, D. D. a man whose history affords a very striking example of the folly
, D. D. a man whose history affords a very striking example of the folly of party
spirit, was the son of Joshua Sacheverell of Marlborough,
clerk, who died rector of St. Peter’s church in Marlborough, leaving a numerous family in very low circumstances. By a letter to him from his uncle, in 1711, it appears that he had a brother named Thomas, and a sister
Susannah. Henry was put to school at Marlborough, at
the charge of Mr. Edward Hearst, an apothecary, who,
being his godfather, adopted him as his son. Hearst’s
widow put him afterwards to^Magdalen-college, Oxford,
where he became demy in 1687, at the age of 15. Here
he soon distinguished himself by a regular observation of
the duties of the house, by his compositions, good manners, and genteel behaviour; qualifications which recommended him to that society, of which he became fellow,
and, as public tutor, had the care of the education of most
of the young gentlemen of quality and fortune that were
admitted of the college. In this station he had the care of
the education of a great many persons eminent for their
learning and abilities; and was contemporary and chamberfellow with Addison, and one of his chief intimates till the
time of his famous trial. Mr. Addison’s “Account of the
greatest English' Poets,
” dated April 4, 1694, in a farewell-poem to the Muses on his intending to enter into
holy orders, was inscribed <c to Mr. Henry Sacheverell,“his then dearest friend and colleague. Much has been said
by Sacheverell’s enemies of his ingratitude to his relations,
and of his turbulent behaviour at Oxford; but these appear
to have been groundless calumnies, circulated only by the
spirit of party. In his younger years he wrote some excellent
Latin poems, besides several in the second and third volumes of the
” Mus as Anglicanae,“ascribed to his pupils;
and there is a good one of some length in the second volume, under his own name (transcribed from the Oxford collection, on queen Mary’s death, 1695). He took the
degree of M. A. May 16, 1696; B. D. Feb. 4, 1707; D. D.
July 1, 1708. His first preferment was Cannock, or Cank,
in the county of Stafford. He was appointed preacher of
St. Saviour’s, Southwark, in 1705; and while in this station preached his famous sermons (at Derby, Aug. 14, 1709; and at St. Paul’s, Nov. 9, in the same year) and
in one of them was supposed to point at lord Godolphin,
under the name of Volpone. It has been suggested, that
to this circumstance, as much as to the doctrines contained
in his sermons, he was indebted for his prosecution, and
eventually for his preferment. Being impeached by the
House of Commons, his trial began Feb. 27, 1709-10;
and continued until the 23d of March: when he was sentenced to a suspension from preaching for three years, and
his two sermons ordered to be burnt. This prosecution,
however, overthrew the ministry, and laid the foundation
of his fortune. To sir Simon Harcourt, who was counsel
for him, he presented a silver bason gilt, with an elegant
inscription, written probably by his friend Dr.
Alterbury. Dr. Sacheverell, during his suspension, made a kind
of triumphal progress through various parts of the kingdom;
during which period he was collated to a living near
Shrewsbury; and, in the same month that his suspension
ended, had the valuable rectory of St. Andrew’s, Holborn,
given him by the queen, April 13, 1713. At that time his
reputation was so high, that he was enabled to sell the first
sermon preached after his sentence expired (on Palm Sunday) for the sum of 100l.; and upwards of 40,000 copies,
it is said, were soon sold. We find by Swift’s Journal to
Stella, Jan. 22, 1711-12, that he had also interest enough
with the ministry to provide very amply for one of his
brothers; yet, as the dean had said before, Aug. 24, 1711,
” they hated and affected to despise him.“A considerable estate at Callow in Derbyshire was soon after left to
him by his kinsman George Sacheverell, esq. In 1716,
he prefixed a dedication to
” Fifteen Discourses, occasionally delivered before the university of Oxford, by W.
Adams, M. A. late student of Christ-church, and rector of
Staunton upon Wye, in Oxfordshire.“After this publication, we hear little of him, except by quarrels with his
parishioners. He died June 5, 1724; and, by his will,
bequeathed to Bp. Atterbury, then in exile, who was supposed to have penned for him the defence he made before
the House of Peers , the sum of 500l. The duchess of
Maryborough describes Sacheverell as
” an ignorant impudent incendiary; a man who was the scorn even of those
who made use of him as a tool.“And Bp. Burnet says,
” He was a bold insolent man, wiih a very small measure
of religion, virtue, learning, or good sense; but he resolved to force himself into popularity and preferment, by
the most petulant railings at dissenters and low-church
men, in several sermons and libels, written without either
chasteness of style or liveliness of expression." Whatever
his character, it is evident that he owed every thing to an
injudicious prosecution, which defeated the purposes of
those who instituted it, and for many years continued
those prejudices in the public mind, which a wiser administration w r ould have been anxious to dispel.