No III. The Rev. JOHN ROTHERHAM * first attracted considerable notice, in the year 1752, by "The Force of the Argument for the Truth of Christianity, drawn from a collective View of Prophecy, &c. by the Reverend John Rotherham, of Codrington College in Barbadoes;" written in answer to Dr. Middleton's "Examination of the Bishop of London's Discourse on Prophecy ;" and deserving to be ranked among the best of the many books of the kind to which the Doctor's "Examination" gave rise. For this publication he was presented by the University of Oxford with the degree of M.A. by decree of Convocation, Dec. 11, 1753. He was at that time of Queen's College; but soon after obtained a Fellowship in University College, and the appointment of a Preacher at Whitehall. His next work was, "A Sketch of the one great Argument formed from the general concurring Evidences for the Truth of Christianity, 1754;" shewing that a general Harmony runs through the whole System of Revelation. In 1761 he published a Sermon, "On the Origin of Faith," John x. 37, 38, preached before the University of Oxford, Oct. 28, 1761; which in 1766 he enlarged, under the title of " An Essay on Faith, and its Connexion with good Works." In the same year, whilst curate of Tottenham, Middlesex, he attracted the notice and patronage of the Hon. Dr. Richard Trevor, Bp. of Durham, who made him one of his Chaplains, and presented him to the rectory of Ryton in that Diocese, Feb. 25, 1766. In 1766 he published "Three Serinons on Public Occasions, preached before the University of Oxford; each of which had been before printed separately. The first of them, "The Wisdom of Pro* See vol. III. p. 18. VOL. VIII. vidence vidence in the Administration of the World," Dan. ii. 20, 21, was preached at St. Mary's, on the Anniversary of his Majesty's Inauguration, Oct. 25, 1762. The subject of the second is, "The Influence of Religion on Human Laws," Gen. ix. 6, preached also at St. Mary's, at the Assizes, March 11, 1763. In the third, preached before the University, May 29, 1765, from Rom. xiii. 1, he enquires into the "Nature of Government," to prove it a Divine Institution. In 1767 Mr. Rotherham more particularly distinguished himself by "An Essay on Establishments in Religion, with Remarks on the Confessional." In 1769 he resigned the rectory of Ryton, on being * On this subject a Letter which I received many years after from Mr. Rotherham will now be a literary curiosity. "SIR, Houghton-le-Spring, Oct. 22, 1780. "In your Magazine for September, p. 428, is the following passage, extracted from the Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, Esq.The following anecdote is remarkable: At Baron's auction in July 1768, Mr. Rotherhain's Essay on Establishments, in answer to The Confessional, was bid for by Mr. Hollis, but bought by an unlimited commission; which exciting curiosity to see it, the following note was found written in the book: The Author Mr. Rotherham; but revised by Thomas Secker, A. B. C.; a presumption that this MS note was not unknown to his Grace, and that he wished to have it suppressed.' It hath been repeatedly insinuated in paragraphs and pamphlets from respectable Writers, who ought to have been above circulating reports to another's prejudice, for which they could have no good authority, that the Essay was undertaken from interested and mercenary views, and from a prospect of rewards held forth by some great names in the Church. In answer to all such groundless assertions and insinuations, give me leave to assure you, that the merits or demerits of that pamphlet, whatever they may be, rest solely and entirely with the Author himself; that it was undertaken and executed by him without the counsel, advice, assistance, encouragement, or participation of any person whatever; that the MS. was never revised by the great person above alluded to, or by any one but the Author himself; that no part of its contents, no sentence, word, or letter, in the Essay, was at any time corrected, amended, or altered, but by the Author; and that, as far as he knows, it never was seen by any person but himself and the Printer, till the impression, as it is now in the hands of the publick, was completed. If you will be so good as to give this a place in your Magazine, you will oblige, and do justice to, The Author of the Essay on Establishments in Religion"." presented presented by Bishop Trevor to that of Houghton-leSpring, with the vicarage of Seaham; and in 1771 he published "A Sermon preached at St. Nicholas church, at Newcastle upon Tyne, July 27, 1771, before the Governors of the Infirmary," Psalm cxxxix. 