THOMAS (Christian) was born at Leipzig 1655,
and was well educated, first under his father, and afterwards in the Leipzig university. At first he acquiesced in the established doctrines of the schools; but upon reading Puffendorf's "Apology for rejecting the Scholastic Principles of Morals and Law," light suddenly burst upon his mind, and he determined to renounce all implicit deference to ancient dogmas. He read lectures upon the subject of Natural Law, first from the text of Grotius, and afterwards from that of Puffendorf, freely exercising his own judgment, and, where he saw reason, advancing new opinions. Whilst his father was living, paternal prudence and moderation restrained the natural vehemence and acrimony of the young man's temper, which was too apt to break out, even in his public lectures. But when he was left to himself, the boldness with which he advanced unpopular tenets, and the severity with which he dealt out his satirical censures, soon brought upon him the violent resentment of theologians and professors.
An "Introduction to Puffendorf," which Thomas published in the year 1687, wherein he deduced the obligation of morality from natural principles, occasioned great offence. The following year he became still more unpopular, by opening a monthly literary journal, which he intitled "Free Thoughts, or Monthly Dialogues on various Books, chiefly new;" in which he attacked many of his contemporaries with great severity. The railing of this satirical work was too provoking to be endured: complaints were lodged before the ecclesiastical court of Dresden; the bookseller was called upon to give up the author; and it was only through the intercession of the Marquis that Thomas escaped punishment. The title of the work was now changed; but its spirit remained. A humorous and satirical life of Aristotle, and several other sarcastic papers, kept alive the flame of resentment, till at length it again burst forth, on a charge brought against him before the same court by the clergy of Leipzig, for contempt of religion; but he defended himself with such ability, that none of his adversaries chose to reply, and the matter was dropped.
A satirical review, which he wrote, of a treatise "On the Divine Right of Kings," published by a Danish divine; "A Defence of the Sect of the Pietists," and other eccentric and satirical publications, at last inflamed the resentment of the clergy against Thomas to such a degree, that he was threatened with imprisonment. To escape the storm which thickened about him, he entreated permission from the Elector of Brandenburg, in whose court he had several friends, that he might read private lectures in the city of Hall. This indulgence, being obtained, Thomas became a voluntary exile from Leipzig. After a short interval, he was appointed public professor of jurisprudence, first in Berlin, and afterwards at Hall. In these situations, he found himself at full liberty to indulge his satirical humour, and to engage in the controversies of the times: and as long as he lived, he continued to make use of this liberty in a manner which subjected him to much odium. At the same time, he persevered in his endeavours to correct and subdue the prejudices of mankind, and to improve the state of philosophy. He died at Hall in the year 1728.
Besides the satirical journal already mentioned, Thomas wrote several treatises on logic, morals, and jurisprudence; in which he advanced many dogmas contra-
Thomas, Thornton, ry to received opinions. In his writings on physics, he leaves the ground of experiment and rational investigation, and appears among the mystics. His later pieces are in many particulars inconsistent with the former. — His principal philosophical works are, "An Introduction to Aulic Philosophy, or Outlines of the Art of Thinking and Reasoning;" "Introduction to Rational Philosophy;" "A Logical Praxis;" "Introduction to Moral Philosophy;" "A Cure for Irregular Passions, and the Doctrine of Self-Knowledge;" "The new Art of discovering the secret Thoughts of Men;" "Divine Jurisprudence;" "Foundations of the Law of Nature and Nations;" "Dissertation on the Crime of Magic;" "Essay on the Nature and Essence of Spirit, or Principles of Natural and Moral Science;" "History of Wisdom and Folly."
From the specimen given by Dr Enfield of his more peculiar tenets (for we have read none of his books), Thomas appears to have been a man of wonderful inconsistency in his opinions; teaching on one subject rational piety and true science, and on another absurdity and atheism. "No other rule (he says) is necessary in reasoning, than that of following the natural order of investigation; beginning with those things which are best known, and proceeding, by easy steps, to those which are more difficult." This is perfectly consistent with the foundation of the Baconian logic; and is indeed the only foundation upon which a system of science can possibly be built. Yet could the man, who professes to proceed from a principle so well established, gravely advance, as conclusions of science, the following absurdities: "Perception is a passive affection, produced by some external object, either in the intellectual sense, or in the inclination of the will. God is not perceived by the intellectual sense, but by the inclination of the will: for creatures affect the brain; but God, the heart. All creatures are in God: nothing is exterior to him. Creation is extension produced from nothing by the divine power. Creatures are of two kinds, passive and active; the former is matter, the latter spirit. Matter is dark and cold, and capable of being acted upon by spirit, which is light, warm, and active. Spirit may subsist without matter, but desires a union with it. All bodies consist of matter and spirit, and have therefore some kind of life. Spirit attracts spirit, and thus sensibly operates upon matter united to spirit. This attraction in man is called love; in other bodies, sympathy. A finite spirit may be considered as a limited sphere, in which rays, luminous, warm, and active, flow from a centre. Spirit is the region of the body to which it is united. The region of finite spirits is God. The human soul is a ray from the divine nature; whence it desires union with God, who is love. Since the essence of spirit consists in action, and of body in passion, spirit may exist without thought: of this kind are light, ether, and other active principles in nature." Fortunately, this jargon is as unintelligible as the categories of Kant, and the blasphemies of Spinoza; for an account of which, the reader is referred to Critical Purveyor in this Suppl. and to Spinoza in the Encycl.
