BOLINGBROKE, HENRY SAINT JOHN, Viscount of. — Political figure and philosopher, one of the most advanced representatives of English deism. Born on 10 Oct. 1672 at Battersea (London), died there on 10 Dec. 1751, after having served as a minister under Queen Anne, exiled in France under George I, and having taken a lively part in the political and religious struggles between the Tories and the Whigs. His doctrines relate mainly to the theory of knowledge, LOCKE, JOHN (v.), and to religion. He has a purely political concept of the latter: it is a necessary restraint upon the State in order to contain the egoism that dominates human actions; for the higher classes, freedom of thought is reserved, although freethinkers are the plague of society. B. despises the Middle Ages, the Bible, and the Church.
The *Oeuvres complètes* of H. S.-Jean Viscount of B., published in London (1753–54) by David Mallet, were immediately condemned by the grand jury of Westminster as hostile to religion, morality, and public welfare.