Mr. Chandler had a strong conviction of the pernicious nature, and dangerous tendency, of the Romish religion, and was desirous of exposing the persecuting spirit by which that church has been so much characterised: and it was with this view that he published, in 1731, in two volumes, 4to., a translation of “The history of the inquisition, by Philip à Limborch:” to which he prefixed, “A large introduction, concerning the rise and progress of persecution, and the real and pretended causes of it.” In this introduction Mr. Chandler says, “I will not deny, but that the appointing persons, whose peculiar office it should be to minister in the external services of public and social worship, is, when under proper regulations, of advantage to the decency and order of divine service. But then I think it of the most pernicious consequence to the liberties of mankind, and absolutely inconsistent with the true prosperity of a nation, as well as with the interest and success of rational religion, to suffer such ministers to become the directors-general of the consciences and faith of others, or publicly to assume, and exercise such a power, as shall oblige others to submit to their determinations, without being convinced of their being wise and reasonable, and never to dispute their spiritual decrees. The very claim of such a power is the highest insolence, and an affront to the common sense and reason of mankind; and wherever it is usurped and allowed, the most abject slavery both of soul and body is almost the unavoidable consequence. For by such a submission to spiritual power, the mind and conscience is actually enslaved; and by being thus rendered passive to the priest, men are naturally prepared for a servile subjection to the prince, and for becoming slaves to the most arbitrary and tyrannical government. And I believe it hath been generally found true by experience, that the same persons who have asserted their own power over others, in matters of religion and conscience, have also asserted the absolute power of the civil magistrate, and been the avowed patrons of those admirable doctrines of passive obedience and non-resistance for the subject.” At the close of this piece our author observes, that the use of the view which he had given of the rise and progress of persecution, was, “to teach men to adhere close to the doctrines and words of Christ and his apostles, to argue for the doctrines of the gospel with meekness and charity, to introduce no new terms of salvation and Christian communion, not to trouble the Christian church with metaphysical subtilties and abstruse questions, that minister to quarrelling and strife, not to pronounce censures, judgments, and anathemas, upon such as may differ from us in speculative truths, not to exclude men from the rights of civil society, nor lay them under any negative or positive discouragements for conscience sake, or for their different usages and rites in the externals of Christian worship; but to remove those which are already laid, and which are as much a scandal to the authors and continuers of them, as they are a burden to those who labour under them.” This piece was written with great learning and acuteness, but was attacked by Dr. Berriman, in a pamphlet, entitled, “Brief remarks on Mr. Chandler’s introduction to the history of the inquisition.” Our author published, in the form of a letter, an answer to these Remarks, in which he defended himself with great spirit. This engaged Dr. Berriman to write “A Review of his remarks;” to which Mr. Chandler replied, in “A second letter to William Berriman, D. D. &c. in which his Review of his remarks on the introduction to the history of the inquisition is considered, and the characters of St. Athanasius, and Martyr Laud, are farther stated and supported.” This publication was soon followed by another, entitled, “A Vindication of a passage of the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London, in his second pastoral letter, against the misrepresentations of William Berriman, D. D. in a letter to his lordship;” and here the controversy ended. As our author had the firmest persuasion, that there was nothing in the principles of protestant dissenters which rendered them unfit to hold offices in the state, or in corporations, and that it was a manifest injustice to deprive them of the common rights of citizens, he likewise published, in 1732, in 8vo., “The dispute better adjusted about the proper time of applying for a repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, by shewing that some time is proper; in a letter to the author of the Dispute adjusted, viz. the Right Reverend Dr. Edmund Gibson, Lord Bishop of London.”
Among other learned and useful designs which Mr. Chandler had formed, he began a Commentary on the Prophets; and in 1735, he published, in 4to., “A Paraphrase and critical commentary on the prophecy of Joel;” which he dedicated to the Right Honourable Arthur Onslow, Esq. Speaker of the House of Commons. He afterwards proceeded a great way in the prophecy of Isaiah; but before he had completed it, he met with the MS. lexicon and lectures of the famous Arabic professor Schultens, who much recommends explaining the difficult words and phrases of the Hebrew language, by comparing them with the Arabic. With this light before him, Mr. Chandler determined to study the Hebrew anew, and to drop his commentary till he should thus have satisfied himself, that he had attained the genuine sense of the sacred writings. But this suspension of his design prevented the completion of it; for engagements of a different kind intervened, and he never finished any other commentary on the prophets. He continued, however, to publish a variety of learned works, and displayed a very laudable zeal in support of religious liberty, and of the truth of divine revelation.
