In 1688 he was elected member of parliament
for the university of Cambridge. Of purely literary works he left two,
entitled respectively, _Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the
Apocalypse of St. John_, and a _Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended_;
both of which are of little present value except as the curious remains of
so great a man.
_Viscount Bolingbroke_ (Henry St. John), 1678-1751: as an erratic
statesman, a notorious free-thinker, a dissipated lord, a clever political
writer, and an eloquent speaker, Lord Bolingbroke was a centre of
attraction in his day, and demands observation in literary history. During
the reign of Queen Anne he was a plotter in favor of the pretender, and
when she died, he fled the realm to avoid impeachment for treason. In
France he joined the pretender as Secretary of State, but was dismissed
for intrigue; and on being pardoned by the English king, he returned to
England. His writings are brilliant but specious. His influence was felt
in the literary society he drew around him,--Swift, Pope, and
others,--and, as has been already said, his opinions are to be found in
that _Essay on Man_ which Pope dedicated to him.
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