Biographical Dictionary. THORNTON (Bonnell), a modern poet, the intimate friend of Lloyd and Colman, and justly classed with them in point of talents, was born in Maiden Lane, London, in the year 1724. He was the son of
an apothecary; and being educated at Westminster School, was elected to Christ Church, Oxford, in the year 1743. He was thus eight years senior to Colman, who was elected off in 1751. The first publication in which he was concerned was, "The Student, or Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany," which appeared in monthly numbers; and was collected in two volumes 8vo, in 1748. Smart was the chief conductor of the work; but Thornton, and other wits of both universities, assisted in it. He took his degree of master of arts in 1750; and as his father wished him to make physic his profession, he took the degree of bachelor of that faculty in 1754. In the same year he undertook the periodical paper called The Connoisseur, in conjunction with Colman, which they continued weekly to the 30th of September 1756. In the concluding paper, the different ages and pursuits of the two authors are thus jocularly pointed out, in the description of the double author, Mr Town. "Mr Town is a fair, black, middle sized, very short man. He wears his own hair and a periwig. He is about thirty years of age (literally thirty-two), and not more than four and twenty. He is a student of the law and a bachelor of physic. He was bred at the university of Oxford, where, having taken no less than three degrees, he looks down on many learned professors as his inferiors: yet having been there but little longer than to take the first degree of bachelor of arts, it has more than once happened that the censor-general of all England has been reprimanded by the censor of his college, for neglecting to furnish the usual essay, or, in the collegiate phrase, the theme of the week." Engaged in pursuits of this kind, Bonnell Thornton did not very closely follow the profession to which his father destined him, but lived rather a literary life, employing his pen on various subjects. To the daily paper called the Public Advertiser, then in high reputation, he was a frequent contributor; and he once had it in contemplation to treat with Mr Rich for the patent of Covent Garden theatre. In 1764, Mr Thornton married Miss Sylvia Brathwaite, youngest daughter of Colonel Brathwaite, who had been governor of a fort in Africa. In 1766, encouraged, as he says himself, by the success of his friend Colman's Terence, he published two volumes of a translation of Plautus in blank verse; proposing to complete the whole if that specimen should be approved. These volumes contained seven plays, of which the Captive was translated by Mr Warner, who afterwards completed all that Thornton had left unfinished; and the Mercator by Mr Colman. The remaining five are, the Ambitryon, Miles Gloriosus, Triumvir, Aulularia, Rudens. Some parts of the remaining plays which Thornton had translated are preserved by his continuator. There can be no doubt that this is the best way of translating the old comedies, and that Thornton was well qualified for the task; but the work has never been in high favour with the public. Yet Warburton said of it, that "he never read so just a translation, in so pure and elegant a style." Thornton published in 1767, The Battle of the Wigs, as an additional canto to Garth's Dispenfary; the subject of which was the disputes then subsisting between the fellows and licentiates.
The life of Thornton was not destined to attain any great extension: in the prime of his days, while he was surrounded by domestic felicity, the comforts of fortune,
Thomson, tune, and the respect of society, ill health came upon him; and medical aid proving inefficient, he died, of the gout in his stomach, May 9. 1768, at only 44 years of age. His wife, a daughter, and two sons, survived him. Besides the productions already mentioned, he wrote the papers in the Advertiser marked A; "An Ode to St. Cecilia's day, adapted to the ancient British Music," a burlesque performance; "The Oxford Barber;" with many detached essays in the public papers. A few letters addressed to his Sylvia before they were married, display great tenderness, expressed with frankness and ease. A small edition of his works might, with much propriety, be presented to the public, before it shall be too late to ascertain them all. His character may be taken from his epitaph, written in Latin by his friend Dr. Warton, and placed on his monument in Westminster Abbey. It is to this effect: "His genius, cultivated most happily by every kind of polite literature, was accompanied and recommended by manners open, sincere, and candid. In his writings and conversation he had a wonderful liveliness, with a vein of pleasantry peculiarly his own. In ridiculing the failings of men, without bitterness, and with much humour, he was singularly happy; as a companion, he was delightful."