laboured to reconcile the apostles Paul and James on the doctrine of justification, by this theory, that good works which proceed from faith, and are conjoined with faith, are a necessary condition required from us by God, in order to our justification. We need scarcely say that this proposition met with many opponents. It was particularly opposed by Morley, bishop of Winchester; by Dr Barlow, Margaret professor of divinity at Oxford; by Charles Gataker; by Joseph Trueman, whom Nelson aptly describes as "a person of a deep and searching genius;" by Dr Tully, principal of St Edmund's hall; John Tombes, Louis Du Moulin, and by De Marets, a French writer. Bull replied to some of these opponents in his Examen Censuræ,' and his Apologia pro Harmonia.'

his

In 1680 he finished his next celebrated work, entitled Defensio Fidei Nicenæ ex Scriptis quæ extant Catholicorum Doctorum, qui intra tria prima Ecclesiæ Christianæ sæcula floruerunt,' i. e. " A Defence of the Nicene Faith, from the writings, which are extant, of the Catholic Doctors who flourished within the three first centuries of the Christian Church." After Bull had finished this work, he offered the copy to three or four booksellers successively, who all refused it, being unwilling to venture the expenses of the impression; so that he brought it home, and entirely laid aside all thoughts of printing it, being in low circumstances himself, and having a large family to support. Thus this learned book might have been buried for ever, had not a worthy friend of the author's, some few years after, advised him to put his neglected copy into the hands of Dr Jane, then regius professor of divinity in the university of Oxford. Accordingly Mr Bull committed papers to the professor, who, highly approving them, recommended this work to the pious and learned Bishop Fell. That prelate wanted no solicitation to undertake the whole expense of printing it, which was accordingly done at the theatre in Oxford in the year 1685. This book is written against the Arians and Socinians on the one hand, and the Tritheists and Sabellians on the other. The author of Bishop Bull's life has given us a history of the controversy, which occasioned the writing this book, together with a plan of the work, and an account of the uses made of it by some later writers, particularly Dr Samuel Clarke in his Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity,' and Dr Edwards of Cambridge in his Animadversions' on Dr Clarke's book. The Defence is an able, acute, and learned work. But the critique of Father Simon in his Nouvelle Bibliotheque choisie,' upon this piece of English divinity, is well-founded:-" Perhaps," says that learned writer, "it would have been better if the author had proved the mystery of the Trinity against the Socinians, by clear and formal passages of the New Testament, rather than have opposed against them a tradition, which does not appear altogether constant." And again, "if the learned Bishop Bull had been well skilled in the critique of the Greek copies of the New Testament, and of the ancient Latin copies, he would not have affirmed so positively, that Tertullian and Cyprian have quoted the 7th verse of the fifth chapter of the first epistle of St John, nor would he have alleged that passage against those who believe that it is not genuine."

In 1686 Bull was presented by Archbishop Sancroft to the archdeaconry of Landaff; soon after, the university of Oxford conferred on

him the degree of D. D., " as an acknowledgment of the singular honour done that university, and of the lasting service done to the whole church, by his excellent Defence of the Nicene creed.'" All Dr Bull's Latin works were collected and edited by Dr John Ernest Grabe, in 1703.

In 1705 Bull was elevated to the see of St David's; but he enjoyed the honour of the prelacy only two years. He died on the 27th of September, 1709. The following sketch of this prelate's character is given by the writer of his life, in the Biographia Britannica:'-" He was tall of stature, and in his younger years thin and pale, but fuller and more sanguine in the middle and latter part of his age; his sight quick and strong, and his constitution firm and vigorous, till indefatigable reading and nocturnal studies, to which he was very much addicted, had first impaired, and at length quite extinguished the one, and subjected the other to many infirmities; for his sight failed him entirely, and his strength to a great degree, some years before he died. But whatever other bodily indispositions he contracted, by intense thinking, and a sedentary life, his head was always free, and remained unaffected to the last. As to the temperature and complexion of his body, that of melancholy seemed to prevail, but never so far as to indispose his mind for study and conversation. The vivacity of his natural temper exposed him to sharp and sudden fits of anger, which were but of short continuance, and sufficiently atoned for by the goodness and tenderness of his nature towards all his domestics. He had a firmness and constancy of mind, which made him not easily moved when he had once fixed his purposes and resolutions. He had early a true sense of religion; and though he made a short excursion into the paths of vanity, yet he was entirely recovered a considerable time before he entered into holy orders. His great learning was tempered with that modest and humble opinion of it, that it thereby shone with greater lustre. His actions were no less instructive than his conversation; for his exact knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and of the writings of the primitive fathers of the church, had so effectual an influence upon his practice, that it was indeed a fair, entire, and beautiful image of the prudence and probity, simplicity and benignity, humility and charity, purity and piety, of the primitive Christians. During his sickness, his admirable patience under exquisite pains, and his continual prayers, made it evident that his mind was much fuller of God than of his illness; and he entertained those that attended him with such beautiful and lively descriptions of religion and another world, as if he had a much clearer view than ordinary of what he believed."

