mities; but he was refolved to lend his feeble Affiftance, to ftem the Torrent that was pouring in. With this Spirit he wrote that excellent Piece, which is intituled, The Idea of a Patriot King: in which he describes a Monarch uninfluenced by Party, leaning to the Suggestions neither of Whigs nor Tories, but equally the Friend and Father of all. Some Time after, in the Year 1749, after the Conclufion of the Peace, two Years before the Meafures taken by the Adminiftration feemed not to have been repugnant to his Notions of political Prudence for that Juncture; in that Year he wrote his laft Production, containing Reflections on the then State of the Nation, principally with Regard to her Taxes and Debts, and on the Caufes and Confequences of them. This Undertaking was left unfinished, for Death fnatched the Pen from the Hand of the Writer. Having paffed the latter Part of his Life in Dignity and Splendor, his rational Faculties improved by Reflection, and his Ambition kept under by Difappointment, his whole Aim feemed to have been to leave the Stage of Life, on which he had acted such various Parts, with Applaufe. He had long wished to fetch his laft Breath at Battersea, the Place where he was born; and Fortune, that had through Life seemed to traverse all his Aims, at laft indulged him in this. He had long been troubled with a Cancer in his Cheek, by which excruciating Disease he died, on the Verge of fourfcore Years of Age. He was confonant with himself to the laft; and thofe Principles which he had all along avowed, he confirmed with his dying Breath, having given Orders that none of the Clergy fhould be permitted to trouble him in his lateft Moments. His Body was interred in Batterfea Church, with thofe of his Ancestors; and a Marble Monument erected to his Memory, with the following excel lent Infcription. Here lies HENRY ST. JOHN, In the Reign of Queen Anne Secretary of War, Secretary of State, and In the Days of King George I. and King George II His Attachment to Queen Anne He died the 12th of December, 1751, In this Manner lived and died Lord Bolingbroke ; ever active, never depreffed, ever pursuing Fortune, and as conftantly disappointed by her. In whatever Light we view his Character, we fhall find him an Object rather proper for our Wonder, than our Imitation; more to be feared than esteemed, and gaining our Admiration without our Love. His Ambition ever aimed at the Summit of Power, and nothing feemed capable of fatisfying his immoderate Defres, but the Liberty of governing all Things without a Rival. With as much Ambi tion as great Abilities, and more acquired Knowledge than Cafar, he wanted only his Courage to be as fuccessful; but the Schemes his Head dictated, his Heart often refused to execute; and he loft the Ability Ability to perform, just when the great Occafion called for all his Efforts to engage. The fame Ambition that prompted him to be a Politician, actuated him as a Philofopher. His Aims were equally great and extenfive in both Capacities unwilling to fubmit to any Power in the one, or any Authority in the other, he entered the Fields of Science, with a thorough Contempt of all that had been established before him, and feemed to think every Thing wrong, that he might fhew his Faculty in the Reformation. It might have been better for his Quiet, as a Man, if he had been content to act a subordinate Character in the State; and it had certainly been better for his Memory as a Writer, if he had aimed at doing lefs than he attempted. Wisdom in Morals, like every other Art or Science, is an Accumulation that Numbers have contributed to increase; and it is not for one fingle Man to pretend, that he can add more to the Heap than the Thousands that have gone before him. Such Innovators more frequently retard than promote Knowledge; their Maxims are more agreeable to the Reader, by having the Glofs of Novelty to recommend them, than those which are trite, only because they are true. Such Men are therefore followed at first with Avidity, nor is it till fome Time that their Disciples begin to find their Error. They often, though too late, perceive, that they have been following a fpeculative Enquiry, while they have been leaving a practical Good; and while they have been practifing the Arts of Doubting, they have been lofing all Firmnefs of Principle, which might tend to establish the Rectitude of their private Conduct. As a Moralift, therefore, Lord Bolingbroke, by having endeavoured at too much, feems to have done Nothing: but, as a political Writer, few can equal, and none can exceed him. As he was a practical Politician, his Writings are K 3 lefs lefs filled with thofe fpeculative Illufions, which are the Result of Solitude and Seclufion. He wrote them with a Certainty of their being oppofed, fifted, examined, and reviled; he therefore took Care to build them up of fuch Materials, as could not be eafily overthrown: they prevailed at the Times in which they were written, they ftill continue to the Admiration of the prefent Age, and will probably laft for ever. AN IN THE PREFACE. IN the Contest carried on for fome Years paft between the Defenders of Chriftianity and Deifts, the latter always appealed to Philofophy, and under that Shelter fpeciously defended themselves: their Procedure obliged the Champions of Christianity to follow and attack them within the Verge of Philofophy; but by the occasional shifting of Principles and Syftems, and a dexterous Ufe of equivocal Language, the Dispute became a Kind of Chace through a Labyrinth, in which the Retreats were endless, and the Victory always incompleat: this Obferva. tion made me with the Principles of Philofophy that enter into the Difpute were more clear, limited, and decifive. It seemed reasonable to me to conclude, that true Religion cannot be inconfiftent with true Philofophy; K 4 |
