domestic chaplain, and tutor to her youngest son. In this situation he continued till 1721, having within that period accompanied his pupil to the continent, and spent some time with him abroad.

By Lady Treby's death he was removed from a situation which seems to have been an agreeable one, and was thrown into circumstances of some perplexity and suspense. His own remarks will show the state of his mind at this time. "I am yet at a loss," says he, "how to dispose of myself. I can say I am desirous of being useful in the world. Without this, no external advantages relating to myself will make me happy; and yet I have no prospect of being serviceable in the work of the ministry, having preached many years without being favoured with the approbation and choice of any one congregation." Dr Kippis remarks, that "it reflects no honour upon the dissenters, that a man of such merit should so long have been neglected." But it must be observed, that in elections which are dependent upon the whole body of a congregation, a regard will be paid, not only to internal abilities, but to external qualifications. It is not probable that Mr Lardner, even in his best days, was possessed of a good elocution; and his simple mode of composition was not calculated to strike the multitude.

Two years after the death of Lady Treby, Mr Lardner met with another calamity which greatly affected him. This was the decease of his former pupil, Brindley Treby, Esq., a gentleman for whom our author had the highest affection and esteem. Indeed he felt so deeply the loss of his friend, that he imputed to it, in part, the increase of a deafness which had been coming upon him for some time before. In the beginning of the year 1724, he writes as follows: "Mr Comish preached; but I was not able to hear any thing he said, nor so much as the sound of his voice. I am indeed at present so deaf, that when I sit in the pulpit, and the congregation is singing, I can hardly tell whether they are singing or not."

Previously to this account of himself, and at least as early as 1723, Mr Lardner was engaged, in conjunction with a number of ministers, in carrying on a course of lectures, on a Tuesday evening, at the Old Jewry.

In 1727 Mr Lardner published, in two volumes 8vo, the first part of "The Credibility of the Gospel History; or, the Facts occasionally mentioned in the New Testament confirmed by passages of ancient authors, who were contemporary with our Saviour, or his Apostles, or lived near their time.' An Appendix was subjoined concerning the time of Herod's death. Dr Kippis observes, that "it is scarcely necessary to say how well this work was received by the learned world. Not only was it highly approved by the protestant dissenters, with whom the author was more immediately connected, but by the clergy in general of the established church; and its reputation gradually extended into foreign countries. It is indeed an invaluable performance, and hath rendered the most essential service to the cause of Christianity. Whoever peruses this work as to him that does not peruse it, it will be to his own loss-will find it replete with admirable instruction, sound learning, and just and candid criticism. It was not long before a second edition was called for, and a third was published in 1741."

In the beginning of February, 1728, the course of Mr Lardner's studies was interrupted, and his life threatened, by a violent fever, which

proved of long continuance. For some time his recovery was despaired of, but he was at length happily restored to health. His pious sentiments after his recovery are thus expressed: "I thankfully acknowledge the great goodness of God, who raised me up again, and desire that his great mercy may be had in perpetual remembrance by me. May I serve him the remainder of my time in this world with inviolable integrity, unshaken in my steadfastness by all the snares of a vain and uncertain world."

With all Mr Lardner's merit, he was forty-five years of age before he obtained a settlement among the dissenters. On the 24th of August, 1729, he happened to preach for the reverend Dr William Harris, at Crutched Friars; and the consequence of it was, that he was unexpectedly invited by the congregation to be assistant to their minister. After mature deliberation, he accepted the offer, which, as he declared in his letter of acceptance, was peculiarly agreeable to him, because it allotted him a part of service in the work of the gospel, with their honoured pastor, for whom he had entertained from his early youth a high regard and esteem. On the 14th of September he entered upon his new charge, and the subject of his first sermon was taken from 2 Cor. v. 20.

In 1731 Mr Lardner published the first volume of the second part of his 'Credibility of the Gospel History.' It was Mr Lardner's original intention, not to publish a part of the evidence for the principal facts of the New Testament, until the whole work was completed; but he was diverted from this purpose by the importunities of his friends. He wished, however, to have exhibited at once the whole evidence of the two first centuries of Christianity; but he thought it expedient to break off sooner, that he might not render the volume of an inconve nient size. Our author took this opportunity of expressing his gratitude for the favourable reception which had been given to the former part of his work. Besides its being universally well received at home, it was so much approved abroad, that it was translated by two learned foreigners; by Mr Cornelius Westerbaen, of Utrecht, into Low Dutch; and by Mr J. Christopher Wolff, of Hamburgh, into Latin. "I cannot but esteem it," says Mr Lardner, "as an uncommon happiness, that my thoughts have been so justly represented by persons well known in the republic of letters for compositions of their own."

