Background
William Bentley was born on June 22, 1759, in Boston, Massachussets, United States, the son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Paine) Bentley.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
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William Bentley was born on June 22, 1759, in Boston, Massachussets, United States, the son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Paine) Bentley.
Through the generosity of his maternal grandfather William was educated at Harvard, graduating in 1777.
After graduation William taught school for three years, and then returned to the college as a tutor in Latin and Greek, holding this position until his ordination over the East Church at Salem in September 1783. Here he remained until his death thirty-six years later.
Distinctly a liberal in theology and politics, Bentley became a pioneer in Unitarianism, at a time when New England was still Calvinistic. His church was a notable center of liberalism, to be attributed both to the leadership of its pastor and to the presence in its membership of many merchants and shipmasters, freed from New England parochialism by the broadening influence of foreign commerce and travel. Bentley was naturally in a somewhat isolated position, and this, combined with personal limitations, prevented his exercising a greater influence on the thought of the day.
Bentley was, however, an important factor in New England affairs, not only in the pulpit but through his regular contributions to the Salem Register, which entitle him to a recognized place in the history of American journalism. He delivered occasional public addresses and anniversary orations, the style of which appears somewhat turgid and bombastic to a later age. He was an active worker in Freemasonry. He also conducted an extensive correspondence with scientists, writers, and men of affairs in both Europe and America. In his insatiable fondness for books, in his interest in all kinds of natural phenomena and scientific experimentation, and in his taste for philosophical discussion, he had qualities in common with Thomas Jefferson, with whom he regularly corresponded, and who unsuccessfully tried to lure him from New England with an offer of the presidency of the projected University of Virginia.
Bentley was one of the few great linguists in America, speaking fluently the chief languages of Europe, and having a reading knowledge of many others, including Arabic and Persian. He began a history of Salem, part of which was published in its collections. The historical and natural curiosities which he collected he afterward bequeathed to the American Antiquarian Society and other institutions. His library, remarkable considering his scanty resources, was left to Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
While the educated clergy were almost wholly Federalist Bentley was a Jeffersonian Republican.
William Bentley was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the American Antiquarian Society.
Bentley spoke 21 languages, 7 fluently, and was an inexhaustible reader and book collector. He had a library of over 4, 000 volumes, one of the largest private libraries in America at the time.
William Bentley was never married.