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THE

PREFACE

"hT 0 part of hljiory is more injiru5five and ■^ delighting, than the lives of great ajtd worthy men : the fhortnefs of them invites many readers, and there are fuch little and yet remarkable paffages in them, too inconfiderahle to be put in a general hijtory of the age in which they lived, that all people are very dejirous to knoio them. This makes PlutarcJfs lives to be more generally read than any of all the books vohich the ancient Greeks or Romans zvrit.

Bui the lives of heroes and princes are commonly filled with the account of the great things done by them, which do rather belong to a general, than a particular hifiory; and do rather amufe the readers fancy with a fplendid floew of greatnefs, than offer him tvhat is really fo ufeful to himfelf: and indeed the lives of princes are

either

The PREFACE.

tither writ with fo much flattery^ by thofe who intended to merit by it at their own hands, or others concerned in them •, or with fo much fpite^ by thofe who being ill ufed by them have re-venged themfelves on their memory, that there is not much to be built on them j and though the ill nature of many makes what is fatyrically writ to be generally more read and believed, than when the flattery is viftble and coarfe, yet certainly refentment may make the writer corrupt the truth of hifiory, as much as intereft -, and fince all men have their blind fides, and commit errors, he that will indiiftrioufly lay thefe together, leaving out, or but Jlightly touching, what fhould be fet againfi them to balance than, may make a very good man appear in very bad colours : fo upon the whole matter, there is not that reafon to expeiJ either much truth, or great infiru5iion, from what is written concerning heroes or princes -, for few have been able tQ imitate the patterns Suetonius fet the world in writing the lives of the Roman emperors, with the fame freedom that they had led them : but the lives of private men, though they feldom entertain the reader with fuch a variety of paf-fagcs as the other do -, yet certainly they offer bim things that are more imitable, and do pre-

fent

rhe PREFACE.

fent wifdcm and 'virtue to hm^ not only in a fair idea^ which is often look'd on as a piece of the invention or fancy of the 'writer^ but in fuch plain and familiar injlances, as do both direct hirit better, and perfuade him more ; and there are not fuch temptations to hiafs thofe who writ them, fo that we may generally depend more on the truth of fuch relations as are given in them. In the age in which we live, religion and virtue have been propofed and defended with fuch advantages, with that great force of rea-fon, and thofe perfuaftons, that they can hardly be matched in former times ; yet after all this, there are but fezv much wrought on by them, which perhaps flows from this, among other reafons, that there are not fo many excellent patterns fet out, as might both in a fhorter and more effectual manner recommend that to the world, which difcourfes do but coldly -, the wit and file of the writer being more conjidered than the argument which they handle, and therefore the propofing virtue and religion in fuch a model, may perhaps operate more than the perfpecfive of it can do ; and for the hijlory of learning, nothing does fo preferve and improve it, as the writing the lives of thofe who have been eminent in it.

There

"The PREFACE.

^hen is no hook the ancients have left tis^ which might have informed us more than Diogenes Laertius his lives of the philofophers, if he had had the art of writing equal to that great fuhje^ which he undertooky for if he had given the world fuch account of them^ as Gaf-fendus has done of Peirejky how great a flock of knowledge might we have had, which l>y his unjkilfulnefs is in a great meafure lofi \ fince we mufi now depend only on him, becaufe we have -no other^ or better author, that has written on that argument.

For many ages there were no lives writ hut hy monks, through whofe writings there runs fuch an incureahle humour of telling incredible and inimitable pa[fages, that little in them can he believed or propofed as a pattern. Sulpitius Severus and Jerom fhewed too much credulity in the lives they writ, and raifed Martin and Hilarion beyond what can be reafonable believed: after them, Socrates, Theodoret, Sozomen, and Palladius, took a pleafure to tell uncouth flories ef the monks of Thebais, and Nitra •, and ihofe who came after them, fccrned to fall fljcrt of them, but raifed their faints above thofe of former ages, fo that one would have thought that tmdecent way of writing could raife no higher -,

and

rhe P R E F A C E.

£nd this humour infeuied even thofe who had otherwife a good fenfe of things, and a juji apprehenjion of mankind, as may appear in Matthew Paris, who though he was a writer vf great judgment and fidelity, yet he has corrupted his hiflory with much of that alloy : hut when emulation and envy rofe among the fever at orders or houfes, then they improved in that art of making romances, infiead of writing lives, to that pitch, that the world became generally much fcandalized with them. The Fran-cifcans and Dominicans tried who could fay the mofl extravagant things of the founders, or other faints of their orders, and the Benedictines, who thought thcmfelves po[fefi of the belief of the world, as well as of its wealth, endeavoured all that was poffible fill to keep up the dignity of their order, by out-lying the ethers all they could; and whereas here or there, a miracle, a vifion, or trance, might have occured in the lives of former faints, now every page was full of thofe wonderful things.

J^or has the humour of writing in fuch a manner, been quite laid down in this age, though more awakened and better enlightened, as appears in the life of Philip Nerius, and a great many more : and the jcfuits at Antwerp, are

nozv

<The PREFACE.

now taking care to load the world with a vaji and voluminous colle5fion of all thofe lives that has already /welled to eleven volumes in folio^ in a fmall prints and yet being digejled according to the calender, they have yet hut ended the month of April. The life of mo^/lear Renty is writ in another manner, where there are fo many excellent pajfages, that he is jtijlly to be reckoned amongfl the greated patterns that France has afforded in this age.

But while fome have nourifhed infidelity, and a fcorn of allfacred things, by writing of thofe good men in fuch a ftrain, as makes not only what is fo related to be difhelieved, but creates a diftrujl of the authentical writings of our moji holy faith ; others have fallen into another extream, in writing lives too jejunely, fwelling ihem up with trifling accounts of the childhood and education, and the domeftick and private affairs of thofe perfons of whom they writ, in which the world is little concerned; by thefe they become fo flat ^ that few care to read them-, for certainly thofe tranfa^ions are only fit to be delivered to poflerity, that may carry with them fome ufeful piece of knowledge to after-times.

■<I%e PREFACE.

/ have now an argument before me^ which will afford indeed only a Jhort hiftory^ hut will xontain in it as great a character as perhaps can he given of any in this age ; ftnce there are few injiances of more knowledge and greater virtues meeting is one perfon. I am upon one account (bejidts many more) unfit to undertake it^ he-caufe I was not at all known to him, fo I can fay nothing from my vvm ohfervation ; hut upon fecond thoughts I do not know whether this may not qualify me to write more impartially, though perhaps more defe5lively, for the knowledge of extraordinary perfons does mojl commonly biafs thofe who were much wrought on by the ten-dernefs of theirfriendfhip for them, to raife their flile a little too high when they write concerning them : I confefs I knew him as much as the looking often upon hifn could amount to. The lafi year ■of his heing in London, he came always on Sundays (when he could go abroad) to the chapel of the Rolls, where I then preached: in my life I never faw fo 7nuch gravity^ tempered -with that fweetnefs, and fet off with fo much vivacity, as appeared in his looks and behaviour, which difpofed me to a veneration for him, which I never had for any, with whom I was not acquainted: I was feeking an opportunity

ne PREFACE.

cf being admitted to bis converfation\ hut I underfiood that between a great want of healthy and a multiplicity of bufinefs^ which his employ-went brought upon him^ he was majler of fo little of his time, that IJf.ood in doubt whether I might prefume to rob him of any of it, and fo he left the town before I could refolve on dejir-ing to be known to him.

My ignorance of the law of England, made me alfo unfit to write of a man, a great part of whofe character, as to his learning, is to be taken from his /kill in the Common Law, and his performance in that. But Ifhall leave that to thofe of the fame robe \Jince if I engaged much in it, I mufi needs commit many errors, writing cf a fubje^ that is foreign to m^^

1'he occafion of my undertaking this, was given me fir ft by the earneji defires of fame that have great power over me, who having been much obliged by him, and holding his memory in high eflimation, thought I might do it fome right by writing his life ; I was then engaged in the hifiory of the reformation, fo I promifed that as foon as that was over, I Jhculd make the hefl ufe I could of fuch informations and memorials as (Ijould be brought me.

This

ne P R E F A C E.

^his I have nczu fcrfonred in the bejl mtin-ner I could, and have brought into method alt the parcels of his life, or the branches of his character, ivhich I could either gather fro7n the informations that were brought me, or from thofe that were familiarly acquainted with him^ or from his writings. I have not applied any of the falfe colours with which art, or foms forced eloquence, might furniflj me in writing concerning him -, but have endeavoured to fet him out in the fame fimplicity in which he lived. I have faid little of his dome/lick concerns, fince though in thefe he was a great example, yet it Jignifies nothing to the world, to know any par^ ticular exercifes, that might be given to his patience ; and therefore I fhall draw a veil over all thefe, and fhall avoid faying any thing of him, but what may offord the reader feme profitable inflruolion. I am under no temptatic?is of faying any thing, but what I am perfuaded i$^ exactly true, for where there is fo much excellent truth to be told, it were an inexcufable fault to corrupt that, or prejudice the reader againji it, by the mixture of falfhoods with it.

In fhort, as he was a great example while he; lived,, fo I wijh the fet ting him thus out to pcjle-

riiy^

'J'he P R E F A C E.

r//y, in his own true and native colours^ may have its due influence on all perfonSy but more particularly on thofe of that profeffion, whom it more immediately concerns, whether on the hetich or at the bar.

THE

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THE

LIFE AND DEATH

O F

Sir MATTHEW HALE, Knt.

LATE

Lord Chief Juftice of England.

MATTHEW HALE, was born at Alderly in Glocefterftiire, Nov. i, 1609. His grandfather was Robert Hale, an eminent clothier in VVotton-under-edge, in that county, where he and his anceftors had lived for many defcents ; and they had given feveral parcels of land for the ufe of the poor, which were enjoyed by them to this day. This Robert acquired an eftate of ten thoufand pounds, which he divided almoft equally amongft his five fons ; befides the portions he gave his daughters, from whom a numerous pofterity has fprung. His fecond fon was Robert Hale, a Barrifter of Lincoln's-Inn ; he married Joan, the daughter of Matthew Poyntz, of

B Alderly,

AUerly, Efquire, who was defcended from thfag noble family of the Poyntz's of Afton : of this marriage there was no other iflue but this one fon. His-Grandfather by his mother was his godfather, and gave him his own name at his baptifm. His father was a man of that ftri£tnefs of confcience, that he gave over the pra6llce of the law, becaufe he could not underftand the rcafon of giving colour in plead-* ings, which as he thought was to tell a lye, and that, with fome other things commonly pra^llfed,, feemed to him contrary to that exadtnefs of truth and juftiee which became a chriftian, fo that he withdrew himfelf from thelnnaof Court to live on his eftate in the country. Of this I was informed by an ancient gentleman, that lived in a friendftiip with his fon for fifty years, and he heard Judge Jones, that was Mr. Hale's contemporary, declare this in the King's-bench. But as the care he had to fave his foul, made him abandon a profefEon in which he might have laifed his family much higher^, fo his charity to his poor neighbours made him not only deal his alms largely among them while he lived, but at his death he left (out of his fmall eftate which was but lool. a year) 201. a year to the poor of Wotton, which his fon confirmed to them, with fome addition, and with this regu-^ lation, that it fliould be diftributed among fucb poor houfe-keepers, as did not receive the alms of the parifh ; for to give it to thofe, was only, as he iifed to fay, to fave fo much money to the rich, who by law were bound to relieve the poor of the parifti.

Thus

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 3

' Thus he was defcended rather from a good, than a noble family, and yet what was wanting in the infignificant titles of high birth, and noble blood, was more than made up in the true worth of his anceflors. But he was foon deprived of the hap-pinefs of his father's care and inftrudion, for as he loft his mother before he was three years old, fo his father died before he was five ; fo early was he caft on the providence of God. But that un-happinefs was in a great meafure made up to him : for after fome oppofition made by Mr. Thomas Poyntz, his uncle by his mother, he was committed to the care of Anthony Kingfcot, of King-fcot, Efquire, who was his next ktnfman, after his uncles, by his mother.

Great care was taken of his education, and his guardian intended to breed him to be a divine, and being inclined to the way of thofe then called Puritans, put him to fome fchools that were taught by thofe of that party, and in the feventeenth year of his age, fent him to Magdalen-Hall in Oxford, where Obadiah Sedgwick was his tutor. He was an extraordinary proficient at fchool, and for fome time at Oxford. But the Stage-players coming thither, he was fo much corrupted by feeing many plays, that he almoft wholly forfook his ftudies. By this he not only loft much time, but found that his head came to be thereby filled with fuch vain images of things, that they were at beft unprofitable, if not hurtful to him ; and being afterwards fejifible of the mifchief of this, he refolved

B 2 upon

upon his coming to London, (where he knew the opportunities of fuch fights would be more frequent and inviting) never to fee a play again, to which he conftantly adhered.

The corruption of a young man's mind, in one particular, generally draws on a great many more after it, fo he being now taken off from following his ftudies, and from the gravity of his deportment> that was formerly eminent in him, far beyond his years, fet himfelf to many of the vanities incident to youth, but ftill preferved his purity, and a great probity of mind. He loved fine clothes, and delighted much in company : and being of a ftrong robuft body, he was a great mafter of all thofe exercifes that required much ftrength. He alfo learned to fence, and handle his weapons, in which he became fo expert, that he worfted many of the mafters of thofe arts: but as he was exercifmg himfelf in them, an inftance appeared, that fhewed a good judgment, and gave fome hopes of better things. One of his mafters told hrm, he could teach him no more, for he was now better at his own trade than himfelf was. This Mr. Hale look'd on as flattery ; fo to make the mafter difcover himfelf, he promifed him the houfe he lived in, for he was his tenant, if he could hit him a blow on the head : and bad him do his beft, for he would be as good as his word. So after a little engagement, his mafter being really fuperiour to him, hit him on the head, and he performed his promife \ for he gave him the houfe freely : and

was

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 5

was not unwilling at that rate to learn fo early, to diftinguifh flattery from plain and fimple truth.

He was now fo taken up with martial matters, that inftead of going on in his defign of being a fcholar, or a divine, he refolved to be a foldier: and his tutor Sedgwick going into the Low-countries, chaplain to the renowned Lord Vere, he refolved to go along with him, and to trail a pike in the prince of Orange's army ; but a happy ftop was put to this refolution, which might have proved fo fatal to himfelf, and have deprived the age of the great example he gave, and the ufeful fervices he afterwards did his country. He was engaged in a fuit of law with Sir William Whitmore, who laid claim to fome part of his eftate, and his guardian being a man of a retired temper, and not made for bufmefs, he was forced to leave the uni-verfity, after he had been three years in it, and go to London to follicit his own bufmefs. Being recommended to ferjeant Glanvill for his councel-lor, and he obferving in him a clear apprehenfion of things, and a folid judgment, and a great fitnefs for the ftudy of the law, took pains upon him to perfuade him to forfake his thoughts of being a foldier, and to apply himfelf to the ftudy of the law: and this had fo good an effefi on him, that on the 8th of November, 1629, when he was paft the twentieth year of his age, he was admitted into Lincoln's-Inn : and being then deeply fenfible how much time he had loft, and that idle and vain things had over-run and almoft corrupted his mind,

^ Z he

he refolved to redeem the time he had loft, and followed his ftudies with a diligence that could fcarce be believed, if the fignal effects of it did not gain it credit. He ftudied for many years at the rate of fixteen hours a day: he threw afide all fine clothes, and betook himfelf to a plain fa-ihion, which he continued to ufe in many points to his dying day.

But, fmce the honour of reclaiming him from the idlenefs of his former courfe of life, is due to the memory of that eminent lawer, ferjeant Glan-vill, and fince my defign in writing is to propofe a pattern of heroic virtue to the world, I fliall mention one paflage of the ferjeant which ought never to be forgotten. His father had a fair eftate, which he intented to fettle on his elder brother, but he heing a vicious young man, and there appearing no hopes of his recovery, he fettled it on him, that was his fecond fon. Upon his death, his cldeft fon finding that what he had before looked on, as the threatnings of an angry father, was now but too certain, became melancholy, and that by degrees wrought fo great a change on him, that what his father could not prevail in while he lived, was now effc6led by the feverity of )iis lafl: ivill, fo that it was now too late for him to change in hopes of an eftate that was gone from him. But his brother obferving the reality of the change, refolved within himfelf what to do : fo he called him, with many of his friends together to a feaft, ^nd after other difhes had been ferved up to the

* dinner^

Str MATTHEW HALE. 7

tlinner, he ordered one that was covered to be fet before his brother, and defired him to uncover it; which he doing, the company vv^as furprized to find it full of writings. So he to3<i them, that he was now to do what he was fare his father would have done, if he had lived to fee that happy change, which they now all faw in his brother: and therefore he freely reftored to him the whole eftate. This is fo great an inftance of a generous and juft difpofition, that I hope the reader will eafily pardon this digreffion, and that the rather, fmce that worthy ferjeant was fo inftrumental in the happy change that followed in the courfe of Mr. Hale's life.

Yet he did not at firft break off from keeping too much company with fome vain people, till a fad accident drove him from it, for he, with fome ^ther young ftudents, being invited to be merry Ottt of town, one of the company called for fd anuch wine, that, notwithftanding all that Mr. •Hale could do to prevent it, he wenj on in his ex-"cefs till he fell down as dead before them, fo that all that were prefent, were not a little affrighted at it, who did what they could to bring him to himfelf again. This did particularly affedl Mr. Hale, who thereupon went into another room, and fhutting the door, fell on his knees, and prayed earneftly to God, both for his friend, that he might be reftored to life again ; and that himfelf might be forgiven for giving fuch countenance to fo much excefs; and he vowed to God, that

B 4 he

he would never again keep company in that manner, nor drink a health while he lived. His friend recovered, and he moft religioufly obferved his vow, till his dying day. And though he was afterwards preft to drink healths, particularly the king's, which was fet up by too many as a diftin-guifliing mark of loyalty, and drew many into great excefs after his Majefty's happy reftoration ; but he would never difpenfe with his vow, though he was fometimes roughly treated for this, which fome hot and indifcreet men called obftinacy.

This wrought an entire change on him : now he forfook all vain company, and divided" himfelf between the duties of religion, and the ftudies of his profeflion. In the former he was fo regular, that for fix and thirty years time he never once failed going to church on the Lord's day j this obfervation he made when an ague firft interrupted that conftant courfe, and he reflefted on it as an acknowledgment of God's great goodnefs to him, in fo long a continuance of his health.

He took a ftri6l account of his time, of which the reader will beft judge, by the fcheme he drew for a diary, which I fhall infert copied from the original, but I am not certain when he made it; it is fet down in the fame fimplicity in which he writ it for his own private ufe.

Morning. I. To lift up the heart to God in thankfulnefs

for renewing my life.

II. To

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 9

5'"II.To renew my covenant with God in Chrift.

I. By renewed a£ts of faith receiving Chrift, and

rejoycing in the height of that relation. 2. Re-

folution of being one of his people, doing him

allegiance.

• III. Adoration and prayer.

IV. Setting a watch over my own infirmities and paflions, over the fnares laid in our way. Perimus Jicitis.

Day Employment.

There muft be an employment, two kinds.

I. Our ordinary calling, to ferve God in it. It -is a fervice to Chrift though never fo mean. Colof.

3. Here faithfulnefs, diligence, chearfulnefs. Not to overlay myfelf with more bufinefs than I can bear.

II. Our fpiritual employments : mingle fonie-^hat of God's immediate fervice in this day.

Refrefliments.

T. Meat and drink, moderation feafoned witTi fomewhat of God.

II. Recreations, i. Not our bufinefs. 2. Suitable. No games, if given to covetoufnefs or paffion.

If alone.

I. Beware of wandering vain luftful thoughts; fly from thyfelf rather than entertain thefe.

II. Let thy folitary thoughts be profitable, view the evidences of thy falvation, the llace of thy foul,

the

the coming of Chrift, thy own mortality, it will make thee humble and watchful.

Company,

Do good to them, Ufe God's name reverently. Beware of leaving an ill impreffion of ill example. Receive good from them, if more knowings

Evening.

Caft up the accompts of the day. If ought amifs, beg pardon. Gather refolution of more vigilance. If well, blefs the mercy and grace of God that hath fupported thee.

Thefe notes have an imperfeilion in the wording of them, which fhews they were only intended for his privacies. No wonder, a man who fet fuch rules to himfelf, became quickly very eminent and remarkable.

Noy, the attorney-general, being then one of the greateft men of the profeffion, took early notice of him, and called often for him, and dire61:e4 him in his ftudy, and grew to have fuch friendship for him, that he came to be called Young J^oy. He paffing from the extreme of vanity in his apparel, to that of negle6ling himfelf too much, was once taken when there was a prefs for the king's fervicc, as a fit perfon for it; for he was a ftrong and well-built man: but fome that knew him coming by, and giving notice who he was, the prefs-men let him go. This made him return to more decency in his clothes, but never to any fuperfluity or vanity in them. Once

Sir MATTHEW HALE. n

Once as he was buying fome cloth for a new -fuit, the draper, with whom he difFered about the price, told him he fhould have it for nothing, if he would promife him an hundred pounds when he came to be Lord Chief Juftice of England ; to which he anfwered, that he could not with a good confcience wear any man's cloth, unlefs he payed for it j fo he fatisfied the draper, and carried away the cloth. Yet that fame d.aper lived to fee him advanced to that fame dignity.

While he was thus improving himfelf In the ftudy of the law, he not only kept the hours of the hall constantly in term-time, but feldom put himfelf out of commons in vacation time, and continued then to follow his ftudjes with an unwearied diligence; and not being fatisfied with the books wrote about it, or to take things upon truft, was very diligent in fearching all records. Then did he make divers colle6tions out of the books he had read, and mixing them with his own obfervations, digefted them into a commonplace book; which he did with fo much induftry and judgment, that an eminent judge of the King's-bench borrowed it of him when he was Lord Chief Baron: He unwillingly lent it, becaufe it had been writ by him before he was called to the bar, and had never been thoroughly revifed by him fmce that time, only what alterations had been made in the law by fubfequent ftatutes, and judgments, were added by him as they had happened : but the judge, having perufed it, faid, that

though

though it was compofed by him fo early, he did not think any lawyer in England could do it better, except he himfelf would again fet about It.

He was foon found out by that great and learned antiquary, Mr. Selden, who though much fupe-rlour to him in years, yet came to have fuch a liking of him, and of Mr. Vaughan, who was afterwards Lord Chief Juftice of the Common-pleas, that as he continued in a clofe friendfhip with them while he lived, fo he left them at his death two of his four executors.

It was this acquaintance that firft fet Mr. Hale on a more enlarged purfult of learning, which he had before confined to his own profeflion, but becoming as great a mafter In it, as ever any was, very foon, he who could never let any of his time go away unprofitably, found leifure to attain to as great a variety of knowledge, in as comprehenfive a manner as moft men have done in any age.

He fet himfelf much to the ftudy of the Roman law, and though he liked the way of judicature in England by juries much better than that of the civil law, where fo much was trufted to the judge; yet he often fald, that the true grounds and reafons of law were fo well delivered In the Digefts, that a man could never underftand law as a fcience fo well as by feeking it there, and theiefore lamented much that it was fo little ftudied in England.

He looked on readinefs in arithmetick as a thing which might be ufeful to him in his own employment.

5fr MATTHEW HALE. 13

merit, and acquired it to fuch a degree, that he would often on the fudden, and afterwards on the bench, refolve very hard queftions, which had puzled the beft accomptants about town. He reftcil not here, but ftudied the algebra, both fpedoja and nwncrofa^ and went through all the other mathematical fciences, and made a great colledlion of very excellent inftruments, fparing no coft to have them as exadt as art could make them. He was alfo very converfant in philofoi>hical learning, and. in all the curious experiments, and rare difcoveries of this age; and had the new books, written on ihofe fubje6ls, fent him from all parts, which he both read and examined fo critically, that if tlie principles and hypothefes, which he took firft up^ did any way prepoflefs him, vet thofe, who have dift'ered mod from him, have acknowledged, thai in what he has writ concerning the Torricellian experiment, and of the rarefadtion and conden-fation of the air, he ftiews as. great an exatSlneli, and as much fubtilty in the reafoning he builds on them, as thefe principles to which he adhered could bear. But indeed, it will feem fcarce credible, that a man fo much employed, and of {o fevere a temper of mind, could find leikire to read, obferve, and wiite fo much of thefe fiibje<?l3 as he did. He called them his diverfions, for he often faid when he was weary with the ftudy of the law, or divinity, he ufed to recreate himfelf with philo-fophy, or the mathematicks ; to thele he added great fkill in phyfick, anatomy, and chyrurgerv :

and

and he ufed to fay^ " No man could be abfolutely *' a mafter in any profeiHon, without having fome '* fkill in other faiences : " for, befides the fatis-fa6tion he had in the knov/Iedge of thefe things, he made ufe of them often in his employments. In fome examinations he would put fuch queftions to phyficians, or furgeons, that they have profefled the college of phyficians could not do it more ex-a6lly ; by which he difcovered great judgment, as well as much knowledge, in thefe things : and in his ficknefs he ufed to argue with his doclors about his diftempers, and the methods they took with them, like one of their own profeffion; which one of them told me, he underftood as far as fpe-culation without practice could carry him.

To this he added great fearches into ancient hiftory, and particularly into the rougheft and leaft delightful part of it, chronology. He was well acquainted with the ancient Greek philofophers, but want of occafion to ufe it, wore out his knowledge of the Greek tongue j and though he never ftudied the Hebrew tongue, yet by his great converfation with Selden, he underftood the moft curious things in the Rabinical learning.

But above all thefe, he feemed to have made the ftudy of divinity the chief of all others, to which he not only diredled every thing elfe, but alfo arrived at that pitch in it, that thofe, who have read what he has written on thefe fubjedts, will think, they muft have had moft of his time and thoughts. It may feem extravagant, and al-

moft

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 15

inoft incredible, that one man, in no great compafs of years, fhould have acquired fuch a variety of knov^^ledge, and that in fciences that require much leifure and application. But as his parts were quick, and his apprehenfions lively, his memory great, and his judgment flrong; fo his induftry was almoft indefatigable. He rofe always betimei in the morning, was never idle, fcarce ever held any difcourfe about news, except with fome fev»^ in whom be confided entirely. He entered into no eorrefpondence by letters, except about necefTary bufinefs, or matters of learning, and fpent very little time in eating or drinking ; for as h« never went to public feafts, fo he gave no entertainments but to the poor j for he followed our Saviour's direction (of feafting none but thefe) literally : and in eating and drinking he obl'erved not only great plainnefs and moderation, but lived fo philofophi-cally, that he always ended his meal with an appetite : fo that he loft little time at it, (that being the only portion which he grudged himfelf) and was difpofed to any exercife of his mind, to which he thought fit to apply himfelf immediately after he had dined; by thefe means he gained much time, that is otherwife unprofitably wafted.

He had alfo an admirable equality in the temper of his mind, which difpofed him for what ever ftudies he thought fit to turn himfelf to j and fome very uneafy things, which he lay under for many years, did rather engage him to, than diftradt him

from» his ftudies,

When

When he was called to the bar, and began to make a figure in the world, the late unhappy wars broke out, in which it was no eafy thing for a man to preferve his integrity, and to live fecurely, free from great danger and trouble. He had read the life of Pomponius Atticus, wrote by Nepos, and having obferved, that he had pafled through a time of as much diftradtion, as ever was in any age or ftate, from the wars of Marius and Scilla, to the beginnings of Auguftus his reign, without the leaft blemifh on his reputation, and free from any confiderable danger, being held in great efteem by all parties, and courted and favoured by them; he fet him as a pattern to himfelf, and obferving that befides thofe virtues which are neceflary to all men, and at all times, there were two things that chiefly preferved Atticus, the one was his engaging in no faction, and medling in no 'public bufi-nefs ; the other was his conftant favouring and relieving thofe that were lowefl, which was afcrib-ed by fuch as prevailed to the generofity of his temper, and procured him much kindnefs from thofe on whom he had exercifed his bounty, when it came to their turn to govern : He refolv-ed to guide himfelf by thofe rules as much as was pofiible for him to do.

He not only avoided all public employment, but the very talking of news; and was always both favourable and charitable to thofe who were de-prefied, and was fure never to provoke any in particular, by cenfuring or reflecting on their adi-

onsi

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 17

ons} for many that have converfed much with him, have told me, they never heard him once fpeak ill of any perfon.

He WZLS employed in his praclice by all the Icing's party. He was afligned council to the earl of Strafford, and archbifiiop Laud, and afterwards to the blefl'ed king himfelf, when brought to the infamous pageantry of a mock-trial, and offered to plead for him with all the courage, that fo glorious 3 caufe ought to have infpired him with, but was not fuffered to appear, becaufe the king refufing, as he had good reafon, to fubmit to the court, it was pretended, none could be admitted to fpeak for him. He was alfo council for the duke of Hamilton, the earl of Holland, and the lord Cape!: his plea for the former of thefe I have publifhed in the memoirs of that duke's life. Afterwards alfo, being council for the lord Craven, he pleaded with that force of argument, that the then attorney-general threatened him for appearing againft the governnient; to whom heanfwered, " he was " pleading in defence of thofe laws, wliich they *' declared they would maintain and prcferve; *' and he was doing his duty to his clienc, fo that ** he was not to be daunted with threatciiings."

Upon all thefe occafions he had difcharged him-" felf with fo much learning, fidelity, and courage, that he came to be generally employed for all that party j nor was he fatisfied to appear for their juft defence ia the way of his profeffion, but he alfo Relieved them often in their neceffities ; which he

C did

did in a Way that was no lefs prudent than charitable, confldering the dangers of that time : for he did often depofit confiderable fums in the hands- of a worthy gentleman of the king's party, who knew their neceflitics well, and was to diftri-bute his charity according to his own difcretion,^ without either letting them know from whence it came, or giving hinifelf any account to whom, he had given it.

Cromwell, feeing him pofieffed of fo much practice, and he being one of the eminenteft men of the law, who was not at all afraid of doing his duty in thofe critical times, refolved to take him off from it, and raife him to the bench,

Mr. Hale faw well enough the fnare laid for him, and though he did not much confider the prejudice it v/ould be to himfelf, to exchange the eafy and fafer profits he had by his pra6ti.ce, for a judge's place in the Common-pleas, which he was required to accept of, yet he did deliberate more on the lavvfulnefs of taking a commiffion from ufurpers j but having confidered well of this, he came to be of opinion, " that It being abfolutely *' necefiary, to have juftice and property kept up " at all times, it was no fin tg take a commiflioa " from ufurpers, if he made no declaration of his "• acknowledging their authority," which he never did. He was much urged to accept of it by fome eminent men of his own profeffion, who were of the king's party, as fir O lando Bridgemanj. and fir Geoftery Palmer i and was. alfo fati§fied

coa-

sir MATTHEW HALE. 19

concerning the lawfulnefs^ of it, by the refolution of fome famous divines, irt particular Dr. Sheldon, and Dr. Henchman, who were afterwards promoted to the fees of Canterbury and London.

To thefe were added the importunities of all his friends, who thought that in a time of fo much danger and oppreffion, it might be no fmall fecurity to the nation, to have a man of his integrity and abilities on the bench : and the ufurpers themfelves held him in that eftimation, that they were glad to have him give a countenance to their courts, and by promoting one that was known to have different principles from them, affedted the reputation of honouring and trufting men of eminent virtues, of what perfuafion foever they might be, in relation to public matters.

But he had greater fcruples concerning the proceeding againft felons, and putting offenders to death by that commiffion, fmce he thought the fword of juftice belonging only by right to the lawful prince, it feemed not warrantable to proceed to a capital fentence by an authority derived from lifurpers; yet at firft he made diftinclion between common and ordinary felonies, and offences againft the ftate; for the laft he would never meddle in them, for he thought thefe might be often legal and warrantable anions, and that the putting men to death on that account was murder j but for the ordinary felonies, he at firff was of opinion, that it was as neceffary, even in times of ufurnation, r© execute juftice in thofe cafes, as in matters

of property j but after the king was murdered, h? laid by all his colletStionsipf the pleas of the crown, and that they might not fall into ill hands, he hid them behind the wainfcotting of his ftudy, for he faid, *' there was no more occafion to vjfe " them, tin the king fliould be again reftored to '* his right," and fo upon his Majelly's reftora-tion he took them out, and went on in his defiga to perfe6c that great work.

Yet, for fomc time after he was made a juJge, when he went the circuit, he did fit on the crown-fide, and judged criminals : but, having confi-dered farther of it, he came to think, that it was at leaft better not to do it; and fo after the fecond or third circuit, he refufed to fit any more on the crown-fide, and told plainly the reafon, for in matters of blood, he was always to choofe the fafer fide. And indeed he had fo carried him-fe'if in fome trial?, that they v^ere not unv/illing he fhould withdraw from medling farther in them, of which I ihall give fome inftances,

Npt long after he was made a judge, which was in the year 1653, when he went the circuit, a trial was brought before him at Lincoln, concerning the murder of one of the townfmen, who had been of the king's party, and was killed by a foldier of the garrlfon there. He was in the fields with a fowling piece on his Ihoulder, which the foldier feeing, he came to him and faid, it was contrary to an order which the Protestor had mgde, " Tk^t none who had been of the

" king'*

sir MATTHEW HALE. 21

''= king's party fhould carry arms;" and fo he would have forced it from him ; but as the other did not regard the order, fo being ftronger than the foldier, he threw him down, and having beat him, he left him. The foldier went into the town, and told one of his fellow-foldicrs how he had been ufed, and got him to go with him, and lie in wait for the man that he might be revenged on him. They both watched his coming to town, and one of them went to him to demand his gun, which he refufmg, the foldier ftruck at him, and as they were ftruggling, the other came behind, and ran his fvvord into his body, of which he prefcntly died. It was in the time of the affizes, fo they were both tried : againft the one there was no evidence of forethought felony, fo he was only found guilty cf man-flaughter, and burnt on the hand ; but the other was found guilty of murder : and though colonel Whiley, that commanded the garrifon, came into the court and urged, that the man was killed only for difobeying the Protedlor's orders, and that the foldier was but doing his duty; yet the judge regarded both his reafons and threatenings very little, ?.nd therefore he not only save fentence a<?;ainft him, but ordered the execu-tion to be fo fuddenly done, that it might not be, poflible to procure a reprieve, which he believed would have been obtained, if there had been time enough granted for it.

Another occafion was given him o-f (hewing llQtb his juftice and coirage, when he was in an-

other circuit. He underftood that the Protestor had ordered a jury to be returned for a trial in which he was more than ordinarily concerned : upon this information, he examined the fherifF about it, who knew nothing of it, for he faid he referred all fuch things to the undcr-flierifF; and having next a(ked the under-fhcriff concerning it, he found the jury had been returned by order from Cromwell ; upon which he fhewed the flatute, that all juries ought to be returned by the flierifl:', or his lawful officer; and this not being done according to law, he difmillcd the jury, and would not try the caufe : upon which the Prote6lor was highly difpleafed with him, and at his return from the circuit, he told him in anger, hfe was not fit to be a judge ; to which all the anfwer he made was, that it was very true.

Another thing met him in the circuit, upon which he refolved to have proceeded feverely. Some Anabaptifts had rufhed into a church, and had difturbed a congregation, while they were receiving the facrament, not without fome violence ; at this he was higldy offended, for he faid, it was intolerable for men, v/ho pretended fo highly to liberty of confcience, to go and difturb others ; lefpecially thofe who had the encouragement of the law on their fide : but thcfe were fo fupported by fome great magiftrates and officers, that a flop was put to his proceedings; upon which he declared, he would meddle no more with the trials on the crown-fide.

When

»5'/r MATTHEW HALE. 23

When Penruddock's trial was brought on, there was a fpecial nieiTenger fent to him, requiring him to affift at it. It was in vacation time, and he was at his country-houfe at ^Iderly : he plainly 4:efufed to go, and faid, the four terms, and two circuits, were enough, and the little interval til at was between, was Httle enough for his private affairs, and fo he excufed himfelf: he thought it ■was not neccffary to fpeak more clearly, but if he had been urged to it, he would not have been afraid of doing it.

He was at that lime chofcn n parliament-man, (for there being then no houfc of lords, judges might have been chofen to fit in the houfe of commons) and he went to il, on defign to obfiru61: the ma<i and wicked projects then on foot, by two parties, that had very different principles and ends.

On the one hand, fome that were perhaps more -fmcere, yet were really brain-fick, defigned they knew not what, being rcfolvcd to pull down a ilanding miniftry, the law, and property of England, and all the antient rules of this government, and fet ud in its room an indi^-efted cnthufiatlical

1 O

fchcme, which they called the kingdom of Chrifl, or of his faints; many of them being really in expectation, that one day or other Chrifl would come down, and fit among them, and at leaft they thought to begin the glorious thoufand years mentioned in the Revelation.

Others at the fame timcy taking advantages from -the fears and apprehcnfions, that all the fober men

of the nation were in, leaft they fhould fall under the tyranny oi a difl-ra6i:ed fort of people, who, to all their other ill principles, added great cruelty, which they had copied from thofe at Munfter in the former age, intended to improve that opportunity to raife their own fortunes and families. A-midft thefe, judge Hale fleered a middle courfe ; for as he would engage for neither fide, fo he, with a great many more worthy men, came to parliament, more out of a defign to hinder mifchief, than to do much good ; wifely forefeeing, that the inclinations for the royal family were daily growing fo much, that in time the diforders, then in agitation, would ferment to that happy refolution in which they determined in May 1660. And therefore all that could be then done, was to op-pofe the ill defigns of both parties, the enthufiafts as well as the ufurpers. Among the other extravagant motions made in this parliament, one was, to deflroy all the records in the Tower, and to fettle the nation on a new foundation ; fo he took this province to himfelf, to flicw the madnefs of this propofition, the injullice of it, and the mifchiefs that would follow on it ; and did it with fuch clearnefs, and ftrength of reafon, as not only fatisficd all fober peifons, (for it may be fuppofed that was foon done) but Hopt even the mouths of the frantic people thcmfelves.

Thus he continued adminiftering juftice till the Proteilor died, but then he both refufed the mournings that were fent to him and his fervants

for

5"/V MATTHEW HALE. J 25

for the funeral, and likcwife to accept of the new commiiTion that was oftcred him by Richard, and when the reft of thfe judges urged it upon hiirj, and employed others to prcfs him to accept of it, he rejeded all their importunities, and faid, he could ad: no longer under fuch authority.

He lived a private man till the parliament met that called home the king, to which he was i-c-turned knight of the fl^ire from the county of Gloucefter. It appeared at that time how much he was beloved and efteemed in his neighbourhood, for though another, who ftood in competition with him, had fpent near a thoufand pounds to procure voices, (a great fum to be employed that way in thofe days) and he had been at no coft, and was fo far from foliciting it, that he had ftood out long againft thofe whoprefs'd him to appear, and he did not promiie to appear till three days before the eledion, yet he was preferred. He was brought thither almoft by violence, by the lord (now earl of) Berkeley, v^ho bore all the charge of the enten-tainments on the day- of his election, which was confiderable, and had engaged all his friends and intereft for him : and whereas by the writ, the knight of the fnire muft be miles ghidlo c'lntha^ and he had no fword, that noble lord girt him with his own fword during the eIc<Stion ; b>:t he was foon weary of it, for the embroidery of the belt did not fuit well v/Ith the plainnefs of his cloaths: and indeed the election did not hold long, for us foon as ever he came into the field, he was

ckofen

chofen by much the greater number, though the poll continued for three or four days.

In that parliament he bore his fhare in the happy period then put to the confufions that threatened the utter ruin of the nation, which, contrary to the expedations of the moft fanguine, fettled in fo ferene and quiet a manner, that thofe ■who had formerly built fo much on their fuccefs, calling it an anfwer from heaven to their folemn appeals to the providence of God, were now not a little confounded, to fee all this turned a^ainft themfelves, in an inftancemuch more extraordinary than any of thofe were, upon which they had built fo much. His great prudence and excellent temper led him to think, that the fooner an adt of indemnity were paffed, and the fuller it were of graces and favours, it would fooner fettle the nation, and quiet the minds of the people ; and therefore he applied himfelf with a particular care to the framing and carrying it on, in which it was vifible he had no concern of his own, but ■merely his love of the public that fet him on to it.

Soon after this, when the courts in Weftmin-fter-hall came to be fettled, he was made lord chief baron ; and when the earl of Clarendon (then lord chancellor) delivered him his commiffion, in the fpeech he made according to the cuftom on fuch occafions, he exprefled his efteem of him in a very fmgular manner, telling him among other things, *' that if the king could have found out " an honefler and fitter man for that employment,

*' he

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 27

.<« he would not have advanced him to It; and

■«' that he had theiefore preferred him, becaufe he

*« knew none that deferved it (o well." It is or-

<iinary for pcrfons fo promoted to be knighted, but

he defired to avoid having that honour done him,

and therefore for a confiderable time declined all

.opportunities of waiting on the king, which the

lord chancellor obferving, fent for him upon bufi-

jnefs one day, when the king was at his houfe, and

told his I\'iajefty there was his modelt chief baron,

upon which he v/as unexpe2:edly knighted.

He continued eleven years in that place, managing the court, and all proceedings in it, with fingular juftice. It was obferved by the whole nation, how much he raifed the reputation and pra^lice of it: and thofe who held places and of-. ficcs in it, can all declare, not only the impartiality of his juftice, for that is but a common virtue, but his generofity, his vaft diligence, and his great-exadlnefs in trials. This gave occafion to the only complaint that ever was made of him, that he did not difpatch matters quick enough; but the great care he ufed, to put fuits to a final end, as it mad^ him flower in deciding them ; fo it had this good efledt, that caufes, tried before him, were feldom, if ever, tried again.

Nor did his adminiflration of juftice lie only m that court: he was one of the principal judges that fat in Cliffbrd's-Inn, about fettling the difference between landlord and tenant, after the d^rcadful fire of London. He being the firft that

offered

offered his fervice to the city, for accommodating all the differences that might have arifen about the rebuilding it, in which he behaved himfeJf to the fatisfaclion of all perfons concerned : fo that the fudden and quiet building of the city, which is juftJy to be reckoned one of the v^onders of the age, is in no fmall meafure due to the great care, which he and fir Orland Bridgernan, (then lord chief juftice of the Ccmmon-pleas, afterwards lord keeper of the great feal of England) ufed, and to the judgment they iliewcd in that affair: fince without the rules then laid down, there might have otherwife followed fuch an endlefs train of vexatious fuits, as might have been little lefs chargeable than the fire itfelf had been. But, v/ithout detraining from the labours of the other judges, it muft be acknowledged, that he was the moft inffrumental in that great work ; for he firll, by way of fchcme, contrived the rules upon which he and the reft proceeded afterwards, in which his readinefs at arithmetic, and his fkili in architecSture, were of great ufe to him.

But It will not feem ftrange that a judge behaved himfelf as he did, who, at the enti-y into his employment, fet fuch excellent rules to himfelf, which will appear in the following paper copied from the original under hk own hand.

Things

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 29

Things necelTary to be continually had in remembrance.

I. That in the adminiftration of juftice, I am intrufted for God, the king and country; and therefore,

II. That it be done, i. uprightly; 2. deliberately; 3. refolutely.

IIL That I reft not upon my own underftand-ing or ftrength, but implore and reft upon the diredlion and ftrength of God.

IV. That in the execution of juftice I care^-fully lay afide my own paiTions, and not give way to them, however provoked.

V. That I be wholly intent upon the bufmefs I am about, remitting all other cares and thoughts, as unfeafonable and interruptions.

VI. That I fuffer not myfelf to be prepoffefied with any judgment at all, till the whole bufiriefs and both parties be heard.

VII. That I- never engage myfelf in the beginning of any caufe, but referve myfelf unprejudiced till the whole be heard.

VIII. That in bufinefs capital, though my nature prompt me to pity ; yet to confxder, that there is alfo a pity dye to the country.

IX. That I be not too rigid in matters purely confcientious, where all the harm is diveifity oi judgment.

X. Thit

X. That I be not biafled with compalBon to the poor, or favour to the rich, in point of juftice.

XI. That popular, or court applaufe, or dif-tafte, have no influence in any thing I do in point of diftribution of juftice.

XII. Not to be folJcitous what men will fay or tbinic, fo long as I keep myfelf exactly according to the rule of juftice.

XHI. If in criminals it be a meafuring caft, to incline to mercy and acquittal,

XIV. lii criminals that confift merely in words* •when no more harm enfues, moderation is no Injuftice.

XV. In criminals of blood, if the fatSl be evw dent, feverity is juftice.

XVI. To abhor all private falicittations, of what kind foever, and by whom foever, in matters depending.

XVII. To charge my fervants, i, not to in-terpofe in any bufinefs whatfoever j 2. not to take more than their known fees; 3. not to give any undue precedence to caufes j 4. not to recommend councir.

XVIII. To be fhort and fparing at meals, that; I may be the fitter for bufmefs.

He v^ould never receive private addrefles or recommendations from the greateft perfons in any matter, in which juftice was concerned. One of the firft peers of England yy'Piit vncQ to his chamber

Sir MATTHEW HALE. ji

ber and told him, '' that having a fuit In law to '* be tried before him, he was then to acquaint ** him with it, that he might the better underftand '* it, when it fhould come to be heard in court.'* Upon which the lord chief baron interrupted him, and faid, ** he did not deal fairly to come to " his chamber about fuch affairs, for he never *' received any information of caufes but in open " -court, where both parties were tp be heard " alike j" fo he would not fuffer him to go on: whereupon his grace (for he was a duke) went away not a little diflatisfied, and complained of it to the kins, as a rudenefs that w^s not to be en-dured. But his Majefly bid him content himfelf that he was no worfe ufed, and faid, " he verily " believed he would have ufed himfelf no better, *' if he had gone to folicit him in any 0/ his ow» <' caufes,"

Another pafTage fell out in one of his circuits, which was fomewhat cenfurcd as an affetftation of an unreafonablc ftridncfs, but it flowed from his exadlnefs to the rules he had kt himfplf. A genr tleman had fent him a buck fo;- his table, that had a trial at the aflizes j fo when he heard his name, he aiked, " if he was not the fame perfon that, " had fent him venifon," and finding he was the fame, he told him, ** he could not (uS'qx the trial " to go on, till he had paid him for his buck i*' to which the gentleman anfwered, " that he never *' fold his venifon, and that he had done nothing *' to him, which be did not dp to every judge that

" hal

'' had gone that circuit," which was confirmed by feveral gentlemen then prefent: but all would not do, for the lord chief baron had learned from Solomon, that a gift pervcrteth the ways of judgment, and therefore he would not fuffer the trial to go on, till he had paid for the prefent; upon which the gentleman withdrew the record : and at Salif-bury the dean and chapter having, according to the cullom, prefentcd him with fi?c fugar loaves.in his circuit, he m;ide his fervants pay for the fugar before he would try their caufe.

\t was not fo eafy for him to throw off the importunities of the poor, for whom his comnaflion •wrought more powerfully than his regard to wealth and greatnefs; yet when juftice was con-cemed, even that did not turn him out of the way. There was one that had been put out of a place for fome ill behaviour, who urged the lord chief baron to fet his hand to a certificate, to reftore him to it, or provide him with another ; but he told him plainly, his fault was fuch that he could not do it; the other prefTed him vehemently, and fell down on his knees, and begged it of him with many tears ; but finding that could not pro-vail, he faid he fhould be utterly ruined if he did it not; and he fhould curfe him for it every day. But that having no effeci, he then fell out in all the reproachful words, that paflion and defpair could infpire him with, to which all the anfwer the lord chief baron made, was, " that he could '* very well bear all his reproaches, but he could

"• npt

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 33

'' not for all that fet his hand to his certificate." He faw he was poor, fo he gave him a large charity and fent him away.

But now he was to go on after his pattern, Pomponius Atticus, ftill to favour and relieve them that were loweft; fo befides great charities to the ncnconformifts, who were then as he thought too hardly ufed, he took great care to cover them all he could, from the feveritics fome defigned againft them, and difcouraged thofe who were inclined to ftretch the laws too much againft them. He lamented the differences that were raifed in this church very much, and according to the impartia-litv of his juftice, he blamed fome things on both fides, which! fhall fet down with the fame freedom that he fpake them. He thought many of the nonconformirts, had merited highly in the bufmefs of the king's reftoration, and at leaft de-ferved that the terms of conformity fhould not have been made fl;ri(3:er, than they were before the war. There was not then that dreadful profpe£l of popery, that has appeared fmce: but that which affli'iled him moft was, that he faw the heats and contentions which followed upon thofe different parties and interefts, did take people off from the indifpenfable things of religion, and flackened the zeal of cihcrways good men for the fubftance of it, fo much being fpent about external and indifferent things. It alfo gave advantages to atheifts, to treat the moft facred points of our hgly faith as ridiculous, when they faw the pro-• D ftffors

fefibrs of it contend, fo fiercely, and "with fuch bitternefs, about lefler matters. He was much ofi-ended at all thofe books that were written to expofe the contrary feft to the fcorn and contempt of the age in a wanton and petulant ftile; he thought fuch writers wounded the chriftian religion, through the fides of thofe who differed fron> them : while a fort of lewd people, who having affumed to tbemfelves the title of wits (though but very hw of them have a right to it) took, up from both hands, what they bad faid, to make one another fliew ridiculous, and from thence perfuaded the world to laugh at both, and at all religion for their fakes. And therefore he often wiftied there might be fome law, to make all fcurrillty or bitternefs in difputes about religion punifhable,. But as he lamented the proceedings too rigouroufly againft the nonv.onformifts, fo he declared himfelf always of the fide of the church of England, and faid thofe of the feparation were good men, but they had narrow fouls, who would break the peace of the church, about fuch inconfiderable matters, as the points in difference were.

He fcarce ever medled in flate intrigues, yet upon a propofition that was fet on foot by the lord keeper Bridgeman, for a comprehenfion of the more moderate diffenters, and a limited indulgence towards fuch as could not be brought within the comprehenfion, he difpenfed with his maxim, of avoiding to engage in matters of ftate. There were feveral ui^eiings upon that occalioij. The

diviiie

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 35

divine of the church of Engknd that a; pearcd moft confiderable for it, was uo£lor Wllkrns, afterwards promoted to the bifliopricl; of C'leHcM", a man of as great a mind, as true z judgment, as eminent virtues, and of as gooJ .: fou', as »;ny I ever knew. He being cetermined, r.3 weH by his excellent temper, as by his forefight and ^,iu:'exice, by which he early perceived tlie great p^cjivJic^s that religion received, and (he vaft dangers ihe reformation was like to fall under by thofe d'^v-ifions, fet about that project with the magnanimhy that was indeed peculiar to himfelf j for though he was much cenfured by many of his own fide, and fe-conded by very few, yet he puflied it' as far as he could. After feveral conferences with two of the eminenteft of the prefbyterian divines, heads were agreed on, fome abatements were to be made, and explanations were to be accepted of. The particulars of that projedl being thus concerted, they were brought to the lord chief baron, who put them in form of a bill, to be prefented to the next fefllons of parliament.

But two parties appeared vigoroufly agamft this defign, the one was of fome zealous clergymen, who thought it below the dignity of the church to alter laws, and change fettlements for the fake of fome whom they efteemed fchifmaiics ; they alfo believed, it was better to keep them out of the church, than bring them into it, fince a fa£licn upon that would arife in the church, which they thought might be more dani^crous than the fchifm • D i itrelf

itfelf was. Befides they faid, if fome things were now to be changed in compliance with the humour of a party, as foon as that was done, another party might demand other conceflions, and there might be as good reafons invented for thefe as for thofe : many fuch conceflions might alfo fhake thofe of our own communion, and tempt them to forfiike us, and go over to the church of Rome, pretending that we changed fo often, that they were thereby iiKlined to be of a church that was conflant and true to herfelf. Thefe were the reafons brought, and chiefly inflfted on, againfl: all comprehenfion; and they wrought upon the greater part of the houle of conunons, fo that they pafled a vote againft the receiving of any bill for that efFecSf.

There were others that oppofed it upon different ends : they defigned to fhelter the papifl:s from the execution of the law, and faw clearly that nothing could bring in popery fo well as a toleration. But to tolerate popery bare-faced, would have ftartlcd the nation too much ; fo it was neceflary to hinder all the proportions for union, fmce the keeping up the differences was the beft colour they could find, for getting the toleration to pafs only as a flackening the laws againft dilTenters, whofQ numbers and wealth made it advifeable to have fome "regard to thf m ; and under this pretence popery might have crept in more covered, and lefs legarded : fo thefe councils being more acceptable to fome concealed papiils then in gieat power, as

has

lias fince appeared but too evidently, the whole projeft for comprehenfion was let fall, and thofe who had fet it on foot, came to be looked on with an ill eye, as fecret favourers of the diilenters, underminers of the church, and every thing elfe that jealoufy and drftafte could call on them.

But upon this occafion the lord chief baron, and Dr. Wilkins, came to contratSl: a firm and familiar frlendfliip ; and the lord chief baron having much bufinefs, and little time to fpare, did, to enjoy the other the more, what he had fcarce ever done "before, he went fometimes to dine with him. And though he lived in great friendfliip with fome other eminent clergymen, as Dr. Ward, bifhop of Salif-bury ; Dr. Barlow, bifhop of Lincoln ; Dr. Barrow, late mafler of Trinity college ; Dr. Tillotfon, dean of Canterbury; and Dr. Stil-lingflect, dean of St. Paul's, (men fo well known and fo much ef^emed, that as it was rto wonder the lord chief baron valued their converfation highly, fo thofe of them that are yet alive will think it no leffening of the character they arc fo defervedly in, that they are reckoned among judge Hale's friends) yet there was jIn intimacy and freedom in his converfe with bifliop Wilkins, that w-as fmgular to him alone. He had durinG: the late wars lived in a long and intire frieiidfhip with the .apoftolical primate of Ireland bifliop Uflitr : their curious fearchcs into antiquity, and the Sympathy of both their tempers, led them to a great agreement almofl in every thing. He held alfo

D 3 great

great converfatlon wUIi Mr. L-axter, who was his neighbour at Afli-'n, on whom he looked as a perfon of great devotion and [nety, and of a very fubtile i:nd quid: rpprehenilon : their converfatlon lay mofl in metaphyfical and abftra<3:ed ideas and fchcmes.

