In 1732 he published the Minute Philosopher, a performance which has been very generally read and admired. It consists of a series of dialogues, on the model of Plato, of which it is the object to refute the tenets of the free-thinker, who is here exhibited successively in the various characters of atheist, liber tine, enthusiast, scorner, critic, metaphysician, fatalist, and sceptic. At this period he stood high in favour with Queen Caroline, who was a distinguished patro ness of men of virtue and talents. Upon a vacancy in the see of Cloyne, in 1733, at the instance of her majesty, Berkeley was appointed to that bishopric, and in May 1734 he was consecrated bishop of Cloyne, and vacated his deanery. On that occasion he said to his intimates, " I will never accept a translation ;" a resolution to which he most religiously adhered ; for when he was offered the see of Clogher in 1745 by Lord Chesterfield, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, he respectfully declined the promotion, although that see was double in value to the bishopric of Cloyne. In the discharge of his episcopal . duties, he was in the highest degree meritorious and exemplary, and was distinguished by his pastoral hospitality, and constant residence. While his health permitted, he was a re gular preacher ; and always delivered extemporane ous sermons ; for it is not known that he ever redu ced a single sermon to writing, with the exception of one preached before the society for propagating the gospel in foreign parts, which was published at their request.
About this time he published The Analyst, a very ingenious performance, intended to show that there are mysteries or uninielligible principles admitted by mathematicians in their reasonings, and particularly in the doctrine of Fluxions, which might be much more justly objected against than the mysteries of faith, which are often alleged as inadmissible by the enemies cf religion. This work originated in the following circumstance : Mr Addison having visited Dr Garth in his last illness, addressed him seriously on the necessi v of preparing for his approaching dis solution ; to which the Doctor replied, " Surely, Addison, I have good reason not to believe those trifles, since my friend Halley, who has dealt so much in demonstration, has assured me, that the doctrines of Christianity are incomprehensible, and the religion itself an imposture." This conversation being re ported by Addison' to Berkeley, the bishop wrote The Analyst, as a confutation to this redoubtable dealer in demonstration. In 1735, lie published A Defence of in Mathematics, being a re ply to Philalethes, supposed to be Dr Jnrin, who had opposed the doctrines of the Analyst. In the same year also, hs published a small pamphlet on this sub ject, entitled, Reasons for not replying to Mr ;Till ton' s full Answer, For some time after this, his attention seems to have been directed to the public affairs of his country ; and his Queries, for the good of Ireland, published in 1735; his Discourse addressed to Magistrates, in 1736 ; and his Maxims concerning' Patriotism, in 1750, were a valuable fruit of this ap plication of his mind. In 1745, during the Scottish
rebellion, he addressed a letter to the Roman catho lies of his diocese ; and in 1749, another to the clergy of that persuasion in Ireland, under the title of A Word to the [Vise, which was so well received by them, that they returned him their 'public thanks, with ex pressions of marked esteem and respect, which describe him as " the good man, the polite gentleman, and the true patriot." He has also acquired considerable celebrity as the author of Siris, a chain of philosophi cal reflections and enquiries concerning the virtues of Tar water ;" which was reprinted in 1747, and lowed in 1752 by Farther thoughts of Tar water, the of his publications. Berkeley thought that he received great benefit from this medicine, in allaying a nervous colic, to which he was subject dining the decline of life.
In 1752, be adopted the resolution of removing with his wife and family to OxfOrd, in order to su perintend the education of one of his sons. Enter taining a firm conviction of the obligation of resi dence upon every clergyman, he endeavoured to ex change his bishopric for some canonry or headship at Oxford ; and not having succeeded in this, he request ed permission, by a letter to the secretary of state, to resign his bishopric, worth at that time not less than R14-00 per annum. When the petition for thii pur pose was presented to his majesty, he declared that he should die a bishop, in spite of himself; and gave him full liberty to reside wherever he pleased. Be fore he left Cloyne, however, he directed the rents of his demesne lands, amounting to R200 a-year, to be distributed among the poor. At Oxford he was in the highest degree respected and beloved ; but his re sidence there was destined to be very short. Whilst his lady was reading to him one of Sherlock's set: mons on the evening of Sunday,•January 14th, 1753, lie was suddenly seized with what is called a palsy of the heart, and instantly expired. His remains were interred at Christ Church, Oxford, where a marble monument was erected by his widow, with a Latin inscription by Dr. Markham, afterwards archbishop of York. In this inscription, lie is said to have been born in 1769 ; but it is stated in the Biographia Bri tannica, on the authority of his brother, that he was born in 1684, and consequently died at the age of 69.