Theology, apart from eloquence, is hardly entitled to a place in literary history; yet some of the theologians of the period were too illustrious to be passed over without mention. John Pearson, Bishop of Chester (1612-1686), ranks among the Fathers of the Church of England by his standard work on the Creed. 'Pearson's very dust,' says Bentley, 'is gold.' Barrow's great controversial treatise has been mentioned. George Bull, Bishop of St. David's (1634-1710), achieved even more, for he extorted the thanks of the clergy of France by his _Nicaenae Fidei Defensio_ (1685), written in Latin, but afterwards translated into English. The author's object was to prove the orthodoxy of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, which had been disputed by several Protestant divines; the cost of publication was borne by the munificent Bishop Fell. The French prelates further paid Bull the equivocal compliment of wondering why in the world so excellent a man did not join the Church of Rome. _Talis cum sis, utinam noster esses._ Bull expounded his difficulties in a treatise on the corruptions of that church, the most popular of his works at home, but which, being written in English, failed to vindicate his position in the eyes of the Frenchmen. Next to these giants of learning may be named a very dissimilar person, Richard Baxter (1615-1691), whom moderate men had designated for a bishopric at the Restoration, but whom the Bartholomew's Day of 1662 made a Nonconformist. He wrote one hundred and sixty-eight books, two of which have survived, _A Call to the Unconverted_ and _The Saints' Everlasting Rest_. The latter Professor Minto calls 'a volume of pious thoughts that have a peculiar interest when we view them as the aspirations of an infirm man turning wearily from the distractions of a time utterly out of joint.' The writings of George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, mostly belong to a previous period; but the _No Cross, no Crown_ of William Penn (1644-1718) falls within Restoration literature. A far more important work is the _Apology_ of Robert Barclay (1648-1690). This remarkable book, which has been recommended by bishops to theological students as the best available for many purposes, is the standard exposition of Quakerism, and undoubtedly ranks among the classics of its period. Mr. Leslie Stephen describes it as 'one of the most impressive theological writings of the century: grave, logical, and often marked by the eloquence of lofty moral convictions.' 'The St. Paul of the Quakers,' says Coleridge of the author. Barclay, the descendant of an old Scotch family, became a Quaker in 1667, following the example of his father. He underwent some persecution, but was in the main shielded by the favour of James II. His works were collected by Penn in 1692.