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Title: Lives of John Donne, Henry Wotton, Rich'd Hooker, George Herbert, &c, Volume 2

Author: Izaak Walton

Commentator: Austin Dobson

Release date: August 8, 2004 [eBook #13139]
                Most recently updated: December 18, 2020

Language: English

Credits: E-text prepared by Leah Moser and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF JOHN DONNE, HENRY WOTTON, RICH'D HOOKER, GEORGE HERBERT, &C, VOLUME 2 ***


E-text prepared by Leah Moser and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed
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LIVES OF JOHN DONNE, HENRY WOTTON, RICH'D HOOKER, GEORGE HERBERT, &c,
VOLUME TWO

by

IZAAK WALTON






This issue of "Walton's Lives" is based upon John Major's edition
of 1825, which was printed from a copy of the edition of 1675,
"corrected by Walton's own pen," Major's "illustrative notes" have
been preserved, with some modifications by later hands. Mr. AUSTIN
DOBSON has read the text, added the marginalia, and contributed the
supplementary notes.

I.G.

August 9,

Walton's birthday,

1898.




CONTENTS


The Life of Mr. Richard Hooker

The Life of Mr. George Herbert, Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral

The Life of Dr. Robert Sanderson, Late Lord Bishop of Lincoln





THE LIFE OF MR. RICHARD HOOKER:

THE AUTHOR OF THOSE LEARNED BOOKS OF THE LAWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL
POLITY.


  "Judicious Hooker, though the cost be spent
  On him, that hath a lasting monument
  In his own books; yet ought we to express
  If not the worth, yet our respectfulness."

SIR WIL. COWPER




INTRODUCTION


[Sidenote: Introduction]

I have been persuaded, by a friend whom I reverence, and ought
to obey, to write the Life of RICHARD HOOKER, the happy Author
of Five--if not more--of the eight learned books of "The Laws of
Ecclesiastical Polity." And though I have undertaken it, yet it hath
been with some unwillingness: because I foresee that it must prove to
me, and especially at this time of my age, a work of much labour to
enquire, consider, research, and determine what is needful to be known
concerning him. For I knew him not in his life, and must therefore not
only look back to his death,--now sixty-four years past,--but almost
fifty years beyond, that, even to his childhood and youth; and gather
thence such observations and prognostics as may at least adorn, if not
prove necessary for the completing of what I have undertaken.

[Sidenote: Reasons for this Life]

This trouble I foresee, and foresee also that it is impossible to
escape censures; against which I will not hope my well-meaning and
diligence can protect me,--for I consider the age in which I live--and
shall therefore but intreat of my Reader a suspension of his censures,
till I have made known unto him some reasons, which I myself would now
gladly believe do make me in some measure fit for this undertaking;
and if these reasons shall not acquit me from all censures, they may
at least abate of their severity, and this is all I can probably hope
for. My reasons follow.

About forty years past--for I am now past the seventy of my
age--I began a happy affinity with William Cranmer,--now with
God,--grand-nephew unto the great Archbishop of that name;--a family
of noted prudence and resolution; with him and two of his sisters I
had an entire and free friendship: one of them was the wife of Dr.
Spencer,[1] a bosom friend and sometime com-pupil with Mr. Hooker in
Corpus Christi College in Oxford, and after President of the same. I
name them here, for that I shall have occasion to mention them in the
following discourse, as also George Cranmer, their brother, of whose
useful abilities my Reader may have a more authentic testimony than my
pen can purchase for him, by that of our learned Camden and others.

[Sidenote: Hooker's friends]

This William Cranmer and his two fore-named sisters had some affinity,
and a most familiar friendship, with Mr. Hooker, and had had some
part of their education with him in his house, when he was parson of
Bishop's-Bourne near Canterbury; in which City their good father then
lived. They had, I say, a part of their education with him as myself,
since that time, a happy cohabitation with them; and having some
years before read part of Mr. Hooker's works with great liking and
satisfaction, my affection to them made me a diligent inquisitor into
many things that concerned him; as namely, of his persons, his nature,
the management of his time, his wife, his family, and the fortune
of him and his. Which enquiry hath given me much advantage in the
knowledge of what is now under my consideration, and intended for the
satisfaction of my Reader.

