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—LIFE OF TOLAND. 47proved that King Charles was not the author ofIcon Basilikc; and the last is supposed to containa sarcastical allusion to the Romish and episcopalliturgies:—The torrent of abuse consequentlypoured on him, by the tories, is no more than mighthave been naturally anticipated.His biographer has descended so low as to informus, that Mr. Toland Avassometimos underpecuniary difficulties, and as running indebt forIiis wigs, &c. Bnt, as this was a charge of thesame nature with his deism, atheism, mahometanism, pantheism, illegitimacy, &c. I shall notdetain the reader with a confutation of it.iMR.TOLAND S CHARACTER,It is difficult to determine in what departmentof literature this great man most excelled. Heseems to have been a kind of imiversal genius.In controversy he was irresistible; and, at thevery moment when hisadversaries thought theyhad confuted him, they found they had only furnishednraterials for their own degradation.—Hewas skilled in more than ten languages, and theCeltic was his native tongue.—Educated in thegrossest superstition of popery, at the early age ofsixteen, he became aconvert to presbyterianism,and remained steadily attached to it, tillthe hourof his death.—Popery, })relacy, ^nd arbitrarypower, he utterly detested ; and, on every occasion.