James Peirce
Encyclopedia
James Peirce was an English dissenting minister, the catalyst for the Salter's Hall controversy.
about 1674. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, were members of the congregational church at Stepney
, under Matthew Mead
. Left an orphan about 1680, he was placed, with a brother and sister, in the charge of Mead as guardian. Mead took him into his own house, and educated him with his son Richard Mead
under John Nesbitt
] and Thomas Singleton; and also at Utrecht
(from 1689) and Leyden (from 1692). At Utrecht he formed a lasting friendship with his fellow-student Adrian Reland, the orientalist; and he made friendships among his class-mates at Leyden, then the gathering-place of the upper crust of English dissent. He travelled in Flanders
and Germany
before returning home in 1695.
After spending some time in Oxford, to study at the Bodleian Library
, he returned to London, was admitted (11 February 1697) a member of Mead's church, and preached the evening lecture at Miles Lane congregational church, of which Matthew Clarke the younger was minister. He did not interest himself in the current disputes in London between Presbyterians and Congregationalists; and was ordained in 1699 by four London Presbyterians, headed by Matthew Sylvester, the literary executor
of Richard Baxter
. His own ideal of church government was based on Baxter's rectoral theory; he had no theoretical objection to a modified episcopacy.
's congregation had seceded to it. Agreeing to take it for three years, he was duly ‘dismissed’ to it by the Stepney church. He held it for six years (1701–6). Pierce still was ranked as an Independent, for he was made a trustee of the Hog Hill chapel on 23 January 1702. At Cambridge he was intimate with William Whiston
, who described him as ‘the most learned of all the dissenting teachers I have known.’ He read much, especially in the topics of nonconformist controversy. John Fox
described him as sitting in his study from nine at night till four or five next morning.
His move to the presbyterian congregation at Toomer's Court, Newbury
, Berkshire
, probably coincided with his first controversial publication (end of 1706) in defence of nonconformist positions against Edward Wells
. The appearance of his Vindiciæ (1710) in reply to the Defensio (1707) of William Nicholls
brought him into prominence as a nonconformist polemicist. According to Fox the latinity of the Vindiciæ was corrected by Thomas Knipe. The work, which is dedicated to the clergy of the church of Scotland, contains a digest of nonconformist history and argument; the theology of the second part is strongly Calvinistic.
Early in 1713 he received a call to succeed George Trosse as one of the ministers of James's Meeting, Exeter
, to preach also in rotation at the Little Meeting. His Newbury flock were willing to provide an assistant; the Exeter Assembly took advice, and Peirce settled in Exeter before the end of 1713; his congregation numbered 1100.
,’ and referring to the case of Thomas Emlyn
. Whiston's books, and the Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity (1712) by Samuel Clarke
, he did not read until 1713, at Whiston's suggetion. He became convinced that it was safest to adhere closely to the letter of scripture. Before going to Exeter, he disused the ordinary doxology
. Whiston claimed him as a unitarian; he held (with Clarke) a subordination of the Son, but he emphasised his rejection of Arianism
and defends himself (as Clarke had done) by citing the authority of George Bull
and John Pearson.
Peirce's first controversy at Exeter was on the question of ordination
. On 5 May 1714 he preached to the ‘united ministers’ a sermon with the title ‘An Useful Ministry a Valid One.’ It was at once supposed that he had abandoned the defence of dissenting ordination. Preaching again at the ordination (19 October 1715) of John Lavington, as one of the ministers of Bow Meeting, Exeter, he distinguished between a valid and a regular ministry, asserting the irregularity of existing episcopal ordination, and maintaining, against the independents, that not the people, but the ministers, and they only, may judge the qualifications of candidates and ordain. This he defined as ‘presbyterian ordination,’ excluding, as Baxter had, the function of the lay eldership. His positions were criticised by Samuel Chandler
, as well as by Anglican writers.