[Sidenote: Conclusion]

I had also a friendship with the Reverend Dr. Usher,[2] the late
learned Archbishop of Armagh; and with Dr. Morton, the late learned
and charitable Bishop of Durham; as also the learned John Hales,
of Eton College; and with them also--who loved the very name of Mr.
Hooker--I have had many discourses concerning him; and from them, and
many others that have now put off mortality, I might have had more
informations, if I could then have admitted a thought of any fitness
for what by persuasion I have now undertaken. But though that full
harvest be irrecoverably lost, yet my memory hath preserved some
gleanings, and my diligence made such additions to them, as I hope
will prove useful to the completing of what I intend: in the discovery
of which I shall be faithful, and with this assurance put a period to
my Introduction.


[Footnote 1: A native of Suffolk, one of the Clerks of Corpus Christi
College, Oxford, and Greek Reader. He entered Orders, became a noted
Preacher, Chaplain to James I., and a great admirer of Richard Hooker
and the famous Dr. John Reynolds, the latter of whom he succeeded
as Master of his College. About four years after Hooker's death, he
published the Five Books of Ecclesiastical Polity, with a Preface; and
dying on April 3rd, 1614, was buried at Oxford.]

[Footnote 2: The illustrious Primate of Ireland, born in Dublin, Jan.
4th, 1580. He was the first Student of Trinity College, in 1593,
and in 1610 he was made Bishop of Meath, whence he was translated to
Armagh, in 1625. In the Irish Rebellion, he lost every thing but his
library, which he conveyed to England, where he died in retirement,
March 21st, 1655-56.]




THE LIFE
OF
MR. RICHARD HOOKER.


[Sidenote: Birth and parentage]

It is not to be doubted, but that Richard Hooker was born at
Heavy-tree, near, or within the precincts, or in the City of Exeter;
a City which may justly boast, that it was the birth-place of him and
Sir Thomas Bodley; as indeed the County may, in which it stands, that
it hath furnished this nation with Bishop Jewel, Sir Francis Drake,
Sir Walter Raleigh, and many others, memorable for their valour and
learning. He was born about the year of our Redemption 1553, and of
parents that were not so remarkable for their extraction or riches, as
for their virtue and industry, and God's blessing upon both; by
which they were enabled to educate their children in some degree
of learning, of which our Richard Hooker may appear to be one fair
testimony, and that nature is not so partial as always to give the
great blessings of wisdom and learning, and with them the greater
blessings of virtue and government, to those only that are of a more
high and honourable birth.

[Sidenote: "His complexion"]

His complexion--if we may guess by him at the age of forty--was
sanguine, with a mixture of choler; and yet his motion was slow even
in his youth, and so was his speech, never expressing an earnestness
in either of them, but an humble gravity suitable to the aged. And it
is observed,--so far as enquiry is able to look back at this distance
of time,--that at his being a school-boy he was an early questionist,
quietly inquisitive "why this was, and that was not, to be remembered?
why this was granted, and that denied?" This being mixed with a
remarkable modesty, and a sweet serene quietness of nature, and with
them a quick apprehension of many perplexed parts of learning, imposed
then upon him as a scholar, made his Master and others to believe him
to have an inward blessed divine light, and therefore to consider him
to be a little wonder. For in that, children were less pregnant, less
confident and more malleable, than in this wiser, but not better, age.