He looked with great forrow on the Impiety and atheifm of the age, and fo he fet himfelf to oppofe it, not only by the fhining example of his own life, but by engaging in a caufe, that indeed could hardly fall into better hands : and as he could not find a fubjeil more worthy of himfelf, fo there were few in the age that underftood it fo well, and could manage it more fkilfully. The occafion that firll led him to write about it was this. He was a ftriiSl cbferver of the Lord's day, in which, befides his conftancy in the public wor/hip of God, he ufcd to call all his family together, and repeat to them the heads of the fermons, with fome additions of his own, which he fitted for their capacities and circumftances, and that being done, he had a cuftom of fliutting himfelf up for two or three hours, which he either fpent in his fecret devoiions, or on fuch profitable meditations as did then occur to his thoughts* He writ them with the fame fimplicity that he formed them in his mind, without any art, or fo much as a thought to let them be publiflie:!; he never corrected them, but laid di.em by, when he had finifhed them, having intended only to fix and prefervc his own reflections ia them j fo that he ufed no fort of care

to

^/V MATTHEW HALE. 59

£0 polifh them, or make the firft draught perfe£ler than when they fell from his pen. Thefe fell into the hands of a worthy perfon, and he judging, as well he might, that the communicating them to the world, might be a public fervice, printed two volumes of them in oftavo a little before th-^ author's death, containing his

CONTEMPLATIONS,

I. Of our latter en:1.

II. Of wifdom, and the fear of God.

III. or the knowledge of Chrift crucifisd.

IV. The vidory of faiih over the world, y. Of humility.

VI. Jacob's vow.

VII. Of contentation.

VIII. Of affliaions.

IX. A good method to entertain unliable and troublefome times,

X. Changes and troubles, a poem. XL Of the redemption of time.

XII. The great audit.

XIII. Diredions touching keeping the Lord's ^ay, in a letter to his children.

XIV- ?oems written u;ion Chriftmas-day.

In the 2d Volume.

I. An enquiry touching happinefs.

II. Of the chief end of man.

III. Upon Eclef. xii. I. Remember thy Creator.*.

IV. Upon thePfal.li. lo. Create a clean heart in me j with a poem.

V. The folly and mifchlef of fni.

VI. Of felf-clenial.

VII. Motives to watchful nefs, in reference to the good and evil angels.

VIII. Of Moderation of the affe<5lions.

IX. Of worldly hope and expettarion.

X. Upon Heb. xiii. 14. We have here no continuing city.

XI. Of contentednefs and patience,

XII. Of moderation of anger.

XIII. A preparative againft affliiSlion.

XIV. Of fubmiflion, prayer, and thankfgiving. -

XV. Of prayer and thankfgiving on Pf. cxvi. 12.

XVI. Meditations on the Lord's prayer, with a paraphrafe upon it.

In them there appears a generous and true fpi-rit of religion, mix'd with a moft fcrious and fervent devotion, and perhaps with the more advantage, that the ftile wants fome corre6lion, which fhews they were the genuine produdlions of an excellent mind, entertaining itfelf in fecret with fuch contemplations. The ftile is clear and mafcu-line, in a due temper between flatnefs and affectation, in which he exprefTes his thoughts both eafily and decently. In writing thefc difcourfes, having run over moft of the fubjeds that his own circumftances led him chiefiv to confider, he began

to

.^Vr MATTI-IEW HALE. 41

to be ia fome pain to chuic nevv arguments, and therefore refolved to fix on a tbcme that llioulil hold him loirger.

He was foon determuied ia his choice, by the immoral and irreligious principles and pra(2:ic^, that had fo long vexed his righteous foul: and therefore betraa a o;reat deri2,n againft atheifm ; the Jirft part of which is only printed, of the origination of mankind, dcfigned to prove the creation of the world, and the truth of the Mofaical hif-tory.

The fecond part was of the nature of the foul, and of a future Hate.

The third part was concerning the attributes of God, both from the abflrraded ideas of him, and the light of nature ; the evidence of providence, the notions of morality, and the voice of con-fcience.

And the fourth part was conceining the truth and. authority of the fcriptures, with anfwers to the objCvSlions againft them. On wiiting thefe he fpent kven years. He wrote them with fo much confidcration, that one vi'ho perufed the original under his own hand, which was the firft draught of it, told me, he did not remember any confider-able alteration, perhaps not of twenty words in the whole work.

The way of his writing them (only on the evenings of the Lord's day, when he v/as in town, and not much oftener when he was in the country) made, that they are not fo contracted, as it is

very

very likely he would have writ them, if he had been more at leifure to have brought his thoughts into a narrower compafs, anJ fewer words.

But making fome allov^ance for the largenefs of the flile, that volume that is printed, is generally acknowledged to be one of the perfecleft pieces both of learning and reafoning that has been writ on that fubje£t j and he who read a great part of the other volumes told me, they were all of i piece with the firft.

When he had jRnlfhed this work, he fent it b;^ an unknown hand to biftiop Wilklns, to deiir6 his judgment of it; but he that brought it, would give no other account of the author, but that he was not a clergyman. The bifliop and his worthy friend Dr. Tillotfon, read a great deal of it with inuch pleafure, but could not imagine who could be the author, and how a man that was mafter of fo much reafon, and fo great a variety of knowledge, fhould be fo unknown to them, that they could not find him out, by thofe charadters which are fo little common. At laft Dr. Tillotfon guef-fed it muft be the lord chief baron, to which the other prefently agreed, wondering he had been fc? long in finding it out. So they went immediately to him, and the bl/hop thanking him for the entertainment he had received from his works, h6 blulhed extremely, not without fome c'ifpleafure, apprehending thit the perfon he had trufted had difcovered him. But the bifliop foon cleared that, and told him, " he had difcovered himfelf, for the

*' learning

•* learning of that book was fo various, that *< none but he coulJ be the author of it." And that bifbop having a freedom in dcH/ering his opinion of thiniis and perfons, which perhaps few ever managed both with fo much plainnefs and prudence, told him, " there was nothing could *' be better faid on thefe arguments, if he could '* bring it intr) a lefs compafs, but if he had not *' leifure for that, he thought it much better to hav6 ** it come out, though a little too l^irge, than that *' the world fliould be deprived of the good which *' it muft needs do." IJut our judge had never the opportunity of revifmg it, fo a little before his death he fent the firft part of it to the prcfs.

In the beginning of it, he gives an efiay of his excellent way of methodizing things, in which he was fo great a mafter, that whatever he undertook, he would prefent^y Caft into fo perfect a fcheme, that he could never afterwards corredl it. He runs out copioufly upon the argument of the impoflibility of an eternal fucceilion of time, td (hew that time and eternity are inconfiitent one with another; and that therefore all duration that was paft, and defined by time, could not be from eternity j and he fhews the difference between fucceflive eternity already paft, and one to come: fo that though the latter is poiTible, the former is not fo; for all the parts of the former have a£lually been, and therefore being defined by time, cannot be eternal; whereas the other are ftill future to all eternity, fo that this reafoning cannot be turned

to

to prove the poffibility of eternal fuccefiions, that have been, as well as eternal fucceffions that fhall be. This he follows with a ftrength I never jnet with in any that managed it before him.

He brings next all thofe moral arguments, to prove that the wocld had a beginning; agreeing to the account Mofes gives of it, as that no hiflory rifes higher, than near the time of the deluge ; and that the firft foundation of kingdoms, the invention of arts, the beginnings of all religions, the gradual plantation of the world, and in-creafc of mankind, and the confent of nations d6 Jigree with it. In managing thefe, as he (hews profound fkill both in hiftorical and philofophical learning, fo he gives a noble difcovery of his great candour and probity, that he would not impofe on the reader with a falfe fhew of reafoning by arguments that he knew had flaws in them; and, therefore, upon every one of thefe he adds fuch si lays, as in a great meafure leflened and took off their force, with as much exa6tnefs of judgment, dnd ftriilnefs of cenfure, as if he had been fet to plead for the other fide : and indeed fums up the wliole evidence for religion, as impartially as ever be did in a trial for life or death to the jury, which, how equally and judiciouHy he always did, the whole nation well know%.

After that, he examines the ancient opinions of the philofophers, and enlarges with a great variety of curious reflections in anfwering that only argument, that has any appearance of ftrength for

the

Str MATTHEW HALE. 45

the cafual produdlion of man, from the origination of infe<5ls out of putrified matter, as is commonly fuppofed ; and he concluded the book, fhewing how rational and philofophical the account which Mofes gives of it is. There is in it all a fagacity and quicknefs of thought, mixed with great and curious learning, that t confefs I never met together in any other book on that fubjedl. AmoJi other conjedlures, one he gives concerning the deluge is, " that he did not think the face of the " earth and the waters were altogether the fam^ " before the univerfal deluge, and after j but pof-" fibly the face of the earth was more even thaa *' now it is ; the feas poffibly more dilated and' " extended, and not fo deep as now." And a little after, " poffibly the feas have undermined much' ** of the appearing continent of earth." This I the rather take notice pf, becaufe it hath been, fmce his death made out in a moll ingenious and moft elegantly written book by Mr. Burnet, of Chrifl's college in Cambridge, who has given fuch an eflay towards the proving the poiTibility of an univerfal deluge, ajnd from thence has col-lefted with great fagacity what patadife was before it, as has not been oft'ered by any philofopher before him.

While the judge was thus employing his time, the lord chief juftiqe Keyling dying, he vy^as on the J 8th of May 1671, promoted to be lord chief juftice of England. He had made the pleas of the «rown cn.e of his cl\ief Itudie?, ancl by much . " ' fearch.

H/S ^he Life and Death cf

fearch, and long obfervatlon, had compofed that great work concerning them, foimerly mentioned. He that holds the high office of jufticiary in that court, being the chief truftee, and aflertor of the liberties of his country, all people a; plauded thij choice, and thought their liberties could not be better depofited than in the hands of one, that as be underftood them well, fo he had all the juftice and courage that fo facred a traft required. One thing was much obferved and commended in him, that when there was a great inequality in th$ ability and learning of the councellors that were to plead one againft another, he thought it became him, as the judge, to fupply that; fo he wouFd enforce what the weaker council managed but indifferently, and not fufter the more learned to carry the bufinefs by the advantage they had over th« others in their quicknefs and (kill in law, and readinefs in pleading, till all things were cleared in which the merits and ftrengthof the ill-defended caufe lay. He was not fatisfied barely to give his judgment in caufes, but did, efpecially in all intricate ones, give fuch an account of the reafons that prevailed with him, that the council did not only acquiefce in his authority, but were fo con-s tinced by his reafons, that I have heard many profcfs that he brought them often to change their opinions 5 fp that his giving of judgment was really a learned le(5ture upon that point of law; and which was yet more, the parties themfelves, though Intereft does too commonly corrupt the judgment,

were

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 47

were generally fatisfied with the juftice of his de-cifions, even when they were made againft them. His impartial juftice, and great diligence, drew the chief practice after him, into whatfoever court he came : fince, though the courts of the Common pleas, the Exchequer ami the King's-bench, are appointed for the trial of caufes of diiTerenC natures, yet it is eafy to bring moft caufes intQ any of them, as the council or attornies pleafej fo as he had drawn the bufinefs much after him, both into the Common-pleas, and the Exchequer, it now followed him into the king's-bench, and many caufes that were depending in the Exchequer and not determined, were let faU there, and brought again before him in the court to whicU he was now removed. And here did he fpend the reft pf his publLck lift and employment i but about four years and a half after this advancement, he, who bad hitherto enjoyed a firm and vigorous health, to which his great temperance^ and the equality of his mind, did not a little conduce, was on ^ fudden brought very low by an inflammation in his roidrift", which In two,days time broke the cpaftitution of Lis health to fuch, a degree that he never recovered it; he becyame fo ;ifthmatical, that with great difficulty he could fetch his breath ; ^hat determineu in a dropfy, of which he afterwards disd. He uuderftood phyfick fo well, that; confidering his age, he concluded bis diftemper muft carry him ofF in a little time ; and therefore he r^folved ty b3,ve fome of the lull

snonths

months of his life referved to himfelf, that, being freed of all worldly cares, he might be preparing for his change. Ke was alfo fo much difablcd in his body, that he could hardly, though fupported. by his fervants, walk through Weftminfter-hall, or endure the toil of hufmefs. He had been a long time wearied with the diflraclions that his employment had brought on him, and his profeflion' was become ungrateful to him ; he loved to apply himfelf wholly to better purpofes, as will appear hy a paper that he wrote on this fubjed:, which I fball here infert: -

" Firft, if I confider the bufinefs of my pro-*' feffion, whether as an advocate or as a judge, it is true I do acknowledge by the inftitution of Almighty God, and the difpenfatlon of his pro-•' vidence, I ain bound to induftry and fidelity in ** i-t: and as it is an a£l of obedience unto his " will, it carries with it fome things of religious *' duty, and I may and do take comfort in it, and " expedt a reward of my obedience to him, and *' the good that I do to mankind therein, from the '* bounty and beneficence and promife of Almighty " God : and it is true alfo that without fuch employments civil focictics cannot be fupported, and great good redounds to mankind from them, and in thefe refpefts the confcience of my own induftry, fidelity and integrity in th^m, is a great comfort and faLisfa6lion to me. But yet this I muft fay concerning thefe employments, confidered fimply in themjelyes, that they are

"• very

(C

Sir MATTHEW HALE. ^g

** very full of care^, and anxieties and perturba-" tions.

*' Secondly, That though they are beneficial to " others, yet they are of the leaft benefit to the " perfon employed in them.

*' Thirdly, That they do neceflarily involve the *' party, whofe office it is, in great dangers, dif-*' ficulties, and calumnies.

•* Fourthly, That they only ferve for the meri-" dian of this life, which is fhort and uncertain. " Fifthly, That tho' it be my duty faithfully to " (e.\-\'t in them, while I am called to them, and " till I am duly called from them, yet they are great " confumers of that little time we have here, which, ** as it feems to me, might be better fpent in a ** pious contemplative life, and a due provifion for '•* eternity. I do not know a better temporal employment than Martha had, in teftifying her love and duty to our Sayiour, by making pro-villon for him ; yet our Lord tells her, that though fhe was troubled about many things, there was only one thing necefTary, and Mary

«( <c

'* had chofen the better part."

By this the reader will fee that he continued ;n bis ftation upon no other confideration, but that being fet in it by the providence of God, he judged he could not abandon that poll which was aifigned him, without preferring his own private inclination to the choice God had made for him ; but now that fame providence having by this great diftcmper difsJigaged hjm from the obli-"

gatlon of holding a place, which he was no longei? able to difcharge, he refolved to refign it. This was no fooner furmifed abroad, than it drew upon him the importunities of all his friends, and the clamour of the whole town to divert him from ir, but all was to no purpofe j there was but one argument that could move him, which was, that he was obliged to continue in the employment God had put him in for the good of the public ; but to this he had fuch an anfwer, that ev«n thcvfe who were moft concerned in his withdrawing^ could not but fee, that the reafons inducing him to it, were but too ftrong ; fo he made application to his majefty for his writ of eafe, which the king was very unwilling to grant him, and offered to let him hold his place ftill, he doing what bufmefs he could in his chamber; but he faid, " he could *' not with a good confeience continue in it, *' fmce he was no longer able to diftharge the " duty belonging to it."

But yet fuch was the general fati^fa^Slion which all the kingdom received by his excellent adraini-flration of juftice, that the king, though he could x\pt well deny his rexjueft, yet he deferred the granting of it as long as wa^ poflible : nor could the lord chancellor be prevailed with to move the king to haften his difcharge^, though the chiaf juftice often prefled him to it.

At lafi: having wearied himfelf, aixd all his friends, with his importunate defires, and growiiig ienfibly weaker iti b^dy, he did upeii tlie twerity-

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 51

firft day of February, 28. Car. An. Dom. 167-I, go before a mafter of chancery, with a little parch-rhcnt deed, drawn by himfelf, and written all with his own hand, and there fealed and delivered it, and acknowledged it to be enrolled, and afterwards he brought the original deed to the lord chancel-Tor, and did formally furreuder his office in thefe words

*' Omnibus Chrifti fidelibus ad quos praefens ** fcriptura pervenerit, Matheus Hale, miles ca-*' pitalis jufticiarius domini regis ad placita-coram " ipfo rege tenenda affignatus falutem in domino *' fempiternam, noveritis me prsefatum Matheum ** Hale, militcm jam fenem fadtum & variis cor-" poris mei fenilis morbis & infirmitatibus dire ^* iaborantem & adliuc detentum. Hac chart* " mea refignare & furfum reddere fereniffimo do-" mino noftro Carolo fecundo, Dei gratia Angliae " Scotiae Franciae & Hibernire, regi, fidei defen-** fori, &c. Prediilum officium capital is jufticiarii " ad placita coram ipfo reg& tenenda, humillime " petens quod hoc fcriptum irrotaletur de recordo. ** In cujus rei teftlmonium huic chartai me« '* refignationis figillum meura oppofui, dat vicefi-*' mo primo die Februarii anno regni di£l. d<jm* '* regis nunc vicefimo odavo.'^

He made this inftrument, ^s he told the lord chancellor, for two ends j the one was to fhew the wptld his own Uz^ cojicurrenfc tp his removal :

E 2 s^nother

another was to obviate an objeclloa heretofore made, that a chief juflice being placed by writ, was not rcmoveable at pleafure, as judges by patent were ; which opinion, as he faid, was once held by his predeceflbr the lord chief juftice Key-ling, and though he himfelf was always of another opinion, yet he thought it reafonable to prevent fuch a fcruple.

He had the day before furrendered to the king, in perfon, who parted from him with great grace, wilhing him moft heartily the return of his health,, and aflluing him, *' that he would Hill look upon " him as one of his judges, and have recourfe '' to his- advice when his health would permit^,. " and in the mean time would continue his pen-*' fion during his life."

The good man thought this bounty too great, and an ill precedent for the king, and therefore writ a letter to the lord treafurer, earneftly dcfiring that his penfion might be only during pleafure j. but the king would grant it for life, and make it payable quarterb^.

And yet for a whole month together, he would not fuft'er his fervant to fue out his patent for his penfionj and when the firft payment was received, he ordered a great part of it to charitable ufes, and iaid, he intended moft of it fhould be fo employed as long as it was paid him.

At laft he happened to die upon the quarter day^ which was Chriftmas day; and though this might have jJiven fome Qccafton t« a dilpute whether the

^enfion

Sir MATTHEW HALE, 5^ pendon for that quarter were recoverable, yet the king was pleafed to decide that matter againft himfelf, and ordered the penfion to be paid ;:o his executors.

As foon as he was difchargcd from his great place, he returned home with as much chearful-tiefs as his want of health would admit of, being now eafed of a burthen he had been of late groaning under, and fo made more capable of enjoyincj that which he had much wifhed for, accordins to his elegant tranflation of, or rather paraphrafe upon, thofe excellent lines In Senega's Thyeftes,

Aa. 2.

Sh't qulciinque vclet potens, AuliS ciihnlne lubrico : Me dulc'ts faturet qnies, Obfcuro pofitus loco, Leni perfruar otro : Uullis nota quiritibuSy /Etas per iacitum Jluat. Sic cum tranfierint meiy KiiUo cumjircpitu dies, Ph'hciiis mortar fcriex. Illi mors grams hicubat, ^ui mtus nij?}is amriibmy Jgmtiis morhur fibi.

" Let him, that will afcend the tottering feat " .Of courtly grandeur, and become as great " As are his mounting wiflies : as for me, *' Let fweet repofe and reft my portion be ;

E 3 '" Giif

*' Give me fome mean obfcure recefs, a fphere ** Out of the road of bufinefs, or the fear *' Of falling lower j where I fweetly may " Myfelf and dear retirement ftill enjoy. *' Let not my life or name be known unto *' The grandees of the time, tofl to and fro *' By cenfures or applaufc; but let my age *' Slide gently by, not overthwart the ftage " Of public adlion ; unheard, unfeen, " And unconcern'd, as if I ne'er had been. f And thus, while I ftiall pafs my filent day^ *' In fhady privacy, free from the noife ** And buftles of the mad world, then fhall I " A good old innocent plebeian die. *' Death is a mere furprife, a very fnare

To him, that makes it his life's greateft care To be a public pagent, known to all. But unacquainted with himfelf, doth fall.

((

<(

Having noiw attained to that privacy, which he had no lefs fcrioufly than pioufly wiflied for, he called all his fervants that had belonged to his office together, and told them, he had now laid down his place, and fo their employments were determined ; upon that, he advifed them to fee for themfelves, and gave to fome of them very con-fiderable prefents, and to every one of them a token, and fo difmifled all thofe that were not his domefticks. He was difchargcd the 15th of February 1675-6, and lived till the Chriftmas foU lowing, but all the while was in fo ill a ftate of

health.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 55

health, that there was no hopes of his recovery. He continued ftill to retire often, both for his dcvo-, tions and ftudies, and as long as he could go, went conftantly to his clofet j and when his infirmities encreafed on him, fo that he was not able to go thither himfelf, he made his fervants carry him thither in a chair. At laft, as the winter came on, he faw Mnth great joy his deliverance approaching, for befides his being weary of the world, and his longings for the blefTednefs of another ftate, his pains encreafed fo on him, that ko patience inferior to his ,could have borne them without a great liijeafinefs of mind ; yet he exprefled to the Jail: .4uch fubmifHon to the will of God, and fo equal a temper under them, that it was vifible then what jnighty effefls his philofophy and chrillianity had on him, in fupporting him under fuch a heavy Joad.

He could not lie down in bed above a year before his death, by reafon oi the afthma, but fat. rather than lay in it.

He was attented on in his ficknefs by a pious and worthy divine, Mr. Evan Griffith, minifter oi thg parifli ; and it was obferved, that in all the jCXtremities of his pain, whenever he prayed by him, he forbore all complaints or groans, but with his hands and eyes lifted up, was fixed in his devotions. Not long before his death, the minifter told him, " There was to be a facrament next ." Sunday »t church, but he believed he could not '5 come an^i partake with the reft, therefore he

E 4 '' would

*' would give it him in his own houfe : " But he anfwered, *' No ; his heavenly father had pre-*' pared a feaft for him, and he would go to his " father's houfe to partake of it: " So he made himfelf be carried thither in his chair, where he received the facrament on his knees, with great devotion, which, it may be fuppofed, was the greater, becaufe he apprehended it was to be his laft, and fo took it as his viaticum and provifion for his journey. He had fome fecret unaccountable prefages of his death, for he faid, " that, if he *' did not die on fuch a day," (which fell to be the 25th of November) *' he b«licved he fliould ** Jive a month longer," and he died that very day month. He continued to enjoy the free ufe of his reafon and fenfe to the laft moment, which he had often and earneftly prayed for during his ficknefs. And when his voice was fo funk that he could rot be heard, they perceived by the almoft conftant lifting up of his eyes and hands, that he was ffcill afpiring towards that blcfled ftate, of which he wag now fpeedily to be poffeffed.

He had for many }«ears a particular devotion for Chriftmas-day, and after he had received the facrament, and been in the performance of the publick worfhip of that day, he commonly wrote a copy of verfes on the honour of his Saviour, as a fit cxpreflion of the joy he felt in his foul, at the return of that glorious anniverfary. There are fe-venteen of thofc copies printed, which he wrote op feventeen feveral Chriftmas days, by which the

world

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 57

world has a tafle of his poetical genius, in which, if he "had thought it worth his time to have excelled, he might have been eminent as well as in other things ; but he wrote them rather to entertain himlelf, than to merit the laurel.

I ftiall here add one which has not been yet printed, and it is nor unlikely it was the laft he writ J it is a paraphral'e on Simeon's fong ; I take it from his blotted copy not at all finiflied, fo the reader is to make allowance for any imperfection he may find in it.

*' Blefled Creator, who before the birth *' Of time, or e'er the pillars of the earth *' Woe fix't or form'd, did'ft lay that great delign ** Of man's redemption, and did'fl define *' In thine eternal councils all the fccne ** Of that ftupcndious bufincfs, and when

It fliould appear, and though the very day

Of its epiphany, concealed lay

Within thy mind, yet thou wert pleas'd to fhow

Some gllmpfes of it, unto men below, " In vifions, types, and prophcfies, as we " Things at a diilance in perfpe<Slive fee : *' But thou wert pleas'd to let thy fervant knowr " That thatbleft hour, that feem'd to move foflow " Through former ag-es, fhould at laft attain " Its time, e'er my few fands, that yet remain, " Are fpent j and that thefe aged eyes " Should fee the day, when Jacob's ftar (liould rife.

" And

it

u

« And now thou haft fulfill'd it, blelTed Lord^

*' Difmifs me now, according to thy word i

** And let my aged body now return

** To reft, and duft, and drop into an urn;

*' For I have liv'd enough, mine eyes have i^tn

*^ l^y much defired falvation, that hath been

*< So long, fo dearly wifh'd, the joy, the hope

** Of all the ancient patriarchs, the (cope

" Of all the prophefies, and myfteries,

** Of all the types unveil'd, the hiftories

*' Of Jewifh church unriddl'd, and the bright

*' And orient ^an arifen to give light

*' To Gentiles, and the joy of Ifrael,

" The worlds redeemer, bleft Emanuel.

** Let this fight clofe mine eyes, 'tis lofs to fee,

*' After this vifion, any fight but thee.

Thus he ufed to fing on the former Chriftmas-days, but now he was to be admitted to bear his part in the new fon^gs above ; fo that day which tie had fpent in fo much fpiritual joy, proved to be indeed the day of his jubilee and deliverance; for between two and three in the afternoon, he breathed out his righteous and pious foul. His ^nd was peace, he had no ftrugglings, nor feemed ■to be in any pangs in his laft moments. He was buried on the 4th of January, Mr. Griffith preachr ing the funeral fermon, his text was Ifa. Iv^i. r« ^' The righteous periflieth, and no man layeth it *' to heart; and merciful men are taken away, ^* none confidering that the righteous is taken

" away

Sir MATTHEW HALE. g^

** away from the evil to come." Which how fitly it was applicable upon this occafion, all that con-fider the courfe of his life, will eafily conclud.e. He was interred in the church-yard of Alderly, a-mong his anceftors ; he did not much approve of burying in churches, and ufed to fay, " tlie " churches wei^e far the living, and the church-*' yards for the dead." His monument was like bimfelf, decent and plain ; the tomb-ilone was black marble, and the fides were black and white marble, upon which he himfelf had ordered this bare and humble infcription to be made,

HTC INHUMATUR CORPUS

MATTHEl HALE, MILITIS;

ROBERTI HALE, ET JOANNA,

UXORIS EJUS, FILII UNICL

NATI IN HAC PAROCHIA DE AL-

DERLY, PRIMO DIE NOVEMBRIS,

ANNO DOM. 1609.

DENATl VERO IBIDEM VICESIMO

QUINTO DIE DECEMBRIS, ANNO DOM. 1676.

./ETATIS SU^, LXVIL

Haying thus given an account of the moft rc-inarkable things of his life, i am now to prefent the reader with fuch a character of him, as the la)ing his fcveral virtues together will amount to : in which I know how dilHcuk a talk I undertake; for to write defe£lively of him, were to injui-e him,

and

and leffeii the memory of one to whom I intend to do all the right that is in my power. On the other hand, there is fo much here to be commended, and propofed for the imitation of others, that I am afraid fome may imagine, I am rather making a pi£lure of him, from an abflra6led idea of great virtues and perfe£lions, than fetting him out, as he truly was: but there is great encouragement in this, that I write concerning a man fo frefh in all peoples rememberance, that is fo lately dead, and was fo much and fo well known, that I Ihall have many vouchers, who will be ready to juflify me tn all that I am to relate, and to add a great ^eal to what I can fay.

It has appeared in the account of his various learning, how great his capacities were, and how much they were improved by conftant ftudy. He Tofe always early in the morning, he loved to walk much abroad, not only for his health, but he thought it Opened his mind, and enlarged his thoughts to have the creation of God before his eyes. When he fet himfelf to any ftudy, he ufed to caft his defign into a fcheme, which he did with a great exa£lnefs of method ; he took nothing on truft, but perfued his enquires as far as they could «:o, and as he was humble enough to confefs his ignorance, and fubmit to myfteries which he could not comprehend, fo he was not eafily impofed on, by any fliews of reafon, or the bugbears of vulgar opinions. He brought all his knowledge as much to fcientifical principles, as he poflibly could,

which

■which made him neglecSl the ftudy Of tongues, for the "bent of his mind lay another w^y. Difcour-fing once of this to fome, they faid, " they looked *' on th^ common law, as a ftudy that could not " be brought into a icheme, nor formed into a " rational fcience, by reafon of the indigeftednefs " of it, and the multiplicity of the cafes in it, " which rendered it very hard to be underftood, *' or reduced into a method ;" hut he faid, " he *' was not of their mind," and fo quickly after," he drew with his own hand, a fcheme of the whole order and parts of it, in a large ftieet of paper, to the great fatisfadtion of thofe to whom he fent it. Upon this hint, fome preffed him to compile a body of the Engliih law. It cou]4 hardly ever be done by a man who knew it better, and would with more judgment and induftry have put it into method j but he faid, " as it was a great *' and noble defign, whicli would be of vaft ad-" vantage to the nation ; fo it was too much for ** a private man to undertake : it was not to b^ '' entered upon, but by the commarid of aprmce, ** and with the communicated endeavours of fooit '* of the moft eminent of the profefllon.''

He had great vivacity in his fancy, as may ap-pe?ir by his inclination to poetry, and the lively illuftratious, and many tender drains in his contemplations ; but he look'd on eloquence and wit, -as.things to be ufed very ghaftly, in ferious matters, which Ihould come under a feverer enquiry ; therefore he was both, when at the bar, and on

the

the bench, a great enemy to all eloqneiice or rhetoric in pleading : he faid, " If the judge or jury" •' had a right underftanding, it fignificd nothing, ** but a wafte of time, and lofs of words ; and if *' they were weak, and eafily wrought on, it was •• a more decerit way of corrupting them, by *' bribing their fancies, and byafuig their afFe£li-" ons i" and wojidered much at that afFctStation' of the Fiench lawyers in imitating the RortnaiV orators in their pleadings. For the oratory of the' Romans, was occafioned by their popular government, and the factions of the city, fo that thofe ■who intended to excel! in the pleading of caufes, were trained up in the fchools of the Rhetors, till chey became ready and expert in that lufcious w^y of drfcourfe. It is true, the compofures of fuch a man as Tully was, who mixed an extraordinary quicknefs, an exa6t judgment, and a juft decorum with his (kill in rhetoric, do (till entertain the readers of them with great pleafure: but at the fame time it mvift be acknowledged, that there is not that chaftity of flile, that clofenefs of reafoning, jior that juitnefs of figures in his orations, that i« in his other writings j fo that a great deal was faid by him, rather becaufe he knew it would be acceptable to his auditors, than that it' was approved of by himfelf; and all who read them, will acknowledge, they are better pleafcd with them as eflays of v/it and ftile, than as pleadings, by which fuch a judge as ours was, would not be i*iuch wrouglit on. A.iul it there are fuch gcounds

w

^/> MATTHEW HALE. ^^

to cenfure the performances of the greatcft mafter in eloquence^ we may eafily infer what naufcous diicourfes the other orators made, fince in oratory^ as well as in poetry, none can do indifferently. So our judge wondered to find the French, that livd under a monarchy, fo fond of imitating that which was an ill efFe6t of the popular government of Rome. He therefore pleaded himfelf always in few words^ and home to the point: and when he was a judge, he held thofe that pleaded before him, to be the main hinge of the bufmefs, and cut them ihon; when they made excurfions about circumftances of no moment, by which he faved much time, andl made the chief difficulties be well ftated and,-icl eared.

There was another cufl:on% among the R.omans„ which he as much admired, as he defpifed their rhetoric, which was, that the juiis-confults were the men of the highcft quality, who were bred to be capable of the chief cmplo)ment in the ilate^ and became the great mailers of their law ; thefs' gave their opinions o-f all cafes that were put to them freely, judging it below them to tak.e ciny prefcnt for it j and indeed they were the ordy true,. lawyers among them, whofe refoluUQn.s were of that authority, that they mad^J one claflis of tiiofe;) materials out of which TrchQnian compiled the digefts under JulKnian; for the or'atqrs or caulidiv.i that pleaded caufes, knew littU of the law, and only employed thejr mercenary tangues, to wo.ik Qii the aS'edlions-of the people, ^n4 f'^fJ'i't- <^'' ^^^^

yretvrb,:

^retars : even in moft of Tully's orations there is little of law, and that little which they might iprinkle in their declamations, they had not from their own knowledge, but the refolution of fome-juris-confult: according to that famous ftory of Servius Sulpitius, who was a celebrated orator, and beino; to receive the refolution of one of thofe that were learned in the law, was fo ignorant, tibat he could not underhand it ; upon which the juris-confult reproached him, and faid, " it was *' a fliame for him that was a nobleman, a fena-*' tor, and a pleader of caufes, to be thus ignorant ** of law :" this touched him fo fenfibiy, that he fet about the fludy of it, and became one of the, moft eminent juris-confults that ever were at Rome. Our judge thought it might become the greatnefs of a prince, to encourage fuch fort of men, and of fludies ; in which, none in the age he lived in was equal to the great Selden, who was truly in our Englifh lav.', what the old Roman juris-confults were in theirs.

But where a decent eloquence was allowable, judge Hale knew how to have excelled as much as any, either in illuftrating his reafonings, by proper and well purfued fimilies, or by fuch tender-expreffions, as might work mofl on the affeilions, fo that the prefent lord chancellor, has often faid of him fuice his death, that he was the greateft orator he had knov/n ; for though his words came not fluently Irom him, yet when they were out, they were the mo-ll fignificajit, and expreilive,

that

Sir MATTFIEW HALE. 65

that the matter could bear ; of this fort there are many in his contemphitions made to quicken his own devotion, which have a life in them becoming him that ufed them, and a foftnefs fit to melt even the harfheft tempers, accommodated to the gravity of the fubje^t, and apt to excite warm thoughts in the readers, that as they fhew his excellent temper that brought them out, and applied them to himfelf, fo they are of great ufe to all, who would both inform and quicken their minds. Of his illuftrations of things by proper fimilies, I fhall give a large inftance out of his book of the origination of mankind, defigned to expofe the feveral different hypothefes the philofophers fell on, concerning the eternity and original of the univerfe, and to prefer the account given by Mofes, to all their conjedlures; in which, if my tafte does not mifguide me, the reader will find a rare and very agreeable mixture, both of fine wit, and folid learning and judgment.

[ " That which may illuftrate my meaning, in this preference of the revealed light of the holy fcriptures, touching this matter, above the efTays of a philofophical imagination, may be this. Sup-pofe that Greece being unacquainted with the curiofity of mechanical engines, though known in fome remote region of the world, and that an excellent artifl; had fecretly brought and depofited in fome field or foreft, fome excellent watch or clock, which had been fo formed, that the origi-jial of its motion were hidden, and involved in

F fome

ibme clofe contrived piece of mechanifm, that this watch v/as (o franiei, that the motion thereot might have laflred a year, or fome fucli time as-Kiight give a reafonable period* far their pbilofophi-cal difcanting concerning it, and that in the plaiiv table there had been not only the defcription and indication of hours, but the configurations and indications of the various phafes of the moon, the motion and place of the fun in* the ecliptic, and divers other curious indications of celeftial motions, and that the fcholars of the feveral fchools of Epicurus, of Ariftotle, of Plato, and the rcfi of thofe philofophical fedls,, had cafually in their walk, found this admirable automaton ; what kind of work would there have been made by every feft, in giving an account of this phenomenon ^ We lliould have had the Ej.icureaa feci have told the byftanders,, according to their prcconcei\'ed hypothcfis,, that this was nothing elfe but an accidental concretion of atoms,, that happily falling, together had made up the index, the wheels, and: the ballancey and that being happiJy fallen into this pofture, they were put into motion. Theru the Cartefian falls in with him, as to the main of their fuppofition, bat tells him, that he doth not fufficiently explicate how the engine is put into Miotion, and therefore to furnifh this motion, there 13 a certain, materia fubtilis that pervades this engine, and the moveable parts, confilling of certaia plobular atoms apt for motion, they are thereby^, and by the mobility of the globular atoms put into-

raotioii.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 67

motion. A third finding fault with the two former, becaufe thofe motions are fo regular, and do exprefs the vai ious phenomena of the diftribution of time, and of the heavenly motions; therefore it feems to him, that this engine and motion alfo, fo analogical to the motions of the heavens, was wrought by fome admirable conjun6lion of the heavenly bodies, which formed this inftrument and its motions, in fuch an admirable correfpondency to its own exiftence. A fourth, difliking the fup-pofitions of the three former, tells the reft, that he hath a more plain and evident folution of the phenomenon, namely, the univerfal foul of the world, or fpirit of nature, that formed fo many-forts of infetfls with fo many organs, faculties, and fuch congruity of their whole compofition, and fuch curious and various motions as we may obferve in them, hath formed and fet into motion this admirable automaton, and regulated and ordered it, with all thefe congruities we fee in it. Then fteps in an Ariftotelian, and being diiTa-tisfied with all the former folutions, tells them, gentlemen, you are all miftaken, your folutions are inexplicable and unfatisfadlory, you have taken up certain precarious hypothefes, and being pre-poftefled with thefe creatures of your own fancies, and in love with them, right or wrong, you form all your conceptions of things according to thofe fancied and preconceived imaginations. The fhort of the bufinefs-is, this machina is eternal, and fo are all the motions of it, and in as much as a

circular motion hath no beginning or end, thi'3 motion that you fee both in the wheels and index, and the lucceffive indications of the celeflial mo-' tions, is eternal, and without beginning. And this is a ready and expedite way of folving the phenomena, without fo much ado as you have made about it.

And whilft all the mafters were thus contrivirig the folution of the phenomenon, in the hearing of the artift that made it, and when they had all fpent their philofophizing upon it, the artift that made this engine, and all this while liftened to their admirable fancies, tells them, gentlemen, you have difcovered very much excellency of invention touching this piece of work that is before you, but you are all miferably miftaken: for it was I that made this watch, and brought it hither, and I will fhew you how I made it. Firft, I wrought the fpring, and the fufee, and the wheels, and the ballance, and the cafe, aJid table ; I fitted them one to another, and placed thefe feveral axes that are to direct the motions of the index to difcover the hour of the day, of the figure that difcovers the phafes of the moon, and the other various motions that ypu fee j and then I put it together, and wound up the fpring, which hath given all thefe motions, that you fee in this curious piece of work, and that you may be fure I tell you true, I will tell you the whole order and progrefs of my making, difpofing, and ordering of this piece of work i the feveral materials of it, the manner of

the

^;> MATTHEW HALE. 69

the forming of every ind!\'idual part of it, and how long I was about it. This plain and evident difcovery renders all thefe excogitated hypothefes of thofe philofophical enthufiafts vain and ridiculous, without any great help of rhetorical flourifties, or logical confutations. And much of the fame nature is that difparity of the hypothefes of the •learned philofophers in relation to the origination of the world and man, after a great deal of duft raifed, and fanciful explications and unintelligible hypothefes. The plain, but divine narrative, by the hand of Mofes, full of fenfe, and congruity, and clearnefs, and rcafonablenefs in itfelf, does at the fame moment give us a true and clear difco-very of this great miftery, and renders all the efTays of the generality of the heathen philofophers to be vain, inevident, and indeed inexplicable theories, the creatures of phantafy, and imagina-f tion, and nothing elf?." ]

As for his virtues, they have appeared fo con-r fpicuous in all the feveral tranfadions and turns of his life, that it may fcem needlefs to add any more of them, than has been already related; but there are many particular inftances which I knew not how to fit to the feveral years of his life, which will give us a clearer and better view of hirn.

He was a devout chriftian, a finccrc proteflant, and a true fon of the church of England ; moderate towards diffenters, and juft even to thofe from whom he differed moft j which appeared figually in the care he took of preferving the quakcrs

F 3 from

from that mifchief that was like to fall on theirt, by declaring their marriages void, and fo baflard-ing their children) but he confidered marriage and fucceffion as a right of nature, from which none ought to be barred, what miflake foever they might be under, in the points of revealed religion.

And therefore in a trial that was before him, when a quaker was fued for fome debts owing by his wife before he married her, and the quaker's council pretended, that it was no marriage that had pail between them, fince it was not folemnized according to the rules of the church of England ; he declared, that he was not willing on his own opinion to make their children baflards, and gave diredions to the jury to find it fpecial. It was a refleilion on the whole party, that one of them to avoid an inconvenience he had fallen in, thought to have preferved himfelf by a defence, that if it had been allowed in law, muft have made their whole iflue baftards, and incapable of fucceffion, and for all their pretended friendfhip to one another, if this judge had not been more their friend, than one of thofe they fo called, their pofterity had been little beholding to them. But he governed himfelf indeed by the law of the gofpel, of doing to others, what he would have others do to him ; and therefore becaufe he would have thought it a hardfhip not without cruelty, if amongft papifts all marriages were nulled which had not been made with all the ceremonies in the roman

rituiil,

J/r MATTHEW HALE. ^i

ritual, fo he applying this to the cafe of ihe fec-taries, he thought all marriages made according to the feveral perfuafions of men, ought to have tlieir effeils in law.

He ufed conftantly to worfhlp God in his family, performing it always himfelf, if there was rso clergymen prefent : but as to his private exer-cifes in devotion, he took that extraordinary care to keep what he did fccret, that this part of his character muft be defective, except it be acknowledged that his humility in covering it, commends him much more than the higheft expreflions of xlevotion could have cone.

From the foft time that the imprcflions of religion fettled deeply in his mind, he ufcd great caution to conceal it: not only in obedience to the rules given by our Sav-iour, of fading, praying, ^and giving alms in fecret; but from a particular <lillrufl: he had of himfclf, for he faid he v/a^; afraid, he fliould at fome time or other^ do fonie enormous thing, which if he were look'd oa as a very religious man, might cafi a reproach oi; the profefiio!! of ir, and give great advantages to impious men to blaf[)heme the -name of God : but a tree Is known by its fruits, and he lived not only free of hlemiflies, or fcandal, but fliined in all the parts of his convcrfation : and perhaps the difirufl: he was in of himfelf, contributed not a little to the purity of his life, for he being thereby obliged to be more watchful over himfelf, and to depend jnore on the aids of the Spirit of God, no won-

F 4 dsr

der if that humble temper produced thofe excellent effects in him.

He had a foul enlarged and raifed above that mean appetite of loving money, which is generally the root of all evil. He did not take the profits that he might have had by his pradlice : for in common cafes, when thofe who came to afk his council gave him a piece, he ufed to give back the half, and fo made ten (hillings his fee,, in ordinary matters that did not require much time or ftudy. If he faw a caufe was unjuft, he for a great while would not meddle farther in it, but to give his advice that it was fo i if the parties after that, would go on, they were to feejc another councel-lor, for he would aflift none in a6ls of injuftice. If he found the caufe doubtful or weak in point of law, he always advifed his clients to agree their bufmefs: yet afterwards he abated much of the jfcrupulofity he had about caufes that appeared at firfl view unjuft, upon this occafion. There were two caufes brought to him, which by the igno-lance of the party or their attorney, were fo ill reprefented to him, that they feemed to be very bad, but he enquiring more narrowly into them, found they were really very good and juft: fo after this he flackened rnuch of his former ftriclnefs, of refufing to meddle in caufes upon the ill circuin-flances that appeared in them at firft.

In his pleading he abhorred thofe too common faults of mif-reciting evidences, quoting precedents, or books falfly, or aflerting things confidently;

by

sir MATTHEW IIAI.E. 73

by which ignorant juries, or weak judges, are'too Oiteix wrought on. He pleaded with the fame finccrity that he ufed in the other parts of his life^ and ufed to fay, " it was as great a difhonour as *' a man was capable of, that for a little money " he was to be hired to fay or do othervvife than ** as he thousfht :" all this he afcribed to the un-meafurable defire of heaping up wealth, which corrupted the fouls of fome that feenied otherwifc jborn and made for great things,

When he was a pra61;itioner, differences were often referred to him, which he fettled, but would accept of no reward for his pains, though oftered by both parties together, after the agreement was made ; for he faid, *' in thofc cafes he was made *' a judge, and a juc'ge ought to take no money." If they told him, he loll: much of his time in con-fidering their bufinefs, and fo ought to be acknowledged for it; his anfwer was, (as one that heard It told me,) " can I fpend my time better, than " to make people friends ? mull I have no time ^* allowed me to do good in ? "

He was naturally a quick man, yet by much prailice on himfelf, he fubdued that to fuch a degree, that he would never run fuddenly into any conclufion concerning any matter of importance. Feftina lente was his beloved motto, which he ordered to be engraven on the head of his ftaff, and was often heard to fay, " that he had obferved *' many witty men run into great errors, becaufe '* they did not give themfclves lime to think, but

" the

** the heat of ii"nag;inadon makino; fome notions *' appear in good colours to them, they without *' ftaying till that cooled, were violently led by *' the impulfes it made on them ; v/hereas calm and •' flow men, who pa'*s for dull in the common *' eftimation, could fearch after truth and find it *' out, as with more deliberation, fo with greater *' certainty."

He laid afide the tenth penny of all he got for the poor, and took gicat care to be well informed of proper obje(3;s for his charities ; and after he %vas a judge, many of the perquefites of his place, as his dividend of the rule and box money, were fcnt by him to the jails to difcharge poor prifoners, who never knew from whofe hands their relief came. It is alfo a cuftom for the marfhall of the king's-bench, to"prefent the judges of that court with a piece of plate for a new-year's gift, that for chief juftice being larger than the reft : this he intended to have refufcd, but the other judges told hlfti it belonged to his office, and the refufing it would be a prejudice to his fuccefibrs, fo he was perfuaded to take it, but he fent word to the marflial, that inftead of plate, he fhould bring him the value of it in money, and when he received it, he immediately fent it to the prifons, for the relief and difcharge of the poor there. He ufually invited his poor neighbours to dine with him, and made them fet at table with himfelf j and if any of them were fick, fo that they could not come, he would fend meat warm to them

Sir MATTHEW HALE. -j^

.!frbm h;is table : and he did not only relieve the

poioT in his own parifh, but fent rupplies to the

.iicighbouring pariflies, as there was occafioft for

it: and he treated them all with the tendernefs

ahd familiarity that became one, who oonfidered

■ihey were of the fame nature with himfelf, and

!were reduced to no other nccefficies but fuch as he

himfelf might be brought to : but for common

bccjorars, if any of thefe came to him, as he was

■in his walks, when he lived in the country, he

would a(k fuch as were capable of working, why

they went about fo idly ; if they anfwered, it was

becaufe they could find no work, he often fent

them to fome field, to gather all the ftones in it,

and lay them on fi heap, and then would pay them

liberally for their pains : this being done, he ufed

to fend his carts, and caufed them to be carried to

fuch places of the highway as needed mending.

But when he was in town, he dealt his charities very liberally, even among the ftreet beggars, and when fome told him, that he thereby encouraged idlenefs, and that moft of thefe were notorious cheats, he ufed to anfwer, " that he believed moft " of them were fuch, but among them there were " fome that were great objc6ls of charity, and *' prefled with grievous neceiHties : and that he had " rather give his alms to twenty who m.ight be *' perhaps rogues, than that one of the other fort fliould perifh for want of that fmall relief

a

•' which he gave them."

He

He loved building much, which he affe(^ed chiefly becaufe it employed many poor people : but one thing was obferved in all his buildings, that the changes he made in his houfes, was always from magnificence to ufefulnefs, for be avoided every thing that looked like pomp or vanity, even in the walls of his houfes : he had good judgment in archite6lure, and an excellent faculty in contriving well.

He was a gentle landlord to all his tenants, and was ever ready upon any reafonable complaints, to make abatements, for he was merciful as well as righteous. One inftance of this was, of a widow that lived in London, and had a fmall eftate near his houfe in the country ; from which her rents were ill returned to her, and at a coft which Ihe could not well bear : fo fhe bemoaned herfelf to him, and he according to his readinefs to affilt all poor people, told her, he would order his ilpward to take up her rents, and the returning them Ihould coft her nothing. But after that, when there was a falling of rents in that country, fo that it was neceflary to make abatements to the tenant; yet he would have it lie on himfelf, and made the widow be paid her rent as formerly.

Another remarkable inftance of his juftice an^ goodnefs v/as, that when he found ill money had been put into his hands, he would never fuffer it to be vented again; for he thought it was no excufe for him to put falfe money in other peoples hands, becaufe fome had put it in his : a great

heap^

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 77

heap of this he had gathered together, for many had fo far abufed his goodnefs, as to mix bafe money among the fees that were given him : it is like he intended to have deftroyed it, but fome thieves who had obferved it, broke into his chamber and Hole it, thinking they had got a prize ; which he ufed to tell with fome pleafure, imagining how they found themfelves deceived, when they perceived what fort of booty they had fallen on.

After he was made a judge, he would needs pay more for every purchafe he made than it was worth ; if it had been a horfe he was to buy, he would have out-bid the price : and when fome re-prefented to him, that he made ill bargains, he faid, " it became judges to pay more for what ** they bought, than the true value ; that fo thofe *' with whom they dealt, might not think thev ** had any right to their favour, by having fold *' fuch things to them at an eafy rate ;" and faid it was fuitable to the reputation, which a judge ought to preferve, to make fuch bargains, that the world might fee they were not too well ufed upon fome fecret account.

In fum, his eftate did fhevv how little he had minded the raifmg a great fortune, for from a hundred pounds a year, he raifed it not quite to nine hundred, and of this a very confiderable part came in by his Ihare of Mr. Selden's eftate; yet this, confidering his great pradice while a coun-fellor, and his conftant, frugal, and modeft

W.'.V

VfAy of living, was but a fmall fortune. In the ihare that fell to him by Mr. Selden's will, one memorable thing was done by him, with the other executors, by which they both fhewed their regard to their dead friend, and their love of the public. His library was valued at fome thoufands of pounds> and was believed to be one of the curioufeft collections in Europe; fo they refolved to keep this intire, for the honour of Selden's memory, and gave it to the univerfity of Oxford, where a nobI« room was added to the former library for its reception, and all di-e refpeds have been fmce (hewed by that great and learned body, to thofe their worthy benefa(Sfors, who not only parted fo generoufly with this great treafure, but were a little put to it how to oblige them, without crof-ling the will of their dead friend. Mr. Selden had once intended to give his library to that univerfity, and had left it fo by his will; but having occafion for a manufcript, which belonged to their library, they afked of him a bond of a thousand pounds for its reftitution ; this he took fo ill at their hands, that he ftruck out that part of his will by which h-e had given them his library, and with fome paffion declared they fhould never have it. The executors ftuck at this a little, but having confidered better of it, came to this refolution, that they were to be the executors cf Mr. Selden's will, and not of his paffion ; fo they m.ide good what he had intended in cold blood, and paft over what his paffioo had fuegefled to him.

The

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 79

The parting with fo many excellent books, would have been as uneafy to our judge, as any thing of that nature could be, if a pious regard to his friend's memory had not prevailed over him j for he valued books and manufcripts above al. tilings in the v/orld. He himfelf had made a great and rare collection of manufcripts belonging to the lav7 of England j he was forty years in gathering it: he himfelf faid it coft him- above fifteen hundred pounds, and calls it in his will, a treafure worth having and keeping, and not fit for every man's view; thefe all he left toLincoln's« Inn, and for the information of thofe who are curious to fearch into fuch things, there fliall be a catalogue of them added at the end of this book.

By all thefe inftances it does appear, how much he was raifed above the world, or the love of it. But having thus maftered things without him, his next ftudy was to overcome his own inclinations. Ke was as he faid himfelf naturally pafiionate ; I add, as he faid himfelf, for that appeared by no other evidence, lave that fbmetimes his colour v;ouid life a little; but he fo governed himfelf, that thofe who lived long about him, have told me they never faw him dif-ordered with anper, though he met with fome trials, that the nature of man is as little able to bear, as any whatfoever. There was one who did him a great injury, which it is not neceflary to pxentionj who coming afterwaids to him for his

advice

advice In the fettlement of his eftate, he gave it very frankly to him, but would accept of no fee for it, and therefore fhewed both that he could forgive as a chiiftian, and that he had the foul of a gentleman in him, not to take money of one that had wronged him fo hcinoufly. And when he was afked by one, how he could ufe a man fo kindly, that had wro2iged him fo much, his an-fwer was, *' he thanked God he had learned to *' forget injuries." And befides the great temper he expreffed in all his public employments, in his family he was a gentle mailer : he was tender of all his fervants, he never turned any away, except they were fo faulty, that there was no hope of reclaiming them : when any of them had been long out of the way, or had neglected any part of their duty ; he would not fee them at their llrft: coming home, and fometimes not till the next day, leaft when his difpleafure was quick upon him, he might have chid them indecently ; and when he did reprove them, he did it with that fweetnefs and gravity, that it appeared he was more concerned for their having done a fault, than for the offence given by it to himfelf: but if they became immoral or unruly, then he turned them away, for he faid, '' he that by his place ought " to punifli diforders in other people, mult by no " means fufFer them in his own houfe." He advanced his fervants according to the time they had been about him, and would never give occafion to envy among them, by railing the younger

clerks

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 8r

clerks above thofe who had been longer with him. He treated them all with great affection, rather as a friend, than a mafler, giving them often good advice and inftruclion. He made thofe who had good-places under him, give fome of their profits to the other fervants who had nothing but their wa2;es. When he made his will, he left legacies to every one of them ; but he exprefled a more particular kindnefs for one of them Robert Gibbon, of t|ie Middle Temple, Efq; in whom he had that confidence, that he left him one of his executors, I the rather mention him, becaufe of his noble gratitude to his worthy benefactor and mafter, for he has been fo careful to preferve his memory, that as he fet thofe on me, at whofe defire I undertook to write his life ; fo he has procured for me a great part of thofe memorials, and informations, out of which I have compofed it.

