and hopes do fail. But these lamentable occurrences carry me farther than I had purposed when I put my pen to paper. I shall be right glad to hear of your lordship's health and welfare, which the Lord vouchsafe to continue; gladder to see the remainder of your former learned and laborious work abroad. The Lord bless and protect you. And thus ready to do your lordship any service I may in these parts, I rest, &c."

Mr. Gataker had not yet finished all his writings on points of controversy. His zeal and courage in the cause of protestantism engaged him to enter the list of disputants against the popish party. Observing that the papists laboured to prove the doctrine of transubstantiation to be agreeable to the holy scriptures, he resolved to shew, in the most convincing manner, the absurdity and impossibility of their attempts; and, having driven them from this, which was their strongest post, he prosecuted his attack, and forced his opponents to quit every other refuge. This he did in his work entitled "Transubstantiation declared by the Popish Writers to have no necessary Foundation in God's Word," 1624. He also published a "Defence" of this work. His learned performances in this controversy proved a great and seasonable service to the cause of protestants, and very deservedly rendered him conspicuous in the eyes of the most worthy persons of those times, who admired his erudition and his fortitude as much as his humility and his readiness to serve the church of Christ.t

In the year 1640, he was deeply engaged in the controversy about justification, which greatly increased his reputation. In 1643, he was chosen one of the assembly of divines, and constantly attended during the session. His endeavours in this learned synod, for promoting truth and suppressing error, were equally strenuous and sincere; yet his study of peace was so remarkable, that when his reason concerning Christ's obedience in order to our justification, could not obtain the majority of that assembly, by whom the question was determined contrary to his sense, his peaceable and pious spirit caused him to keep silence, and hindered him from publishing the discourses which he had designed to publish on that subject. In the year 1644, he was chosen one of the committee for the examination of ministers. He was repeatedly urged to take his doctor's degree, but he always

* Parr's Life of Usher, p. 76. VOL. III.

+ Biog. Britan. vol. iv. p. 2164.

P

refused: and when he was offered the mastership of Trinity college, Cambridge, by the Earl of Manchester, he declined the honourable preferment.❤

Mr. Gataker, content with his own pastoral charge, was more ambitious of doing good to others than of exalting himself; he therefore assiduously applied himself in those turbulent times to his ancient studies, which could give offence to no party, and which might entitle him to the gratitude and approbation of all the friends of good literature. With this object in view he published his judicious and laborious discourse on the name by which God made himself known to Moses and the people of Israel. In this performance he shewed himself a very great master of Hebrew; and the work was so well received by all competent judges, that it has been often reprinted. This very profound, curious, and instructive treatise is entitled, "De nomine Tetragrammato Dissertatio, quâ vocis Jehovah apud nostros receptæ usus defenditur, & a quorundam cavillationibus iniquis pariter atque inanibus vindicatur," 1645. The work was reprinted in 1652; it is also inserted amongst his "Opera Critica;" and it found a place among the ten Discourses upon this subject, collected and published by Hadrian Reland, the first five of which were written by John Drusius, Sextinus Amama, Lewis Capel, John Buxtorff, and James Alting, who opposed the received usage, which is defended in the other five dissertations, the first of which was written by Nicholas Fuller, the second by our author, and the three others by John Leusden.

This celebrated scholar, by his continual application to the study of the best Greek authors, his wonderful memory, his uncommon penetration, and his accurate judgment, was enabled to look into the very principles and elements of that copious, elegant, and expressive language. This might seem beneath the attention of so great a man; but he resolved to vindicate these inquiries, and to shew how much a thorough knowledge of grammatical learning contributes to the improvement of science. He was aware that the singularities of his opinion might lessen his reputation, if they were not clearly and fully established. He knew that they did not spring either from a naked imagination, or an affectation of opposing common opinions; but were in reality the produce of much reading and reflection, and they had, at least to himself, the appearance of certain, though not vulgar truths. It

* Clark's Lives, p. 152-155.

was from these motives, therefore, that he ventured to publish a work which would scarcely have been noticed from any other hand, but which, from its own merit, and the respect due to its author's skill, especially in Greek literature, was very well received, and highly commended, by able and candid judges. This learned and critical work is entitled, "De Diphthongis sive Bivocalibus Dissertatio Philologica, in qua Literarum quarundam sonus germanus natura genuina figura nova et scriptura vetus veraque investigatur," 1646. This is also printed amongst his "Opera Critica." The point which he endeavours to establish is, that there are in reality no diphthongs, and that it is impossible two vowels should be so blended together as to enter into one syllable. This, as we have observed, was one of our author's singularities. We shall not enter into this controversy, nor attempt to decide whether he was right or wrong in his views of orthography.*

Notwithstanding Mr. Gataker's assiduous application to these deep and critical studies, he paid the most exact attendance to his pastoral duties, and to the assembly of divines. In obedience to their appointment, he wrote the annotations upon Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations, published in the Assembly's Annotations on the Bible. Though he was a divine most distinguished for moderation, he disapproved of many things in the national church, but would have been satisfied with moderate episcopacy. He was of opinion, that bishops and presbyters, according to the New Testament, were the same. He was always opposed to the great power and splendour of the prelates; and concluded, that they ought to be divested of their pompous titles and their seats in parliament. He differed more than once with the very learned Dr. Lightfoot, in their meetings at the assembly; and though they sometimes debated warmly, they never lost their tempers, or indulged any rancour on account of these disputes.