[Sidenote: Early training]

This meekness and conjuncture of knowledge, with modesty in his
conversation, being observed by his Schoolmaster, caused him to
persuade his parents--who intended him for an apprentice--to continue
him at school till he could find out some means, by persuading his
rich Uncle, or some other charitable person, to ease them of a part
of their care and charge; assuring them that their son was so enriched
with the blessings of nature and grace, that God seemed to single him
out as a special instrument of his glory. And the good man told them
also, that he would double his diligence in instructing him, and would
neither expect nor receive any other reward, than the content of so
hopeful and happy an employment.

This was not unwelcome news, and especially to his Mother, to whom
he was a dutiful and dear child, and all parties were so pleased with
this proposal, that it was resolved so it should be. And in the
mean time his Parents and Master laid a foundation for his future
happiness, by instilling into his soul the seeds of piety, those
conscientious principles of loving and fearing God, of an early belief
that he knows the very secrets of our souls; that he punisheth
our vices, and rewards our innocence; that we should be free from
hypocrisy, and appear to man what we are to God, because first or last
the crafty man is catched in his own snare. These seeds of piety were
so seasonably planted, and so continually watered with the daily dew
of God's blessed Spirit, that his infant virtues grew into such holy
habits, as did make him grow daily into more and more favour both with
God and man; which, with the great learning that he did after attain
to, hath made Richard Hooker honoured in this, and will continue him
to be so to succeeding generations.

[Sidenote: John Hooker]

This good School-master, whose name I am not able to recover,--and
am sorry, for that I would have given him a better memorial in this
humble monument, dedicated to the memory of his scholar,--was very
solicitous with John Hooker, then Chamberlain of Exeter, and uncle to
our Richard, to take his Nephew into his care, and to maintain him for
one year in the University, and in the mean time to use his endeavours
to procure an admission for him into some College, though it were but
in a mean degree; still urging and assuring him, that his charge would
not continue long; for the lad's learning and manners were both so
remarkable, that they must of necessity be taken notice of; and that
doubtless God would provide him some second patron, that would free
him and his Parents from their future care and charge.

[Sidenote: Bishop Jewel]

These reasons, with the affectionate rhetoric of his good Master, and
God's blessing upon both, procured from his Uncle a faithful promise,
that he would take him into his care and charge before the expiration
of the year following, which was performed by him, and with the
assistance of the learned Mr. John Jewel;[1] of whom this may be
noted, that he left, or was about the first of Queen Mary's reign
expelled out of Corpus Christi College in Oxford,--of which he was a
Fellow,--for adhering to the truth of those principles of Religion to
which he had assented and given testimony in the days of her brother
and predecessor, Edward the Sixth; and this John Jewel, having within
a short time after, a just cause to fear a more heavy punishment than
expulsion, was forced, by forsaking this, to seek safety in another
nation; and, with that safety, the enjoyment of that doctrine and
worship for which he suffered.

But the cloud of that persecution and fear ending with the life of
Queen Mary, the affairs of the Church and State did then look more
clear and comfortable; so that he, and with him many others of the
same judgment, made a happy return into England about the first of
Queen Elizabeth; in which year this John Jewel was sent a Commissioner
or Visitor, of the Churches of the Western parts of this kingdom, and
especially of those in Devonshire, in which County he was born; and
then and there he contracted a friendship with John Hooker, the Uncle
of our Richard.

[Sidenote: At Oxford]