The judge was of a moft tender and compafli-onate nature. This did eminently appear in his trying and giving fentence upon criminals, in which he was ftridly careful, that not a circum-ftance ftiould be neglecSled, which might any way clear the fa£t. He behaved himfelf with that regard to the prifoners, which became both the gravity of a judge, and the piety that was due to men, whofe lives lay at flake, fo that nothing of jeering or unreafonable feverity ever fell from hira. He alio examined the witnefles in the fofteft manner, taking care that they fhould be put under no cofi-fufion, which might diforder their memory : and

Q he

he fummed all the evidence fo equally when he charged the jury, that the criminals themfelves never complained of him. When it came to him to give fentence, he did it with that com-pofednefs and decency, and his fpeeches to the prifoners, directing them to prepare for death, were fo Vv'eighty, lb free of all afFe6lation, and fo-ferious and devout, that many loved to go to the trials, when he fat judge, to be edified by his-fpeeches, and behaviour in them, and ufed to fay,, they heard very few fuch fermons.

But though the pronouncing the fentence of death was a piece of his employment, that went moft againft the grain with him ; yet in that, he could never be mollified to any tendernefs which hindered juftice. When he was once prefled to recommend fome (whom he had condemned) to his majefty's mercy and pardon j he anfwered, he could not think they deferved a pardon, whom he himfelf had adjudged to die : fo that all he would do in that kind, was to give the king a true account of the circumftances of the fa6l, after which,, his majcfty was to confider whether he would interpofe his mercy, or let juftice take place.

His mercifulnefs extended even to his beafts,, for when the horfes that he had kept long, grew old, he would not fuffer them to be fold, or much •wrought, but ordered his men to turn them loofe on his grounds, and put them only to eafy work, fuch as going to market and the like ; he ufed old dogs alfo with the fame care : his fliepherd having one

that

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 83

' that was become blind with age, he intended to have killed or loft him, but the judge coming to hear of it, made one of his lervants bring him home and feed him till he died : and he was fcarce ever feen more angry than with one of his fervants for ncgle£ling a bird, that he kept, fo that it died

for want of food.

He was a great encourager of all young perfons, that he faw followed their books diligently, to whom he ufed to give dire6lions concerning the method of their ftudy, with a humanity and fweet-ncfs, that wrought much on all that came near him ; and in a fmiling pleafant way, he would admonifh them, if he faw any thing amifs in them: particularly if they went too fine in their clothes, he would tell them, it did not become their pro-fefllon. He was not pleafed to fee ftudents wear long perriwigs, or attomies go with fwords ; fo that fuch young men as would not be perfuaded to part with thofe vanities, when they went to him laid them afide, and went as plain as they could, to avoid the reproof which they knew they might otherwife expert. ^'" ^''

He was very free and communicative in his dif-courfe, which he moft commonly fixed on fome good and ufeful fubje£i:, and loved for an hour or two at night, to be vifited by fome of his friends. He neither faid nor did any thing with affe6lation, but ufed a fimplicity that was both natural to himfclf, and very eafy to others : and though he jpever fludied the modes of civility pr court breed-

ing, yet he knew not what it was to be rude or harfli with any^ except he were impertinenilv ad-dreffed to in mattery of juftice, then he woiJ.l i:\lCe his voice a little, andfo (hake off thofe importunities.

In bis furniture, and the fervice of his table, and way of living, he liked the old plainnefs fo well, that as he would fet up none of the new fafhions, fo he rather affe6led' a coarfenefs in the ufe of the old ones ; which was more the effedl of his philofophy than difpcfition, for he loved fiue things too much at fir ft. He v/as always of an equal temper, rather chearful than merry ^ many wondered to fee the evennefs of his deportment, in fome very fad paflages of his life.

Having loft one of his fons, the manner of whofe death had grievous circumftances in it; one coming to fee him and condole, he faid to bim, " thofe were the effects of living long, fuch muft " look to fee many fad and unacceptable things ;" and having faid that, he went to other difcourfes, with his ordinary freedom of mind ; for though he had a temper fo tender, that fad things were apt enough to make deep impreffion upon him, yet the regard he bad to the wifdom and providence oi God, and the juft eftimate he made of external things, did to admiration maintain the tranquility pf his mind, and he gave no occafion by idlenefs to melancholly to corrupt bis fpiiit, but by the perpetual bent of bis thoughts, be knew well bow to divert them from being opprefied with the ex-cclles of forrowi

He

^'/r MATTHEW HALE. 85

He had a generous and noble idea of God in his mind, and this he found did above all other confi-derations preferve his quiet : and indeed that was fo well eftablifhed in him, that no accidents, how fudden foever, were obferved to difcompofe him. Of which an eminent man of that profeffion, gave me this inftance : in the year 16&6, an opinion tlic) run through the nation, that the end of the world wojild come that year. This, whether fet on by aftrologers, or advanced by thofe who thought it inight have fome relation to the number of the beaft' In the Revelation, or promoted by men of ill defigns, to difturb the public peace, had fpread mightily among the people ; and judge Hale going that year the weftern circuit, it happened, that as he was on the bench at the aflizes, a moft terrible florm fell out very unexpectedly, accompanied with fuch fiaflies of lightning, and claps of thunder, that the like will hardly fall out •in an age; upon which a whifpor or rumour run through the croud, that now the world was to end, and the day of judgment to begin ; and at this there followed a general conflernation m the whole aflembly, and all men forgot the bufinefs they were met about, and betook themfelves to their prayers : this added to the horror raifed by the florm looked very difmally ; in fo much that mv author, a man of no ordinary refolution, and fumnefs of mind, confefTed it made a great impref-fion on himfelf. But he told mc, that he did obfervc the judge was not a whit afFeded, and was going

on with the bufinefs of the court in his ordinary manner J from which he made this conclufion, that his thoughts were fo well fixed, that he believed if the world had been really to end, it would have given him no confidcrable difturbance. But I fiiall now conclude all that I fhall fay concerning him, with what one of the greateft men of the profeffion of the law, fent me as an abftra<Sl of the character he had made of him, upon long obfervation, and much convcrfe wiih him : it was fent me, that from thence, with the other materials, I might make fuch a reprefentation of him to the world, as he indeed deferved ; but I jefolved not to fhred it out in parcels, but to fel it down intirely as it was fent me, hoping that as the reader will be much delighted with it, fo the noble perfon that fent it, will not be offended with me for keeping it intire, and fetting it in the beft light I could. It begins abruptly, being defigned to fupply the defe£is of others, from whom I had earlier and more copious informations.

" He would never be brought to difcouife of public matters in private converfation, but in queftions of law, when any young lav/yer put a cafe to him he was very communicative, efpecially while he was at the bar : but when he came to the bench, he grew more rcferv'd, and would never fuffer his opinion in any cafe to be knou^n, till he w'as obliged to declare it judicially : and he concealed his opinion in great cafes fo carefully, that the refl of the judges in the fame court could

never

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 87

never perceive it j his reafon was, becaufe every judge ought to give fentence according to his own perfuafion and confcience, and not to be fwayed by any refped: or difference to another man's opi-4iion : and by this means it hath happened iome times, that when all the barons of the exchequer had delivered their opinions, and agreed in their reafons and arguments ; yet he coming to fpeak lafl, and differing in judgment from them, hath .«xpreffed himfelf with (o much weight and folidity, that the barons have immediately retraciied their votes and concurred with him; He hath fet as a judge in all the courts of law, and in two of them as chief; but ftill wherever he fat, all bufmefs oi confequence followed him, and no man was content to fit down by the judgment of any other ■court, till the cafe were brought before him, to fee whether he were of the fame mind : and his opinion being once known, men did readily acquiefce in it; and it was very rarely feen, that any man attempted to bring it about again, and he that did So, did it upon great difadvantages, and was always looked upon as a very t:ontentious perfon : fo that what Cicero fays of Brutus, did very often happen to him, ctiam quos contra Jiatti'it aquos phcatofque

dinnfit.

" Nor did men reverence his judgment and

opinion in courts of law only, but his authority

.was as great in courts of equity, and the fame

jefpecl and fubmiflion was paid to him tliere too ; '

and this appeared not only in his own court of

G 4 equity

equity In the exchequer chamber, but in the chan-? eery too, for thither he was often called to advife and affift the lord chancellor, or lord keeper for the time being ; and if the caufe were of difficult examination, or intricated arid entangled with variety of fettlements, no m^n ever fhewed a more clear and difcerning judgment: if it were of great . value,, and great perfons interefted in it, no man ever fhewed greater courage and integrity in laying afide all refpe^t of perfons : when he came to deliver his opinion, he always put his difcourfc into fuch a method, that one part ga,ve light to the other, and where the proceedings of (^hancery might prove inconvenient to the fubjeil, he never fpared to obferve and reprove them, and from his obfervations and difcourfes, the chancery hath taken occafion to eftablifh many of thofe rules by which it governs itfelf at this day.

*' He did look upon equity as a part of the common law? imd one of the grounds of it; and therefore as near as he could, he did always reduce it to certain rules and principles, tiiat men might ftudy it as a fcience, and not think the adminiftra-tion of it had any thing arbitrary in it. Thus eminent was this man in every ftation, and into •what court foever he was called, he quickly made it appear, that he deferved the chief feat there.

*' As great a lawyer as he was, he would never fuffer the ftricStnefs of law to prevail againft con-fcience; as great a chancellor as he was, he would make ufe of all the niceties and fubtilties in law,

when

.^/r MATTHEW HALE. 89

when it tended to fupport right and equity. But nothing was more admirable in him, than his patience: he did not afFe<5l the reputation of quicknefs and difpatch, by a hafty and captious hearing of the councel : he would bear with the meaneft, and gave every man his full fcope, thinking it much better to loofe time than patience. In fumming up of an evidence to a jury, he would always re-r quire the bar to interrupt him if he did miftake, and to put him in mind of it, if he did forget the leaft circumftance; fome judges have been difturbed at this as a rudenefs, which he always looked upon as a fervice and refpe(2 done to him.

*' His whole life was nothing elfe but a continual courfe of labour and induiby, and when he could borrow any time from the public fervice, it was wholly employed either in philofophical or divine meditations, and even that was a public fervice too as it hath proved; for they have occafioned his writing of fuch treatifes, as are become the choiceft entertainments of wife and good men, and the world hath reafon to wifh that more of them were printed. He that confiders the a6live part of his life, and with v/hat unwearied diligence and application of mind, he difpatched all mens bufmefs which came under his care, will wonder how he could find any time for contemplation ; he that confiders again the various ftudies he pail through, and the many colledtions and obfervations he hath made, may as juftly wonder how he could find axiy time for .adion; but no man can wonder at

the exemplary piety and innocence of fuch a life {o fpent as this was, wherein as he was careful to avoid every idle word, fo 'tis manifeft he never fpent an idle day. They who come far fliort of this great man, will be apt enough to think that this is a panegyric, which indeed is a hiftory, and but a little part of that hiftory which was with great truth to be related of him : men who defpair of attaining fuch perfeition, are not willing to believe that any man elfe did ever arrive at fuch a height.

" He was the greateft lawyer of the age, and might have had what pra6lice he plcafed ; but though he did moft confcientioudy affe6l the labours of his profeffion, yet at the fame time he dcfpifed the gain of itj and of thofe profits which he would allow himfelf to receive, he always fet apart a tenth penny for the poor, which he ever difpenfed with that fecrecy, that they who were relieved, feldom or never knew their benefactor. He took more pains to avoid the honours and preferments of the gown, than others do to compafd them. His modefty was beyond all example, for "where fome men, who never attained to half his. knowledge, have been puffed up with a high conceit of themfelves, and have affetSled all occafions of raihng their own efteem by depreciating other men, he on the contrary was the moft obliging man that ever pra6lifed : if a young gentleman happened to be retained to argue a point in law, where he was «n the contrary fide, he would very often mend

the

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 91

the obje6lIons when he came to repeat them, and always commend the gentleman if there were any room fcr it, and one good word of his was of more advantage to a young man, than all the favour of a court could be."

Having thus far perfuedhis hiflory and charafler, in the public and exemplary parts of his life, ivithout interrupting, the thread of the relation, with what was private and domeftic, I fhall conclude with a fhort account of thefe.

He was twice married, his firft wife was Ana daughter of fir Henry Moore of Faly in Berkfhire, grandchild to fir Francis Moore, ferjeant at law; by her he had ten children, the four firft died }'oung, the other fix lived to be all married ; and he out-lived them all, except his eldefl daughter, and his youngeft fon, who are yet alive.

His eldeft fon Robert married Frances the daughter of fir Francis Chock, of Avington in Berkfhire, and they both dying in a little time one after another left five children, two fons Matthew and Gabriel, and three daughters, Ann, Mary, and Frances, and by the judge's advice, they both made him their executor, fo he took his grandchildren into his own care, and among them fae left his eftate.

His fecond fon Matthew, married Ann the daughter qf Mr. Matthew Simmonds, of Hilfley, in Glouceflcifliire, who died foon after, and left one fon behind him named Matthew.

Hii

His third fon Thomas, married Rebekah the daughter of Chriftian Le Brune, a Dutch merchant, and died v/ithout ifiue.

His fourth fon Edward, married Mary the daughter of Edmond Goodyere, Efqj of Heythorp, in Oxfordfliire, and Rill lives ] he has two fons, and three daughters.

. His eldeft daughter Mary, was married to Edward Alderly, fon of Edward Alderly, of Inni-fliannon, in the- county of Cork in Ireland, who dying, left her with two fons and three daughters ; flie is fmce married to Edward Stephens, fon to Edward Stephens, Efq; of Cherington in Glou-cefterfliire. Kis youngeft daughter Elizabeth, was married to Edward Webb, Efqj barrifter at law, {he died, leaving two children, a fon and a daughter.

His fccond wife was Ann, the daughter of Mr. Jofeph Bifhop, of Faly in Berkfliire, by whom he had no children ; he gives her a great chara6ler in his will, as a mofl dutiful, faithful, and loving wife, and therefore truftcd the breeding of his grand-children to her care, and left her one of his executors, to whom he joined fir Robert Jenr kinfon, and Mr. Gibbon. .So much may fuffice of thofe defcended frorii him.

In after times, it is not be dotrbtcd, but it will be reckoned no fmall honour to derive from him; and this has made me more particular in reckoning up his ifl'ue. I fhall next give an account of the iflues of his mind, his books, that are either

printed.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 93

printed, or remain in manufcript; for the laft ot thefe by his will, he has forbid the printing ot any of them after his death, except fuch as he fliould give order for in his life : but he feems to have changed his mind afterwards, and to have left it to the difcretion of his executors, which of them might be printctl : for though he does not exprefs that, yet he ordered by a codicil, " that if *' any book of his writing, as well touching the *' common law, as other fubje£ls, (hould be prin--" ted, than what ihould be given for the confi-" deration of the copy, fhould be divided into " ten fhares, of which he appointed fevcn to go *' among his fcrvants, and three to thofe who had " copied them out, and were to look after the ** impreflion." The rcafcn, as 1 have underflood it, that made him fo unwilling to have any of his works printed after his death, was, that he apprehended in the liccnfing them, (which was necefTary before any book could be lawfully printed, by a law then in force, but fince his death determined) fome things might have been ftruck out or altered j which he had obferved not without fome indignation, had been done to a part of the reports, of one whom he had much eftcemed.

This in matters of law, he faid, might prove to be of fuch mifchievous confequences, that he thereupon refolved none of his writings fhould be at the mercy of licenfers j and therefore, bccaufe he was not fure, that they fhould be pub-iiiited without expurgations or interpolatiuns, he

forbade

forbade the printing any of them ; in which he afterwards made fome alteration, at leaft he gave occafion by his codicil, to infer that he had altered bis mind.

This I have the more fully explained, that his laft will may be no way mifunderftood, and that his worthy executors, and his hopeful grand-child-len, may not conclude themfelves to be under an indifpenfible obligation of depriving the public of his excellent writings. "

A Catalogue of all his Printed Books.

I. fT^HE primitive origination of mankind^ A. confidered and examined according to the liaht of nature. Folio

2. Contemplations moral and divine, part i. 8vo,

3. Contemplations moral and divine, part 2. 8vo.

4. Difficiles Nugse, or obfervations touching the Torricellian experiment, and the various fotutions of the fame, efpecially touching the weight and elafticity of the air. 8vo*

5. An ellay touching the gravitation, or non-gravitation of fluid bodies, and the reafons thereof, Hvo.

6.' Obfervations touching the principles of natural m.otions, and efpecially touching rarefaction, and condenfation ; together with a reply to certain remarks, touching the gravitation of fluids. 8vo.

7. The life and death of Pomponius Atticus, written by his contemporary and acquaintance

Cor-

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 95

Cornelius Nepos, tranflated out of his fragments; together with obf3rvations, political and moral, thereupon. 8vo.

8. Pleas of the crown, or a methodical fummary <?f the principal matters relating to that fubjed. 8vo»

Manuscripts not yet publifhed.

I, /CONCERNING the fecondary origination V->l of mankind. Fol.

2. Concerning religion, 5 vol. in Fol. viz. r. De deo. Vox metaphyficaj. pars i & 2. 2. Pars 3. Vox naturse, providentix, ethicae, con-fcientiae. 3. Liber fextus, feptimus, o£lavus. 4. Pars 9. Concerning the holy fcriptures, their evidence and authority. 5. Concerning the truth of the holy fcriptures, and the evidences thereof.

3. Of policy in matters of religion. Fol.

4. De anima, to Mr. B. Fol.

5. De anima, tranfadions between him and Mtt

B. Fol.

6. Tentamina, de ortu, natufa & imniortalltate

animae. Fol.

7. Magnetifmus magneticus. Fol. ■ 8. Magnetifmus phyficus. Fol.

9. Magnetifmus divinus.

10. De generatione animalium Sc vegctabilium. Fol. lat.

11. Of the law of nature. Fol.

12. A letter of advice to his grand-children. 4to,

13. Placita coron^e, 7 vol. Fol.

13. Pre-

14. Preparatory notes concerning the right of the crown. Fol.

15. Incepta de juribus coronae. Fol. ■

16. De prerogativa regis. Fol.

17. Preparatory notes touching parliarnentary proceedings, 2 vol. 4to.

J 8. Of the jurifdi6tion of the houfe of lords, 4to.

19. Of the jurifdidiion of the admiralty.

20. Touching ports and cufloms. Fol.

21. Of the right of the fea and the arms thereof, and cuftoms. Fol.

22. Concerning the advancement of trade. 4to«

23. Of fiierifFs account. Foi.

24. Copies of evidences. Fol.

25. Mr. Selden's difcourfes. 8vo,

26. Excerpta ex fchedis Seldenianis.

27. Journal of the 18 and 21 Jacobi regis. 4to,

28. Great common place book of reports or cafes in the law, in law French. Fol.

In Bundles.

ON quod tlbi fier'i^ &c. Matth. vii. 12. Touching punifliments, in relation to tke Socinian controverfy.

Policies of the church of Rome. Concerning the laws of England. Of the amendment of the laws of England, Touching provifion for the poor. Upon Mr. Hobbs's manufcript. Concerning the time of the abolition of the Jewifh laws.

In

Sir MATTHEW HALE. ^j In Quarto.

^md fit deus.

Of the ftate and condition of the foul and body after death.

Notes concernino; matters of law.

o

To thefe I Ihall add the Catalogue of the Manuscripts which he left to the Hon. Society of LincolnVInn, with that part of his Will that concerns them.

ITEM, 00 a tcffimoncp of mj) Ijonouj: ano rcfpcrt CO t!)e _focietp of JLincoln'^^SInit, Mjzu 3. Ija5 tlje grcatett part of mp education, 35 gti)^ ano ijftiucatlj to t!;at Ijouourable foci^: ^tj) tljc federal manufcrtpt IjooHs coutaineD \\x a fclj^mttc aiiue]cen to mp toiil: tljep arc a trcafure tport^ ijabiug; aim kccpiuo;, toijic!) 3| i;avie hzzw near fortp j)ear0 in gatljcring;, tuitlj ucrp great iuiiuarp ann erpence. ^p uefire i>, ti)at tljep Ije kept fafe, auD all togetljer, in remembrance of me; tbep Uuere fit to be botinn ill leatijer ann djainen, anu kept in arcljiije^": 31 Defire tljcp map not be lent out, or nifpofeo of t bnlp if 31 Ijappen Ijereafter to l;abe anp of mp poflcritp of tljat foeietp, tbat oeCreg to tranfccibe anp book, ann giije tjerp pon cau^ tion to reftore it again ixi a prefireD time, fuel; a? t{;e beucl;eri3 of tljat locietv \\\ coun^

H ^ til

t\\ (Ijall appvoUe of 5 tljeu, anu not otljci'twlifc-, onlp one l)ook at one tintc map lie lent out to tfjem tip tlje focictp; To tijat tljeue lie no more l)ut one l)oah of tljcfe I'ccks abroau out of ti;e librarp atone time. SCljep are a ti-eafure tijat are not fit for everp man'0 Uielu x nor is cberp man capable of making ufe of tljem: onlp 31 iMoulD lja\je notljiuo; of tljefe ibochs pcintcn* hut intirelp preferlicD togetljcr, for tlje ufe of tlje innu^iiou^ Icarneo memiierss of tljat Metp,

A Catalogue of die Books given by him to Lincoln's-Inn, according to the fchedula. annexed to his wilJ.

PLacita de teiTJ-pore regis Johannis, i vol. ftitcht,. Placita coram regeE. i. 2 vol,

Placita coram rege E. 2. 3 vol.

Placita coram rege E. 3, 3 vol.

Placita coram rege R. 2. i vol.

Placita coram rege H. 4. H 5. i vol;

^acita de banco, E. i. ab amio i, ad annum* 21.. I vol.

ITranfcripts of many pleas, coram rege 5c dc banco E. i. i vol.

The pleas in the exchequer, ftiled communia, from 1 E. 3. to 46 E. 3. 5 vol.

Glofe rolls of king John, verbatim, of the moll material things, i vol.

The principal matters in the clofc and patent

rolls,.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 99

rolls, of fJ. 3. tranfcribed verbatim, from 9 H. 3. to 56 H. 3. 5 vol. velum, marked K. L.

The principal matters in the clofe and patent rolls, E. I. with feveral copies and abftrads of records, i vol. marked F.

A long book of abftradls of records, by me.

Clofe and patent rolls, from i to 10 E, 3, and other records of the time of H. 3. i vol. marked W.

Clofe rolls of 15 E. 3. v^^ith other records, i ▼ol. marked N.

Clofe rolls from 17 to 38 E. 3. 2 vol.

Clofe and patent rolls from 40 E. 3 to 50 E. 3. I vol. marked B.

Clofe rolls of E. 2. with other records, i vol. R.

Clofe and patent rolls, and charter rolls in the lime of king John for the clergy, i vol.

A great volume of records of feveral natures, G.

The leagues of the kings of England, tempore E. I. E. 2. E. 3. I vol.

A book of ancient leagues and military provifi-ons, I vol.

The reports of Iters of Derby, Nottingham, and Bedford, tranfcribed, i vol.

Itinera foreft de Pickering & Lancafter, tran-fcrlpt ex original!, i vol.

An ancient reading, very large, upon charta de forcftae, and of the foreft laws.

The tranfcript of the iter forefta de Dean, i vol.

Quo warranto and liberties of the county of Gloixefter, with the pleas of the chace of Kingf-wood, I vol,

H 2 Tran^

Tranfcript of the black book of the admiralty, laws of the arniy, impofitions and feveral honours, I volv

Records of patents, inquifitions, &c. of the county of Leicefter, i vol.

Mufter and military provifions of all forts, extracted from the records, i vol.

Gervafius Tilburienfis, or the black book of the exchequer, i vol.

The king's title to the pre-emption of tin, a ihin vol.

Calender of the records in the tov^^er, a fmall vol.

A mifccllany of divers records, orders, and other things of various natures, marked E. i vol.

Another of the like nature in leather cover, i vol,

A book of divers records and things relating to the chancery, r vol.

Titles of honour and pedigrees, efpecially touching Clifford, i vol.

Hiftory of the marches of Wales colleded by me, I vol.

Certain collections touching titles of honour, i vol.

Copies of feveral records touching premunire, 1 vol.

Extradl of commifHons tempore H. 7. H. 8. R, and the proceedings in the court military, between Ray and Ramfey, i vol.

Petitions in parliament tempore E. i. E. 2, E. 3. H. 4. 3 vols.

Summons of parliament, fr»?m 49 H. 3. to 22 E, 4. 3 vol.

The

Sir MATTHEW HALE. loi

The parliament rolls from the beginning of E!, I. to the end of R. 3. in 19 volumes, viz. i of E. I. I of E. 2. vi'ith the ordinations. 2 of E. 3. 3 of R. 2. 2 of H. 4. 2 of H. 5. 4 of H. 6. 3 of E. 4. I of R. 3. all tranfcribcd at large.

Mr. Elfing's book touching proceedings in parliament, I vol.

Noye's collection touching the king's fupplies, I vol. ftitcht.

A book of various coIleiSllons out of records and regifter of Canterbury, and claims at the coronation of R. 2. I vol.

Tranfcript of bifliop Ufher's notes, principally concerning chronology, 3 large vol.

A tranfcript out of dooms-day book of Glou-cefterfliire and Heiefordfhire, and of fome pipe-rolls, and old accompts of the cuftoms, i vol.

Extrads and colledlions out of records touchin-:; titles of honour, i vol.

Extracts of pleas, patents and clofe-rolls, tempore H. 3. E. 1, E. 2. E. 3. and Ibme old antiquities of England, i vol.

ColleClions and memorials of many records and antiquities, i vol. Seldeni.

Calender of charters, and records in the tower, touching Gloucefterfhire.

ColleiStion of notes and records of various natures, marked M. i vol. Seldeni.

Tranfcript of the iters of London, Kent, Cornvyall, i vol.

H 3 Ex^.

Extracts out of the leiger-books of Battell, Eve-fham, Winton, &c. i vol. Seldeni.

Copies of the principal records in the red book, in the exchequer, i vol.

Extracts of records and treaties, relating to fea affairs, i vol.

Records touching cuftoms, ports, partition of the lands of Gi. de Clare, &c.

Extra61: of pleas in the time of R. i. king John, E. 1. he. i vol.

Cartae antiquae in the tower, tranfcribed, in 2 vol.

Chronological remembrances, extra(£led out of the notes of bifliop Ulher, i vol. Hitched. Inquifitiones de legibus Walliae, i vol. Colle61:ions or records touching knighthood. Titles of honour. Seldeni. i vol, Mathematicks arid fortifications, i vol, ProceiTus curia militaris, i vol. A book of honour ftitched, i vol. Extrafls out of the regiftry of Canterbury. Copies of ftveral records touching proceedings in the military court, i vol.

AblhacSls of fummons and rolls of parliament, out of the book Dunelm, and fome records alphabetically digefted, I vol.

Abftrails of divers records in tlie office of firft fruits, I vol. flitched.

Mathematical and aftrological calculations, i vol. A book of divinity.

Two

>3

Sir MATTHEW HALE. lo: Two large repofitories of records, marked A.

and B.

[ All thofe above arc in folio. ]

The proceedings of the forefts of Windfor, Dean, and Eflex, in 4to. I vol. [ Thofe that follow are nioft of thern in vellum or parchment. ]

Two books of old ftatutes, one ending H. j. .the other 2 H. 5. with the fums, 2 vol.

Five laft years of E. 2. i vol.

Reports tempore E. 2. I vol.

The year book of R. 2. and fome others, i vol.

An old chronicle from the creation to E. 3, i vol.

A mathematical book, efpccially of optiouesj I vol.

A Dutch book of .geometry and fortification.

Murti Benevenlani geometrica, i vol.

Reports tempore E. i. under titles, i vol.

An old regifter and fome pleas, 1 vol.

Bernardi Bratrack peregrinatio, I vol.

Iter Cantii and London, and fome reports, ■^tempore E. 2. i vol.

Reports tempore E. i. and E. 2. I vol,

Leicer book, Abbatiae dc bello.

Ifidori opera.

Liber altercaticnis, & chriftiani:^ philofophae, ,Contra paganos.

Hiftoria Petri manducatorii.

Hornii aftronomica,

Hiftoria ecclefice Dunelmenfis,

Holandi chymica.

De alchymije fcriptoribus.

The black book of the new law, collefSlcd by me, and digefted into alphabetical titles, written with my own hand, which is the original copy,

MATTHEW HALE. The Conclusion.

THUS lived and died fir Matthew Hale, the renowned lord chief juftice of England. He had one of the blellings of virtue in the higheft i-neafure of any of the age, that does not always follow it, which was, that he was univerfally much valued and admired by men of all fides and perfuafions. For as none could hate him but for his juftice and virtues, fo the rrreat eftimation he was generally in, made, that few durft undertake to defend fo ungrateful a paradox, as any thing faid to leflen him would have appeared to be. His name is fcarce ever mentioned fince his death, without particular accents of fingular refue6l. His opinion in points of law generally pafles as ^n uncontroulable authority, and is often pleaded in all the courts of juftice : and all that knew him well, do ftiil fpeak of him as one of the peifcdleft patterns of religion and virtue they ever faw.

The comm.endations given him by all forts of people are fuch, that I can hardly come under the cenfures of this age, for any thing I have faid con-: cerning him ; yet if this book lives to after times, }t will be looked on perhaps as a picture, drawn

more

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 105

rtiore according to fancy and invention, than after the life ; if it were not that thofe who knew him well, pftablifhing its credit in the prefent age, will make it pafs down to the next with a clearer authority. I fhall perfue his praife no further in my own words, but fhall add what the prefent lord chancellor of England faid concerning him, when he flelivered the commiflion to the lord chief juftlce Rainsford, who fucceeded him in that office, which he began in this manner.

" The vacancy of the feat of the chief juftice

** of this court, and that by a way and means fo

*' unufual, as the refignation of him, that lately

*' held it, and this too proceeding from fo deplorable

" a caufe, as the infirmities of that body., which

" began to forfake the ableft mind that ever pre-

*'. fided here, hath filled the kino-dom with lamen-

*' tations, and given the king many and penfivc

*' thoughts, how to fupply that vacancy again."

And a little after fpeaking to his fuccefibr, he faid,

*' The very labours of the place, and that weight

" and fatigue of bufinefs which attends it, are no

*' fmall difcouragements ; for what fhoulders may

.*' not juftly fear the burthen which made him.

•" ftoop that went before you ? Yet I confefs you

" have a greater difcouragement than the meer

*' burthen of your place, ajid that is the unimitablii

' example of your laft predeceflbr : onerofum ejl

" fuccedere bom principle v/as the faying of him

*' in the panegyrick ; and you will find it fo too

*' that are to fucceed fuch a chief juflice, of fo

" inde-

<.

*' indefatigable an induftiy, fo invincible a pati-" ence, fo exemplary an integrity, and fo magna-" nimous a contempt of worldly things, without " which no man can be truly great; and to all *' this a man that was fo abfolute a mafter of the *' fcience of the law, and evert of the moft ab-■'' ftrufe and hidden parts of it, that one may *' truly fay of his k.nov.'ledge in the law, what St. '^^ Aufiin faid of St. Hierom's knowledge in divi-*' nity, quod H:erom?mis nefcivit, nullus inortoUian *' unqiiam fcivit. And therefore the king would '* not fuffer himfelf to part with fo great a man, *' till he had placed upon him all the marks o.f ** bounty and eilieem, which his retired and weak "'^ condition was capable of."

To this high character, in which the expreflions, as they well become the eloquence of him who pronounced them, fo they do agree exadlly to the fubject, without the abatements that are often to "be made for rhetoric ; I fhall add that part of the lord chief juftice's jinfwer, in which he fpeaks of his predeceffor.

" —— A perfon in whom his eminent virtues^ *' and deep learning, have long managed a conteft *' for the fuperiority, which is not decided to this ** day, nor will it ever be determined, I fuppofe, " which fhall get the upper hand. A perfon that " has fat in this court thefe many years, of whofe *' adlions there I have been an eye and an ear ** witnefs, that by the greatnefs of his learning *' always charmed his auditors to reverence and

" atten-

((

(C

.9/r MATTHEW HALE. 107

f' attention : a perfon, of whom I think I may '« boldly fay, that as former times cannot fliew *' any fuperiour to him, fo I am confident fuc-*' ceeding and future time will never fliew any '*■ equal : thefe confiderations hightened by what I ^' liave heard from your lordfliip concerning him, " made me anxious and doubtful, and put me to ,*' a ftand, how I fhould fucceed fo able, fo good, *' and fo great a man : it doth very much trouble *' me, that I who in comparifon of liim am but like a candle lighted in the fun-fiiine, or like a glow-worm at mid-day, fliould fucceed fo great .*' a perfon, that is and will be fo eminently fa-*' mous to all pofterity, and I muft ever wear this " motto in my breaft to comfort me, and in my *' actions to excnfe me,

'' Si^quhur.^ quamvh non pq/Jlous isqius."" Thus were panegyricks made upon him while yet alive, in that fame court of juftice which he had fo worthily governed. As he was honoured while he lived, fo he was much lamented when he died : and this will ftil! be acknowledged as ajuft infciiption for his memory, though his modciiy forbid any fuch to be put on his tomb-ftone.

THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST PATTERNS THIS AGE HAS AFFOPvDED, WHETHER IN HIS PRIVATE DEPORTMENT AS A CHRISTIAN, OR IN HIS PUBLIC EMPLOYMENTS, EITHER AT

THE BAR OR ON THE BENCH, ■ • , ADDI-

[ io8 ] ADDITIONAL NOTES

OF THE

LIFE AND DEATH

O F

Sir MATTHEW HALE, Knt.

Written by Richard Baxter,

At the Requeft of Edward Stephens, Efq; Publifher of his Contemplations, and his familial Friend^ ,

To the READER.

SINCE the hiflory of judge Hale's life is publifhed (written by Dr. Burnet very well) fome men have thought, that becaufe my familiarity with him was known, and the laft time of a man's life is fuppofed to contain his matureft judgment, time, ftudy, and experience correfling former over-fights; and this great man who was moft diligently and thijftily learning to the laft, was like to be flill wifcr, the ^notice that I had of him in the latter years of his life fhould not be omitted.

I was never acquainted with him till 1667, and ttierefor€ have nothing to fay of the former part of his life j nor of the latter, as to any public affairs, but only of what our familiar converfe acquainted me : but the vifible effects made mc wonder at the induftry and unwearied labours of his former life. Befides the four volumes againft atheifm and infidelity, in folio, which I after mention, when I was dcfued to borrow a manu-fcript of his law colledions, he fhewed me, as I remember, about two and thirty folios, and told me, he had no other on that fubjecl, (colledions out of the tower records, &c.) and that the ama-nuenfis work that wrote them, coit him a thoufand pound. He was fo fet on iludy, that herefolvedly avoided all necefTary diverfions, and fo little valued eithergrandeur, wealth, or any worldly vanity, that he avoided them to that notable degree, which incompetent judges took to be an excefs. His habit was lo coarfe and plain, that I, who am thought guilty of a culpable negle6l therein, have been bold to defire him to lay by fome things which feemed too homely. T'he houfe which I furrendered to him, and wherein he lived at A6lon, was indeed well fituate but very fmall, and fo far below the ordinary dwellings of men of his rank, as that divers farmers thereabout had better ; but it pleafed him. Many cenfurcd him for chufmg his laft wife below his quality : but the good man more regarded his own daily comfort, than men's thoughts and talk. As far as I could difgern, he choft one very

f'iitabis

no 'To the READER.

fuitable to his ends; one of his own judgrneiit and temper, prudent and loving and -fit to pleafe him ; and that would not draw on him the trouble of much acquaintance and relations. His houfckeeping ■was according to the refl:, like his cftate and mind, but not like his place and honour: for he refolved never to grafp at riches, nor take great fees, but would rcfufe what many others thought too little. 1 wondered when he told me how fmall his eftate was, after fuch ways of getting as were before him : but as he had little, and dcfired little, fo he-was content with little, and fuited his dwelling, table, and retinue thereto. He greatly fhunned the vifits of many, or gVeat perfons, that came not to him on' neccli'ary bufmefs, becaufe all his hours were precious to him, and therefore he contrived the avoiding of them, and the free enjoyment of liis beloved privacy.

I muft with a glad remembrance acknowledge, that while wc were fo unfuitable in places and worth, yet feme fuitablenefs of judgn^ent and dil-pofuion made our frequent converfe pleafmg to us both. The laft time fave one, that I was at'his houfe, he made me lodge there, and in the morning inviting me to more frequent vifits faid, no man (hall be more welcome ; and he was no dif-iembler. To fignify his love, he put my name as a legatee in his will, bequeathing me forty fliil-lings. Mr. Stephens gave me two manufcripts, as appointed by him for me, declaring his judgment of our church contentions and their cure (after

men-

ro the READER. m

mentioned). Though they are imperfe£l as written on the fame queftion at feveral times, I had a great mhid to print them, to try whether the common reverence of the author would cool any of our contentious clergy : but hearing that there was a reftraint in his will, I took out part of a> copy in which I find thefe words, " I do exprefsly " declare, that I will have nothing of my writings " printed after my death, but only fuch as I fhall " in my life-time deliver out to be printed." And not having received this in his life-time, nor to be printed in exprefs terms, I am afraid of croffing the will of the dead, though he ordered them for me.

It {hewed his mean eflate as to riches, that in his will he is put to diftribute the profits of a book or two when printed, among his friends and fervants. Alas ! we that are great loofers by printing, know that it muft be a fmall gain that muft thus accrue to them. Doubtlefs, if the lord chief juflice Hale hs.d gathered money as other lawyers do that had lefs advantage, as he wanted not will, fo he would not have wanted power to have left them far greater legacies. But the fervants of a felf-dcnying mortified mafter, muft be content to fuffer by his virtues, which yet if they-imitate him, will turn to their final gain.

God made him a public good, whicli is more than to get riches. His great judgment and known, integrity, commanded refpedt from thofe that, knew him j fo tloat I verily think, that no qwq

tii To the READER.

fubje£l fince the days that hiftory hath notified the affairs of England to us, went off the flage with greater and more univerfal love and honour; (and what honour without love is, I undeiffand riOt.) I remember when his fucceffor, the lord chief juftice Rainsford, falling into fome melan-cholly, came and fcnt to me for fome advice, he did it as he faid, becaufe judge Flale defired him fo to do; and expreffed fo great rcfpedl to his judgment and writings, as I percei\'ed much prevailed with him. And many have profited by his contemplations, who would never have read them^ Tiad they been written by fuch a one as I. Yet among all his books and difcourfes, I never knew of thefe until he was dead.

His refolution for juftice was fo great, that I am perfuaded, that no wealth nor honour would have hired him knowingly to do one unjuft a^ft.

And though he left us in forrow, I cannot but acknowledge it a great mercy to him, to be taken away when he was. Alas! what would the good itian have done, if he had been put by plotters, and traitors, and fwearers, and forfwearers, upon, all that his fucceffors have been put to ? In likelihood, even all his great wifdom and fincerity,-could never have got him through fuch a wilder-nefs of throns, and briars, and wild beafts, with--out tearing in pieces his entire reputation, if he had never fo well fecured his confcicnce. O ! how fea-ibnably did he avoid the tempell and go to Chrifl.

And

And fo have fo many excellent perfons fince then, and efpecially within the fpace of one year, as may well make England tremble at the prog-noftick, that the righteous are taken as from the evil to come. And alas ! what an evil is it like to be ? We feel our lofs. We fear the common danger. But what believer can chufe but acknowledge God's mercy to them, in taking them up to the world of light, love, peace and otder, when confufion is coming upon this world, by darknefs, malignity, perfidioufnefs and cruelty. Some think that the lad conflagration fhall turn this earth into htll. If fo who would not firft be taken from it ? And when it is fo like to hell already, who would not rather be in heaven ?

Though fome miftook this man for a meer phi-lofopher or humanift, that knew him not within ; yet his moft feiious defcription of the fufferings of Chrift, and his copious volumes to prove the truth of the fcripture, chriftianity, our immortality, and the Deity, do prove fo much reality in his faith and devotion, as makes us paft doubt of the reality of his reward and glory.

When he found his belly fwell, his breath and ftrenglh much abate, and his face and fiefh decay, he chearfully received the fentence of death : and though Dr. Gliflbn by meer oximel fquilliticum, feemed a while to cafe him, yet that alfo foon failed him ; and he told me, he was prepared and contented comfortably to receive his change. And accordingly he left us, and went into his native

X country

country of Gloucefterfliiie to die, as the hlftory tells yoir,

Mr* Edward Stephens being moft familiar with hiin, told me his purpofe to write his life : and cltifired me to draw up the meer narrative of my fhort familiarity with him ; which I did as follow-eth : by hearing no more of hira. caft it by ; but others dehring it, upon the fight of the publifhed hiftory of bis life by Dr. Burnet, I have left it to the difcretion of forae of them^ to do with it what they will.

And being half dead already In thofe deareft friends who were half myfelf, am much the more willing to leave this mole-hill and prifon of earth, to be with that wife and bleffed fociety, who being united to their head in glory, do not envy, hate, or perfecute each other, nor forfake God, nor Ihall ever be forfaken by him.

K.. 6^.

Note, That this narrative was written two years before Dr. Burnet's; and It's not to be doubted, but that he had better information of his manufcripts^ and fome other circumftances, than I. But of thofe manufcripts direcSled to me, about the foul's immortality, of which I have the originals under his hand, and alfo of his thoughts of the fubjedls mentioned by me, from 1671, till he went to die in Gloucefterfiiire, 1 had the fulleft notice.

ADDI-

[ 1^5 ] ADDITIONAL NOTES

On the Life and Death of

Sir MATTHEW HALE, Knt.

To my Worthy Friend Mr. Stephens, the Publilher of Judge Hale's Contemplations.

SIR,

YOU defired me to give you notice of what I knew in my perfonal convcrfe, of the great lord chief juftice of England, fir Matthew Hale. You have partly made any thing of mine unmeet for the fight of any but yourfelf and his private friends (to whom it is ufelefs) by your divulging thofe words of his extraordinary favour to me, which will make it thought, that I am partial in his praifes. And indeed that exceffive efteem of his, which you have told men of, is a divulgino-of his imperfeclion, who did over-value fo unworthy a perfon as I know myfelf to be.

I will promife you to fay nothing but the truth; and judge gf it and ufe it as you pleafe.

My acquaintance with him was not lono; : and I look'd on him as an excellent peifon ftudied in his own wa}r, which I hoped I fliould never have cccafion to make much ufe of; but I thouoht not fo verfed in our matters as ourfelves. I was confirmed in this conceit by the firft report I had from him, which was his wifii, that Dr. Reignolds^ Mr. Calamy, and I, would have taken biflio|,ricks, when they were ofFered us by the lord chancellor, as from the king, in 1660, (as one did). I thought he underftood not our cafe, or the true ftate of Englifh prelacy. Many years after when I lived at A6ton, he being lord chief baron of the exchequer, fuddenly took a houfe in the village. We fat next feats together at church for many weeks, but neither did he ever fpeak to me or 1 to him. At lafl-, my extraordinary friend (to whom I was more beholding than I muft here exprefs,) ferjeant Fountain, afked me, why I did not vifit the lord chief baron ? I told him, becaufe I had no reafon for it, being a ftranger to him ; and had fome againft it, viz. that a judge, whofe reputation was necefiary to the ends of his office, fhould not be brought under court fufpicron, or difgrace, by his familiarity with a petfon, whom the intereft and diligence of fome prelates had rendered fo odious, as I knev/ myfelf to be with fuch, I durft not be fo injurious to him. The ferjeant anfwered, it is not meet for him to come firft to you ; I know why I fpeak it: let me in treat you to go firft to him. In obedience to which requcft I did it j and

fa

^/> MATTHEW HALE, 117

^ we entered into neighbourly familrarSty. I lived then in a fmall houfe, but it had a pleafant gardeii and backfide, which the (honeft) landlord had a defire to fell. The judge had a mind to the houfe; but he would not meddle with it, till he got a flranger to me, to come and enquire of me whether I was willing to leave it ? I told him, I vv'as not only willing but defirous, not for my owri ends, but for my landlord's fake, who muft needs fell it: and fo he bought it, and lived in that poor houfe, till his mortal ficknefs fent him to the place ©f his interment.

I will truly tell you the matter and the manner of our converfe. We were oft together, and al-moft all our difcourfe was philofophical, and efpe-cially about the nature of fpirits and fuperiour regions ; and the nature, operations, and immortality of man's foul. And our difpofition and courfe of thoughts, were in fuch things fo like, that I did not much crofs the bent of bis confe-fence. He firudied phyficks, and got all new or old books of philofophy that he could meet with, as eagerly as if he had been a boy at the univcrfitj-, Moufnerius, and Honoratus Faber, he defervedly much efleemed ; but yet took not the latter to be without fome miftakes. Mathematicks he ftudied more than I did, it being a knowledge which he much more efleemed than I did ; who valued all knowledge by the greatnefs of the benefit, and necciTity of the ufe; and my unfldlfulncfs in them.« 1 ackncvvledgc my great dekii, in which he much

excelled. But we were both much addid^ed to know and read all the pretenders to more than ordinary in phyficks; the Platonifts, the Peripa-teticks, the Epicureans (and efpecially their Gaf-fendus,) Teleius, Campanella, Patricius, Lullius, White, and every feet that made us any encourg-ing promife. We neither of us approved of all in Ariftotle ; but he valued him more than I did. We both greatly difliked the principles of Cartefius and Gaffendus (much more of the Bruitifls, Hobbs and Spinofa j ; efpecially their do6lorine de motu, and their obfcuring, or denying nature itfelf, even the principia motus, the virtutes form.ales, which are the caufes of operations^

Whenever we were together, he was the fpring of our difcourfe (as chufmg the fubjed): and moil of it ftill was of the nature of fpirits, and the immortality, ftate, and operations of feparated fouls. We both were confcious of human darknefs, and how much of our underftandings, quiet in fuch matters, mull be fetcht from our implicit truft in the goodnefs and promifes of God, rather than from a clear and fatisfying conception of the mode of feparated fouls operations ; and how great ufe we have herein of our faith in Jefus Chrift, as he is the undertaker, mediator, the Lord and lover of fouls, and the actual poiTcffor of that glory. But yet we thought, that it greatly concerned us, to fearch as far as God allowed us, into a matter of fo great moment ; and that even little and obfcure profpe6ts into the heavenly ftate,

are

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 119

are more excellent than much and applauded knowledge of tranfitory things.

He was much in urging difficulties and objedti-ons j but you could not tell by them what was his own judgment: for when he was able to anfwer them himfelfj he v/ould draw out anothers anfwer.

He was but of a flow fpeech, and fometimes fo hefitating, that a ftranger would have thought bim a m-an of low parts, that kjiew not readily what to fay (though ready at ether times). But I never faw Cicero's dodlrine de Oratore, more verified in any man, that furnifhing the mind with all forts of knowledge, is the chief thing to make an excellent orator : for when there is abundance and clearnefs of knowledge in the mind, it will furnifh even a flow tongue to fpeak that which by its congruence and verity fhall prevail. Such a one never wants moving raatterj iiox an anfwer to vain objecflors.

The manner of our converfe was as fuitable to my inclination as the matter. For wliereas many bred in univerfitics, and called fcholars, have not the wit, manners, or patience, to hear thofe that they difcourfe with fpeak to the end, but through lift and impotency cannot hold, but cut off a man's fpeech when they hear any thing that urgeth them, before the latter fart make the former intelligible or ftrong (when oft the proof and ufe is referved to the end). Ulcer fcolds than fcholars; as if they commanded filence at the end of each ieutence to him that fpcakcih, or clfe would have

two talk at once. I do not remember, that ever he and I did interrupt each other in any difcourfe. Plis wifdom and accuftomed patience caufed him ftili to ftay for the end. And though my difpofition have too much forw^ardnefs to fpeak, 1 had not fo little Vv'it or manners, as to interrupt him; whereby we far better underftood each other, than we could have done in chopping and maimed difcourfe.

He was muc^ for coming to philofophical knowledge by the help of experiments : but he thought, that our new philofophers, as fome call the Cartefians, had taken up many fallacies as experiments, and had made as unhappy a ufe of their trials, as many empericks and mountebanks do in medicine : and that Ariftotle was a man of far greater experience, as well as fludy, than they. He was wont to Hiy, that lads at the univerfities had found it a way to be thought wifer than others, to join with boaflers that cried down the ancients before they underftood them : for he thought that few of thefe contemners of Ariftotle, had ever fo far ftudied him, as to know his doctrine, but fpoke againft they knew not what ; even as fome fecular theologues take it to be the way to be thought wife men and orthodox, to cant againft fome party or fe6l which they have advantage to contemn. It muft coft a man many years ftudy to know what Ariftotle held. But to read over Ma~ girus (and perhaps the Conimbricenfes or Zaba-roll), and then prate againft Ariftotle, requireth but a little time and labgur. He could well be?,?

S:T MATTHEW HALE. 121

its when one that had thoroughly ftudied Arlftotle, difTcnted froni- him in any particular upon reafon; but he loathed it in ignorant men, that were carried to it by fiiameful vanity of mind.

His many hard queftions, doubts and objections to me, occafioned me to draw up a fmail trail of the nature and immortality of man's foul, as proved by natural light alone (by way of queftions and anfwers) : in which I had not baulked the hardeft objeilicns and difficulties that I could think of (conceiving that atheifts and fadduces are fo unhappily witty, and fatan fuch a tutor, that they are as like to think of them as I). But the good man, when I fent it to him, was wiferthan I, and fent me word in his return, that he would not have me publifli it in Englifti (nor without fome alterations of the method) ; bccaufe though he thought I had fufficiently anfwered all the objections, yet ordinary readers would take deeper into their minds fuch hard objections as they never heard before, than the anfwer (how full foever) would be able to overcome: whereupon, not having leifure to tranflate and alter it, I cafl it by.

He fcemed to reverence and believe the opinion of Dr. Willis, and fuch olhers, ck ammis hrutorwn^ as being not fpiritual fubftances. But v/hen I fent him a confutation of them, he feemcd to acquiefce, and as far as I could judge, did change his mind; and had higher thoughts of fenfitive natures, than they that take them to be fome evanid qualities,

proceed-

proceeding from contexture, aLLemperation, and motion.

Yet he and I did think, that the notion of immateriality, had little fatisfadory to acquaint us with the natuie of a fplrit (not telling us any thing what it is, but what it is not). And we thought, that the old Greek and Latin dodors (cited by Fauftus Rhegiculis, whom Mamertus anfwereth), did mean by a body or matter (of which they faid fpirits did confift), the fame thing as we now mean by the fubflance of fpirits, dlftin-guifliing them from meer accidents. And we thought it a matter of feme moment, and no fmall difficulty, to tell what men me:.n here by the word [fubllance], if it be but a relative notion, be-caufc it doth fubj?are accident'ibus ^ fnhfi/lere per fe^ relation is not proper fubftance. It is fubflance that doth fo fubfift : it is fcmeuhat, and not nothing, nor ah accident. Therefore if more than relation mufl: be meant, it will prove hard to dif-tinguifli fubftance from fubftance by the notion of immateriality. Souls have no fhadows : they are not palpable and grofs ; but they are SUBSTANTIAL LIFE, as V^IRTUES. And it is hard to conceive, how a created vis vd virtus fhould be the adequate conceptus of a fpirit, and not rather an inadequate, fuppofmg the concepius oifuhflantia fun-damentalis (as Dr. GliiTon calls it de vita natura)y feeing 07nnis virtus cjl rei alieni virtus.

Yet he yielded to mc, that virtus feu vis vitalisy is not annua accidens, but the conceptus forrnalis

fpiritus^

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 123

fpiritus^ fuppofing fuli/Iantia to be the conceptus fun-damentalis : and both together exprefs the eflence of a fpirit.

Every created being is pafilve ; for reciplt in Jluxum caufce prima. God tranfcendeth our defining Ikill : but where there is receptivity, many ancients thought there vvere fome pure fort of materiality; and we fay, there is receptive fub-ftantiality : and who can defcribe the difference (laying afide the formal virtues that difference things) between the higheft material fubftance, and the loweft fubftance, called immaterial.

We were neither of us fatisfied with the notions of penetrability and indivifibilityj as fufficient differences. But the virtutes Jpeaficcs plainly difference.

What latfer thoughts, a year before he died, hs had of thcfe things, I know not: but fome fay, that a treatife of this fubje£l, the foul's immortality, was his laft finifhed work (promifed in the end of his treatife of man's origination) ; and if we have the fight of that, it Vv'ill fuller tell us his judgment.

One thing I muft notify to you, and to thofc that have his manufcripts, that when I fent him a fcheme, with fome elucidations, he wrote me on that and my treatife of the foul, almoft a quire of paper of animadverfions \ by v/hich you muft rot conclude at all of his own judgment: for he profcffed to me, that he wrote them to me, not as his judgment, but (as his way was) as the hardeft

objeclioiis

objeillons which he would have fatlsfadlion in. And when I had written him a full anfwer to all, and have been oft fince with him, he feemed fatis-iied. You will wrong him therefore, if you fiiould print that written to me as his judgment.

As to his judgment about religion; our difcourfe was very {jjaring about controverfies. He thought not fit to begin v/ith me about them, nor I with him : and as it was in me, fo It feemed to be in him, from a conceit, that we were not fit to pretend to add much to one another.

About matters of conformity, I could gladly have known his mind more fully : but I thought it unmeet to put fuch queftions to a judge, who muil not fpesk againft the laws ; and he never offered his judgment to me. And I knew, that as I was to revereiice him in his own profeflion, fo imnatters of my profeflion and concernment, he expelled not, that I fhould think as he, beyond the reafons which he gave.

I muft fay,- that he was of opinion, that the wealth and honour of the biiliops was convenient, to enable them the better to relieve the poor, and refcue the inferiour clergy from oppreflion, and to keep up the honour of religion in the world. But all this on fuppofition, that it would be in the hands of wife and good men, or elfc it would do as much harm. But when I afkcd him, whether great v/ealth nnd honour would not be moft earneilly defired and fought by the worf't of men, while good men would not feek them r And whether

he

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 125

he that was the only fervent feeker, was not likelieft to obtain (except under fome rare extraordinary prince) ? And fo whether it was not like to entail the office on the worft, and to arm Chiift's enemies againft him to the end of the world (which a provifion that had neither alluring nor much difcouraging temptation, might prevent), he gave me no anfv/er. I have heard fome fay, if the pope were a good man, what a deal of good might he do ? But have popes therefore bleft the world.

