gether pass him by. But the bishop's death inter- 1675. vening, as was said, put a stop to what he had designed, so that he had no farther thoughts about it, till the matter was revived afresh by a book of the learned Dr. Tully, levelled directly at him, of which there will be occasion to speak more hereafter.

Jectures

at Oxford.

About the same time Dr. Barlow, then Margaret How public Professor at Oxford, and afterwards bishop of Lin- were read coln, in some of his lectures before that learned against him body, is said to have treated Mr. Bull very roughly, even so far as to give him opprobrious names; an account of which was sent him by his learned and pious friend, Mr. Thomas, at that time chaplain of Christ Church, and resident in that university, who was then present, and took notes of all that related to his friend in those lectures. This treatment brought Mr. Bull to Oxford, who with Mr. Thomas waited upon the professor, told him with what inhumanity he had been treated by him, and offered to clear himself from those imputations by a public disputation; but this would not be accepted of. Mr. Bull and his friend thought it very hard to have lectures read against him in the university by so great a man, as if he were not only to be held for an heretic by the church, but even for an heresiarch too; and not to have liberty after all granted him to purge himself from such a public charge of heresy, in the ordinary way of disputation, and before the same auditory to whom he, for the sake of his book, had been thus represented in such gross colours; they could not believe such a proceeding was by any means equal or justifiable in the professor. A disputation was all that Mr. Bull desired for himself; but was prudently enough declined by this

1675. doctor of the chair, not knowing what might have

How Dr.
Tully be-

came Dr.

been the consequences thereof. He excused himself therefore to Mr. Bull as well as he could, and endeavoured to avoid owning the fact, till Mr. Thomas positively affirmed it to his face, offering to produce the notes which he had taken; to which the professor had no more to say: and they parted with no other satisfaction to Mr. Bull, than that the person who had been so forward to defame him in his absence, durst not make good the charge to his face.

XXXVIII. Thus Mr. Bull having got the better of the professor, and hearing no more after this from Barlow's the divinity-chair, had some rest for a time, and an gainst Mr. opportunity therewith, of examining some other con

second a

Bull.

troversies of another nature. But though Dr. Barlow was silent after this visit made him, and cared not to meddle more with Mr. Bull; yet a friend and colleague of his was found willing to undertake the cause, and carry on the charge of heterodoxy and innovation against Mr. Bull, which in his lectures he had begun, but wanted courage to maintain. This was Dr. Tully, formerly fellow of Queen's college, and then principal of St. Edmund's hall adjoining who was indeed an eloquent and learned writer nor must it be denied, that he was a very valuable person for other reasons, and that he did much good in the university. He had some time before printed a sort of 'system in divinity, for the use of young students, which had been well received,

t

Præcipuorum Theologiæ Capitum Enchiridion didacticum. Lond. 1665, 1668, &c.

it having had several editions. But his notions be- 1675. ing partly different from those of Mr. Bull in his Harmonia, the doctor was prevailed on to appear against him and his book in Latin; and thereby to vindicate both himself and his friend, who had been in such a manner challenged as hath been related. And whereas no answer had yet appeared to Mr. Bull's book, but one in English, and that written too by one that was thrown out by act of parliament from the exercise of his ministry; and as this might be matter of applause to Mr. Bull and his friends, that no one yet of the Church of England had undertook to answer him from the press; and that a famous professor, and he reputed no small master in the polemical part of his profession more especially, thought not fit to venture, when nearly attacked, to maintain the cause against him, but seemed rather to retract the charge of heresy, which had been by him so liberally bestowed; it was therefore concluded, that this charge could not, with any modesty, be kept up longer against the Harmonia and its author, without there was a thorough answer to it, written by some learned divine of the Church of England; and one against whom there could lie no exception; who should therein endeavour to make out, that Mr. Bull's explication of the doctrine of justification was properly heretical, as being contrary in a fundamental point to the testimony of Scripture, and against the opinion of the catholic Fathers, the judgment of the Church of England, and the determinations of all the foreign reformed churches.

Now there could not be any one fitter for this than the learned person already mentioned, being of

a

The fitness

of Dr. Tully

for such an

1675. life and character unexceptionable; but who had undertak- early imbibed other sentiments than those which ing, and the Mr. Bull had published, and thence had read both tations from the Scriptures and the ancient church writers with

high expec

him.

Some endeavours of

in the

quite another view: and, besides, he being beneficed in the church, for the doctrines of which, against all innovations and innovators, he expressed an extraordinary zeal; and governor at the same time of an house in the university, which was by his diligence and exact discipline made to flourish; and chaplain also in ordinary to the king: all this could not but make it to look somewhat more like a battery from the side of the Church of England, as it was intended, than any that had yet been; and there would thus want one objection at least against him in Mr. Bull's favour, which was too obvious not to have been taken notice of, in the case of one, if not both of Mr. Bull's former adversaries. An answer therefore was accordingly undertaken by this learned doctor, with no small confidence of success.

Some nevertheless of his friends would feign have modest men dissuaded him from engaging in this matter, being of opinion, that he would but hereby create himself put a stop an unnecessary labour, without serving the church, contentions. according as he purposed: and they plainly told him,

church, to

to these

that the point disputed was not of all that consequence which he took it to be; and that therefore it would be more advisable to drop the controversy, for the sake of the church's peace, than by this means to revive and keep it up; especially considering, that probably in the end this would turn to a mere strife about terms. They who gave him this advice, whosoever they were, had not hitherto declared themselves on either side, as it appears, but

expressed themselves with much candour and moderation towards both and would gladly have allayed the heats of one against the other, and amicably have composed their differences. But Dr. Tully was not able to bear this their lukewarmness and indifferency, as it appeared to him to be: and so far was their sober admonition from working upon him, that this did but the more raise his zeal, and quicken him to persist the more steadfastly in his " resolution, of defending what he looked on, as the very palladium of the reformation. And so deep was this notion imprinted on his mind, that he was amazed any one should think otherwise: nor could he tell how to pardon them, who charitably advised him not to intermeddle in this cause, which bishop Sanderson* declined, because he was not for entering into a controversy, whereof he could never expect to see an end. Yea, the more he was convinced that these were wise and learned men, and lovers of the truth, his admiration grew the greater; and he could not forbear breaking out into the highest astonishment, that such as these should be so far carried away with the gallionism of the age, as to consider the most noble and momentous of all controversies (in his opinion) as little better than a squabble about words. Thus there were several endeavours used to quash that intestine strife in the church. But nothing it seems was able to divert the doctor's purpose of engaging Mr. Bull, when he was once resolved of the matter, and so he pursued his design, being borne up with an immoderate as

1675.