Berkeley Newsletter

Number 2	November 1977

Editors:

E. J. Furlong and David Berman
Philosophy Department, Trinity College, Dublin

Contents

Michael Hurley: Berkeley and Methodism: a new letter 	   1
E. J. Furlong: A Berkeleian nod? 	   3
Bertil Belfrage: Notes by Berkeley on moral philosophy 	   4
David Berman: A new Berkeley portrait 	   8
Bertil Belfrage: Reviews 	 10
Cloyne Commemoration 	 11
List of articles on Berkeley 	 11
Raymond Houghton: International Berkeley Society 	 14
Hermathena 	 16

© Contributors 1978

The Berkeley Newsletter is sponsored by the Royal Irish Academy
and the Philosophy Department, Trinity College, Dublin

Berkeley and Methodism: a new letter
Michael Hurley S. J.
Irish School of Ecumenics

Methodist sources provide the text of a Berkeley letter which seems to have hitherto gone unnoticed by Berkeley scholars. The purpose of this note is to introduce the letter.
My immediate source is Wesley and his times by C. H. Crookshank, M.A., at page 69. This was published in Belfast in 1885 by R. S. Allen, Son & Allen, University House. It is the first volume of the author’s three-volume History of Methodism in Ireland. The other two volumes were published in London, the second in 1886 and the third in 1888.
Unfortunately, Crookshank rarely gives references. He quarried, however, as he says in his Preface, in Methodist sources for the most part and I am confident that I have identified what source he was using in the particular case of this Berkeley letter. It was the second volume of the Rev. L. Tyerman, The life and times of the Rev. John Wesley, M .A. All three volumes of this work were published in London by Hodder and Stoughton in 1880. Here the Berkeley letter, which is printed on pages 79-80 is fuller: it contains both the greeting and conclusion, which are missing in Crookshank. There are also a few minor differences in punctuation.
As printed by Tyerman, the text of the letter is as follows:

	Clyone, July 4 1750 
Reverend Sir, — I have that opinion of your prudence, that I doubt not you will be cautious whom you admit into your pulpit; and that you will avoid doing or countenancing anything that may offend your brethren of the clergy, or give occasion to mobs and riots.
I am reverend Sir, your faithful brother and humble servant,
G. Cloyne.

The recipient of the letter, according to Crookshank and Tyerman, was the Rev. Richard Lloyd, Rector of Rathcormack, which is in Co. Cork and in the diocese of Cloyne. Lloyd was sympathetic to Methodism and had given John Wesley the hospitality of his

pulpit in May 1749 and again in May 1750 (cf. Curnock’s edition of Journal III 402-3, 427, 470, 476). This had led to criticisms and complaints. In August 1749 he wrote in a letter to Wesley:

Your society here keeps up well, and is, I believe, considerably increased since you left it. I frequently attend the preaching, and, though I am much reflected on for it, this does not in any wise discourage me. While I am conscious to myself that I do no harm, I am careless of what men can say of me (Journal III 427).

Among those who “much reflected on” Lloyd for his Methodist sympathies were apparently the neighbouring clergy of the Cork diocese.. This is not surprising. Methodism encountered opposition from the Established Church in very many places. Methodism in Cork city led to notorious riots in these very years. According to Tyerman and Crookshank the Cork clergy complained to Bishop Berkeley who, in response, directed his Archdeacon to remind Lloyd that he must not “suffer any person to preach in his church who was not a licensed preacher of that or the neighbouring diocese.” In a letter of 4 July (quoted at length by the Methodist historians) the Rector protested vigorously and it is in reply to this protest that Bishop Berkeley wrote the letter quoted above.
Tyerman however does not give any references to the sources from which he quotes this correspondence and I have not been able to pursue the matter any further. Hopefully, someone else will. It is altogether improbable that the letters are free compositions of Tyerman himself. It remains to quote his concluding remark: “Blarney seemed to succeed when peremptoriness had failed; Wesley had preached for the last time in Rathcormuck (sic) church.” Crookshank made two sentences out of this and made the first to read: “This artful epistle accomplished the purpose.” He refers to Lloyd later (on page 295) as Wesley’s “old but faithless friend.”

