# Joseph Sortain

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{{Short description|British nonconformist minister and biographer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Joseph Sortain Dawe.jpg|thumb|Joseph Sortain, engraving by [Henry Edward Dawe](/source/Henry_Edward_Dawe)]]
'''Joseph Sortain''' (1809–1860) was a British [nonconformist](/source/Nonconformist_(Protestantism)) minister, an evangelical Independent, philosophy tutor at [Cheshunt College](/source/Cheshunt_College), and biographer of [Francis Bacon](/source/Francis_Bacon).<ref name="Sell2004">{{cite book|author=Alan P. F. Sell|title=Philosophy, Dissent and Nonconformity: 1689-1920|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t88K8CNVEZ4C&pg=PA257|year=2004|publisher=James Clarke & Co.|isbn=978-0-227-67977-7|page=257}}</ref> A reputed preacher of his time, he was called "the Dickens of the pulpit" by [John Ross Dix](/source/John_Ross_Dix).<ref>{{cite book|author=John Ross Dix|title=Pen pictures of popular English preachers: with limnings of listeners in church and chapel|url=https://archive.org/details/penpicturespopu00dixgoog|year=1852|publisher=Partridge and Oakey|page=[https://archive.org/details/penpicturespopu00dixgoog/page/n114 108]}}</ref>

==Life==
He was born in [Clifton, Bristol](/source/Clifton%2C_Bristol);<ref name="Stowell1862">{{cite book|author=William Hendry Stowell|author-link=William Hendry Stowell|title=The Eclectic Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvU3AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA16|year=1862|publisher=s.n.|pages=16–27}}</ref> his father was a baker of [Huguenot](/source/Huguenot) descent.<ref>[http://archive.huguenotsociety.org.uk/44_Vol_XVI_Issue_4_1940-1.pdf ''Proceedings of the Huguenot Society'' Vol XVI Issue_41940-1 (PDF)] at p. 427</ref> His parents were in the congregation of [James Sherman](/source/James_Sherman_(minister)).<ref name="Diss">[http://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk/new_dissacad/phpfiles/sample1.php?asearch=0&detail=people&parameter=Surnamest&alpha=S&personid=2200 http://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk ''Sortain, Joseph (c.1809-c.1860)''.]</ref><ref name="Allon1863">{{cite book|author=Henry Allon|author-link=Henry Allon|title=Memoir of the Rev. James Sherman|url=https://archive.org/details/memorirevjamess00allogoog|year=1863|page=[https://archive.org/details/memorirevjamess00allogoog/page/n170 148]}}</ref> This chapel was in the [Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion](/source/Countess_of_Huntingdon's_Connexion) derived from the [Calvinistic Methodists](/source/Calvinistic_Methodists). In 1823 the congregation came under William Lucy, and shortly migrated to the Lodge Street Chapel.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Life and Times of Selina Countess of Huntington: By a Member of the Houses of Shirley and Hastings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPk5AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA395|year=1841|publisher=W. E. Painter|page=395}}</ref>

Sortain attended the [Bristol Baptist Academy](/source/Bristol_Baptist_Academy) when still young (around 1824); at this period he won an essay prize, in a competition for which Lucy was his sponsor, on the topic ''Christ's Mission''.<ref name="Diss"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Teacher's offering|title=Juvenile essays which obtained the prizes proposed by the proprietor of The Teacher's offering|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtkGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA80|year=1825|page=80}}</ref> Reading [Micaiah Towgood](/source/Micaiah_Towgood) dissuaded him from going to the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge). He then studied at Cheshunt College, and [Trinity College, Dublin](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Dublin). He returned to Cheshunt College as a tutor, from 1838 to 1850. Under the initial arrangement he taught mathematics, logic, and belles lettres, for two periods of six weeks in a year.<ref name="Mander">W. J. Mander, Alan P. F. Sell, Gavin Budge (editors), ''The Dictionary of Nineteenth-century British Philosophers'', Volume 2 (2002), p. 1045.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James Bennett|author-link=James Bennett (minister)|title=The History of Dissenters: during the last thirty years, from 1808 - 1838|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1RRBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA140|year=1839|publisher=Hamilton|page=140}}</ref>