In 1736, he published, in 8vo., “The History of Persecution, in four parts; viz. I. Amongst the heathens. II. Under the Christian emperors. III. Under the papacy and inquisition. IV. Amongst protestants. With a preface, containing remarks on Dr. Rogers’s Vindication of the civil establishment of religion.” In 1741, appeared, in 8vo., “A Vindication of the history of the Old Testament; in answer to the misrepresentations and calumnies of Thomas Morgan, M. D. and Moral Philosopher.” Dr. Leland observes, that in this work of our author he has clearly proved, that Morgan “hath been guilty of manifest falsehoods, and of the most gross perversions of the scripture history, even in those very instances in which he assures his reader he has kept close to the accounts given by the Hebrew historians.” He likewise published, in opposition to the same writer, in 1742, “A Defence of the prime ministry and character of Joseph.”
In 1744, Mr. Chandler published, in 8vo., “The witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ reexamined, and their testimony proved entirely consistent.” This was a very important controversy, which was at that time much agitated; and Dr. Leland, who stiles our author’s piece upon the subject “a valuable treatise,” observes, that, in his last chapter, “he hath summed up the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus with great clearness and judgment.” In 1748, he published, in 8vo., “The case of subscription to explanatory articles of faith, as a qualification for admission into the christian ministry, calmly and impartially reviewed; in answer to, 1. A late pamphlet, entitled, The Church of England vindicated, in requiring subscription from the clergy to the Thirty-nine Articles. 2. The Rev. Mr. John White’s Appendix to his third letter to a dissenting gentleman. To which is added, The speech of the Rev. John Alphonso Turretine, previous to the abolition of all subscription at Geneva, translated from a manuscript in the French.” His writings having procured him a high reputation for learning and abilities, he might easily have obtained a doctor’s degree in divinity, and offers of that kind were made him; but for some time he declined the acceptance of a diploma, and, as he once said, in the pleasantness of conversation, because so many blockheads had been made doctors. However, upon making a visit to Scotland, in company with his friend, the Earl of Findlater[Findlater] and Seafield, he, with great propriety, accepted of this honour, which was conferred upon him without solicitation, and with every mark of respect, by the two universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. He had, likewise, the honour of being afterwards elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and of the Society of Antiquaries.
On the death of King George the Second, in 1760, Dr. Chandler published a sermon on that event, in which he compared that prince to King David. This gave rise to a pamphlet, which was printed in the year 1761, entitled, “The history of the man after God’s own heart;” wherein the author ventured to exhibit King David as an example of perfidy, lust, and cruelty, fit only to be ranked with a Nero, or a Caligula; and complained of the insult that had been offered to the memory of the late British monarch, by Dr. Chandler’s parallel between him and the King of Israel. This attack occasioned Dr. Chandler to publish, in the following year, “A Review of the history of the man after God’s own heart; in which the falsehoods and misrepresentations of the historian are exposed and corrected.” In this performance our author, though he could not defend the character of the Jewish prince from all the accusations that were brought against him, yet sufficiently cleared him from many of them. His learning and sagacity also appeared to great advantage in this piece; and his skill in the Hebrew language, and his extensive acquaintance with biblical learning, enabled him to correct a variety of mistakes into which his opponent had fallen, from his taking many things as he found them in our common English translation, without paying any regard to criticisms, various readings of particular passages, or the opinions of expositors and commentators. It must, however, be confessed, that in this controversy Dr. Chandler expressed himself with too much warmth and asperity, which was indeed not unusual with him in his