IRVING, i•r'ving, EnwARn (1792-1S:14). An eloquent and distinguished Scotch clergyman. Ile was born at Annan, Dumfriesshire, August 4, 1792. Ile studied at the University of Edinburgh, and, after completing his f-m the min istry, became a school-teacher at Itaddington and later at At the former place, one of his pupils was Jane Welsh, and at the latter began his friendship with her future husband. Thomas Carlyle. 11is early attempts at preaching were not successful. But in 1819 he became assistant to 1)r. 'fFonhss Chalmers in Glasgow. here he felt himself overshadowed by his more famous colleague, and in 1322 he accepted a call to the Caledonian Church. Hatton Carden, London. ITis success as a preacher in the metropolis was un paxalleled. In brief time he transformed a poor and oh-sure congregation into a rich and fashion able one. and exchanged the humble chapel for a handsome strlieture on Regent Square. In I S23 lie published his first important work. The Oracles of I;od: Four Orations, with an Argu ment on Judgment to Come. At the close of 1325 he began to announce his convictions in regard to the second personal advent of Christ, which he declared to be near at hand. This was followed by his translation of a Spanish work, The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty, which professed to lie written by a Christian Jew, Juan Josafat Ben Ezra, but was in reality the composition of a Spanish Jesuit, Manuel Laeunza. In 1828 appeared his homilies on the Sacraments. He now began to elaborate
his views of the incarnation of Christ, arresting the doctrine of His oneness with man in all the attributes of humanity. The language which he u•od on this subject drew upon him the accusa tion of heresy, to which lie gave little heed. Ile %vas deep in the study of the prophecies; and when the news came to London in the early part of 1830 of certain extraordinary manifestations of prophetic power in the west of Scotland, Irving was prepared to believe them. (See Uri-tome A rosroLlc CnCRC11. ) Irving was arraigned before the Presbytery of London in 1830, and convicted of heresy: ejected from his new church in Regent Square in 1832; and finally deposed in 1S33 by the Presbytery of Annan, which had licensed him. The majority of his congregation adhered to him, and gradually a new phase of Christian order and worship was developed, com monly known as Irvingism. though Irving had really very little to do with its development. Shortly after, his health failed, and, in obedience, as he believed, to the Spirit of God, he went to Scotland. Where he sank a victim to consumption. Ile died at Glasgow. December 7, 1834. Irving's works were published in London (5 vols.. 1864 65). Consult : Carlyle, Miscellaneous Essays and Reminiscrwees (London. 1881); Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle (London, 1883) ; and Mrs. Oliphant, Life of Edward Ir ving (London, 1862).