14. In 1774 he was one of the Proctors in Convocation for the Archdeaconry of Durham; and in 1775 he published "An Apology for the Athanasian Creed*." He published a "Sermon against Persecution," Luke ix. 55, 56; "preached at Houghton-le-Spring, July 16, 1780; occasioned by the (then) late Riots in London, and other parts of the Kingdom;" and, "An Essay on the Distinction between the Soul and Body of Man, 1781," 8vo; 'a composition the most luminous that ever appeared on so dark a subject, and written with such candour and elegance as do equal credit to his head and heart; which was highly approved by some of the best judges in the kingdom, and received the most agreeable reward of merit, laudari à laudatissimis! "An Essay on human Liberty, 1782," 8vo. He was Chaplain to the late and present Bishops of Durham, and one of Lord Crewe's Trustees; and died at Bambrough castle, on a visit to Dr. Sharp, Archdeacon of Northumberland, Aug. 23, 1789. * This produced "An Answer to Dr. Rotherham's Apology for the Athanasian Creed, in a Letter to a Friend, 1775," Svo. and a good account of both these Tracts may be seen in the Monthly Review, vol. XLVIII. p. 475.-Doctor was, however, a misnomer; Mr. Rotherham being only M. A. + See Gent. Mag. vol. LI. p. 621. Of nearly the same name were two eminent Dissenting Divines, who have occasionally been mistaken for the Writer whose memoirs are given above. The Rev. Caleb Rotheram, D. D. tutor at an academy at Kendal in Westmoreland, died June 8, 1732. His son, Caleb Rotheram, was ordained at Kendal Aug. 26, 1756, and died Jan. 30, 1796.-John Rotheram, M. D. another son of Dr. Caleb, was an eminent Physician at Newcastleupon-Tyne, and Author of "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Nature and Properties of Water, 1770." He died May 18, 1787, aged 68. See some memoirs of him in Gent. Mag. Vol. LVII. p. 453. No IV. DR. RICHARD PULTENEY* was born at Loughborough, in Leicestershire, in the year 1730. He was the seventh son, and the only one of thirteen children who arrived at maturity. Having been apprenticed to an apothecary, he entered into business on his own account, as surgeon and apothecary, in the Town of Leicester. He imbibed his love for Natural History from his uncle, Mr. George Tomlinson, of Hathern in that County; and in the year 1750, being then only twenty years of age, he first became a contributor to "The *This Biographical Sketch is taken chiefly from Dr. Maton's "Memoirs of Dr. Pulteney," prefixed to the Second Edition of the "General View of the Writings of LINNEUS;" to which the Reader is referred for a more detailed and particular Account of his Life and Pursuits. † A Biographical Memoir of Mr. Tomlinson is printed in the "History of Leicestershire," vol. III. p. 846, written by Dr. Pulteney, "who (as he himself observes) revered his memory with the truest affection; who through the early stage of life received from him, as from a father, the genuine dictates of Wisdom, Virtue, and Religion.”—In the same volume, p. 846, is a brief memoir, by Dr. Pulteney, of "Andrew Glen; who was of Jesus College, Cambridge; took the degree of A. B. 1683, and M. A. 1687; but was afterwards a Fellow of St. John's. He was the friend and acquaintance of Mr. Ray, and acquired some taste for those pursuits which distinguished that eminent man, probably from having intercourse with him at the seat of his illustrious friend Mr. Willoughby, at Wollaton hall, near Nottingham. This appears by his having left an Herbarium, which bears date 1685, and contains above 700 indigenous, and 200 exotic plants. Some of these were collected in a tour on the Continent. He afterwards travelled into Sweden and Italy, and resided some time at Turin, where he began another collection, which is dated 1692, but contained not more than 200 specimens. This Herbarium, all things considered, was not mean for the time in which it was made. He was inducted into the rectory of Hathern, June 25, 1694; and after that period does not appear to have paid much attention to Botany. He published an Assize Sermon in 1707; and died Sept. 1, 1732, in his 67th year." The following is a list (though perhaps not a complete one) of his contributions to the Gentleman's Magazine.-"On the Seeds of Fungi, with some Botanical Queries." (vol. XX. p. 68.) "A Description |
