468 



BERKELEY. 



Berkeley Upon his return, his acquaintance among the great 

 *~""V" ' was considerably extended ; and Lord Burlington, 

 who had conceived for him a high esteem when at 

 Rome, on account of his taste for architecture, ob- 

 tained for him the grant of the deanery of Down, 

 worth jC2000 per annum. Through the narrow sys- 

 tem of politics, however, which then prevailed in the 

 Irish cabinet, considerable opposition was made to his 

 appointment ; and such was Berkeley's mildness and 

 humility, that he could not be prevailed upon to dis- 

 pute the matter, or even expostulate on the subject. 

 His noble patron afterwards, in 1724, procured for 

 him the deanery of Derry, the next best in Ireland 

 to that of Down, and worth jfllOO per annum. 

 Upon this preferment he resigned his fellowship to 

 which he had been appointed in 1717, in which year, 

 also, he had received the degrees of bachelor and doc- 

 tor in divinity. About this time he obtained an agree- 

 able accession to his income by the death of Mrs 

 Vanhomrigh, the Vanessa of Swift, who made Berke- 

 ley one of her executors, and left him half her for- 

 tune, amounting to about j4O0O, although she had 

 been but once in company with him. In his capacity 

 of executor, he committed to the flames several let- 

 ters that had passed between her and the dean, not, 

 as he expressly declared, because there was any thing 

 criminal in them, but because there was a warmth in 

 the lady's style which he thought it delicate to con- 

 ceal from the public. 



Previous to his appointment to the deanery of 

 Derry, the benevolent mind of Berkeley had been bu- 

 sied in the noble plan of converting the savage Ame- 

 ricans to Christianity, by erecting a college in the 

 Bermudas or Summer islands, which might likewise 

 be a seminar)' for more completely supplying the 

 churches in our foreign plantations. In 1725, he 

 published a proposal for this purpose in London ; at 

 the same time offering to resign his lucrative benefice, 

 and to dedicate the remainder of his life to the in- 

 struction of youth in America, on the moderate in- 

 come of jCIOO per annum. Three junior fellows of 

 Trinity College, Dublin, influenced by this distin- 

 guished example of disinterestedness, offered their 

 services in the intended seminary on a salary of 40 

 yearly, in room of all their prospects at home. After 

 much solicitation and attendance on the great, Berke- 

 ley succeeded in having his favourite measure approved 

 by government, and introduced into the Houseof Com- 

 mons by Sir Robert Walpole. A charter was granted 

 by his majesty for erecting a college, by the name of 

 St Paul's college, in Bermuda, which was to consist 

 of a president and nine fellows, who were obliged to 

 maintain and educate Indian children at the rate of 

 jEIO a year for each. 20,000 was allotted for this 

 philanthropic purpose, of which one half was furnish- 

 ed by the ministers, and the other half was to be af- 

 terwards advanced. Berkeley and his associates were 

 permitted to retain their livings in Ireland till this 

 sum should actually be paid ; but were bound to re- 

 sign them in a limited time after the paymentshould 

 take place. The benevolent dean lost no time in car- 

 rying this favourite plan into execution ; but., in 1728, 

 passed over to America, having a little before united 

 himself in marriage to the eldest daughter of John 

 Forster, Esq. speaker of the Irish House of Com- 



mons. Upon his arrival at Newport, in Rhode Berkeley. 

 Island, he contracted for the purchase of lands on the *~ 

 adjoining continent, and fully expected that the pur- 

 chase money would, according to agreement, be im- 

 mediately paid. His expectations, however, were 

 disappointed ; and, after various delays and excuses, 

 he was at length informed by Bishop Gibson, in whose 

 diocese, as bishop of London, the whole of the West 

 Indies was included, that upon application to Sir Ro- 

 bert Walpole, he received the following remarkable 

 answer : " If you put this question to me as a mini- 

 ster," said Sir Robert, " I must and can assure you, 

 that the money shall most undoubtedly be paid as 

 soon as 6uits with public convenience ; but if you ask 

 me as a friend, whether Dean Berkeley should conti- 

 nue iii America expecting the payment of 10,000, 

 I advise him by all means to return home to Europe, 

 and give up his present expectation." Accordingly 

 the dean, after having expended a great part of his 

 private fortune, and more than seven years of his life, 

 in the prosecution of so laudable a scheme, found him- 

 self compelled to return to England. Before he left 

 Rhode Island, he distributed the books he had brought 

 with him among the clergy of that province ; and, 

 upon his arrival in London, immediately returned all 

 the private subscriptions that had been advanced for 

 the support of his undertaking. 



In 1732 he published the Minute Philosopher, a 

 performance which has been very generally read and 

 admired. It consists of a series of dialogues, on the 

 model of Plato, of which it is the object to refute 

 the tenets of the free-thinker, who is here exhibited 

 successively in the various characters of atheist, liber- 

 tine, enthusiast, scorner, critic, metaphysician, fatalist, 

 and sceptic. At this period he stood high in favour 

 with Queen Caroline, who was a distinguished patro- 

 ness of men of virtue and talents. Upon a vacancy 

 in the see of Cloyne, in 1733, at the instance of her 

 majesty, Berkeley was appointed to that bishopric, 

 and in May 1734 he was consecrated bishop of Cloyne, 

 and vacated his deanery. On that occasion he said 

 to his intimates, * I will never accept a translation ;" 

 a resolution to which he most religiously adhered ; 

 for when he was offered the see of Clogher in 1745 by 

 Lord Chesterfield, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, he 

 respectfully declined the promotion, although that see 

 was double in value to the bishopric of Cloyne. In 

 the discb.arge of his episcopal duties, he was in the 

 highest degree meritorious and exemplary, and was 

 distinguished by his pastoral hospitality, and constant 

 residence. While his health permitted, he was a re- 

 gular preacher ; and always delivered extemporane- 

 ous sermons ; for it is not known that he ever redu- 

 ced a single sermon to writing, with the exception of 

 one preached before the society for propagating the 

 gospel in foreign parts, which was published at their 

 request. 



About this time he published The Analyst, a very 

 ingenious performance, intended to show that there 

 are mysteries or unintelligible principles admitted by 

 mathematicians in their reasonings, and particularly 

 in the doctrine of Fluxions, which might be much 

 more justly objected against than the mysteries of 

 faith, which are often alleged as inadmissible by the 

 enemies of religion. This work originated in the 



