Daniel Neal

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Daniel Neal.
Engraving by Ignatius Jos van den Berghe, 1794

Daniel Neal (born December 14, 1678 in London ; died April 4, 1743 there ) was an English Reformed clergyman and church historian . He is particularly known for his multi-volume history of Puritanism (published 1732–1738).

life and work

Neal's parents died when he was a child, he first grew up under the care of a maternal uncle. From September 1686 he attended the Merchant Taylors' School and distinguished himself there as the best in his class. The offer to study as a scholarship holder at St John's College (Oxford) , he turned down, and instead opted for a career as a clergyman in the Reformed denomination ( Dissenter ). From around 1696 he was preparing for the parish with Thomas Rowe in Little Britain . Allegedly he should already at this time the attention of King Williams III. attracted and is said to have enjoyed the privilege of entering Kensington Palace through a side entrance, so as not to have to endure the strict admission controls. In 1699 he went to Holland and studied for two years in Utrecht under D'Uries, Johann Georg Graevius and Pieter Burman the Elder , then for a year in Leiden . His English fellow students here included Martin Tomkins and Nathaniel Lardner . He returned to England in 1703 and began his parish career the following year as an assistant pastor to John Singleton in a parish on Aldersgate Street, London . After Singleton's death, he was elected by the community as his successor and in the July 4, 1706 Loriner's Hall ordained . Soon his congregation grew so much that they moved to a larger house of prayer on Jewin Street , where he was to preach until the end of his career. On June 22, 1708, Neal married Elizabeth Lardner, Nathaniel Lardner's sister, in St Katharine's by the Tower . They had two daughters and a son.

The time that was left to him in addition to sermons and pastoral duties, he invested in church history studies. In 1720 he published his first work, the History of New England . It was received very benevolently , especially in puritan New England , and in 1721 earned him an honorary master's degree from Harvard University . In 1722 he intervened in the smallpox vaccination debate initiated by Mary Wortley Montagu with the treatise A Narrative of the Method and Success of Inoculating the Small Pox in New England , referring to the successes of the vaccination campaign carried out under Benjamin Colman in New England. The vaccination was rejected by a majority of doctors and pastors of all denominations; For this reason, Neal shied away from the theological debate and rather made it clear in his introduction that he only wanted to make a contribution here as a historian to answer the question of whether vaccination was practicable and useful. The treatise also aroused the interest of Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach , who invited him to a conversation about the situation of the non-conformist churches in England, to which her husband Georg August , Prince of Wales and from 1727 as King George II , also attended of Great Britain and Ireland.

In 1732 the first volume of his History of the Puritans , a multi-volume history of Puritanism, appeared . It was originally intended to be a supplement and continuation of a previously started historical work by John Evans, who had tackled the history of the nonconformist churches from the Reformation to 1640. However, Evans died in 1730 before the completion of his work, so Neal felt compelled to build on Evans' preparatory work to portray this epoch himself. A second volume appeared in 1733, a third in 1736, and a fourth in 1738. The work now covered the years until the 1698 Act of Tolerance was issued. Neal planned at least a fifth volume, but his increasingly weak constitution prevented him from continuing his studies. Neal's work was received very favorably in Reformed circles, but he had to fend off harsh criticism from representatives of the Anglican official Church. In 1733 Isaac Maddox published the tract A Vindication of the Doctrine, Discipline, and Worship of the Church of England, established in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, from the Injurious Reflections of Mr. Neal's first Volume of the History of the Puritans , in order to oppose false to protest inaccurate or partisan representations in the first volume of Neal's History . For his part, Neal responded to the challenge with the defense letter A Review of the Principal Facts objected to in the first Volume of the History of the Puritans . The second, third and fourth volumes were replied by the official church with three damning reviews (1736, 1737, 1739) penned by Zachary Gray . It is likely that Neal was planning a defense here as well, but health problems probably prevented him. He died in London on April 4, 1743 and was buried in Bunhill Fields .

His History of the Puritans appeared in several new editions in England and America in the following decades and remained a standard work for his subject well into the 19th century. A four- high edition from 1754 has a portrait of Neal in the frontispiece. The five-volume edition from 1797, edited by Joshua Toulmin, deserves special mention . A Dutch translation was published in Rotterdam in 1752, and a German translation of the first volume was published in Halle in 1754, with a preface by Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten .

Fonts

Church history works

  • The history of New-England, containing an impartial account of the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of the country to the year of Our Lord, 1700. To which is added the present state of New-England, with a new and accurate map of the country and an Appendix containing their Present Charter, their Ecclesiastical Discipline and their Municipal-Laws. In two volumes. Printed for J. Clark, at the Bible & Crown in the Poultry, R. Ford, at the Angel in the Poultry, and R. Cruttenden, at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside, London 1720.
  • The history of the Puritans or Protestant non-conformists: from the Reformation to the Act of Toleration in 1689 with an account of their principles; their attempts for a further reformation in the Church; their sufferings; and the lives and characters of their principal divines . Printed for Richard Hett, London 1732-1738. (4 volumes)

Sermons and tracts

  • A Letter to the Reverend Dr F. Hare… occasion'd by his Reflexions on the Dissenters, in his late visitation sermon and postscript. Printed for John Clark, London 1720.
  • The Christian's duty and interest in a time of publick danger: a sermon preach'd at the Reverend Mr. Jenning's meeting-place in Wapping, on Friday, October 27, 1721; being a time of solemn prayer on account of the plague . Printed for John Clark, London 1721.
  • A narrative of the method and success of inoculating the small-pox in New England By Mr. Benj. Colman. With a reply to the objections made against it from principles of conscience. In a letter from a minister at Boston. To which is now prefixed, an historical introduction . Printed by George Grierson, at the Two Bibles in Essex-Street, Dublin 1722.
  • A Sermon [on Ps. Xciv. 16] preach'd to the Societies for the Reformation of Manners, at Salters-Hall; on Monday June 25. 1722. By Daniel Neal, MA Publish'd at their Request . Printed for Eman. Matthews at the Bible in Pater-Noster Row, London 1722.
  • The method of education, in the charity schools of protestant dissenters: With the Advantages that arise to the Publick from them. A Sermon Preach'd for the Benefit of the Charity-School in Gravel-Lane, Southwark. January 1st, 1723. Publish'd at the Request of the Managers, By Daniel Neal, MA Printed for John Clark, at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry near Cheapside, London 1723.
  • A funeral sermon occasioned by the much lamented death of the late Reverend Mr. Matthew Clarke: who departed this life, March 27. 1726. an. did. LXII. By Daniel Neal, AM Printed for John Clark and Richard Hett, and Samuel Chandler, London 1726.
  • Of sorrowing for them who sleep in Jesus. A sermon occasion'd by the death of Mrs. Anne Phillibrowne, who departed this life, Febr. 1. 1726/7. in the 43d year of her age. By Daniel Neal, AM. . Printed for John Clark and Richard Hett, London 1727.
  • The duty of praying for ministers, and for the success of their ministry. A sermon preached at the separation of Mr. Richard Rawlin, to the Pastoral office in the church at Fetter-Lane, June 24, 1730. By Daniel Neal, MA Printed for Richard Hett, London 1730.
  • A letter from a dissenter to the author of the Craftsman: occasioned by his paper of the 27th of October last . Printed for J. Peele, London 1733.
  • A Review of the principal facts objected to the first volume of the History of the Puritans, by the author of the Vindication of the government, doctrine and worship, of the Church of England, established in the reign of Queen Elizabeth [Z. Gray] . Printed for Richard Hett, London 1734.
  • The supremacy of St. Peter and the bishops of Rome his successors: consider'd in a sermon preached at Salters-Hall, January 23, 1734-5. By Daniel Neal, MA Printed for R. Hett, at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry, London 1735.

Works translated into German

  • Detailed information on the nature and success of the Blatter-Beltzen in New England described by Benjamin Colmann, preacher in Boston, along with a letter from another preacher there in which the repeated scruples of conscience are answered. Recently published in London and explained with a historical introduction by Daniel Neal. Now, however, to several affirmations of the writings previously edited from English, translated by Abraham the father . Bey der Gerdesischen Wittwe, Wittenberg 1723. 11456825 in the VD 18 .
  • Daniel Neal's story of the Puritans or Protestant nonconformists together with a message about their teachings, attempts to improve the church, their suffering and the life and character of their most ancient scholars / 1: First part from their origins to the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1602 . With a preface by Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten . Printed by Johann Justinus Gebauer, Halle 1754. 15307409 in VD 18 .

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Neal, Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English Reformed clergyman and church historian
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1678
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 1743
Place of death London