TILLOTSON. 



llipy ought to be very thankful, and to forbear the open 

 makin(T of profelytes to their owi nligion, (though tliey 

 be never fo furc that they arc in the right.) till they have 

 either an extraordinary commiflion from God to that pur- 

 pofi-. or the providence of God make way for it by the 

 ixmiinion of the magillrate." The king flept while the 

 preacher delivered the fermon, but a nobleman at the clofe 

 of it faid to him, " It is a pity your majefty was adcep, for 

 wi- have had the rarcft piece of Hobbifm that ever you 

 heard in your life," to which Charles replied, " Oddsfifh, 

 then he (hall print it," which was the caufe of the order. 

 The paragraph was unworthy of Dr. Tillotfon, and gave 

 very general offence, both to the eflablifhed clergy 

 and PR-(bvtcrians. Tillotfon was an ardent promoter of 

 the Bill of Exchifion, nor would he concur in the addrefs 

 of the London clergy to the king on his declaration that 

 he could not confent to fuch a bill. In 1682 he took oc- 

 cafion to vindicate the charaftcr of Dr. Wilkins from the 

 afporfion of Anthony Wood, by a preface to a volume of 

 fermons, which he publilhed from the doftor's MSS. He 

 was alfo the editor, in 1683, of Dr. Barrow's fermons, in 

 ^ vols. fol. It has been regretted as an inconliftency in 

 the charafter of Tillotfon, that when in company with 

 Burnet he attended lord RufTel preparatory to his execution, 

 thcv fliould urge this martyr to liberty to acknowledge the 

 abfolute unlawfulnefs of reiiftance, though they were foon 

 after decided friends to the revolution. By a " Difcourfe 

 againft Tranfubftantiation," and another " Againft Pur- 

 gatory," he commenced a prolonged controverly with the 

 Papifts. In 1685 he avowed himfelf a warm advocate for 

 :Ltfording charitable relief to the French refugees, on the 

 p'peal of the edift of Nantes ; and in reply to Dr. Beve- 

 ridge, the prebendary of Canterbury, who objected to read- 

 ing a brief for this purpofe, as contrary to the rubric, he 

 rcmonllrated, by faying, " Doftor, Doftor, charity is above 

 rubrics." After the fettlcment of the prince of Orange at 

 St. James's, he was inftrumental in perfuading the princefs 

 Anne, who confulted him, to acquiefce in giving up her 

 claim to the crown during the life of William, in cafe of 

 her fiftcr's dying before him. After the revolution, no 

 obftacle remained to the full gratification of his defires of 

 advancement, which, however, he profefTed to be very 

 limited. In 1689 he was appointed clerk of the clofet 

 to the king, and permitted to exchange the deanery of 

 Canterbury for that of St. Paul's. During archbifliop San- 

 croft's fufpenfion for refufing to take the oaths to the new 

 government. Dr. Tillotfon was appointed to exercife the 

 archiepifcopal jurifdiftion ; and it was then determined that 

 he (hould have pofTeffion of the fee. His whole conduft at 

 this time evinced his attachment to the principles of toleration 

 and civil liberty ; and he was aftive in his endeavours for 

 promoting a comprehenfion, though they ultimately proved 

 unfurcefsful. He alfo failed in introducing a new book of 

 Honulies ; and in a fermon preached before the queen, 

 againft the abfolute eternity of hell torments, he excited the 

 refentment and oppofition of the orthodox party. After 

 fome reluftance on his part, he was confecrated to the arch- 

 bifhopric of Canterbury in May 1 69 1, and alfo in a little 

 while fworn a member of tlie privy<ouncil. From this 

 time he became very obnoxious to the high-church zealots, 

 who attacked him in a variety of ways. Among other 

 charges againft him, one was his attachment to Socinian 

 prmciples, wliich feems to liave had no other foundation than 

 his rational defence of Chriftianity, and his fricndfhip and 

 inlercourfe with Locke, Limborch, and Lc Clerc; and for 

 repclhng which, he caufed to be republilhcd, in 1693, four 

 of his fermons " On the Divinity and Incarnation of our 

 .<' 8 



Saviour." — " If this be Socinianifm, for a man to inquire 

 into the grounds and reafons of the Chriftian reli<;ion, and 

 to endeavour to give a rational account of it," fays he in 

 one of his pofthumous fermons, alluding to this charge, 

 and alfo to the charafter of Chiliingworth, " I know na 

 way but that all confiderate inquilitive men, that are above 

 fancy and enthufiafm, muft be either Socinians or Atheifts.'" 

