Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tillotson, John

TILLOTSON, John (1630–1694), archbishop of Canterbury, was the son of a Puritan clothier in Sowerby, Yorkshire, where he was born in October 1630. He entered as a pensioner of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1647, graduated in 1650, and was made fellow of his college in 1651. Chillingworth's Religion of Protestantism biassed his mind against Puritanism, and the bias was further confirmed by intercourse with Cudworth and others at Cambridge. In 1656 he became tutor to the son of Edward Prideaux, attorney-general to Cromwell. In what year he took orders is unknown, but, according to the Life published in 1717, the person who ordained him was Dr T. Sydserf, a Scottish bishop. Tillotson was present at the Savoy Conference in 1661, and remained identified with the Presbyterians till the passing of the Act of Uniformity in 1662. Shortly afterwards he became curate of Cheshunt, Herts, and in June 1663 rector of Keddington, Suffolk. For several years after his ordination he devoted himself to an exact study of the Scriptures, ancient ethics, and the writings of the early fathers, especially Basil and Chrysostom. The result was seen in the general tone of his preaching, which was practical rather than theological, and, though regarded by some as latitudinarian, was characterized by the earnestness of sincere conviction and the balanced wisdom gained by thoughtful reflexion. He was, moreover, a man of the world as well as a divine, and in his sermons he exhibited a certain indefinable tact which enabled him at once to win the ear of his audience. His style is chiefly remarkable for its simplicity and clearness, and in this respect it mirrored his own candour and sincerity. The qualities above mentioned won him in his lifetime the reputation of "having brought preaching to perfection"; and probably it was because he was neither brilliant, original, nor profound that his preaching was so universally admired. "His sermons," says Burnet, "were so well heard and liked, and so much read, that all the nation proposed him as a pattern and studied to copy after him." In 1664 he became preacher at Lincoln's Inn. The same year he married Miss French, daughter of the canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and niece of Oliver Cromwell; and he also became Tuesday lecturer at St Lawrence, Jewry. Tillotson employed his controversial weapons with some skill against "atheism" and "Popery." In 1663 he published a characteristic sermon on "The Wisdom of being Religious," and in 1666 replied to Sergeant's Sure Footing in Christianity by a pamphlet on the Rule of Faith. The same year he received the degree of D.D. In 1670 he became prebendary and in 1672 dean of Canterbury. Through his wife Tillotson became connected with Dr Wilkins, the second husband of her mother. In 1675 he edited Wilkins's Principles of Natural Religion, completing what was left unfinished of it, and in 1682 his Sermons, with a preface in which he vindicated Wilkins from certain misrepresentations of Wood in his History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford. In 1680 he brought out Barrow's Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy, and in 1683 his Sermons. On 5th November 1678 Tillotson preached a sermon against Popery before the House of Commons, in which he maintained that it was their duty to make provision against the propagation of a religion more mischievous than irreligion itself; but in a sermon on the Protestant religion in 1680 before the king he propounded the proposition that Catholics could enjoy their own faith, but not openly draw men off from the profession of the established religion. Along with Burnet, Tillotson attended Lord Russell on the scaffold in 1683, and after the publication of Lord Russell's speech was appointed to appear before the privy council; but his explanations were regarded as satisfactory, the chief suspicions in connexion with the speech resting on Burnet. Tillotson afterwards enjoyed the friendship of Lady Rus sell, and it was partly through her that he obtained so much influence with Princess Anne, who followed his ad vice in regard to the settlement of the crown on William of Orange. He possessed the special confidence of William and Mary, and was made clerk of the closet to the king, 27th March 1689. It was chiefly through his advice that the king appointed an ecclesiastical commission for the reconciliation of the Dissenters, and he was regarded as the representative in the commission of the views of the king and queen. In August of this year he was appointed by the chapter of his cathedral to exercise the archiepiscopal jurisdiction of the province of Canterbury during the suspension of Sancroft. He was also about the same time named dean of St Paul's. Soon afterwards he was elected to succeed Sancroft; but he accepted the promotion with extreme reluctance, and it was deferred from time to time at his request till April 1691. His attempts to reform certain abuses of the church, especially that of non- residence among the clergy, awakened against him much ill-will, and of this the Jacobites took every possible advantage and pursued him to the end of his life with insult and reproach. "This," Burnet says, "could neither provoke him, nor fright him from his duty; but it affected his mind so much that this was thought to have shortened his days." He died of palsy on 24th November 1694.

For his manuscript sermons Tillotson's widow received 2500 guineas, then an unexampled sum, and for many years their popularity remained unrivalled. During his lifetime he published Sermons on Several Occasions, 1671, republished with a second volume added in 1678; Fifty Sermons and the Rule of Faith, 1691; Four Sermons concerning the Divinity and Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour, 1693; Six Sermons on Several Occasions, 1694. His Posthumous Sermons, edited by Dr Ralph Baker, appeared in 14 vols., 1694; third edition, 1704. His Works were published in 1707–1710, and were frequently reprinted. In 1752 an edition appeared in 3 vols. with Life by Thomas Birch, D.D., compiled from Tillotson's original papers and letters. Of the many subsequent editions the best is that, with Life by Birch, of 1820, 10 vols. Various selections from his sermons and works have been published separately.

See in addition to Birch's Life, Welford's Memorials, Burnet's Own Times, and Macaulay's History of England.