Butler, William Archer

BUTLER, WILLIAM ARCHER: Church of Ireland; b. at Annerville (2 m. e. of Clonmel), County Tipperary, 1814; d. at Raymoghy (5 m. n. of Raphoe), County Donegal, July 5, 1848. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and was professor of moral philosophy there from 1837 to his death. From 1837 to 1842 he was minister at Clondehorka, diocese of Raphoe, County Donegal, and then rector of Raymoghy in the same diocese. He was a brilliant and profound thinker, but his works are all posthumous and prepared for the press by others. They are Letters on the Development of Christian Doctrine in Reply to Mr. Newman's Essay (ed. Thomas Woodward, Dublin, 1850); Lectures on the History of Ancient Philosophy (ed. William Hepworth Thompson, 2 vols., Cambridge, 1856, 5th ed., 1 vol., London, 1874); Sermons Doctrinal and Practical (1st series, ed. with memoir by Thomas Woodward, Dublin, 1849, 3d ed., Cambridge, 1855; 2d series, ed. James Amiraux Jeremie, Cambridge, 1856), each series having twenty-six sermons; the two series with his lectures were reprinted in New York, 1879.