 Dr. .lortin, in reference to this unfounded accufation, ob- 

 fcrves, " Tillotfon had made fome concclTions concerning 

 the Socinians, which never were, nor ever will be, forgiven 

 liim, and had broken an ancient and fundamental rule o^ 

 theological controverfy : ' Allow not an adverfary to have 

 cither common fenfe, or common honetty.' " After an 

 examination of bi(hop Burnet's expofition of the thirty-nine 

 articles, which he fent him in MS., lie concludes hi- 

 eulogy on the bilhop's prudence and ability with obferving, 

 " The account given of Athanafius's creed feems to be no- 

 wife fatisfaftory ; I wifh we were well rid of it." The 

 archbifhop's afliduity and zeal in the duties of his exalted 

 ftation were highly exemplary and laudable ; and yet they 

 were not fufficient to filence the clamours of his enemies. 

 At length the period of his ufefulnefs terminated, in confe- 

 quence of a paralytic ftroke, which feized him, November 

 1694, '" "^h^ chapel of Whitehall, and which, on the fifth day, 

 proved fatal, in the 65th year of his age. His funeral, at 

 the church of St. Laurence Jewry, was attended by many 

 perfons of rank. He left a widow, but no children ; and 

 as he took no pains to accumulate property, his debts could 

 not have been paid, if the king had not remitted his firft- 

 fruits ; and the copy-right of his fermons was the only pro- 

 vifion which he left for his widow, to which a penfion, fet- 

 tled upon her by the crown, was added. 



" The temper and charafter of Dr. Tillotfon," fays one 

 of his biographers, " were intitled to every encomium. 

 He was humble, open, and fincere, of kind and tender 

 affeftion, extremely bountiful in his charities, and forgiving 

 of injuries, in which lail virtue he was feverely tried. His 

 pubhc principles bore the ftamp of his difpofition ; they 

 were philanthropical, tolerant, and liberal ; and if he re- 

 tained fome predileftions for tjie feft in which he had been 

 educated, the chief profeffional fault with which he has been- 

 charged, candour will make due allowance for the effeft of 

 early habit. In fome points he was, perhaps, too compliant, 

 and was led into fome inconfiftencies ; but the times were 

 difiicult, and his intentions feem to have been always pure. 

 As a writer, he is principally remembered for his fermons, 

 which have long maintained a place amongfl the moft popular 

 compofitionsof that clafs in the Englifh language.. A folicK 

 volume, comprifing his " Rule of Faith," and fermons, 

 was printed in his life-time ; and after his death two more 

 folio volumes of fermons were publifhed by his chaplain. 

 Dr. Barker. Abroad, as well as at home, his works have 

 been held in high eftimation. The charafter given of them 

 by Le Clerc, in his " Bibhotheque Choifie," is as follows ; 

 " The archbifhop's merit was beyond any commendation 

 he could give. It confifted in the union of extraordinary 

 clearnefs of head, great penetration, an exquifite talent of 

 reafoning, a profound knowledge of genuine theology, 

 fohd piety, a moft Angular perfpicuity, and uuaffefted ele- 

 gance of ttyle ; with every other quality that could be 

 defired in a man of his order ; and whereas compofitions of 

 this kind are commonly mere rhetorical and popular decla- 

 mation, better to be heard from the pulpit than read in 

 print, his are for the moft part exaft djfFertations, capable 

 of bearing the teft of the moft rigorous examination." 

 Addifon confidered the fermons of Tillotfon as a ftandard 

 of purity of the Englifli language. Dryden acknowledges, 



that 