Archbishop Sharpe.

BORN A. D. 1644.-DIED A. D. 1713.

JOHN SHARPE was born at Bradford, on the 16th of February, 1644. His father was inclined to puritanism, and a staunch supporter of the parliament party; his mother was an equally zealous royalist. In 1660 young Sharpe was sent to Cambridge, where he pursued knowledge of every description with avidity and proportionate success. The Newtonian philosophy, especially, engaged his attention; but he continued to indulge himself, at the same time, with the lighter branches of literature and science. Burnet says, "he was a great reader of Shakspeare ;" and adds, "Dr Mangey, who had married his daughter, told me, that he used to recommend to young divines, the reading of the Scriptures and Shakspeare." In 1667, he took the degree of master of arts; soon afterwards he was ordained deacon and priest on the same day, and became chaplain and tutor in the family of Sir Heneage Finch, then solicitor-general. Through Finch's interest he was appointed to the archdeaconry of Berks, and, in 1675, to the rectory of St Giles in the fields. In 1681, he was presented with the deanery of Norwich. About this period he published some works

upon the subject of schism.

In 1685, on the death of Charles II., he drew up an address for the grand jury of London, upon James's accession, in which he indulged in the strain of affected and servile loyalty of the day. Next year, happening to treat upon some points of the Romish controversy in a manner which gave offence to the king, he was threatened with suspension, and only escaped by petitioning his majesty in a very abject style of submission and flattery. Soon after the accession of the prince of Orange, Sharpe was appointed to the deanery of Canterbury, on the removal of Dr Tillotson to that of St Paul's, and within a short period thereafter he was selected by the king to supply one of the sees vacated by the deprivations of the bishops. The latter preferment, however, met with a peremptory refusal; but Tillotson interposed his influence on behalf of his refractory friend so effectually, that a still more unexpected dignity was soon after conferred upon him; for, on the death of Archbishop Lampleugh, Sharpe was, in May, 1691, appointed to the see of York, which he held for twenty-two years.

At his entrance upon this charge, he laid down to himself certain rules. One was for the encouragement of the clergy, namely, to bestow the prebends in his gift upon such only as were either beneficed in his diocese, or retained in his family Another more properly respected the laity, namely, never to meddle, or anywise concern himself, in the election of members of parliament. It would scarcely be fair to the memory of the archbishop, to say that he was a thoroughgoing tory in his political principles; for, although he generally voted with the high-church party, and was recognised by them as one of their leaders, yet, in a few instances, he did exert his interest in opposition

1 History, vol. iii. p. 100.

to the tories, and seemed to follow the leadings of his own judgment. Churchmen acknowledge themselves under great obligations to this prelate, for his influence with Queen Anne, in procuring and arrangig the Bounty act. The idea had indeed originated with Dr Burnet, in the late reign, but it was Dr Sharpe who got it carried into effect. Ha induence at court was likewise successfully exerted on behal: of the expiscopal clergy of Scotland, whose political partialities had expos ed them to much severity of treatment at the hands of government. The Vaudois protestants also shared his sympathies, and obtamet, through his intercession, the renewal of a pension, granted by King William and Queen Mary, which had been suspended for some years.

la private lite the archbishop was courteous, hospitable, and condescending. His charity was extensive, and of his personal piety there seems no reason to doubt. He died on the 2d of February, 1713. His lie and some of his papers have been recently given to the public, by the Rev. T. Newcome, rector of Shenly, in two volumes,