, Devonshire, preaching for Peirce during his absence in London, sounded an alarm of heresy. Peirce was asked (30 May) to preach on the atonement, and did so (2 June) in a guarded way, and on principles which differed from those of Trosse, his predecessor. On 15 July he joined Joseph Hallett (1656–1722) and John Withers in giving a testimonial to Stogdon. At the ‘assembly’ in September he piloted Fox through his examination for license, refusing to require explications of scriptural terms. An expression in his Christmas sermon renewed the doubts of his soundness. In fact the danger of Arianism was a burning topic at the time. Sir Robert Price ‘had spent most of his charge at the Exeter assizes against those errors.’
At Exeter a self-elected body of thirteen laymen managed the finance of the three congregations. Early in 1718 a deputation from this body came to Peirce and his colleagues, asking them to ‘assert the eternity of the Son of God.’ Peirce complied; for a time complaint ceased, but it was revived during his absence in London (July and August). In September the ‘Exeter assembly’ resolved, after much debate, that each minister should make a personal declaration on the subject of the Trinity. All complied except Samuel Carkeet and two others, and all the declarations were accepted except that of John Parr of Okehampton
, who merely quoted Ephesians iv. 4–6. Lavington then drew up, as the general sense of the assembly, a short formula, which was carried by a large majority.
The body of thirteen, not satisfied with a ‘general sense,’ appealed to the Exeter ministers for individual assurances. Failing in this, they sought advice from five London ministers, including Edmund Calamy
, who deprecated London interference, and suggested a consultation with neighbouring divines. Seven Devon ministers, headed by John Ball
, were called in (19 January 1719). They corresponded on the case with their London brethren. Peirce also wrote to his London friends, among whom the most influential was John Shute Barrington. Barrington, an independent, was the parliamentary leader of dissent. He had defeated a presbyterian amendment to the bill for repealing the Schism Act which would have introduced a new test in regard to the Trinity, on the express ground of Peirce's alleged heresies.
On 4 March the clerical council of seven gave judgment in writing, to the effect that denial of Christ's ‘true and proper divinity’ is a disqualifying error. On 5 March the ‘thirteen’ asked for an explicit statement on this head from the Exeter ministers. Peirce urged that the advices from London should be waited for; but the ‘thirteen’ declined to recognise ‘advices’ in which ‘anabaptists’ took part. Peirce then declined to subscribe to any proposition not in scripture (not even ‘that three and two make five’). Hallett declined also; Withers faltered, and ultimately offered to subscribe the Nicene Creed
; Lavington alone gave complete satisfaction.
A temporary meeting-place was secured by 15 March, and a new building, the Mint Meeting, was soon erected (opened 27 December). The congregation, which numbered about three hundred, was classed as presbyterian in the lists of the London fund of that name; but Peirce declined any designation except Christian. In May 1719 the Exeter assembly called for a subscription from its members, identical with that adopted by the London subscribers. Peirce, with eighteen others, declined and seceded. The seceders subscribed a paper (6 May) repudiating the charge of Arianism, and making a confession in biblical terms. Peirce was not readmitted as a member, but was present as a visitor in September 1723. The ministers of Mint Meeting were admitted in 1753; the succession of ministers was maintained till 1810; subsequently (before 1817) the building was sold to Wesleyan Methodists
, who erected another on its site.
stood by him. He wrote numerous pamphlets in self-defence; the ‘Letter’ to Eveleigh is a piece of satire. He moved out of Exeter to a country house at St. Leonard's, in the suburbs, and lived among his books, working on paraphrases of St. Paul's Epistles, in continuation of the series begun by John Locke
.
He broke a blood-vessel in his lungs, lingered a few days, and died on 30 March 1726. He was buried in the church- yard of St. Leonard's, near Exeter. His funeral sermon was preached by Joseph Hallett (1691?–1744) who had followed his father as Peirce's colleague. Thomas Emlyn was invited to succeed him, but declined. He left a widow and family.
