as
manager for a shoemaker, and in 1787 began business on his own account.
He had already gained a reputation in his narrow circle as a keen
debater and a jovial companion, and it is said that he had several
smuggling adventures. He was first aroused to serious thought in 1785 by
a funeral sermon preached over his elder brother by Adam Clarke. He
joined the Methodists, was soon employed as a class leader and local
preacher, and continued to preach till a few months before his death.
His opportunities of gaining knowledge were very scanty, but he
strenuously set himself to make the most of them. It is stated that an
accidental introduction to Locke's great essay determined the ultimate
direction of his studies. In 1798 the first part of Thomas Paine's _Age
of Reason_ was put into his hands; and in the following year he made his
first appearance as an author by publishing his _Remarks_ on that work.
The book was favourably received, and was republished in 1820. Drew had
begun to meditate a greater attempt before he wrote his _Remarks on
Paine_; and, encouraged by the antiquary John Whitaker, he published his
_Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul_ in 1802. This
work made the "Cornish metaphysician," as he was called, widely known,
and for some time it held a high place in the judgment of the religious
world as a conclusive argument on its subject. A fifth edition appeared
in 1831. Drew continued to work at his trade till 1805, when he entered
into an engagement with Dr Thomas Coke, a prominent Wesleyan official,
which enabled him to devote himself entirely to literature. In 1809 he
published his _Essay on the Identity and General Resurrection of the
Human Body_, perhaps the most original of his works, which reached a
second edition in 1822. In 1814 he completed a history of Cornwall begun
by F. Hitchins. In 1819 he removed to Liverpool, being appointed editor
of the _Imperial Magazine_, then newly established, and in 1821 to
London, the business being then transferred to the capital. Here he
filled the post of editor till his death, and had also the supervision
of all works issued from the Caxton Press. He was an unsuccessful
competitor for the Burnett prize offered in 1811 for an essay on the
existence and attributes of God. The work which he then wrote, and which
in his own judgment was his best, was published in 1820, under the title
of _An Attempt to demonstrate from Reason and Revelation the Necessary