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committed to tlie flames feveral letters that had palTtd in 

 correfpondence between her and the dean, not, as he declare?, 

 becaufe there was any thinjj criminal in them, but becaufe 

 he obferved a warmth in the lady's ftyle, which dehcacy re- 

 quired him to conceal from the public. 



On the i8th of May 1724, Dr. Berkeley refignedhis fcl- 

 lowfhip, and was promoted by his p.itron to the deanery of 

 Derry, worth l loo\. per annum. Having forfome time con- 

 ceived the benevolent prajed of converting the favage Ame- 

 ricans to Chriilianity, by means of a college to be ertfted in 

 the Summer iflanJs, otherwife called the ifles of Bermuda, 

 he publilhcd a propofal for this purp.ie at London, in 1725, 

 and offered to refign his own opulent picferment, and to de- 

 dicate the remainder of liis life to theinlhudlion of youth in 

 America, on the moderate fubfilK'nce of lool. a year. Such 

 was the influence of his dillinguiflied example, that three 

 junior fellows of Trinity college, Dublin, concurred with 

 him in his delign, and propoftd to exchange, for a fettlement 

 in the Atlantic ocean, at 40I. per annun:, all their flattering 

 profpefts in their own country. The propofal was enforced 

 on the attention of the minillrv, not merely by confidera- 

 tions of national honour and a regard to the canfe of Chrif- 

 tianity, but by the immediate advantage likely to accrue 

 from it to the government. Having, by diligent rtfearch, 

 eftimated the value of the lands in the ifland of St. Cln-iltu- 

 pher's, ceded to Great Britani by France at the treaty of 

 Utrecht, he propofed to difpofe of them for the public ufe, 

 8nd thus to railc a luni of money, part of which was to be 

 applied to the eflablilTiment of his college. The fcheme was 

 communicated by the intervention of the abbe Gualtieri, or 

 Altieri, to king George I. and by the royal command in- 

 troduced into the houfe of commons by Sir Robert W'alpole. 

 A charter was granted by his majefly for eretting a college, 

 by the name of St. Paul's college in Bermuda, which was to 

 ■coafift of a prefident and nine fellow-', who were obliged to 

 maintain and educate Indian children at the rate ot ic\. per 

 ■annum for each. The firft prefident. Dr. George Berkeley, 

 and the firil three fellows named in the charter, thofe iunior 

 fellows of Dublin college abovenientioned, were hcenfcd to 

 hold their preferments in thefe kingdoms till the expiration 

 of one year and a half after their arrival at Bermuda. The 

 commons, in 1726, voted an addrefs to his majefty, praying a 

 grant of fuch a fum to effeft the above purpofe out of the 

 lands of St. ChriRopher's, already mentioned, as his majelly 

 might think proper. The fum of io,oool. was furniflied by 

 the minifter, and feveral private fubfcriptions were immedi- 

 ately raifed for promoting fo pious an undertaking. Tlie 

 dean, having, in 1728, married the eldeft daughter of the 

 right honourable John Forrt;er, efq. fpeaker of the Irifli 

 houfe of commons, prepared to fet fail for Rhode ifland, in 

 the execution of his fcheme., and took with him a pretty 

 large fum of money of his own property, and a colledtion of 

 books for the ufe of his intended hbrary. Upon his arrival 

 at Newport in Rhode ifland, he contrafted for the purchafe 

 of lands on the adjoining continent, and fully expefted that 

 the purchafe money would, according to grant, be immedi- 

 ately paid. His expedtations, however, were difappointed; 

 and after various excufes he was at length informed by bifhop 

 Giblon, at that time bifliop of London, in whofe diocefe the 

 whole Weft Indies is included, that on application to Sir 

 Robert Walpole, he received the following honeft anfwer : 