polemical writings. But this being a subject on which he was determined to enter into a full investigation, he prepared for the press a more elaborate work, which was afterwards published in two volumes, 8vo., under the following title: “A Critical history of the life of David: in which the principal events are ranged in order of time: the chief objections of Mr. Bayle, and others, against the character of this prince, and the scripture account of him, and the occurrences of his reign, are examined and refuted; and the psalms which refer to him explained.” As this was the last, it was, likewise, one of the best of Dr. Chandler’s productions. We may safely assert, that, in point of judgment, it is far superior to Dr. Delany’s Life of King David, and that it is every way equal to it with respect to literature. The explanations of the psalms, which relate to the Jewish monarch, are admirable; and the commentary, in particular, on the sixty-eighth psalm, is a masterpiece of criticism. The greatest part of this work was printed off at the time of our author’s death, which happened on the 8th of May, 1766, in his seventy-third year. During the last year of his life, he was visited with frequent returns of a very painful disorder, which he endured with great resignation and Christian fortitude. He repeatedly declared, “that to secure the divine felicity promised by Christ, was the principal and almost the only thing that made life desirable: that to attain this he would gladly die, submitting himself entirely to God, as to the time and manner of death, whose will was most righteous and good; and being persuaded, that all was well, which ended well for eternity.” He was interred in the burying-ground at Bunhill-fields, on the 16th of the month, and his funeral was very honourably attended by ministers, and other gentlemen. He expressly desired by his last will, that no delineation of his character might be given in his funeral sermon, which was preached by Dr. Amory. In this sermon, Dr. Amory, after observing that he was restrained from delineating Dr. Chandler’s character, by his desire expressed in his last will, says, “He had indeed himself made this unnecessary; as his masterly and animated defences of the great doctrines of natural and revealed religion, had abundantly manifested the uncommon greatness and strength of his genius, the large extent and rich variety of his learning, and the solid grounds on which his faith was founded: together with his hearty attachment to the cause of rational piety and Christian liberty, and his abilities for defending them. And after he had ministered for forty years in this place, with so great reputation, it might appear superfluous to inform any present, how full of exalted sentiments of the Deity, how judicious and how spirited his public prayers were, and how instructive and animating his discourses.” He had several children; two sons and a daughter who died before him, and three daughters who survived him, and both married; one of them to the Rev. Dr. Harwood.
Dr. Chandler was a man of very extensive learning, and eminent abilities; his apprehension was quick, and his judgment penetrating; he had a warm and vigorous imagination; he was a very instructive and animated preacher; and his talents in the pulpit, and as a writer, procured him very great and general esteem, not only among the dissenters, but among large numbers of the established church. He was well known, and much respected by many persons of the highest rank, and was offered considerable preferment in the church; Dr. Amory says, that “the high reputation which he had gained, by his defences of the Christian religion, procured him from some of the governors of the established church, the offers of considerable preferment, which he nobly declined. He valued more than these the liberty and integrity of his conscience; and scorned for any worldly considerations to profess as divine truths, doctrines which he did not really believe, and to practise in religion what he did not inwardly approve.” But he steadily rejected every proposition of that kind. He was principally instrumental in the establishment of the fund for relieving the widows and orphans of poor protestant dissenting ministers: the plan of it was first formed by him; and it was by his interest and application to his friends, that many of the subscriptions for its support were procured.
