About this period, on the occasion of a visit to Scotland, in the company of his friend, the Earl of Findlater and Seafield, our author's well established and growing reputation procured for him, from the two Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the unsolicited distinction of a Doctor's degree in Divinity.
In 1760, on occasion of the death of George II., Dr. Chandler preached and published a Sermon containing an eulogy on the deceased monarch, in which he compared him to king David. This gave rise to a pamphlet by some anonymous writer, entitled ‘The History of the Man after God's own Heart;’ placing in the darkest colours all the acts, real or alleged, of oppression, cruelty, lust, and murder, imputed to the Jewish prince; and affecting to represent as a foul libel, and an insult to the memory of a venerated monarch recently committed to the grave, the attempt to draw any parallel between them. Dr. Chandler, in consequence of this attack, wrote a ‘Review of the History of the Man after God's own Heart, in which the Falsehoods and Misrepresentations of the Historian are exposed and corrected.’ In this reply, though it was in vain to attempt to palliate or conceal some of the more flagrant and well-known blots in the character and conduct of David, yet he shewed that many of the charges brought against him were grossly exaggerated, others altogether unfounded, or brought forward in ignorance or disregard of the manners and condition of the people, and the state of society