 " If you put this qu(ift;ion to me>" fays Sir Robert, " as a 

 minifter, I mufl, and can aflure you, that the money fliall, 

 moll undoubtedly, be paid as foon as fuits with public con- 

 venience ; but if you aik me as a friend, whether dean Ber- 

 keley fliould continue in America, cxpefting the payment 

 of io,oool. 1 advife him, by aU means, to return bom€ to Eu- 



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rope, and to give up his prefent expeditions." Accord- 

 ingly, the dean, after having expended a great part of his 

 private fortune, and more than feven y-tars of his life in the 

 profecntion of a laudable fcheme, returned to Europe. Be- 

 fore he left R'lode-ifland, he diftributed the books Ije had 

 brought with him among the clergy of that province, and 

 upon his arrival in London, imm.ediatcly returned all the 

 private fubfcriptions that had been advanced for the fupport 

 of his undertaking. In 1732, he puhliflied the " Mhiute 

 Philofopher," a work confilling of a teries of dialogues, on 

 the model of Plato, in which he purfues the free-thinker 

 through the various charaflers of atheift, hbertine, enthu- 

 fiaft, (corner, critic, metaphyfician, f?taliil, and fceptic, and 

 employs feveral new arguments from his own fyftem. O' 

 the company, which at this time attended the philofophicai 

 converfations that were carried en m the prefence of queen 

 Caroline, according to a praftice which h.id commenced when 

 (he was princefs of Wales, fome of the princijial pcrfons were 

 doftors Clarke, Hoadly, Berkeley, and Sherlock. The debates 

 that occurred weie chiefly condufted by Clarke and Berkeley; 

 and Hoadly adhered to the former, as Sherlock did to the 

 latter. Hoadly affefted to coniider the philofophy of Berke- 

 ley, and his Bermuda project, as the reveries of a vifionary. 

 Sherlock, on the other baud, efponfed his caufe ; and on 

 the publication of t!:e " Minute Philofopher," prefented i 

 copy of it to the quien, and left it to her majefty to deter- 

 mine, whether fuch a work could have been the produftion 

 of a difordercd nnderftanding. The queen honoured Berke- 

 ley with admitting him to freq'ient vifns, and took plea- 

 fure in his converfation on fubjefts rehiting to Ami rica ; and 

 upon a vacancy in the nth deanery of Down in Ireland, pro- 

 cured it for him. But as lord BurHngton liad neglefled to 

 give proper notice of the royal intention to the duke of 

 Dorfct, then lord-lieutenant of Irehnd, and to obtain his 

 concurrence, the duke was offended, and the appointment 

 was not urged any farther. Upon this, her majelly declared, 

 that lince they would not fatter Dr. Berkeley to be a 

 " dean," in Ireland, he fhould be a " biftiop ;" and accord- 

 ingly, upon a vacancy in the fee of C'loyne, in 173^, he was 

 promoted by letters patent to that bifliopric. In confe- 

 quence of this appointment, he refided continually at Cloyne, 

 and devoted his time and attention to the faithful difchargc 

 of all epifcopal duties. He revived in his diocefe the ufeful 

 office of rural dean, vifited often parochially, and confirmed 

 in feveral parts of his fee. In the profecation of his ftudies, 

 however, his diligence was unabated ; and about this time 

 he engaged in a controverfy with the mathematicians of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, on the fubjeiSl of Fluxions. He was 

 led to it by the following occurrences : Mr. Addifon having 

 vilited Dr. Garth in his laft illnefs, addreflcd him ferioufly 

 on the neceffity of preparing for his approaching diffolution; 

 but the doftor replied, •' Surely, Addifon, I have good 

 rcafon not to believe thofe trifles hnce my friend Dr. Halley, 

 who has dealt fo mulih in demonftration, has affured me, 

 that the doftrines of Chriilianity are incomprchenfible, and 

 the religion itfelf an impofture." This converfation being 

 reported by Addifon to the bilhop, he took up arms againll 

 this redoubtable dealer in demonftration, and addrefled to 

 him " the Analyft," with a view of flicwing, that myfterit? 

 in faith were uiijuftly objefted to by mathematicians, who 

 admitted much greater myfterie=, and ev'cn faliehoods in 

 fcience, of which he endeavoured to prove that the doctrine 

 effluxions furniihcd an eminent example. SeeFtoxioN. 

 In the courfc of the controverfy on this iubject, the bifliop, in 

 1 7 \i, publiflicd a reply to Philalethes, fnppoicd to be by Dr. 

 Jurin, entitled " A Defence of Frce-liiiiiking in Mathema- 

 tics." From this controverfy, he diverted liis thoughts tn 

 Ff 2 lubjeas 