About the second or third year of her reign, this John Jewel was
made Bishop of Salisbury; and there being always observed in him a
willingness to do good, and to oblige his friends, and now a power
added to his willingness; this John Hooker gave him a visit in
Salisbury, and besought him for charity's sake to look favourably upon
a poor nephew of his, whom Nature had fitted for a scholar; but the
estate of his parents was so narrow, that they were unable to give him
the advantage of learning; and that the Bishop would therefore become
his patron, and prevent him from being a tradesman, for he was a boy
of remarkable hopes. And though the Bishop knew men do not usually
look with an indifferent eye upon their own children and relations,
yet he assented so far to John Hooker, that he appointed the boy and
his School-master should attend him, about Easter next following, at
that place: which was done accordingly; and then, after some questions
and observations of the boy's learning, and gravity, and behaviour,
the Bishop gave his School-master a reward, and took order for an
annual pension for the boy's parents; promising also to take him into
his care for a future preferment, which he performed: for about the
fifteenth year of his age, which was anno 1567, he was by the Bishop
appointed to remove to Oxford, and there to attend Dr. Cole,[2]
then President of Corpus Christi College. Which he did; and Dr. Cole
had--according to a promise made to the Bishop--provided for him both
a Tutor--which was said to be the learned Dr. John Reynolds,[3]--and a
Clerk's place in that College: which place, though it were not a
full maintenance, yet, with the contribution of his Uncle, and
the continued pension of his patron, the good Bishop, gave him a
comfortable subsistence. And in this condition he continued until the
eighteenth year of his age, still increasing in learning and prudence,
and so much in humility and piety, that he seemed to be filled with
the Holy Ghost; and even like St. John Baptist, to be sanctified from
his mother's womb, who did often bless the day in which she bare him.

[Sidenote: "A dangerous sickness"]

About this time of his age, he fell into a dangerous sickness, which
lasted two months; all which time his Mother, having notice of it, did
in her hourly prayers as earnestly beg his life of God, as Monica the
mother of St. Augustine did, that he might become a true Christian;
and their prayers were both so heard as to be granted. Which Mr.
Hooker would often mention with much joy, and as often pray that "he
might never live to occasion any sorrow to so good a mother; of whom
he would often say, he loved her so dearly, that he would endeavour to
be good, even as much for her's as for his own sake."

[Sidenote: The Bishop's horse]

As soon as he was perfectly recovered from this sickness, he took a
journey from Oxford to Exeter, to satisfy and see his good Mother,
being accompanied with a countryman and companion of his own College,
and both on foot; which was then either more in fashion, or want of
money, or their humility made it so: but on foot they went, and took
Salisbury in their way, purposely to see the good Bishop, who made
Mr. Hooker and his companion dine with him at his own table: which Mr.
Hooker boasted of with much joy and gratitude when he saw his mother
and friends: and at the Bishop's parting with him, the Bishop gave
him good counsel, and his benediction, but forgot to give him money;
which, when the Bishop had considered, he sent a servant in all haste
to call Richard back to him: and at Richard's return, the Bishop said
to him, "Richard, I sent for you back to lend you a horse, which
hath carried me many a mile, and, I thank God, with much ease;" and
presently delivered into his hand a walking-staff, with which he
professed he had travelled through many parts of Germany. And he said,
"Richard, I do not give, but lend you my horse: be sure you be honest,
and bring my horse back to me at your return this way to Oxford. And
I do now give you ten groats, to bear your charges to Exeter; and here
is ten groats more, which I charge you to deliver to your Mother
and tell her I send her a Bishop's benediction with it, and beg the
continuance of her prayers for me. And if you bring my horse back
to me, I will give you ten groats more, to carry you on foot to the
College: and so God bless you, good Richard."

[Sidenote: Jewel's death]

And this, you may believe, was performed by both parties. But, alas!
the next news that followed Mr. Hooker to Oxford was, that his learned
and charitable patron had changed this for a better life. Which happy
change may be believed, for that as he lived, so he died, in devout
meditation and prayer: and in both so zealously, that it became a
religious question, "Whether his last ejaculations or his soul did
first enter into Heaven?"

And now Mr. Hooker became a man of sorrow and fear: of sorrow, for the
loss of so dear and comfortable a patron; and of fear for his future
subsistence. But Dr. Cole raised his spirits from this dejection, by
bidding him go cheerfully to his studies, and assuring him, he
should neither want food nor raiment,--which was the utmost of his
hopes,--for he would become his patron.

And so he was for about nine months, and not longer; for about that
time this following accident did befall Mr. Hooker.

