present, wished to speak with him Jortin endeavoured to find his hat, but without success, and went without it to Herring; who, after highly complimenting him for his learning, publicly presented him to the living of St. Dunstan-in-the-east. On returning to his seat, Jortin is said to have exclaimed, "I have lost my hat; but I have got a living!"

During the same year, appeared the first volume of his Remarks upon Ecclesiastical History; four other volumes of which were subsequently printed in his life-time, and two more after his decease. In 1755, he was made D. D., by Archbishop Herring, and published Six Dissertations upon different Subjects; the last of which, on the state of the dead, as described by Homer and Virgil, exposed him to an attack from Warburton, to which he made no direct reply; but, in his Adversaria, he observed, that he was willing to stake whatever credit he possessed as a critic and a philosopher, upon his Dissertation; wherein he had asserted, that Homer was not the inventor of the fabulous history of the gods, but had derived the doctrine of a future state from old traditions.

He performed well, it is said, on the bass-viol and harpsichord; and, in 1753, he addressed a letter to the composer, Avison, on the music of the ancients. In 1758, appeared his Life of Erasmus ; and, two years afterwards, his remarks on the works of that eminent man. In 1762, he became chaplain to Dr. Osbaldiston, Bishop of London; obtained a prebendal stall in St. Paul's cathedral; and, shortly afterwards, was presented to the vicarage of Kensington. In 1764, he was made Archdeacon of London, and received an offer of the rectory of St. James's; which, however, he thought proper to decline, being unwilling to leave his parish of Kensington, the pastoral

duties of which he continued to perform during the remainder of his life. In his last hours, he replied to a female attendant, who had offered him some refreshment, "No; I have had enough of everything." He died on the 27th of August, 1770, leaving three children by his wife, a Miss Ann Chibnall, of Newport Pagnell, to whom he had been united in 1728.

Jortin was a sincere and devout Christian; a disinterested, upright, and honest divine; who would stoop to no solicitation, nor ever check the ebullitions of his conscience against the sins of high rank, in order to obtain preferment. Few clergymen, with such talents as he possessed, have advanced so far, and lived so long, without further exaltation. His style, as a writer, was elegant, imaginative, judicious, masculine, and correct; his manners approached even to rustic simplicity; his benevolence and urbanity endeared him to all who came within the limited sphere of his influence; and his inoffensive humour, strong sense, and amiable sensibility, rendered his conversation particularly attractive. He seems to have been precisely such a character, as he himself has sketched;"having all the necessaries, but none of the superfluities, of life; and these necessaries he had acquired by his prudence, his studies, and his industry. If he sought to better his income, it was by such methods as hurted neither his conscience, nor his constitution. As he had his occupations, he had his diversions also; and partook of the simple, frugal, obvious, innocent, and cheerful amusements of life."

Besides the works which have been mentioned, he was the author of Remarks on Tillotson's Sermons; two volumes of Philological, Critical, and Miscellaneous Tracts; and seven posthumous volumes of sermons and charges.

at St. John's college, Cambridge. He proceeded B. A., in 1723; and, after having been elected a fellow of Christ college, in the same university, he took

the degree of M. A., in 1727. In 1732, he published a translation of Archbishop King's Origin of Evil; and, subsequently, joined in the controversy, occasioned by Dr. Clarke's Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God;-ingeniously attacking the opinions of that divine, in a tract, published in 1734-5, as to the ideas of space, time, &c. He assisted Taylor and others in editing Stephens' Thesaurus, which appeared in 1735: two years afterwards, the university presented him to the living of Graystock, in Cumberland; but, in consequence of a dispute arising as to the right of nomination, some time elapsed before he was inducted. In 1743, he obtained the archdeaconry of Carlisle, with the annexed rectory of Salkeld; and, soon afterwards, produced his Considerations of the Theory of Religion; Reflections on the Life and Character of Christ; and An Appendix concerning the use of the words Soul and Spirit, in Holy Scripture, and the State of the Dead, as therein described.

He

In 1749, he proceeded to the degree of D. D.; on which occasion, he defended, in his public thesis, the natural mortality, or sleep of the soul. appears to have had some difficulty in procuring his testimonials, which the head of one college refused to sign, because, as he said, "he neither liked Law's person nor his doctrine."

