ART. I.-The Works of George Berkeley, D.D., formerly Bishop of Cloyne; including many of his Writings hitherto unpublished. With Prefaces, Annotations, his Life and Letters, and an Account of his Philosophy. By ALEXANDER CAMPBELL FRASER, M.A., Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh. In 4 vols. Oxford: 1871.
BISHOP BERKELEY's literary and philosophical labours are often considered too much apart from the personal, local, and temporary influences that helped so powerfully to direct and mould all the activities of his life. Hardly any writer reflects more perfectly the very form and pressure of his own time, and few have been so habitually criticised from a purely abstract point of view. He has been usually regarded as a metaphysician or a moralist intent on the elaboration of philosophical theories, rather than as an Irish Churchman and keen controversialist, whose sympathies and aims were completely identified with the theological polemics of his own day. It is impossible, however, to form a just or adequate judgment of Berkeley's philosophy, without considering the ruling impulses of his mind, and the historical conditions under which they were developed. We shall endeavour to take some account of both in the short notice of his life and labours, which is all that can be attempted in the space at our command. Professor Fraser's excellent edition supplies more ample and trustworthy materials than were previously available for such a review. The editor has not only cleared up many doubtful points in Berkeley's life, but has had the good fortune to
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