Tuis celebrated prelate, the son of a Scotch civilian, was born in Edinburgh on the 18th of September, 1643. His father, the younger brother of an ancient Aberdeen family, was a respectable lawyer and moderate episcopalian, and became a lord of session after the restoration, by the title of Lord Crimond. His mother was the sister of Sir Archibald Johnston, commonly called Lord Wariston. Gilbert was the youngest son of the family. After having been instructed by his father in the Latin tongue, he was sent at the age of ten to the university of Aberdeen, where he obtained the degree of M. A. before he was fourteen years of age. He studied civil and feudal law for about a year, and then, to the great satisfaction of his father, abandoned it entirely for theological pursuits. He received ordination in his eighteenth year; and Sir Alexander Burnet, his cousin-german, offered him a good living, but he thought proper to decline it, modestly deeming himself too young for the charge. On the death of his father, in 1661, his friends advised him to resume his legal pursuits, with a view of practising at the Scotch bar; but he refused to abandon the study of divinity. In 1663 he visited Oxford and Cambridge, where he became acquainted with More, Fell, Pocock, Wallis, Tillotson, and most of the learned men of the day.

On his return to Scotland, Sir Robert Fletcher offered him the living of Saltoun in East Lothian; but Burnet, wishing to visit Holland, begged to decline it. Sir Robert, however, determined to keep the living vacant until Burnet's return from Holland, whither the latter proceeded in 1664. While residing at Amsterdam, he studied Hebrew under a learned Jewish rabbi, and made a very extensive acquaintance among the leading theologians in that country. He subsequently re

'History, vol v. p. 119.

moved to Paris, and thence to London, where he was made a fellow of the royal society. Returning to Scotland, he found the living of Saltoun still vacant, but could not be prevailed upon to take it, until, by preaching to the parishioners for some months, he had ascertained that his ministry was acceptable. In 1665 he was ordained priest, and, for five years, he performed the duties of his sacred office at Saltoun in a most exemplary manner. One of his parishioners having fallen into difficulties, Burnet asked him how much would be sufficient to set him up again in business; the man named a certain sum, which Burnet immediately ordered his servant to fetch. "Sir," said the servant," it is all we have in the house." "Well, well," replied Burnet," pay it to this poor man; you do not know the pleasure there is in making a man glad."

About this time he drew up a memorial of the abuses practised by the Scotch bishops, to each of whom he sent a copy of it, signed with his own hand. This bold proceeding, in so young a man, exposed him to the deep resentment of Archbishop Sharpe. In 1668, he was appointed professor of divinity at Glasgow, where he continued four years and a half, hated by the presbyterians, lest his moderation should lead to the establishment of episcopacy, and by the episcopalians, because he was for exempting the dissenters from their persecutions. Soon after his election to the professorship, he published A Modest and Free Conference between a Conformist and a Nonconformist,' which procured him an increase of esteem among the friends of moderation. He next occupied himself in compiling his 'Memoirs of the Duke of Hamilton,' relative to which he visited London, and while there he was offered, but refused, a Scotch bishopric. On his return to Glasgow, he married Lady Margaret Kennedy, daughter of the earl of Cassilis, "Reputed," says Sir George Mackenzie, "a wit, and the great patron of the presbyterians, in which persuasion she was very bigotted." This lady was much admired by the duke of Lauderdale, and suspected-though Mackenzie thinks unjustly-of too great intimacy with that nobleman. A collection of her letters to the duke was published in 1828.

In 1672 he published A Vindication of the Authority, Constitution, and Laws, of the Church and State of Scotland,' a work somewhat at variance with his previous opinions. It met with great approbation at court, and procured for him the offer of the next vacant Scotch archbishopric, which, however, he would not accept. In 1673 appeared his Mystery of Iniquity Unveiled.' While in London, he was made chaplain to the king. There is a sermon of Burnet's extant, entitled 'The Royal Martyr lamented,' which he preached at the Savoy on the 30th of January, 1674, in which he enacts the part of a royal chaplain tolerably well speaking of the "endless virtues" of the "murdered prince," and offering "divers passages drawn out of papers under his own royal pen, that will give some characters of his great soul." But his court favour was of brief duration; his name being struck out of the list of royal chaplains, soon after his return to Scotland, for opposing the measures of the unprincipled Lauderdale. He shortly afterwards found it necessary, as it is stated, for his personal security, to resign the professorship of divinity at Glasgow and remove to London.

He now printed his Truth of Religion Examined;' and, having refused the living of St Giles's, Cripplegate, which had previously been