[Sidenote: Bishop Sandys]

[Sidenote: Hooker's pupil]

Edwin Sandys[4]--sometime Bishop of London, and after Archbishop of
York--had also been in the days of Queen Mary, forced, by forsaking
this, to seek safety in another nation; where, for some years, Bishop
Jewel and he were companions at bed and board in Germany; and where,
in this their exile, they did often eat the bread of sorrow, and by
that means they there began such a friendship, as lasted till the
death of Bishop Jewel, which was in September, 1571. A little before
which time the two Bishops meeting, Jewel had an occasion to begin a
story of his Richard Hooker, and in it gave such a character of
his learning and manners, that though Bishop Sandys was educated
in Cambridge, where he had obliged, and had many friends; yet his
resolution was, that his son Edwin should be sent to Corpus Christi
College in Oxford, and by all means be pupil to Mr. Hooker, though
his son Edwin was not much younger than Mr. Hooker then was: for the
Bishop said, "I will have a Tutor for my son, that shall teach him
learning by instruction, and virtue by example: and my greatest care
shall be of the last; and, God willing, this Richard Hooker shall be
the man into whose hands I will commit my Edwin." And the Bishop did
so about twelve months, or not much longer, after this resolution.

[Sidenote: Hooker's behaviour]

And doubtless, as to these two, a better choice could not be made; for
Mr. Hooker was now in the nineteenth year of his age; had spent
five in the University; and had, by a constant unwearied diligence,
attained unto a perfection in all the learned languages; by the help
of which, an excellent tutor, and his unintermitted studies, he had
made the subtilty of all the arts easy and familiar to him, and useful
for the discovery of such learning as lay hid from common searchers.
So that by these, added to his great reason, and his restless industry
added to both, he did not only know more of causes and effects; but
what he knew, he knew better than other men. And with this knowledge
he had a most blessed and clear method of demonstrating what he
knew, to the great advantage of all his pupils,--which in time were
many,--but especially to his two first, his dear Edwin Sandys, and his
as dear George Cranmer; of which there will be a fair testimony in the
ensuing relation.

This for Mr. Hooker's learning. And for his behaviour, amongst other
testimonies, this still remains of him, that in four years he was but
twice absent from the Chapel prayers; and that his behaviour there
was such, as shewed an awful reverence of that God which he then
worshipped and prayed to; giving all outward testimonies that his
affections were set on heavenly things. This was his behaviour towards
God; and for that to man, it is observable that he was never known to
be angry, or passionate, or extreme in any of his desires; never
heard to repine or dispute with Providence, but, by a quiet gentle
submission and resignation of his will to the wisdom of his Creator,
bore the burthen of the day with patience; never heard to utter an
uncomely word: and by this, and a grave behaviour, which is a divine
charm, he begot an early reverence unto his person, even from those
that at other times and in other companies, took a liberty to cast
off that strictness of behaviour and discourse that is required in a
Collegiate life. And when he took any liberty to be pleasant, his wit
was never blemished with scoffing, or the utterance of any conceit
that bordered upon, or might beget a thought of looseness in his
hearers. Thus mild, thus innocent and exemplary was his behaviour in
his College; and thus this good man continued till his death, still
increasing in learning, in patience, and piety.

[Sidenote: Scholar of his College]

In this nineteenth year of his age, he was, December 24, 1573,
admitted to be one of the twenty Scholars of the Foundation; being
elected and so admitted as born in Devon or Hantshire; out of which
Counties a certain number are to be elected in vacancies by the
Founder's Statutes. And now as he was much encouraged, so now he was
perfectly incorporated into this beloved College, which was then noted
for an eminent Library, strict Students, and remarkable Scholars. And
indeed it may glory, that it had Cardinal Poole,[5] but more that it
had Bishop Jewel, Dr. John Reynolds, and Dr. Thomas Jackson,[6] of
that foundation. The first famous for his learned Apology for the
Church of England, and his Defence of it against Harding.[7] The
second, for the learned and wise manage of a public dispute with John
Hart,[8] of the Romish persuasion, about the Head and Faith of the
Church, and after printed by consent of both parties. And the third,
for his most excellent "Exposition of the Creed," and other treatises;
all such as have given greatest satisfaction to men of the greatest
learning. Nor was Dr. Jackson more note-worthy for his learning, than
for his strict and pious life, testified by his abundant love, and
meekness, and charity to all men.

