BERKELEY (Gaonsa) the virtuous and learned bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, was born in that kingdom., at Kilcrin, the 12th of March, 1684. After receiving the first part of his education at Kilkenny school, he was admitted a pensioner of Trinity College, Dublin, at 15 years old ; and chosen fellow of that college in 1707.
The first public proof he gave of his li terary abilities was," Arithmetica absque Algebra aut Euclid e demonstrate;" which, from the preface, it appears he wrote be fore he was 20 years old, though he did not publish it till 1707. It is followed by a mathematical miscellany, containing ob servations and theorems inscribed to his pupil Samuel Molineux.
In 1709 came out the "Theory of Vi which, of all his works, it seems, does the greatest honour to his sagacity ; being, it has been observed, the first at tempt that ever was made, to distinguish the immediate and natural objects of sight from the conclusions we have been ac customed from infancy to draw from them. The boundary is here traced out between the ideas of sight and touch ; and it is shewn, that though habit hath so connected these two classes of ideas in the mind, that they are not without a strong effort to be separated from each other, yet originally they have no such connection ; insomuch, that a person born blind, and suddenly made to see, would at first be utterly unable to tell how any object that affected his sight would affect his touch ; and particularly would not from sight receive any idea of distance, or external space, but would imagine all objects to be in his eye, or rather in his mind.
In 1710 appeared "The Principles of Human Knowledge ;" and in 1713 " Dia logues between Hylas and Philonous :" the object of both which pieces is, to prove that the commonly received notion of the existence of matter is false ; that sensible material objects, as they are call ed, are not external to the mind,but exist in it, and are nothing more than impres sions made upon it by the immediate act of God, according to certain rules, term ed laws of nature.
Acuteness of parts and beauty of ima gination were so conspicuous in Berke ley's writings, that his reputation was now established, and his company courted ; men of opposite parties concurred in re commending him. For Steele he wrote
several papers in the Guardian, and at his house became acquainted with Pope,with whom he always lived in friendship. Swift recommended him to the celebrated Earl of Peterborough, who, being appointed ambassador to the King of Sicily and the Italian States, took Berkeley with him as chaplain and secretary in 1713, with whom he returned to England the year follow ing.
His hopes of preferment expiring with the fall of Queen Anne's ministry, he some time after embraced an offer made him by Ashe, bishop of Clogher, of accom panying his son in a tourth rough Europe. In this he employed four years ; and be sides those places which fall within the grand tour, he visited some that are less frequented, and with great industry col lected materials for a natural history of those parts,but which were unfortunately lost in the passage to Naples. He arriv ed at London in 1721; and being much affected with the miseries of the nation, occasioned by the South-sea scheme in 1 S 1720, he published the same year " An .Essay towards preventing the ruin of (3reat Britain ;" reprinted in his " .Mis cellaneous Tracts." '--t His way was now open into the first company. Pope introduced him to Lord Burlington, by whom be was recommend- ed to the Duke of Grafton, then appoint ' ..' ed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who took I 3' crkeley over as one of his chaplains in 1731. The latter part of this year he ac cumulated the degrees of bachelor and doctor of divinity; and the year following he had a very unexpected increase of fortune from the death of Mrs. Vanhom k righ, the celebrated Vanessa, to whom he had been introduced by Swift. This lady had intended Swift for her heir ; but per ceiving herself to be slighted by him, she left her fortune of 8,000/. between her two executors, of whom Berkeley was one. In 1724, he was promoted to the deanery of Derry, worth 1,1001. a year.