A Berkeleian nod?
E. J. Furlong

Some months ago I mislaid volume two of The works of George Berkeley (Nelson 1949). Having exhausted all the places where it might be I decided to wait for it to turn up.
In due course one of my colleagues arrived in my room with the missing book which had been given to him by a college official.
There were some signs that the book had been used by a person unknown during its period of absence, e.g., there were occasional marginal lines which I do not recall inserting myself. My attention was drawn by one of these markings to the following passage (Works, ii 261):

HYLAS...  I have been so long accustomed to the term matter that I know not how to part with it. To say, that there is no matter in the world, is still shocking to me. Whereas to say, there is no matter, if by that term be meant an unthinking substance existing without the mind: but if by matter is meant some sensible thing, whose existence consists in being perceived, then there is matter: 

It will be noted that the “sentence” beginning with “Whereas to say” is not completed.
The same slip occurs in the 1734 edition of the Three dialogues (edited by Berkeley). It is also repeated in the 1784 edition of the Works, in Fraser and in any of the modern English versions I have consulted.
Professor Jessop, in his introduction to the volume, notes that the Three dialogues has been translated into French, German, Czech, Italian, Norwegian and Polish. I have consulted a French translation, Dialogues entre Hylas et Philonous, by G. Beaulavon et D. Parodi (Alcan, 1925). They translate the incomplete sentence as follows (p. 198): “Tandis we je veux bien dire: ‘il n’y a pas de Matière, si l’on entend par ce terme une substance non pensante existent en dehors de l’intelligence’.” This French translation appears therefore to have amended the passage. The translators state that their translation is made from “Fraser, Oxford 1901.”
The reader of the present contribution by Hylas will notice that the passage is repetitive. The first sentence “... I am content to give up...” is repeated in the incompleted sentence “Whereas to say,...”

Notes by Berkeley on moral philosophy
Bertil Belfrage
Lund University

These notes — which are now published for the first time — are closely connected with Berkeley’s last sermon, supposed to be written in 1752 (see Works, vol. 7, pp. 129-138). The sections of this sermon correspond roughly to the notations in the margin which indicate that either these notes were used as an outline when he wrote the sermon, or — as Dr David Berman has suggested to me — as a guide when he actually preached. Some of these notes have been mentioned in studies on Berkeley.1 
I have two main reasons for publishing them. First, the mere existence of this concentrated summary of Berkeley’s views is a sufficient reason to publish them. Secondly, some themes in the notes are not fully developed in the 1752 sermon; in particular, I cannot find any line of thought that closely corresponds to the interesting note No. 25 — which could be interpreted as an outline program of a moral science.
It is interesting to observe the alteration in note No. 1; originally, the two ways to know the will of God were reason and revelation; later, nature and revelation. This suggests that Berkeley may have used the notes at different times; the change may also be doctrinally significant.
Whereas Berkeley’s Draft Introduction, which is in the same (Chapman) manuscript volume as these notes (MS. No. 453) is easy to transcribe but most difficult to edit; these notes are the very contrary, easy to edit but sometimes very difficult to transcribe.2 They are carelessly written; and a good acquaintance with Berkeley’s handwriting is required to read all parts of them; sometimes a letter or two is no more than a stroke. This creates a general uncertainty; but having proofread my original transcription a number of times over the years, I believe it is accurate.
The notes begin on a right-hand page (folio 34 recto) but continue, curiously enough, on the left-hand page (folio 33 verso — the verso of the last page of the Draft Introduction). Perhaps, Berkeley wanted to have a survey of all the notes without having to turn over the page; or, maybe, there was something already written on the following page that precluded him from continuing there (after folio 34, one page is torn out, and on folio 35, the sermon connected with these notes begins).

I have left the readings exactly as they are in the manuscript; for example, “subordinat” in No. 14 should obviously be “subordinated” and “concide” in No. 22 “coincide.” The figures in the margin are written in a darker ink than the rest of the text, which I have indicated by printing them in different types; “2” opposite No. 11, 12, and 13, however, are written in a lighter ink (which does not necessarily indicate that they were written at some other time). Some of the figures in the margin are difficult to read: the struck out “l” opposite No. 2 is very uncertain; in the margin of No. 15, there is probably first “1” altered to “4” and then erased; “2” at No. 24 may have been struck out.
I am grateful to the Board of Trinity College Dublin for permission to publish these notes.

1 J. M. Hone & M. M. Rossi, Bishop Berkeley. His life, writings, and philosophy. London: Faber & Faber, 1931. See pp. 43n and 175n.
2 As an illustration of the difficulty in transcribing this text, I quote the reading of the latter half of No. 6, according to Hone & Rossi, p. 43n: “but our particular wills and our instincts are our own...interest.”

