English writer and critic (1698?1779)
William Warburton
(24 December 1698 – 7 June 1779) was an English writer,
literary critic
and churchman,
Bishop of Gloucester
from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend
Alexander Pope
, and of
William Shakespeare
.
Life
[
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St Mary's church at Brant Broughton, where Warburton was rector from 1727
Prior Park, Warburton's home from 1745
Warburton was born on 24 December 1698 at
Newark
, Nottinghamshire, where his father, George Warburton was
town clerk
.
[1]
He was educated at Oakham and Newark
grammar schools
, and in 1714, he was articled to Mr Kirke, an attorney, at
East Markham
. In 1719, after serving his articles he returned to Newark, where he began to practise as a solicitor,
[1]
but, having studied
Latin
and
Greek
, changed his mind and was ordained deacon by the
Archbishop of York
in 1723.
He was ordained as a priest in 1726, and in the same year began to associate with literary circles in London.
[1]
Sir
Robert Sutton
gave Warburton the small living of
Greasley
, in
Nottinghamshire
, exchanged next year for that of
Brant Broughton
in Lincolnshire. He was, in addition, rector of
Firsby
from 1730 until 1756, although he never lived in the village.
In 1728, he was made an honorary M.A. of the
University of Cambridge
.
[3]
At Brant Broughton for 18 years he spent his time in study, the first result of which was his treatise on the
Alliance between Church and State
(1736). The book brought Warburton into favour at court, and he probably only missed immediate preferment by the death of
Queen Caroline
.
A series of articles defending the writings of
Alexander Pope
against charges of religious unorthodoxy,
[1]
led to a friendship with the poet which contributed greatly to Warburton's social advancement. Pope introduced him to both
William Murray
, later Lord Mansfield, who obtained for him the preachership of
Lincoln's Inn
in 1746, and to
Ralph Allen
, who, in
Dr Johnson
's words, "gave him his niece and his estate, and, by consequence, a bishopric." Warburton married Gertrude Tucker, in September 1745,
[1]
and from that time lived at Allen's estate at
Prior Park
, in
Gloucestershire
, which he eventually inherited in 1764.
He became
prebendary
of
Gloucester
in 1753, chaplain to the king in 1754, prebendary of Durham in 1755,
Dean of Bristol
in 1757, and
Bishop of Gloucester
in 1759.
Literary works
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By 1727 Warburton had written the notes he contributed to
Lewis Theobald
's edition of
Shakespeare
,
published a
Critical and Philosophical Enquiry into the Causes of Miracles
,
[1]
and contributed anonymously to a
pamphlet
on the jurisdiction of the
Court of Chancery
,
The Legal Judicature in Chancery stated
(1727). This was an answer to another anonymous pamphlet, written by
Philip Yorke
, later Lord Chancellor.
The
Divine Legation
[
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After
Alliance between Church and State
, his next and best-known work,
Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated on the Principles of a Religious Deist
(1738?41, in two volumes), preserves his name as the author of the most daring and ingenious of theological paradoxes. The
deists
had made the absence of any inculcation of the doctrine of a future life an objection to the divine authority of the
Mosaic writings
. Warburton boldly admitted the fact and turned it against the adversary by maintaining that no merely human legislator would have omitted such a sanction of morality. Warburton's extraordinary power, learning and originality were acknowledged on all sides, though he excited censure and suspicion by his tenderness to the alleged heresies of
Conyers Middleton
. The book aroused much controversy. In a pamphlet of "Remarks" (1742), he replied to
John Tillard
, and
Remarks on Several Occasional Reflections
(1744?45) was an answer to
Akenside
, Conyers Middleton (who had been his friend),
Richard Pococke
,
Nicholas Mann
,
Richard Grey
,
Henry Stebbing
and other critics. As he characterised his opponents in general as the "pestilent herd of libertine scribblers with which the island is overrun," it is no surprise that the publication of the book created many bitter enemies.
Defence of Pope
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Either in quest of
paradox
, or unable to recognise the real tendencies of Alexander Pope's
Essay on Man
, Warburton defended it against the
Examen
of
Jean Pierre de Crousaz
through a series of articles he contributed to
The Works of the Learned
in 1738?9. Whether Pope had really understood the tendency of his own work has always been doubtful, but there is no question that he was glad of an apologist, and that in the long run Warburton's
jeu d'esprit
helped Pope more than all his erudition. This led to a sincere friendship between the two men, with Pope fostering Warburton as a literary collaborator and editor. As part of this effort, in a 1743 edition of the
Dunciad
published under Warburton's editorship, Pope persuaded Warburton to add a fourth book, and encouraged the substitution of
Colley Cibber
for Theobald as the "hero" of the poem. On his death in 1744, Pope's will bequeathed half of his library to Warburton, as well as the copyright to all his printed works. Warburton would subsequently publish a full edition of Pope's writings in 1751.
Edition of Shakespeare
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In 1747 his edition of Shakespeare was published, incorporating material from Pope's earlier edition. He had previously entrusted notes and emendations on Shakespeare to Sir
Thomas Hanmer
, whose unauthorised use of them led to a heated controversy. He also accused Lewis Theobald, with whom he had corresponded on Shakespearean subjects as early as 1727, of stealing his ideas, and denied his critical ability.
Later works
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Warburton was further kept busy by replying to the attacks on his
Divine Legation
from all quarters, by a dispute with
Bolingbroke
respecting Pope's behaviour in the affair of Bolingbroke's
Patriot King
, and by a vindication in 1750 of the alleged miraculous interruption of the rebuilding of the temple of
Jerusalem
undertaken by
Julian
, in answer to
Conyers Middleton
. According to the
Encyclopædia Britannica
Eleventh Edition
, "Warburton's manner of dealing with opponents was both insolent and rancorous, but it did him no disservice."
He continued to write for as long as the infirmities of age allowed, collecting and publishing his sermons, and attempting to complete the
Divine Legation
, further fragments of which were published with his posthumous
Works
. He wrote a defence of revealed religion in his
View of Lord Bolingbroke's Philosophy
(1754), and
Hume
's
Natural History of Religion
called forth some
Remarks ... by a gentleman of Cambridge
(1757) from Warburton, in which his friend and biographer,
Richard Hurd
, had a share.
In 1762 he launched a vigorous attack on
Methodism
under the title of
The Doctrine of Grace
. He also engaged in a keen controversy with
Robert Lowth
, later bishop of London, on the
book of Job
, in which Lowth brought home charges of lack of scholarship and of insolence that admitted of no denial. His last important act was to found in 1768 the
Warburtonian lecture
at Lincoln's Inn, "to prove the truth of revealed religion ... from the completion of the prophecies of the Old and New Testament which relate to the Christian Church, especially to the apostasy of Papal Rome."
Death
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Warburton died at Gloucester on 7 June 1779. He left no children, his only son having predeceased him.
[1]
In 1781 his widow, Gertrude, married
[1]
the Rev.
Martin Stafford Smith
.
[5]
Posthumous publications and biographies
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His works were edited in seven volumes (1788) by
Richard Hurd
with a biographical preface, and the correspondence between the two friends?an important contribution to the literary history of the period?was edited by
Samuel Parr
in 1808. Warburton's life was also written by
John Selby Watson
in 1863, and
Mark Pattison
made him the subject of an essay in 1889.
Arms
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Coat of arms of William Warburton
|
- Notes
- Impaled with the arms of the Diocese of Gloucester.
- Escutcheon
- Argent a chevron between three cormorants Sable a canton Gules.
[7]
|
See also
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Notes
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References
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External links
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