Note 110 — CALAMITIES OF AUTHORS: (continued 4)

Toland was born in Ireland, in 1669, of Roman Catholic parents, but became a zealous opponent of that faith before he was sixteen; after which he finished his education at Glasgow and Edinburgh; he retired to study at Leyden, where he formed the acquaintance of Leibnitz and other learned men. His first book, published in 1696, and entitled “Christianity not Mysterious,” was met by the strongest denunciation from the pulpit, was “presented” by the grand jury of Middlesex, and ordered to be burnt by the common hangman by the Parliament of Ireland. He was henceforth driven for employ to literature; and in 1699 was engaged by the Duke of Newcastle to edit the “Memoirs of Denzil, Lord Hollis;” and afterwards by the Earl of Oxford on a new edition of Harrington’s “Oceana.” He then visited the Courts of Berlin and Hanover. He published many works on politics and religion, the latter all remarkable for their deistical tendencies, and died in March, 1722, at the age of 53.—Ed.