he gave up Stanhope. In 1736 Queen Caroline appointed him her Clerk
of the Closet, an office which gave Butler the duty of attendance
upon her for two hours every evening. In that year he published his
"Analogy," of which the purpose was to meet, on its own ground, the
scepticism of his day. The Queen died in 1737, and, in accordance
with the strong desire expressed in her last days, in 1738 Butler
was made a Bishop. But his Bishopric was Bristol, worth only 300 or
400 pounds a year. The King added the Deanery of St. Paul's, when
that became vacant in 1740, and in 1750, towards the close of his
life, Joseph Butler was translated to the Bishopric of Durham. He
died in 1752.

No man could be less self-seeking. He owed his rise in the Church
wholly to the intellectual power and substantial worth of character
that inspired strong friendship. Seeing how little he sought
worldly advancement for himself, while others were pressing and
scrambling, Butler's friends used their opportunities of winning for
him the advancement he deserved. He was happiest in doing his work,
of which a chief part was in his study, where he employed his
philosophic mind in strengthening the foundations of religious
faith. Faith in God was attacked by men who claimed especially to
be philosophers, and they were best met by the man who had, beyond
all other divines of his day--some might not be afraid to add, of
any day--the philosophic mind.

H.M.



HUMAN NATURE, AND OTHER SERMONS.