[Sidenote: Inceptor of Arts]

[Sidenote: Sir Henry Savile]

And in the year 1576, February 23, Mr. Hooker's Grace was given him
for Inceptor of Arts; Dr. Herbert Westphaling,[9] a man of note for
learning, being then Vice-Chancellor: and the Act following he was
completed Master, which was anno 1577, his patron, Dr. Cole, being
Vice-Chancellor that year, and his dear friend, Henry Savile[10]
of Merton College, being then one of the Proctors. 'Twas that Henry
Savile that was after Sir Henry Savile, Warden of Merton College, and
Provost of Eton; he which founded in Oxford two famous Lectures; and
endowed them with liberal maintenance.

It was that Sir Henry Savile that translated and enlightened the
History of Cornelius Tacitus, with a most excellent Comment; and
enriched the world by his laborious and chargeable collecting the
scattered pieces of St. Chrysostom, and the publication of them in
one entire body in Greek; in which language he was a most judicious
critic. It was this Sir Henry Savile that had the happiness to be a
contemporary and familiar friend to Mr. Hooker; and let posterity know
it.

And in this year of 1577, he was so happy as to be admitted Fellow of
the College; happy also in being the contemporary and friend of that
Dr. John Reynolds, of whom I have lately spoken, and of Dr. Spencer;
both which were after and successively made Presidents of Corpus
Christi College: men of great learning and merit, and famous in their
generations.

[Sidenote: Sandys and Cranmer]

Nor was Mr. Hooker more happy in his contemporaries of his time and
College, than in the pupilage and friendship of his Edwin Sandys and
George Cranmer; of whom my Reader may note, that this Edwin Sandys was
after Sir Edwin Sandys, and as famous for his "Speculum Europae,"
as his brother George for making posterity beholden to his pen by a
learned relation and comment on his dangerous and remarkable Travels;
and for his harmonious translation of the Psalms of David, the Book of
Job, and other poetical parts of Holy Writ, into most high and elegant
verse. And for Cranmer, his other pupil, I shall refer my Reader
to the printed testimonies of our learned Mr. Camden, of Fynes
Moryson[11] and others.

"This Cranmer," says Mr. Camden in his Annals of Queen
Elizabeth,--"whose Christian name was George, was a gentleman of
singular hopes, the eldest son of Thomas Cranmer, son of Edmund
Cranmer, the Archbishop's brother: he spent much of his youth in
Corpus Christi College in Oxford, where he continued Master of Arts
for some time before he removed, and then betook himself to travel,
accompanying that worthy gentleman Sir Edwin Sandys into France,
Germany, and Italy, for the space of three years; and after their
happy return, he betook himself to an employment under Secretary
Davison, a Privy Councillor of note, who, for an unhappy undertaking,
became clouded and pitied: after whose fall, he went in place of
Secretary with Sir Henry Killegrew in his Embassage into France: and
after his death he was sought after by the most noble Lord Mountjoy,
with whom he went into Ireland, where he remained, until in a battle
against the rebels near Carlingford, an unfortunate wound put an end
both to his life, and the great hopes that were conceived of him, he
being then but in the thirty-sixth year of his age."