  4		15		Beatitude or Happiness or the fruition of God consis
1				To be understood chiefly as a subordination to and con-
	  a			currence with the will of God.		love of order.
3		16.	no solid morality without religion
2		17.	To regard the ends of Providence in eating, drinking,
				Marrying &c
2		18.	Hence ye necessity of General rules.
		19.	A natural division of happiness or pleasure into the gra-
				tification of Sense, or passion, or our rational faculties. The
				gratification of passion may be subdivided into that which
				may be acquired by natural or fantastical goods.
4 e	20.	To be happy we must proportion our appetites to the worth
				of things				The perfection and happiness of our nature.
2 4	21.  	Epicureans err in making brutes & infants the speculum
				naturæ.
4		22.	The pleasure of Epicureans, the vivere secundum Na-
				turam of the Peripatetics & Academics, The rigid
				vertue of the Stoics all reducible to that one point of
				making our wills conside with the will of God.
		23.	The Honestum is the utile & jucundum of the up-
4				per faculties of the soul.  take in at once the grati-
				fication of all the faculties and you include the hap-
				pinesses of all the sects.
2		24.	one way to imitate God by extending benefits and good will
				to many.
		25		Will of God discovered by the frame of things.  by pain and
				Pleasure of sense.  By natural appetites.  by reasoning
  4		26		The four vertues reducible to this one principle of coincidence
				wch is at once our duty & happiness Xtian resignation. Heroic vertue &c

  4 d	27		the happiest State of the mind consists in being delighted wth what is best.

1		What the will of God is & how known.  1O by	1
		  nature
		reason secondly by revelation.
2		That it is the summum bonum	4 
3		Alludes to the millennium	1
4		it may also be taken in this sense.  viz. that the
		moral actions of men be conformable to the Di-	11
		vine will in this life.
5		This shewn reasonable from the power & wisdom	2
		the goodness & providence of God, & ye weakness of man.
6		The Divine will or Law respects the good of the	3
		whole.  but our particular wills are ever intent on
		our own private interest.

														mutual
7		The advantage of this in respect of the∧ benefit aris-
		ing to all as well as the ease & complacency to the deus
		the former considered as the effect, the latter as the con-
		comitant to action, coincident with the will of God.
8		That which is natural is agreeable and con-
		sonant to the will of God.  it is also delightful	4    
		& easy both in the practice & it’s consequences to man	b  
		But by natural to man is meant reasonable.  Sense
		or passion constituting the nature of a Brute.
9		The evils arising from acting contrary to the will of	4 A
		God, 1O to society in general 2dly to the actors in particular.
10		The end or happiness of man consists in a coincid-	4      
		ence of his will with the will of God.  when a man’s 						B
		will is not thus coincident, he is a dislocated member	A     
		and (as one may say) out of sorts.
11		our actions to be framed according to universal rules	2
12.	God to be considered as related to us and so far	2
		sufficiently known
13.	Honour, Vertue, Dignity of H: nature &c all reduced					2   4
		to the coincidence of our wills with the Divine.
14		while the senses & passions are subordinat to Reason	4   A
		there is an agreeable harmony, a beautiful system.

A new Berkeley portrait
David Berman

The portrait, here reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the late Lord Berkeley, hangs in the Diningroom of Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, where it is confidently stated to be of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne. It has never been included in any work on Berkeley, nor is it mentioned by Dr Luce in his Iconographic appendix to the Life of George Berkeley (2nd ed. 1968).
When I first saw the portrait (which is 48 inches long and 40 inches wide) I doubted whether Berkeley was in fact the sitter. The face seemed thinner and more worldly than that which we find portrayed in the eight or nine extant portraits which are listed and described by Dr Luce as having been painted in Berkeley’s lifetime. But a closer, analytic, inspection revealed a number of similarities, especially in the cleft chin (cp. Luce, nos 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 9), the prominent nose (cp. nos 1, 2, 7 and 9), and the rather delicate mouth (cp. nos 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9). The thin, longish fingers, and the shape of the eyes, also seem compatible with the other portraits. The eyebrows are, however, a striking exception; in none of the known portraits are they so thin.
There is no indication of the identity of the artist, or of when the portrait was painted. It is clear from the lawnsleeves that the sitter was a bishop at the time. Hence if the portrait is of Berkeley, it must have been painted not earlier than 1734. On balance, I am inclined to accept the attribution of those at Berkeley Castle. However, I would welcome any comment or additional information which might conclusively establish the subject’s identity.
I am grateful to Professor Furlong and to Brigadier E. L. H. Smith, Custodian of Berkeley Castle, for their help.

[Reproduction of the portrait.]

