BOLINGBROKE, HENRY SAINT JOHN, Viscount. - Politician and philosopher, one of the most advanced representatives of English deism. Born on 1 Oct. 1672 at Battersea (London), died there on 1 Dec. 1751, after having been a minister under Queen Anne, an exile in France under George I, and after having taken an active part in political and religious struggles between the Tories and the Whigs. His doctrines relate chiefly to the theory of knowledge, LOCKE, JOHN (v.), and to religion. Of the latter he has a purely political conception: it is a necessary restraint for the State, intended to curb the selfishness that governs human actions; for the higher classes freedom of thought is reserved, although free-thinkers are the plague of society. B. despises the Middle Ages, the Bible, and the Church.
The Oeuvres complètes de H. S.-Jean Vicomte de 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.