2,000 a year for the eldest of his two sons, but disinherited him for having formed an unequal alliance; and left the bulk of his large property to the other, a man of bad character, who grossly ill-treated his wife, whom he had married pursuant to his father's

commands.

Shortly after his elevation to the primacy, he went to the residence of one of his relations, (a divine), for the purpose of stating that he intended to bestow on him a very acceptable preferment. The reverend gentleman, however, happened to be at a neighbouring ale-house, whither the archbishop proceeded. On entering the skittle-ground, he found his relative busily engaged at a game of nine-pins, and had the mortification of hearing him exclaim, while aiming a bowl at the centre pin, "Here goes for the head of the church!" The archbishop, it is said, immediately retired in disgust, and bestowed the preferment on another divine.

THIS celebrated divine and philosopher was born on the 11th of October, 1675, in the city of Norwich, of which his father was an alderman. After passing some years at the free grammar school of his native city, he was sent to Caius college, Cambridge; where he studied the Scriptures, and the fathers

|

of the church, in their original languages; and, preparatory to taking his degree of B. A., distinguished himself by the performance of a public exercise on the Newtonian system, then a novelty, which he afterwards materially contributed to diffuse, by translating and publishing the Physics of Rohault.

On entering into holy orders, he was appointed chaplain to Dr. Moore, Bishop of Norwich. In 1699, appeared his first original work, under the title of Three Practical Essays upon Baptism, Confirmation, and Repentance; and, in 1701, he published his celebrated Paraphrase on the Four Gospels. About this time, he obtained the rectory of Drayton. In 1704, he preached at Boyle's lecture, On the Being and Attributes of God; and, in 1705, On the Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion. These admirable sermons were soon after printed, and have since gone through many editions. In 1706, he answered, and refuted the arguments of those who had endeavoured to disprove the immortality of the soul, in a letter addressed to Mr. Dodwell; and, during the same year, published a Latin version of the optics of Newton, who presented him with £500, as a token of his approbation and esteem.

About the same time, Bishop Moore procured for him the rectory of St. Bennet's, London, and introduced him to Queen Anne, who nominated him one of her chaplains, and bestowed on him, in 1709, the rectory of St. James's, Westminster. On this occasion, he took his degree of D. D. and highly distinguished himself, by his public exercise, at Cambridge; in which he maintained, that no article in the christian faith is discordant to right reason; and that, without the liberty of human actions, there can be no religion. Prior to this period, he had been accustomed to preach without notes; but he now began to bestow such care on the composition of his sermons, that they were found, at his death, written at full length, and in a fit state for the press.

In 1712, he edited a noble edition of Cæsar's Commentaries; and soon afterwards involved himself in controversy, by the publication of his celebrated treatise, entitled The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity. Whiston states, that, shortly before this work appeared, Lord Godolphin, and some other members of the administration, sent a fruitless message to the author, requesting him to defer the publication of his treatise, "until a fitter opportunity; as it was likely to make a great noise and disturbance." The unitarian principles,

In

advocated in the production, exposed Dr. Clarke to the censures of both houses of convocation, and to some spirited attacks from Waterland, and other champions of orthodoxy. 1715, he engaged in a disputation on the principles of natural philosophy and religion, with the celebrated Leibnitz; a full account of which, he published, two years afterwards, with a dedication to the Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline. In the same year appeared his Remarks upon Collins's Inquiry concerning Human Liberty; and, in 1718, he boldly altered the forms of doxology, in A Collection of select Psalms and Hymns, for the use of St. James's church; some copies of which having been distributed, by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, before any discovery of the alterations had been made, he was accused of having practised a gross imposition. In reply to the charge, he stated, that the collection had been printed for the use of his own church only. His conduct was, however, severely censured by his diocesan, who, in a pastoral letter, on the occasion, observed, "that some persons, seduced by the strong delusions of pride and self-conceit, had lately published new forms of doxology, entirely agreeable to those of the ancient heretics, who impiously denied a trinity of persons in the unity of the Godhead."

A controversy on the subject ensued, in which the character of Dr. Clarke, as a divine, was severely animadverted upon by several high churchmen, and zealously defended by his friend Whiston. About this time he was presented, by Lord Lechmere, to the mastership of Wigston's hospital, at Leicester: and, on the death of Newton, in 1727, he might, had he thought fit, have succeeded to that eminent man's office in the Mint, which was worth above £1,200 per annum; but, "as he wanted it not," and, " being averse to any secular employment," says Whiston, "he absolutely refused it; which I take to be one of the most glorious actions of his life; and to afford undeniable conviction that he was in earnest in his religion."

He had, previously, (in 1724) printed a volume containing seventeen sermons;

and, in 1728, he addressed a letter to Hoadly, on the Proportion of Velocity and Force in Bodies in Motion. In the following year appeared his edition of the first twelve books of Homer's Iliad, with a Latin version: the remainder of the work was published, a few years after his death, by his son.

He had, throughout his life, enjoyed a robust state of health, until Sunday, May the 11th, 1729, when he was attacked with a violent pain in his side, while proceeding to Serjeant's inn, for the purpose of preaching before the judges; and, on the ensuing Saturday, he expired. By his wife, Catherine, the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Lockwood, rector of Little Massingham, Norfolk, on whom, after her husband's decease, Queen Caroline settled a pension of one hundred guineas per annum, Dr. Clarke had seven children, five of whom survived him. His brother, John Clarke, originally a weaver, studied at Cambridge, and became chaplain to the king, and dean of Salisbury. He prepared for the press ten posthumous volumes of Dr. Clarke's Sermons, and also his Exposition of the Catechism.