I can truly fay, that he greatly lamented the negligence, and ill lives, and violence of fome of the clergy; and would oft fay, what have they their calling, honour and maintenance for, but to feek the inflrucling and faving of men's fouls ?

He much lamented, that fo many worthy mini-flers v/ere filenced, the church weakened, papifts ftrengthened, the caufe of love and piety greatly wronged and hindered by the prefent dilTerences about conformity. And he hath told me his judgment, that the only means to heal us was, a new aft of uniformity, which {hould neither leave all at liberty, nor impofe any thing but neceffary.

I had once a full opportunity to try his judg-naent far in this. It pleafed the lord keeper Bridg-man to invite Dr. Manton and myfelf (to whom Dr. Bates at our defire was added), to treat with Dr. Wilkins and Dr. Burton about the terms of our reconciliation and reftoration to our miniflerial liberty. After fome days conference, we came to

agree-

agreement in all things, as to the neceflary terms* And becaufe Dr. Wilkins and I had fpecial inti^ macy with judge Hale, we defired him to draw it up in the form of an acSl, which he willingly did, and we agreed to every word. But it pleafcd the houfe of commons, hearing of it, to begin their next feffion with a vote, that no fuch bill Ihould be brought in j and fo it died.

Qiiery i. Whether after this and other fuch agreement, it be ingenuity, or fomewhat elfe, that hath ever fmce faid, we know not what they woukl have ? And that at once call out to us, and yet firidlly forbid us to tell them what it is we take for fm, and what we defire.

2. Whether it be likely, that fuch men as bifhop Wilkins, and Dr. Burton, and judge Hale, would confent to fuch terms of our concord, as fhould be worfe than our prefent condition of divi-lion and convulfion is ? And whether the main-tainers of our dividing impofitions, be all wifer and better men than this judge and that bifhop were ?

3. And whether it be any diflance of opinion, or difficulty of bringing us to agreement, that keepeth England in its fad divifions, or rather fome mens opinion, that our unity itfelf is not de-firable, left it ftrengthen us ? The cafe is plain.

His behaviour in the church was conformable,

-but prudent. He conftantly heard a Curate, too

low for fuch an auditor. In common-prayer he

behaved himfelf as others, faying that, to avoid

the

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 127

the diiFerencing of the gofpels from the epiflles, and the bowing at the name of Jefus, from the nanies, Chrift, Saviour, God, &c. He would ufe fome equality in his geftures, and fland up at the reading of all God's word alike.

I had but one fear or fufpicion concerning him, ■which fmce I am allured was groundlefs : I was afraid leaft he had been too little for the pradlical part of religion, as to the working of the foul towards God, in prayer, meditation, &c. becaufe he feldom fpake to me of fuch fubjefts, nor of practical books, or fermons 3 but was ftill fpeaking of philofophy, or of fplrits, fouls, the future ftate, and the nature of God. But at laft I underftood, that his averfenefs to hypocrify made him purpofely conceal the moR: of fuch his pra6lical thoughts and works, as the world now findeth by his contemplations and other writings.

He told me once, how God broiight him to a fixed honour and obfervation of the Lord's day ; that when he was youn^ being in the weft, the ficknefs or death of fome relation at London, made fome matter of eftate to become his concernment j which required his hallening to London from the weft : and he was commanded to travel on the Lord's day: but I cannot well remember how many crofs accidents befel him in his journey ; one horfe fell lame, another died, and much more; which ftruck him with fuch knk of divine rebuke.

as he never forgot.

V/hen

When I went out of the houfe, in which he fucceeded me, I went into a greater, over-againll the church- door. The town having great need of help for their fouls, I preached between the public fermcns in my houfe, taking the people with me to the church (to common-prayer and fermon) morning and evening. The judge told me, that he thought my courf*;; did the ch'.u'ch much fervice ; and would carry it fo refpe6lfuily to me at my door, that all the people might perceive his approbation. But Dr.- Reeves could not bear it, but complained againfl: me ; and the bifhop of London caufed one Mr. Rofle of Erainford, and Mr. Philips, two jufticcs of the peace, to fend their warrants to apprehend me. I told the judge of the warrant, but afked him no council, nor he gave me none ; but with tears fliewed his forrow : (the only time that ever I faw him weep). So I was fent to the common goal for fix months, by thefe two juftices, by the procurement of the faid Dr. Reeves (hrs majeflry's chaplain, dean of Wind-for, dean of Wolverhampton, parfon of Horfeley, parfon of Aiton). When I came to move for my releafe upon a habeas corpus (by the council of my great friend ferjeant Fountain), I found, that the chara6ler which judge Hale had given of me, flood me in fome Itead ; and every one of the four judges of the common-pleas, did not only acquit me, but faid more for mc than my council, (viz. judge Wild, judge Archer, judge Tyrel, and the lord chief juftice Vaughan) ; and made me

fenfible

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 129

fenfible, how great a part of the honour of his majefty's government, and the peace of the kingdom, confided in the juftice of the judges.

And indeed judge Hale would tell me, that bifhop Ulher was much prejudiced againft lawyers, becaufe the worft caufes find their advocates : but that he and Mr. Selden had convinced him of the reafons of it, to his fatisfa6lion : and that he did by acquaintance with them, believe that there were as many honeft men among lawyers, propor-tionably, as among any profeflion of men in England (not excepting bifhops or divines).

And I muft needs fay, that the improvement of reafon, the diverting men from fenfuality and idlenefs, the maintaining of propriety and juftice, and confequently the peace and welfare of the kingdom, is very much to be afcribed to the judges, and lawyers.

BuC this imprifonment brought me the great lofs of converfe with judge Hale : for the parliament in the next adl againft conventicles, put into it diverfe claufes, fuited to my cafe ; by which I was obliged to go dwell in another county, and to forfake both London and my former habitation ; and yet the juftices of another county were partly enabled to perfue me.

Before I went, the judge had put into my hand four volumes (in folio), which he had written, to prove the being and providence of God, the immortality of the foul, and life to come, the truth ©f chriftianity, and of every book of the fcripture

K by

by itfelf, befides the common proofs of the whole. Three of the four volumes I had read over, and was fent to the goal before I read the fourth. I turned down a few leaves for fome fmall animad-verfions, but had no time to give them him. I coiild not then perfuade him to review them for the prefs. The only fault I found with them of anr moment, was that great copioufnefs, the effe£l of his fulnefs and patience, which will be called tedioufncfs by impatient readers.

When v/e were fcparated, he (that would receive no letters from any man, about any matters which he was to judge) was defirous of letter-<!t)nverfe about our philofophical and fpiritual fub-j^Sti. I having then begun a Latin methodus theologise, fent him one of the fchemes (before mentioned), containing the generals of the philosophical part, with fome notes upon itj which he fo over-valued, that he urged me to proceed in the iame way. I objedled againft putting fo much phi-lofophy (though moftly but de homine) in a method of theology : but he rejected my objections, and refolved me to go on.

At laft it plcafed God to vifit him with his mortal ficknefs. Having had the ftone before (which he found thick pond-water better eafe him of, than the grav^el fpring-water), in a cold journey, an extraordinary flux of urine took him firft, and then fuch a pain in his fide, as forced him to let much blood, more than once, to fave him from fudden fuffocaiion or oppreflion. Ever after which

he

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 131

he had death in his lapfed countenance, flefh and ftrength, with fhortnefs of breath. Dr. Willis, in his life-time, wrote his cafe without his name, in an obfervation in his pharmaceut, &c. which was fhortly printed after his own death, and before his patient's : but I dare fay it fo crudely, as is no honour to that book.

When he had ftriven a while under his difeafe, he gave up his place, not fo much from the ap-prehenfion of the nearnefs of his death (for he could have died comfortably in his public work), but from the fenfe of his difability to difcharge his part: but he ceafed not his ftudies, and that upon points which I could have wiflied him to let go (being confident, that he was not far from his

end).

I fent him a book which I newly publlfhed, for reconciling the controverfies about predeftination, redemption, grace, free-will, but defired him not to beftow too much of his precious time upon it: but (before he left his place) I found him at it fo oft, that 1 took the boldnefs to tell him, that I thought more praftical writings were mofl fuitable to his cafe, who was going from this contentious world. He gave me but little anfwer ; but I after found, that he plied pra<Slicals and contemplatives in their fea-fon i which he never thought meet to give me any account of. Only in general he oft told me, that the reafon and feafon of his writings (againft atheifm, &c, aforefaid) were, both in his circuit and at home, he ufed to fet apart fome time for

K 2 meditation.

meditation, efpeclally after the evening public wor-fhlp every Lord's day ; and that he could not fo profitable keep his thoughts in connedlion and method, otherv/ife, as by writing them down j and withal, that if there were any thing in them ufeful it was the way to keep it for after ufe r and therefore for the better management, for the account-ablenefs and the after ufe, he had long accuftomed to pen his meditations; which gave us all of tha;t nature that he hath left us.

Notwithftanding his own great furniture of knowledge, and he was accounted by fome, fome-what tenacious of his conceptions (for tnen that know much, cannot eafily yield to the expectations of lefs knowing men), yet I muft fay, that I remember not that ever I converfed with a man that was readier to receive and learn. He would hear as patiently, and recolle£l all fo diftinClly, and then try it fo judicioufly (not difdaining to learn of an inferiour in fome things, who in more had need to learn of him), that he would prcfently take what fome ftand wrangling againft many years. I never more ferceived in any man, how much great knowledge and wifdom facilitate additions, and the reception of any thing not before known. Such a one prefently j.erceiveth that evidence which another is incapable of.

For inftance, the lafl time, fave one, that I faw

him (in his weakncfs at Adlon), he engaged me

.to explicate the doftrine of divine governoicnt

(and decree), a.^ confident with xbe fm of man.

And

^'/V MATTHEW HALE. 133

And when I had diflindlh/ told him, 1. What God did, as the author of nature, phyfically. 2. What he did, as legiflator, morally. And 3. What he did, as benefa6lor, and by fpecial grace. 4. And where permiflion came in, and where acStual operation. 5. And fo, how certainly God might caufe the effe6ls, and not caufe the volitions, as determinate to evil, [though the volition and effeS: being called by one name (as theft, murder, adultery, lying, &c.) oft deceive men] : he took, up all that I had faid in order, and diftinftly twice over repeated each part in its proper place, and with its reafon : and when he had done, faid, that I had given him fatisfadion.

Before I knew what he did himfelf in contemplations, I took it not well, that he more than once told me, *' Mr. Baxter, I am more beholden " to you than you are aware of ^ and I thank you *' for all, but efpecially for your fcheme, and your *' catholic theology." For I was forry, that a man (that I thought) fo near death, fliould fpend much of his time on fuch controverfies (though tending to end them). But he continued after, near a year, and had leifure for contemplations which I knew not of.

When I parted with him, I doubted which of us would be lirft at heaven : but he is gone before, and I am at the door, and fomewhat the willinger to go, when I think fuch fouls as his are there.

When he was gone to Gloucefterfliire, and his contemplations were publifhed by you, I fent him

K 3 the

134 Additional Notes on the Life <?/

the confeflion of my cenfurcs of him, how I had feared that he had allowed too great a fliare of his time and thoughts to fpeculation, and too little to pradicals j but rejoiced to fee the conviction of my error : and he returned me a very kind letter, which was the laft.

Some ccnfured him for living under fuch a curate at AcTion, thinking it was in his power to have got Dr. Reeves, the parfon, to provide a better. Of which I can fay, that I once took the liberty to tell him, that I feared too much tepidity in him, by reafon of that thing ; not that he needed him-felf a better teacher, who knew more, and could ovei'-look fcandals ; but for the fake of the poor ignorant people, who greatly needed better help. He anfvvered me, that if money would do it, he would willingly have done it; but the Dr. was a man, not to be dealt with ; which was the hardefl: word that I remember I ever heard him ufe of any. For I never knew any man more free from ^peaking evil of others behind their backs. Whenever the difcourfe came up to the faultinefs of any individuals, he would be filcnt: but the forts of faulty perfons he would blame with cautelous freedom, efpecially idle, proud, fcandalous, contentious, and factious clergymen. We agreed in nothing more than that which he oft repeateth in the papers which you gave me, and which he oft ex-. preiTcd, viz. that true religion confiflcth in grcat,plain, necefTary things, the life of faith and hope, the Ipvc of God and man, an humble felf-denying

mind.

S-Zr MATTHEW HALE. 135

mind, with mortification of worldly tiffe£lion, carnal luft, &c. And that the calamity of the church, and withering of religion, hath come from proud and bufy men's additions, that cannot give peace to themfelv€5 and others, by living in love and quietnefs on this chriftian fimplicity of faith and practice, but vex and turmoil the church with thefe needlefs and hurtful fuperfluities ; fome by their decifions of words, or unnecelFary controverfies ; and fome by their reftlefs reaching after their own worldly intereft, and corrupting the church. Oil pretence of raifing and defending jt j fome by their needlefs ceremonies, ?ind fome by their fupcr-ftitious and caufelefs fcruplcs. But he was efpeci-ally angry at them that would fo manage their differences about fuch things, as to fhew, that they had a greater zeal for their owi> additions, than for the common faving truths and duties which we were all agreed in ; and that did fo manage their feveral little and felfifli caufes, as wounded or injured the common caufe of the chri-ftian and reformed churches. He had a great diftafte of the bocks called, a friendly debate, &c. and ecclefiaftical polity, as from an evil fpirit, injuring fcripture phrafe, and tempting the atheifts to contemn all religion, fo they might but vent their fpleen, and be thought to have the better of their adverfaries ; and would fay, how eafy is it to requite fuch men, and all parties to cxpofe each other to contempt ? (Indeed, how many paiifhes in England afford too plenteous matter of reply

K 4 tq

to one that took that for his part j and of tears to ferious obfervers) ?

His main defirc was, that as men fhould not be pevifhly quarrelfom againft any lawful circumftan-ces, forms or orders in religion, much Icfs think themfelves godly men, becaufe they can fly from Other mens circumfl:ances, or fettled lawful orders as fin J fo efpecially, that no human additions of opinion, order, modes, ceremonies, profeffions, or promifes, fhould ever be managed to the hindering of chriftian love and peace, nor of the preaching of the gofpel, nor the wrong of our common caufe, or the ftrengthening of atheifm, infidelity, pro-phanenefs or popery ; but that chriftian verity and piety, the love of God and man, and a good life, and our common peace in thefc, might be firft refoved on and fecured, and all our additions might be ufed, but in due fubordination to thefe, and not to any injury of any of them ; nor fefts, parties, or narrow interefts be fet np againfl the common duty, and the public intereft and peace.

I know you are acquainted, how greatly he valued Mr. Selden, being one of his executors ; his books and pi6lure being ftill near himt I think it meet therefore to remember, that becaufe many Hobbills do report, that Mr. Selden was at the heart an infidel, and inclined to the opinions of Hobbs, I defired him to tell me the truth herein : and he oft profefled to me, that Mr. Selden was a refolved ferious chriftian; and that he was a great adverfary to Hobbs's errors 3 and that he had feen

him

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 137

him openly oppofe him (o earneftly, as either to depart from him, or drive him out of the room. And as Mr. Selden was one of thofe called Erafti-ans (as his book de Synedriis, and others fliew), yet owned the office properly minifterial. So moft lawyers that ever I was acquainted with, taking the word jurifdiclion, to fignify fomething more than the meer doiSloral, prieftly power, and power over their own facramental communion in the church which they guide, do ufe to fay, that it is primarily in the magiftrate (as no doubt all power of corporal coercion, by mulcts and penalties is). And as to the accidentals to the proper power of priefthood, or the keys, they truly fay with Dr. Stillingfleet, that God hath fettled no one form.

Indeed, the lord chief juflice thought, that the power of the word and facraments in the miniftc-' rial office, was of God's inftitution; and that they were the proper judges appointed by Chrift, to whom they themfelves fhould apply facraments, and to whom they fliould deny them. But that the power of chancellors courts, and many modal additions, which are not of the eflcnce of the prieftly office, floweth from the king, and may be fitted to the ftate of the kingdom. Which is true, if it be limited by God's laws, and exercifcd on things only allowed them to deal in, and contradi6t not the orders and powers fettled by ChriH: and his apoftles.

On this account he thought well of the form of government in the church of Enghuid ; (lamcrnt-

ing the mifcarriages of many perfons), and the want of parochial reformation : but he was greatly for uniting in love and peace, upon fo much as is necefiary to falvation, with all good, fober, peaceable men.

And he was much againfi: the corrupting of the chriftian religion (whofe fimplicity and purity he juflly took to be much of its excellency), by mens bufy additions, by v/it, poHcy, ambition, or any thing elfe which fophlilicateth it, and rnaketh it another thing, and caufeth the lamentable contentions of the world.

What he was as a lawyer, a jiidge, a chriftian, -is fo well known, that I think for me to pretend that my tefcimony is of any ufe, were vain. I will only tell you what I have v/ritten by his picture, in the front of the great bible which I bought with his legacy, in memory of hij love and name, viz. " Sir Matthew Hale, that unwearied ftudent, that prudent man, that folid philofopher, that far mous lawyer, that pillar and bafis of juftice (who would not have done an unjuft a6l for any worldly price or motive), the ornament of his majelly's government, and honour of Eng'and j the higheft faculty of the foul of Weflminller-hall, and pattern to all the reverend and honourable judges; that godly, fcrious, pra<5tical chriHian, the lover of goodncfs and all good men ; a lamenter of the clergy's felfifhncfs, and unfaithfulnefs, and difcord, and of the fad divifions following hereupon ; an carneft defire of their reformation, concord, and

the

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 139

the church's peace, and of a reformed ad of uniformity, as the heft and neceflary means thereto; that great contemner of the riches, pomp and vanity of the world ; that pattern of honeft plain-nefs and humility, who while he fled from the honours that peifued him, was yet lord chief juftice of the kind's bench, after his being; Ions; lord chief baron of the exchequer ; living and dying, entering on, ufing, and voluntarily furrendering his place of judicature, with the moft univerfal love, and honour, and praife, that ever did Englifh fubje£l in this age, or any that juft hiftory doth acquaint us with, &c. &c. &c. This man fo wife, fo good, fo great, bequeathing me in his teftament the legacy of forty {hillings, meerly as a teltimony of his refpe£l: and love, I thought this book, the teftament of Chrift, the meeteft purchafe by that price, to remain in memorial of the faithful love, which he bare and long expreffed to his infe-riour and unworthy, but honouring friend, who thought to have been with Chrift before him, and waiteth for the day of his perfeil conjun6lion with the fpirits of the juft made perfed."

RICHARD BAXTER.

SOME

PASSAGES'

OF THE

LIFE AND DEATH

Of the Right Honourable

JOHN Earl of Rochefter,

Who died July 26, 1680. Written by his own diredlton on his death bed.

By GILBERT BURNET, D. D.

Late Lord Biftiop of S ar u m.

THE

PREFACE.

THE celebrating the praifes of the dead, is an argmnent jo vjorn out by long and frequent ufe^ and now become fo naufeous, by the flattery that ufually attends it, that it is no wonder if funeral orations, or panegyricks, are more confidercd for the elegancy ofjlyle, andfinenefs of wit, than for the authority they carry zvilh them as to the truth of matters offaSi. And yet I a?n not hereby deterred front meddling with this kind of argument, nor from handling it tvith all the plainnefs I can ; delivering only tuhat I 77iyfelf heard and faw, without any borrowed ornament. I do eafily forefee how ?nany will be engaged for the fupport of their impious maxims and itnmoral praoiices, to difparage zuhat I am to write. Others ivill cenfire it, becaufe it comes from one of my profejfion \ too many fuppofing its to be induced to frame fuchdifcourfes for carrying on what they are pleafed to call our trade. Some will think I drefs it up too artificially, a-nd others, that I prefent it too plain and naked.

But being refohed to govern myfelf by the exa5i rules cf truth, IJl)all be lefs concer'ued in the ccnfures I may fall under. It mayfeem liable to great exception, that IJhoidd difclofe fo many things, that were difcovered to me, if not under the feal cf confeffion, yet U7idcr the confidence offriendjhip. But this noble lord hi?nfelfnot only releafcd me from all obligation of this kind, when Ixvait^d en him in his lajl ficknefs, a few days before he died ; but gave it me in charge not to fpare him in any thifig which I thought might be of ufe to the living ; and ives not ill pleafed to be laid open, as will in the xvorft, as in the

bejl

The PREFACE.

hejl and lajl part of hh life, being fo fmcere In his re" pentame, that he tvas not unwilling to take JJiame to him-Jelf by fuffering his faults to be expofed for the benefit of others.

I write with one great difadvantage, that I cannot reach his chief defign %vithout mentioning fame of his faults : hut I have touched thcjn as tenderly as occafion would hear ; and I a?n fure with much jnore foftnefs than he dcfired, or would have confeyited unto, had I told him how J intended to manage this part. I have related nothmg ivith perfonal refe£lions on any others concerned with hi?n, wijhing rather that they themfelves refcSiing on the fenfe he had oj his former diforders, maybe thereby led to for fake their oivn, than that they Jlmdd be any ways reproached by tvhat I write : and theref re, though he ufed very few referves zvith me, as to his courfe of life, yet fince others had a /hare in mofi parts of it, I fliall relate 7io-' thing but what more ijnmediately concerned himfelf; and I/l)all fay no more of his faults, than is neceffary to illu-[Irate his repentance.

'The occafion that led me into fo particular a knowledge of him, tuas ari intimation given me by a gentle?nan of his acquaintance, of his dcf.re to fee me. This wasfome ti?ne in OSlober, 1679, when he was fowly recovering cut of a great difcafe. He had underjhod that I often attended on one tvell known to him, that died the fummer before ; he zvas alfo then ente7-taining himjclf in that /late of his health, tvith the firfl part of the hiftoryof the reformation, then newly cotne out, with which hefeemed ?iot ill pleafed: and we had accidently ?net in two or three places fome time before. Theje were the motives that led hi?n to call for 7ny company, ^fter I had waited on hi?n once or tivice he grezv into that freedom with me, as to open to fne all his thoughts, both of religion and morality : and to give me a full view of his paji life ; and feemsd not uneafy at my frequent vifits. So till he went

from

^^/ P R E F A C E.

■fi-om London^ zvhich was in the beginning of Jpril.^ I waited on him often. As foon as I heard hovo ill he if ^x, and how ?nnch he was touched tvith a ferfe of his former life^ I writ to hijn, and received from him an anfwer, that^ without my hiowledge^ was printedfiJice his death, from a copy which one of his fervants cotjveyed to the prefs. In it there is fo undeferved a value put on mcy that it had been very indecent for me to have publifhed it : yet that muft be attributed to his civility and way of breeding : and indeed hs "was particularly known to fo few of the clergy, that the good opinion he had of me, is to be imputed only to his unacquamtance with others.

My end in writing is fo to difcharge the lafi commancfs this lord left on me, as that it may be effe^ual to awaken thofe who run on to all the excejjes of riot ; and that ift the midft of thofe heats which their lufis and paffions raife in them, they may be a little wrought on by jo great an inflame of one ivho had run round the tuhole circle of luxury; and, as Solomon fays of himfelf, Whatfoever his eyes defired, he kept it not from them ; and withheld his heart from no joy. Butivhen he looked back on all that on which he had xvajled his time and Jlrength, he ejieemed it vanity and vexation of fpirit : though he had both as much natural wit, and as much acquired by learning, and both as much i?nproved with thinking andfludy, as perhaps any libertine of the age ; yet when he refeSied on all his former courfes, even before his mind was illuminated with better thoughts, /><? counted them fnadnefs and folly. But when the powers of religion came to operate on him, then he added a deteflation to the contempt he forrnerly had of them, fuit-able to what became a fincere penitent, and exprefjid himfelf in fo clear and fo calm a manner, fo fenfihle of his failings toivards his Maker and his Redeemer, that as it wrought not a little on thofe that were about hi?n ; fo^ J hope, the making it public may have a more general

A infuencfy

ne F R E F A C E.

tnjlueme, ch'iejly on thofcon whom his former convcrfa^ tion tnight have had ill effeils.

I ha-ve endeavoured to give his eharaulcr as fully as I could take it : for J who faw hijn only in one light, in a fcdate and quid tc/ti-per, when he was under a great decay ofjlrcngth and lofs offpirits^ cannot give his picture-xvitl) that life arid advantage that others inay, vjho> knew him when his parts were more bright and lively r 'i£t the cojnpofure he was then in, 7nay perhaps beftippcfcd to balance any ahatemeyit of his ifiial vigour, tvhich the declination of his health brought him under. I have written this difcoiofe zvith as ?nuch care, and have con--fidcred it as narrowly as I could, I am fure I have faid nothing but truth ; / have done it fotuly, and often nfed 7ny fccond thoughts in it, not being fo much concerned in the cenfures ivhich 7night fall oyi myjclf, as cautious thai; nothing Jhould pafs that rnight obJJruSi ?ny only defign of writings which is the doing ivhat I can totvards the refoTjyiing a loofe and lezvd age. And iffuch a fignal injiance concurring with all the evidence that lue have-for our mofl holy faith, has no effe^ on thofe who are running the fame courfe, it is much to be feared they are given up to a reprobate fenfe.

SOME

M . . , ■". ■ M

0^ "a-^-n-n--^ >(c«o^^o«.'x' ^-'i-^-;!?-.^ '^

0. 4-**«**•*• X •T-H--X 4-*V*-^ M

"0. -3?-«"^--^-J5 XoccoO|(,oo«X;( -ii-w-a-n-^ ■<3>'

¥ ' " ' ' ' ' "sC

SOME

PASSAGES

Of the Life and Death of

JOHN Earl of Roc h e s t er.

JOHN WILMOT, earlofRochefter, was born in April, Anno Dom. 1648. His Father was Henry earl of Rochefter, but bed known by the title of the lord Wilmot, who bore fo great a part in all the late wars, that mention is often made of him in the hiftory j and had the chief (hare in the honour of the preiervation of his majefty that now reigns, after Worcefter fight, and the conveying him from place to place, till he happily efcaped into France : but dying before the king's return, he left his fon little other inheritance but the honour and title derived to him, with the pre-tenfions fuch eminent fervices gave him to the king's favour : thcfe were carefully managed by the great

A 2 prudeuQ©

prudence and difcretion of his mother, a daughter of that noble and antient family of the St. John's of Wiltfhlre, fo that his education was carried on in all things fuitably to his quality.

When he was atfchool, he was an extraordinary proficient at his book; and thofe ftiining parts, which have fince appeared with fo much luftre, began then to fhew themfelves : he acquired the Latin to fuch perfedion, that to his dying day he retained a great relifh of the finenefs and beauty of that tongue, and was exa£lty verfed in the incomparable authors that writ about Auguftus's time, whom he read often with that peculiar delight which the greateft wits have ever found in thofe ftudies.

When he went to the univerfity, the general joy which over ran the whole nation upon his ma-jefty's reflauration, but was not regulated with that fobriety and temperance, that became a ferious gratitude to God for fo great a blefling, produced fome of its ill effects on him : he began to love thefe diforders too much ; his tutor was that eminent and pious divine Dr. Blandford, afterwards promoted to the fees of Oxford and Worcefter ; and under his infpcdlion he was committed to the more immediate care of Mr. Phineas Berry, a fellow of Wadham College, a very learned and good-natured man j whom he afterwards ever ufed with, much refpe£l, and rewarded him as became a great man. But the humour of that time wrought fo much on him, that he broke ofF the courfe of his iludies, to which no means could ever efFedually

recall

recall him ; till when he was in Italy his governour Dr. Balfour, a learned and worthy man, nov/ a celebrated phyfician in Scotland, his native country, drew him to read fuch books as were moft likely to bring him back to love learning and ftudy; and he often acknowledged to me, in particular three days before his death, how much he was obliged to love and honour this his governour, to whom he thought he owed more than to all the world, next after his parents, for his great fidelity and care of him while he was under his trufl. But no part of it affcvSled him more fenfibly, than that he engaged him by many tricks (fohe exprefTed it) to delighii in books and reading j fo that ever after he took occalion in the intervals of thofe woeful extravagancies that confumed moft of his time, to read much; and though the time was generally but indifferently employed, for the choice of the fubje«5ls of his ftudies was not always good, yet the habitual love of knowledge, together with thefe fits of ftudy, had much awakened his underftanding, and prepared him for better things, when his mind fhould be fa far changed as to relifti them.

He came from his travels in the eighteenth year of his age, and appeared at court with as great advantages as moft ever had. He was a graceful and well-fhaped perfon, tall, and well made, if not a little too flender : lie was exadly well bred, and what by a modeft behaviour natural to him, what by a civility became almoft as natural, his con-Vfiffation was eafy and obliging. He had aftrange

A 3 A'ivacity

vivacity of tlioxight, and vigour of e^preflion : his jlvit had a fubtilty and fublimity both, that it was fcarce imitable. His ftyle was clear and ftrong j when he ufed figures, they were very lively, and et far enough out of the common road: he had ade himfeif mafter of the antient and modern wit, nd of the modern French and Italian, as well as Jthe Englifh. He loved to talk and write of fpecu-liative matters, and did it with fo fine a thread, that leven thofe who hated the fubje<5ls that his fancy ran jupon, yet could not but be charmed with his way |of treating of them, Boileau among the French, /and Cowley among the Englifli wits, were thofe he 1 admired moft. Sometimes other men's thoucrhts mixed with his compofures j but that flowed rather from the impreilions they made on him when he read them, by which they came to return upori him as his own thoughts, than that he fervilely copied from any ; for few pieii had a bolder flight . of fancy, more fteadily governed by judgment than he had. No wonder a young man fo made, and fo improved, was very acceptable in a court.

Soon after his coming thither, he laid hold 04 the firft occafion that offered to fliew his readinefs to hazard his life in the defence and fervice of his country. In Winter 1665, he went with the earl of Sandwich to fea, when he was fent to lye for a Dutch Eaft-India fleet; and was in the Revenge, commanded by Sir Thomas Tiddiman, when the attack was mas made on the port of Bergen in Norway, the Dutch fhips having got into that port.

It

aieft I ndedy

JOHN Earl of Rochester. 7

It was as defperatc an attempt as ever was made; during the whole adlion, the earl of Rochefter fhewed as brave and as refolute a courage as was polTible : a perlbn of honour told me he heard the iord Cliffard, who was in the fam-cfhip, often magify his courage at that time very highly. Ncrdid the rigours of the feafon, the hardnefs of the voyage, and the extreme danger he had been in, deter him from running the like on the ^ery next occafion for the fummer following he went to Tea again, without communicating his defign to his neai relations. He went aboard the fhip comman by Sir Edward Spragge, the day before the great iea fight of that year : almoft all the volunteers that were in the fame fhip were killed. Mr. Middle-ton (brother to Sir Hugh Middleton) was fhot in his arms: durii^g the adion^ Sir Edward Spragge, no-t i)eing fatisiied with the behaviour of one of the •captains, could not eafily find a perfon that would chearfully venture through fo much danger, to carry iiis commands to that captain. This lord offered iiimfelf to the fervice ; and went in a little boat^ through all the (kot, and delivered his meflage, and returned back to Sir Edv/ard, which was much commended by all that faw it. He thought it neceflary to begin his life with thefc dcmonftrations of his courage, in an element and way of fighting, which 4S acknowledged to be the greateft trial of clear iind undaunted valour.

He had fo entirely laid down tiie intemperance ihat was growing on him before his travels, that at his return he hatc.l nothinc: more. But falllnT^

into company that loved thefe excefies, he was, ^ though not without difficulty, and by many fteps, V brought back to it again. And the natural heat of his fancy, being inflamed by wine, made him fo extravagantly pleafant, that many to be more diverted by that humour, ftudied to engage him deeper and deeper in intemperance ; which at length did fo entirely fubduc him, that, as he told me, for five years together he was continually drunk ; not ) all the while under the vifible efl^cds of it, but his : blood was fo inflamed, that he was not in all that time cool eno\{gh to be perfedly mafter of himfelf. This led him to fay and do many wild and unaccountable things : by this, he faid, he had broke the firm conftitution of his health, that feemed fo ftrong, that nothing was too hard for it i and he had fufFered fo much in his reputation, that he almoft defpalred to recover it. There were two principles in his natural temper, that being heightened by that heat, carried him to great excefles : a violent love of pleafure, and a difpofition to extravagant mirth. The one involved him in great (cn-^ fuality ; the other led him to many odd adventures and frolics, in which he was oft in haf,ard of his life. The one being the fame irregular appetite in his mind, that the other was in his body, which made him think nothing diverting that was not extravagant. And though in cold blood he was a generous and good natured man, yet he would go far in his heats, after any thing that might turn to a jeft, or matter of diverfion, He faid to me, he

never

never improved his intereft at court, to do a premeditate mifcliief to other perfons. Yet he laid out his wit very freely in libels and fatires, in which he had a peculiar talent of mixing his wit with his ma- j lice, and fitting both with fuch apt words, that I men were tempted to be pleafed with them : from thence his compofures came to be eafily known, for few had fuch a way of tempering thefe together as he had : fo that v/hen any thing extraordinary that way came out, as a child is fathered fometimes by its refemblance, fo was it laid at his door as its parent and author.

Thefe exercifes in the courfe of his life were not always equally pleafant to him ; he had often fad f intervals, and fevere refleilions on them: and though then he had not thefe awakened in "him from any deep principle of religion, yet the horror that nature raifed in him, efpecially in fome fick-neifes, made him too eafy to receive fome ill principles, which others endeavoured to poflefs him with ; fo that he was too foon brought to fet himfelf to fccure and fortify his mind againft that, by dif-poflefling it all he could of the belief or apprehen-fions of religion. The licentioufnefs of his temper, with the brifknefs of his wit, difpofed him to love the converfation of thofe who divided their time between lewd actions and irregular mirth. And fo he came to bend his wit, and dire6l his ftudies and endeavours to fupport and ftrengthen thefe ill principles both in himfelf and others.-

Aa

An accident fell out after this, which confirmed h\m more in thefe courfes j when he went to fea in the year 1665, there happened to be in the fame fliip with him Mr. Montague, and another gentleman of quah'ty; thefe tv/o, the former efpecially, feemed perfuaded that they fhould never return into England. Mr. Montague, faid, he was fure of it; the other was not fo pofitive. The earl of Rochefter, and the lafl: of thefe entered into a formal engagement, not without ceremonies of religion, that if either of them died, he fliould appear and give the other notice of the future ftate, if there was any. But Mr. Montague would not enter into the bond. When the day came that they thought to have taken the Dutch fleet in the port of Bergen, Mr. Montague, though he had fuch a ilrong prefage in his mind of his approaching death, yet he generouiJy flaid all the while in the place of greateft danger : the other gentleman fignalized his courage in a moft undaunted manner, till the end of the action ; when he fell on a fudden into fuch a trembling that he could fcarce (land ; and Mr. Montague going to him to hold him up, as they were in each others (arms, a cannon ball killed him outright, and carried away Mr. Montague's belly, fo that he died within an hour after. The earl of Rochefter told me that that thefe prefages they had in their minds made fome imprefllon on him, that there were feparatcd beings; and that the foul either by a.ijatural fagacity^ or fome fecrct notice communicated

JOHN Ec^rl of Rochester. ii

catcd to it, had a fort of divination : but that gentleman's never appearing was a great fnare to him during the reft of his life. Though when he told me this he could not but acknowledge, it was an unreafonable thing for him to think, that beings ia another ftate were not under fuch laws and limits, that they could not command their own motions, J but as the Supreme Pov/erfhould order them ; and that one who had fo corrupted the natural principles of truth, as he had, had no reafon to expeS that fuch an extraordinary thing fhould be done for his convi61 ion.

He told me of another odd prefage that one had of his. approaching death in the lady Warre, his mother-iri-law's houfe : the chaplain had dreamt that fuch a day he (hould die, but being by all the family put out of the belief of it, he had almoft forgot it; till the evening before at fupper, there being thirteen at table, according to a fond conceit that one of thefe muft foon die, one of the young ladies pointed to him, that he was to die. He remembering his dream fell into fome diforder, and the lady Warre reproving him for his fuperftition, he faid, he was confident he was to die before morning, but he being in perfedl health, it was not much minded. It was Saturday night, and he was to preach next day. He went to his chamber and fat up late, as appeared by the burning of his candle, ^\nd he had been preparing his notes for his fermon, but was found dead in his bed the next morning:

thcie thin2;s he faid made him inclined to believe, the

foiil

. foul was a Tubflance diflind from matter j and thijj • often returned into his thoughts. But that which perfcded his perfuafwn about it, was, that in the ixcknefs which brought him fo near death before I firft knew him, when his fpirits were fo low and fpent that he could not move nor ftir, and he did not think to live an hour j he faid his reafon and judgment were fo clear and ftrong, that from thence he yras fully perfuaded that death was not the fpend-ingor diflblution of the foul, but only the fepa-I ration of it from matter. He had in that ficknefs great remorfes for his paft life, but he afterwards told me, they were rather genera[ and dark horrors, than any convidlions of fmning againft God. He was forry he had lived fo as to wafte his ftrength fo foon, or that he had brought fuch an ill name upon himfelf, and had an agony in his mind about it, which he knew not well how to exprefs : but at fuch times, though he complied with his friends in fuffering divines to be fent for, he faid, he had no great mind to it j and that it was but a piece of his breeding, to defire them to pray by him, in which he joined little himfelf.

As to the Supreme Being, he had always fome im-preflion of one ; and profefled often to me, that he j had never known an entire atheift, who fully be-' lieved there was no God. Yet when he explained his notion of this being, it amounted to no more than a vaft power, that had none of the attributes df goodnefs or juftice, we afcribe to the deity ; tbefe were his thoughts about religion, as himfelf

told

r

1

JOHN Earl of Rochester. 13

told me. For morality, he freely owned to me, that though he talked of it, as a fine thing, yet this was only becaufe he thought it a decent way of fpeaking j and that as they went always in cloaths, though in their frolicks they would have chofen fometimes to have gone naked, if they had not feared the people ; fo fome of them found it ne-ceflary for human life to talk of morality, yet he [ confefled they cared not for it, further than the reputation of it was neceflary for their credit and affairs; of which he gave me many inftances, as their profefHng and fwearing friendfiiip, where they hated mortally ; their oaths and imprecations oa their addrefies to women, which they intended never to make good; the pleafure they took in defaming innocent perfons, and fpreading falfe reports of fome perhaps in revenge, becaufe they could not engage them to comply with their ill defigns j the delight they had in making people quarrel ; their unjuft ufage of their creditors, and putting them off by any deceitful promife they could invent, that might deliver them from prefent importunity. So that in deteftation of thefe courfes he would often break forth into fuch hard expreffions concerning himfelf, as would be indecent for another to repeat. • Such had been his principles and pratSlices in a courfe of many years, which had almoil quite ex-tinguifhed the natural propenfities in him tojuftice and virtue. He would often go into the country, and be for fome months wholly employed in ftudy, or the failics of his wit, which he came to direct

chiefly

fff-

chiefly to fatire. And this he often defended to^ nie ; by faying there was fome people that could not be kept in order, or admonifhed but in this way. I replied, that it might be granted that a grave way of fatire was fometimes no improfitable wayof reproof J yet they who ufed it only out of fpite, and niixed lies with truth, fparing nothing that might adorn their poems, or gratify their revenge, could not excufe that way of reproach, by which the innocent often fufFer ; fince the moft malicious things if wittily expreffed, might flick to and ble-mifh the beft men in the world, and the malice of a libel could hardly confift with the charity of an admonition. To this, he anfwercd, a man could •^ not write with life, unlefs he were heated by revenge: for to make a fatire without refentments, upon the cold notions of philofophy, was as if a man would iri cold blood cut mens throats who had never offended him : and he faid, the lies in thefe libels came often in as ornaments that could not be fpared without fpoiling the beauty of the poem.

For his other ftudies, they were divided between the comical and witty writings of the antients and moderns, the Roman authors and books of phyfic ; which the ill Hate of health he was fallen into, made more neceffary to himfelf, and which qualified him for an odd adventure, which I fhall but juft mention. Being under an unlucky accident, which obliged him to keep out of the way, he dif-euifed himfelf, fo that his neareft friends could not have known him, and fet up in Tower-flreet for

an

an Italian mountebank, where he pradlifed phyfic for fome weeks not without fuccefs. In his latter years he read books of hiftory more. He took pleafure to difguife himfelf as a porter, or as a beggar V fometiraes to follow fome mean amours, which for the variety of them, he affe£led. At other times, merely for diverfion, he would go a-feout in odd fhapes, in- which he a<Sl:ed his part fo naturally, that even thofe who were in the fecrer, and faw Km in thefe fhapes, could perceive nothing by which he might be difcovered,

I have now made the defcription of his former fife and principles, as fully as I thought neceflary to anfwer my end in writing ; and yet with- thofe referves that I hope I have given no juft caufe of offence to any. I have faid nothing but what I had from his own mouth, and have avoided the mentioning of the more particular paiTages of his life, of which he told me not a few : but fmce others were concerned in them, v»'^hofe good only I defign, 1 will fay nothing that may either provoke or blemifh them. It is their reformation, and not their difgrace, I defire ; this tender confideration of ethers has made me fupprefs many remarkable and wfeful things he told me ; but finding th,^»t though I fliould name none, yet I muft at kalt relate fuch clrcumftunces, as would give top great occafion for the reader to conjeiSlure eoncernin^; the perfons intended riglvt or wrong, eirhef of which. were inconvenient enough, I have chofen to pafs them quite over. Buti hope thofe ihat kjiov.' lio\v

much

much they were engaged with him in his ill courfes, will be fomewhat touched with this tendernefs I ex-prefs towards them, and be thereby the rather induced to reflc£l on their ways, and to confider without prejudice or paflion what fenfe this'noble lord had of their cafe, when he came at laft feri-oully to refled upon his own.

I now turn to thofe parts of this narrative, wherein I myfelf bore fome fhare, and which I am to deliver upon the obfervations I made, afer a long and free converfation with him for fome months. I was not long in his company, when he told me, he ftiould treat me with more freedom than he had" ever ufed to men of my profeflion. He would conceal none of his principles from me, but lay his thoughts open without any difguife ; nor would he do it to maintain debate, or fhew his wit, but plainly tell me what ftuck with him ; and protefted to me, that he was not fo engaged to his old maxims, as to refolve not to change, but that if he could be convinced, he would chufe rather to be of another mind : he faid, he would impartially weigh what I fhould lay before him, and tell me freely when it did convince, and when it did not. He exprefied this difpofition of mind to me in x manner fo frank, that I could not but believe him, and be much taken with his way of difcourfe: fo we entered into almolt all the parts of natural and revealed religion, and of morality. He feemed pleafed, and in a great meafure fatisfied, with what I faid upon many of thefe heads; and

though

though our freeft converfation was when we were alone, yet upon feveral occafions, other pcrfons were witnefTes to it. I unclerftood from many hands that my company was not diftafteful to him, and that the fubjefts about which we talked mod were not unacceptable : and he exprefTed himfelf often not ill pleafed with many things I faid to him, and particularly when I vifited him in his laft ficknefs ; fo that 1 hope it may not be altogether unprofitable to publifli the fubftance of thofe matters about which we argued fo freely, with our reafoning upon them : and perhaps what had fome efFecls on him, may be not altogether inefFe<?t:ual upon others. I followed him with fuch arguments as I faw were moft likely to prevail with him: and my not urging other reafons proceeded not from any diftruft I had of their force, but from the neceflity of ufing thofe that were moft proper for him. He was then in a low ftate of health, and feemed to be flowly recovering of a great difeafe. He was in the milk diet, and apt to fall into heclical fits ; any accident weakened him j fo that he thought he could not live long ; and v/hen he went from London, he faid, he believed he fhould never come to tov/n more. Yet during his being in town he was fo well, that he went often abroad, and had great vivacity of fpirit. So that he was under no fuch decay, as either darkened or weakened his underftanding ; nor was he any way troubled with 1 the fpleen, or vapours, or under the power of me-lancholly. What he was then compared to what he had been formerly, I could not fo well judge,

B who

who had feen him but twice before. Others have toid me they perceived no difference in his parts. This 1 mention more particularly, that it may not • be thought that melancholly, or the want of fpirits, made him more inclined to receive any impreffions : for indeed I never difcovered any fuch thing in him» Having thus opened the way to the heads of our /'difcourfe, I fliall next mention them. The three J chief things we talked about, were morality, na-( tural religion, and revealed religion, chriftianity in particular. For morality, he confeffed, he faw the iieceflity of it, both for the government of the world, and for the prefervation of health, life and friendfhip ; and was very much afhamed of his former prailices,^ rather becaufe he had made himfelf a beaft, and had brought pain and ficknefs on hjs body, and had fuffered much in his reputation, than from any deep fenfe of a Supreme Being, or another flate : but fo far this went with him, that he refolved firmly to change the courfe of his life ; which he thought he fhould efTeit by the fludy of philofophy, and had not a few no lefs foHd tha» pleafant notions concerning the folly and madnefs of vice : but he confefTed he had no remorfe for his pafl a£lion?, as offences againft God, but only as injuries to himfelf and to mankind.

Upon this fubjedt I Ihewed him the defeats of philofophy, for reforming the world: that it was a matter of fj^eculation, which but few either had the leifure, or the capacity to enquire into. But the principle that muft reform mankind, mufl be

obvious

obvious to every mans underftanding. That phi-lofophy in matters of morality, beyond the great lines of our duty, had no very certain fixed rule ; but in the lefTer offices and inftances of our dutv, went much by the fancies of men and cuftoms of nations; and confequently could not have authority enough to bear down the propenfities of nature, appetite or paffion : for which I inftanced in thefe two points ; the one was, about that maxim of the fto^cs, to extirpate all fort of paflion and concern for any thing. That, take it by one hand, feemed defireable, becaufe if it could be accompli-fhed, it would make all the accidents of life eafy ; but I think it cannot, becaufe nature, after all our \ ftriving againft it, will ftill return to itfelf: yet on ' the other hand it diflblved the bonds of nature and. friendftiip^ and flackened induftry, which will move but dully, without an inward heat: and if it delivered a man from any troubles, it deprived him of the chief pleafures of life, which arife from friendfhip. The other was concerning the reflraint of pleafure, how far that was to go. Upon this he told me the two maxims of his morality then were, that he fliould do nothing to the hurt of any other, or that might prejudice his own health ; and he thought that all pleafure, when it did not interfere with thefe, was to be indulged as the gratification of our natural appetites. It k^int^ unreafonable to Imagine thefe were put into a man only to be reftrained, or curbed to fuch a narrow-*

B 2 nefs;

/)p

20 The Life and Death cf

nefs: this he applied to the free ufe of wine and women.

To this I anfwered, that if appetites being natural, was an argument for the indulging them, then the revengeful might as well alledge it for murder, and the covetous for flealing ; whofe appetites are no lefs keen on thofe objects j and yet it is acknowledged that thefe appetites ought to be curb'd. If the difFerence is urged from the injury that another perfon receives, the injury is as great if a man's wife is defiled, or his daughter corrupted: and it is impoilible for a man to let his appetites loofe to vagrant lufts, and not to tranfgrefs in thefe particulars : fo there was no curing the diforders that muft arife from thence, but by tegulating thefe appetites ; and why fliould we not as well »think that God intended our brutifh and fenfual ' appetites fliould be governed by our reafon, as that the fiercenefs of beafts fhould be managed and tamed by the wifdom, and for the ufe of man ? So that it is ho real abfurdity to grant, that appetites were put into men, on purpofe to exercife their reafon in the reftraint and government of them, which to be able to do, miniilers a higher and ;5^ more lafting pleafure to a man, than to give them their full fcope and range. And if other rules of philofophy be obferved, fuch as the avoiding thofe obje6ls that ftir pafilon, nothing raifes higher paf-' fions than ungoverned luft, nothing darkens the vinderftanding and deprefles a man's mind more, nor is any thing managed with more frequent returns

of other immoralities, fuch as oaths and imprecations, which are only intended to compafs what is defired : the expence that h neceffary to maintain thefe irregulaiities, makes a man falfe in his other dealings. All this he freely confelTed was true : upon which I urged, that if it was reafon-able for a man to regulate his appetite in things which he knew were hurtful to him ; v/as it not, as reafonabk for God to prefcribe a regulation of thofe appetites, whcfe unreilraihed courfe did produce fuch mifchievous ^ffecSts ? That it could not be denied, but doing to others v/hat we would have others do unto us, was a juil rule. Thofe men then that knew how extreme fenfible they themfelves would be of the difhonour of thei.r families in the cafe of their wives or daughters, muft needs condemn themfcves for doing: that which they could not bear from another : and if the peace of mankind, and the intire fatisfadlion of our whole life, ought to be one of the chief meafures of our actions, then kt all the world judge, whether a man that confines his appetite, and lives contented at home, is not much happier thaii thofe that let their defires run after forbidden ob-jedls. The thing being granted to be better in itfelf, then the queftion falls between the reftraint of appetite in fome inftances, and the freedom of a man's thoughts, the foundnefs of his health, hi? application to affairs, with the eafmefs of his whole life. Whether the one is not to be done before th£ other ? As to the difficulty of fuch a reftraint,

B 3 though

though it is not eafy to be done, when a man allows himfelf many liberties, in which it is not pofTible to flop ; yet thofe who avoid the occafions that may kindle thefe impure flames, and keep thernfelves well imployed, find the victory and dominion over them no fuch impoflible, or hat d matter, as may feem at firfl view. So that though the philofophy and morality of this point were plain, yet there is not {Irength enough in that principle to fubdue nature, and appetite. Upon this I urged, that ruorality could not be a ftrong thing, unlefs a man were deLermincd by a law within himfelf; for if he orily meafured hiiiifelf by decency, or the Jaws of the land, tius wcuid teach him only to ufe fuch cautions in his ill practices, that they Ihould not break out too vifibly ; but would never carry him to an inward and univerfal probity. That virtue was of {o complicated a nature, that unlefs a man came intirely within its difcipline, he could not adhere fteadfaftly to any one precept; for vices are often made ncceflary fupports to one another. That this cannot be done, either fteadily, or with any fatisfaftion, unlefs the mind does inwardly comply withj and delight in the ditflates of virtue ; and that could not be efFedled, except a man's nature were internally regenerated, and changed by a higher principle : till that came about, corrupt nature would be ftrong, and philofophy but feeble; efpecially when it ftruggled with fuch appetites or pailions as were much kindled, or deeply rooted in the conftitution of ones body. This,

he

JOHN Earl 6/ Rochester. 23 he faid, founded to him like enthufiafm, or cant-ins: : he had no notion of it, and fo could not wn-derftand it. He comprehended the dictates ofreafon and philofophy, in which as the mind became much converfant, there would foon follow, as he believed, a greater eailnefs in obeying its precepts. I told him on the other hand, that all his fpecu-lations of philofophy would not ferve him in any -ftead to the reforming of his nature and life, till he applied himfelf to God for inward afliftances. It was certain, that the imprefllons made in his reafon governed him, as they were lively prefentcd •to him i but thefe are fo apt to flip out of our memory, and we fo apt to turn our thoughts from them, and at fomq» times the contrary impreflions are fo ftrong, that let a man fet up a reafoning in his mind againft them, he finds that celebrated faying of the poet,

Vido meliora prorogue, deterlora fequor^

** I fee what is better and approve it, but folf low what is worfe,"

to be all that philofophy will amount to. Whereas thofe who upon fuch occafions apply them-felves to God, by earnefl: prayer, feel a difengage-ment from fuch impreffions, and themfelves endued with a power to refill them; fo that thofe bonds which formerly held them fall off.

This he faid mufi: be the effeil of a heat in nature : it was only the ftrong diverfion of the I thoughts, that gave the feeming viilory, and he

did not doubt but if one could turn to a problem in Euclid, or to write a copy of verfes, it would have the fame efFe6l, To this I anfwered, that if fuch methods did only divert the thoughts, there might be fome force in what he faid : but if they not only drove out fuch inclinations, but begat impreffions contrary to them, and brought men into a new difpofition and habit of mind ; then he mufl confefs there was fomewhat more than a diverfion in thefe changes, which were brouo^ht on our minds by true devotion. I added that rea-fcn and experience were the things that determined our perfuafions: that experience without reafon may be thought the delufion of our fancy, fo reafon without expeiience had not fo convincing ari operation ; but thefe tv/o meeting together, mufl needs give a man all the fatisfa6lion he can defire. He could not fay, it was unreafonable to believe that the Supreme Being might make fome thoughts ftir in our minds v^^ith more or lefs force, as it pleafed : efpecially the force of thefe motions, being, for moft part, according to the impreiTion that was made on our brains: which that power that direded the whole frame of nature, could make grow deeper as it pleafed : it was alfo reafonable to fuppofe God a being of fuch goodnefs that he would give his affifliince to fuch as defired it: for though he might upon fome greater occafions in an extraordinary manner turn fome peoples minds, yet fnice he had endued man with a faculty of reafon, it is fit than men

Ihould

fliould employ that as far as they could, and beg his afliftance ; which certainly they can do. All this feemed reafonable, and at laft probable. Now good men who felt upon their frequent applications to God in prayer, a freedom from thofe ill impref-fions, that formerly fubdued them, and inward love to virtue and true goodnefs, an eafmefs and delight in all the parts of holinefs, which was fed and cherifhed in them by a ferioufnefs in prayer, and did languifti as that went ofF, had as real a perception of an inward ftrength in their minds, that did rife and fall with true devotion, as they perceived the ftrength of their bodies increafed or abated, according as they had or wanted good nourilh-nient.

