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CLAVIS UNIVERSALIS
ix

yields to them less in force of argument, than in composition and variety of illustration."[1]

These notices attracted the English philosphers of this time to Collier's writings, and further traces of his life and works were sought. Sir James Mackintosh and Dr. Parr corresponded on the subject,[2] but their efforts met with no important success. But interest in Collier had been aroused; and when, some time before 1837, the History of Modern Wiltshire was published, the absence of his name from the history of the county, in which his family had held a living for four generations, called forth a remonstrance. This finally resulted in the publication of the only book which is a direct authority on Collier outside of his own few published writings.

Robert Benson had inherited, with other documents, all that remained of the Collier papers. Many of these papers had, to be sure, disappeared before Robert Benson looked into them, for they were, as Benson says, "so conveniently placed for the housemaid who lighted an adjoining bed-room fire, that it is not easy to guess how many of them have been consumed."[3] The bulk of those that remained were the sermons of Arthur Collier and his brother William, and a few manuscript essays and

  1. ↑ Originally published in 1821. Collected Works of Dugald Stuart, edited by Sir Wm. Hamilton, 1854, p. 349.
  2. ↑ Robert Benson's "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rev. Arthur Collier, M. A.," London, 1837, Preface p. IX.
  3. ↑ Benson's "Memoirs," Preface, page XIII.
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