Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 8.djvu/213

ARBUCKLE AND THE MOLESWORTH-SHAFTESBURY SCHOOL. 199 though he himself wrote nothing of a philosophical nature, his conversations left a deep impress upon the men he gathered round him. His environment and circle of friends at Blanchardstown his country-seat near Dublin recall some of the best traditions of what are often called the " Greek Schools ". Here we find a man, past the prime of life, who had spent his youth in travel and the service of the state, who had come in contact with well-known thinkers of his day, engaged in the discussion of abstract theories with younger men probably without any view of teaching as the word is now understood. Hutcheson, Edward Synge, a Fellow of Trinity College, whom Berkeley succeeded as Bishop of Cloyne, as well as several others, were intimates of Molesworth and partici- pated in the discussions at Blanchardstown. With the advent of Arbuckle a desire for literary expression mani- fested itself amongst the little group of disciples of Shaftes- bury. At this period the essay was the favourite " literarj 7 vehicle," and, in all probability, Molesworth had sufficient influence with the proprietor of a new Dublin weekly paper, called the Dublin Journal, to induce him to accept all 'articles or letters sent him by Arbuckle, who signed himself " Hibernicus" and acted as general editor, and later on the letters of the Molesworth coterie were added to by others from outside sources. The Dublin Journal was a medium- sized octavo, a little smaller than the Spectator or Saturday Review of to-day, consisting of four pages, containing foreign and local news, with a few advertisements. Arbuckle's articles, written in the form of letters and addressed to the " Author of the Dublin Journal," occupied the position of the leading article. Early numbers of this paper are extremely rare, a few are preserved in the libraries of Trinity College, Dublin, of Archbishop Marsh, and of the Royal Irish Academy, but the best collection is that in the National Library (Dublin), which begins with No. 125, dated 19th August, 1727, and contains about 220 numbers extending with a few gaps till 25th December, 1731. Arbuckle's first article appeared in the issue of 3rd April, 17-25, and, with the aid of his friends, he contributed weekly until 25th March, 1727. Had these articles not been collected and republished by the generosity of the second Lord Moles- worth, all record of the Molesworth-Shaftesbury school would have perished. The first letter, after explaining the general object, adds, that " several honest gentlemen have resolved to make the paper a canal for conveying to the public some little essays