After many difcourfes upon this fubjeft, he ftill continued to think all was the effeil of fancy : He faid, that he underflood nothing of it, but acknow-^ ledged that he thought they were happy whofe fancies were under the power of fuch imprefiions j fince they had fomewhat on which their thoughts refted and centered ; but when I faw him in his laft ficknefs, he then told me, he had another fenfe of what we had talked concerning prayer and inward afliftances. This fubjeit led us to difcourfe of God, and of the notion of religion in general. tie believed there was a Supreme Being : he could^ 1^ not think the world was made by chance, and the rtgular courfe of nature feemed to demonftrate the eternal power of its author. This, he faid, he could jiever ft)ake off^ j but when he came to explain

plain his notion of the deity, he faid, he looked on

k as a vaft power that wrought every thing by the

ncceflity of its nature : and thought that God had

jTlone of thofe affe£lions of love or hatred, which

bred perturbation in us, and by confequence he

could not fee that there was to be either reward or

punifliment. He thought our conceptions of God

i were fo low, that we had better not think much of

him: and to love God feemed to him a prefumptuous

thing, and t!>e heat of fanciful men. Therefore

lie believed there fhould be no other religious wor-

£hip, but a general celebration of that being, in

fome fhort hymn : all the other parts of worlhip he

efteemed the inventions of prfefts, to make the

world believe they had a fecret of incenling and ap-

' peafing God as they pleafed. In a Word, he was

neither perfuaded that there was a fpecial providence

about human affairs ; nor that prayers were of

much ufe, fince that was to look on God as a weak

being, that would be overcome with importunities.

And for the ftate after death, though he thought

/ the foul did not difiblve at death, yet he doubted

xmuch of rewards or punifliments ; the one he

t thought too high for us to attain by our flight fer-

/ vices J and the other was too extreme to be infliilcd

I for fm« This was the fubftance of his fpeculations

\about God and religion.

I told him his notions of God was fo low, that the Supreme Beingfeemed to be nothing but nature. For if that being had no freedom or choice of its own actions, nor operated by wifdom or goodnefs, all thofe reafons which led him to acknowledge a

God,

God, were contrary to this conceit; for, if the order of the univerfe perfuaded him to think there was a God, he muft at the fame time conceive him to be both wife and good, as well as powerful, fmce thefe all appeared equally in the creation ; though his wifdom and goodnefs had ways of exerting them-felves, that were far beyond our notions or mea-fures. If God was wife and good, he would naturally love, and be pleafed with thofe that re-femble him in thefe perfe6lions, and diflilce thofe that were oppofite to him. Every rational being naturally loves itfelf, and is delighted in others like " N^ itfelf, and is averfe from what is not fo. Truth is a rational nature's ailing in conformity to itfelf in all things, and goodnefs is an inclination to promote the happinefs of other beings : fo truth and goodnefs were the eflential perfections of every reafonable being, and certainly moft eminently in the Deity : nor does his mercy or love raife paflion or perturbation in him; for we feel that to be a weaknefs in ourfelves, which indeed only flows from our want of pov/er or fkill to do what we wifli or dellre : it is alfo reafonable to believe God would affift the endeavours of the good, with fome helps fuitable to their nature. And that it could not be imagined, that thofe who imitated him, fhould not be fpecially favoured by him ; and therefore fmce this did not appear in this ftate, it was moft reafon* able to think it fhould be in another, where the rewards fhall be an admiiiion to a more perfe£l ftatc of conformity to God, with the felicity that fol-ioW8 it, and the puniftiments fliould be a total

cxclufion

exclufion from him, with all the horror and dark-nefs that muft follow that. Thefe feemed to be the natural refults of fuch feveral courfes of life, as well as the efFedls of divine juftice, rewarding or punifli-ing. For fmce he believed the foul had a diftinfl fubfiftance, feparated from the body, upon its dif-folution, there was no reafon to think it pafled into a ftate of utter oblivion, of what it had been in formerly : but that as the rePicftions on the good or evil it had done, muft raife joy or horror in it ; fo thofc good or ill difpofitions accompanying the departed fouls, they muft either rife up to a higher perfe£lion, or fmk to a more depraved and mi-ferable ftate. In this life variety of affairs and obje61s do much cool and divert our minds ; and are on the one hand often great temptations to the good, and give the bad fome eafe in their trouble ; but in a ftate v/herein the foul fhall be feparated from fenfible things, and employed in a more quick and fublime way of operation, this muft very much exalt the joys and improvements of the good, and as much heighten the horror and rage of the wicked, fo that it feemed a vain thing to pretend to believe a Supreme Being, that is wife and good, as v/ell as great, and not to think a difcrimination will be made between the good and the bad, which, it is manifeft', is not fully done in this life.

As for the government of the world, if we believe the fupreme power made It, there is no reafon to think he does not govern it ; for all that we can fancy againft it, is the diftra^ion v^'hich that infinite

iVariety

variety of fecond caufes, and the care of their concernments, muft give to the firft, if it infpedls them all. But as among men, thofe of weaker capacities are v^^holly taken up with feme one thing, whereas thofe of more inlarged powers, can without diftrailion, have many things within their care; as the eye can at one view receive a great variety of objedts inthatnarrow compafs without confufion, fo if we conceive the divine underllandincr to be as far above ours, as his power of creating and framing the whole univerfe, is above our limited activity; we will no more think the o;overnment of the world a diftradlion to him ; and if we have once overcome this prejudice, we fhall be ready to acknowledge a providence dire<Sting all affairs, a care well becoming the Great Creator.

As for worfniping him, If we imagine our wor-fhip is a thing that adds to his happinefs, or gives him fuch a fond pleafure as weak people have to hear themfelves commended ; or that our repeiilcJ addrefles do overcome him through our mere importunity,, we have certainly very unworthy ihouglits of him. The true ends of worfhip came witliin . another confideration, which is this, a man is never entirely reformed till a new principle governs his thoughts; nothing makes that principle- (o Itrong, as deep and frequent meditations of God ; . wliofe nature though it be far above our compie-. henfion, yet his goodnefs and wifdom are fuch perfedions as fall within our imagination : asid be that rhinks often of God, and c«»ariders him as governing

verning the world, and as ever obferving all his aftions, will feel a very fenfible effedl of fuch meditations, as they grow more lively and frequent with him ; fo the end of religious worfhip, either public or private, is to make the apprehenfions of God have a deeper root and a flironger influence on us. The frequent returns of thefe are neceflary, left if we allow too long intervals between them, thefe impreffions may grow feebler, and other fug-geftions may come in their room ; and the returns of prayer are not to be confidered as favours extorted by mere importunity, but as rewards conferred on men fo well difpofed and prepared for them, according to the promifes that God has made for anfwering our prayers ; thereby to engage and nou-rifli a devout temper in us, which is the chief root of all true holinefs and virtue.

It is true, we cannot have fuitable notions of the divine eflence; as indeed we have no juft Idea of any eflence whatfoever, fmce we commonly con-fider all things, either by their outward figure, or by their effeils, and from thence make inferences what their nature muft be : fo though we cannot frame any perfe£l: image in our minds of the divinity, yet we may from the difcoveries God has made of himfelf,form fuch conceptions of him, as may poflTefs our minds with great reverence for him, and beget in us fuch a love of thofe perfedlions as to engage us to imitate them. For when we fay we love God, the meaning is, we love that being that is Ijoly, juft:, good, wife, and infinitely perfect: and

loving

JOHN Earl of Rochester. gt

loving thefe attributes in that objeft, will certainly carry us to defire them in ourfelves. For whatever we love in another, we naturally, according to the degree of our love, endeavour to refemble it. In fum, the loving and worfhipping God, though they are juft and reafonable returns and exprelfions of the fenfe we have of bis goodnefs to us ; yet they are exadled of us not only as a tribute to God,^ but as a mean to beget in us a conformity to his nature, which is the chief end of pure and undefiled religion.

If fome men have at feveral times found out inventions to corrupt this, and cheat the world ; It is nothing but what occurs in every fort of employment, to which men betake themfelves; mountebanks corrupt phyfic, petty-foggers have entangled the matters of property, and all profeffians have been vitiated by the knaveries of a number of their calling.

With all thefe difcourfes he was not equally fatisfied : he feemed convinced that the impreffions of God being much in mens minds, would be a powerful means to reform the world j and did ncM: feem determined againft providence. But for the next flate, he thought it more likely that the foul began anew, and that her fenfe of what flie had done in this body, lying in the figures that are made in the brain, as foon as (he diilodged, all thefe periflied, and that the foul went into fome other ftate to begin a new courfe. But I faid oa this head, that this was at beft a conjecture, raifed

in him by his fancy; for he could give no reafan to prove it true : nor was all the remembrance our fouls had of paft things feated in fome material figures lodged in the brain : though it could not be denied but a great deal of it lay. in the brain. That we have many abftradled notions and ideas of immaterial things which depend not on bodily figures : fome fins, fuch as falfliood, and ill nature, were feated in the mind, as luft and appetite were in the body ; and as the whole body was the re-cepticle of the foul, and the eyes and ears were the organs of feeing and hearing, fo was the brain the feat of memory : yet t he power and faculty of memory, as well as of feeing and hearing, lay in the mind ; and fo it was no unconceiveable thing that either the foul by its own ftrength, or by the means of fome fubtiler organs, which miffht be fitted for it in another fi:ate, fliould ftill remember as well as think. But indeed we know fo little of the nature of our fouls, that it is a vain thing for us to raife an hypothefis out of the conjedlures wc have about it, or to rejeiSl one, becaufe of fome difficulties that occur to us; fince it is as hard to underftand how we remember thino-s now, as how we (hall do it in another ftate: only we are fure we do it now, and fo we fhall be then, when we do it.

When I prefied him with the fecret joys that a good man felt, particularly as he drew near death, and the horrors of ill men efpecially at jhat time ; he was willing to afcribe it to the impreflions they

had

had from their eJucation : but he often confefTed, that whether the bufinefs of religion was true or not, he thought thofe who had the perfuafions of iff and lived fo that they had quiet in their con-fciences, and believed God governed the world, and acquiefced in his providence, and had the hope of an endlefs bleffedncfs in aother ftatd, the happi-eft men in the world ; and faid, he would give all that he was mafter 6f, to be under thofe perfuafions, and to have the fupports and joys that muil needs flow from them. I told him the maia root of all corruptions in mens .principles was their ill life; which, as it darkened their minds, and difabled them from difcerning better things ; fo it made it neceffary for them to feek out fuch opinions as might give them eafe from thofe clamours, that would otherwifehave been raifed within them. He did not deny, but that after the doing of fome things he felt great and fevere challenges within himfelf; but he faid, he felt not thefe after fome others which I would perhaps call far greater fins, than thofe that afFe(5led him more fenfibly. This I faid, might flow from the diforders he had caft himfelf into, which had corrupted his judgment, and vitiated his tafte of things ; and by his long continuance in, and frequent repeating of fome immoralities, he had made them fo familiar to him, that they were become as it were natural ; and then it was no wonder if he had not fo ex-ait a^fenfe of what was good or evil ; as a feverifh man cannot judge of taftes.

C He

He did acknowledge, the whole fyflem of religion, if believed, was a greater foundation of quiet than any other thing whatfoever ; for all the quiet he had in his mind, wa?, that he could not think fo good a being as the Deity would make him mifcrable. 1 afked, .if when by the ill courfe of his life he had brought fo many difeafes on his body, he could blame God for it ; or expe6t that he fhould deliver him from them by a miracle. He confeiTed there was no reafon for that. I chen urged, that if fin (hould caft the mind, by a natural efteiSl, into endlefs horrors and agonies, which being feated in a being not fubjc6l to death, muft. laft for ever, unlefo fome miraculous power inter-pofed, cou.ld he accufe God for that which was the efFe6l of his own choice and ill life ?

He faid, they were happy that believed ; for it was not in every man's power. j^v And upon this we difcourfed long about revealed religion. He faid, he did not underftand the bufi-ncfs of infpiration ; he believed the penmen of the fcriptures had heats and honefty, and fo writ ; but eould not comprehend how God fliould reveal his fecrets to mankind. Why was not man made a. creature more difpofed for religion, and better illuminated ? He could not apprehend how there-ihculd be any corruption in the nature of man, oc a lapfe derived from Adam. God's communicating his mind to one man, \yas the putting it in. his power to cheat the World : for prophefies and miraclesj the world had been always full of ftrange

ftories j

ftories ; for the boldnefs and cunning of contrivers meeting with the fimplicity and credulity of the people, things were eafily received; and being once received J paiTed down vi'itbout contradidlion. The incoherences of flile in the fcriptures, the odd tranfitions, the feemingcontradi(5lion3, chiefly about the order of time, the cruelties enjoined the Ifrealities in deflroying the Canaanitcs, circumci-fion, and many other rites of the Jewifh vvorfhip ; feemed to him unfuitable to the divine nature : and the firft three chapters of Genefis he thought could not be true, unlefs they were parables. This was the fubftance of what he excepted to revealed religion in general, and to the old teitament in particular. >^;__

I anfwered to all this, that believing a thing upon the teltimony of another, in other m.atters where there was no reafon to fufpe(?t the teilimony, chiefly where it was confirmed by other circum-ftances, was not only a reafonablc thing, but it was the hinge on which all the government and juftice in the world depended : fince all the courts of juftice proceed upon the evidence given by wit-neffes; for the ufe of writings, is but a thing more lately brought into the world. So then if the credibility of the thing, the innocence and difm-tereftednefs of the witneil'es, the number of them, and the publickefl confirmations that could poflibly be given, do concur to pcrfuadc us of any matter of fadt, it is a vain thing to fay, becaufe it is pof-flble for fo many men to agree in a lye, that thcre-

C 2 fore

fore thefe have done it. In all other things a maa gives his afl'ent when the credibility is ftrong on the one fide, and there appears nothing on the other fide to balance it. So fuch numbers agreeing in their teflimony to thefe miracles j for in-ftance, of our Saviour's calling Lazarus out of the grave the fourth day after he was buried, and his own rifing again after he was certainly dead ; if there had h^n never fo many impoftures in the world, no man can with any reafonable colour pretend this was one. We find both by the Jevvifh and Roman writers that lived in that time, that our Saviour was crucified, and that all his difciples and followers believed certainly that he arofe again. They believed this upon the teftimony of the apoftles, and many hundreds who faw it, and died confirming it. They went about to perfuade the world of it with great zeal, though the Icnevir they were to get nothing by it, but reproach and. fufferings : and by many wonders which they ■Wrought they confirmed their teftimony. Now to avoid all this, by faying it is poflible this might be a contrivance^ and to give no prefumption to make it fo nnich as probable,: that it was fo, is in plain Englifli to fay, " we are refolved,. let the evl-*' dence be what it will, we will not believe it." / He faid, if a man fays he cannot believe, what /help is there ? for he was not mafter of his own i belief, and believing was at higheft but a probable opinion. To this I aafwered, that if a man will let a wanton conceit poflefs his fancy againft thefe

things,.

things, and never confidcr the evidence for religion on the other hand, but rcjeft it upon a flight view of it, he ought not to fay he cannot, but he wil not believe : and while a man lives an ill courfc of life, he is not fitly qualifted to examine the matter aright. Let him grov\r calm and virtuous, and upon due application examine things fiiirly, and then let him prenounce according to his con-fcience, if to take ^t at its ^oweft, the rcafons on the one band are not much ftronger than they are on the other. For I found he was -fo poffeiTed with the general conceit, that a mixture of knaves and fools had made all extraordinary things be cafily believed, that it carried him away to determine tbe matter, without fo much as looking on the biftorical evidence for the truth of chriftianity, which he had not enquired into, but had bent all his wit and ftudy to the fupport of the other fide. As for that, that believing is at beft but an opinion i i,f the evideiice be but probable, it ^s fo ; but if it be fuch that it cannot be queftioned, it grows as certain as knowledge : for we are nolefs certain that there is a great town called Conftantinople, the feat of the Ottoman empire, than that there is -another called Jvondon. We as little doubt that queen Elizabeth once reigned, as that king Charles now reigns in England. So that beliving may be as certain, and as little fubje6l to doubting^ as fee/ng or knowing.

There are two forjts of bplieving diyaDje matters; ihc one is wrought in us by our comparing all the

C 3 evidences

evidences of matter of facSt, for the confirmation of revealed religion, with the prophecies in the fcripture; where things were pun£lually predided, fome ages before their completion ; not in dark and doubtful words uttered like oracles, which might bend to any event j but in plain term-, as the foretelling that Cyrus by name fnould fend the Jews back horn the captivity, after the fixed period of feventy years: the hiftory of the Syrian and Egyptian kings, fo punclually foretold by Daniel, and the predidion of the deftruction of Jerufalem, with many circum-ftanccs lelating to it, made by our Saviour 5 joining thcfe to the excellent rule and dcfign of the fcripture in matters of morality, it is at leafl as reafonable to believe this as any thing elfe in the world. Yet fuch a believing as this, is only a general perfuafion in the mind, which has not that effecfl, till a man applying hinifelf to the directions fet down in the fcriptures (which upon fuch evidence cannot be denied to be as reafonable, as for a man to follow the prefcriptions o{ a learned phy-fician, and when the rules are both good and eafy, to fubmit to them for the recovery of his health) and by following thefe, finds a power entering within him, that frees him from the Jlavery of his appetites and paffions, that exalts his mind above the accidents of life, and fpreads an inward purity in his heart, from which a ferene and calm joy a-rifes v/ithin him : and good men, by the efficacy thefe methods have upon them, and from the returns of their prayers, and other endeavours, grow

allured

JOHN Earl of Rochester. '39

■^ilufed that thefe things are true, and anrwcrable to the promifes they find regiflered in fcripture,

I All this, he faid, might be fiincy ; but to this I an^-fvvered, that as it were unreafonable to tell a man that is abroad, and knows he is awake, that perhaps he is in a dream, and in his bed, and only thinks he is abroad, or that as fome go about in their fleep, fo he may be afleep ftill ; fo good and religious men know, though others might be abu-fed by their fancies, that they are under no fuch deception \ and find they are neither hot nor enthu-fiafiical, but under the power of calm and clear prii-iciples. All this he faid he did not undcrftanJ, and that it was to affcrt or beg the thing in quef-tion, which he could not comprehend.

As for the poiTibility of revelation, it was a vain thing to deny it; for as God gives us the fenfe of feeing material objeils by our eyes, and opened in fome a capacity o-f apprehending hi2;h and fublime things, of which other men fecmed utterly incapable 5 fo it was a weak afTcrtion that God cannot avv-aken a power in fome mens minds, to apprehend and know fome things, in fuch a manner that others are not capable of it. This is not half fo incredible to us as fi^ht is to a blind maiK whoyet may be convinced there is a ftrange power

,ot feeing that governs men, of which he finds him-felf deprived. As for the capacity put into fuch mens hands to deceive the worl-d,we are at the fame time to confider, that befides the probity of their tempers, it cannot be tbought but God can fo forci-

C 4. biy

%\y blind up a man in fome things that it fhould not be in his power to deliver them, otherwife than 3S he gives him in commiflion : befides, the confirmation of miracles are a divine credential to warrant fuch perfons in what they deliver to the world, which cannot be imagined can be joined to a lye, fmce this were to put the omnipotence of God to atteft that which no honeft man wpuld do. For the bufmefs of the fall of man, and other things, of which we cannot perhaps give ourfelves a perfect account; we who cannot fathoip the fecrets of the council oi God, do very unreafouably to take on us to reject an excellent fyftem of good and holy rules, becaufe we cannot fatisfy ourfelves about fome difficulties in them. Common experience tells us, tl|ere is a great diforder in our natures, which is not eafily rciSlified ; all philofo-phers were fe^fible of it, and every man that dc-Tio^ns to govern himfelf by rcafon, feels the Itruggle between it and nature ; fo that it is plain, there is a lapfe of the high powers of the foul. ( But why, faid he, could not this be redified by fome plaip rules given j but men muft come and fiiew a trick to perfuadc the world they fpeak to them in the name of God ? I anfwered, that religion being a defign to recover and fave mankind, was to be fo opened, as to axyaken and work upon all forts of people ; and generally men of a fimplicity of mind, were thofe that were the fittefl objeds for God to ihew his favour to ; therefore it was necefTary that meflengers fent from hpaven

(hould

Ihould appear with fuch alarming evidence as might awaken the world, and prepare them by fome af- ;, tonifhing figns, to liften to the doftrine they were to deliver, Philofophy, that was only a matter of fine fpeculation, had few votaries; and as there was no authority in it to bind the world to believe its dictates, fo they were only received by fome of nobler and refined natures, who could apply them-felves to and delight in fuch notions. But true religion was to be built on a foundation, that fhould carry more weight on it, and to have fuch convictions, as might not only reach thofe who were already difpoled to receive them, but roufe up fuch as without great and fenfible excitation woul4 have otherwife flept on in their ill courfes.

Upon this, and fome fuch occafions, I told him,

I faw the ill ufe he made of his wit, by which he

( flurred the graveft things with a flight dafli of his

I fancy •, and the pleafure he found in fuch wanton

\ expreflions, as calling the doing of miracles the

\ fhewing of a trick, did really keep him from ex-

I amining them with that care which fuch things

required.

P'or the old4eftament, we are fo remote from that time, we have fo little knowledge of the language in which it was writ, have fo imperfedl an account of the hiftory of thofe ages, know nothing of their cuftoms, forms of fpecch, and the feverai periods'they might have, by which they reckon their time, that it is rather a wonder we fliould understand fo much of it, than that many paflagcs in it

fliould

fliould be io dark to us. The chief ufe of it as to us chriftians, is, thr*t from writings which the Jews acknowledged to be divinely infpired, it is ma-nifefl the iXlefiiah was promifed before the deftruc-tion of their teniple ; which being done long ago, and thefe prophecies agreeing to our Saviour, and to no other, here is a great confirmation given to the gof[Tel. But though many things in thefe books could not be underftood by us who live above •3000 years after the chief of them were writien» it is no fuch extraordinary matter.

For that of the deflruction of the Canaanites by the Ifraelites, it is to be confidered, that if God had fent a plague among them ail, that could not Iiave been found fault with. If then God had a right to take away their lives without injuflice or cruelty, he had a right to appoint others to do it, as well to execute it by a more immediate way j and the taking away people by the fword is a much gentler v/ay of dying, than to be fmitten with a plague or a famine. And for the children that were innocent of their fathers faults, God could in another ftate make that up to them. So all the difEculty is, why were the Ifraelites commanded to execute a thing of fuch barbarity ? But this will not feem fohard, if we confider that this was to be no precedent for future times j fince they did not do it but upon fpecial warrant and commifiion from heaven, evidenced to all the world by fuch mighty miracles as did plainly fliew, that they were particularly defigned by God to be the executioners of

his

!iis juflice ; and God by impioying them in f® fevere a fervice, intended to poflefs them with great horror of idolatry, which was puniflied in fo extreme a manner.

For the rites of their religion, we can ill judge of them, except we perfetlly underilood the ido-Jatries round about them, to which we find they were much inclined ; fo they were to be bent by other rites to an extreme averfion from them : and yet by the pomp of many of their ceremonies and facrifices, great indulgences were given to a people naturally fond of a vifible fplendor in religious wor-fhip. In all which, if we cannot defcend to fuch fatisfa£lory anfwers in every particular, as a curious msn would defire, it is no wonder. I'he long interval of time, and other accidents, have v/orn out thofe things which v/ere necefiary to give us a clearerer light into the meaning of them. And for the ftory of the creation, hovv' hr fom.. ^hiivi;s in it may be parabolical, and hovv far hiitorical, has been difputed j-fthere is nothing in it that may not be hiftorically true. For if it be acknowledged that fpirits can form voices in the air, for which we have as good authority as for any thing \\\ iuilory, then it is no wonder that Eve, being fo lately created, jnight be deceived, and think a ferpent fpake to her, when the evil fpirit framed the voice.

But in all thefe things I told him he was in the wrong way, when he examined the buhneis of re-Jigion by fome dark parts «f Icripcure ; therefore I defircJ him to confider the whole contexture of

the

■Gie chriftian religion, the rules it gives, and the methods it prefcribes. Nothing can conduce more to the peace, order, and happinefs of the world, than to be governed by its rules. Nothing is more for the intereft of every man in particular : the rules of fobriety, temperance, and moderation, were the bcft prefervers of life, and which was perhaps more of health, humility, contempt of the vanities of the world, and the being well employed, raifes a man's mind to a freedom from the follies and temptations that haunted the greateft part. Nothing was (o generous and great, as to ftipply the neceflities of the poor, and to forgive injuries, nothing raifed and maintained a man's reputation fo much, as to be exadly juft and merciful, kind, charitable, and compaflionate, nothing opened the powers of a man's foul fo much as a calm temper, a ferene mind, free of paflion and diforder, nothing made focieties, families, and neighbourhoods fo happy as when thefe rules» which the gofpel prefcribes, took place, of doing as we would have others do to us, and loving our neighbours as ourfelves.

The chriftian worfhip was alfo plain and fimpie,. fuitable to fo pure a do<Slrine. The ceremonies of it were few and figniiicant, as the admiflion to it by a wafhing with water, and the memorial of our Saviour's death in bread and wine i the motives in it to perfuade to this purity were ftrong : that God fees us, and will judge us for all our aaions: that wc fhall be for ever happy or mifej--

abK',

able, as we pafs our lives here : the example of our Savour's life, and the great expreflions of his Jove in dying for us, are mighty engagements to obey and imitate him. The plain way of expreC-fion ufed by our Saviour and his apoftles, fhews there was no artifice, where there was fo much, iimplicity ufed : there were no fecrets kept only amtong the priefts, but every thing was open to all Chriftians . the rewards of holinefs are not entirely put over to another ftate, but good men are fpecially blefi with peace in their confciencies, great joy in the confidence they have of the love of God, and of feeing him for ever, and often a fignal courfe of bleflings' follows them in their whole lives; but if at other times calamities fell on them, thefe were fo much mitigated by the patience they were taught, and the inward afliftances with which they were furnifhed, that even thofb crofTes were converted to bleflina;s.

I defired he would lay all thefe things together, and fee what he could except to them^ to make him think this was a contrivance. Inter-eft appears in all human contrivances ; our Saviour plainly had none ; he avoided applaufe, withdrew himfelf from the offers of a crown ; he fubmitted to poverty and reproach, and much con-tradidlion in his life, and to a moft ignominious-and painful death. His apoftles had none neither ^ they did not pretend either to power or wealth j but delivered a doctrine that muft needs condemn ^em, if they ever made fuch ufc of it; they declared

their

their commiffion fislly without rcferves til] other times j they recorded their own weaknefs ; fome of them wrought Vv'ith their own hands, and when they received the charities of their converts, it was not fo much to fupply their own neceffitlcs, as to diftribute to others : they icnew they were to fuffer much for giving their tcftimonies to what they had feen and heard ; in which fo many, in a thing fo vifxble, as Chrift's refurredtion and afcenfion, and the efFufion of the Holy Ghoft which he had pro-mifed, could not be deceived ; and they gave fucb public confirmations of it, by the wonders they themfelves wrought, that great multitudes were coiiverted to a do6lrIne, which, bcfides the oppo-fition it gave to luft and paflion, was borne down and perfecuted for three hundred years, and yet its force was fuch, that it not only v/eathered out all thofc florms, but even grew and fpread vaflly un-derthem. Pliny, about threefcoreyears after, found their numbers great, and their lives innocent : and even Luciap, amidft all his railJery, give a high teftimony to their charity and contempt of life, and the other virtues of the Chriftians, which is like-wife more than once done by malice itfelf, Julian the apoftate.

If a man will lay all this in one balance, and compare with it the few exceptions brought to it, he will foon find how ftrong the one, and how flight the other are. Therefore it was an improper way, to begin at fome cavils about fome pafiages in the new teftament, or the old, and from

thence

thence to prepofTefs one's mind againft the whole. The right method had been firft to confider the whole matter, and from fo general a view to def-cend to more particular enquiries : whereas they fuffered their minds to be foreftalled with prejudices j fo that they never examined the matter impartially. To the greateft part of this he feemed to aiTent, only he excepted to the belief of myfteries in the chriftian religion ; which he thought no man could do, fmce it is not in a man's power to believe that which he cannot comprehend, and of which he can have no notion. The believing myfteries, Iiq faid, made way for all the jugglings of priefts, for they getting the people under them in that point, fet out to them what they pleafed ; and giving It a hard name, and calling it a myftery, the people were tamed, and eaUly believed it. The reftraiji,-ing a man from the ufc of women, except one in the way of marriage, and denying the remedy of divorce, he thought unreafonable impofitlons on the freedom of mankind : and the bufmefs of the clergy, and their maintenance, with the belief of feme authority and power, conveyed in their orders, looked, as he thought, like apiece of contrivance 5, and why, faid he, mud a man tell me, I cannot be faved, unlefs I believe things againfl my lea-fon, and then that 1 muft pay hhn for telUng me of them ? Thefe were all the exceptions which at any time I heaid from him to chriftianity; to which I made thefe anfwers.

l-OF

For myfteries. It is plain there is iii every thing, fomewhat that is unaccountable. How animals or men are formed in their mothers bellies, how feeds grow in the earth, how the foul dwells in the body, and afls and moves it ; how we retain the figures of fo many words or things in our memories, and how we draw them out fo eafily and orderly in our thoughts or difcourfes ? how fight and hearing were fo quick and dillin£t, how vve move, and how bodies were compounded and united ? thefe things, if we follow them into all the difficulties that wc may raife about them, will appear every whit as unaccountable as any myftery of religion ; and a blind or deaf man would judge fight or hearing as Incredible as any myllery may be judged by us; for our reafon is not equal to them. In the fame rank, different degrees of age or capacity raife fome far above others, fo that children cannot fathom the learning, nor weak per-fons the councils of more illuminated minds ; therefore it was no wonder if we could not underftand the Divine EiTence. We cannot imagine how two fuch different natures as a foul and body fhould fo unite together, and be mutually affe£Ved with one anothers concerns ? and how the foul has one principle of reafon, by which it a6ls intelle«Slually, and another of life, by which it joins to the brdy and afts vitally ? two principles fo widely differing both in their nature and operation, and yet united in one and the iame perfon. There might be as many hard arguments brought againft the

poffibility

poflibllity of thefe things, which yet every one

knows to be true, from fpeculative notions, as

againft the myfteries mentioned in the fcriptures.

As that of the Trinity, that in one efTence there

are three different principles of operation, which,

for want of terms fit to exprefs them by, we call

perfons, and are called in fcripture the Father, Son,

and Holy Ghoft ; and that the fecond of thefe did

unite himfelf in a moft intimate manner with the

human nature of Jefus Chrift ; and that the fuffer-

ings he underwent, were accepted of God as a

facrifice for our fms ; who thereupon conferred on

him a power of granting eternal life to all that

fubmit to the terms on which he offers it ; and

that the matter of which our bodies once confifted,

which may as juftly be called the bodies we laid

down at our deaths, as thefe can be faid to be the

bodies which we formerly lived in, being refined and

made more fpiritual, fhall be reunited to our fouls,

and become a fit infl:rument for them in a more

perfeft eftate ; and that God inwardly bends and

moves our wills, by fuch impreffions as he can

make on our bodies and minds.

Thefe, which are the chief myfteries of our religion, are neither fo unreafonable, that any other objedtion lies againft them, but this, that they agree not with our common notions, nor fi> unaccountable, that fom£what like them cannot be aftigned in other things, which are believed really to be, though the manner of them cannot be apprehended : fo this ought not to be

D^ any

any juft objedion to the fubmilfion of our reafon-to what we cannot fo well conceive, provided our belief of it be well grounded. There have been, too many niceties brought indeed rather to darker^ than explain thcfe : they have been defended by weak arguments,, and illuftrated by fimilies not always fo very apt and pertinent ; and new fub-tilties have been added, which have rather perplexed than cleared them. All this cannot be denied ; the oppofition of hereticks antiently, Gccafioned too much curiofity among the fathers, which the fcoolmen have wonderfully advanced of late times. But if myfteries were received, rather in the fimplicity in which they are delivered in the fcriptures, than according to the dlfcantings of fanciful men upon them, they would not appear much more incredible, than fome of the common obje<^s of {Qn(e and perception. And it is a need-iefs fear, that if fome myfteries are acknowledged, which are plainly mentioned in the new teftament, it will then be in the power of the priefts to add more at their pleafure. For it is an abfurd in-> t'erence from our being bound to afTent to fome truths about the Divine Eflence, of which the manner is not underftood, to argue that therefore in an objed prefented daily to cur fenfesj fuch as bread and wine, we fhould be bound to believe againft their teftimony, that it is not what our ienfes perceived it to be, but the whole flefh and blood of Chrift, an entire body being In every crumb and drop of it. It is not indeed in a man's

power

power to believe thus againft his {en(e and reafon, where the objedl is proportioned to them, and fitly applied, and the organs are under no indifpofition or diforder. It is certain that no myftery is to be admitted, but upon very clear and exprefs authorities from fcripture, which could not reafonably be underftood in any other {en{e. And though a man cannot form an explicit notion of a myftery, for then it would be no longer a myftery, yet in general he may believe a thing to be, though he cannot give himfelf a particular account of the way of it ; or rather, though he cannot anfwer fome objecSlions which lie againft it. We knov\A we believe many fuch in human matters, which are more within our reach; and it is very unrea-fonable to fay we may not do it in divine things, which are much more above our apprehcnfions.

For the fevere reftraint of the ufe of v/omen, It

is hard to deny that priviledge to Jefus Chrift as a

law-giver, to lay fuch reftraints, as all inferior

legiflators do j who when they find the liberties

their fubjecls take prove hurtful to them, fet

fuch limits, and make fuch regulations, as they

judge neceflliry and expedient. It cannot be faid,

but the reftraint of appetite is neceflary in fome

inftances ; and if it is neceflary in thefe, perhaps

other reftraints are no lefs neceflary to fortify and

fecure them. For if it be acknowledged, that men

have a property in their wives and daughters, fo

that to defile the one, or corrupt the other, is an

unjuft and injurious thing ; it is certain, that ex-

D a ccpt

cept a man carefully governs his appetites, he wi-U. break through thefe reftraints; and therefore our Saviour knowing that nothing could cfFeftually deliver the world from the mifchlef of unreftrained appetite, as fuch a confinement, might very rea-fonably injoin it. And in all fuch cafes we are to-balance the inconveniences on both hands, and where wc find they are heavieft^we are to acknowledge the equity of the law. On the one hand there is no prejudice^ but the reftraint of appetite ; on the other are the mifchiefs of being given up to pleafure, of running inordinately into it, of breaking the quiet of our own family at home, and of others abroad ; the engaging into much paffion, the cfoing many falfe and impious things to compafs what is defired, the wafte of men's eftates, time, and health. Now let any man judge, whether the prejudices on this fide, are not greater than that iingle one on the other fide, of being denied fome pleafure? For polygamy, it is but reafonable fince

(women are equally concerned in the laws of marriage, that they fhould be confidered as well as men ; but in a Hate of polygamy they are unde? great m.ifery and jealoufy, and are indeed bar-baroufly ufed. Man being alfo of a fc/ciab!e nature, friendfliip and convcrfe were among the primitive intendments of marriage^ in which, as far as the man may excel the wife in greatnefs of mind, and height of knowledge, the wife fomevvay makes that up with her affe»Slionand tender care; fo that from both happily mixed, there arifes a harmony,

which

which is to virtuous minds one of the greateft joys of life ; but all this is gone in a ftate of poly-gam)', which oc-cafions perpetual jarrings and jea-loufies. And the variety does but engage men to a freer range of pleafure, which is not to be put in the balance with the far sreater mifchiefs that mud follow the other courfe. So that it is plain, our Saviour confidered the nature of man, what it could bear, and what was fit for it, when he fo reftrained us in thefe our liberties. And for divorce, a power to break that bond would too much encourage married perfons in the little quarrellings that may arife between them, if it were in their povver to depart one from another. For when they know that cannot be, and that they muft live and die together, it does naturally incline them to lay down their refentments, and to endeavour to live together as well as they can. So the law of the gofpel being a law of love, defigned to engage chriftians to mutual love, it was fit that all fuch provifions fliould be made, as might advance and maintain it, and all fuch liberties be taken away as are apt to enkindle and foment ftrife. This might fall in fome inftances to be uneafy and hard enough; but laws confider what falls out moft commonly, and cannot provide for all particular cafes. The bcft laws are in fome inftances very great grievances : but the advantages being balanced with the inconveniences, meafures are to be taken accordingly. Upon this whole matter, I faid, that pjeafure itood in oppofitlon to other co.nfidcrations

O3 Of

of great weight, and (o the decifion was eafy : and fince our Saviour offers us fo great rewards, it is but reafonable he have a priviledge of loading thefe promifes with fuch conditions, as are not ia themfelves grateful to our natural inclinations ; for all that propofe high rewards, have thereby a right to exa6t difficult performances.

To this, he faid, we are fure the terms are difficult, but are not fo fure of the rewards. Upon this I told him, that we have the fame aflurance of the rewards, that we have of the other parts of chriftian religion. We have the promifes of God made to us by Chrift, confirmed by many miracles: we have the earnefts of thefe, in the quiet and peace which follows a good confcience, and in the re-furredlion of him from the dead who hath promifed to raife us up. So that the reward is fufficiently aflured to us ; and there is no reafon it fliould be given to us, before the conditions are performed on which the promifes are made. It is but reafonable we fliould truft God, and do our duty, in hopes of that eternal life, which God who cannot lie hath promifed. The difficulties are not fo great, as thofe which fometimes the commoneft concerns of life bring upon us : the learning fome trades or fciences, the governing our health and affairs, bring us often under as great ilraights: fo that it ought to be no juft prejudice, that there are fome things in religion that are uneafy, fince this is rather the effect of our corrupt natures, which are farther depraved by vicious habits, and can hardly turn to

any

JOHN Earl of Rochester. ^t^ an)' new courfe of life, without fome pain, thaii •of the di(3:ates of chriftianity, which are \n them-felves jufl and reafonable, and will be eafy to us when renewed, and in a good meafure reliorcd to our piiniiti\e integrity.

As for the exceptions he had to the maintenance ■of the clergy, and the authority to which they pretended if they ftretchcd their deligns too far, the gofpel did plainly reprove them for it; fo that it was very fuitable to that church, which was fo grofly faulty this way, to take the fciiptures out of the hands of the people, fince they do fo manifeftly <lifclaim all fuch practices. The priefts of the true chriftian religion have no fecrets among them, which the world muft not know ; but are only an order of men dedicated to God, to attend on facred things, who ougiit to be holy in a more peculiar jnanner, fince they are to handle the things of God. It was neceflary that fuch perfons fliould have a due efteem paid them, and a fit maintenance appointed for them, that fo they might be preferved from the contempt that follows poverty, and the -diftradiions which the providing againft it might ©therwife involve them in : and as in the order of the world, it was necefiary for the fupport of ma-giftracy and government, and for preferving its efteem, that forae flate be ufed (though it is a happinefs when great men have philofophical minds to defpife the pageantry of it;) fo the plentiful fupply of the clergy, if well ufed and ap-.plied by them, will certainly turn to the ad\'antage

of religion. And if fome men either through ambition or covetoufnefs ufed indire£t means, or fer-vile compliances to afpire to fuch dignities, and being pofTefled of them, applied their wealth either to luxury or vain pomp, or made great fortunes out of it for their families; thefe were perfonal failings, in which the do£lrine of Chrift was not concerned.

He upon that told me plaini}'', there was nothing that gave him, and many others, a more fecret en-, couragement in their ill ways, than that thofe who I pretended to believe, lived fo that they could not be thought to be in earneft when they faid it : for he was fure religion was either a mere contrivance, or the moft important thing that could be ; fo that if he once believed, he would fet himfelf in great earneft to live fuitably to it. The afpirings that he had obferved at court of fome of the clergy, " with the fervile ways they took to attain to preferment, and the animofities among thofe of feveral parties about trifles, made him often think they fufpe£led the things were not true, which in their fermons and difcourfes they fo earneftly recommended. Of this he had gathered many inftances ; I knew fome of them were miftakes and calumnies ; yet I could not deny but fomething of them might be too true : and I publifh this the more freely, to put all that pretend to religion, chiefly thofe that are dedicated to holy fun6lions, in mind of the great obligations that lies on them to live fuitable to their profeffion 5 fincc othcrwife a great deal 0/

the

JOHN Earl of Rochestier. 57 the irreligion and athelfm that is among us, may too juftly be charged on them : for wicked men are delighted out of meafure when they difcover ill things in them, and conclude from thence, not only that they are hypocrites, but that religion itfelf is a cheat.

But I faid to him upon this head, that though no good man could continue in the practice of any known fm, yet fuch might, by the violence or fur-prife of a temptation, to which they are liable as much as others, be of a fudden overcome to do an ill thing, to their great grief all their life after ; and then it was a very unjuft inference, upon fome few failings, to conclude that fuch men do not believe themfelves. But how bad foever many are, it cannot be denied but there are alfo many, both of the clergy and laity, who give great and real demonftrations of the power religion has over them, in their contempt of the world, the flricknefs of their lives, their readinefs to forgi\'c injuries, to relieve the poor, and to do good on all occafions ; and yet even thefe maj have their failing?, either in fuch things in which their conifitutions are weak, or their temptations ftrong and fudden ; and in all fuch cafes we are to judge of men, rather by the courfe of their lives, than by the errors that they through infirmity or furprife may have flipt into,

Thefe were the chief heads we difcourfed on ; and as far. as I can remember, I have faithfully repeated the fubftance of our arguments. I have not foncealed the flrongeft things he faid to mej but

though

though I have not enlarged on all the excurfions of his wit in fetting them off, yet I have given them tiieir full ftrength, as he expreffed them, and as far as I could recolleCl, have ufed his ow^n vi^oids; io that I am afraid feme may cenfure me for fetting down thefe things fo largely, which impious raen may make an ill ufe of, and gainer together to encourage and defend themfelves in their vices : but if they will compare them with the anfwers made to them, and the fenfe that fo great and re-lined a wit had of them afterwards, I hope they may, through the bleiling of God, be not altogether ineffectual.

The iffue of all our difcourfe was this; he told

\ tne, he faw vice and impiety were as contrary to

I liuman fociety, as wild beafts let loofe would be i

and therefore he firmly refolved to change the whole

method of his life, to become ftri6lly jull and true,

to be chafle and temperate, to forbear fwearing

and irreligious difcourfe, to worfhip and pray to

his Maker ; and that though he was not arrived at

\ a full perfuafion of chriftianity, he would never

I employ his wit more to run it down, or to corrupt

others.

Of which I have fmc€ a further aflurance, from a perfon of quality, who converfed much with him the laft year of his life; to whom he would often fay, that he was happy if he did believe, and that he would never endeavour to draw him from it.

To all this I anfwered, that a virtuous life would be very uneafy to him, uniefs vicious inclinations

were

were removed, it would otherwife be a perpetual conftraint. Nor could it be efFei^ed without an inward principle to change him ; and that was only to be had by applying himfelf to God for it in frequent and earneft prayer: and I was fure, if his mind was once cleared of thefe diforders, and cured of thofe diftempers, which vice brought on it, fo great an underftanding would foon fee through all thofe flights of wit, that do feed atheifm and irrelio-jon which have a falfe o-Iitterina: in them, that dazzles feme weak-fighted minds, who have not capacity enough to penetrate further than ther furfaces of things ; and fo they ftick in thefe toyls, which the ftren2:th of his mind would foon break through, if it were once freed from thofe things that depreffed and darkened it.

At this pafs he was when he went from London, about the beginning of April : he had not been long in the country, when he thought he was fo well, that being to go to his eftatein Somerfetfhire, he rode thither poft. This heat and violent motion did fo inflame an ulcer that was in his bladder, that it raifed a very great pain in thofe parts j yet he with much difHculty came back by coach to the lodge at Woodllock-park. He was then wounded both in body and mind j he underftood phyfic and his own conftitution and diftemper fo well, that he concluded he could hardly recover ; for the ulcer broke, and vaft quantities of purulent matter paiTed with his urine. But now the hand of God touched him, and as he told me, it was not only a general

dark

dark melancholy over his mind, fuch as he had

(formerly felt, but a moft penetrating cutting for-row. So that though in his body he fufFered extreme pain for fome weeks, yet the agonies of his mind fometimes fwallowed up the fenfe of what he felt in his body. He told me, and gave it me in charge to tell it to one for whom he was much concerned, that though there were nothing to come after this life, yet all the pleafures he had ever known in fin, were not worth that torture he had felt in his mind. He confidered he had not only neglciSted and difhonoured, but had openly defied his Maker, an4 had drawn many others into the like impieties ; fo that he looked on himfelf as one that was in great danger of being damned. He then fet himfelf wholly to turn to God unfeign-edly, and to do all that was poffible in that little remainder of his life v^'hich vy^as before him, to redeem thofe great portions of jt that he had formerly fo ill eniployed. The minifter that attended conftantly on him, was that good and worthy man Mr. Parfons, his mother's chaplain, who hath fince his death preached, according to the directions he received from him, his funeral fermon ; in which there are fo many remarkable paflages, that I ftiall refer my reader to them, and will repeat none of them here, that I may not thereby leflen his defire to edify himfelf by that excellent difcourfe, which hath given fo great and fo general a fatisfa6lion to all good and judicious readers. I Ihall fpeak curfoiily of every thing, but that which

I

JOHN Earl of Rochester. 6i

I had immediately from himfelf. He was vifited every week of his ficknefs by his diocefan, that truly primitive prelate, the lord bifhop of Oxford ; who though he lived fix miles from him, yet looked on this as fo important a piece of his paftoral care, that he went often to him, and treated him with that decent plainnefs and freedom which is io natural to him ; and took care alfo that he might not on terms more eafy than fafe, be at peace with himfelf. Dr. Marfhall, the learned and worthy redtor of Lincoln College in Oxford, being the minifter of the parifh, was alfo frequently with him J and by thefe helps he was fo directed and fupported, that he might not on the one hand fatisfy himfelf with too fuperficial a repentance, nor on the other hand be out of meafure opprefTed with a forrow without hope. As foon as I heard he was ill, but yet in fuch a condition that I might write to him, I wrote a letter to the beft purpofe I could. He ordered one that was then with him, to afTure me it was very welcome to him; but not fatisfied with that, he fent me an anfwer, which, as the countefs of Rochefter his mother told me, he dictated every word, and then figned it. I was once unwilling to have publifhed it, becaufe of a compliment in it to myfelf, far above my merit, and not very well fuiting with his condition.

But the fenfe he exprefles in it of the change then wrought on him, hath upon fecond thoughts prevailed with me to publifh it, leaving out what concerns myfelf,

Woodstock-

Woodstock-Park, OXFORDSHIRE.

*• My moft honoured Dr. Burnett,

'^' 1^ yr Y fpirits and body decay fo equally to-

*' jLYA gether, that I fliall write you a letter

*' as week as I am in perfon. I begin to value

" churchmen above all men in the world, he. If

*' Godbeyetpleafed to fpare me longer in this world,

*' 1 hope in your converfation to be exalted to that

*' degree of piety, that the world may fee how

\ *' much I abhor what I fo long loved, and how

*' much I glory in repentance and in God's fervice.

'* Beftow your prayers upon me, that God would

** fpare me (if it be his good will) to fliew a true

" repentance and amendment of life for the time to

*' come : or elfe, if the Lord pleafeth to put an

" end to my worldly being now, that he would

" mercifully accept of my death-bed repentance,

*' and perform that promife that he hath been

" pleafed to make, that at what time foevcr a fm-

** ner doth repent, he would receive him. Put up

*' thefe prayers, moft dear do^lor, to Almighty

" God, for

" YOUR MOST OBEDIENT,

" LANGUISHING SERVANT,

June 25, 1680.

ROCHESTER."

He

He told me when I faw him, that he hoped I would come to him upon that general infinuatioii of the defire he had of my company j and he was loth to write more plainly, not knowing whether I could eafily fpare fo much time. I told him, that on the other hand, I looked on it as a prefumption to come fo far, when he was in fuch excellerit hands j and though perhaps the freedom formerly between us, might have excufed it with thofe to whom it was known, yet it might have the appearance of fo much vanity, to fuch as were Grangers to it ; fo that till I received his letter, I did not think it convenient to come to him j and then not hearing that there v/as any danger of a fudden change, I delayed going to him till the twentieth of July. At my coming to his houfe an accident fell out not v/orth mentioning, but that fome have made a ftory of it. His fervant, being a Frenchman, carried up my name wrong, fo that he miftook it for another, who had fent to him, that he would undertake his cure, and he being refolved not to meddle with him, did not care to fee him : this raiftake lafted fome hours, with which 1 was the better contented, becaufe he was not then in fuch a condition^ that my being about him could have been of ahy ufe to him j fcr that night was like to have b^en his laft. He had a convulfion fit, and raved j but opiates beliir^. grven him, after fome hours reft, his raving left him fo entirely, that it ney>er again returned to, him*

T

I cannot eafily exprefs the tranfport he Was In, when he awoke and faw me by him ; he broke out in the tendereft expreffions concerning my kind-nefs in coming fo far to fee fuch a one, ufing terms of great abhorrence concerning himfelf, which 1 forbear to relate. He told me, as his ftreno-th ferved him at feveral fnatches, for he was then fo low, that he could not hold up difcourfe long at once, what fcnfe he had of his paft life; what fad ap-prehenfion for having fo offended his Maker, and difhonoured his Redeemer ; what horrors he had gone through, and how much his mind was turned to call on God, and on his crucified Saviour, {o that he hoped he fhould obtain mercy, for he believed he had fincerely repented, and had nov7 a calm in his mind after that ftoim that he had been in for fome weeks. He had flrong appre-henfions and perfuafions of his admittance to heaven, of which he fpake once, not without fome extraordinary emotion. It was indeed the only time that he fpake with any great warmth to me J for his fpirits were then low, and fo far fpent, that though thofe about him told me he had ex-preffed formerly great fervour in his devotions ; yet nature was fo much fmik, that thefe were in a great meafure fallen off. But he made me pray often with him ; and fpoke of his converfion to God, as a thing now grown up in him to a fettled and calm ferenity. He was very anxious to know my opinion of a death-bed repentance. I told him, that before I gave any refolution in that^ it would

be

be convenient that I (hould be acquainted more particularJy with the circumftances and progrefs o^f his repentance.

Upon this he fatisfied me in many particulars. He laid, he was now periuaded both of the truth of chriftianity, and of the power of inward grace, of which he gave me this flrange account. He faid, Mr. Parfons, in order to his convidlion, read to him the fifty-third chapter of the prophecy of Ifaiah, and compared that with the hiftory of our Saviour's paflion, that he might there fee a prophecy concerning it, written many ages before it was'done j which the Jews that blafphemed Jefus Chrifl: rtill kept in their hands, as a book divinely infpired. He faid to me, that as he heard it read, he felt an inward force upon him, which did fo enlighten his / mind, and convince him, that he could refift it no longer ; for the words had an authority which did fhoot like rays or beams in his mind, fo that he was not only convinced by the reafonings he had about it, which fatisfied his underftanding, but by a power which did fo eft'edlually conftrain him, that he did ever after as firmly believe in his Saviour, as if he had feen him in the clouds. He had made it to be read fo often to him, that he had got it by heart, and went through a great part of it in difcourfe with me, with a fort of heavenly pleafure, giving me his refle6tions on it. Some few I remember, JVho haih believed our report ? (verfe i.) Here, he faid, was foretold the oppofi-tion the gofpel was to meet with from fuch

E wretches

wretches as he was. He hath no form nor comelinef:^ and when we Jhall fee bhn^ there is no beauty that we Jhould defire him^ (verfe 2.) On this, he faid, the meannefs of his appearance and perfon has made vain and foolifti people difparag<2 him, becaufe he came not in fuch a fool's coat as they delight in. What he £aid on the other parts I do not well re-tnemberj and indeed,,! was fo affe£ted with what he faid then to me, that the general tranfport I was under during the whole difcourfe, made me lefe capable to remember thefe particulars, as I wilh I had done.

He told me, that he had thereupon received the facrament wi<h great fatisfa6lion, and that was encreafed by the pleafure he had in his lady's receiving it with him ; who had been for fome years mifled into the communion of the church of Rome, and he himfelf had been, not a little inftrumental in procuring it,, as he fueely acknowledged : fo that it was one ofthe joyfulleft things that befell him in his ficknefs,^ that he had feen that mifchief removed, in which he had fo great a hand : and during his whole fieknefs, he exprefled fo much tender-nefs and true kindnefs to his lady, that as it eafily defaced the remembrance of every thing wherein he had been in fault formerly, fo it drew from her the moH paflionate care and concern for him that was poflible, which indeed deferves a higher cha-ratSler than is decent to give of a perfon yet alive : Wt 1 fbaU confine my difcourfe to the dead.

He

He told me, he had overcome all his refent- . Bients to all the world, fo that he bore ill-will to no perfon, nor hated any upon perfonal accounts. He had given a true ftate of his debts* and had ordered to pay them all, as far as his eftate that was not fettled could go j and was confident, that if all that was owing to him were paid to his ex-* ecutors, his creditors would be all fatisfied. He faid, he found his mind now poflefTed with another fenfe of things, than ever he had formerly* He did not repine under all his pain, and in one of the Iharpeft fits he was under while I was with him, he faid, he did willingly fubmit j and looking up to heaven^ faid, " God's holy will be done^ *' I blefs him for all he does to me. " He pro-felTed, he was contented either to die or live, as fhould pleafe God ; and though it was a foolifh thing for a man to pretend to chufe whether he would die or live, yet he wifhed rather to die. He knew he could never be fo well that life {hould be comfortable to him. He was confident he fhould be happy if he died, but he feared if he lived he might relapfe j and then faid he to me, in what a condition fhall I be, if 1 relapfe after all this ? but, he faid, he trufted in the grace and goodnefs of God, and was refolved to avoid all thofe temptations, that courfe of life and company, that was likely to enfnare him ; and he defired to live on no other account, but that he might by the change of his manners fome way take ofF the high fcandal his former behaviour had given.

E 2 All

All thefe things at feveral times I had from him, bcfides fome mefiages which very vi^ll became a dying penitent to fome of his former friends, and a charge to publifh any thing concerning him, that mio-ht be a mean to reclaim others. Praying God, that as his life had done much hurt, fo his death might do fome good.

Having underftood all thefe things from him, and beino- preffed to give him my opinion plainly about his eternal ftate ; I told him, that though the promifes of the gofpel did all depend upon a real change of heart and life, as the indifpen-fible condition upon which they were made ; and that it was fcarce pofTible to know certainly whether our hearts are changed, unlefs it appeared in our lives ; and the repentance of moft dying men, being like the bowlings of condemned prifoners for pardon, which flowed from no fenfe of their crimes, but from the horror of approaching death ; there was little reafon to encourage any to hope much from fuch forrowing ; yet certainly, if the mind of a fmner, even on a death-bed, be truly renewed and turned to God, fo great is his mercy, that he will receive him, even in that extremity. He faid, he was fure his mind was entirely turned, and though horror had given him his firft awaking, yet that was now grown up into a fettled faith and converfion.

