Anthony Collins The Man and His Works

278 Pages·1970·23.88 MB·English

by  James O’Higgins S.J. (auth.)

ANTHONY COLLINS
THE MAN AND HIS WORKS
ARCHIVES INTERNATIONALES D'HISTOIRE DES IDEES
INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS
35
JAMES O'HIGGINS S. J.
ANTHONY COLLINS
THE MAN AND HIS WORKS
Directors: P. Dibon (Paris) and R. Popkin (Univ. of California, La Jolla)
Editorial Board: J. Aubin (Paris); J. Collins (St. Louis Univ.); P. Costabel (Paris);
A. Crombie (Oxford); I. Dambska (Cracow); H. de la Fontaine-Verwey (Amsterdam);
H. Gadamer (Heidelberg); H. Goudier (Paris); T. Gregory (Rome); T. E. Jessop (Hull);
A. Koyre (Paris); P. o. Kristeller (Columbia Univ.); Elisabeth Labrousse (Paris);
S. Lindroth (Upsala); A. Lossky (Los Angeles); P. Mesnard (Tours) ;J. Orcibal (Paris);
I. S. Revah (Paris); G. Sebba (Emory Univ., Atlanta); R. Shackleton (Oxford); J. Tans
(Groningen); G. Tonelli (Pise).
Anthony Collins (1676-1729), by an unidentified artist.
(By permission ifF. F. Wykeham-Martin Esq.)
Robert Fairfax, of Leeds Castle, Kent, husband of Martha, daughter of Anthony Collins
(she died in 1743) became seventh Baron Fairfax on the death of his brother in 1789 and
died, leaving no issue, in 1793. His sister Frances married Denny Martin. Collins' portrait was
hung in Leeds Castle till this century. It is now at Pascotts Farm, Haywards Heath, Sussex.
Description of the picture.
Eyes, dark blue grey. Eyebrows, soft dark grey. Hair, yellow brown curly wig, lights pale
yellow. Complexion, fair, shaded soft brown and grey. Cheeks, pale.
JAMES O'HIGGINS S. J.
ANTI-IONY COLLINS
THE MAN AND HIS WORKS
•
MARTINUS NIJHOFF - THE HAGUE - I970
© 1970 by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1970
All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to
reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form
ISBN-13: 978-94-010-3219-3 c-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-3217-9
001: 10.1007/978-94-010-3217-9
1'0 n1'y lkfother
1'0 the lkfen10ry if n1'y Father
FOREWORD
This book is the study of a man who caught my interest both because of
his own character and of the variety of his activities. It is an attempt
to see him in his relationship, intellectual and literary, with the Europe
of his day, to gauge his position in the development of Seventeenth
and Eighteenth century thought, to examine the origins of his ideas
and their effect and to place him in the social context of the England of
the early Eighteenth century. The period in which he lived, coming at
the beginning of the Enlightenment, was seminal for our own world
and the man himself is of contemporary significance because of the
similarity of his outlook, ifnot of his beliefs, to that of many today. He
was at the centre of the major theological controversy of the Seventeen
twenties and was one of the most contentious figures of his time.
I would like to acknowledge my obligation to the scholars and
librarians who have assisted me in producing this work: to Dr. E. A. O.
Whiteman of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and to Mrs. M. Kneale,
late of the same College; to Bodley's librarian Dr. R. Shackleton; to
Dr. D. Rogers, Mr. D. G. Neill and to the staff of the Bodleian,
especially those who work in Duke Humphrey; to the librarians of
Christ Church, All Souls, St.John's, Wadham, Exeter and Corpus
Christi Colleges, Oxford; to Mr. F. G. Emmison, Miss H. E. T. Grieve,
Miss N. Briggs and the staff of the Essex Record Office; to Dr. A. N. L.
Munby of King's College and to the librarians of Corpus Christi, Clare
and Selwyn Colleges and of the University Library, Cambridge; to the
staff of the Manuscript Room in the British Museum and to those of
the Public Record Office and of the Middlesex Record Office; to
M. Henri Bosc of the Bibliotheque du Protestantisme Fran<;ais and to
the librarians and staff of the Bibliotheque N ationale at Paris; to the
Rev. J. D. McEvilly, Archivist of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Birmingham; to Mr. Tue Gad and the staff of the Department of
VIII FOREWORD
Manuscripts of the Royal Library at Copenhagen; to the librarians
and staffs of the Royal Library at The Hague and of the libraries of the
Universities of Leyden and Amsterdam; to those of the Brotherton
Library of the University of Leeds and of the Reference Library in
that same city; to the librarians of the Huntington Library, California,
and of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.G.; to Mr. C. B.
L. Barr of the Minster library at York and to Canon E. A. Parr at
Norwich; to Professor C. W. Dugmore of King's College, London, and
to Professor P. Collinson of Sydney University; to Dr. L. Brummel,
once of the Royal Library at The Hague and to Dr. T. H. van Eeghen
of the Gemeente-Archief at Amsterdam; to Dr. Esmond de Beer for
his observations on Locke's letters to Collins; to Professor ]. H.
Broome of the University of Keele, not only for his interestingly argued
article on Collins and Desmaiseaux in the Revue de Litterature Comparee,
which posed an intriguing problem, but also for his personal courtesy;
to Fr. Robert Murray S.]. of Heythrop College and finally to Fr.
Michael Kyne S.]., then of Campion Hall, Oxford,~for reading through
my script and for innumerable valuable suggestions on its form.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword VII
Abbreviations XI
CHAPTER I. EARLY FRIENDS AND INFLUENCES
CHAPTER II. THE LIBRARY AT GREAT BADDOW 23
CHAPTER III. THE PRECURSORS OF COLLINS 40
CHAPTER IV. THE ESSAY ON THE USE OF REASON 51
Appendix I. COLLINS' FIRST BOOK 65
Appendix II. ENGLISH DEISTS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 66
Appendix III. COLLINS AND BAYLE 67
CHAPTER V. THE Q,UESTION OF THINKING MATTER 69
77
CHAPTER VI. THE DISCOURSE OF FREETHINKING
CHAPTER VII. THE PHILOSOPHICAL INQ,UIRY ON FREE-WILL 96
CHAPTER VIII. COUNTY JUSTICE AND TREASURER I I I
CHAPTER IX. THE TWENTIETH ARTICLE 132
Appendix. LAMB'S ARGUMENTS ON THE CORPUS CHRISTI MANUSCRIPT
OF 1563 153
CHAPTER X. THE ATTACK ON THE PROPHECIES ISS
Appendix. JEWISH POLEMICAL WORKS 200
CHAPTER XI. THE REACTION TO COLLINS ABROAD 20 I
Appendix. "NOUVELLES LIBERTES DE PENSER" 223
x
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER XII. LAST YEARS
Appendix. DESMAIZEAUX AND COLLINS
Bibliography
Index