Divine, born at Cranborne, 17th April 1635, studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, in 1653 obtained a fellowship, and in 1657 became rector of Sutton in Bedfordshire. In 1659 appeared his “Irenicum,” a catholic (perhaps latitudinarian) attempt to find a basis of union for the divided church. His “Origines Sacræ” (1662), followed by his “Rational Account of the Grounds of the Protestant Religion” (1664), a defence of the Church of England from the charge of schism, led to rich preferment. He became in 1665 rector of St. Andrews, Holborn, chaplain to Charles II., a canon of St. Paul’s (1670), dean (1678), and after the Revolution Bishop of Worcester. He died at Westminster, 27th March 1699. Other works were his “Mischiefs of Separation” (1680); “Origines Britannicæ, or Antiquities of the British Churches” (1685); and a defence of the doctrine of the Trinity (1697). See Life prefixed to works (6 vols. 1710).
Personal
Thence to the Chappell and heard the famous young Stillingfleete, whom I knew at Cambridge, and is now newly admitted one of the King’s chaplains; and was presented, they say, to my Lord Treasurer for St. Andrew’s, Holborn, where he is now minister, with these words, that they (the Bishops of Canterbury, London, and another) believed he is the ablest young man to preach the Gospel of any since the Apostles. He did make the most plain, honest, good, grave sermon, in the most unconcerned and easy yet substantial manner, that ever I heard in my life, upon the words of Samuel to the people, “Fear the Lord in truth with all your heart, and remember the great things that he hath done for you.” It being proper to this day, the day of the King’s Coronation.
Narcissus Marsh, archbishop of Armagh, gave 2,500 libs. for bishop Stillingfleet’s library, which, like that of Dr. Isaac Vossius, was suffered to go out of the nation, to the eternal scandal and reproach of it. The said archbishop has built a noble repository for them.
Stillingfleet was a man of much more learning [than Tillotson], but of a more reserved and a haughtier temper. He was a great man in many respects. He knew the world well, and was esteemed a very wise man…. He applied himself much to the study of the law and records, and the original of our constitution, and was a very extraordinary man.
If the clergy of England had been polled for the selection of the most distinguished and profound divine of the day, their choice would probably have fallen on Edward Stillingfleet. The learned Dr. Bentley, his friend and chaplain for fourteen years, scarcely exaggerates when he says of the Dean of St. Paul’s, “Even envy itself will allow him to be the glory of our Church and nation; who, by his vast and comprehensive genius, is as great in all parts of learning as the greatest next himself are in any.”
General
The best account of the present state of our tithes … is lately given by the most learned Bishop Stillingfleet, who never fails of exhausting whatever subject he pretends to treat on.
He, in his youth, writ an “Irenicum” for healing our divisions, with so much learning and moderation that it was esteemed a masterpiece…. The argument was managed with so much learning and skill, that none of either side ever undertook to answer it.
Of Locke he [Coleridge] spoke, as usual, with great contempt, that is, in reference to his metaphysical work. He considered him as having led to the destruction of metaphysical science by encouraging the unlearned public to think that with mere common sense they might dispense with disciplined study. He praised Stillingfleet as Locke’s opponent.
If it be true, as it was reported at the time, that the Reverend Prelate died from vexation at the issue of the contest he had engaged in, his memory as a metaphysician has at least been preserved from oblivion by the celebrity of his antagonist, and by his own signal defeat.
A man deeply versed in ecclesiastical antiquity, of an argumentative mind, excellently fitted for polemical dispute, but perhaps by those habits of his life rendered too much of an advocate to satisfy an impartial reader. In the critical reign of James II., he may be considered as the leader on the Protestant side.
Stillingfleet, again, is antiquarian, formal, and controversial. His intellect is acute, hard, and ingenious, ready to cope with any subject and any opponent that may cross his path, or may seem to him inimical to the Church. He is alert alike against the Romanist, the Separatist, and the Rationalist—one of a common type of theologians bred by all Churches, who delight to go forth with weapons of war against all assailants of official orthodoxy and official privilege.
He fought against Atheists, Unitarians, Papists, and Dissenters, and rendered distinguished service to his cause. His best-known engagements were with Dryden and Locke. Against Dryden, though far inferior in style, he had the best of the argument; but in the encounter with Locke he sustained a defeat so signal and humiliating that it was said to have hastened his death. He wrote with great vigour, but his expressions are neither original nor felicitous. To a modern reader his manner seems too arrogant and personal to be persuasive. Although Clarendon professes himself “exceedingly delighted with the softness, gentleness, and civility of his language,” this word-praise is not borne out by facts; there is no evidence that he had Tillotson’s power of bringing over opponents.
His works are chiefly argumentative; but his Sermons, published after his death, deservedly bear a high character for good sense, sound morality, energy of style, and the knowledge of human nature which they display.
As he confined himself closely to the particular aspect of each question as it presented itself in his own day, his controversial writings have now little more than an historical interest. They differ in this respect from those of such writers as Waterland and Butler. Waterland’s writings against the Arians and Socinians, and Butler’s against the Deists, have a real value at the present day; but Stillingfleet’s against his various adversaries, though nearly as able, have, from the cause above-mentioned, lost much of their value. He is seen at his best in his sermons, his charges, and his “Origines Sacræ.” His style is clear and nervous, and he had a lawyer-like mind, which enabled him to marshall his arguments with great force and precision. As a writer of good English he is still well worth reading; and therefore his name cannot be omitted in any notice of English Prose writers.
His learning and acuteness amazed his contemporaries. He appeared as the antagonist of Locke, and the defender of Laud, as a philosopher, theologian, and preacher, and in all with distinguished success. His “Origines Sacræ,” an assertion of the Divine authority of the Scriptures, and his “Origines Britannicæ,” are still referred to; and it must be admitted that he had no inconsiderable knowledge of antiquity, both literary and historical. But his work was not of a nature to permanently affect posterity. He served his age, and served it well.