There is but one prejudice lies againft all this, to defeat the good ends of divipe providence by it upon others, as well as on himfdfi i'.nd that is,

that

JOHN £^;'/c/Roci^ESTER. 69

that it was a part of his difeafe, and that the lownefs of his fpirits made fuch an alteration in him, that he was not what he had formerly been; and this fome have carried fo far as to fay, that he died mad ; thefe reports are raifed by thofe who are unwilling that the lafl thoughts or words of a perfon, every way fo extraordinary, fhould have any efFetfl either on themfelves or others ; and it is to be feared, that fome have fo far feared their confciences, and exceeded the common meafures of fm and infidelity, that neither this teflimony, nor one coming from the dead, would fignify much towards their convi6lion. That this lord was either mad or ftupid, is a thing fo notorioufly untrue, that it is the greateft impudence for any that were about him, to report it, and a very unrea-fonable credulity in others to believe it. All the while I was with him, after he had flept out the diforde-rs of the fit he was in the firft night, he was not only without ravings, but had a clearnefs in his thoughts, in his memory, in his refleclions on things and perfons, far beyond what I ever faw in a perfon (o low in his flrength. He was not able to hold out long in difcourfe, for his fpirits.failed ; but once for a half hour, and often for a quarter of an hour after he awaked, he had a vivacity in his difcourfe that was extraordinary, and in all things like himfelf. He called often for his children, his fon, the now earl of Rocheflcr, and his three daughters, and fpakc to them with a fenle and feeling that cannot be exprefled in writing. -■" * E 3 He

He called me once to look on them all, and faid, ** fee' how good God has been to me, in giving me ** fo many bleilings, and I have carried myfelf to ** him lik-9 an ungracious and unthankful dog. " JHe once talked a great deal to me of public affairs, and of many perfons and things vi'ith the fame clearnefs of thought and exprefHon, that he had ever done before : fo that by no fign but his v/eak-nefs of body, and giving over difcourfe fo foon, could 1 perceive a difference between what his parts formerly were, and what they were then.

And that wherein the prefence of his mind appeared moft, was in the total change of an ill habii grown fo much upon him, that he could hardly govern himfelf when he was any ways heated three minutes without falling into it, I mean fwearing. He had acknowledged to me the former winter, that he abhorred it, as a bafe and indecent thing, and had fet himfelf much to break it off; but he confeiTed, that he was fo over-pov/ered by that ill cuflom, that he could not (peak with any warmth, without repeated oaths, which upon any fort of provocation, came almoft naturally from him ; but in his laft rernorfes this did fo fenfibly afFe£l him, that by a refolute and f onflant watchfulnefs, the habit of it was perfedlly maflered ; fo that upon the returns of pain, which were very fevere and frequent upon him the lafl day I was with hjm, or upon fuch difpleafures as people fick or in pain are apt to take of a fudden at thofe about them; on all thefe occafions he

never fwore an oath all the while I was there.

Once

Once he was offended with the delay of one be thought made not hafte enough with fomewhat he called for, and faid in a little heat, " that ** damned fellow : " foon afrer, I told him, I was glad to find his ftyle fo reformed, and that he had fo entirely overcome that ill habit of fwearing.j only that word of calling any damned, which had returned upon him, was not decent. His anfwer was, " Oh that language of friends which was (^o " familiar to me, hangs yet about me : fure none has ** deferved more to be damned than I have done. " And after he had humbly atked God pardoji for it, he defired me to call the penfon to him, that he might afk him forgivenefs; but I told him that was needlefs, for he had faid it of one that did not hear it, and fo could not^be offended by it.

In this difpoiltion of mind did he continue all the while I was with bim, four days together ; he was then brought fo low, that all hopes of recovery were gone^ Much purulent matter came from him with his urine, which he paCed always with fome pain, but one day with inexprefiSble torment; yet he bore it decently, without breaking out into repinings, or impatieait complaints. He imagined he had a ftone in his paffage, but it being fearched, none was found. The whole fub-ftance of his body was drained fey the ulcer, and nothing was left but (kin and bone, and by lying much on his back, the parts there began to mor-»ify : but he had been formerly fo low, that be ieenicd 'as much paft ail hopes of life as now;

E 4 which

which made him one morning, after a full and fweet night's lelt procured by laudanum, given him without his knowledge, to fancy it was an effort of nature, and to begin to entertain fome hopes of recovery : for he faid, he felt him-felf perfectly well, and that he had nothing ailing him, but an extreme weaknefs, which might go off in time j and then he entertained me with the fcheme he had laid down for the reft of his life, how retired, how ftri6l, and how ftudious he intended to be J but this was foon over, for he quickly felt, that it was only the effecSt of a good fleep, and that he was ftiil in a very defperate flate.

I thought to have left him on Friday, but not without fome paflion he defired me to ftay that day ; there appeared no fymptom of prefent death ; and a worthy phyfician then with him, told me, that though he was fo low, that an accident might carry him away on a fudden ; yet without that, he thought he might live yet fome weeks. So on Saturday, at four of the clock in the morning, I left him, being the 24th of July. But I durft not take leave of him ; for he had expreffed fo great an unwillingnefs to part with me the day before, that if I had not prefently yielded to one day's ftay, it was like have given him fome trouble, therefore I thought it better to leave him without any formality. Some hours after he afked for me, and when it was told him, I was gone, he feemed to be troubled, and faid, " has my friend left me, then I " lliall die fliortly." After that, he fpake but once

or

or twice till he died; he lay much filent ; once they heard him praying very devoutly. And on Monday about two of the clock in the morning he died, without any convulfion, or fo much as a groan.

The CONCLUSION.

THUS he lived, and thus he died in the three and thirtieth year of his age. Nature had fitted him for great things, and his knowledge and obfervation qualified him to have been one of the moft extraordinary men, not only of his nation, but of the age he lived in j and I do verily believe, that if God had thought fit to have continued him longer in the world, he had been the wonder and delight of all that knev/ him : but the infinite wife God knew better what was fit for him, and what the age deferved. For men who have fo cad off all fenfc of God and religion, deferve not fo fi2;nal a bleffing, as the example and con-vidlion which the reft of his life might have given them. And I am apt to think that the Divine Goodnefs took pity on him, and feeing the fince-rity of his repentance, would try and venture him no more in circumftances of temptation, perhaps too hard for human frailty. Now he is at reft, and 1 am very confident enjoys the fruits of his Jatc, but fincere repentance. But fuch as live, and ftill go on in their fins and impieties, and will

not

not be awakened neither by this nor the othCT

alarms that are about their ears, are, it feems,

given up by God to a judicial hardnefs and impeni-

tency.

Here is a public inftance of one who lived of their fide, but could not die of it : and though none of all our libertines underftood better than he, the fecret myfteries of fin, had more fludied every thing that could fupport a man in it, and had more refifted all external means of convidiion than be had done ; yet when the hand of God inwardly touched him, he could no longer kick againft thofc pricks, but humbled himfelf under that mighty hand, and as he ufed often to fay in his prayers, he who had fo often denied him, found then no other Ihelterbut his mercies and compaflions.

I have written this account with all the tender-nefs and caution I could ufe, and in whatfoever I may have failed, I have been ftri£t in the truth of what I have related, remembering that of Job, •* will ye lie for God ? " Religion has ftmngth and evidence enough in itfelf, and needs no fupport from lies, and made ftories, I do not pretend to have given the formal words that he faid, though I have done that where 1 could remember them. But I have written this with the fame fmcerity, that I would hav€ done, had I known I had been to •die immediately after I had finiftied it, I did not take notes of our difcourfes laft winter after ■we parted ; fo I may have perhaps in the fetting •ut of my anfwers to him, have enlarged on fe-

veral

JOHN Earl of Rochester." 75 yeral things both more fulJy and more regularly, than I could fay them in fuch free difcourfes as \vc had. I am not fo fure of all I fet down as faid by me, as I am of all faid by him to me; but yet the fubftance of the greateft part, even of that, is the fame.

It remains, that I humbly and carneflly befccch all that fhall take this book in their hands, that they will confider it entirely, and not reft fome parts to an ill intention. God the fearcher of hearts, knows with what fidelity I have writ it: but if any will drink up only the poifon that may be in it, without taking alfo the antidote here given to thofe ill principles ; or confidering the (tw^e that this great perfon had of them, when he refledled ferioufly on them; and will rather confirm themfelves in their ill ways, by the fcruples and objections which I fet dovi^n, than be edified by the other parts of it; as I v/ill look on it as a great infelicity, that I (hould have faid any thing that may ftrengthen them in their impieties, fo the fincerity of my intentions will, I doubt not, ex-cufe me at his hands, to whom I offer up this fmall fervicc.

I have now performed in the bcft manner I could, what was left on me by this noble lord, and have done with the part of an hiftorian. I fhall, in the next place fay fomewhat as a divine. So extraordinary a text does almoft force a fermon, though it is plain enough itfelf, and fpeaks with Ip loud a voice, that thofe who arc not awakened

by

by it, will perhaps confider nothing that lean fay. If our libertines will become fo far fober as to examine their former courfe of life, with that difen-gagement and impartiality, which they muft acknowledge a wife man ought to ufe in things of greateft confequence, and balance the account of what they have got by their debaucheries, with the mifchiefs they have brought on themfelves and others by them, they will foon fee what a bad bargain they have made. Some diverfion, mirth, and pleafure is all they can promife themfelves; but to obtain this, how many evils are they to fufFer ? Hov/ have many wafted their ftrength, brought many difeafes on their bodies, and precipitated their age in the purfuit of thofe things ? And as they bring old age early on themfelves, fo it becomes a miferable ftate of life to the greateft part of them; gouts, ftranguries, and other infirmities, being fevere reckonings for their paft follies ; not to mention the more loathfome difeafes, with their no lefs loathfome and troublefome cures, which they muft often go through, who deliver themfelves up to forbidden pleafures. Many are disfigured befide with the marks of their intemperance and levvdnefs, and which is yet fadder, an infection is derived oftentimes on their innocent but unhappy iflaie, who being defcended from fo vitiated an original, fuff'er for their excelTes. Their fortunes are profufely wafted, both by their neglect of their affairs, they being fo buried in vice, that they cannot employ either their time or fpirits,

fo

JOHN £^r/<?/ Rochester. j'^

fo much exhaufted by intemperance, to confider them ; and by that prodigal expence which their lufts put them upon. They fufFer no lefs in their credit, the chief mean to recover an entangled cftate ; for that irregular expence forces them to {o many mean (hifts, makes them fo often falfe to all their promifes and refolutions, that they muft needs feel how much they have loft that, which a gentleman, and men of ingenuous tempers, do fome-times prefer even to life itfelf, their honour and reputation. Nor do they fuffer lefs in the nobler powers of their minds, which, by a long courfe of fuch diflblute pradlices, come to fink and degenerate fo far, that not a few whofe firft bloffoms gave the moft promifmg hopes, have fo withered, as to become incapable of great and generous undertakings, and to be difabled to t\^r^ thing, but to wallow like fwine in the n!th of fenfuality, their fpirits being diflipated, and their minds fo benummed, as to be wholly unfit for bufmefs, and even indifpofed to think.

That this dear price fhould be paid for a little wild mirth, or grofs and corporal pleafure, is a thing of fuch unparalelled folly, that if there were not too many fuch inftances before us, it might feem incredible. To all this we muft add the horrors that their ill adions raife in them, and the hard fliiftsthey are put to to flave ofFthefe, either by being perpetually drunk or mad, or by an habitual difufe of thinking and refle^ling on their actions, and (if thefe arts will not perfectly quiet

■tli era)

them) by taking fanftuary in fuch atheiftical principles, as may at leafl: mitigate the fournefs of their thoughts, though they cannot abfolutcly fettle their minds.

If theftateof mankind and human focieties are confidered, what mifchiefs can be equal to thofe which follow thefe courfes. Such perfons are a plague where ever they come, they can neither be trufted nor beloved, having caft off both truth and goodnefs, which procure confidence and attract love; they corrupt fome by their ill pracStices, and do irreparable injuries to the reft, they run great hazards, and put themfelves to much trouble, and all this to do what is in their power to make damnation as fure to themfelves as poffibly they can. What influence this has on the whole nation is but too vifible ; how the bonds of nature, wedlock, and all other relations are quite broken: virtue is thought an antick piece of formality, and religion the effe<5l of cowardice or ^knavery; thefe are the men that would reform the world, by bringing it under a new fyfl:em of intelledtual and moral principles ; but bate them a few bold and lewd jefts, what have they ever done, or defigned to do, to make them to be remembered, except it be with deteftation r They are the fcorn of the pre-fent age, and their names muft rot in the next. Here they have before them an inftance of one, who was deeply corrupted with the contagion which be firft derived from others, but unhappily heightened it much himfelf. He was a mafter indeed

and

and not a bare trlfler with wit, as fome of thofc are who repeat, and that but fcurvily, what they may have heard from him or fome others, and with impudence and laughter will face the world down, as if they were to teach it wifdom j who, God knows, cannot follow one thought a ftep further than as they have conned it j and take from thera their borrowed wit and mimical humour, and they will prefently appear, what they indeed are, the leaft and loweft of men.

If they will, or if they can, think a little,. I wife they would confider, that by their own principles they cannot be fure that religion is only a contrivance ; all they pretend to is only to weaken fome arguments that are brought for it j but they have not brow enough to fay, they can prove that theit own principles are true, fo that at moll they bring their caufe no higher, than that it is poflible religion may not be true. But ftill it is poflible it may be true, and they have no fbame left that will deny that it is alfo probable it may be true ; and if fo, then what mad men are they who run fo great a hazard for nothing ? By their own con-feflion, it may be there is a God, a judgment, and a life to come, and if fo, then he that believes thefe things, and lives according to them, as he enjoys a long courfe of health and quiet of mind, an innocent relifli of many true pleafures, and the ferenities which virtue raifes in him, with the good-will and friendftiip which it procures him from others j fg when he dies, if thefe things prove

raiftakesa,

miflakes, he does not out-live his error, nor fhall it afterwards raife trouble or difquiet in him, if he then ceafes to be; but if thefe things be true, he fhall be infinitely happy in that ftate, where his prefent fmall fervrces fhall be fo exceflively rewarded. The libertines, on the other fide, as they know they muft die, fo the thoughts of death muft be always melancholly to them ; they can have no pleafant view of that which yet they know cannot be very far from them : the leafl painful idea they can have of it is, that it is an extimSlion and ceafing to be, but they are not fure even of that; fome fecret whifpers within make them, whether they will or not, tremble at the apprehenfions of another flate ; neither their tinfel wit, nor fuper-ficial learning, nor their impotent affaults upon the weak fide, as they think, of religion, nor the boldeft notions of impiety, will hold them up then. Of all which, I now prefent fo lively an inftance, as perhaps hiftory can fcarce parallel.

Here were parts fo exalted by nature, and improved by fludy, and yet fo corrupted and debafed by irreligion and vice, that he who was made to be one of the glories of his age, was become a proverb, and if his repentance had not intcrpofed, would have been one of the greatell reproaches of it. He knew well the fmall ftrength of that weak caufe, and at firft defpifed, but afterwards abhorred it. He felt the mifchiefs, and faw the mad-nefs of it ; and therefore though he lived to the fcaudal of many, he died as much to the edification

of

of all thofe who faw him, and becaufe they were but a fmall number, he defired that he might even when dead, yet fpeak. He was willing nothing Ihould be concealed that might caft reproach on himfelf and on fin, and offer up glory to God and reliffion. So that though he lived a hainous finner, yet he died a moft exemplary penitent.

It would be a vain and ridiculous inference for any, from hence to draw arguments about the abftrufe fecrets of predeftination, and to conclude, that if they are of the number of the ele^Sl, they may live as they will, and that Divine Grace will at fome time or other violently conftrain them, and irrefiftably work upon them. But as St. Paul was called to that eminent fervice for which he was appointed, in fo ftupendious a manner as is no warrant for others to expe£t fuch a vocation; fo, if upon fome fignal occafions fuch converfions fall out, which, how far they are fhort of miracles, I fliall not determine, it is not only a vain, but a pernicious imagination, for any to go on in their ill ways upon a fond conceit and expectation that the like ivill befal them : for whatfoever God's extraordinary dealings with fome may be, we are fure his common way of working is, by offering thefe things to our rational faculties, which, by the affiftances of his grace, if we improve them all v/e can, (hall be certainly effc6lual for our reformation ; and if we neglect or abufe thefe, we put ourfclves beyond the common methods of God's mercy, and have no reafon to exped that wonders

F Ihould

fhould be wrought for our convIiSlion ; whichy though they fometimes happen, that they may give an efFe£tual alarm for the awaking of others, yet it would deftioy the whole defign of religion,., if men fhould depend upon, or look for fuch an extraordinary and forcible operation of God's grace^ And 1 hope, that thofe, who have had fome fliarp refledlions on their paft life, fo as to be re-folved to forfake their ill courfes, will not take the leaft encouragement to themfelves in that de-fperate and unreafonable rcfolution of putting off iheir repentance till they can fm no longer, from the hopes I have exprelled of this lord's obtaining mercy at the laft, and from thence prefunie, that they alfo Ihall be received when they turn to God on their death-beds : for what mercy foever God' may fhew to fuch as really were never inwardly touched before that time j yet there is no reafon to think, that thofe who have dealt fo difingenuoufly with God and their own fouls, as defignedly to put off their turning to him upon fuch confulerations, fhould then be accepted with him, They may die fuddenly, or by a difcafe that may fo diforder their uaderftandings, that fhey fhall not be in any capacity of refled^ing on their pati lives. The; inward converfion of our minds is not i'o in our power, that it can be effected without divine grace •jffifting J and there is no reafon for thofe who fiave neglefted thcfe afliftances all their lives, to expe6l them in fo extraordinary a manner at their desth. Nor can one, efpecially in a ficknefs that is

quick

quick and critical, be able to do thofe things that are often indifpenfably neceflary to make his repentance complete; and even in a longer difeafe, in which there are larger opportunities for thefe things. Yet there is great reafon to doubt of a repentance, begun and kept up merely by terror, and not from any ingenuous principle. In which, though 1 will not take on me to limit the mercies of God, which are boundlefs, yet this muft be confefled, that to delay repentance with fuch a defign, is to put the greateft concernment we havcj upon the moft dangerous and defperate ilTue that is pofTible.

But they that will ftill g6 on in their fms, and be fo partial to them, as to ufe all endeavours to ftrengthen themfelves in their evil courfe, even by thefe very things which the providence of God fets before them for the calling down of thefe ftrong holds of fin : what is to be faid to fuch ? it is to be feared, that if they obftinately perfift, they will by degrees come within that curfe, He that is unjuji^ let him be unjujijiill: mtd he that is filthy, let him be filthy Jlill. But if our gofpel is hid, it is hid to them that are lojl, in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lejl the light of the glorious gofpel of Chriji, who is the image of God, Jhould Jhine unto them.

SERMON

PREACHED AT THE

FUNERAL

Of the Right Honourable

JOHN Earl of Rochefter,

Who died at Woodllock-Park, the 26th of July, 1680, and was buried at Spilfbury, in Oxfordfhire, the 9th day of Auguft.

By ROBERT PARSONS, M. A. Chaplain to the Right Honourable Anne, Countefs of Rochefter,

ADVERTISEMENT.

•tx L L the lewd and profane poems and libels pf the late lord Rochefter, having been (contrary to his dying requeft, and in defiance of religion, government, and common decency) publifhed to the world ; and (for the eafier and furer propagation of vice) printed in penny-books, and cried about the ftreets of this honourable city, without any offence or diflike taken at them : it is humbly hoped that this fhort difcourfe, which gives a true account of the death and repentance of that noble lord, may likewife (for the fake of his name) find a favourable reception among fuch perfons j though the influence of it cannot be fuppofed to reach as far as the poifon of the other books is fpread ; which by the ftrength of their own virulent corruption, are capable of doing more mifchief than all the plays, and fairs, and flews, in and about this town can do together.

LUKE XV. 7.

I fay unto you., that llkeivife joy Jhall be hi heaven over one /inner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine jujl perfons that need 710 repentance.

IF ever there were n fubje<Sl that might deferve and exhaufl all the treafures of religious eloquence in the defcription of fo great a man, and fo great a Gnner as now lies before us ; together with the wonders of the Divine Goodnefs, la making him as great a penitent ; I think the pre-fent occafion affords one as remarkable as any place or age can produce.

Indeed, fo great and full a matter it is, that it is too big to come out of my mouth, and perhaps not all of it fit or needful fo to do. The greatnefs of his parts are well enough known, and of his fins too well in the world j and neither my capacity, nor experience, nor my profcilxon, will allow me txj be fo proper a judge either of the one or the other. Only as God has been pleafed to make me a long while a fad fpeitator, and a fecret mourner for his iins., fo as he at laft gracioufly heard the prayers of his neareft relatioi)s and true friends, for his converfion and repentance : and it is the good tidings of that efpecially which God has done for his foul, that I am now to publifli and tell abroad to the world, not only by the obligations of mine oflicc, in which 1 had the honour to be

F 4. a

a weak minifter to it, but by his own exprefs and

dying commands.

Now although, to dcfcribe this worthily, would requiie a wit equal to that with which he lived, and a devotion too equal to that with which he died, and to match either would be a very hard tafk ; yet befides that, 1 am not fufficicnt for thefe things, (for who is ?) and that my thoughts have been rather privately bufied to fecure a real repentance to himfelf whilft living, than to publifli it abroad to others in an artiiicial drefs after he is dead : I fay, befides all this, I think 1 fliall have lefs need to call in the aids of fecular eloquence. The proper habit of repentance is not fine linen, or any delicate array, fuch as are ufed in the court, or kings houfes, but fack-cloth and afhes : and the way which God Almighty takes to convey it, is not by the words of man's wildom, but by the plainnefs of his written word, aflifted by the inward power and demonftration of the Spirit: and the effecls it works, and by which it difcovers itfelf, are not any raptures of wit and fancy ; but the moft humble proftrations both of foul and fpirit, and the captivating all human imaginations-to the obedience of a defpifcd religion and a crucified Saviour.

And it is in this array I intend to bring out this penitent to you ; an array which I am fure he more valued, and defired to appear in, both to God and the world, than in all the triumphs of wit and gallantry ; and therefore, (waving all thcfe rhetorical

ilourifhess

flourifhes, as beneath the folemnlty of the occafion, and the majefty of that great and weighty truth I am now to deliver) I Ihall content myfelf with the office of a plain hiftorian, to relate faithfully and impartially what I faw and heard, efpecially during his penitential forrows; which, ifall that hear mc this day had been fpe6tators of, there would then been no need of a fermon to convince men ; but every man would have been as much a preacher to him-felfof this truth, as I am, except thefe forrows: and yet even thefe forrows fiiould be turned into joys too, if we would only do v/hat we pray for, that the will of God may be done in earth as it is in heaven ; for fo our blefled Lord afTures us ; " I fay *' unto you, that likewife joy fiiall be in heaven over *' one fmner that repenteth, &c. " From which I fhall confider,

I. The finner particularly that Is before us.

IT. The repentance of this fmner, together with the means, the time, and all probable fincerity of it.

III. The joy that is in heaven, and fliould be on earth, for the repentance of this firmer.

IV. I fhall apply myfelf to all that hear me ; that they would join in this joy, in praife and thankf-giving to God, for the converfion of this finner j and if there be any that have been like him in their fins, that they would alfo fp^edily imitate him in their repentance.

And

And I. Let us confider the perfon before us, as-he certainly was a great finner. But becaufe man was upright before he was a finner, and to mea-fure the greatnefs of his fall, it will be ncceffary to take a view of that heighth from which he fell; give me leave to go back a little, to look into the rock from which he was hewn, the quality, family, education, and perfonal accomplifhments of this great man. In doing of which, I think no man will charge me with any defign of cuftomary flattery, or formality j fmce I intend only thereby to fhcw the greatnefs and unhappinefs of his folly, in the perverting fo many excellent abilities and advantages for virtue and piety in the fervice of fin, and fo becoming a more univerfal, infmuating, and prevailing example of it.

As for his family, on both fides, from which he was defcended, they were fome of the moft famous in their generations. His grandfather was that excellent and truly great man, Charles lord Wilmot, vifcount Athlone in Ireland. Henry his father, who inherited the fame title and greatnefs, was by his late majefty, king Charles I. created baron of Adderbury, in Oxfordfhire, and by his prefent majefly, earl of Rochefter. He was a man of fignal loyalty and integrity indeed ; and of fuch courage and condu*5l in military affairs, as became a great general. His mother was the relicl of fir Francis Henry Lee, of Ditchly, in the county of Oxford, baronet, grandmoLher to the prefent right honourable carl of Litchfield, and the daughter of that

genejous

generous and honourable gentleman fir John St. Johns, of Lyddiard, in the county of Wilts, baronet, whofe family was fo remarkable for^loyalty, that feveral of his fons willingly offered themfelves in the day of battle, and died for it; and whilft the memory of the Englifh or Irilh rebellion lafts, that family cannot want a due veneration in the minds of any perfon, that loves either God or the ting.

As for his education, it was in Wadham CoilegCj Oxford, under the care of that wife and excellent governor Dr. Blandford, the late bifliop of Wor-cefter; there it was that he laid a good foundation of learning and ftudy, though he afterwards built upon that foundation hay and ftubble. There he firft fucked from the breaft of his mother the univerfity, thofe perfections of wit, and eloquence, and poetry, which afterwards, by his own corrupt ftomach, where turned into poifon to himfeif and others ; which certainly can be no more a blemifli to thofe illuftrious feminaries of piety and good learning, than a difobedient child is to a wife and virtuous father, or the fall of man to the excellency pf Paradife.

A wit he had fo rare and fruitful in its invention, and withal fo choice and delicate in it* judgment, that there is nothing wanting in his compofures to give a full anfwer to that queition. What and where wit is? except the purity and choice of fubjecl. For had fuch excellent feeds but fallen upon good ground, and inftead of pitcliing upon a beaft, or a lull, been raifcd up on high, to celebrate the

myftcrlcs

myfteries of the divine love, in pl'alms, and hymns, and fpiritual fongs j I perfuade myfelf v^^e might by this time have received from his pen, as excellent an idea of divine poetry, under the gofpel, ufeful to the teaching of virtue, efpecially in this generation, as his profane verfes have been to deftroy it. And 1 am confident, had God fpared him a longer life, this would have been the whole bufmefs of it, as I know it was the vow and purpofe of his fick-nefs.

His natural talent was excellent, but he had hugely improved it by learning and induftry, being thoroughly acquainted with all claflick authors, both Greek and Latin ; a thing very rare, if not peculiar to him among thofe of his quality, which yet he ufed not, as other poets have done, to translate or fleal from them; but rather to better and improve them by his own natural fancy. And whoever reads his compofures, will find all things in them fo peculiarly great, new and excellent, that he will eafily pronounce, that though he has lent to many others, yet he has borrowed of none ; and that he has been as far from a fordid imitation of thofe before him, as he will be from being reached by thofe that follow him.

His other perfonal accomplifhments in all theper-feftions of a gentleman, for the court or country, whereof he was known of all men to be a very great mafter, is no part of my bufmefs to defcribe or underftand ; and whatever they were in them-felves, I am fure they were but miferable comforters

ters to him, fince they only miniflrered to his fins, and made his example the more fatal and dangerous; for fo we may own, (nay, I am obliged by him not to hide, but to fhew the rocks which others may avoid) that he was once one of the greateft of fmners.

And truly none but one fo great in parts could be fo. His fms were like his parts, from which they fprang, all of them high and extraordinary. He feemed to afFeit fomething Angular and paradoxical in his impieties, as well as in his writings, above the reach and thought of other men ; taking as much pains to draw others in, and to pervert the right ways of virtue, as the apoftles and primitive faints did to fave their own fouls, and them that heard them. For this was the heightening and amazing circumftance of his fms, that he was {o diligent and induftrious to recommend and propagate them ; not like thofe of old thathatedthe light, but thofe the prophet mentions, Ifaiah iii. 9, " Who *' declare their fins as Sodom, and hide it not; that *' take it upon their fiioulders, and bind it to them " as a crown ; " framing arguments for fin, making profelytcs to it, and writing panegyricks upon

vice.

Nay, fo confirmed v/as he in fin, that he oftentimes aimoft died a martyr for it. God was pleafed fometimes to punifh him with the cffe<Sls of his folly, yet till now (he conftfll-d) they had no power to melt him into true repentance ; or if at any time he had fyme lucid intervals from his folly

and

and niadnefs, yet (alas) how fhort and tranfitory were they ? All that goodnefs was but as a morning cloud, and as the early dew which vanifhes away ; he ftill returned to the fame excefs of riot, and that with fo much the more greedinefs, the longer he had fafted from it.

And yet even this defpcrate finner, that one would think had made a covenant with death, and was at an agreement with hell, and juft upon the brink of them both ; God, to magnify the riches of his grace and mercv, was pleafed to fnatch as a brand out of the fire. As St. Paul, though " before '* a blafphemer, a perfecutor, an injurious, yetob-** tained mercy, that in him Chrifi: Jefus might *' fhew forth all long-fuffering, for a pattern to ** them that Ihould hereafter believe on hinj to •* everlafting life." i Tim. i. 13, 16. So God ftruck him to the ground as it were by alight fron^ heaven, and a voice of thunder round about him : infomuch that now the fcales fall from his eyes, as they did from St. Paul's; his ftony heart was opened, and flreams of tears gulhed out, the bitter but wholefome tears of true repentance.

And, that this may appear to be fo, I think it neceflary to account for thefe two things.

I. For the means of it ; that it was not barely the effe^ of ilcknefs, or the fear of death \ but the hand of God alfo workiug in them and by them manifeftly.

II. For the fincerity of it; which tjiough none but God that fees the heart, can tell certainly,

yet

yet man even alfo may and ought to believe it; not only in the judgment of charity, but of moral juftice, from all evident figns of it, which were poflible to be given by one in his condition.

And ift. For the means or method of his repentance. That which prepared the way for it was a {harp and painful ficknefs, with which God was pleafed to vifit him ; the way which the Almighty often takes to reduce the wandering fmner to the knowledge of God and himfelf. *•' I will be unto ^' Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion unto ** the houfe of Judah j I, even I, will tear and go " away, and none fhall relieve him ; I will go and *' return to my place, till they acknowledge their '* offence, and feek my face ; and in their affiiilion. '* they will feek me early. " Hof. v. 14, 15.

And though to forfake our fins then, when v/e can no longer enjoy them, feems to be rather the effect of impotency and neceffity, than of choice,, and fo not fo acceptable or praife-worthy ; yet we find, God Almighty often ufes the one to biiag about the otbfcr ; and improves a forced abftinenCe from fin, into a fettled loathing and atrue deleftatioii of it.

It is true, there are fuch ftubborn natures, that like clay, are rather hardened by the fire of afiiic-tions ; ungracious children, that fly in the face of their heavenly father in the very inflant wiien he is corredling them > or it may b'j like thofe children w'ho promife wonders then, but piefeiitly after forget all. Such as thefe we have dcfcribed,

i'fal.

g6 y^ Sermon preached at the'

Pfal. Ixxviii. 34, 35, 36, 37. " When he flew *' them, then they fought him, and they returned " and enquired early after God ; then they remem-" bered that God was their rock, and that the " high God was their Redeemer ; neverthelefs they " did but flatter him Vv'ith their mouth, and lyed " unto him with their tongues, for their heart was " not right with him, neither continued they fted-*' fafl: in his covenant. " And it is probable this has been the cafe formerly of this perfon. But there was an evident dift'erence betwixt the efFe£ls of this ficknefs upon him, and many others before : he had other fentiments of things now, (he told me) and a<Sl:ed upon quite different principles ; he was not vexed v/ith it as it was painful, or hindered him from his fms, which he would have rolled under his tongue all the while, and longed again to be at; but he fubmitted patiently to it, accepting it as the hand of God, and was thankful, blefllng and praifing God not only in, but for his extremities. There was now no cur-fing, no railings or reproaches to his fervants, or thofe about him, which in other ficknefles were their ufual entertainment, but he treated them with all the meeknefs and patience in the world, begging pardon frequently of the meannefs of them but for a hafly word, which the extremity of his ficknefs, and the fharpnefs of his pain, might eafily force from him. His prayers were not fo much for eafe, or health, or a continuance in life, as for grace, and faith, and perfe«S refignation to the will

Etirl of Rochester'^" Tumral. 97 of God. So that I think we may not only chari-tiibly but juftly conclude, that his ficknefs was not th^e chief ingredient, but through the grace of God, an cfFeJfual means of a true, though late repentance, as will befl be judged by the marks I am new to give you of the fincerity of it 5 for which I am in the next place to account.

II. And it was the power of Divine Grace, and o{ that only, that broke through all thofe obfta-cles that ufually attend a man in his circiimflances'; that God (who is a God of infinite compaflion and forbearance) allowed him kifure and opportunity for repentance ; that he awakened him from his Spiritual |lumber by a pungent ficknefs ; that he gave him fuch a prefence of mind, as both to provide prudently for his worldly affairs, and yet not to be diftradled or diverted by them from the thoughts cf a better world ; that lengthened out his day of •grace, and accompanied the ordinary means of fal-vation, and weak miniftry of his v/ord, with the convincing and over-ruling power of his Spirit to his confcience ; which word of God came to him quick and powerful, fliarper than a two edged fword, piercing even to the dividing afunder of his foul and fpirit j and at laft, the Spirit of God ■witneiTed to his fpirit, that now he was become one of the children of God.

Now, if the thief upon the crofs (an inftancv^ too much abufed) was therefore accepted, becaufe accompanied with all the effects of a fmccre convert, which his condition was capable of; as

G confeffion

confeffion of Chrift's in the midft of the blaf-phemies of phaiifees, and his own lewd companion, and defertion of e\'en Chrift's difciplcs ; if his repentance be therefore judged real, becaufe he feems to be more concerned in the remembrance of Chrift's future kingdom than his own death ; if St. Paul was approved by the fame more abundant labours, which he commended in the Corinthians, *'yea, what zeal? what fear? what "vehement defire ? " 2 Cor. vii. ii. I think I ihall make it appear, that the repentace of this per-fon was accompanied with the like hopeful fymp-' toms : and I am fo fenfible of that awful prefence both of God and man before whom I fpeak, who are eafily able to difcover my failings, that 1 fhall not deliver any thing, but what I know to be a ftridl and religious truth.

Upon my firft vifit to him, (May 26, juft at his return from his journey out of the Weft) he moft gladly received me, fliewed me extraordinary refpeds upon the fcore of mine office, thanked God, who had in mercy and good providence fent me to him, -who fo much needed my prayers and counfels ; and acknowledging how unworthily heretofore he had treated that order of men, reproaching them that they were proud, and prophe-cied only for rewards ; but now he had learned how to value them -, that he efteemed them the fervants of the moft High God, who were to fliew to him the way to everlafting life.

At

Earl cf RocHESTERV Funeral. 99 At the fame time I found him labouring under •ilranse trouble and confliifls of mind ; his fpirit wounded, and his confcience full of terrors. Upon his journe)'-, he told me, he had been arguing with greater vigour againft God and religion than ever he had done in his life time before, and that he was refolved to run them down with all the argu-*ments and fpite in the world ; but, like the groat convert St. Paul, he found it hard to kick againft: the pricks. For God, at that time, had fo ftruck his heart by his immediate hand, that pre-fently he argued as ftrongly for God and virtue, as before he had done againft it. That God ftrangely opened his heart, creating in his mind moft av/-ful and tremendo.us thoughts and ideas of the Divine Majefty, with a delightful contemplation of the Divine nature and attributes, and of the lovelinefs of religion and virtue. I never (faid he) was advanced thus far towards happinefs in my life before, though upon the commiilion of fome fins extraordinary, I have had fome checks and warnings confiderable from within, but ftill llrugoled with them, and fo wore them oft'again. 7'he mofl: obfcrA'ablc that I remember, was this : one day •at an atheiftical meeting, at a petfon of quality's, 1 undertook to manage the caufe, and was the principal difputant againft G. d and piety, and for my performances received the applaufe of the whole company ; upon which my mind was terribly ftruck, and I immediately replied thus to my-iclf. Good God ! that a man that walks upright,

G 2. that

100 A Sermon 'preached at the

that fees the wonderful works of God, and has the ufe of his fenfes and reafon, fhould ufe them to the defying of his Creator ! But though this was a good beginning towards my converfion, to find niy confcience touched for my fms, yet it went off again; nay, all my life long, I had ^ fccret value and reverence for an honcft man, and loved morality in others. But I had formed an odd fcheme of religion to myfelf, which would folve all that God or confcience might force upon me ; yet I was not ever well reconciled to the bufinefs of chrifti-anity, nor had that reverence for the gofpel of Chrift as I ought to have. Wlii.h cftate of mind continued till the fifty-third chapter of Ifaiah was read to him, (wherein there is a lively defcription of the fufFerings of our Saviour, and the benefits thereof) and fome other portions of fcripture ; by the power and efficacy of which word, affifled by bis Holy Spirit, God fo wrought upon his heart, that he declared, that the myfterics of the paflion appeared as clear and plain to him, as ever any thing did that was reprefented in a glafs ; fo that that joy and admiration, which poflcfled his foul upon the reading of God's word to him, was remarkable to all about him; and he had fo much delight in his teftimonics, that in my abfence, he begged his mother and lady to read the fame to him frequently, and was unfatisfied (notwithftanding his great pains and v/eaknefs) till he had learned the fifty-thir^

chapter of Ifaiah without book.

^ At

£^rl of Rochester'j Funeral. loi

At the fame time, difcouifing of his manner of life from his youth up, and which all men knew was too much devoted to the fervice of fin, and that the lufts of the flefh, of the eye, and the pride of life, had captivated him : he was very large and particular in his acknowledgments about it, more ready to accufe himfelf than I or any one elfe can be ; publickly crying out, O blelled God, can fuch an horrid creature as I am be accepted by thee, who has denied thy being, and contemned thy power ? Afking often, can there be mercy and pardon for me ? will God own fuch a wretch as I ? and in the middle of his ficknefs faid, ftiall the unfpeakable joys of heaven be conferred on me ? O mighty Saviour ! never, but through thine infinite love and fatisfailion ! O never, but by the purchafe of thy blood ! adding, that with all ab-horrency he did refleft upon his former life ; that fincerely and from his heart he did repent of all that folly and madnefs which he had committed.

Indeed, he had a true and lively fenfe of God's great mercy to him, in ftriking his hard heart, and laying his confcience open, which hitherto was deaf to all God's calls and methods ; faying, if that God, who died for great as well as lefler fin-ners did not fpeedily apply his infinite merits to his poor foul, his wound was fuch as no man could conceive or bear, crying out, that he was the vileft wretch and dog that the fun (hined upon, or the earth bore j that he now fawhis error, in not living up to tlvat reafon which God endued him with, and

G 3 'which

ro2 A Sermon preached at the

which he unworthily villified and contemned; wifhed' he had been a fl-arving leper crawling in a ditch^ that he had been a link-boy or a beggar, pr for his whole life confined to a dungeon, rather than thus to have finned againft God.

How remarkable was his faith, in a hearty embracing and devout confeflion of all the arti-tides of our chriftian religion, and all the divine niyfteries of the gofpel ? faying, that that abfurd and foolilh philofophy, v^rhich the world fo much admired, propagated by the late Mr. Hobbs, and others, had undone him, and many more of the beft parts in the nation ? who, without God's great mercy to them, may never, I believe, attain to fuch a repentance.

I mull not omit to mention his faithful adherence to, and cafting himfelf entirely upon the mercies of Jefus Chrill, and the free grace of God, declared to repenting finners through him ; with a tliankful remembrance of his liie, deaths and refurrecStion; begging God to ftrengthen his faith, and often crying out,. Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.

His mighty love and efteem of the holy fcrip-tures, his rcfolutions to read them frequently, and meditate upon them, if God fliould fpare him, having already tailed the good word ; for having fpoken to his heart, he acknowledged all the feem-jng abfurdities and contradictions thereof, fancied by men of corrupt and reprobate judgments, were

vaniflied,,

Vaniflied, and the excellency and beauty appeared, being come to receive the truth in the love of it.

His extraordinary fervent devotions, in his frequent prayers of his ov^^n, moft excellent and correct ; amongft the reft, for the king, in fuch a manner as became a dutiful fubje(5t, and a truly grateful fervant j for the church and nation, for ibme particular relations, and then for all men ; his calling frequently upon me at all hours to pray with him, or read the fcriptures to him ; and toward the end of his ficknefs, would heartily defire God to pardon his infirmities, if he fhould not be fo wakeful and intent through the whole duty as he wifhed to be, and that though the flefh was weak, yet the fpirit was willing, and hoped God would accept that.

His continual invocation of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to fuftain him, to keep him from all evil thoughts, from all temptations and diabolical fuggeftions, and every thing which might be prejudicial to that religious temper of mind, which God had now fo happily endued him withal; crying out, one night efpecially, how terrible the tempter did affault him, by calling upon him lewd and wicked imaginations ; but I thank God (fuid he) I abhor them all, by the power of his grace, which I am fure is fufficient for me j I have overcome them ; it is the malice of the devil, becaufe 1 am refcued from him ; and the goodnefs of God, that frees mc from all my fpiritual enemies.

G 4 His

His great joy at his lady's converfion from Popery to the church of England, (being, as he termed it, a faclion fupported only by fraud and cruelty) which was by her done with deliberation and mature judgment ; the dark mifts of which, have for fome months before been breaking away, but now cleared, by her receiving the blefl'ed facrament with her dying hufband, at the receiving of which, no man could exprefs more joy and devotion that he did j and having handled the word of life, and k&n the falvation of God, in the preparation of his mind, he was now ready to dep;u-t in peace.

His heartv concern for the pious education of his children, wifliing that his fon might never be a wit, tnat is (as he himfelf explained it) one of thofe wretched creatures, who pride themfelves in abufmg God and religion, denying his being, or his providence ; but that he might become an honeft and religious man, which could only be the fupport and bleffing of his family, complaining what a vicious and naughty world they were brought intO;, and that no fortunes or honours were comparable to the love and favour of God to them, in whofe name he bleiTed them, prayed for them, and committed them to his protedrion.

His fl:ri(5l charge to thofe perfons, In whofe cuflody his papers were, to burn all his profane and lewd writings, as being only fit to promote vice and immorality, by which he had io nighly offended God, and fhamed and blalphemcd that holy religion into which he had been baptized; and

all

all his obfcene and filthy piilures, which were (o notorioufly fcandalous.

His rcadinefs to make reftitution to the utmoft of his power to all perfons whom he had injured ; and for thofe whom he could not make a compen-fation to, he prayed for God's and their pardons. His remarkable juftice in taking all poflible care for the payment of his debts, which before, he ccui-fefled, he had not fo fairly and efFedtually done.

His readinefs to forgive all injuries done againd him, fome more particularly mentioned, which were great and provoking ; nay, annexing thereto all the affurance of a future friend/hip, and hoping he fhould be as freely forgiven at the hand of God.

How tender and concerned was he for his fcr-vants about him in his extremities, (manifefted by the beneficence of his will to them) pitying their troubles in watching with him, and attending him, treating him with candor and kindnefs, as if they had been his intimates!

How hearty were his endeavours to be fervice-able to thofe about him, exhorting them to the fear and love of God, and to make a good ufc of his forbearance and lonfr-fufFering; to finneis, which. Ihould lead them to repentance. And here I muft not pafs by his pious and moffc paflionate exclamation to a gentleman of fome charailer, who came to vifit him upon his death-bed j " O remember " that you contemn God no more, he is an aveng-** ing God, and will vifit you foi your fins j he v/ill in ** mercy, I hope, touch yaur confcience fobner or

ii.

i^itv^r.

" later, as he has done mine. You and I have been " friends and finners together a great while, there-" fore I am the more free with you. We have *' been all miftaken in our conceits and opinions,, *'our perfuafions have been falfe and groundlcfs ; " therefore God grant you repentance. " And feeing him the next day again, he faid to him, " perhaps you were difobliged by my plainnefs to *' you yefterday ; I fpake the words of truth and *' fobcrnefs to you, (and ftriking his hand upon *'his bread:) faid, I hope God will touch your «'heart."

Likewife his commands to me, to preach abroad, and to let all men know (if they knew it not already) h(jw feverely God had difcipHned him for his fms by his afHidting hand ; that his fufferings were moft juft, though he had laid ten thoufand times more upon him ; how he had laid one ftripe upon another becaufe of his grievous provocations, till he had brought him home to himfelf; that in his former vifitations he had not that blefied effe£l he was now fenfible of. He had formerly fome loofe thoughts and flight refolutions of reforming, and defigned to be better, becaufe even the preient con-fequences of fin were Hill pcftering him, and were fo troublefome and inconvenient to him j but that now he had other fentiments of things, and a£led upon otlipr principles.

His willingnefs to die, if it pleafed God, refign-ing himfelf always to the divine difpofal ; but if God fliguld fpare him yet a longer time here, he

hoped

hoped to bring glory to the name o£ God in the whole courfe of his life, and particularly by his endeavours to convince others, and to afl'ure them of the danger of their condition, if they continued impenitent, and how gracioufly God had dealt w'ith him.

His great fenfe of his obligations to thofe excellent men, the right reverend my lord bifliop of Oxford, and Dr. Marftiall, for their charitable and frequent vifits to him, and prayers with him ; and Dr. Burnett, who came on purpofe from London to fee him, who were all very ferviceable to bis repentance.

His extraordinary duty and reverence to hi5 mother, with all the grateful refpeifs to her imaginable, and kindnefs to his good lady, beyond ex-preffion, (which may well enhance fuch a lofs %o them) and to his children, obliging them with, all the endearments that a good hufband or a tender father could beftow.

Xo conclude thefe remarks, I fhall only read to you his dying remonftrance, fufficiently attefted and fiffned by his own hand, as his trueft itn^Q^ (which I hope may be ufeful for that good end he ileligned it) in manner and form following.

*' Tj^ ^ ^ ^^^ benefit of all thofe whom I may^ *^ X/ ^^^^'^ drawn into fin by my example and *' encouragement, I leave to the world this my " laft declarAtion, which I deliver in the prcfence

t' of

*' of the great God, who knows the fecrets of all ** hearts, and before whom I am now appearing *' to be judged.

*' That from the bottom of my foul I deteft " and abhor the whole courfe of my former wick-" ed life; that I think I can never fufHciently " admire the goodnefs of God, who has given me *' a true fenfe of my pernicious opinions and vile " praftices, by which, I have hitherto lived with-*' out hope, and without God in the world ; have *' been an open enemy to Jefus Chrift, doing the '' utmoPt defpite to the Holy Spirit of Grace. And " that the greateft teflimony of my charity to fuch, *' is to warn them in the name of God, and as they " reo-ard the welfare of their immortal fouls, no *' more to deny his being, or his providence, or " defpife his goodnefs ; no more to make a mock " of fin, or contemn the pure and excellent re-" ligion of my ever biefled redeemer, through " whofe merits alone, I, one of the greateft fm-*' ners, do yet hope for mercy and forgivenefs. ** Amen."

Declared and signed In the prefence of

ANNE ROCHESTER.

June 19, 1680. ROBERT PARSONS.

J. ROCHESTER.

And

And now I cannot but mention with joy and admiration that fleady temper of mind which he enjoyed through the whole courfe of his ficknefs and repentance ; which muft proceed, not from a hurry and perturbation of mind or body, arifing from the fear of death, or dread of hell only, but from an ingenuous love to God, and an uniform regard to virtue, (fuitable to that folemn declaration of his, I would not commit the leaft fni to gain a kingdom) with all poffible fymptoms of a lafting perfcverance in it, if God flioulJ have re-ftored him. To which may be added, his comfortable perfuafions of God's accepting him to his mercy, faying, three or four days before his death, I ftiall die, but oh, what unfpeakable glories do i fee ! what joys, beyond thought or expreflion, am I fenfible of! 1 am afiured of God's mercy to me through Jcfus Chrift. Oh how I long to die, and be with my Saviour !

The time of his ficknefs and repentance was juft nine weeks ; in all which time he was fo much mafter of hi? rcafon, and had fo clear an under-ftanding, ( faying thirty hours, about the middle of it, in which he was delirious) that he had never dictated or fpokc more compofed in his life: and therefore, if any fliall continue to fay, his piety was the eftcd: of madnefs or vapours j let me tell them, 'tis highly difmgenuous, and that the aflertion is as filly as it is wicked. And moreover that the force of what I have delivered may be not evaded by wicked men, who arc refolved to

harden

no A Sermon preached at the

fearden their hearts, maugre all convi6lior.s, by faying, this was done in a corner; I appeal, for the truth thereof, to all forts of perfons who in confiderable numbers vifited and attended him, and more particularly to thofe eminent phyficians who ■»vere near him, and converfant with him in the whole courfe of his tedious ficknefs ; and wlio, if any, are competent judges of a phrenfy or delirium.

There are many more excellent things in my abfcnce which have occafionally dropt from his mouth, that will not come within the narrow com-pafs of a fermon ; thefe, I hope, will fufHciently prove what I produce them for. And if any fliall be fliil unfatisfied here in this hard-hearted generation, it matteis not, let them at their coft be imbclievers flill, fo long as this excellent penitent cnjoyes the comfort of his repentance. And now from all thefe admirable figns we have great rea-fon to believe comfortably, that his repentance was real, and his end happy ; and accordingly imitate the neighbours and coufens of Elizabeth, (Luke i. 58.) who, when they heard how the Lord had fliewed great mercy upon her, came and rejoiced with her.

Thus his dear mother fhould rejoice, that the fon of her love and of her fears, as well as of her bowels, is now born again into a better world j adopted by his Heavenly Father, and gone before her to take poffeflion of an eternal inheritance.

IL His truly loving confort fhould rejoice, that God has been fo gracious to them both, as at the fame time to give him a fight of his errors in point of pra6lice, and herfelf (not altogether without his means and endeavours) a fight of hers in point of faith. And truly, confidering the great prejudices and dangers of the Roman religion, I think I may aver that there is joy in heaven, and fhould be on earth, for her converfion as well as his.

III. His noble and moft hopeful iflue fliould rejoice, as their years are capable ; not that a dear and loving father has left them, but that fmce he muft leave them, he has left them the example of a penitent, and not of a fuiner; the bleffing of a faint, in recommending them to an all-fufficient Father, and not entailing on them the fatal curfe that attends the pofterity of the wicked and impenitent.

IV. All good men fliould rejoice, to fee the triumphs of the crofs in thefe latter days, and the words of divine wifdom and power. And bad men certainly, whenever they confider it, aie moft of all concerned to joy and rejoyce in it, as a condemned malefactor is, to hear that a fellow criminal ha-s got his pardon, and that he may do fo too, if he fpeedily fue for it.

And this joy of all will ftill be the greater, if we compare it with the joy there is in heaven, in the cafe of juft perfons, that need no repentance, viz. that need not fuch a folemn extraordinary repentance, or the whole change of heart and mind,

ri2 y^ Sermon preached at the as great finners do : and of this my text pronounces, that there is, " greater joy in heaven over " one fuch fmner that truly rcpenteth, than there *' is over ninety and nine juft pcrfons that need " not fuch repentance." One reafon of which we may conceive to be this j that fuch a penitent's former failings, are ordinarily the occafion of a p-reater and more active piety afterwards ; as our convert earneftly vviflied, that God would be plea-fed to fpare him but one year more, that in that he mio-ht honour his name proportionably to the dif-honour done to God in Kis whole life paft. And we fee St. Paul laboured more abundantly than all tlic apoflles in the planting of the church, becaufe he had raged furioufly before in the deftruclion of it; and our Saviour himfelf tells us, that " to '* whom much Is forgiven, they will \o\c much^ " but to whom little is forgiven, they will love " little.

'Tis certainly the more fafe, indeed ihe only fafe wav to be conftantly virtuous, and he that is wife indeed, i.e. wife unto falvation, will endeavour to be one of thofe that need no repentance ; I mean that intiie and whole work of beginning anew, but will draw out the fame thread through his whole life, and let not the fun go down upon any of his fins : but then the other repentance is more remarkable, and, where it is real, the more effectual, to produce a fervent and a fruitful piety ; bcficcs, the greater glory to God in the influence of the example. Which may probably be a farther

' reafon

reafon of the exceffive joy of the angels at the con-verfion of fuch a finner j becaufe they, who are better acquainted with human nature than we, knowing it apt, like the Pharifees, to demand a fign from heaven, for the reformation of corrupted cuftoms, difcern likewife, that fuch defperate fpiri-tual recoveries, will feem fo many openings of the heavens in the defcent of the Holy Dove, vifible to the ftanders by; and accordingly will have the greater influence upon them. And 'tis this, in the laft place, that I am to recommend to all that heau me this day.