George Berkeley, Philosophical commentaries. Edited by George H. Thomas; explanatory notes by A. A. Luce. Alliance 1976: Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio 44601. No price stated.

Professor George H. Thomas has published a new edition of Berkeley’s Pilosophical commentaries. Unlike Dr Luce’s text in volume one of the Works, this edition aims at reproducing all the changes in Berkeley’s manuscript — although it does not do so diplomatically, as in Dr Luce’s limited edition of 1944. As I had the opportunity to discuss Thomas’s transcription in detail at different stages of his work, I know that his edition is carefully done. The only mistakes I have been able to find are such unimportant details as “or” instead of “of” in 568 and “ramsack” instead of “ransack” in 579.
The late Dr A. A. Luce’s notes to entries that originally appeared in his diplomatic — out of print for many years — were revised for this edition by Dr Luce himself.

George Pitcher, Berkeley. London 1977: Routledge & Kegan Paul (in The Arguments of the philosophers, edited by Ted Honderich). $16.50.

Professor Pitcher discusses Berkeley’s theory of perception. He also gives an account — some, s in the context of quotations from Locke — of the objects in Berkeley’s world, his attack on matter, and his concept of rind; at the end, he examiner Berkeley’s moral philosophy.
As the title of the series suggests, the author concentrates on the arguments in Berkeley’s books. Only in part does he attempt to see Berkeley’s philosophy as a coherent metaphysical system. The result is that historians of philosophy may put a query in the margin here end there.
Professor Pitcher is a careful philosopher within the analytic school. Taking a passage from Berkeley’s writings, he examines it in great detail. At the end, he declares whether Berkeley was right or wrong. As a rule, Berkeley was wrong.

Bertil Belfrage

Commemoration of George Berkeley arranged by
the Cloyne Historical and Archaeological Society

The Commemoration was held in Cloyne, Co. Cork from September 29 to October 1, 1978. It marked the 250th anniversary of Berkeley’ departure to America. It consisted of a variety of events, arranged to cater for many tastes. There was a book fair, an exhibition of arts and local crafts, a recital in the Cathedral of works by two near contemporaries of Berkeley’s — Vivaldi and Telemann, together with the events described below.
The occasion was opened by his Excellency, Mr William T. Shannon, American Ambassador to Ireland. He was followed by a lecture on “The philosophy of George Berkeley,” by Professor E. J. Furlong, Trinity College, Dublin.
On the following day, Dr David Berman of Trinity College, Dublin, lectured on “Berkeley and the American Connection.” On the next day, Sunday October 1, a lecture entitled “Berkeley’s Ecumenism” was given by the Rev. M. Hurley, S.J., Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics.
On the Sunday evening, there was an ecumenical service in St Colman’s Cathedral, Cloyne, at which the preacher was the Right Rev. S. G. Poyntz, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross.

Recent articles on Berkeley (not listed in the “Bibliography
of George Berkeley, 1963-1974” by Turbayne and Appelbaum)

[These articles, published on pp. 11-13, are included
in the Bibliography appended to Berkeley Newsletter No. 16.]

[Articles originally listed on this page are included
in the Bibliography appended to Berkeley Newsletter No. 16.]

Corrigendum

Item 69 of the bibliography of Turbayne and Appelbaum is a mistake: “Schriften über die Grundlagen der Mathematik und Physik” is a collection of works (Of Infinites, Analyst, Defence of Free-Thinking in Mathematics, Reasons for not Replying, De Motu), Einleitung und Übersetzung von Wolfgang Breidert, Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp Verlag 1969.
“Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 54 (1972), pp. 307-310” refers to a Review of this book by Lüder Gäbe.

Wolfgang Breidert
Universität Karlsruhe

International Berkeley Society

Plans for the Commemorative Celebration of George Berkeley’s arrival in America are being rapidly completed. The committee has been meeting for over a year to develop a program which would call attention to the importance of Berkeley and his presence in the new world.
Rather than focus on a single event at a single time, it was decided to spread the celebration over the entire year. It was further decided to plan a number of diverse events which would be of interest to a broad cross-section of the population. The following schedule illustrates this diversity. It is important to remember that with long-range planning and the fact that some guests will be coming long distances, the program is subject to some change. It is advisable to contact the office at (401) 272-2669 to verify dates and places.

January 21, 1979 11 a.m.
Free to the general public.

January 23, 1979
Reservations by
January 10

February 11, 1979
4:00 p.m.
Open to the general public.

February 20, 1979
Approx.

1:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

March 12, 1979
Approx.
6:30 p.m.
Limited guest list

April dates (to be announced) 1979
Berkeley Commemorative Sermon and Musical Program — The Reverend Lorne Coyle, Trinity Church, Newport

Berkeley Commemoration; A Celebration White Horse Tavern, Newport. Libation 7:30 p.m. Refection 8:00 p.m. Dress: Period attire or black tie

Berkeley Concert, Trinity Church, Newport.
The Chamber Choir of the Radcliffe College Choral Society. A Program of music from Berkeley’s time.

Berkeley Commemorative Lecture. The Dublin of Berkeley’s Age — Sean McCrumm Director of the Art Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin.

Rhode Island College, Philosophy Dept., Lounge Fogarty Life Science Building, Providence, R.I.

Salve Regina College, Newport, R.I.

Berkeley Birthday Party
Speaker: Alasdair Cook
Berkeley College Refectory 
Yale University, New Haven

An original play concerning Berkeley by Mairin Cotter Martin

April 2, 1979
Approx.

1:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

May 1, 1979

1:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

June, 1979
Dates and times to be announced.

July 26, 1979
Open to the public at a time to be announced

August, 1979. Open to the public at no charge during the entire month

August, 1979
Buildings where Berkeley visited open to the public

September 28, 29, 30, 1979

Berkeley Commemorative Lecture
Berkeley from a Luce Perspective
Mr John Luce, Associate Professor,
Trinity College, Dublin

Rhode Island College
Philosophy Department Lounge
Fogarty Life Science Building, Providence, R. I.

Salve Regina College, Newport, R. I.

Berkeley Commemorative Lecture
Berkeley’s Quest in Idealism
Dr David Berman of Trinity College, Dublin

Rhode Island College
Philosophy Department Lounge
Fogarty Life Science Building, Providence, R. I

Salve Regina College, Newport, R. I.

Berkeley’s Natural World in Newport
Mr Robert Hinckley
Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown, R. I.

Whitehall 79th Anniversary Garden Party
Speaker to be announced
Sponsored by the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, Whitehall, Middletown, R. I.

Berkeley Commemorative Art Show
Redwood Library, Newport, R. I.

Berkeley’s Narragansett Experience
Old Narragansett Church and Smith’s Castle at Cocumscussoc, Wickford, R. I.
Lectures to be announced.

Berkeley Commemorative Conference.
Trinity Church, Newport, R. I.
A three-day conference open to the public with lectures, exhibits and tours. Program to be announced.

The Society is planning to publish a collection of the papers presented at the Conference in the form of a Yearbook edited by Colin Turbayne of the University of Rochester and Professor Richard Olmstead of Rhode Island College.
Raymond Houghton, Rhode Island College.
Hermathena

Hermathena, a Dublin University review, has a large stock of back issues, some containing articles or reviews relevant to the study of Bishop Berkeley’s writings.

Indices of Hermathena are available as follows:

J. G. Smyly,		“Index of contributors to Hermathena 1873-1943”
price 50p or $1.00.

E. J. Furlong,	“Index to Hermathena 1944-64”
(available bound in Hermathena no 101, but not as offprint) price £1.50 or $3.00.

E. J. Furlong,	separate indices for the following years:
1964-5, 1966-7, 1968-9, 1970-1., 1972-3, 1974-5.
price £1.50 or $3.00 the set.
An index for 1976-77 is in the press and will be issued to all regular subscribers; copies may be had for 75p or $1.50.

There are 20 copies only remaining of Hermathena no 82 (1953), entitled “Homage to George Berkeley: a commemorative issue.” Contributors were T. E. Jessop, A. A. Luce, A. L. Leroy, B. Dobree, J. Johnston, G. J. Witrow, I. T. Ramsey, R. H. Popkin. These may be purchased for £5.00 or $10.00.
All prices include postage and packing. All enquiries and orders should be sent to The Editor, Hermathena, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland.

The Berkeley newsletter lists items of Berkeley interest which have not been included in Jessop’s Bibliography of George Berkeley (2nd ed. revised and enlarged, The Hague, 1973), or in “A bibliography of George Berkeley, 1963-1974” by Turbayne and Appelbaum (Journal of the History of Philosophy, January, 1977), or in the present number.
Authors wishing to have their books, articles or notes listed should send a copy of the requisite information to the editors, who would be grateful for any other information relating to Berkeley publications.
It also includes notes on Berkeley topics. Because of production costs a note should normally not exceed 1000 words. Contributions should be type-written.
The Berkeley newsletter appears once a year in late autumn.