In 1768, four volumes of our author’s sermons were published by Dr. Amory, according to his own directions in his last will; to which was prefixed a neat engraving of him, from an excellent portrait by Mr. Chamberlin. He also expressed a desire to have some of his principal pieces reprinted in four volumes, octavo: proposals were accordingly published for that purpose, but did not meet with sufficient encouragement. But in 1777, another work of our author was published, in one volume, 4to, under the following title: “A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, with doctrinal and practical observations: together with a critical and practical commentary on the two Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians.” This work was published from the author’s own manuscript, which was evidently intended for the press, by the Rev. Mr. Nathaniel White, who succeeded him as pastor of the congregation of protestant dissenters in the Old Jewry. That gentleman observes, in the preface to this work, that “there seems to have been something in Dr. Chandler’s genius and strength of mind, as well as in the unremitted course of his studies, which eminently fitted him to comment upon the writings of St. Paul, and to follow that deep and accurate reasoner, through his continued chain of argument, so as to preserve the whole distinct and clear; though, from the peculiar vigour of the apostle’s imagination, the fervour of his affection, the compass of his thought, and the uncommon fulness of his matter, his epistles are remarkable for sudden digressions, long parentheses, remote connections, and unexpected returns to subjects already discussed. These, added to many other circumstances common to ancient writings, must necessarily occasion a considerable degree of obscurity and difficulty, which it is the business of the sacred expositor as much as possible to remove. In this view, the distinguishing excellence of Dr. Chandler’s paraphrase seems to be, that the author adheres most closely and constantly to the spirit of the original, keeps the full idea of the inspired writer, and only that, as far as he could apprehend it, before him, and never steps aside to pick up any hints, however ornamented, which are not directly conveyed, or strongly implied by the apostle: so that, not merely in the text, but in the paraphrase, we find ourselves reading St. Paul himself, though in a language more accommodated to our own conception, and with an illustration which true learning, deep attention to the subject, and uncommon critical sagacity enabled him to afford us.”——“The notes will abundantly recommend the work to the studious and judicious enquirer, who will find no difficulties artfully evaded, or slightly and superficially touched; no unnecessary parade of reading, though many striking proofs of the most extensive and liberal erudition.” Dr. Chandler also left, in his interleaved Bible, a large number of critical notes, chiefly in Latin.
ACCOUNT OF DR. CHANDLER’S SISTER
We shall here add some particulars relative to Mrs. Mary Chandler, sister to Dr. Chandler. She was born at Malmsbury, in Wiltshire, in 1687, and was carefully trained up in the principles of religion and virtue. As her father’s circumstances rendered it necessary that she should apply herself to some business, she was brought up to the trade of a milliner. But as she had a propensity to literature, she employed her leisure hours in perusing the best modern writers, and as many as she could of the ancient ones, especially the poets, as far as the best translations could assist her. Among these Horace was her particular favourite, and she greatly regretted that she could not read him in the original. She was somewhat deformed in her person, in consequence of an accident in her childhood. This unfavourable circumstance she occasionally made a subject of her own pleasantry, and used to say, “that as her person would not recommend her, she must endeavour to cultivate her mind, to make herself agreeable.” This she did with the greatest care, being an admirable œconomist of her time: and it is said, that she had so many excellent qualities in her, that though her first appearance could create no prejudice in her favour, yet it was impossible to know her without valuing and esteeming her. She thought the disadvantage of her shape was such, as gave her no reasonable prospect of being happy in the married state, and therefore chose to remain single. She had, however, an honourable offer from a worthy country gentleman, of considerable fortune, who, attracted merely by the goodness of her character, took a journey of an hundred miles to visit her at Bath, where she kept a milliner’s shop, and where he paid her his addresses. But she declined his offers, and is said to have convinced him, that such a match could neither be for his happiness, nor her own. She published several poems, but that which she wrote upon Bath was the best received. It passed through several editions. She intended to have written a large poem upon the being and attributes of God, and did execute some parts of it, but did not live to finish it. It was irksome to her to be so much confined to her business, and the bustle of Bath was sometimes disagreeable to her. She often languished for more leisure and solitude; but the dictates of prudence, and a desire to be useful to her relations, whom she regarded with the warmest affection, brought her to submit to the fatigues of her business for thirty-five years. She did, however, sometimes enjoy occasional retirements to the country seats of some of her most respectable acquaintance; and was then extremely delighted with the pleasures of solitude, and the contemplation of the works of nature. She was honoured with the esteem and regard of the Countess of Hertford, afterwards Duchess of Somerset, who several times visited her. Mr. Pope also visited her at Bath, and complimented her for her poem on that place. The celebrated Mrs. Rowe was one of her particular friends. She had the misfortune of a very valetudinary constitution, which was supposed to be, in some measure, owing to the irregularity of her form. By the advice of Dr. Cheyne, she entered into the vegetable diet, and adhered to it even to an extreme. She died on the 11th September, 1745, in the fifty-eighth year of her age, after about two days illness.