Posthumous were:
His funeral sermon for Mrs. Hallett is reprinted in the ‘Practical Preacher,’ 1762. Some above are doubtful. Several anonymous pamphlets in the paper war at Exeter were ascribed to Peirce, and have been catalogued and referred to as his, apparently without ground; of these the most important is ‘The Innocent vindicated,’ &c., 1718; 2nd edition, 1719, which, Peirce says, he never read, and supposed to be by a lay hand; an appendix to the second edition has ‘Thirteen Queries’ on the Trinity, which are defended as Peirce's in ‘The Truth and Importance of the Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity,’ &c., 1736, a publication against Daniel Waterland
, which has been ascribed to Hallett.
Early life
The son of John Peirce, he was born at WappingWapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
about 1674. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, were members of the congregational church at Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
, under Matthew Mead
Matthew Mead (minister)
Matthew Mead or Meade was an English Independent minister.-Early life:The second son of Richard Mead of Mursley, Buckinghamshire, by his wife Joane, he was born about 1630 at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. In 1648 he was elected scholar, and on 6 August 1649 admitted a Fellow of King's College,...
. Left an orphan about 1680, he was placed, with a brother and sister, in the charge of Mead as guardian. Mead took him into his own house, and educated him with his son Richard Mead
Richard Mead
Richard Mead was an English physician. His work, A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it , was of historic importance in the understanding of transmissible diseases.-Life:The eleventh child of Matthew Mead , Independent divine, Richard was born...
under John Nesbitt
John Nesbitt
John Nesbitt was a Manitoba agrologist. He worked as a university professor, and in 1970 challenged Israel Asper for the leadership of the Manitoba Liberal Party....
] and Thomas Singleton; and also at Utrecht
Utrecht
Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands.The name may also refer to:* Utrecht , of which Utrecht is the capital* Utrecht , including the city of Utrecht* Bishopric of Utrecht* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht...
(from 1689) and Leyden (from 1692). At Utrecht he formed a lasting friendship with his fellow-student Adrian Reland, the orientalist; and he made friendships among his class-mates at Leyden, then the gathering-place of the upper crust of English dissent. He travelled in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
before returning home in 1695.
After spending some time in Oxford, to study at the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
, he returned to London, was admitted (11 February 1697) a member of Mead's church, and preached the evening lecture at Miles Lane congregational church, of which Matthew Clarke the younger was minister. He did not interest himself in the current disputes in London between Presbyterians and Congregationalists; and was ordained in 1699 by four London Presbyterians, headed by Matthew Sylvester, the literary executor
Literary executor
A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of a literary estate. According to Wills, Administration and Taxation: a practical guide "A will may appoint different executors to deal with different parts of the estate...
of Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...
. His own ideal of church government was based on Baxter's rectoral theory; he had no theoretical objection to a modified episcopacy.
Minister
Early in 1701 Peirce's Presbyterian friends urged his acceptance of a charge in Green Street, Cambridge, where there was a mixed congregation of Independents and Presbyterians; in 1696 some of Joseph HusseyJoseph Hussey
-Life:He was born in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. After studying with the ejected minister Robert Whitaker, he attended Charles Morton's dissenting academy at Newington Green. He attributed a 1686 conversion to the reading of Stephen Charnock's The Existence and Attributes of God.He underwent...
's congregation had seceded to it. Agreeing to take it for three years, he was duly ‘dismissed’ to it by the Stepney church. He held it for six years (1701–6). Pierce still was ranked as an Independent, for he was made a trustee of the Hog Hill chapel on 23 January 1702. At Cambridge he was intimate with William Whiston
William Whiston
William Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
, who described him as ‘the most learned of all the dissenting teachers I have known.’ He read much, especially in the topics of nonconformist controversy. John Fox
John Fox (biographer)
John Fox , was an English biographer.Fox was born at Plymouth on 10 May 1693. His father, a zealous presbyterian, ‘devoted’ him ‘to the ministry, from an infant.’ His mother was the daughter of a Plymouth tradesman named Brett. After an education at Tavistock Grammar School, and under ‘old Mr...
described him as sitting in his study from nine at night till four or five next morning.
His move to the presbyterian congregation at Toomer's Court, Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, probably coincided with his first controversial publication (end of 1706) in defence of nonconformist positions against Edward Wells
Edward Wells
Edward Wells was an English mathematician, geographer, and controversial theologian.-Life:He was the son of Edward Wells, vicar of Corsham, Wiltshire. He was admitted to Westminster School in 1680, and elected to a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1686. He graduated B.A. in 1690 and M.A...