In 1735 he published the second volume of the second part of the Credibility of the Gospel History.' The farther Mr Lardner proceeded in his design, the more did he advance in esteem and reputation among learned men of all denominations. Even the adversaries of religion could not withhold their testimony to his merit. The noted Dr Morgan -afterwards the writer of the Moral Philosopher,' in which revelation was attacked with the greatest virulence-in a letter to our author, containing some objections to the first chapter of St Luke's Gospel, compliments him highly on his integrity, impartiality, and candour.

In November, 1736, Mr Lardner was attacked by another severe and dangerous fever. The effects of it were such, that he did not recover his health, so far as to be able to preach, till late in the spring of 1737. In that year he published his 'Counsels of Prudence, for the use of young people.'

In 1738 Mr Lardner published the third volume of the second part of the 'Credibility,' and the fourth in the year 1740. In 1743 he pub

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lished the fifth volume of the second part of his Credibility.' In the same year the world was indebted to Mr Lardner for another valuable performance, the title of which was, The Circumstances of the Jewish People an Argument for the Truth of the Christian Religion.' It consists of three discourses on Romans xi. 11; in which the grand points insisted upon by our author, and maintained with great perspicuity and success, are, that the present state of the Jews was foretold by our Lord; that it is agreeable to many prophecies in the Old Testament; that it affords reason to believe that the Messiah is already come; that it furnishes an argument for the divine authority of the gospel; and that it exhibits an attestation to divers things upon which some evidences of Christianity depend.

6

In 1745 he published the sixth volume of the second part of his Credibility,' and the same year he received a diploma from the Marischal college of Aberdeen, conferring upon him the degree of doctor in divinity. In 1748 he published the seventh volume of the second part of his Credibility,' and the eighth volume two years after. In 1750 he published a volume of valuable sermons, the subjects of which are entirely of a practical nature. The following year he resigned the office of morning preacher at Crutched Friars. His reasons for this determination were, the increase of his deafness, the smallness of his auditory, and his desire of finding time for the completion of his long work. His Credibility' was not completed till the year 1755, when the twelfth and last volume appeared. The ninth, tenth, and eleventh volumes were published some time before. As the latter volumes did not sell so readily as the former during Dr Lardner's own life, he was considerably out of pocket by this great and important work, in which he had employed so many laborious years. He afterwards published a very valuable supplement in three volumes 8vo, and a large collection of ancient Jewish and heathen testimonies to the Truth of the Christian Religion' in three volumes 4to. He also occasionally published some smaller pieces, particularly one in 1759, without his name, under the following title, A Letter written in the year 1730, concerning the question, Whether the Logos supplied the place of a Human Soul in the person of Jesus Christ?' In the summer of 1768 he was seized with a decline, which carried him off in a few weeks, at Hawkhurst, the place of his nativity, and where he had a small parental estate. He had been removed thither, in the hope that he might recruit his strength by a change of air and relaxation from study. His remains were conveyed to town, and deposited in Tindall's burying-ground, commonly called Bunhill-fields. At his particular request no sermon was preached on occasion of his death; modesty and humility accompanied him to the last moment of his earthly existence. "A regard to God," says Dr Kippis, "appears to have been ever the governing principle of his actions. His piety, too, was of the most rational kind, being founded on just and enlarged views concerning the nature of religion.' -“Correspondent to our author's piety was his love of truth, as is manifest from the whole of his works. No one seems ever to have preserved a greater impartiality in his inquiries, or to have been more free from an undue bias. He followed truth wherever it led him; and for the attainment of truth he was admirably qualified, both by the turn of his disposition and his understanding. With a mind so calm and unpreju

diced, with a judgment so clear and distinct, he could scarcely fail of forming right apprehensions concerning most of the subjects which the course of his studies enabled him to investigate. The candour and moderation with which Dr Lardner maintained his own sentiments constituted a prominent feature in his character. Those he differed from in opinion he always treated with gentleness and respect; and in the controversies he carried on with them there is no severity of censure, no harshness of language. This circumstance is the more worthy to be mentioned and applauded, as it is so different from what we often meet with in the present day. Many of our writers seem to be reverting to that abuse of each other which was common among scholars some time after the revival of literature. They are not satisfied without casting illiberal reflections on the persons of the men whose tenets they oppose, and arraigning the motives of their conduct. What renders this disposition the more ridiculous is, that it is frequently exerted on the most trivial occasions. Apprehended mistakes in philology, or diversities of judgment in matters of mere taste, are treated with as great bitterness as if they were crimes of the deepest dye. How much more beautiful, and more worthy of imitation, was the manner of conducting disputable questions which was pursued by Dr Lardner! Such a method will be found, in the end, more favourable to the diffusion of truth, and more conducive to a lasting reputation. Circumstances, indeed, may arise, in which a sharpness of chastisement may appear to be justifiable. Uncommon insolence and uncommon bigotry may deserve to be strongly exposed: and yet, even here, a manly neglect and contempt of unmerited censure, may be the most honourable and the most useful mode of behaviour.

