Alderman—Bibliographical Evidence of Shaftesbury. 61 
panion of such luminaries as Bayle and Le Clere abroad. Were 
not the purpose of this study other than biographical, much of 
interest could be said relative to his ardent Whiggism, his constant 
devotion to principle, the simplicity and sincerity of his private 
life, and his benevolence toward literary men, struggling students, 
and the poor of his own neighborhood. For these the reader must 
look elsewhere.® Suffice it to say here that such was his general 
culture that he has without exaggeration been called ‘ ‘ the Matthew 
Arnold of Queen Anne’s reign.Gosse has characterized him as 
“the most accomplished Englishman of his day, the man with the 
widest taste and the most complete culture, while the purity of his 
personal character matched well with the charm of his intellect. 
Generous both in theory and in practice; prodigal with advice, 
yet consistent and temperate in habits; devoted to a certain set 
of principles, but catholic in his point of view; this statesman, 
philosopher, and litterateur died before he had yet completed his 
forty-second year.^^ He was never vigorous physically, but lived 
actively and well; and his works stand as his best memorial. 
Shaftesbury’s first venture into print was in the year 1698 when 
a preface by him was prefixed to a volume of Selected Sermons by 
Dr. Benjamin Whichcote, the distinguished Cambridge Platonist or 
Latitudinarian.^® A glance at their contents reveals the cause 
of Shaftesbury’s warm feeling for them, for already at this early 
age he was committed to the ‘ ‘ Benevolent Theory of Morals. ’ ’ The 
sermons became very rare, but were reprinted in Edinburgh in 
1742, this time with a preface by Dr. Wishart.^^ Shaftesbury’s 
Preface was reprinted in connection with a volume of his letters, 
which counted as the fourth volume of his Characteristics, in 1758.^® 
In 1698 Shaftesbury was compelled by poor health to leave 
Parliament and to seek strength in Holland. It was during this 
sojourn abroad that Toland surreptitiously published the Inquiry 
® See Stephen’s article in D. N. B.; Rand, Life, Letters and Philosophical Regimen; 
Fourth Earl of Shaftesbury, Life of the Third Earl; Bayle, Life of Shaftesbury, in 
General Dictionary. 
Leslie Stephen, FreethinMng and PlainspeaTcing, p. 242. 
'^Eighteenth Century Literature, p. 171. 
Stephen, English Thought in the Eighteenth Century, II, 20, note, says that the 
Characteristics first appeared in 1711, the year of his death. This is an error. The 
Characteristics did first appear in 1711, hut Shaftesbury did not die until 1713. 
For a full statement of the relationship that existed between Shaftesbury and 
Whichcote see P. M. L. A., XXXVIII, 183-189. 
See also The 'Wor'ks of Benjamin Whichcote, Aberdeen, 1751; Ernest P. Cam- 
pagnac. The Cambridge Platonists, 1901. 
15 Fowler, Shaftesbury and Hutcheson, New York, 1883, p. 48. 