And having thus difcharged the office of an hif-torian, in a faithful reprefentation of the repentance and converfion of this great fmner; give me leave now to befpeak you as an ambaflador of Chrift, and in his name, earneftly perfuade you to be reconciled to him, and to follow this illuftrious perfon, not in his fins any more^ but in his forrows for them, and his forfaking them. If there be any ia this place, or elfewhere, who have been drawn into a complacency or pra6lice of any kind of fin from his example, let thofe efpecially be perfuaded to break off their fins by repentance, by the fame example ; that as he has been for the fall, fo he may now be for the rifing again of many in Ifrael. God knows there are too many that are wife enough to difcern and follow the examples of evil, but to do good from thofe examples they have no power J like thofe abfurd flatterers we read of, who could imitate Plato in his crookednefsj Ariftotle in

H his

114 ^ Sermon preached at the

his ftammering, and Alexander the great in t^ bending of his neck, and the fhrillnefs of his voice, <but either could not, or would not, imitate them in any of their perfe6tions. Such as thefe I would befeech, in their cooler feafons, to afk themfelves that queftion, " what fruit had you in thofe things ** whereof you are now afhamed, for the end of thefe ♦* things is death ?" And if any encourage themfelves in their wickednefs from this example, re*-folving however to enjoy the good things that are prefent, to fill themfelves with coftly wines, and U) let no part of pleafure pafs by them untafled, fuppofing with the gofpel rich man, that when one comes to them from the dead, when ficknefs or old age approaches, that then they will repent; let fuch as thefe confider the dreadful hazard they run by fuch pernicious counfels. It may be {?t\\A it is but jufl with God it fhould be) that whilft they are making provifions for the flefli to fulfil the lufts thereof, and are faying to their fouls, foul thou baft much goods laid up for many years, therefore take thine eafe, eat, drink and be merry; perhaps juft then at the fame time the hand of God may be writing upon the walls of their habitations, that fatal fentence, " thou fool, this night (hall «' thy foul be required of thee, and then whofc " fhall all thofe things be, which thou haft pro-** mifed ?" And what fad refledlions muft fuch a one need make upon his own folly, when he fees all that mirth and eafe, which he has promifed himfelf for fo many years, muft be at an end in

a very

t very few hours ? And not only fo, but that math turned into howlings, and that eafe into a bed of flames i when the foul muft be torn away on a fudden from the things it loved, and go where it will hate to live, and yet cannot die. And were it not better for us to embrace cordially the things which belong to our everlafting peace, before they are hid from our eyes ? Were it not better for us all to be wife betimes by preventing fuch a danger, than to open our eyes, as the unhappy rich man did, when we are in a place of torment ?

Be perfuaded then with humble, penitent, and obedient hearts to meet the blefled Jefus, who is now on the way, and comes to us in the perfon and in the bowels of a Saviour, wooing us to accept thofe eafy conditions of pardon and peace offered in his holy gofpel, rather than to ftay till he become our adverfary and our judge too, when he will deliver us over to the tormentors, till we have paid the ut-moft farthing, i. e. to all eternity : when thofe wiio have made a mock at fin all their lives, and laughed at the pretended cheats of religion and its priefts, fhall find themfclves at laft the greateft fools, and the moft fadly cheated in the world : for God will then laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh, when it cometh as defolation, and their dcffruflion as a whirlwindo And fince they would not fuffcr his mercy to re-joyce over his juftice, nor caufe any joy in heaven, as the text mentions, in their converfion ; his juftice will certainly rejoyce over his mercy, and caufe

H 2 joy

joy in heaven (as it did at the fall of Babj^Ion) which would not be cured, Rev. xix. i. in their confufion. And oh that there was fuch an heart in them, that they would ccnfider this betimes ! that in the midfl of their carnal jollities they would but vouchfafe one regard what may happen hereafter, and what will certainly be the end of thefe things. For however the fruits of fm may feem pleafant to the eye, and to be delired to make one feem wife and witty to the world, yet alas, they are but empty and unfatisfa6lory at prefent, and leave a mortal fling behind them, and bitternefs in the latter end; like the book St. John eat, (Rev.x. lo.) *' vi'hich in his mouth was fv/eet as hoiiey, but as ** foon as he had eat it, his belly v/as bitter." And that God fliould pleafe at laft to bring men back in their old age from their fmful courfes, by a way of weeping, to pluck them as fire-brands out of everlafi:ing burnings; yet^ if men confider how rare and difficult a thing it is to be born again when one is old, how many pangs and violences to nature there muft needs be, to put off the habits and inclinations to old fins, as difficult (faith the prophet) as for the leopard to change his fpots, or the Ethiopian his fkin : and then when that is done, what fears and weaknefTes even a cure mufl leave behind. 1 fay, he that duly confiders this, will think it better to fecure his falvation, and all his prefent true comforts, by preferving his inno-cency, or alleviating his work by a daily repentance for lellbr failings, than to venture upon one

fingle

iingle chance of a death-bed repentance ; which is no more to be depended upon, for the performance, or acceptance, than it can encourage any man not to labour, becaufe Elias was fed by ravens, or the Ifraelites with manna from heaven.

If then there be any (though alas that need not be afked) that have made the greatnefs of their wit, or birth, or fortune, inftruments of iniquity to iniquity ; let them now convert them to that original noble ufe for which God intended them, viz. to be inftruments of righteoufnefd unto holiuefs.

To thefe cfpecially that are thus great, not only God, but this great perfon alfo, by my mouth, being dead yet fpeaketh ; for as St. Paul feemed more efpecially concerned for his brethren and kinfmen according to the flefh, and even the rich man in hell, though fufficiently diftrailed by his own fufFerings, yet feems hugely defirous that one might be fent from the dead to his brethren, that he might teftify unto them, leaft they alfo come into that place of torment: fo this iiluftrious convert, after God had opened his eyes to fee his follies, was more efpecially defirous of the falvatlon of thofe that were his brethren, though not in the flefh, yet in the greatnefs of their quality, and of their fms ; paffionately wifhing, that all fuch were not only almoft, but altogether fuch as he jiow was, fiving his bodily afflidions ; and of great force, mcthinks, fliould the admonitions of 4 d^'ing friend be.

Now thefe efpecially I would befeech, as the minifter of Chrift, and fuch as, though v/e are reviled we blefs, though we are defamed we intreat, to fufrer the word of exhortation, that they would not terminate their eyes upon the outward pomp and pageantry that attends them, as the vulgar Jews did upon their rites and ceremonies ; but (as the wifer Ifraelites, who efteemed thofe glittering formalities as the types and images of heavenly things) be quickened by them to the ambition of original honours, and future glory. How much were it to be wiflied, that fuch perfons efpecially would be followers of God and goodnefs, fmce •whether they will or no, other men will be followers of them.

It is true, the temptations of great perfons are more, and greater than thofe of inferiors j but then their abilities and underftandings are ordinarily greater too ; and if they lye more open to the aflaults of the devil, they have generally greater fagacity to forefee the danger, and more powerful afiiftance to go through it. Nor is piety inconfif-tent with greatnefs, any more than it is with policy, but is the beft foundation and fecurity both to the one and the other. The breeding of Mofes at court, without doubt contributed much even to his religious performances, at leaft fo far, as to make them more ufeful and exemplary to others : but then he was fmcerely virtuous all the while, as well whilft reputed the fon of Pharaoh's daughter, as

"ivhen Jethro's foxi-in-law.

We

We find chriftlans in Caefar's houfhold as foon as any where elfe in Rome ; and when chriftianity had once gained Conftantine, it fpread itfelf farther over the empire in a few years, than before it had done in fome centuries. Since then fo much good or^ifchief depends upon illuftrious examples, "will it not better become men to draw the multitude after them to heaven by their piety, than by infectious guilts be at the head of a miferable company of the damned.

'Tis this piety, a timely and exemplary piety, that will perpetuate to men of birth and fortunes, their honours, and their eftates too, as well by deriving on them the blelling of God, who is the true fountain of honour, as by creating an awe and reverence for them from all orders x)f men, even to many generations ; a reverence which will be freih and lafting, when all the trophies of wit and gaiety are laid in the duft. 'Tis this piety that will be the guide of their youth, and the comfort of their age ; for length of days are in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honour. 'Tis this, and this only, that can make all outward blef-fings comfortable, and indeed bleffings to us, by making them the fteps and means of attaining the never fading honours and incomprchenfible glories of that kingdom which is above ; where there fhall be no more fin, nor ficknefs, nor pain, nor teais, nor death, but we fhall reft from all our labours, an-i our works fliall follow us.

Unt-o

Unto which God of his infinite mercy bring us, for the merits and mediation of Jefus Chrift our Saviour; to whom with the Father and Holy Spirit, let us afcribe all praife and adoration, now and for ever. Amen.

FINIS.

AN

ESSAY

ON THE

MEMORY

OF THE LATE

OUEEN MAPvY.

By GILBERT BURNETT, D. D. Late Lord Bifliop of Sarum.

A N

ESSAY

ON THE

M EMORY

OF THE LATE

QUEEN MARY.

*' A L L fiefh is grafs, and all the goodlinefs *' /-^ therefore, is as the flower of the field." JL -BL Someofthefe flowers have more life and luftre than others ; they are more beautiful, as well as more lading : yet in the courfe of things, the grafs withereth, and the flower fadeth ; and that fometimes fo quick, and by fuch an unlooked for turn, that in the morning it groweth up and ilouriflietlk, and in the evening it is cut down and

4 An "EssAY on the Memory of

withered. One ftroke of a fcythe cuts them down by handfuls ; and then the beft decked fpot of ground, docs quickly change Its face, and lofe all its beauty. We who but the other day faw a great queen, (I fay the other day, for fuch an idea muft live fo long and fo frefh in our minds, that for a great many years we will ftill fay the other day) we who faw her, like the mafter-piece of nature, wrought up by all the polifhings of art and improvement, look with fo frefh a bloom, and fuch promifing appearances, who carried that air of life and joy about her, that animated all who fav/ her, and who reckoned their own lives both the fafer and happier, becaufe hers was fo firm, mufl now lament that all this is taken from us with one fudden and amazing ftroke. The beft part of us, our hearts and hopes, are ftruck down with her; who was the beft, God knows, the much beft part of us all. We look up to heaven with deep, though filent regret, as if v/e envied her blefted-nefs: we look down to the earth, like men that are finking thither : we look to the grave, where what was mortal is lodged till it becomes immortal, with a fort of indignation, that it fliould . receive and confume thofe facred remains for which we feel a fort of fuperftition, which though our rea-fon may check, yet it cannot quite filence or

extinguilh.

l^atuie, even on very extraordinary occafions,

is apt to give itfelf fome vent, and to procure to iifell fomc mitigation of its pain. Ar-d when it is

too

too full for well chofen expreflions, or regular dif-courfes, the broken and inarticulate language of flghs and tears, gives fome relief: a calm fuccecds thofe ftorms ; they give at leaft a breathing, and fofter intervals. Here we feel fuch an oppreffion, and diftra<5lion of thought, that they choak us inwardly, and break out only in amazement, and in a wildnefs of look and behaviour. We feel (o great a lofs at prefent, that we need not heighten it by the gloomy profped of the fatal confequen-ces that may follow it: and yet we cannot help feeing that, which is but too vifible. We dare not pretend to enter into the fecret of God's councils, which are wrapt up from the eyes of mortals : yet they have fuch charadlers upon them, that from thence we are induced to make fome conjedurej about them; though after all, thefe are but conjectures, and are often ill grounded. But whether we look up to God, or to the outward face of things, and to thofe appearances that are but too obvious, we foon find caufe enough to drive back_ our thoughts to that dark and native horror that does now haunt and poflefs them. Some may perhaps make vain complaints againft God, and try to eafe their own grief, by accufing his providence: our hearts may carry us to fay, why was fo much worth laid in one mind, and fo nobly lodged ? Whv was it juft fhewed the world, with advantage enough to let all men fee what might have been expected from it ? Why were fo many great ideas and vail defigns formed by her ? Why was Ihe

furnilbed

6 A7i^s%AY on the Memory of furnlfhed with fuch (kill and foftnefs in the ma--jiagement of them ? and the fad why comes laft, why was all this fnatched from us fo early and fo fuddenly ?

It is true, all God's ways are a great depth j and we may never prefume to afk of him a reafou of any of his dealings, which are paft finding out: but here the fteps of his providence are fo accountable, that we ought not to be long in the dark about them. So much worth was full ripe for heaven, and was much too good for earth, efpe-cially for fo corrupt a part of it as we are. If thofe great bleflings which heaven held forth to us in her, had attained the ends for which they were defigned, we might then have hoped that her crown would have been longer delayed j and that our happinefs might have been the more lafting. The cutting part of our forrow is this, that we have too good reafon to believe that we have procured this to ourfelves.

Unlefs, according to the growing impiety that fpreads itfelf amongft us, wc will conclude that God has forfaken the earth, and that all things roll, either under the fullennefs of fate, or the giddinefs of chance ; if we believe that providence watches over and governs all that happens here below, we muft then acknowledge, that fo great a change as this has made, could not have come upon us, but by a juft and wife direaion. Therefore inftead of thofe irregular thoughts and expref-fions by which fo great a commotion of mind may

difcharge

difcharge itfelf, and inftead of thofe wild and dc-jetEling apprehenfions, which it may be apt to throw upon us, we ought to reduce ourfelves to more order, and to confider more fedately, what we may juftly fear, and how we may wifely provide againft it.

If we v/ill examine what may have brought fa fevere a ftroke upon us, and what may draw after it yet heavier ones, (but can any be heavier !) then if there is yet-room for hopes, if our wound is not incurable, and if the breach that is made upon us is not wide as the fea, fo that nothing can hinder our being overflown by it, then, I fay, the iearching into this, is all the referve that is left us, all that can balance fo ineflimable a lofsj or ra--ther all that can fave us from being fwallowed up utterly by it. Even in a fliipwrack every one is forced, after all his aftonifhment at their common fate, to try by what fhift he himfelf may efcape : for tho' tlie firll diforders of melancholy may make one wifh rather to perifti in fo terrible a calamity, than to furvive it, yet after all, nature returns to itfelf, and feels felf-prefervation to be too deeply wrought in its compofuion, to be eafily Ihaken ofF. While then fuch a load opprefles us, and when fuch fears compafs us round, all that remains to make the one lighter, and to dillipate the other, is for us to lay our hands on our mouths, becaufe God has done it: but then to lay them on our heart, and to afk

our-

8 An Essay on the Memory of

ourfelves what have we done ? And what fliall we do to be faved ?

How juft foever any affllflion may feem to be, yet it muft have its bounds. Our religion gives a temper : it does not impofe upon us the dry fullennefs of ftoics ; their moft admired fayings, that fate is inexorable ; that it is in vain to be troubled at that we cannot help : and the famed anfwer of him, who upon the news of his fon's death, fiiid coldly, I knew I begat him mortal, have an air in them that feems above the prefent flat* of human nature. It looks too favage and contrary to thofe tender affedions that are planted in us, and that are in fome fort neceffary for carrying on the common concerns of life. But the extreams on the other hand, are much more boiflerous and untraceable : while the rages of paffion govern, neither the calmnefs of reafon, nor the authority of religion will be barkened to. Heathenifm was fruitful in the inventions of fury, hecatombs of living creatures were thought poor oblations : human facrifices were offered liberally on thofc occafions, nor was the greateft wafte of treafure, with all the profufion of funeral piles and magnificent buildings, thought a fuitable addrefling of their dead to the invifible ftate, to which they v/ent, unlefs innumerable ghofls were fent after them as a welcome convoy to follow them thither. When the civilizing of the world, and the decencies firft of humanity, then of philofophy, and chiefly when revealed religion came to foften and enlighten

men

J

men, thofe outragious folemnlties fell off ; tho' the coftly part was by many kept up with too much oftentation. The corrupters of religion found that the tendernefs of affedion, with that generous difrnterefTednefs which it gave, offered to them a harveft that might be fruitful; and they were not defeilive in the art of cultivating itt

Opinions were invented, and practices were contrived, that drew great wealth into their handsj and begat a confideration for them, which, if it had not been over-done by the managers, and that in a manner too coarfe and too ravenous not to be found out at laft, was bringing the whole world under their authority. Their title feemed fure; and it was to have its chief operation, when both thofe who died, and thofe who lived, were the leaffc able to examine their pretenfions : the fears of the one, and the forrows of the other, made them very pliant to their condu£l, and implicit under it.

We have a better light, and are governed by truer meafures : we know there is a wife providence, and a future ftate ; and in thofe two never-failing fources of quiet and fubmiflion, we give our forrows juft abatements. But fmce all the fteps of providence, though juft and wife in them-felves, have not the fame face to us, fome of them being as bright as others are dark; we ought not to look on providence as rigid fate j but as the fteady condudt of a mind that is infinitely wife : we ought therefore to go as far as reafonably we can, in judging what is the language of that pro-

B videnc«

JO yf» E s s A y on the Mcmovy of

vidence to us, and what the defigns of it upon U3 may be.

The livelieft as well as the ufefulleft exercifes of our thoughts, is to fum all that was excellent and jmitable in the perfon whofe lofs we lament; to l^y it altogether j to obferve how amiable it wasj what an influence it had, and in what efFedbs it appeared. This if it rcfts in the bare commendation of one, that may be fafely praifed, when flattery or intereft cannot be thought to have any Ihare in the incenfe, that is then given, it is at leaft a juftlce to the memory of a perfon that ^eferved it, and an homage to virtue itfelf. It will .probably go deeper, and have its beft efFe£l upon us : it will engage us to love thofe virtues in ourfelves, which we admire in others, and will reproach us, if we commend that in another, which we take no care to imitate ourfelves. Probably this will not evaporate quite into difcourfe, or wear off with time : fomewhat will flick, and have a due effect upon us. Some of thofe virtues may fo far infmuate themfelves into us, that we may grow to love and pradlice them, A noble pattern cannot be much looked at without begetting fome difpofition to copy after it, and to imitate it. A great luffre, though it may fometimes dazzle, yet it enlightens, as well as it ftrikes.

Thofe who are perhaps tied too clofely by fome fatal engagements to pradtices that they cannot re-folve on forfaking. yet have that fecret veneration for true virtue, efpecially for the fublime of it,

and

the late ^leen MARY. n

and faw fo much of that in our blefled queen, that they may be defirous to fee fuch a juft reprefentation of thofe various branches of her charadler, as may entertain their admiration at prefent, and be perhaps of fome more ufe to them in other periods of their lives. They may defire to be made wifer, if not better by it. They may hope that what efFe6l foever it may have on the prefent age, it will have fome on thofe that are to come : it will be a lively part of our hiftory, and fet a noble pattern to fucceeding princes. And all perfons, how bad foever they may be themfelves, have too fenfible a fliare in government, not to wifh that their princes were truly and heroically good.

A pi£lure of her, that may have fome life in it, is that which all feemed to defire. Where there were fo many peculiar features, and yet fo much of majefty fpread over them all, it feems as hardly poflible not to hit a great deal of the refemblance, as to hit it all, and to draw truly, and to the life. Every one will at firft view, fay, it is fhe; but this abatement muft be expected, that it has not quite taken her. It has not her air, though it may have her features. The colours may feem to fink, when we remember how the original itfelf looked.

Extraordinary degrees of virtue in fovereign princes happen fo feldom, that it is no wonder if they give the world a furprife that is as great as it is agreeable. When we look through paft ages, and through all the different climates and corners

12 Jn "Est,AY on the Memory cf

of the world, we find little that is truly eminent, without fome great diminution accompanying it.

We accuftom ourfelves by ftudy and obfervation not to be flattered with the hopes of feeing ideas of perfe£lioji on the throne. It feems a prefumption to fancy, that our own times, fhould have a privi-ledge that former ages could not boaft. We find that even David, and Solomon much more, had blemifhes almoft equal to their virtues. Few of their fucceffors arrived at their degree of perfection ; though they might have all their allay. Hezekiah and Jofiah are the leafi: exceptional: yet fome leller flips occur even in their hiftory. Con-ilantine and Theodofius were tv/O of the greateft bleflings of the chriftiaxi church ; yet v.'e dare not propofe them as patterns in every thing. Clovis and Charles the great make a mighty figure in hifiory; becaufe the world is difpofed to remember what was good in them, and to forget the reft. A full piilure of thefe would have one fide fo bright, with another fo fpotted, that the whole would look but odly. If the good and bad that was in moft princes, whofe names found the befi-j were fet againfl; one another, as critically as Suetonius has reprefented the Roman emperors, the world would perhaps retradl much of the admiration that it has paid them j and might be for fome time in fufpence, which fide of the character was fuperior, and did preponderate the other.

Female government has had its peculiar ble-mill^es, with fewer patterns to compenfate for the

faukinefs

faultineis of others. The fiercenefsof Semlramis's charaSer does l.eiTcii her greatnefs, and the luxuries of Cleopatra does more than balance her beauties. The cruelties of Irene were fuch, that even her zeal for images could not cover them, in the thickefi: mift of fuperftitlon. Mathildis and the Joans of Naples, are too black to be well thought of, for all the flatteries of popes : and pope Gregory's raptures upon Brunichild have Icllened him, rather than clianged her character. It is true, Pulcheria has a fairer giace, yet fomc fufpicions have a little eclipfed her; and her reign was but of a hw days continuance, till flie chofe a hufband, who was made emperor by the right of marrying her. Amalazuntha has a nobler character, it is indeed given her by Cafliodore, that had been her chief minifter J but he was.the wifeft and beft of men in the age : her fate was difmal, and others have caft black imputations on her ; but if that wife fenator is to be believed, flae was one of the beft and greateft, though the moft unfortunate of women. Female government has fcldom looked fo great, as it did in Ifabel of Calfile. But if flie was a good queen, (he was but an indifferent wife ; and all the honour fhe did her fex, was thrown down in her daughter, who was likewife a fove-reign ; whofe violent affections to her hufband, was as troublefome while he lived, as extravagant after his death ; flie keeping the dead body ftill iii view, and making it travel about with, her in her j.curniesj which flic made only in the night ; nc-

B 3 gledhig

14 Jn RssAY on the Memory of gle£ling government, and finking into a fccblenefs, that made her become at lafl: utterly incapable of even the ftiadov^^ of it, which v^ras all that had remained in her for many years.

If Jane of Navarre had had a larger fphere, fhe was indeed a perfedl pattern : nothing was ever fuggefted to lefTen her, but that which was her true glory, her receiving the reformation ; flie both received it, and brought her fubje<5ls to it. She not only reformed her court, but her whole principality, to fuch a degree, that the golden age feemed to have returned under her ; or rather, chriftianity appeared again with the purity and luftreofits firft beginnings. Nor is there one fmgle abatement to be made here, only her principality was narrow ; her dominion was fo little extended, that though fhe had the rank and dignity of a queen, yet it looked liker a fhadow, than the reality of fovercignty; or rather it was fovercignty in minature, though the colours were very bright, it was of the fmallell form.

Two Marys in this ifland fhewed a greatnefs of genius that has feldom appeared to the world. But the fuperllition and cruelty of the one, and the condudl and misfortunes of the other, did fo leflen them, that the fex had been much funk by their means, if it had not been at the fame time as powerfully fupported by the happieft and moft renowned of all fovereign queens ; I know I need not name her.

The

the late ^teen MARY. r5'

The ffreat ^^\xx2. fhe made both at home and" abroad, her wife condiKft and able minlftry were' fuch, that the nations floui iftiing in trade, and exJ-tendino- itfelf in colonies, the encreafe of our wealth, and the ftrength of our fleets, owe their beginnings to her aufpicious reign. The great tranfaclions then abroad in the wcrld, took their turn from the diredlion and the fupport that fhe gave them. But that which is above all, and for which we owe her memory the profoundeft acknowledgments, it was by her means that the true religion received its eftablifhment among us. She delivered us from a foreign yoke, fhe freed us from idolatry and fuperflition, and fettled us upon a conftitution that has been ever fince the trucft honour, as well as the greateft fupport of the reformation. So much we owe to the aflies of that great queen, that her memory is ftill frefli and facred among us : her times are efteemed the ftandard of our happinefs, and her name ftill carries a delightful found to every Englifh ear. If there were any defects or diforders in that time, we ought to think mildly of them, and to cenfure them gently. In her we muft own, that female government feemed to have (hined with the faireft glory : we are fure that hiftory can fhcw ■ nothing like it.

But the lateft is commonly the frelheft in our thoughts ; and what luftre foever authority in that fex may have caft about it in the laft age, it has come under a cloud in the prefent. A queen has lived in our own times, whofe great defcent gave

B 4 lior

16 An "E^^ AY on the Memory of

her a juft title to the higheft gratitude, and whofe mind feemed born with a fublimjty made for empire, that for fome time, like the northern ftar, attracted the eyes of all the world to her. But fhe abandoned her throne and fubjeds, and chofe rather to wander inglorioufly, than to maintain her poft,and exert her fuperiority of genius in governing well at home, and giving law to thofe about her. This had made the difpofition to Saliclc laws become more univerfal. We have (cQn that which has not only taken ofF the cloud, which file had caft on her fex, but has raifed it far beyond the precedents or patterns of former times. In her, that name, which all generations fhall call blcfled, has recovered the amiable found, that it ought ever to have. We heard it, not without fome harlhnefs, when we remembered fome who had carried it: nothing can add to the glorious beginning of that name ; yet our Mary has reftored it to its iirft fweetnefs.

We feek in vain for a pattern to refemble her : Her grandmother of Navarre, is the likcft thing we find to her. But we do not leflen that queen's glory, when we fay that this defcendant of hers had an augufter appearance and a more exalted throne. She had a higher fphere, and fo we may conclude Ihe was the fuperior intelligence. She was all that the other queen had been, even whilfl fhe was in her princely ftate. The world has reafon to believe, that every thing would have been the fame in the other, if fhe had been advanced to an imperial

perial crown. But what may be well believed of her, was feen in this branch, that fprang from her root: her worth grew with her advancement. She was not only better known in it, but there was a conflant progrefs in her virtues, even beyond that of her fortune.

Yet after all, this cannot fo properly be called a female government j though fovereignty was in her, it was alfo in another ; her adminiflratioii fupplied the others abfence. Monarchy here feem-ed to have loft its very efTence ; it being a government by one. But as the adminiftration was only in one at a time, fo they were more one, than either efpoufals or a joint tenure of the throne could make them ; there was an union of their thoughts, as well as of their perfons ; and a concurring in the fame defigns, as well as in the fame interefts. Both feemed to have one foul; they looked like the different faculties of the fame mind. Each of them having peculiar talents, they divided between them the different parts of government, as if they had been feveral provinces : while he went abroad with the fword in his hand, (he ftaid at home with the fcepterin hers : he went as the arbiter of Europe, to force'a juft, as well as a general peace; fhe ftaid to maintain peace and to dojufticc at home. He was to conquer enemies, and flic was to gain friends. He as the guardian of Chrif-tendom, was to diffufe himfelf to all, while fhe contraiSlcd her care chiefly to the concerns of religion and virtue. While he had more buftnefs, and

(he

rS' An Essay on the Memory of

file mare leifure, flic prepared and fuggefted what he executed. In all this, there was \o clofe, but fo entire an union, that it was not poflible to know how much was proper to any one; or if ever they differed in a thought from one another: but the living are not now to be fpoke of; our thoughts muft run wholly where our forrows carry us.

While we feek for refemblance in her, in facred hiftory we find her fo like Jofiah, that their being of the fame dignity, may excufe the parallel, though the fex is different. He came, after a lono; and deep corruption j a reign that had fo entirely vitiated the nation, that neither the judgments of God that fell on Manaffes, nor his own fincere, though lale repentance, was able to correil the diforders of his former years. So foon is a nation run into fo depraved a ftate, that its recovery becomes almoft defperate. Jofiah was under much difadvantage in his firft education : his being a king fo young, expofcd him to all the flatteries by which thofe about him might hope to infinuate themfelves into his fiivour; but his happy temper was above it. While he was but growing out of childhood, in the eighth year of his reign, and the fixteenth year of bis age, he began to feek after God : he continued four years in this pious courfe of life, before he fet about the reforming of the people, that his own good example might have fuch influence, and give him fuch credit in it, as might balance the flow-Befs of beginning it. When he fet about it, it wa« the work of fix years to purge the land from

idolatry; and of other fix to fet forward the repairing the temple. All was not finifhed before the eighteenth year of his reign, fo hard it is to recover a degenerated nation. As they were fearch-ing the temple, the book of the law (by which moft do underftand the original itfelf) was found, the dreadful threatnings in it flruck Jofiah with a juft horror. Pie fent to Huldah, a famed prophetefs, to fee what comfort Ihe could give him J Ihe anfwered, that the decree was fixed and irreverfible ; but he fhould die in peace, and not fee thofe fatal days. This was feme mitigation to his grief. He tried all he could to reform his people, but without fuccefs; they were weary ot him and of his virtue, and were longing for an opportunity to return again to their idolatry. So inveterate was the corruption, that all the exaflnefs of Jofiah's care, as well as the ftridnefs of the example that he fet his own fons, could not keep them from the fpreading contagion, it was fo catching. This was the laft eflay of mercy upon that people, in the beft of all their kings. He was fatally engaged in an unequal war, and was killed in the day of battle. His death, upon his own fingle account, would have given the Jews but too juft a caufe of a bitter mourning for him ; but the miferies that did immediately follow his death, mad« it to be fo long remembered, that in a book writ about a hundred years after, it is faid, that they continued their mourning for him to that day. It ivas no wonder that it was remembered by them

wuh

20 An Essay on the Memory of

with fo folemn and lafling a forrow. A fuccefllon of calamities came fo thick after it, that there was fcarce a lucid interval between them j captivity came after captivity ; and what by war, v/hat by famine, and wha': by defertion, in the courfe of four and twenty years after his death, their nation became an aftonifhment, acurfe, and a bye word, to all nations. Jerufalcm was laid in heaps, their temple was rafed down to the ground, and Zion became a ploughed field. And if the fecond and final defl:ru(5lion of that city and nation had not been fo fignal, and fo particularly related by one who was an eye witnefs of it, that it wore out the remembrance of all that had happened in former times, this would have paft for one of the blackeft and the moft amazing fcenes in hiflory.

That pathetical lamentation which Jeremy writ upon it, has ftrains in it fo tender and fo moving, that no man who has not hardened himfelf againft the compaflions of human nature, can read them without a fcnfible emotion, though they relate to tranfa6lions that happened many ages ago ; fuch a lively poem as that is, makes them ever look frefh, and fecm prcfent.

I will make no reflc6lions on any part of this Biftorical deduction. It leads one fo naturally to application, that there is no need of offering any. Here one may go rather too faft, than too flow, and ftretch the matter further than it will bear.

The whole of it, without any ftraining, lets us fee, that in the worft ftate under which a nation

Can

the late ^ieenMAKY, a

can fall, a good prince gives a full flop to thofe judgments that are referved for them ; even when they feemed to be jufl breaking out upon them; and that th^e removal of fuch princes, is like the letting loofe that hand of juftice which was reftraln-ed by their Intercellions. But fmce there is an uniformity in the methods of providence, " and that " which has been, is that which fhall be, " then fuch an amazing mifery as accompanied the uttei ruin of the Jewifh nation, ought to make deep impreffions on all others, and to give thefe word^ of the prophet a formidable found j " the righteous " perifli, and the merciful perfons are taken away *'from the evil to come ; " which will come the quicker, as well as the more certainly, for their being taken away : and that will be yet the nearer, if while fuch an appearance of things is in view, no man confiders it, nor lays it to hearr.

Here I return to my fubjeft, from which all that has been now faid, is not fo much a digreffion as it may appear to be to vulgar readers : a fubject it is, where the common cenfures of difcourfes of this kind are not to be much apprehended. On other occafions of this nature, a few virtues muli be raifed, to make the moft of them that may be ; and fome few accidents muft be fet out with due advantages. For the fake of thefe, a great deal muft be forgiven, and the reft is to be Ihaded or (hewed as at a diftance and in perfpetSive. Mankind is fo little difpofed to believe much good of Pthers, bgcaufe moil men know lb much ill by them-

I'clves,

22 An ^.i,^Ay on the Memory of

felves, and are very unwilling to be made better, that in order to the begetting a full belief of that which is propofed to the imitation of others, the words by which it is exprefled muft be feverely weighed and well chofen. When things of this kind are related with an cxasSlnefs that feems too much ftudied, the wit that is ill placed lefTens the efFe6t that might have followed, if the recital had been more natural ; for what is moft genuine will be always the beft received ; nor muft too much be faid, how true or juft foever.

The prefent age may be eafily brought to believe any thing that can be faid upon this fubjedl:, be-caufe the atteftations of it came fo thick from all hands. Yet fuch a chara6ler as is now to be offered the world, and to be conveyed down to pofterity, muft be fo managed, that it may not fcem too exceflive ; that duty or aiFe£l:ion may not be thought to have raifed it too high. The living witnefles, to whom we may now appeal, will foon go off" the ftage j the filent groans as well as the louder cries that are now founding in all our ftreets and in every corner, will foon be drowned and hufhed in filence : and then that which will be now cenfured, as a narrow and fcanty commendation, far below the fubje6l, and unworthy of it, will appear to fucceeding ages to be a ftrain above human nature; it will pafs for the pi£l:ure of an imaginary perfedlion, that feems rather to fet forth what our nature ought to rife to, than what has really happened.

This

This precaution is necefTary, when perfons have lived in the fhade, known only to a fev/ and in a narrow neighbourhood. But a man may take a freer range when he undertakes to defcribe one that was always in view, that was under a conftant obfervation ; and where a high elevation did put even that, which humility might endeavour to recover, in U true light. The bright as well as the dark fides of fuch perfons mufl: be found out. Management may ferve a turn, and go on for a time with fecrefy and fuccefs ; but the continued and uninterrupted thread of life, led with fo uniform an exaitnefs, that cenfure itfelf could never find matter to fix on, even fo long as to keep a doubtful thought in fufpence, is that which one may venture on, without the danger of over-doing it, he muft rather defpair to do it juflice.

Where the matter rifes with fo copious a fruit-fulnefs, a nice choice muft be made ; much muft be omitted, a great deal muft be only mentioned, rather glanced at than enlarged on. The world is now io far beforehand in every thing that can be faid, that we muft own fame has here changed her charadler, and has given fuch true and full repre-fentations, that there is little left to be done j but put things that are generally known, and univer-fally talked of, in a little order, and to tell them as natively as fhe did them.

Here arifes an unexam.pled piece of a charaifler, which may be well begun with ; for I am afraid it both began and will end wich her. In moft perfons.

24 An "Ess AY on the Memory of fons, even thofe of the truefl: merit, a ftudied management will Ibmetimes appear with a little too much varnifli, like a no£lurnal piece, that has a light caft through even the moft fhaded parts : fome difpofition to fet ones felf out, and fome fatisfaclion in being commended, will at fome time or other Ihew itfelf more or lefs. Here we may appeal to great multitudes, to all who had the honour to approach her, and particularly to thofe who were admitted to the greateft nearnefs, and the moft conftant attendance, if at any one time, any thing of this fort did ever difcover iifelf. When due acknowledgments v/ere made, or decent things were faid upon occafions that did well deferve them, (God knows how frequent thefe were ! ) thefe feemed fcarce to be heard ; they were fo little de-fired that they were prefently paft over, without fo much as an anfwer that might feem to entertain the difcourfe, even when it checked it. She went off from it to other fubjecls, as one that could not bear it.

So entire a deadncfs to the defire of glory, which even the philofophers acknowledged was the lafl: thing that a wife man put off, feemed to be fomewhat a-bove human nature, and nearly refembling that flate of abfolute perfection, to which (he has now attained. The defire of true glory is thought to be the nobleft piinciple that can be in fovereigns j which fets them on, with the moft conftant zeal, to procure the good of mankind. Many have thought that a zealous purfuit q^ the one, could not be duly

animated

animated and maintained without the other. It was a part of the felicity of our times, that we have feen the moft active zeal for the public, and a con-ftant delight in doing good, joined with fuch un-aff'e(Sted humility, fo regardlefs of applaufe or praife, that the moft critical obfervors could never fee rea-fonto think, that the fecrct flatteries of vanity or felf-love did work inwardly, or had any power over her. An open and native fmcerity, which appeared in genuine characters, in a free and unreftrained manner, did eafily perfuade thofe who faw it, that all was of a piece. A conftant uniform behaviour, when that which is within does not agree with the appearances, feems to be a ftrain above our pitch. Nor could any perfon find any other reafon to fup-pofe that it was otherwife in this inftance, but from the fecret fenfe that every man has of fome latent corruption, and the ftolen infmuations of pride that he feels within himfelf, which may make him conclude, that the whole race of mankind is fo tainted, that nothing can be entirely freed from thofe infirmities which do fo naturally befet us. But fuch perfons ought to make another refledion, that daily obfervation fhews to be true ; that no man lives under fo exa(ft a guard, and fuch a conftant prefence of mind, but that all thofe hidden difpofitions which lurk within him, will fhoot out fometimes, and fliew themfelves on great occafions, or fudden accidents. Nature will break through all rules, when it is much excited, or taken at unawares. Therefore it is much more reafonable,

C as

26 An "Es,^ AY on the Memory of

as well as it is more charitable, to think that there are no fecret inclinations, which lie fo quiet that they do never difcover themfelves in a courfe of many years, and of unlooked for accidents, than to imagine that they are fo covered and managed, as to be chained up in perpetual reftraint. There is an air in what is genuine that is foon feen, (I had almofl faid felt.) It looks noble, without ftrains or art; it pleafes as well as perfuades, with a force that is irrefiftible ; and how filent foever it may be, it looks like the univerfal chara6ler : it is a language which nature makes all men underftand, how few foever they are that feek it; this was fo peculiar to her, and fo lingular in her, that it de-ferved well to be begun with.

In moft of thofe perfons who have been the eminenteft for their piety and viitue, their thoughts have rifen too hio-h for human nature : their no-tions have become too fierce, and their tempers too fullen and untra£table ; they have confidered only what was good and defirable in itfelf, without regarding what the world could bear. They have not foftened themfelves enough into that agree-ablenefs of temper, that might give fuch an amiable profpe(5l of virtue, as fhould encourage the world to love and imitate it. Their meditations have foured them too much j and, by an obftinate perfuing' their own ideas, without accommodating themfelves enough to the frailties of others, they have given advantage to thofe who have ftudied to load them with prejudices : their

defigns

defigns have mifcarried, and they themfelves have become morofe and melancholy; defparing of doing any thing, becaufe they could not hope to do every thing. Cato's error has run through the heft fort of men that have ever Jived : of proje6ling a commonwealth like Plato's, when the Romans were run to a dreg. Children muft be gained even by flattering their weakneffes, and by the foftnefs of kindnefs and good humour. The grown ftate of man is often but an advanced childhood : a dotage rather than a ripenefs. It muft be confelTed, that few of thofe who in all other refpedls feem to have been born for the good of mankind, have been able to give their aotions that turn, to fet them off with that air, and to recommend them with that addrefs, which we of late admired fo much. A charmins: behaviour, a genuine fweetnefs, and the fprightli-nefs, as well as the freedom of good humour, had foftened all thofe frightful apprehenfions that the world is too willing to entertain of the feverities of virtue, and of the flri6tncfs of true religion, LefTer matters were not much flood on: an eafy compliance in fome of thefe, how little foever they were liked, on their own account, was intended to give her advantages, in order to the compaliing of greater things. While a frefli and graceful air, more turned to ferioufnefs, but always ferene, that dwelt on her looks, difcovered both the pcrfe<5l calm that was within, and {hewed the force as well as the amiablcnefs of thofe principles which

C 2 were

28 An ^ssAY on the Me?ncry of

were the fprings of fo chearful a temper, and fo lively a deportment.

The freedom of chearfulnefs is not always under an exa6l command ; it will make efcapes from rules, and be apt to go too far, and to forget all meafures and bounds : it is feldom kept under a perpetual guard. The opennefs of her behaviour was fub-je£l to univerfal obfervation j but it was under that regularity of condu61:, that thofe who knew her beft and faw her ofteneil:, could never difcover her thoughts or her intentions further, than as fhe her-felf had a mind to let them be known. No half word, or change of look, no forgetfulnefs, or run of difcourfe, did ever draw any thing from her, further, or fooner, than as flie defigned it. This was managed in fo peculiar a way, that no diftruft: was fhewed in it, nor diflafle given by it. It appeared to be no other, than that due refervednefs which became her elevation j and fuited thofe affairs that were to pafs through her hands. When Die faw caufe for it, fhe had the trueft methods to oblige others to ufe all due freedom v/ith herfelf j while yet flie kept them at a fit diftance from her own thoughts.

She would never take any afliflance from thofe arts, that are become fo common to great pofts, that fome perhajjs fancy them neceflary : fhe did not cover her purpofes by doubtful expreflions, or fuch general words, as taken ftricStly do fignify little, but in common ufe are underftood - to import a j^reat deal more. As flie would not deceive others,

fo

fo fhe avoided the faying of that which might give them an occafion to deceive themlelves: and when flie did not intend to promife, fhe took care to explain her meaning fo critically, that it might be underftood that no conftruiSlion of a promife was to be made from general words of favour. In a courfe of feveral years, and of many turns, when great occafion was given for more artificial-methods, and when, according to the maxims of the world, great ufe might have been made of them ; yet fhe maintained her fincerity fo intirely, to the honour of truth, be it faid, as well as to hers, that fhe never once needed explanations to juftify either her words or actions. Integrity preferved her, as well as fhe preferved it.

Such eminejit, I am forry to fay, fuch unufual . perfeitions, had they appeared in one of the mcanefl capacity, and of the lovvefl degree of improvement, yet mufl have challenged great veneration. Common obfervation makes it but too apparent, that thofe of the highefl form, that have an exaltation in them, which makes them like another rank of mortals, that have a true flight of thought, a great compafs of knowledge, a fi:ability and equa-blenefs of temper, with a deep and corre6l judgment, who have cultivated the advantages of nature, by fearching and laborious acquifitions ; fuch per-fons, I fay, do fwell too much upon the preference that is due to them ; and foil thofe fhining- diflinc-tions that were born with them, by mixtures that need not now be enlarged on. A fubjedl compofed

^3 of

of fo much perfeflion, ought not to be digiefled from, to fet out the diforders that appear but too frequently in the fublimeft pieces of mankind. Thefe are fo unacceptable, while virtue has fo benign an afpe(5l, that eminent degrees of it, though joined with a lower proportion of that which feems to have more luflre, is much more valuable, than all that can be called great in human nature, is without it.

But if both thefe (hould happen to meet together, and that In as hio-h a de2;ree as our mortal flate is capable of, then we muft acknowledge, that this is all that we can expe6l from our nature, under its prefent depreilion. So few inftances of fuch a mixture have appeared to us, that we muft confefs, it is much more than we ought to look for. The hiftory of princes that have lived at a great diftance from us, is feldom believed to be fo exa61:, efpecially in the commendatory part, that we rely much upon it, Xenophon has made Cyrus appear to be a prince, fo much perfe6ter than the world is dif-pofed to believe, that the pi<Sl:Lire he gives of him pafles rather for a piece of invention, than of hif-tory. When the world fhall have lived beyond the fame of tradition and report, a minute hiftory of his life, if exadly writ, may probably have the fame fate: it will look too great to be credible. What is good, as well as what is great in human nature, were here fo equally mixed, and both fhined fo bright in her, that though one of thefe

is

is always the better part, yet it is hard to tell, in whether of the two fhe was the more eminent.

I will fay little either of her rank, or of her perfon : the dignity of the one, and the majefty of the other, were born with her. Her fphere was great, and fhe was furnifhed with advantages proportioned to it. She maintained her authority with fo becoming a grace ; and infpired fo particular a refpedl, that in this regard only, fhe was abfo-lute and defpotical, and could not be refifced. The port of royalty, and the humility of chriilianity did fo happily concur in her, that how different foever their chara^lers may feem to be, they gave a mutual Juflre to each other.

She maintained that refpetSt that belonged to her fex, without any of thofe diminutions, that though generally fpeaking, they do not much mifbecome it, yet do feem a little to lefTen it. She would never afte6l to be above it in common and meaner things: fhe had a courage that was refolute and firm, mixed with a mildnefs that was foft and gentle ; fhe had in her all the graces of her own fex, and all the ffreatnefs of ours. If file did not affedl to be a Zcnobia or a Boadicia, it was not becaufe fhe wanted their courage, but becaufe {he underflood the decencies of her fex better than they did. The chara6ler of a Jean of Navarre, or of our celebrated Elizabeth, was much more valuable in her eftccm, than that of a Semiramis, or of a Thomiris. A defire of power, or an eager-«cfs of empire, were things fo flxr below her,

C 4 though

32 An "Es^AY on the Memory of

though they generally pafs for heroical qualities, that perhaps the world never yet faw fo great a capacity for government, joined with fo little appetite to it; fo unwillingly affumed, fo modeftly managed, and fo chearfuliy laid down.

The clearnefs of her apprehenfion, the prefence of her mind, the exacStnefs of her memory, the folidity of her judgment, the correclnefs of her expreflions, had fuch particular diftindlions in them, that great enlargements might be made on every one of thefe, if a cloud of witnefl'es did not make them lefs necefiary. None took things fooncr, or retained them longer : none judged truer, or fpoke more exactly. She writ clear and fliort, with a true beauty and force of ftile. She difcovered a fuperiority of genius, even in the moft trifling matters, which were confidered by her only as amufements, and fo gave no occafion for deep Tefle£tions. A happinefs of imagination, and a livelinefs of expteflion, appeared upon the com-jnonefl fubjedls ; on the fudden, and in greateft variety of accidents, fhe was quick but not hafty : and even without the advantages that her condition gave her, fhe had an exaltation of mind, that fub-dued as well as charmed all that came near her.

A quicknefs of thought is often fuperficial j it catches eafily, and fparkles with fome luftre; but it lafts not long, nor does it go deep : a bright vivacity was here joined with fearching diligence. Her age and her rank had denied her opportunities for much iludy 3 yet flie had gone far that waj,

and

and had read the beft book in the three languages, that were almoft equally familiar to her. She gave the moft of her hours to the ftudy of the fcriptures, and of books relating to them. It were eafy to ^ve ama<z^ing inftances of her underftanding ia matters of divinity. She had fo well confidered our difputes with the church of Rome, that fhe was capable of managing debates in them, with equal degrees of addrefs and judgment : nor was {he unacquainted with thofe unhappy queftions that have didraded us : and had fuch juft, as well as large notions about them, that they would have foon laid our animofities, and have compofed our differences, if theic had been temper enough, on all fides, to have hearkened to them.

She had a 2:enerous and a fublime idea of the chriflian religion, and a particular affedlion to the church of Enp-land : but an affeiSlion that was neither blind nor partial. She faw what finifliings we ftill wanted j and had dedicated her thoughts and endeavours to the confidering of the beft means that might both compleat and eftablifh us. She intended to do all that was pofTible, in order to the raifing a higher fpirit of true devotion among us, to engage thofe of our profeilion to a greater application to their functions ; and to difpofe us all to a better underflanding among ourfelves ; that we might with united endeavours fet ourfelves to beat down impiety and immorality. She read and meditated much on thefe fubje6ls; and judged of them with fo juft an exadlnefs, that it appeared the

ftrength

^4- jtn KsSAY on the Memory of

llrength of her mind went far beyond the compafs of her knowledge. She took that care to be well informed of thefe matters, that when fhe met with hints, either in books or fermons, that related to other fubjedts with which jfhe was not acquainted, fhe loft none of them : if they feemed to be of importance, fhe called for explanations of them, from thofe whom fhe fuffered to entertain herupon fuch fubjecSls. She propofed them often with a preface, confeffing her own ignorance ; and when ihe had flated fome difficulties to them very clearly, flie would conclude with words that carried in them an air of modefty, that fliined then moft particularly, when flie feemed to defire an increafe of knowledge. She would fay, *' fhe did not ** know if there was any difficulty in fuch things *' or not; or, if fhe apprehended or exprefTed it '* right; or, if it was only her ignorance." When any new thing was laid before her, flie feemed glad to have an occafion to own, that fhe knew nothing of that before ; but then fhe would have it to be fully explained to her, till fhe found fhe did thoroughly apprehend it. All thefe intimations were fo carefully laid up by her, that fhe feemed fcarce capable of forgetting them. After feveral years ot interval, fhe returned in difcourfe to fome fubjedls, that had been formerly opened to her, with a frefh-nefs of apprehenfion about them, as if the firft difcourfe had never been interrupted. She knew none of the learned languages, yet when fome .paiTages of fcripture were explained to her, by the

genius

genius and phrafes of the original languages, fhe retained them very carefully, even though fhe un-derftood not the foundation of them. She loved fincerity in every thing, to fuch a degree, that fhe ■defired to underftand the weak fide as well as the flrong one of all parties and do6irines. She loved a diflincS knowledge of every thing ; and fhe had •accuflomed thofe whom fhe admitted to talk to her on fuch fubjedls, to .hide neither the weaknefs of the one fide, nor the flrength of the other from her. When fhe delivered her own judgment, which fhe generally avoided to do, unlef? there was fome neceffity for it, fhe did it vi^ith that mo-defly, as w^ll as exa6lnefs, that it fhewed the force as v.^ell as the purity of her mind.

Next to the befl fubje<51:s, flie beflowed mofl: of her time on books of hiftory, chiefly of the latter-ages, particularly thofe of her own kingdoms, as being the moll: proper to give her ufeful inflruc-tloii. Lively books, where wit and reafon gave the mind a true entertainment, had m.uch of her time. She was a good judge as well as a great lover of poetry : fhe loved it befl when it dwelt on the beft fubjeils. So tender fhe was of poetry, though much more of virtue, that fhe had a particular concern in the defilement, or rather the proftitution of the mufes among us. She made fome fteps to the underftanding philofophy and mathcmaticks, but fhe flopped foon ; only fhe went far in natural hiftory and perfpeclive, as^fhe was very exa£l in geography. She thought fublime

things

g6 ^n Ess AY en the Memory of

things were too high flights for the fex; which (he oft talked of with a liberty that was very lively : but fhe might well be familiar with it, after (he had siveii fo efFedual a demonftratlon of the im-provements it was capable of. Upon the whole matter, fhe ftudied and read more than could be imagined by any, who had not known how many of her hours were fpent in her clofet. She would have made a much greater progrefs, if the frequent returns of ill humours on her eyes, had not forced her to fpare them. Her very diverfions gave indications of a mind that was truly great: ihe had no relilh for thofe lazy ones, that are the too common confumers of moft peoples time, and that make as great waftes on their minds, as they do on their fortunes. If {he ufed them fometimes, flie made it vifible, it was only in compliance with forms j becaufe fhe was unwilling to offend others with too harfh a feverity : fhe gave her minutes of leifure with the greateft willingnefs to architecture and gardenage. She had a riches of invention, with a happinefs of contrivance, that had airs in it that were freer and nobler than what was more fliff, though it might be more regular: fhe knew that this drew an expence after it; fhe had no other inclinations befides this, to any diverfions that were expenceful ; and fmce this employed many hands, fhe was pleafed to fay, " that fhe *' hoped it would be forgiven her." Yet fhe was uneafy when fhe felt the weight of the charge

that lay upon it.

When

the late ^een MARY. gjr

When her eyes were endangered by reading toQ much, fhe found out the amufement of work ; and in all thofe hours that were not given to better employments, ihe wrought with her own hands, and that fometimes with fo conftant a diligence, as if fhe had been to earn her bread by it. It was a new thing, and looked like a fight, to fee a queea work fo many hours a day. *' She looked on *' idlenefs as the great corrupter of human nature; *' and believed that if the mind had no employ-" ment given it, it would create fome of the worft *' fort to itfelf: and fhe thought that any thing *' that might amufe and divert, without leaving *' a dreg and ill imprefTion behind it, ought to fill " up thofe vacant hours, that were not claimed by *' devotion or bufmefs. " Her example foon wrought on, not only thofe that belonged to her, but the whole town to follow it : fo that it was become as much the fafhion to work, as it had been formerly to be idle, in this, which feemed a nothing, and was turned by fome to be the fuhjeil of raillery, a greater flep was made than perhaps every one was aware of, to the bettering of the age. While fhe diverted herfelf thus with work, fhe took care to give an entertainment to her own mind, as well as to thofe who were admitted to the honour of working with her : one was appointed to read to the reft; the choice was fuited to the time of the day, and to the employment: fome book or poem that was lively, as well as inftru6ling. Few of her fex, not to fay of her rank, gave ever lefs time

to

38 An 'E^%AY on the Memory of

to drefling, or feemed lefs curious about it. Thofe parts of it which required more p-itience, were nor given up intirely to it. She read often, all the while herfelf, and generally aloud ; that thofe who fer-ved about her, might be the better for it: when Ihe was indifpofed, another was called to do it: all was intermixed with fuch pleafant refledions of her own, that the glofs was often better liked than the text. An agreeable vivacity fpread that innocent chearfulnefs among all about her, that whereas in moft courts, the hours of fcri6l attendance are the heavieft parts of the day, they were in hers the moll delightful of all others.

Her chearfulnefs may be well termed Innocent, for none was ever hurt by it: no natural defcds, or real faults, true or falfe, were ever the fubjedls of her mirth : nor could flie bear it in others, if their wit happened to glance that way. She thought it a cruel and barbarous thing, to be merry on other peoples cofl ; or, to make the misfortunes or follies of others, the matter of their diverfion. She fcarce ever expreiled a more intire fatisfadion in any fermon that flie had heard, than in our late primate's againft evil fpeaking. When flie thought fome were guilty of it, fhe would afk them, if they had read that fermon. This was underftood to be a reprimand, though In the fofteft manner. She had indeed one of the bleflings of virtue, that does not always accompany it: for flie was as free from cenfures, as flie was from deferving them> ' When refledions were made on this, before her,

flie

file faid, " flie afcribed that wholly to the good-" nefs of God to her : for fhe did not doubt but *' that many fell under hard charaders, that de-" ferved them as little. She gave it this further ** turn, that God knew her weaknefs, and that " fhe was not able to bear fome imputations j and *' therefore he did not try her beyond her ftrength." In one refpedl, fhe intended never to provoke c&n-fure: fhe was confcientioufly tender of wounding others ; and faid, " fhe hoped God would flili " blefs her in her own good name, as long as flie "^ was careful not to hurt others; " but as fhe was exadl in not wronging any other while fhe diverted herfelf, fo upon indifferent fubjeds fhe had a fpring of chearfulnefs in her, that was never to be exhaufted : it never run to repetition, or forced mirth.

A mind that was fo exalted by nature, and w:i% fo improved by induftry, who was as much above all about her by her merit, as fhe was by her condition, and that owed thofe peculiar advantages under God, chiefly to herfelf, for very little was added to her by others, had certainly a right to indulgent cenfures, even though fhe had given oc-cafion to them. Much ought to have been forgiven to one that had deferved io well j but this is perhaps the firft infl^ance that the world has yet feen, of one that had fo much in her that deferved to bs valued and admired, without one fmgle defecSl or allay, that needed allowances to be made for it.

i have

46 An Essay on the Memory of

1 have dwelt hitherto upon the more general parts of her charadter ; I go next to confider what was more fpecial. Thofe that deferve to be moft enlarged on, are the difpofitions of her mind, both with relation to the impreffions of religion, and the companions of human nature. What fhe was inwardly with relation to God, was only known to him whom fhe now fees face to face. Thofe with whom Ihe talked with more than ordinary freedom - upon thofe matters, faw on many occafions what an awful fenfe (lie had of God, and of all things in which his glory was concerned j they faw with how exa61: a teudernefs {he weighed every thing by which the purity of her own confcience was to be preferved, unblemifhed as well as unfpotted.