"Benevolence, as well as piety, entered deeply into Dr Lardner's character. Though his retired life prevented him from taking a very active part in public designs, he was ready to promote every good work. To persons in distress he was ever willing to contribute to the highest degree which his fortune would admit. On some occasions he exerted himself with great vigour and success. When a gentleman came to London, in 1756, to solicit contributions towards building a church for the protestants of Thorn in Poland, our author was particularly serviceable to him, both by his advice and recommendation. He, in a great measure, took upon himself the management of the affair; on which account he afterwards received the thanks of the president and fellows of the college of Thorn, in an elegant Latin letter. Near the time of his decease he was engaged in assisting and recommending the Rev. Mr Finman, minister of the reformed congregation at Rutzon, in the duchy of Mecklenberg Schwerin, who had come once to England for a like purpose. Upon this occasion, a letter was written to Dr Lardner by Dr Secker, archbishop of Canterbury, which was the conclusion of a very long correspondence between two eminent persons, who were now, each of them, on the verge of dissolution. In his private deportment," proceeds Dr Kippis, "Dr Lardner was very amiable. His manners were polite, gentle, and obliging, and he was attentive in every respect to the laws of decorum. On the learning of Dr Lardner it is not necessary to enlarge, since his character in this respect is known to all the world. With regard to that species of literature which was cultivated by him, he was accurate and profound in the greatest degree.

Some branches of knowledge there were to which he did not apply his attention; for who is adequate to every object? But as a divine, and especially with relation to his acquaintance with the New Testament and with Christian antiquity, perhaps he never had his equal.”

Archbishop Secker.

BORN A. D. 1693.-died A. D. 1768.

THIS eminent prelate was born in 1693, at the village of Sibthorpe in Nottinghamshire. His father was a protestant dissenter, a pious and well-informed man. Young Secker was early designed for the dissenting ministry, and with this view applied himself with great diligence and success to the preparatory studies, and, at the age of nineteen, was placed under the charge of Mr Jones of Tewkesbury. Here he became acquainted with Joseph Butler, afterwards bishop of Durham, who was the chief means of prevailing upon him to take orders in the church of England, after he had spent some years in the study of medicine. It appears that he had long entertained doubts on different points both of doctrine and discipline, and that, while his mind was in this unsettled state, he abandoned his original intentions with regard to the ministry, and went to Paris for the purpose of studying medicine. But on his friend Butler, now in the church, and preacher at the Rolls, writing him upon the subject, he resolved to take orders in the church of Engand. With this view, in April, 1721, he entered himself of Exeter college, Oxford, and in 1722 was ordained deacon and priest by Bishop Talbot.

In 1724 Bishop Talbot presented him with the rectory of Houghtonle-Spring. Here he gave himself up entirely to the duties of a country pastor; until the state of his wife's health rendered it necessary for him to remove to a more salubrious situation. On this account he exchanged his rectory for a prebend of Durham, where he resided until appointed chaplain to the king, and instituted to the rectory of St James's, in May, 1733.

His elevation to the mitre took place in 1735, when he was consecrated Bishop of Bristol. In two years afterwards he was translated to Oxford. Hitherto he had stood well at court, and especially high in favour of the queen; but he allowed himself to get involved in the disputes betwixt the king and the heir-apparent, and for a time held rather a dubious situation betwixt St James's and Norfolk house. In 1750 he was made dean of St Paul's; and at length, on the death of Archbishop Hutton, he was elevated to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. At this time Secker's character for moderation, and his attachment to the house of Hanover, were fairly established by his conduct in the different political struggles in which he, in common with all public men, had been engaged during the reign of George II. His chief political connexions were with the duke of Newcastle and the earl of Hardwicke, and his elevation to the primacy was due to that party; but he seems to have kept pretty clear, upon the whole, of the toils of faction, and to have conciliated men of all parties. Unlike some, who like him have exchanged the dissenting for the established church, he