LARDNER, Nathaniel, an eminent English dissenting divine, was born at Hawkhurst, in Kent, on the 6th of June 1684. After receiving a grammatical education, he was sent first to a dissenting academy in London, which was under the care of the Rev. Dr Joshua Oldfield; and thence, in his sixteenth year, he went to prosecute his studies at Utrecht, under Professors d’Uries, Graevius, and Burmann. Here he remained above three years, and then removed for a short time to Leyden. In 1703 he returned to England, and at his father’s house employed himself in the most close and diligent preparation for the sacred profession. But, notwithstanding his qualifications, it was not till 1709 that he preached his first sermon, on the authenticity and truth of the Christian revelation.

A few years after this, Lardner was received into Lady Treby’s family as domestic chaplain, and tutor to her son, and continued in this situation till her ladyship’s death in 1721. This event threw him into some perplexity, having preached to several congregations, during his residence with Lady Treby, without obtaining the approbation or choice of any one. It has been said that it reflects no honour upon the dissenters, that a man of such merit should so long have been neglected. But the pulpit was not the place in which Mr Lardner was calculated either to convey improvement or to acquire reputation. Dr Kippis informs us, “that his mode of elocution was very unpleasant; that from his early and extreme deafness he could have no such command of his voice as to give it a due modulation; and that he greatly dropped his words.” It cannot, then, be matter of surprise that he was not popular; nor can it be any reflection upon the congregations to which he occasionally preached, that they did not choose a man who, notwithstanding his great learning and eminent virtues, was so deficient as a public speaker, that it was impossible to hear him with any pleasure, and scarcely without pain.

Though Mr Lardner had no church at which he officiated as minister, he was engaged with some of his dissenting brethren in preaching a Tuesday evening lecture at the Old Jewry. Acquainted probably with the direction of his studies, they also appointed him to preach on the proof of the credibility of the gospel history. This he discussed in two sermons; and prosecuting the subject which he had taken up in these discourses, he, in February 1727, published, in two volumes octavo, the first part of the Credibility of the Gospel History, or the Facts occasionally mentioned in the New Testament, confirmed by Passages of Ancient Authors who were contemporary with our Saviour or his Apostles, or lived near their time. An appendix was subjoined, relating to the time of Herod’s death.

Thus Mr Lardner commenced author, and began his literary career with singular reputation. “It is scarcely necessary to say,” observes Dr Kippis, “how well this work was received by the learned world. Not only was it highly approved by the Protestant dissenters, with whom the author was more immediately connected, but by the clergy in general of the established church; and its reputation gradually extended into foreign countries. It is indeed an invaluable performance, and has rendered the most essential service to the cause of Christianity. Whoever peruses this work will find it replete with admirable instruction, sound learning, and just and candid criticism.” These two, with the subsequent fifteen volumes octavo, and the four thin quartos entitled Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, occupied him, with the interruption arising from some smaller productions, during the space of forty-three years.

Dr Kippis gives us a particular account of the time when each volume was published, and of the subjects discussed in each. Speaking of the Supplement to the Credibility, he says, “I cannot avoid strongly recommending this work to the attention of all young divines. Indeed, I think that it ought to be read by every theological student before he quits the university or academy in which he is educated. There are three other works which will be found of eminent advantage to those who are intended for, or beginning to engage in, the Christian ministry. These are, Butler’s Analogy, Bishop Law’s Considerations on the Theory of Religion, and Dr Taylor’s Key to the Apostolical Writings, prefixed to his Paraphrase on the Epistle to the Romans. Without agreeing with every circumstance advanced in these works, it may be said of them with the greatest truth, that they tend to open and enlarge the mind; that they give important views of the evidence, nature, and design of revelation; and that they display a vein of reasoning and inquiry which may be extended to other objects besides those immediately considered in the books themselves. It must not be forgotten, that the Supplement to the Credibility has a place in the excellent collection of treatises on divinity which have been published by Dr Watson, bishop of Landaff. For a collection which cannot fail of being eminently conducive to the instruction and improvement of younger clergymen, and for the noble, manly, and truly evangelical preface by which it is preceded, this great prelate is entitled to the gratitude of the Christian world.” It may not be improper to add, that the Supplement to the Credibility has been published separately by the booksellers, under the title of the History of the Gospels and Epistles.

Applauded as Dr Lardner’s works were, he received little recompense for them. Some of the latter volumes of the Credibility were published at a loss; and at last he sold the copyright and all the remaining printed copies to the booksellers, for the trifling sum of L.150. His object, however, was not private emolument, but to serve the interests of truth and virtue; and it pleased divine providence to spare his life, both to complete his extensive plan, and to see the last volume, the fourth of the Testimonies, published. This was in 1767. But he was seized with a decline in the following summer, and carried off in a few days, at Hawkhurst, the place of his nativity, where he had a small paternal estate. He died in the eighty-fifth year of his age.