In thofe great fteps of her later years, that carried a face which at firft appearance feemed liable to cenfure, and that were the fmcrle inflances of her whole life, that might be thought capable of hard conftruiStions ; Ihe weighed the reafons fhe went on vvlth a caution and exadtnefs that well became the Importance of them ; the biafs lying ftill againft that, which to vulgar minds might feem to be her intereft. She was convinced that the public good of mankind, the prefervation of that religion, which fhe was afl'ured was the only true one, and thofe real extremities to which matters vyere driven, ought to fuperfede all other confiderations. She had generous notions of the liberty of human nature, and of the true ends of government ; fhe thought it was defigned to make mankind fafe and happy,

and

nnd not to raife the power of thofe, into whofe hands it was committed, upon the ruins of property and liberty. Nor could {he think that religion waste be delivered up to the humours of mifguided princes, whofe perfuafion m^ade them as cruel in impofuig on their fubjedls the dictates of others, as they themfelves were implicit in fubmitting to them : yet after all, her inclinations lay fo ftrong to a duty, that nature had put her under, that {he made a facrifice of herfelf in accepting that high elevation, that perhaps was harder to her to bear, than if {he had been to be made a facrifice in the fevered fenfe. She faw that not only her own reputation might fufFer by it, but that religion too might be concerned in thofe reproaches that {he was to look for. This was much more to her than all that crowns with, their gaudy luflre could ofter inftead of ft; but the faving of whole nations feemed to require it; and that being the only vifible mean left to preferve the proteftant religion, not only here, but every where elfe, {he was thereby determined to it.

She was no enthufiafl ; and yet {he could not avoid thinking, that her being preferved during -her childhood in that flexibility of age and un-derflanding, without fo much as one fingle attempt made upon her, was to be afcribed to a fpecial providence watching over her : to that {lie added, her being early delivered from the danger of all temptations, and the advantages {he had afterwards to employ much privacy in fo large a courfe

D of

42 An ^^s>AY on the Memory of

of ftudy, which had not been poflible for her to have compafled, if fhe had lived in the conftant diffipa-tion of a public court. Thefe concurring had convinced her, that God had condu(9:ed her by an immediate hand, and that fhe was raifed up to preferve that religion which was then every where in its laft agonies ; yet when thefe and many other confiderations, which ihe had carefully attended to, determined her, nature IHII felt itfelf loaded : flie bore it with the outward appearances of fatisfa£lion, becaufe fhe thought it became her not to difcourage others, or to give them an occafion to believe that her uneafmefs was of another nature than truly it was ; but in that whole matter fhe put a conftraint upon herfelf (upon her temper I mean, for no con-fiderationwhatfoever could have enduced her to have forced her confcience,) that was more fenfible and violent to her, than any thing that could have been wifhed her by the mofl enraged and virulent of all her enemies.

Oh, could any be enemies to fuch virtue ! and to fo pure and fo angelical a mind I Could fhe that was the glory of her fex, the darling of human nature, and the wonder of all that knew her, become the fubjedl: of hatred or obloquy I

A nobler fubjecl calls me from this tranfport j to look over the other parts of her chara£ler, upon this head of religion. Modefty and humility covered a great deal from common obfervation, indeed all that was poffible for her to conceal; but no clouds can quite darken the day j it calls a light

evea

even when it does not fhine out. Her pun(3:ual exaftnefs, not only to public offices, but to her fecret retirements, was fo regular a thing, that it was never put off in the greateft croud of bufinefs or little journeys j then, though the hour was anticipated, the duty was never negledled : fhe took care to be fo early on thofe occafions, that (he might never either quite forget, or very muchfhorten that, upon which flie reckoned that the bleffing of the whole day turned. She obferved the Lord's day fo religioufly, that befides her hours of retirement, jfhe was conftantly thrice a day in the public worship of God ; and for a great part of the year four times a day while fhe lived beyond fea. She was conftant to her monthly communions, and retired herfelf more than ordinary for fome days before them. In them, as well as in all the other parts of the wor-fhip of God, an unexampled ferioufnefs appeared always in her, without one glance let out for ob-fervation ; and fuch care was taken to hide the more folemn elevations of her mind to God, that thefe thin2;s ftruck all thofe who faw them, but had never feen any thing like them before. This did fpread a fpiiit of devotion among all that were about her, who could not fee fo much in her, without feeling fomewhat to arife in themfelves ; though few could chain themfelves down to fuch a fixed and fteady application as they faw in her. Nothing in that was theatrical, nothing given to (hew; every thing was fincere, as well as folemn, and genuine as well as majeftical.

D 2 ' Her

Her attention to fermons was fo entire, that as her eye never wandered from a good preaeher, fo flie fliewed no wearincfs of an indifferent one : when fhe was afked, how fhe could be fo attentive to fome fermons that were fiir from being perfeft. Die. anfwercd, " That fhe thought it did not become *' her, by any part of her behaviour, to difcourage, *' or feem to diflike one that was doino- his beft."

to

The hardeft cenfure that (he pall on the word, was to fay nothing to their advantage ; for (he never denied her commendations to any thing thatdcferved them. She was not content to be devout herfelf ; fhe infufed that temper into all that came near her j chiefly into thofe whom fhe took into her more immediate care, w^hom fhe ftudied to form with the tendernefs and watchfulnefs of a mother. She charmed them with her inftrudlions, as fhe overcame them with her kindnefs; never was miftrefs both feared and loved fo entirely as fhe was. She fcattered books of inftru6lion to all that were round about her, and gave frequent orders that good books fhould be laid in the places of attendance, that fuch as waited, might not be condemned toidlenefs ; but might entertain themfelves ufefully, while they were in their turns of fervice.

She had a true regard to piety wherever fhe faw it, in what form or party foever. Her judgment tied her to our communion, but her charity was extended to all. The liberty that fome have taken to unchurch great bodies of chriftians, for fome de-feds and irregularities, were ftrains that Hie couM

never

never aflent to ; nor indeed could fhe well bear them. She longed to fee us In a clofer conjuniiLion with all proteftants abroad, and hoped we might flrengthen ourfclves at home, by uniting to us as many as could be brought within our body. Few things ever grieved her more, than that thofe hopes feemed to languifli, and that the profpedl of fo de-fired an union vanifhcd out of fight.

The raifmg the reputation and authority of the clergy, as the chief inftrument for advancing religion, was that to which flie intended to apply her utmoft diligence. She knew that the only true way to compafs this, was to engage them to be exemplary in their lives, and eminent in their la-•boufs ; to watch over their flocks, and to edify them by good preaching and diligent catechifmg. She was refolved to have the whole nation under-ftand, that by thefe ways, and by thefe only, divines were to be recommended to favour and preferment. She made it vifible, that the fteps were to be made by merit, and not by friendfhip and importunity. Solicitations and afpirlngs were practices that, affecled her deeply ; bccaufe fhe faw the ufe that was made of them by malicious obfervers ; who concluded from thence, that we run to our profeflion as to a trade, for the fake of the gains and honours that we might find in it, and not to fave fouls, or to edify the church. Every inflance of this kind gave her a fenfible wound, becaufe it hardened bad men in the contempt of religion. She therefore charged thofe, whom Ihc truflcd niofl: iii

D 3. fuch

4^ ^n Essay en the Memory of

fuch matters, to look out for the beft men, and the beft preachers, that they might be made known to her. She was under a real anxiety when church-preferments, efpecially the more eminent ones, were to be difpofed of. She reckoned that that was one of the main parts of her care j for which a particular account was to be given to that God, from whom her authority was derived, and to whom fhe had devoted it. When fhe apprehended that friendfhip might give a biafs to thofe whom fhe allowed to fpeak to her on thofe heads; fhe told them of it, with the authority that became her, and that they well deferved. She could deny the moft earneft folicitations, with a true firmnefs, ■when fhe thought the perfon did not deferve them ; for that was fuperior with her to all other con-fiderations. But when fhe denied things, fhe did it with fo much foftnefs, and upon fo good reafon, that fuch as might be mortified by the repulfe, were yet forced to confefs that fhe was in the right j even when, for the fake of a friend, they v/ifhed fhe had for once been in the wrong.

It grieved her to hear how low and depauperated a great many of the churches of England were become : which were funk into fuch extreme poverty, that it was fcarce polTible, even by the help of a plurality, to find a fubfiftence in them. She had formed a great and noble defign, to bring them all to a juft flute of plenty, and to afford a due encouragement ; but pluralities and non-refidence, when not enforced by real neceility, were otherwife fo odious

to

•to her, that fhe refolvcd to throw fuch perpetual difgraces upon them, as fhould oblige all perlbns to let go the hold that they had got of the cures ot fouls, over whom they did not watch, and among whom they did not labour.

In a full difcourfe on this very fubiecl, the day feefore the fatal iilnefs ove'took her; {he faid, ^* fhe had no great hope of mending matters ; )'ct " fhe was refolved to go on, and never to fuffer " herfelf to be difcouraged, or to Jofe heart: fhe *' would flill try what could be done, and perfue *' her defign, how flow or inferifible foeyer the *' progrefs might be." She had taken pains to form a true plan of the primitive conftitutions ; and had refolved to bring ours, as near it as could he ; that fo it might become more firm and ufeful, for attaining the great ends of religion. Neither the fpirit of a party, nor of bigotry, lay at the bottom of all this. She did not project any part of it as an art of government, or an inftrument of power and dominion.

Her fcheme was thus laid ; fhe thought that the chriftian religion was revealed from heaven, to make mankind happy here, as well as hereafter : and that as mankind and fociety could not fubfift without any religion at all, fo alfo the corruption of chriftianity had made many nations the worfe rather than the better, for that fhadow of it that was received amon* them. She thought that a pious, learned, and laborious clergy, was the chief me.m of bringing the world under the power

D 4 of

4-8 ^« Essay on the Memory of

of the chriftian religion ; and that the treating their perfons with refpe(Sl, was neceflary to procure them credit in the difcharge of their fun6lion. She intended to carry on all this together, and not any one part of it feparate from the reft. If at any time {he knew any thing in thofe who ferved at the altar, that expofed them to juft cenfures, (he covered it all that could be from common obferva-tion; but took care that the perfons concerned fhould be both roundly fpoke to, and proceeded againfc when fofter methods did not fucceed, or that it feemed necelTary that their punifhment ought to be made as public as their crimes were. She would never fufFer any to go away with a conceit, that a zeal for the fervice of the crown, could atone for other faults ; or compound for the great duties of. their fun(5lion. This feemed to be the fctting the interefts of religion after their own j but file was refolved to give them always the preference.

No intimation was ever let fall to her in any difcourfe, that offered a probable mean of making us better, which was loft by her. She would call upon fome to turn that motion over and over again, till fhe had formed her own thoughts concerning it. The laft thing that fhe had fettled with our late bleffed primate, was a fchemc of fuch rules, as our prefent circumftances could bear, publiflied fmce by his majefly ; which was an earnefl of many others that were to follow in due time. It was indeed an r.mazin^, as well as a delightful

thing,

thln^T, to fee how well fhe underftood fuch mat-ters, and how much flie was fet on piomoting them. She jy|||ed aright, that the true end of power, and the "Deft exercife of it, was to do good, and to make the world the better for it. She often faid, that fhe found nothing in it to make it fupportable, not to fay pleafant, befides that : and fhe wondered that the true pleafure which accompanied it, did not engage princes to perfiie it more effectually. Without this file thought, that a private life, with moderate circumflances, was the happier as well as the fafer flate. When refleilions were once made before her, of the fharpnefs of fome hifto-jiraiVf v/ho had left heavy imputations on the me-Jnory of fome princes; fhe anfwered, " that if I" thofe princes were truly fuch, as the hiftorians • " reprefented them,' they had well deferved that " treatment; and others who tread their fteps, *' might look for the fame : for the truth would '- be told at lafl, and that with the more acrim.ony " of flilc, for being fo long reftraincd. It was a " gentle fuftering to be expofed to the world ia *' their true colours, much below what others had " fuftered at their hands : file thou2:ht that all fo-*' vereigns ought to read fuch hiflories as Pro-*' copius ; for how much foever he may have *' aggravated matters, and how unbecomingly " foever he may have writ, yet by fuch books they *' might fee, what would be probably faid of theni-** felves, when all terrors and rertraints fhould fall " oft" with their li\'cs." She encouraged thofe

whom

50 /^n E. s s A Y on the Memory of

whom {he admitted to frequent accefs, to lay before her all the occafions of doing good that might occur to their thoughts ; and was always well pleafed when new opportunities were offered to her, in which fhe might exercife that which was the inoft valued of all her prerogatives. So defirous fhe was to know both how to corre6l what might be amifs, and to promote every good defign, that fhe not only allowed of great freedom, in bringing proportions of that kind to her, but fhe charged the confciences of fome, with a command to keep nothing of that nature from her, which they thought fhe ou2:ht to know. Nor were fuch motions ever unacceptable to her; even when other circum-ftances made it impoflible for her to put them in execution.

The reforming the manners of her people was one of her chief cares. If a greater progrefs was not made in this, according to the pious wifhes of fome, who had good intentions, and much zeal, the true account of that flownefs was this; fhe had often heard that the hypocrify of the former times had brought on the atheifm and impiety of the pre-fent, and had fortified libertines in their prejudices; therefore flie refolved to guard againft every thing that might feem to revive that. She obferved that Jofiah was for the fpace of four years engaged in a religious courfe of life, before he fet himfelf to the reforming of his people; that by the example he fet them, he might gain fo much credit in carrying on that defign, as might excufe, as well as compen-

fate

fate the flownefs of beginning it. She judged that all people ought to be well poffefTed of their intentions in that matter: and fhe feared, lefl in the dif-jointed ftate, in which our affairs have lain fo long, the going on with that defign might have the face of ferving fome other end under that appearance, for that will be popular, even when things are in a very corrupt flate. Therefore tho* this was no fooner moved to her, than fhe fet it a going, yet finding few inftruments to concur in it, and feeing a violent oppofition to thofe that did, fhe thought that her putting her whole flrength to it might be referved with great advantage to another time, in which our affairs fliould have a calmer face, and be brought to a more fedate flate. She did hearken carefully after every thing that feemed to give fome hope, that the next generation Ihould be better than the prefent, with a particular attention. She heard of a fpirit of devotion and piet)'^, that was fpreading itfclf among the youth of this great city, with a true fatisfaclion ; fhe enquired often and much about it, and was glad to hear it went on and prevailed. " She lamented that *' whereas the devotions of the church of Rome were *' all (hew, and made up of pomp and pageantry ; *' that we were too bare and naked ; and pradifed *' not enough to entertain a ferious temper, or a *' warm and an affe6lionate heart : we might have ** light enough to diredt, but wc wanted flame to *' raife an exalted devotion."

I

52 An "Es?,AY on the Memory of

I have now given fome inftances of the temper of her mind, in that which concerned God and reh'gion; I go in the next place to confider her with relation to human nature.

Princes are railed fo far above the reft of mankind, that they do generally lofe fight ofthofe miferies to which the greater part is fubjedt. It would difturb that eafe, in which they pafs away their hours too much, to hear difmai recitals of the calamities of their people. How much foever they may be lifted up with the glorious title of the parents of their country, yet for the moft part they know little of the preiTures their people lie under, and they feel them lefs. Our bleiTed queen was become the delight of all that knew her, by the obliging tendernefs with which fhe treated all thol'e who came near her : flie made the afRi6lions of the unfortunate eafier to them, by the fhare that fh-e bore of them, and the neceflities of the miferable the more fupportable, by the relief that fhe gave them. She was tender of thofe who deferved her favour; and companionate towards thofe who wanted her pity. It y^'as eafy for her to reward, for all forts of bounty flowed readily from her. But it was much harder for her to punifh, except when the nature of the crime made mercy become a cruelty, and then fhe was inflexible, not only to importunity, but to the tendernefs of her own com-paffionate heart.

She was indeed happily framed by nature, which wrought fo foon that it prevented education. She

was

was goofi and gentle, before fhe was capable of knowing that fhe ought to be fo. This grew up with her in the whole progrefs of childhood : flie might need inftru6lion, but fhe wanted no per-fuafion ; and I have been often told that (he never once, in the whole courfe of her education, gave any occafion to reprove her : fo naturally did (he go into every thing that was good, often before (lie knew it, and always after fhe once underftood it.

She was but grouping out of childhood, when fhe went among ftrangcrs ; but fhe went under the guard of fo exa£t a conduct, and fo much difcre-tion ; fhe exprefl'ed fuch agentlenefs, acceis to her was fo eafy, and her deportment was fo obliging 1 her life was fuch an example, and her charity was fo free, that perhaps no age ever had fuch an inftancc. Never was there fuch an univerfal love and cfteeni (one is tem.pted to feek for other words, if langu:ige did afford them) paid to any, as fhe had from perfons of all ranks and conditions in the United Provinces. It was like tranfport and rapture : the veneration was fo profound, that how juft foever it might be, it feemed rather excefUve. Neither her foreign birth, nor regal extra£tion, neither the diverfity of intcrefls of opinions, nor her want of power and treafure, (equal to her bounty) dimi-nifhed the refpects that were offered her, even from

a people, whofe conflitution gives them naturally a jealoufy of too great a merit in thofe who arc at

the head of their government.

54 ^n TLssAY on the Memory of

I am afraid to enlarge too much on the juftlcc that was done her in thefe parts ; or on that uni-verfal mourning, with which her departui-e from them was followed : thatfeemed fcarce capable of an addition, till now that there has appeared fo black a gloom of defpondingforrow fpread among them all ; defpair and death feeming to dwell on every face, when the dreadful news flew over to them. I am afraid, I fay, to dwell too much on this, leaft it may feem to reproach thofe who owed her much more.

In her chara6ler, ordinary things, how fmgular foever {he might be in them, muft be thrown Into the heap. She was a gentle miftrefs, a kind friend, (if this word is too low for her ftate, it is not too low for her humility,) and above all flie was fo tender and fo refpeclful a wife, that fhe feemed to go beyond the perfecSleft ideas that wit or invention has been able to rife to. The lowefl condition of life, or the greateft inequality of fortune, has not afforded fo perfe£l a pattern. Tendernefs and complacency feemed to ftrive which of them fhould te the more eminent. She had no higher fatls-faction in the profpeft of greatnefs, that was def-cending on her, than that it gave her an occafion of making him a prefent worthy of himfelf. Nor had crowns or thrones any charm in them, that ■was fo pleafant to her, as that they raifed him to a greatnefs, which he fo well deferved, and could io well maintain. She was all zeal and rapture, when any thing was to be done, that could either

exprefs

the late ^mn MARY. c,^

exprefs affeftion, or (hew refpei^: to him. She obeyed with more pleafure, than the moft ambitious could have when they command. This fubjecSi: is too hard to be well fet out, and fo it muft be lefc in general and larger exprefllons.

Thofe who ferved her, can never give over when they are relating the inftances of her gentle-nefs to them all. She was fo foft when flie gave her orders, and fo careful of not putting too much upon them ; fo tender of them in their ficknefs and afflidlions, fo liberal on many different occa-fions, that as the inftances are innumerable, fo" they have peculiarities in them which (liew that every thing in her was of a piece with the reft. She (hewed a fenfibility at the death of thofe v/hom llie particularly valued ; that perfons of fo exalted a condition, do generally think may miibecome them. The many tears that flie fhed upon the death of our good primate, who got the ftart of her, a very few days, fliewed how well (he under-ftood his worth, and how much fhe valued it.

So careful flie was of all that belonged to her, that when flie faw what her laft ficknefs was like to grow to, flie made thofe, who had not yet gone through it, withdraw. She would fuffer none to ft^y about her, when their attendance might endanger their own health; and yet fi\e was fo tender of them, when they fell under that fo juftly dreadful illnefs, that flie would not fuffer them to be removed, though they happened to be lodged very near herfelf.

Her

^6 y^ii Es 5 AY on the Memory of

Her bounty and her compaffions had great matter given them to work upon. And how wide foever her fphere may have been, fhe went in this rather beyond her ftrength, than kept within it. Thofe generous confeflbrs and exiles whom the perfecutioa of France fent over hither, as well as to the United Provihces, felt the tendernefs as well as the bounty of the welcome that fhe gave them. The confufions of Ireland drove over multitudes of all ranks, who fled hither for flielter, and M'ere foon reduced to great ftraights, from a Hate of as great plenty : moft of thefe wcre^ by her means, both fupported during their ftay, and enabled to return home after that ftorm was over : the largeiiefs of the fupplies that were given, and the tender manner of giving them, made their exile both the fliorter and the more tolerable : the miferable among ourfelves, particularly thofe who fuftered by the accidents of war, found in her a relief that was eafily come at, and was copioufly fmnilhcd. She would never limit any from laying proper objects for her charity in her way; nor confine that care to the minifters of the Almonry ; fhe encouraged all that were about her, or that had free accefs to her, to acquaint her with the neceflities under which perfons of true merit might languifh ; and {xio. was never uneafy at applications of that kind, nor was her hand ever fcanty, when the perfon was defeiving, or the extremity was pinching. She was regular and exa^t in this ; fhe found that even a royal treafure, though difpenfed by a hand

that

that was yet more royal, could not anfwer all demands. Therefore flie took care to have a juft account, both of the worth and of the neceflities of thofe who pretended ; and flie ftiewed in this as great an exa(Slnefs, and as attentive a regard, as much memory, and as much diligence, as if {he had had no cares of a higher nature upon her. It feemed fhe kept tables of journals ; for llie had a method in it, with which no body was ever acquainted, as far as I could learn. It was very rea-fonable to believe, that fhe took notes and fet rules to herfelf in this mattert

But fhe was fo exad to the rule of the gofpel, of managing it with deep fecrefy, that none knew what, or to whom, fhe gave, but thofe whom fhe was forced to employ in it. When it was to fall on perfons who had accefs to her, her own hand was the conveyance; what went through other hands, was charged on them with an injundlion of fecrefy j and fhe herfelf was fo far from fpeaking of fuch things, that when fome perfons were offered to her charity, who had been already named by others, and were relieved by herfelf, fhe would not let thofe who fpoke to her, upon the fame of their being in want, underfland any thing of the notice that had been already taken of it; but either file let the thing pafs in filence, or if the neceflity was reprefented as heavier than fKe had underflood it to be, a new fupply was given, without fo much as a hint of what had gone before, ,

E But

58 Afj "Essay on the Memory of

But how good foever ihe was m herfelf, fhe carried a heavy load upon her mind : the deep fenfe that fhe had of the guilt and judgments that ieemed to be hanging over us, as. no doubt it gave her many afflicting thou2,hts in the prefence of God, fo it broke often out in many fad flrains to thofe- to whom fhe gave her thoughts a freer vent. The impieties and blafphemies, the open contempt of religion, and the fcorn of virtue, that flie heard of from fo many hands, and in fo many different corners of the nation, gave her a fecret horror, and offered fo black a profpeft, that it filled her witb melancholy refledlions, and engaged her into much fecret mourning. This touched her the more fenfibly when fhe at any time heard that fome, who pretended to much zeal for the crown and the pre-fent eftaBlifhment,. feemed from thence to think they had fome right to be indulged in their licenci-oufnefs,. and other irregularities. She often faid, " can a blefling be expected from fuch hands, or *' on any thing that muft pafs through them ? " She longed to fee a fet of men of integrity and probity, of generous tempei 3 and public fpirits,iii whofe hands the concerns of the crown and nation might be lodged, with reafonable hopes of fuccefs, and of a blelTing from above, upon their fervices. She had a jufl efteem of all perfons as f]ie found them truly virtuous and religious ; nor could any other confiderations have a great effeil u[on her, when thefe were wanting. She made a great difference between thofe that were convinced of the principles of religion,.

how

how fatally foever they might be fliut up from having their due efFe<S on them, and thofe who had quite thrown them off; where ihefe were quite extinguifhed, no hope was left, nor foundation to build upon : but where they remained, how feeble or unadive foever, there was a feed ftill within them, that at fome time or other, and upon fome happy oceafion, might fhoot and grow. Next to open impiety, the coldnefs, the want of heat and life in thofe who pretended to religion, the deadnefs and dif-union of the whole body ofproteftants, and the weaknefs, the humours and affedations, of fome who feemed to have good intentions, did very {^n-fibly affed her. She faid often, with feeling and cutting regret, " can fuch dry bones live ? " When ihc heard what crying fins abounded in our fleets and armies, Ihe gave fuch diredions as feemed pradicable, to thofe who fhe thought might in ix>m^ meafure corred them; and /lie made fome, in very eminent ftations, underiland, that nothing could both pleafe, and even oblige her more, than that care fhould be taken to flop thofe growino-dif-orders, and to reduce matters to the gravity and fobriety <jf former times. The laft great projetSt that her thoughts were working on, with relation to a noble and royal provifion for maimed and decayed feamen, was particularly defigned to be fo conftituted, as to put them in a probable way of ending their days in the fear of God. Every new hint that wa)', was entertained by her with a lively joy : (he had fomedifcourfcon that head the very day

E 2 before

€o An EssAV on the Memory of

before fhe was taken 111. It gave her a fenfible concern, to hear that Ireland was fcarce got out of its miferies, when it was returning to the levities, and even to the abominations of former times : fhe fpake of thofe things like one that was trembling and fmking under the weight of them. She took particular methods to be well informed ofthcftate of our plantations, and of thofe colonies that we have among infidels : but it was no fmall grief to her to hear that they were but too generally a reproach to the religion by which they were nalmed, (I do not fay which they profefled, for many of them feem fcarce to profefs it.) She gave a willing ear to a propofition that was made for eredling fchools, and the founding of a college among them. She confidered the whole fcheme of it, and the endowment which was defired for it. It was a noble one, and was to rife out of fome branches of the revenue, which made it liable to objections : but fhetook care to confider the whole thing fowell,that Ihe herfelf anfwered all obje»5tions, and efpoufed the matter with fo afie6lionate a concern, that fhe prepared it for the king to fettle it at his coming over. She knew how heartily he concurred in all defigns of that nature, though other more prefling cares denied him the opportunities of confidering them fo much : fhe digefted and prepared them for him; and as fhe knew how large a fhare of zeal his majefly had for good things, fhe took care alfo to give him the largeft fliare of the honour of tbem. Nor indeed could any thing infiame her more, than

the

the profpeit of fetting religion forward, efpccially where there were hopes of working upon infidels; though after all, the infidels at home feemed to be more incurable and defperate than thofe abroad.

Her concern and her charafler was not limited to that which might fecm to be her own immediate province, and was more efpecially put xmder her care ; the foreign churches had alfo a liberal fhare of it. She was not infenfible of the kind-nefs of the Dutch ; flie remembered it always with a grateful tendernefs, and was heartily touched with all their concerns. The refugees of France were confidered by her, as thofe whom God had fent to fit fafe under her fliadow, and cafy through her favour. Thofe fcattered remnants of our elder fifter, that had Iteen hunted out of their vallies, were again brought together by their majefties means. It was the king's powerful interceflion that reftored them to their feats, as well as to their edi(Sts. And it was the queen's charity that formed them into bodies, and put them in the method of enjoying thofe advantages, and of tranfmitting them down to the fucceediiig: ages. She took care alfo of preferving the little that was left of the Bohemian churches : file ha4 fomicd nurferies of religion in fomc of the parts of Germany which were exhaufied by war, and difabled to carry on the education of their youth : and to tranfmit to the next age, the faith which they themfelves pro-feflcd.

I

E 3 Such

62 ^n "EssAY on the Memoiy of

Such was the temper of our blefled queen ; thefe were the earnefls of what we expetSled from her; they had been a full return of the moft promifing expedlations in any other ; but in her they were only earnefts of what we looked for, It was but the dawning of her day ; the mifts and clouds rofe fo thick upon it, thediforders of war did fo obftru£l many great defigns, that her light was much intercepted, it could not fhine through ; fhe under-flood well the decencies of things j they were beau-ful in their feafons ; and they would not have had fo fair an appearance, if they had come before the proper time, and the other circuniflances that might fit them. She feemed to have many years before her ; her youth was that which added this particu' lar happinefs to all the other bleffings that we had in her, that we thought we were fecure in a long continuance of it. We flattered ourfelves with the hopes of a reign that fliould have been lafting. The hopes of that made us neither to doubt nor fear any thing elfe. What generous or abftrafled thoughts foever we may have in fpeculation, felf-love lies fo near us, that after all we are chiefly concerned for our own times. We thijik we may more eafily deliver over the concerns of the next age to thofe who are to live in it. It feems to be the voice of nature that Hezekiah faid, " good is *' the word of the Lord, that peace and truth fhall *' be in my days. " Therefore when the profpe<5l of a fixed happinefs goes farther than the reafoiv able profpedt of our o\An continuance here, we

think

think we ourfeives are very fafe. It is alfo a de-li'fj-htful thought to one, that confiders how much all things are out of joint, and into what diforder they have fallen, to hope that fo dexterous a hand was like to have fo long a courfe of life before her, for putting every thing again into proper methods, and in regular channels j and that might have lived till the nation had put on another face, till we had recovered our antient virtue, as well as our much, blafted fame ; till religion had been not only fe-cured, but raifed to fuch a degree, as to have {hined out from us through the whole earth, with a benign •influence on all the foreign churches, as well as with a dreadful one towards the Roman church, (I mean not the dreadfulnefs of cruelty; that is her own chara£ter, which we ftill leave entire to her, I mean the dazzling her with the brightnefs of virtue and religion among us) and till public liberty had been fettled upon a true bails. I mean the authority of a well balanced and well conduiled government; that fiiould have maintained property, and have aftcrted the generous principles of the free-■dom of human nature j that fliould have difpenfcd juftlce, and rewarded virtue, with a gentle but fteady hand, and have rcpreffed the luxuriant pie-tenfions of thofe who undcrftand public liberty fo little, as not to be able to diftinguifli it fromlicen-cioufnefs ; uhich flrikcs flrll: at religion and virtue, and then muft foon fall with its own burden, under the mifcry of ufurpations at home, or become an -c^y prey to foreign conquerors. A corrupted ftate

^4 of

6'4 An KssAY on the Memory of

of mankind Is well prepared to be a fcene of flavery;. Liberty cannot be maintained but by virtue, temperance, moderate defires, and contented minds ; and fmce thofe are not to be attained to but by religion, this is an imcontefled truth, that liberty and religion live and die together.

All this, and a deal more, both with relation to ourfelves, and to all that are round about us, was that which we thought we had a right to expe£l from the continuance of fuch a reign : we thought that God had formed her by fp many peculiar chara6lers, and conducted her by fo many happy providences, that from all thefe we had fome right to conclude, that it would be lading. The appearances were of our fide ; for though flie tempered the chearfulnefs of youth with the gravity of age, and the ferioufnefs even of old age, yet youth flill fmiled in her countenance with fo frefh an air, that we thought nature had not gone half its way, and had yet a long career t(3 run. So firm a health, fo regular a courfe of life, and fo calm a temper, thatexaelnefs of method, and punctualnefs of hours, feemed to add a further fecuiity to our hopes : nor did they flop under the reign or age of a queen Elizabeth.

We felt (o happy an influence from her example, as well as by her government, that even under the terror that her ficknefs gave us, we flattered ourfelves with the hopes that God was only trying us, to give us a jufler value of fo ineftimable a blciling, that fo it might be reflored to us with the more advantage, and an higher endearment. We ccuM

not let ourfelves think, that fo terrible a ftrokc was To near us. We, who but a few days before, had been fancying, what our childrens children were to fee in her, were then driven to apprehend that our fun was to fet before it had attained to its noon. Then under the darknefs of that thick cloud, every one began to recollect what he had feen and obferved in her : and though fome knew more than others, yet every one knew enough to ftrike him with amazement and forrow. Then her whole adminiflration, as well as the privater parts of her lite, was remembered : every one had fomething to fay, and all added to the common flock, and increafed the general lamentation.

It is true, a veil ought heie to be drawn over that which Is facred. The fecrets of government arefoj and muft not break out, till the proper time comes of recording them, and of delivering them down to poftcrity ; and then we know what a figure her hiftory mufl make. But in this way, and under the due referves of fpeaking of prefent things, fomewhat may be ventured on, without breaking in too far. Her pun61;ualnefs to hours, her patience in audiences, her gcntlenefs in commanding, her refervednefs in fpeaking, her caution in promifing, her foftnefs in finding fault, her readinefs in rewarding, her diligence in ordering, her hearkening to all that was fug-gefted, and the copious accounts that flie gave to hini whom both God, and her own choice, had made her oracle, were every one of them furprifingj but all together they feem to look rather like the idea

of

66 An 'E,%SAY O/t the Memory of

of what ought to be, than that which could in reafon be expelled from any one perfon. It might have been fuppofed that her whole time muft have gone to this. If many other things had been omitted, it was that which mufc have been well allowed of; but that there might be a fulnefs of leifure for every thing, the day was early begun ; Ihe had many hours to fpare, and nothing was <Jone in hafte ; no huny nor impatience appeared. Her devotions, both private and public, were not fo much as fhortened ; and fhe found time «nou2;h for keeping up the chearfulnefs of a court, and for admitting all perfons to her. She was not io wholly pofTefTed by the greateft cares, that fhe forgot the fmalleft. Thofe who are exacSt in little things, generally trifle in great ones ; and thofe who mind great things, think they have a right to neglecSl fmaller ones : they think they (hould rather be leffened if they were too exa(9; in them. But it was a new thing to fee one, who never forgot things, which fhe herfelf efteemed but trifles, and which fhe managed with fo becoming a grace, that even in thefe fhe pcrferved her own character, yet to carry on the great-concerns of government with fo firm a condu6t, and fuch an air ©f majefly. If any thing was ever found in her, that might feem to fall too low, it'was that her humility and modcfty did really deprefs her too much in her own -eyes; and that fhe might toofcon be made to think, that the reafons which v/ere offered to her by others, were better than her own. But even this was

only in fuch matters, In which the want of practice might make that modeft diftruft feem more reafonable : and when {he did fee nothing in that which was before her, in which confcience had any (hare, for whenfoever that appeared, fhc was firm and un moveable.

Her adminiftration had a peculiar happlnefs attending on it; v/e had reafon to believe that it went the better with us upon her accounc. There was fomewhat in herfelf that difarmed many of her enemies ; fuch of them as came near her, were foon conquered by her ; while the dexterity and fecrefy of her condu6l, defeated the defigns of thofe who were reftlefs and implacable. Wc feemed once to be much expofed ; unprofperous accidents at fea gave our enemies the appearance of a triumph : they lay along our coafts, and were for fome time the mailers of our feas. But a fecret guard feemed then to environ us : all the harm that they did us, in one inftance of barbarit)-', that fhewed what our sreneral treatment mi^ht probably have been, if we had became a prey to them, did us little huit: it feemed rather fuffcreJ by heaven, to unite us againft them. The nation loft no courage by it; their zeal was the more inflamed. This was her iirft effay of government ; but then fhe, who upon ordinary occafions was not out of countenance to own a fear that did not mifbecomc her, did now, when a vifible danger threatncd her, fliew a firmnefs of mind, and a compofcdncfs of behaviour, that made

the

6S An KssAY on thi Memory of the nien of the clearefl: courage afhamed of them-ielves. She covered the inward apprehenfions that £he had, with fuch an equality of behaviour, that ihe fecnied afiaid of nothing, when flie had reafon to fear the worfl that could happen. She was refol-ved, if things fliould have gone to extremities, to have ventured herfelf with her people, and either to have preferved them, or to have perifhed with them. This was fuch a beginning of the exercife of royal power, as might for ever have given her a difguft of it. She feemed all the while to poflefs her foul in patience ; and to live in a conftant re-ficnation of herfelf to the will of God, without any anxiety concerning events. The happy news of a great victory, and of a greater prefervation of his majefty's facred perfon, from the fuieft inftru-nients of death, which feemed to be fent with that djredion, that it might (hew the immediate watch-fulnefs of providence about him, did foon change the fcene, and put another face on our affairs. She only feemed the leaft changed ; Ihe looked more chearful, but with the fame tranquility : the appearances of it had never left her. Nor was it a fmall addition to her joy, that another perfon, for whom fhe flill retained profound regards, was alfo preferved. She was a true Sabine in the cafe; and though Ihe was no part of the caufe of the war, yet (he would willingly have facrificed her own life, to have preferved either of thofe that feemed to be then in danger. She fpoke of that matter, two days after the news came, with fo tender

der a fenfe of the goodnefs of God to her in it, that it drew tears from her : and then fhe freely confefTed, " that her heart had trembled, not fo *' much from the apprehenfion of the danger, that *' {he herfelf was in, as from the fcene that was *' then in aftion at the Boyne : God had heard her ** prayers, and (he bleffed him for it, with as ^qyX' " fible a joy, as for any thing that had ever hap-" pened to her."

The next feafon of her adminiftration concluded the redudtion of Ireland. The expedtations of fuccefs there, were once fo much funk, that it feemed that that ifland was to be yet, for another year, a field of blood, and a heap of afhes. She laid the blame of this in a great meafure on the licencioufnefs and other diforders that Ihe hearii had rather increafed, than abated among them. A fudden turn came from a bold but neceffary refolu-tion, that was executed as gallantly as it was generoufly undertaken. In the face of a great army, a handful of men pafTed a deep river, forceil a town, and made the enemy to retire in hafte. Alt poflerity will reckon this among the moll fignal performances of war : an inflance that (hewed how far courage coufd go ; and what brave men, well led on^ could do. A great vi£lory followed a few days after : the fuccefs of the adtion was at fo long and fo doubtful a ftand, that there was juft reafon to believe, that pure hands lifted up to heaven, might have great influence, and might have giveii the turn ; from that time fuccefs was lefs doubtful. AH was concluded with the h:i|'py reduclicn of the

v.hol«

«

sc

^o -^^^ Ess AT 0^ the Memory of

whole ifland. The reflexions that fhe made oa this, looked the fame way that all her thoughts did. " Our forces elfewhere, both at fea and ' land, were thought to be confiderable, and fo *' promlfing, that we were in great hopes of ** fomewhat that might bedecifivej only Ireland was apprehended to be too weakly furnifhed for a concluding campaign j yet fo different •^ are the methods of providence from human expectations, that nothing memorable happened any where, but only in Ireland, where little pr nothing was expefted." She was again at the helm when we were threat-jied with a defcent, and an invafion ; which was condu6led v/ith that fecrefy, that we were in danger of being furprifed by it, when our preparations at fea were not finifhed, and our force at land was not confiderable. The ftruggle was like to have been formidable ; and there was a particular violence to be done to herfelf, by reafon of him who was to have conduiled it. Then we felt new proofs of the watchfulnefs of heaven. What comes immediately from caufes that fall not under human counfels, nor can be redrefled by fkill or force, may well be afcribed to the fpecialities of providence : and the rather, if nature feems to go out of its courfe, and feafons change their ordinary face, A long uninterrupted continuance of boif-terous weather, that came from the point that was jnoft: contrary to their defigns, made the project ;mpradlicable, A fucceflion of turns of weather

fol-

followed after that, happily to us, and as fatally to them. While the fame wind that flopped their fleets, joined ours. It went not out of that direction, till it ended in one of the moft glorious adlions that ever England had ; and then thofe who were brought together to invade us, were forced to be the melancholy fpedators of the deftrufiion of the beft part of that fleet, on wliich all their hope was built. In that, without detrading either from the gallantry of our men, or .the condud of our admiral, it muft be acknowledged that providence had the largeft fharc : and if we may pre-fume to enter into thofe fecrets, and to judfe of the hidden caufes of them, we may well conclude,, that her piety and her prayers contributed not a little to it.

She bore fuccefs with the fame decency that appeared when the fky feemed to be more clouded. So firm a fituation of mind as £tiz had, feemed to be above the power of accidents of any fort whatfo-ever. Clouds returned again in another year of her adminiflration ; though not with a face that was quite fo black. She thought God was angry with us; and it was not hard to find out a reafon to juflify the fevered: of his providences.

It feemed much more accountable, that our affairs fhould have met with fome unhappy interruptions, than that lb many bleflings £hould have attended upon us. She had a tender fenfe of any thing that looked like a mifcarriage, under her condadl, and was afraid left fome miflake of hers

Diighs

72 \An KssAY on the Memory of

might have occafloned it. When difficulties gfew too hard to be extricated, and that Ihe felt an iineafmefs in them, fhe made God her refuge ; and though file had neither the principles nor the tent-per of an enthufiafl, yet Ihe often owned that fhe felt a full calm upon her thoughts, after fhe had given them a free vent before God in prayer.

When fad accidents came from the immediate hand of heaven, particularly on the occafion of a great lofs at fea ; fhe faid, " though there was no *' occafion for complaint or anger upon thefe, yet *' there was a jufler caufe of grief, fince God's *' hand was to be feen fo particularly in them." Sometimes fhe feared there mio-ht be fome fecret fins that might lie at the root and blafl all j but fhe went foon off from that, and faid, '^ where fo *' much was vifible, there was no need of divina-'* tion concerning that which might be hidden/*

When the fky grew clearer, and in her more profperous days, fhe was never lifted up. A great refolution was taken, which has fince changed the fcene very vifibly : it has not only afferted a dominion over thofe feas which we claim as our own, but has for the prefent afl'umed a more extended empire ; while we are maflers both of the ocean and the Mediterranean j and have our enemies coafls, as well as the feas, open to us. She had too tender a heart to take any real fatisfailion in the deflrudtion of their towns, or the ruin of their poor and innocent inhabitants. She fpoke of this with true indignation, at thofe who had begun

fuch

fuch pra£lices, even in full peace j or after protections had been given. She was forry that the ftate of war made it neceflary to reftrain another prince' from fuch barbarities, by making himfelf feel the effedls of them; and therefore ftie faid, " fhe *' hoped, that fuch pra6lices fhould become fo odi-*' ous, in all that ftiould begin them, and by their " doing fo force others to retaliate, that for the *' future they Ihould be for ever laid afide."

When her affairs had another face, fhe grew not fecure, nor went fhe off from her dependance upon God. In all the pleafures of life, fhe maintained a true indifference for the continuance of them ; and fhe feemed to think of parting with them, in fo eafy a manner, that it plainly appeared how little they had got into her heart : fhe had no occafion for thefe thoughts, from any other principle, but a mere difguft of life, and the afpiring to a better. She apprehended fhe felt once or twice fuch indifpofitions upon her, that fhe concluded nature was working towards fome great ficknefs; lb fhe fet herfelf to take full and broad views of death, that from thence fhe might judge, how fhe fhould be able to encounter it. But fhe felt fo quiet an indifference upon that profpe6l, leaning rather toward the defire of a diffolution, that fhe faid, " though (he did not pray for death, yet fhe " could neither wifh nor pray againfl it. She left *' that before God, and referred herfelf intirely to " the difpofai of providence. If fhe did not wifh ** for death, yet fhe did not fear it."

F As

7'4 y/« Essay on the Memory of

As this was her temper, when fhe viewed it at fome diftance, fo fhe maintained the fame calm, when in the clofeft flruggle with it. Here darknefs and horror fall upon me; for who can look thro*" that fcene fo unconcerned as flie went through it ? I know if 1 would write according to the rules of art, 1 fnould draw a veil here, and leave the reader to imagine that, which no pen can properly ex-prefs. Every thing muft feem flat here, upon a fubjedt that gives a flame too high, to be either manasied or defcribed. But it is nature and not art that governs me. I will therefore go through "what remains, though without the force or flight that it feems to command : I will do it, though, but faiatly, with a feeblenefs fuitable to the temper of my own mind, without any anxious ftudy to manage fo poor a thing, as the credit of writing in proportion to the fublimity of the fubje<St. Let the matter itfelf fpeak j that will have a force that v/ill fupply all defeds.

She only was calm, when all was in a ftorin ahout her : the difmal fighs of all that came near her, could not difcompofe her. She was rifing fo faft above mortality, that even he who was more to her than all the world befides, and to all whofe thoughts flie had been upon every other occalion intirely refigned, could not now infpire her with any defues of returning back to life. Her mind feemcd to be dif-entangllng itfelf from her body,^ and fo flie rofe above that tendernefs, that we«t deeper in her than all other earthly things what-

foever*

Toever. It feemed all th^t was mortal was falling off, when that could give her no uneafinefs.

She received the intimations of approaching death with a firmnefs that did neither bend nor foften under that which has made the ftrongeft ininds to tremble. Then, when even the moft artificial grov/ fincere, it appeared how eftablifiied a calm and how fublime a piety poffeffed her. A ready willingnefs to be diffolved, and an entire refigna-tion to the will of God, did not forfake her one minute, nor had any thing been left to bedifpatch-ed in her lall hours. Her mind was in no hurry, tut foft as the ftill voice that feemed to be calling her foul away to the regions above. So that flue -made her laft fteps with a liability and fenoufnefs, that how little ordinary foever they may be, were indeed the natural conclufions of fuch a life as flie Jiad led.

But how quiet foever fiie was, the news of her danger ftruck the whole nation, as well as the town, with fo aftonifhing a terror, as if thunders and earthquakes had been fiiaking both heaven and earth. Elacknefs then dwelt on every face; a iilent confufion of look, burfting out often into tears and fighs, v/as fo univerfal, and looked with fo folemn an air, that how much foever ihe deferred the afFeilions of the nation, yet we never thought that (he poflefled them fo entirely, as appeared in thofe days of forrow. It was a fcafon of great joy : we were celebrating that Bleffed Nativity that gave us all life and the hopes of a blcflcd

F 2 immortality.

7^ Jn Ess AY on ibe Memory of

immortality. But it was a fad interruption to that facred feilivity when we were alarmed with thofe frightful apprehenfions. We were once revived with the hopes of a lefs formidable ficknefs. This fpread a joy that was as high and univerfal as our grief had been. We were eafily enough brought to flatter ourfelves with the belief of that which was fo much wiflied for. But this went foon off; it was an ill-grounded joy, the clouds returned fo much the blacker, by reafon of that miftaken interval. Then all that prayed upon any account whatfoever, redoubled their fervour, and cried out, *' fpare thy people, and give not thy heritage to re-*' proach." We prayed for ourfelves more than for her, when we cried to God for her life and recovery ; both prieft and people, rich and poor, all ranks and forts joined in this litany. A univerfal groan was ecchoed to thofe prayers through our churches and ftrcets. We were afraid to afk after that facred health ; and yet we were impatient to know how it ftood. It fecmed our fins cried louder than our prayers j they were heard, and not the other.

But how feverely foever God intended to vifit us, ftie was gently handled , fhe felt no inward depref-flon nor finking of nature. She then declared that (he felt in her mind the joys of a good confcicnce, and the powers of religion giving her fupports,, which even the laft agonies could not fhake : her conllant loftnefs to all about her never left her. That was indeed natural to her, but by it, all faw vifibly that nothing could put her mind out of it^

natur4

the late ^eenMA'R.Y. *jy

natural fituation and ufual methods. A few hours before fhe breathed her laft, when he who miniftred to her in the beft things, had continued in a long attendance about her, fhe was fofree in hei" thoughts, that apprehending he might be weary, fhe commanded him to fit down; and repeated her orders till he obeyed them. A thing too mean in itfelf to be mentioned, but that it fhewed theprefenceof her mind, as well as the fweetnefs of her temper. Prayer was then her conftant exercife, as oft as fhe was awake; and fo fenfible was the refrefliment that her mind found in it, that fhe thought it did her more good, and gave even her body more eafe, than any thing that was done her. Nature funk apace ; fhe lefolved to furnifh herfelf with the great viaticum of chriftians, the laft provifions for her journey ; fhe received the blefled facrament with a devotion that inflamed, as well as it melted all thofc who faw it: after that great a6l of church-communion v/as over, fhe delivered herfelf up fo entirely to meditation, that fhe feemed fcarce to mind any rtiing elfe. She was then upon the wing. Such was her peace in her latter end, that though the fymptoms fhewed that nature was much opprefled, yet fhe fcarce felt any uneafmefs from it. It was only from what fhe perceived was done to her, and from thofe intimations that were given her, that fhe judged her life to be in danger ; but file fcarce knew herfelf to be fick by any thing that fhe felt at heart. Her bearing fo much fickncfs with fo little emotion, was for fomc time imputed to that

undiflurbed

73 ^« E s s A Y c« the Memory cf

-undifturbed quiet and patience in which ftie poflfefled ■her foul : but when fhe repeated it fo often, that iiie felt herfelf well inwardly, then it appeared that there was a particular blefling in fo eafy a con-clufion of a life that had been led through a great variety of accidents, with a conftant equality of •temper.

The lafl and hardcft ftep is now to be made j our imaginations, which inuft ftill be full of the jioblefl and augufteft ideas of her, may be apt to reprefent her to our thoughts as ftill alive, with all thofe graces of majefty and fweetnefs that always accompanied her. But, alas ! we are but too fure, that all this is the illufion of fancy. She has left lis ; fhe is gone to thofe blefled feats above, where even crowns and thrones are but fmall matters, compared to that brighter glory, which rifes far above the fplendour of triumphs, proceilions, and coronations.

The meafuring of fo great a change, and fo vaft an advancement in its full latitude, as it is the pro-pereft thought to mitigate our forrows, fo it feems to be too lively a one for us now, and above %vhat we are capable of in our prefent depreflion. This may -make us conclude with a fudden tranfport cf joy, that Ihe is happy, unfpeakably happy, by the change ; and has rifen much higher above what fhe herfelf was a little while ago, than fhe was then above the reft of mortals.

But black and genuine horror ftill returns, and feems to wrap us, and all things about us, with fo

thick

thick a mift, that (o bright a thought, as that of her prefent glory cannot break through it. While we are perfuaded of her happinefs, and that fhe has gained infinitely by the change, yet fclf-love is fo ftrong, and fenfe makes fo powerful an impref-fion, that when we confider what we have loft in lofing her, we fink under our biirthren ; dif-pirited, as if our life and joy were gone with her, as if black night and lafting winter had chilled all our blood, and damped all our powers.

It may feem a needlefs feverity to aggravate all this, as if we were not loaded enough already ; but that a further black fcene muft be opened, and that we muft be filled with the gloomy profpecl of tliat which we may but too juftly and too reafon-ably look for, God feems to be making a way for his anger j and to be removing that interpofitioR which we have reafon to believe did effedlualk' ftop thofe miferies, for which we may well fear that we are more than ripe.

We are not quite abandoned ; God does ftil! preftrve him to us, by whofe means only, confider-ing our prefent circumftances, we can hope either to be fafe or happy. That duty and refpe6t which was before divided, does now center all in him. All that we payed her, does now devolve to him, by= a title that becomes fo much the jufter, becaufe we have all feen (1 wifh we may not feel It) how deep a wound this made on him, whofe mind has appeared hitherto invulnerable, and where firmnefs feemed to be the peculiar chara6lcr. It is indeed but na-

tuiaJf

So An "Et^AY on the Memory of

tural that he who knew her beft, (hould value her moft. The beft tribute that we can offer to the aflies of our blefTed queen, is to double our duty, and our zeal to him, whom fhe loved fo intirely, and in whom herniemory is ftill fo frefh, that tho' for our own fakes we mull be concerned to fee it fink fo deep ; yet for his fake, we cannot but be pleafed to fee how much his charafter rifes, by the juft acknowledgments he pays her, and by that deep affli£tlon for her lofs, which has almoft overwhelmed a mind, that had kept its ground in the hardeft Ihocks of fortune, but loft it here.

If our apprehenfions of his facred life, grow now more tender, and we feel more fenfibly than formerly, that it is he who makes us fafe at home, as well as great abroad ^ if we do now fee, what is that interpofition that is now left, and that keeps off mifery and deftrudtion from breaking in upon us, as the fea to fwallow us up ; if that life itfelf is fo often expofed, that this creates a new cloud Upon our minds, gloomy and black, as if charged with ftorm and thunder ; if all this gives us a melancholy profpedt, we know that nothing can divert or diifipate it, but our turning from our fms, which lay us fo naked, which have brought one fevere ftroke already upon us, and by which God may be yet further provoked to vifit us again. Another Uroke muft make an end of us.

To conclude,

The

' The late ^icen MARY. S'l

The trueft as well as the ufefuleft way of lamenting this lofs, is, after that we have given fomewhat to nature, and have let forrow have a free courfe, then to recolledl our thoughts, and to ftudy to imitate thofe virtues and perfections which we admired in her; and for which her memory mufl be ever precious among us: preciousL, as ointment poured forth, ever favory and fragrant.

Her death has indeed fpread a melting tender-nefs, and a flowing forrow over the whole nation, beyond any thing we ever faw ; which does in fome meafure bear a proportion to the juft occafion of it : how difmal foever this may look, yet it is fome fatisfadtion to fee that juft refpedts are paid her memory, and that our' mournings are as deep as ' they are univerfal. They have broke out in the folemneft as well as in the decenteft manner: thofe auguft bodies that reprefent the whole, began tliem ; and from them they have gone round the nation, in genuine and native ftrains, free and not emendicated. But if this fhould have its chief and beft efFevSl, to drive the impreffions of religion, and the terrors of God, deeper into us, then we may hope that this fatal ftrokc, as terrible and threatning as it now looks, might produce great and even happy effe^Sls : fo different may events be, from the caufes, or at leaft from the occafions of them.

How lowering foever the fky may now feem, a general repentance, and a fincere reformation of manners, would foon give it another face : it would break through thofe clouds that fecni no^v

G to

S2 An "EssAY on the Memor •

to be big, and even ready to burft. If Li..^ is a much to be expected, yet if there were b-V?^ that did heartily go into good defigns, even .h( might procure to us a lengthening out of our trai quility, and a mitigation of our miferies, and tha though they were fixed on us by irreverfible d crees. A number of true mourners might hope leaft to ftop their courfe, till they themfelves Ihou die in peace ; or they might look for a mi -i^ if they (hould happen to be involved in a calamity.

Mark the perfeSi^ and behold the upright^ j end is peace.

FINIS.

n

c'f

i»"'-i* ^v\

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'"•"'^^-^—*. JUN6 1968

DA Burnet, Gilbert, Bp. of

Uin Salisbury

H18B3 The lives of Sir Matthew

1774 Hale

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