As our divine advanced in years, his incessant labours, both of body and mind, brought upon him those infirmities which slackened his speed, but did not wholly stop the progress of his studies. For even under these infirmities, and when confined to his chamber by the direction of his physicians, he was continually employed in his beloved contemplations.

Biog. Britan, vol. iv. p. 2165.

+ This useful work is improperly ascribed to the assembly of divines, but was undertaken by certain divines appointed by the parliament, part of whom were members of the assembly. Each person had his portion of scripture appointed him by those who set him on work. Several of them were celebrated puritans, as the reader will find noticed in this work, Clark's Lives, p. 256, 257.

But when, through the excellency of his constitution, his temperate manner of living, and the skilful efforts of the faculty, he recovered a moderate share of health, he betook himself again to the duties of his ministry; but was afterwards under the necessity of declining the exercises of the pulpit, though he continued to administer the sacraments, and to deliver short discourses at funerals. The chief part of his time was now employed in study, and in composing several learned works. He employed his learning, his zeal, and his moderation in the antinomian controversy, by publishing a work, entitled, "A Mistake or Misconstruction removed, (whereby little difference is pretended to have been acknowledged between the antinomians and us,) and Free Grace, as it is held forth in God's Word, as well by the Prophets in the Old Testament, as by the Apostles and Christ himself in the New, shewed to be other than is by the Antinomian Party in these times maintained. In way of Answer to some Passages in a Treatise of Mr. John Saltmarsh, concerning that subject," 1646. This is written in answer to Mr. Saltmarsh's " Free Grace, or the Flowings of Christ's Blood freely to Sinners; being an Experiment of Jesus Christ upon one who hath been in Bondage of a troubled Spirit at times for twelve years," 1645. Mr. Gataker in his work observes, "That it seems a thing much to be feared, that this course, which I see some effect, and many people are much taken with, of extracting divinity in a kind of chymical way, even chimerical conceits, will, if it hold on, as much corrupt the simplicity of the gospel, and the doctrine of faith, as ever the quirks and quillets of the old schoolmen did." During the same year he published "Shadows without Substance, in the pretended New Lights," in answer to Saltmarsh's "Shadows flying away." Also his " Mysterious Clouds and Mists," in answer to Mr. J. Simpson.

Mr. Gataker soon after published his discourse on the style of the New Testament, in which he opposed the senti ments of Pfochenius, who maintained that there were no Hebraisms in those sacred writings, which he endeavoured to prove as well by authorities as arguments. All this our author undertook to overthrow, which, in the opinion of the best critics, he most effectually accomplished; and more than this, he so clearly and concisely explained the true meaning of many texts in the Old as well as the New Testament; corrected such a variety of passages in ancient authors; and discovered such a consummate skill in both the living and dead languages, as very justly gained him the character of

one of the ablest philologists of the age. His work is entitled, "Thomæ Gatakeri Londinatis de Novi Testamenti stylo Dissertatio: qua viri doctissimi Sebastiani Pfochenii de Linguæ Græcæ Novi Testamenti puritate, in qua Hebraismis quæ vulga finguntur quam plurimis larva detrahi dicitur diatribe ad examen revocatur; Scriptorumque qua sacrorum qua profanorum loca aliquam multa obiter explicantur atque illustrantur. Cum indicibus necessariis," 1648.

The author tells us, in the first chapter of his Dissertation, that, meeting with the treatise of Sebastian Pfochenius, a German divine, published in 1629, he read it with great attention, and found it very weighty in matter, and abundantly full of good literature. Notwithstanding this, he found many of the author's sentiments repugnant to his own, and in his judgment not agreeable to truth. He saw likewise that many learned and great men were censured without cause, and sometimes represented as speaking a language very different from what he took to be their real sentiments. These observations induced him to examine a multitude of questions started in that treatise, or that which naturally flowed from them, in which he shews his candour to be every way equal to his skill in criticism. He does not use harsh expressions or hard names, but contents himself with discovering mistakes, and shewing the grounds of them. In following this method, he opens a field of very curious and instructive learning, and shews such quickness of penetration, such soundness of are truly judgment, and such compass of reading, as admirable. He begins by refuting a principle that Pfochenius had assumed, viz. that the Greek, Latin, German, &c. are original tongues; whereas, in Mr. Gataker's opinion, it is very difficult to know which are original, but with repect to He shews from the the Latin he maintains that it is not. authority, both of ancient and modern writers, that it was a compound of several languages spoken by the Sabines, Oscans, and other old inhabitants of Italy, but more especially of Greek; and to demonstrate this more effectually, he takes the first five lines of Virgil, one of the purest and most elegant of the Latin poets, and proves that there is scarcely a single word in them which is not derived from the Greek. Thus he saps the very foundation of Pfochenius's system, by making it evident, that there can be no assurance of the purity of any language, in the sense in which he understands it.

In the fifth chapter he states Pfochenius's three principal questions, first, whether the text of the New Testament be truly Greek, or not different from that used by profane