onsequence that may be drawn from
my opinion; and therefore stand clear of all difficultys wch others
either by their opinion or caution are involved in.[3]

This is the statement of a man whose intellectual and religious commitment
makes him see that his own fallibility is symptomatic of a human tendency
to error. For himself, hence, he tries to avoid all manner of hard-voiced
enthusiasm. Paradoxically, however, Collins searched with a zealot's
avidity for any controversy which would either assert his faith or test
his disbelief. When once he found his engagement, he revelled in it,
whether as the aggressor or the harassed defendant. For example, in the
"Preface" to the _Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered_ he boastfully
enumerated all the works--some twenty-nine--which had repudiated his
earlier _Discourse on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion_.
And in malicious fact he held up the publication of the _Scheme_ for
almost a year that he might add a "Postscript to the Preface" in which he
identified six more pieces hostile to the _Grounds and Reasons_.[4]

By May of 1727 and with no visible sign of fatigue he took on a new
contender; this time it was John Rogers, canon in ordinary to the Prince
of Wales. At the height of their debate, in late summer, Collins made
practical enquiries about methods to prolong and intensify its
give-and-take. Thus, in a note to his friend Pierre Des Maizeaux, he said:
"But I would be particularly informed of the success and sale of the
Letter to Dr Rogers; because, if it could be, I would add to a new
edition thereof two or three as sheets; which also might be sold
separately to those who have already that Letter." For all his militant
polemic, he asked only that his "Adversaries" observe with him a single
rule of fair play; namely, that they refrain from name-calling and petty
sniping. "Personal matters," he asserted, "tho they may some times afford
useful remarks, are little regarded by Readers, who are very seldom
mistaken in judging that the most impertinent subject a man can talk of is
himself," particularly when he inveighs against another.[5]

If Collins had been made to look back over the years 1676-1729, he
probably would have summarized the last twenty with a paraphrase of the
Popean line, "This long controversy, my life." For several years and in
such works as _Priestcraft in Perfection_ (1710) and _A Discourse of
Free-Thinking_ (1713), he was a flai