In

1754, he resigned his archdeaconry, on being appointed master of Peterhouse college. He was elected librarian to the university, in 1760, and casuistical professor, in 1764. He then became Archdeacon of Staffordshire, and was subsequently presented to prebendal stalls in the cathedrals of Lichfield, Lincoln, and Durham. By the interest of the Duke of Grafton, but without any solicitation on his own part, he was elevated, in 1768, to the bishopric of Carlisle, which he held during the remainder of his life. In 1774, he published Considerations on the Propriety of requiring Subscription to Articles of Faith; and, in 1777, edited an edition of the works

of Locke, whose character and principles he is said to have held in the highest estimation. Before his decease, which took place on the 14th of August, 1787, his two principal works were republished, with alterations and addenda. He also wrote Observations on the Contest occasioned about Literary Property; and printed several sermons and metaphysical tracts. By his wife, Mary, the daughter of John Christian, Esq., he had eleven children.

According to Paley, his person was low, but well-formed; his complexion fair; his countenance always unruffled; his deportment mild; his disposition benignant, and his temper sprightly. He avowed his own opinions with freedom; but treated those of others with candour and respect. Warburton speaks of him, as a man unhacknied in the ways of the world; and the Rev. John Jones, of Welwyn, warmly eulogizes his learning, integrity, and "sweet, benevolent, Christian disposition." He devoted the greater part of his time to metaphysical and religious inquiries; and has rendered his name conspicuous by his advocacy of the much disputed doctrine, that our Redeemer, at his second coming, will, by an act of his power, restore to life and consciousness the dead of the human species; who, by their own nature, and without that interposition, would have remained in the state of insensibility, to which the death, brought upon mankind by the sin of Adam, had reduced them."

In the structure of his sentences, he used so many parentheses, that, as Paley relates, having, on one occasion, sent a work to press, at Carlisle, a considerable time elapsed before the printer could proceed with it. After sending several times, he at length called, to ascertain what could possibly occasion so great a delay. "Why does not my book make its appearance?" said he, to the printer. "My lord, I am extremely sorry," was the reply; "but we have been obliged to send to the letter-founder, at Glasgow, for a pound of parentheses !"

THIS prelate, the son of a brandy and cider merchant, was born on the 1st of January, 1704, at Lichfield, where he received the preliminary part of his education. In 1717, he was removed to Westminster school, at which he became a king's scholar. He was elected, in 1723, to Trinity college, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B. A., in 1726; and that of M. A. in 1730; during which year, having previously entered into holy orders, he obtained a fellowship. He afterwards became, successively, curate at St. George's, Hanover square; assistant to Dr. Trebeck; and reader at Grosvenor chapel, South Audley street. His talents soon attracted the notice of Lord Carpenter, (to whose son he was appointed tutor), and of Bishop Pearce, who nominated him morning preacher at the chapel in Spring Gardens. About the same time, having edited the works of Rowe, he was presented, by that author's widow, to the Prince of Wales, and also to Pulteney, who, on being elevated to the peerage, made Newton his chaplain.

In 1744, he vacated his fellowship, on being presented to the rectory of St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside. In the following year, he proceeded to the degree of S. T. P.; and distinguished himself by preaching some animated sermons against the rebellion, one or two of which he published. In 1747, he succeeded Dr. Savage, as lecturer at St. George's, Hanover square; and, during the same year, married Jane, eldest daughter of Dr. Trebeck, in whose house, he had, for some time before, resided. In 1749, he published an elegant edition of Milton's Paradise Lost, with an elaborate verbal index, by Cruden, and copious notes, in which he was assisted by Warburton, Jortin, and others. In 1752, he printed, nearly on the same plan, an edition of Paradise Regained, and Milton's minor poems. By the two productions he gained nearly £750; and what, as he said, was more valuable, the friendship of Jortin and Warburton.