. The appearance of his Vindiciæ (1710) in reply to the Defensio (1707) of William Nicholls
William Nicholls
William Nicholls was an English clergyman and theologian, known as an author on the Book of Common Prayer.-Life:He was the son of John Nicholls of Donington, now Dunton, Buckinghamshire. He was educated at St Paul's School under Thomas Gale, and went up with an exhibition to Magdalen Hall, Oxford,...
brought him into prominence as a nonconformist polemicist. According to Fox the latinity of the Vindiciæ was corrected by Thomas Knipe. The work, which is dedicated to the clergy of the church of Scotland, contains a digest of nonconformist history and argument; the theology of the second part is strongly Calvinistic.
Early in 1713 he received a call to succeed George Trosse as one of the ministers of James's Meeting, Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, to preach also in rotation at the Little Meeting. His Newbury flock were willing to provide an assistant; the Exeter Assembly took advice, and Peirce settled in Exeter before the end of 1713; his congregation numbered 1100.
Theological views
He had subscribed (1697) the doctrinal part of the Anglican articles as the condition of toleration. But the theology in which he had been bred was Sabellian, as he afterwards discovered when introduced to orthodoxy by reading St. Basil. In fact, the theological tone of the less cultivated dissenters was, in his judgment, largely patripassian. On hearing of Whiston's change of views, he wrote to him from Newbury (10 July 1708) expressing amazement that he should ‘fall in with the unitariansUnitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
,’ and referring to the case of Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn , English nonconformist divine.-Life:Emlyn was born at Stamford, Lincolnshire and served as chaplain to the presbyterian Letitia, countess of Donegal, and then to Sir Robert Rich, afterwards becoming colleague to Joseph Boyse, presbyterian minister in Dublin...
. Whiston's books, and the Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity (1712) by Samuel Clarke
Samuel Clarke
thumb|right|200px|Samuel ClarkeSamuel Clarke was an English philosopher and Anglican clergyman.-Early life and studies:...
, he did not read until 1713, at Whiston's suggetion. He became convinced that it was safest to adhere closely to the letter of scripture. Before going to Exeter, he disused the ordinary doxology
Doxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
. Whiston claimed him as a unitarian; he held (with Clarke) a subordination of the Son, but he emphasised his rejection of Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
and defends himself (as Clarke had done) by citing the authority of George Bull
George Bull
George Bull was an English theologian and Bishop of St David's.-Life:He was born, 25 March 1634, in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, and educated in the grammar school at Wells, and then at Blundell's School in Tiverton under Samuel Butler. Before he was fourteen years old he went into...
and John Pearson.
Peirce's first controversy at Exeter was on the question of ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
. On 5 May 1714 he preached to the ‘united ministers’ a sermon with the title ‘An Useful Ministry a Valid One.’ It was at once supposed that he had abandoned the defence of dissenting ordination. Preaching again at the ordination (19 October 1715) of John Lavington, as one of the ministers of Bow Meeting, Exeter, he distinguished between a valid and a regular ministry, asserting the irregularity of existing episcopal ordination, and maintaining, against the independents, that not the people, but the ministers, and they only, may judge the qualifications of candidates and ordain. This he defined as ‘presbyterian ordination,’ excluding, as Baxter had, the function of the lay eldership. His positions were criticised by Samuel Chandler
Samuel Chandler
Samuel Chandler was an English Nonconformist minister.-Life:He was born at Hungerford in Berkshire, where his father was a minister. He was sent to school at Gloucester, where he began a lifelong friendship with Bishop Butler and Archbishop Secker; and he afterwards studied at Leiden...
, as well as by Anglican writers.