From 1832 Sortain was the Countess of Huntingdon's preacher at her North Street Chapel in [Brighton](/source/Brighton), where he was admired as an orator, and noted for not exceeding 30 minutes.<ref>{{cite book|author=Marilyn Thomas|title=The Diary: Sex, Death, and God in the Affairs of a Victorian Cleric|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L1EYb1a9Y9YC&pg=PA272|date=30 December 2007|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4343-3889-1|page=272}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Alexander Richardson|title=The Future Church of Scotland, by 'Free lance'.|url=https://archive.org/details/futurechurchsco00richgoog|year=1870|page=[https://archive.org/details/futurechurchsco00richgoog/page/n194 174] note}}</ref> He held to the dissenting position of his family, though he was known not to differ much from Anglican theological positions.<ref name="The Christian observer">{{cite book|title=The Christian Observer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA61|year=1862|pages=61–9}}</ref> [Henry Crabb Robinson](/source/Henry_Crabb_Robinson) appreciated Sortain as a preacher, while thinking [Frederick William Robertson](/source/Frederick_William_Robertson) ("Robertson of Brighton") would rival him.<ref>{{cite book|author=Henry Crabb Robinson|title=Diary, reminiscences, and correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson: ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YUhbAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA361|year=1870|publisher=Fields, Osgood, & Co.|pages=361–|isbn=9780404053666}}</ref>
thumb|left|The North Street Chapel in Brighton

Sortain died on 16 July 1860. His [funeral sermon](/source/funeral_sermon) was given by his friend [Richard Alliott](/source/Richard_Alliott) at the North Street Chapel.<ref name="Mander"/> His reputation lapsed, and he could be called a "forgotten Bristol celebrity" by 1907.<ref>Stanley Peerman Hutton, ''Bristol and its Famous Associations'' (1907), p. 165; [https://archive.org/stream/bristolitsfamous00hutt#page/n219/mode/2up archive.org.]</ref>

==Works==
Sortain was a reviewer during the mid-1830s. He obtained work for the High Church ''[British Critic](/source/British_Critic)'', through contacts with the Rev. Richard Harvey of [Hornsey](/source/Hornsey), and [James Shergold Boone](/source/James_Shergold_Boone). He wrote also for the ''[Edinburgh Review](/source/Edinburgh_Review)'', at the suggestion of [William Empson](/source/William_Empson_(lawyer)).<ref name="The Christian observer"/><ref name="Sortain1861">{{cite book|author=Bridget Margaret Sortain|title=Memorials of the rev. Joseph Sortain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjUBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA177|year=1861|pages=177–8}}</ref> These articles of the mid-1830s were anonymous, but attributions to Sortain have been made, for topics such as Brougham on natural theology, Coleridge, [Charles Lyell](/source/Charles_Lyell) on geology, and [Mary Somerville](/source/Mary_Somerville)'s ''Connection of the Physical Sciences'' in the ''British Critic''.<ref name="Paley1999">{{cite book|author=Morton D. Paley|title=Apocalypse and Millennium in English Romantic Poetry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mJNn1cAZuYsC&pg=PA108|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-818500-0|page=108 note 47}}</ref><ref name="CantorShuttleworth2004">{{cite book|author1=Geoffrey N. Cantor|author2=Sally Shuttleworth|title=Science Serialized: Representation of the Sciences in Nineteenth-Century Periodicals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chHOb0dTKzMC&pg=PA62|year=2004|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-03318-3|page=62 note 23}}</ref><ref name="Hug">[http://archive.huguenotsociety.org.uk/06_Vol_III_Issue_3.pdf John Taylor, ''Notes on Bristol Huguenots'', Proceedings of the Huguenot Society, Vol. III Issue 3 (PDF), p. 373.]</ref> In the ''Edinburgh Review'' topics were [Richard Baxter](/source/Richard_Baxter), [Thomas Lathbury](/source/Thomas_Lathbury)'s ''History of English Episcopacy'', and [Jeremy Bentham](/source/Jeremy_Bentham)'s ''[Deontology](/source/Deontology)'' (he thought Bentham's works brought on "mental nausea").<ref name="Hug"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Harriet Martineau|author2=Elisabeth Sanders Arbuckle|title=Harriet Martineau's Letters to Fanny Wedgwood|url=https://archive.org/details/harrietmartineau0000mart|url-access=registration|year=1983|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-1146-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/harrietmartineau0000mart/page/40 40] note 5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Sydney Smith|title=The Edinburgh review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mzobAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA365|year=1835|publisher=A. and C. Black|page=365}}</ref> Harvey, however, seemed to find Sortain's oratory incomprehensible.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Baron Edmund Beckett Grimthorpe|author2=John Lonsdale|title=The life of John Lonsdale, Bishop of Lichfield: with some of his writings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ww1FAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA155|year=1868|publisher=J. Murray|page=155}}</ref>