[Sidenote: "A sacred friendship"]

Betwixt Mr. Hooker and these his two Pupils, there was a sacred
friendship; a friendship made up of religious principles, which
increased daily by a similitude of inclinations to the same
recreations and studies; a friendship elemented in youth, and in an
university, free from self-ends, which the friendships of age usually
are not. And in this sweet, this blessed, this spiritual amity, they
went on for many years: and as the holy Prophet saith, "so they took
sweet counsel together, and walked in the house of God as friends."
By which means they improved this friendship to such a degree of holy
amity, as bordered upon heaven: a friendship so sacred, that when it
ended in this world, it began in that next, where it shall have no
end.

[Sidenote: Hooker's studies]

And, though this world cannot give any degree of pleasure equal to
such a friendship; yet obedience to parents, and a desire to know the
affairs, manners, laws, and learning of other nations, that they might
thereby become the more serviceable unto their own, made them put off
their gowns, and leave the College and Mr. Hooker to his studies,
in which he was daily more assiduous, still enriching his quiet
and capacious soul with the precious learning of the Philosophers,
Casuists, and Schoolmen; and with them the foundation and reason of
all Laws, both Sacred and Civil; and indeed with such other learning
as lay most remote from the track of common studies. And, as he was
diligent in these, so he seemed restless in searching the scope and
intention of God's Spirit revealed to mankind in the Sacred Scripture:
for the understanding of which, he seemed to be assisted by the same
Spirit with which they were written; He that regardeth truth in the
inward parts, making him to understand wisdom secretly. And the good
man would often say, that "God abhors confusion as contrary to his
nature;" and as often say, "That the Scripture was not writ to beget
disputations and pride, and opposition to government; but charity and
humility, moderation, obedience to authority, and peace to mankind;"
of which virtues, he would as often say, "no man did ever repent
himself on his death-bed." And that this was really his judgment, did
appear in his future writings, and in all the actions of his life. Nor
was this excellent man a stranger to the more light and airy parts
of learning, as Music and Poetry; all which he had digested and made
useful; and of all which the Reader will have a fair testimony in what
will follow.

[Sidenote: Hebrew Lecturer]

In the year 1579, the Chancellor of the University was given to
understand, that the public Hebrew Lecture was not read according to
the Statutes; nor could be, by reason of a distemper, that had then
seized the brain of Mr. Kingsmill, who was to read it; so that it lay
long unread, to the great detriment of those that were studious of
that language. Therefore the Chancellor writ to his Vice-Chancellor,
and the University, that he had heard such commendations of the
excellent knowledge of Mr. Richard Hooker in that tongue, that he
desired he might be procured to read it: and he did, and continued to
do so till he left Oxford.

Within three months after his undertaking this Lecture,--namely in
October 1579,--he was, with Dr. Reynolds and others, expelled his
College; and this Letter, transcribed from Dr. Reynolds his own hand,
may give some account of it.

[Sidenote: Expulsion from College]

     To SIR FRANCIS KNOLLES.

"I am sorry, Right Honourable, that I am enforced to make unto
you such a suit, which I cannot move; but I must complain of the
unrighteous dealing of one of our College, who hath taken upon him,
against all law and reason, to expel out of our house both me and Mr.
Hooker, and three other of our fellows, for doing that which by oath
we were bound to do. Our matter must be heard before the Bishop
of Winchester, with whom I do not doubt but we shall find equity.
Howbeit, forasmuch as some of our adversaries have said that the
Bishop is already forestalled, and will not give us such audience as
we look for; therefore I am humbly to beseech your Honour, that you
will desire the Bishop, by your letters, to let us have justice;
though it be with rigour, so it be justice: our cause is so good, that
I am sure we shall prevail by it. Thus much I am bold to request of
your honour for Corpus Christi College sake, or rather for Christ's
sake; whom I beseech to bless you with daily increase of his manifold
gifts, and the blessed graces of his Holy Spirit.

    "Your Honour's in Christ to command,

       "JOHN REYNOLDS.

"LONDON, _October_ 9, 1579."