Origins of the major controversy
The controversy which wrecked Peirce's reputation, and broke the doctrinal accord of the old dissent, began at the end of 1716, when Lavington attacked he orthodoxy of Hubert Stogdon. In April or May 1717 Henry Atkins of PuddingtonPuddington, Devon
Puddington is a small village in Mid Devon. It is approximately eight miles from the town of Tiverton. It also has a park and over two roads. "Puddington" means "estate associated with a man named Putta"....
, Devonshire, preaching for Peirce during his absence in London, sounded an alarm of heresy. Peirce was asked (30 May) to preach on the atonement, and did so (2 June) in a guarded way, and on principles which differed from those of Trosse, his predecessor. On 15 July he joined Joseph Hallett (1656–1722) and John Withers in giving a testimonial to Stogdon. At the ‘assembly’ in September he piloted Fox through his examination for license, refusing to require explications of scriptural terms. An expression in his Christmas sermon renewed the doubts of his soundness. In fact the danger of Arianism was a burning topic at the time. Sir Robert Price ‘had spent most of his charge at the Exeter assizes against those errors.’
At Exeter a self-elected body of thirteen laymen managed the finance of the three congregations. Early in 1718 a deputation from this body came to Peirce and his colleagues, asking them to ‘assert the eternity of the Son of God.’ Peirce complied; for a time complaint ceased, but it was revived during his absence in London (July and August). In September the ‘Exeter assembly’ resolved, after much debate, that each minister should make a personal declaration on the subject of the Trinity. All complied except Samuel Carkeet and two others, and all the declarations were accepted except that of John Parr of Okehampton
Okehampton
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and has an estimated population of 7,155.-History:...
, who merely quoted Ephesians iv. 4–6. Lavington then drew up, as the general sense of the assembly, a short formula, which was carried by a large majority.
The body of thirteen, not satisfied with a ‘general sense,’ appealed to the Exeter ministers for individual assurances. Failing in this, they sought advice from five London ministers, including Edmund Calamy
Edmund Calamy
Edmund Calamy may refer to:* Edmund Calamy the Elder , English Puritan divine* Edmund Calamy the Younger, English Puritan divine, son of Edmund Calamy the Elder...
, who deprecated London interference, and suggested a consultation with neighbouring divines. Seven Devon ministers, headed by John Ball
John Ball (minister)
-Life:Ball was one of ten sons of Nathanael Ball, M.A. ejected from Barley, Hertfordshire. He was educated for the ministry under the Rev. John Short at Lyme Regis, Dorset, and finished his studies at Utrecht, partly under Henry Hickman, ejected fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, who died minister...
, were called in (19 January 1719). They corresponded on the case with their London brethren. Peirce also wrote to his London friends, among whom the most influential was John Shute Barrington. Barrington, an independent, was the parliamentary leader of dissent. He had defeated a presbyterian amendment to the bill for repealing the Schism Act which would have introduced a new test in regard to the Trinity, on the express ground of Peirce's alleged heresies.
1719 Conference in London
Shute Barrington brought the Exeter dispute before the London committee, representing the civil interests of dissenters. The committee agreed (5 February) to lay a draft of ‘advices for peace’ before the whole body of London ministers of the three denominations; hence the Salters' Hall conferences, which began on 19 February, and broke up on 3 March. The rupture was in reference, not to the advice, but to the spirit in which it should be tendered. Both sections endorsed the principle of uncompromising independency, namely, that each congregation is sole judge of the errors which disqualify its ministers. The non-subscribing section sent its ‘advices,’ with an orthodox letter, on 17 March; the ‘advices’ of the subscribing section, with an orthodox preamble, followed on 7 April; but the Exeter affair had already come to an issue, without any appeal to the congregation.On 4 March the clerical council of seven gave judgment in writing, to the effect that denial of Christ's ‘true and proper divinity’ is a disqualifying error. On 5 March the ‘thirteen’ asked for an explicit statement on this head from the Exeter ministers. Peirce urged that the advices from London should be waited for; but the ‘thirteen’ declined to recognise ‘advices’ in which ‘anabaptists’ took part. Peirce then declined to subscribe to any proposition not in scripture (not even ‘that three and two make five’). Hallett declined also; Withers faltered, and ultimately offered to subscribe the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
; Lavington alone gave complete satisfaction.
