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Article THE LIFE OF BISHOP WARBURTON. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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The Life Of Bishop Warburton.
to a curious fact or passage that he met with in his reading , but chieflyshort hints of sentiments and reflections , which occasionally struck him , and might , some time or other , be put to use . At the end of every year he tore out of bis almanack such leaves as contained any of those reflections , and put them together under general heads , that he mi ght recur to them , on occasion , the more readily . . But the ninth book of the Divine Legation was not reduced to
form from the materials he had provided , and in the close of his life he found composing troublesome to him . His memory and invention were not what they had been ; his facility and variety of expression were not the same ; and , what was worst of all , the grace ofnov . elty in the subject was in some measure gone off .
. but the last book of the Divine Legation , under all the disadvantages with which it appears , is the noblest effort that has hitherto been made to . give a rationale of Christianity . While the good bishop was thus exerting his last strength in the cause of reli gion , he projected a method by which he hoped to render it effectual service after his death . This was by the institution ofalecttireon ^ ro / i / jecy . For this he in 1768 cool
purpose gave , , , in trust to Lord Mansfield , Sir Eardley WiJmot , and Mr . C . Yorke , for the purpose of founding a lecture at Lincoln ' s-inn , in the form of a sermon , to prove the truth of revealed reli gion in general , and of the Christian in particular , from the completion of the prophecies in the Old and New Testament , which relate to the Christian church , especiall y to the apostacy of Papal Rome . And , hitherto , their choice of lecturers has afforded
no signal cause of complaint . The last years of the bishop ' s life were clouded with misfortune , as well as indisposition . He had , for some time , been so sensible of his declining health , that he read little , arid wrote less . But in the course of the year 1776 , the loss of a favourite son and only child , who died of a consumption in his iSth year , when every hope was springing up in the breast of a fond parent , to make amends as it were for want of adual enjoyment , made a deep impression on his mind .
His spirits , from the moment of this loss , were broken ; his literary pursuits ceased to afford him pleasure , and his amusements were superseded by melanchol y . In this state he languished till the summer of 1779 , when , on the 7 th of June , he expired , at the palace in Gloucester , and was buried in his cathedral , at no gr . eat distance from the west door , and near totbe grave of his predecessor , bishop neat mural monument
. Benson . A has been puj up there tp "is memory , upon which his exalted learning , his sublime genius , "is Christian chm-after , are expressed in terms suitable to the ceserts of so great a man . Bishop W urburton possessed those qualities which are so important to society , —truthprobityand honour His love of virtue
, , . was fluent , his regard for reli gion sincere ; he was devoid of bigotry , and » ee from fanaticism . He venerated the civil constitution of his country , and was warml y attached to the Church of England , Yet VQL . xi .Rr
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of Bishop Warburton.
to a curious fact or passage that he met with in his reading , but chieflyshort hints of sentiments and reflections , which occasionally struck him , and might , some time or other , be put to use . At the end of every year he tore out of bis almanack such leaves as contained any of those reflections , and put them together under general heads , that he mi ght recur to them , on occasion , the more readily . . But the ninth book of the Divine Legation was not reduced to
form from the materials he had provided , and in the close of his life he found composing troublesome to him . His memory and invention were not what they had been ; his facility and variety of expression were not the same ; and , what was worst of all , the grace ofnov . elty in the subject was in some measure gone off .
. but the last book of the Divine Legation , under all the disadvantages with which it appears , is the noblest effort that has hitherto been made to . give a rationale of Christianity . While the good bishop was thus exerting his last strength in the cause of reli gion , he projected a method by which he hoped to render it effectual service after his death . This was by the institution ofalecttireon ^ ro / i / jecy . For this he in 1768 cool
purpose gave , , , in trust to Lord Mansfield , Sir Eardley WiJmot , and Mr . C . Yorke , for the purpose of founding a lecture at Lincoln ' s-inn , in the form of a sermon , to prove the truth of revealed reli gion in general , and of the Christian in particular , from the completion of the prophecies in the Old and New Testament , which relate to the Christian church , especiall y to the apostacy of Papal Rome . And , hitherto , their choice of lecturers has afforded
no signal cause of complaint . The last years of the bishop ' s life were clouded with misfortune , as well as indisposition . He had , for some time , been so sensible of his declining health , that he read little , arid wrote less . But in the course of the year 1776 , the loss of a favourite son and only child , who died of a consumption in his iSth year , when every hope was springing up in the breast of a fond parent , to make amends as it were for want of adual enjoyment , made a deep impression on his mind .
His spirits , from the moment of this loss , were broken ; his literary pursuits ceased to afford him pleasure , and his amusements were superseded by melanchol y . In this state he languished till the summer of 1779 , when , on the 7 th of June , he expired , at the palace in Gloucester , and was buried in his cathedral , at no gr . eat distance from the west door , and near totbe grave of his predecessor , bishop neat mural monument
. Benson . A has been puj up there tp "is memory , upon which his exalted learning , his sublime genius , "is Christian chm-after , are expressed in terms suitable to the ceserts of so great a man . Bishop W urburton possessed those qualities which are so important to society , —truthprobityand honour His love of virtue
, , . was fluent , his regard for reli gion sincere ; he was devoid of bigotry , and » ee from fanaticism . He venerated the civil constitution of his country , and was warml y attached to the Church of England , Yet VQL . xi .Rr