In private life, Dr. Clarke was amiable and unpretending; reserved among strangers, but frank and easy with his friends. As a writer he possessed the

advantages of a strong memory, considerable powers of language, a natural aptitude for methodical arrangement, extraordinary learning, and great acuteness. He was zealous, but not enthusiastic; exceedingly diligent, and yet an inveterate lover of cards, at which, although described as being, in general, a miser of moments, he would frequently spend entire hours.

Whiston highly praises his general character, but censures him for subscribing to the articles, on taking the degree of D. D., when he actually did not believe in the Athanasian creed: the same writer, however, admits that he subsequently refused any preferment, the acceptance of which, would expose him to the necessity of another subscription against his conscience.

It is related, that when Sir John Germaine, being in great trouble of mind, and on his death-bed, sent for Dr. Clarke, and on his arrival asked him if he should receive the sacrament, or what he should do in his sad condition, the divine, who was well aware of Sir John's immoral career, told him, in reply, that he did not think the sacrament would be of any avail to him with respect to his final welfare, and left the dying sinner without administering it.

THIS prelate was born at Westerham, in Kent, on the 14th of November, 1676; and, after acquiring the rudiments of learning under his father, who was for some time master of the grammar school at Norwich, he was admitted, in 1691, a pensioner of Catherine Hall, Cambridge; where he proceeded to the degree of B. A. in 1695, and to that of M. A. in 1699. He had, also, in the interim, been elected fellow and tutor of his college. In 1700, he took orders, and obtained the lectureship of St. Mildred's, in the Poultry; which he retained until, by his own avowal, he had preached it down to £30 per annum. In 1702, he officiated at St. Swithin's, and, in 1704, was presented to the rectory of St. Peter-lepoor. He had already entered into a

66

controversy with Calamy, in defence of conformity; and, in 1705, he preached a sermon before the lord mayor, on civil government, which rendered him so offensive to the Tories, that, as he says, a torrent of angry zeal began to pour itself out upon him." Soon afterwards, he entered into a dispute with Atterbury, one of whose discourses he had severely criticised; and, in 1709, the contest was renewed, with increased zeal, on the subject of non-resistance and passive obedience. His exertions in this controversy were so agreeable to the party in power, that the house of commons addressed the queen in his favour; and her majesty is said to have, consequently, given him a promise of preferment; which, however, she did not fulfil: but, to console him for his

disappointment, a wealthy lady, named Howland, presented him to the living of Streatham, in Surrey.

On the accession of George the First, he became one of the king's chaplains; and, in 1715, having previously taken his degree of D. D., he was elevated to the bishopric of Bangor; but, instead of visiting his see, he continued to preach in London, chiefly against what he considered the inveterate errors of the clergy; and, in 1717, so offended the high church party, by his celebrated discourse, which was delivered before the king, on the Nature of the Kingdom or Church of Christ, that it was resolved to proceed against him in convocation his enemies were, however, foiled in their intention, by the prorogation of the assembly.

Having, about this time, preached a sermon on the text, " My kingdom is not of this world," in the interpretation of which he maintained that the clergy had no right to temporal jurisdiction, he was attacked by Snape, and a controversy, termed the Bangorian, from the see then held by Hoadly, followed; in which the latter defended himself with great skill, as well against his first assailant on the subject as the celebrated Sherlock, Law, Potter, and other divines. This contest had scarcely terminated when he engaged in another, on the nature of prayer, which, as he maintained, should be calm and dispassionate, while his opponent, Hare, insisted that, without fervour, it must needs be unavailing.

In 1754, Hoadly was translated to the see of Hereford; in 1732, to that of Salisbury; and, in 1734, to that of Winchester. In 1735, he published a plain account of the Nature and End of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; and, many years afterwards, prepared for the press two volumes of his sermons, which were received with much commendation. Towards the

close of his life, he drew up a clear, manly, and spirited exposure of a fraud intended to have been committed upon him by a popish convert, named Fournier, by means of a forged note of hand for £8,800. His death took place at Chelsea, on the 17th of April, 1761; and his remains were interred in Winchester cathedral. He was twice married: first, to Sarah Curtis, by whom he had two sons; and, secondly, to Mary Newry, daughter of the Dean of Chichester, by whom he had no issue.

In private life, Dr. Hoadly was facetious, easy, conciliating, and fond of society; from which, however, he would often abruptly retire to his studies. In his religious principles he differed so materially from the doctrines of the church of England, that it has been said of him, he was the greatest dissenter that ever wore a mitre. He contended, inter alia, that sincerity in opinions, whatever they might be, was sufficient for acceptance. As a controversialist, he was acute, candid, and moderate. His style possessed many beauties; Pope, however, justly censures the immoderate length of his sentences. Akenside complimented him in an ode; and Burnet, with many other writers, eulogized his merits as a divine, a scholar, and a man. A complete edition of his multifarious writings was published by his son, in 1773.

It is rather remarkable that he was a college rival of his future formidable opponent, Sherlock. One day, when both freshmen, after being called to lectures in Tully's offices, Sherlock, somewhat nettled at the approbation which Hoadly had elicited from the tutor, sneeringly remarked, "Ben, you have made good use of L'Estrange's translation to-day." "No, Tom, I have not," replied Hoadly; " and I forgot to send the bed-maker for yours, which, I understand, the only one in the college."

At Eton, where he received the early part of his education, he was not only distinguished for great application, but for boldness of personal character;