Aftermath and ejections
On 6 March the four proprietors of James's Meeting closed it against Peirce and Hallett; they were permitted, however, on the following Sunday (8 March) to preach at the Little Meeting. But on 10 March the proprietors of the several meeting-houses held a joint meeting, and agreed, without consulting others, to exclude Peirce and Hallett from them all. They were excluded also from their share in the income of the Elwill trust for dissenting ministers of Exeter. They still remained members of the Exeter assembly.A temporary meeting-place was secured by 15 March, and a new building, the Mint Meeting, was soon erected (opened 27 December). The congregation, which numbered about three hundred, was classed as presbyterian in the lists of the London fund of that name; but Peirce declined any designation except Christian. In May 1719 the Exeter assembly called for a subscription from its members, identical with that adopted by the London subscribers. Peirce, with eighteen others, declined and seceded. The seceders subscribed a paper (6 May) repudiating the charge of Arianism, and making a confession in biblical terms. Peirce was not readmitted as a member, but was present as a visitor in September 1723. The ministers of Mint Meeting were admitted in 1753; the succession of ministers was maintained till 1810; subsequently (before 1817) the building was sold to Wesleyan Methodists
Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)
The Wesleyan Methodist Church was the name used by the major Methodist movement in Great Britain following its split from the Church of England after the death of John Wesley and the appearance of parallel Methodist movements...
, who erected another on its site.
Later life
Peirce never rose above his summary ejection, though friends such as Peter King, 1st Baron KingPeter King, 1st Baron King
Peter King, 1st Baron King PC, FRS was an English lawyer and politician, who became lord chancellor of England.-Life:He was born in Exeter in 1669....
stood by him. He wrote numerous pamphlets in self-defence; the ‘Letter’ to Eveleigh is a piece of satire. He moved out of Exeter to a country house at St. Leonard's, in the suburbs, and lived among his books, working on paraphrases of St. Paul's Epistles, in continuation of the series begun by John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
.
He broke a blood-vessel in his lungs, lingered a few days, and died on 30 March 1726. He was buried in the church- yard of St. Leonard's, near Exeter. His funeral sermon was preached by Joseph Hallett (1691?–1744) who had followed his father as Peirce's colleague. Thomas Emlyn was invited to succeed him, but declined. He left a widow and family.
Works
He published, besides single sermons (1714–23):- ‘Exercitatio Philosophica de Homœomeria Anaxagorea,’ Utrecht, 1692.
- ‘Remarks on Dr. Wells's Letters,’ &c., 1706–8, eight parts; 3rd edition, 1711.
- ‘Some Considerations on … a Vindication of the Office of Baptism, and … the Sign of the Cross,’ &c., 1708.
- ‘Vindiciæ Fratrum Dissentientium in Anglia adversus … Nicholsii … Defensionem Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ,’ &c. 1710; in English, ‘A Vindication of the Dissenters,’ &c., 1717; the translation, though otherwise augmented, omits a considerable portion of the ‘second part,’ among the omissions being a chapter on the charge of Socinianism brought against Anglican divines, in which Peirce contends that dissenters are free from this taint; 2nd edition, 1718; pt. iii. chapter 3 of the English edition, was reprinted as ‘A Tractate on Church Music,’ &c., 1786.
- ‘An Enquiry into the present Duty of a Low-Churchman,’ &c., 1711; anon. 1712.
- ‘A Letter to Dr. Bennet … concerning the Nonjurors' Separation,’ &c., 1717; two editions same year; to Thomas BennetThomas BennetThomas Bennet was an English clergyman, known for controversial and polemical writings, and as a Hebraist.-Life:He was born at Salisbury, England, on 7 May 1673. and was educated at the free school there. He entered St John's College, Cambridge in 1688, before he was fifteen, took the degrees of...
. - ‘A Defence of the Dissenting Ministry and Presbyterian Ordination,’ &c. 1717 (two parts).
- ‘The Dissenters' Reasons for not Writing in the behalf of Persecution,’ &c., 1718; three editions same year, addressed to Andrew Snape, D.D.
