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Article CHARACTER OF EDWARD STILLINGFLEET, ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Character Of Edward Stillingfleet,
clous ; no man sooner discerning the strength of a cause , or determining more justly the merits of it ; nor was his insight into persons less quick and true , he soon perceived their capacities and abilities , as well as their designs and interests . By these singular talents , as he presently made himself master of whatever he applied to , so he shewed it was his constant and indefatigable endeavour to make that vast knowledge and experience he had acquired , the more beneficial to the
public interest both of Church and State ; in which he was so successful , ' that it has left him a name highly venerable among all those who regard the welfare of our excellent constitution , and wish the advancement of sound learning and true reli gion under it . In fine , lie was a man of enlarged capacity and great natural abilitiesof mighty talentsand constant improvement .
Consi-, , der him then in all these respects , and it will , produce this just reflection , that he knew every thing that was necessary or of use in his profession and station , and what he did know was just and true . He was not contented with a superficial knowledge , for in difficult , cases he had too great a love for the truth to be easily satisfied ; but the great reach of his understanding soon made him master of every
thing he chose . —He was not desirous of heaping up a vast mass of learning , and burying himself as it were in the midst of it;—his de-. sire of knowledge was not so much for his private satisfaction , as for the public good . He made use of no quotations and authorities , but as he well knew what others had said before him , he stated , confirmed , or refuted their opinions , with proper remarks on them , still
advancing in the mam point , and improving the reader ; abounding in such a vast stock and variety of knowlege , never did man possess a greater command than he shewed , on all occasions , of setting forth what was most useful and fit for his purpose . Such was the accuracy of his taste and judgment , the compass of his knowledge and experience , and such his care and industry to employ them to the best ad-, vantagethat it made a considerable personand one of his best
, , friends say , it was a thousand pities so extraordinary a man should ever be taken from the world ; thinking , no doubt , he could not wish a greater benefit to the public , than that he should last as long as that did . He was so peculiarly eminent and distinguished by his character , that no one more happily united learning and business- together , nor no one better shewed that they were not inconsistent , but
improved by each other ; scholars of all degrees who conversed with him , or his writings , much admired him on account of his rare talents , and thought that the first science they had dipped into must be his master-piece ; till forced to yield their opinion in favour of the next , and so on till they had ran through all tlie branches of his learning . After all these , qualifications it ought not to be forgotten
, how agreeable and pleasant he was in conversation , how true a judpe and strict observer of decorum ; how exact in his behaviour and proper in his address ; these may be looked upon as trivial perfections in a man of such a genius , but , in my humble opinion , i think they are the more necessary , for they generally introduce and recommend great ¦ alents to the world , and make them more useful aud successful . He
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Character Of Edward Stillingfleet,
clous ; no man sooner discerning the strength of a cause , or determining more justly the merits of it ; nor was his insight into persons less quick and true , he soon perceived their capacities and abilities , as well as their designs and interests . By these singular talents , as he presently made himself master of whatever he applied to , so he shewed it was his constant and indefatigable endeavour to make that vast knowledge and experience he had acquired , the more beneficial to the
public interest both of Church and State ; in which he was so successful , ' that it has left him a name highly venerable among all those who regard the welfare of our excellent constitution , and wish the advancement of sound learning and true reli gion under it . In fine , lie was a man of enlarged capacity and great natural abilitiesof mighty talentsand constant improvement .
Consi-, , der him then in all these respects , and it will , produce this just reflection , that he knew every thing that was necessary or of use in his profession and station , and what he did know was just and true . He was not contented with a superficial knowledge , for in difficult , cases he had too great a love for the truth to be easily satisfied ; but the great reach of his understanding soon made him master of every
thing he chose . —He was not desirous of heaping up a vast mass of learning , and burying himself as it were in the midst of it;—his de-. sire of knowledge was not so much for his private satisfaction , as for the public good . He made use of no quotations and authorities , but as he well knew what others had said before him , he stated , confirmed , or refuted their opinions , with proper remarks on them , still
advancing in the mam point , and improving the reader ; abounding in such a vast stock and variety of knowlege , never did man possess a greater command than he shewed , on all occasions , of setting forth what was most useful and fit for his purpose . Such was the accuracy of his taste and judgment , the compass of his knowledge and experience , and such his care and industry to employ them to the best ad-, vantagethat it made a considerable personand one of his best
, , friends say , it was a thousand pities so extraordinary a man should ever be taken from the world ; thinking , no doubt , he could not wish a greater benefit to the public , than that he should last as long as that did . He was so peculiarly eminent and distinguished by his character , that no one more happily united learning and business- together , nor no one better shewed that they were not inconsistent , but
improved by each other ; scholars of all degrees who conversed with him , or his writings , much admired him on account of his rare talents , and thought that the first science they had dipped into must be his master-piece ; till forced to yield their opinion in favour of the next , and so on till they had ran through all tlie branches of his learning . After all these , qualifications it ought not to be forgotten
, how agreeable and pleasant he was in conversation , how true a judpe and strict observer of decorum ; how exact in his behaviour and proper in his address ; these may be looked upon as trivial perfections in a man of such a genius , but , in my humble opinion , i think they are the more necessary , for they generally introduce and recommend great ¦ alents to the world , and make them more useful aud successful . He