Sortain wrote ''A Lecture Introductory to the Study of Philosophy'' (1839) as a Cheshunt College tutor.<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Sortain|title=A Lecture Introductory to the Study of Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYtLHAAACAAJ|year=1839}}</ref> He published ''Romanism and Anglo-Catholicism'' (1841); at this time he was preaching on [Antichrist](/source/Antichrist_(historicism)).<ref name="Mander"/><ref>{{cite book|title=The Evangelical Register|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_S0EAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA176|year=1841|publisher=J.M. Robson|page=176}}</ref> The ''[Eclectic Review](/source/Eclectic_Review)'' noticed this work with one by [Charles Pettit McIlvaine](/source/Charles_Pettit_McIlvaine), as anti-[Tractarian](/source/Tractarian), though giving it little space, and regretting the "declamatory" style, while praising the content.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Eclectic review. vol. 1-New (8th)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9oEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA511|year=1841|pages=511–534}}</ref> His ''Life of Francis, Lord Bacon'' was published by the [Religious Tract Society](/source/Religious_Tract_Society) in 1851.<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Sortain|title=The life of Francis, lord Bacon, baron of Verulam, viscount St. Albans, and lord high chancellor of England|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeoffrancislor00sort|year=1851|publisher=The Religious tract society}}</ref>

Sortain wrote novels, as well as theological and philosophical works:

*''Hildebrand and the Excommunicated Emperor'' (1852)<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Sortain|title=Hildebrand ... and the excommunicated emperor: a tale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLMBAAAAQAAJ|year=1852}}</ref>
*''Count Arensberg; or, The days of Martin Luther'' (1853).<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Sortain|title=Count Arensberg; or, The days of Martin Luther|url=https://archive.org/details/countarensbergo01sortgoog|year=1853|publisher=R. Folthorp}}</ref>

==Family==
Sortain married Bridget Margaret, daughter of [Sir Patrick Macgregor, 1st Baronet](/source/Sir_Patrick_Macgregor%2C_1st_Baronet).<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p50421.htm#i504205 thepeerage.com, ''Bridget Margaret Macgregor''.]</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YadJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA270|year=1833|publisher=E. Cave|page=270}}</ref> She published ''Memorials of the Rev. Joseph Sortain'' in 1861.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bridget Margaret Sortain|title=Memorials of the Rev. Joseph Sortain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjUBAAAAQAAJ|year=1861}}</ref>

His brother was Dr James Cornish Sortain M.D., a well known planter in [Batticaloa](/source/Batticaloa), [Ceylon](/source/Ceylon), medical physician and philanthropist.<ref name="Bio">{{cite web|url=https://search.fibis.org/bin/aps_detail.php?id=1426627|website=Families in British India Society|title=Tombstones and Monuments in Ceylon by J. Penry Lewis, C.M.G|pages=257}}</ref> He was intimately connected with the first systematic cultivation of the coconuts on the island in the early 1840s. This took place 5 miles from the town of Batticaloa, beside the lake. The {{convert|640|acre}} estate was known as Tannamunai. After Sortain's death, ownership passed to his wife, Eleanor Burleigh Atherton, eldest daughter of [Robert Atherton](/source/Robert_Atherton_(civil_servant)).

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Benjamin Samuel Hollis (1861), ''Sortain of Brighton; a Review of His Life and Ministry''

==External links==
*[http://www.recoveredhistories.org/pamphlet1.php?page=1&orderby=MaxID&catid=396 ''A Lecture introductory to the Study of Philosophy'', online text.]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sortain, Joseph}}
Category:1809 births
Category:1860 deaths
Category:English Methodists
Category:English male novelists
Category:19th-century English novelists
Category:19th-century British male writers

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