- ‘Some Reflections upon Dean Sherlock's Vindication of the Corporation and Test Acts,’ &c., 1718; two editions same year.
- ‘The Interest of the Whigs with relation to the Test Act,’ &c., 1718, (anon.); two editions same year.
- ‘The Loyalty … of High Church and the Dissenters compar'd,’ &c., 1719 (in reply to J. Jackman).
- ‘The Case of the Ministers Ejected at Exon,’ &c., 1719; four editions same year.
- ‘The Charge of Misrepresentations maintain'd against … Sherlock,’ &c., 1719.
- ‘A Defence of the Case of the Ministers,’ &c., 1719.
- ‘A Justification of the Case of the Ministers,’ &c., 1719.
- ‘A Letter to Mr. Josiah Eveleigh,’ &c., Exeter, 1719, 8vo (Eveleigh was minister at Crediton, Devonshire, from 1702, and died on 9 September 1736).
- ‘Animadversions upon … A True Relation of … Proceedings at Salters-Hall,’ &c., 1719.
- ‘A Letter … in Defence of the Animadversions,’ &c., 1719.
- ‘A Second Letter to … Eveleigh,’ &c., Exeter, 1719.
- ‘Remarks upon the Account of what was transacted in the Assembly at Exon,’ &c., 1719; second edition, same year, has a ‘Postscript.’
- ‘An Answer to Mr. Enty's Defence … of the Assembly,’ &c., 1719; to John EntyJohn EntyJohn Enty , was an English presbyterian minister.Enty was the son of John Enty, a travelling tailor in Cornwall, was born in that county about 1675. The boy was working with his father at Tregothnan, the seat of the Boscawen family, when he attracted the notice of a Mrs. Fortescue, who sent him to...
. - ‘The Western Inquisition,’ &c., 1720.
- ‘The Security of Truth without … Persecution,’ &c., 1721, (against Enty).
- ‘Inquisition Honesty display'd,’ &c. 1722.
- ‘A Paraphrase and Notes on … Colossians,’ &c., 1725 (anon.); reprinted, with name, 1727; 1733.
- ‘A Paraphrase and Notes on … Philippians,’ &c., 1725 (anon.); reprinted, with name, 1727; 1733.
Posthumous were:
- ‘A Paraphrase and Notes on … Hebrews,’ &c., 1727 (edited by Hallett, his successor); also in Latin, ‘J. Peircii Paraphrasis et Notæ … in Epistolam ad Hebræos,’ &c., 1747.
- ‘Dissertations on Six Texts,’ &c., 1727.
- ‘An Essay in favour of … giving the Eucharist to Children,’ &c., 1728.
- ‘Fifteen Sermons … To which is added A Scripture Catechism,’ &c., 1728 (edited, with a memorial preface, by Benjamin AveryBenjamin AveryBenjamin Avery, LL.D. was an English physician.-Life:Avery was originally a presbyterian minister at Bartholomew Close, London, but quitted the ministry in 1720, in consequence of the Salters' Hall controversy on subscription, 1719, He practised as a physician, and was treasurer of Guy's Hospital...
; contains the single sermons printed in his lifetime, and eight others.
His funeral sermon for Mrs. Hallett is reprinted in the ‘Practical Preacher,’ 1762. Some above are doubtful. Several anonymous pamphlets in the paper war at Exeter were ascribed to Peirce, and have been catalogued and referred to as his, apparently without ground; of these the most important is ‘The Innocent vindicated,’ &c., 1718; 2nd edition, 1719, which, Peirce says, he never read, and supposed to be by a lay hand; an appendix to the second edition has ‘Thirteen Queries’ on the Trinity, which are defended as Peirce's in ‘The Truth and Importance of the Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity,’ &c., 1736, a publication against Daniel Waterland
Daniel Waterland
Daniel Cosgrove Waterland was an English theologian.Daniel Waterland was born at Walesby Rectory, Lincolnshire, England, and educated in Lincoln and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1703 and MA in 1706...
, which has been ascribed to Hallett.