Collins Anthony

Collins, Anthony (1676-1729), an English philosophical and theological writer, born near Hounslow, the son of a country gentleman, was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. He was an intimate friend of Locke, whose letters show that he had a high opinion of Collins. In Holland he made the acquaintance of Leclerc and other Dutch soholars. In 1715 he took up his abode in Essex, and became justice of the peace and deputy-lieutenant, passing his life without molestation, in spite of his writings, except upon one occasion when a petition was vainly presented for his removal from the commission. His first notable work was nn Essay Concerning the Use of Reason (1707), and in 1713 appeared his most famous treatise, a Discourse of Freethinking, which made a great impression and called forth many answers. His Apology for Free Debate and Liberty of Writing, with a Discourse upon the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion, followed in 1724. This aimed a blow at Christian revelation, and produced many answers, in rejoinder to which he published, in 1727, his Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered. As a philosopher Collins was a Necessitarian, and in 1715 supported his theories in his Inquiry Concerning Human Liberty, and in his Liberty and Necessity (1729). He also, in a Letter to Mr. Dodwell, treated of the nature and attributes of the soul, especially as to its mortality or immortality.