Wortley Montague wrote, that there were more atheists among the fine ladies than among the loosest sort of rakes.' A sad confession! About the same time, bishop Burnet says, in his advice to clergymen; 'Begin with settling in your minds the foundations of your faith; and be full of this and ready at it, that you may know how to deal with unbelievers, for that is the spreading corruption of this age. There are few atheists, but many infidels, who are indeed very little better than the atheists. In this argument you ought to take pains to have all well digested, and clearly laid in your thoughts, that you may manage the controversy gently, without any asperity of words, but with a strength of reason.'* The Rev. Samuel Clarke, writing to Doddridge in 1721, advises him to get, in the course of his reading, 'well established' as to the authority of the Scriptures. The prevalency of deism,' he adds, 'makes the cultivation of that subject very necessary.'

6

The deistical controversy of that day was carried on with great ardor. Among the formidable opponents of the Christian religion, were Mandeville, Chubb, Toland, Tindal, Woolstan, Collins, Chesterfield, Shaftesbury, and Boling

*Conclusion of the History of his Own Time, written in

1708.

broke. To repel the arguments of these assailants of Christianity came forward some of the ablest and most learned Christian authors of those times.

Some of those who were induced by the publications of infidels to advocate the cause of our holy religion, were Clarke, Waterland, Sherlock, Warburton, Leland, Berkeley, and Butler. By collecting a mass of incontrovertible evidence in favor of the authenticity of the gospel history, Lardner' established a bulwark on the side. of truth which infidelity has never presumed to attack.'*

Doddridge himself early entered the field of controversy as a champion for the truth of the Christian religion. His Sermons on the Evidences of the glorious gospel, and his Letters in reply to an infidel publication entitled Christianity not founded on Argument, show how ably and successfully he contended for the faith of the gospel.

On the publication of these apologetic Letters, in 1743, a divine of our own country, the Rev. Mr. Pemberton, of New York, wrote to Doddridge a congratulatory letter, in which he says:

Lardner's works contain a mine of theological learning, in which the student may toil till he is weary, and from which he can not fail to bring away much that is curious and edifying.'-DR. Dibdin.

'It is melancholy to hear of the extensive progress of deism in the European world; but at the same time, it is a matter of rejoicing to all who wish well to the kingdom of Christ, that God is raising up from time to time some noble champions who successfully plead the cause of truth, and with convincing evidence maintain the divine authority of the gospel against the impetuous attacks of its adversaries. Among the number of these faithful advocates for religion, Dr. Doddridge will always be mentioned with distinguished honor.

'I have frequently read your Sermons upon the Evidences of the gospel with the greatest pleasure, in which the substance of many volumes is comprised, cast into a clear method, and admirably adapted to the common capacities of mankind. Your answers to Christianity not founded, &c., will, I doubt not, be sufficient to overthrow the scheme of that unhappy writer, and prevent every considerate reader from being deceived by the plausible appearance he makes.'

Such is only a glance at the age in which, in the providence of God, Doddridge was raised up to be an advocate of the Christian revelation, an ornament to the church, a blessing to his country and the worlu, a promoter of vital religion, and a guiding-star to the Saviour.

CHAPTER II.

HIS STUDENT-LIFE.

HILIP DODDRIDGE was born in London, on the 26th of June, 1702, the same year in which Queen Anne ascended the throne. Regarding his ancestry, but little information has descended to our times. A brother of his great grandfather, Sir John Doddridge, of a Devonshire family, was distinguished for his legal attainments and general erudition. He was solicitor general in the reign of James I, and wrote several elaborate treatises on subjects belonging to his profession. He died on the 13th of September, 1628, in the seventy-third year of his age. Thomas Fuller speaks of him as the honor of his robe and profession;' and a living author, in alluding to his character, says: Sir John was a bookworm and a scholar; and for a great period of his life, a man of mighty industry. His ruling passion went with him to the

grave; for he chose to be buried ir. Exeter Cathedral, at the threshold of its library.'*

John Doddridge, the grandfather of Philip, was educated for the ministry at the University of Oxford; and became rector of Shepperton, in Middlesex. He was one of the ejected ministers, in 1662. Dr. Calamy, in his Nonconformist's Memorial, describes him as an ingenious man and a scholar; an acceptable preacher, and a very peaceable divine.' He died suddenly in 1689, 'much respected and beloved by his people.'

Daniel Doddridge, his son, resided in London, where he carried on the trade of an oilman. He married the only daughter of Mr. Bauman, a Bohemian clergyman, who, fleeing from his native country to escape the persecution which arose in Bohemia, after the expulsion of Frederick, the Elector of Palatine, came to London about the year 1626, that he might enjoy greater liberty of conscience in matters of religion. From this union sprung a family of twenty children, of whom Philip, the subject of the present memoir, was the youngest. The rest of

*For some notices of this learned ancestor of Dr. Doddridge, see Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses; Fuller's History of the Worthies of England; Prince's Worthies of Devonshire; Hearne's Discourses; Bridgman's Legal Bibliography; and the Biographia Britannica (second edition), in a note on the Life of Philip Doddridge.