In 1754, appeared the first volume of his celebrated Dissertations on the

Prophecies. Two years afterwards, he was appointed chaplain to the king, and also to the Princess of Wales; and, in 1757, he became prebendary of Westminster, sub-almoner, præcentor of the cathedral of York, and, shortly afterwards, preacher of Boyle's lectures. In 1758, he published the second and third volumes of his Dissertations on the Prophecies; and, on the 5th of September, 1761, having lost his first wife, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Lisburne, and widow of the Rev. Mr. Hand. A few days afterwards, he was made residentiary of St. Paul's, and Bishop of Bristol, when he gave up all his other preferments, except his living in the city; which, however, he resigned, some years afterwards, on being made Dean of St. Paul's. During the latter part of his life, he was so afflicted by illness that he could scarcely perform his duties as a diocesan. He rarely attended the house of lords, except during the agitation of very important questions, on which, however, he never spoke. When the bill for relieving protestant dissenters was about to be discussed, he zealously opposed it, in a letter, of which he caused a printed copy to be sent to every member of the upper house. In 1778, he published another epistle on the same subject; and, in 1780, appeared his last production, entitled, A Letter to the New Parliament, with Hints, and some Regulations which the Nation hopes and expects from them. On the 14th of February, 1782, he died suddenly, while about to set his watch. His remains were deposited in the vaults beneath St. Paul's cathedral; and a monument, by Banks, was erected to his memory, in the chancel of Bow church, Cheapside.

Bishop Newton was a pious, learned, and industrious man; but endowed with no extraordinary share of intellect. Church and state appear to have been, in his opinion, inseparably connected; and, although not strictly orthodox himself, he seems to have looked with as much horror upon heterodoxy

as rebellion. His Dissertations on the Prophecies passed through many editions in his life-time, and still enjoy much popularity. It has been said of them, that "if they have nothing to gratify a metaphysical genius, and little to inform the deep scholar; if fancy is not much charmed by their novelty or elegance; if no addition is made by them to the vast stores of criticism or erudition, yet they can boast a higher merit, and are

likely to produce an effect that will outlive the inventions of genius, and the accumulations of learning." A complete edition of his works was printed, in three volumes, quarto, in 1782; and subsequently reprinted, with an autobiographical memoir, in six volumes, octavo. They contain nearly one hundred dissertations, besides those on the prophecies, nine sermons, and five charges.

THIS learned divine was born at Richmond, in Yorkshire, of which his father was an alderman, on the 9th of June, 1705. After having received a liberal education at some provincial grammar schools, he was admitted a pensioner of Catherine hall, Cambridge; where, in 1726, he proceeded to the degree of B. A.; and, soon afterwards, obtained a conduct-fellowship, and, was ordained deacon. His liberal principles precluding him, it is said, from a college fellowship, he quitted the university; and, having taken priest's orders, was presented to the rectory of his native town, by Sir Conyers D'Arcy, and John York, Esq. In 1733, he proceeded to the degree of M. A.; and, in 1750, Hutton, Archbishop of York, to whom he had, for some time, been titular chaplain, collated him to the archdeaconry of Cleveland, and the prebend of Bilton. On this occasion, he is said to have entertained scruples against subscribing to the thirty-nine articles; which, however, were removed, on his perusing Dr. Clarke's Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, and half a sheet of arguments, in manuscript, from the pen of Dr. Law.

Previously to this period he had only published an assize sermon, which had attracted but little notice; but, in the year of his last-mentioned preferment, he highly distinguished himself by producing An Apology for the Author of a Book entitled, Free and Candid Disquisitions relative to the Church of England.

The work, of which he thus came forward as an apologist, had been confidently attributed to Blackburne

himself, although it appears to have been written by Jones, the vicar of Alconbury; who, by the recommen dation of Dr. Law, had submitted great part of the manuscript to the perusal of Blackburne, by whom it is stated to have been returned without a single alteration or correction. After having published a few single sermons and charges, he wrote several pieces, concerning what was termed by Dr. Law, the sleep of the soul, the principal of which were, a work, entitled, No Proof in the Scriptures of an Intermediate State of Happiness or Misery between Death and Resurrection, printed in 1756; and A Short Historical View of the Controversy concerning an Intermediate State, which first appeared in 1765, and was republished, with large additions, in 1772.

In 1758, he printed Remarks on the Rev. Dr. Powell's Sermon in Defence of Subscription; and, in 1766, published, anonymously, his celebrated work, entitled, The Confessional; the preparation of which, he appears to have commenced shortly after his elevation to the archdeaconry; under an impression that the arguments, by which he had been induced to subscribe to the thirty-nine articles, were invalid. This performance excited great attention, and extraordinary clamour. "Grievous offence," he observes, "was taken against it by that part of the clergy who affected to call themselves orthodox. The indignation of Archbishop Secker was excessive: his mask of moderation fell off at once. He employed all his emissaries to find out the