Published in two volumes between 1738 and 1743, Boswell's A Method of Study is among his works which reflect his strong Tory and high church attitudes.[1] In 1750, Boswell published a critical response to John Jones's 1749 Free and Candid Disquisitions.[note 2] Jones's work had called for substantial reforms to the Church of England, particularly with the intent of comprehending Dissenters.[6][note 3] Boswell's response opposed such reforms, offering praise for the Book of Common Prayer as adjacent to early Christian liturgical practices and defending its obligation that the Athanasian Creed be regularly recited. Boswell also approved of the Test Acts, which legally mandated clerical subscription to the doctrines of the Thirty-nine Articles.[1] Boswell wrote a second response in 1751, replying to two works written to defend Jones from Boswell's criticisms: Francis Blackburne's An Apology for the Authors of Free and Candid Disquisitions and the anonymous, two-volume An Appeal to Common Reason and Candor.[5]
Boswell wrote the two-volume The Case of the Royal Martyr Considered with Candour to defend Charles I, who was popularly celebrated by Boswell's contemporary, likeminded Anglicans. The works were specifically in reply to criticisms of Charles in George Coades's 1764 A Letter to a Clergyman Relating to his Sermon on 30 January and Thomas Birch's 1747 Enquiry.[1][8] Boswell's defence of Charles largely borrowed from Thomas Carte's 1736 Life of James, Duke of Ormonde. The text countered Whigs claims that the Charles was a tyrant, particularly with regards to his negotiations with Irish Catholics. The volumes were published posthumously in 1758.[1]
Boswell served as vicar at Taunton until 1756 and died in June 1757. He was interred at St Mary Magdalene, Taunton, with an inscription in the church commemorating him.[4][1]
Works
The Privileges of the Restauration in Church and State: A Sermon Preach'd before the Worshipful the Mayor and Corporation of Taunton, on Friday, May 29, 1730. Exeter: E. Farley. 1730. On the English Civil War and the Stuart Restoration.
A Method of Study; Or, an Useful Library. London. 1738. Recommendations "to assist the poor Clergyman in his studies, and to encourage the young Gentleman to look into books".[1]
Remarks upon a treatise, intituled Free and candid disquisitions relating to the Church of England In some letters to a worthy dignitary of the Church of Wells. Vol. I. London. 1750. A critical response to Free and Candid Disquisitions.
Remarks upon a treatise, intituled Free and candid disquisitions relating to the Church of England. Vol. II. 1751.
The Case of the Royal Martyr Considered with Candour; or, an Answer to Some Libels Lately Published In Prejudice to the Memory of that Unfortunate Prince. Vol. I & II. London: J. Richardson. 1758.[8] A defence of King Charles I.
Notes
^Sometimes spelt Bozwel.[1] The date was of Boswell's death was initially inaccurately given as in 1756 within the 1886-published entry on him in the Dictionary of National Biography.[2]
^The full titles of Boswell's 1750–1751 replies to Jones and his defenders were Remarks upon a treatise, intituled Free and candid disquisitions relating to the Church of England and Remarks upon a treatise, intituled, Free and candid disquisitions. Part the Second.[5]
^Comprehension refers to affording latitude within the Church of England that allows Dissenters to remain practicing members within it.[7]
References
^ a b c d e f g h i j kSharp, Richard (2004). "Boswell [Bozwel], John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14111. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ a bThe Church of St. Mary Magdalene Taunton, 1508–1908. E. Goodman & Son. 1908. p. 41.
^ a bHatchett, Marion J. (182). The Making of the First American Book of Common Prayer. New York City: Seabury Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-8164-0512-3.
^Stephens, John (3 January 2008). "Jones, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15029. Retrieved 20 January 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^Healy, Jonathan (2023). The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603–1689. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 327. ISBN 9780593318355. LCCN 2022038721.
Bundle of deeds for various lands in Taunton St Mary and Taunton St James, a South West Heritage Trust holding which includes a lease by Boswell to a local woman for a garden in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene, Taunton