[Sidenote: At Paul's Cross]

This expulsion was by Dr. John Barfoote, then Vice-President of the
College, and Chaplain to Ambrose Earl of Warwick. I cannot learn the
pretended cause; but that they were restored the same month is most
certain.[12] I return to Mr. Hooker in his College, where he continued
his studies with all quietness, for the space of three years; about
which time he entered into Sacred Orders, being then made Deacon and
Priest, and, not long after, was appointed to preach at St. Paul's
Cross.[13]

[Sidenote: His sermon]

In order to which Sermon, to London he came, and immediately to the
Shunamite's House; which is a House so called, for that, besides
the stipend paid the Preacher, there is provision made also for his
lodging and diet for two days before, and one day after his Sermon.
This house was then kept by John Churchman, sometime a Draper of good
note in Watling-street, upon whom poverty had at last come like an
armed man, and brought him into a necessitous condition; which, though
it be a punishment, is not always an argument of God's disfavour; for
he was a virtuous man. I shall not yet give the like testimony of his
wife, but leave the Reader to judge by what follows. But to this house
Mr. Hooker came so wet, so weary, and weather-beaten, that he was
never known to express more passion, than against a friend that
dissuaded him from footing it to London, and for finding him no easier
an horse,--supposing the horse trotted when he did not;--and at this
time also, such a faintness and fear possessed him, that he would not
be persuaded two days' rest and quietness, or any other means could be
used to make him able to preach his Sunday's Sermon; but a warm bed,
and rest, and drink proper for a cold, given him by Mrs. Churchman,
and her diligent attendance added unto it, enabled him to perform the
office of the day, which was in or about the year 1581.

And in this first public appearance to the world, he was not so happy
as to be free from exceptions against a point of doctrine delivered
in his Sermon; which was, "That in God there were two wills; an
antecedent and a consequent will: his first will, That all mankind
should be saved; but his second will was, That those only should be
saved, that did live answerable to that degree of grace which he had
offered or afforded them." This seemed to cross a late opinion of Mr.
Calvin's, and then taken for granted by many that had not a capacity
to examine it, as it had been by him before, and hath been since by
Master Henry Mason, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Hammond, and others of great
learning, who believe that a contrary opinion intrenches upon the
honour and justice of our merciful God. How he justified this, I will
not undertake to declare; but it was not excepted against--as Mr.
Hooker declares in his rational Answer to Mr. Travers--by John
Elmer[14], then Bishop of London, at this time one of his auditors,
and at last one of his advocates too, when Mr. Hooker was accused for
it.

[Sidenote: Wanted a nurse!]

[Sidenote: His marriage]

But the justifying of this doctrine did not prove of so bad
consequence, as the kindness of Mrs. Churchman's curing him of his
late distemper and cold; for that was so gratefully apprehended by
Mr. Hooker, that he thought himself bound in conscience to believe all
that she said: so that the good man came to be persuaded by her, "that
he was a man of a tender constitution; and that it was best for him to
have a wife, that might prove a nurse to him; such a one as might both
prolong his life, and make it more comfortable; and such a one she
could and would provide for him, if he thought fit to marry." And he,
not considering that "the children of this world are wiser in their
generation than the children of light;" but, like a true Nathaniel,
fearing no guile, because he meant none, did give her such a power
as Eleazar was trusted with,--you may read it in the book of
Genesis,--when he was sent to choose a wife for Isaac; for even so he
trusted her to choose for him, promising upon a fair summons to return
to London, and accept of her choice; and he did so in that, or about
the year following. Now, the wife provided for him was her daughter
Joan, who brought him neither beauty nor portion: and for her
conditions, they were too like that wife's, which is by Solomon
compared to a dripping house: so that the good man had no reason to
"rejoice in the wife of his youth;" but too just cause to say with the
holy Prophet, "Wo is me, that I am constrained to have my habitation
in the tents of Kedar!"

This choice of Mr. Hooker's--if it were his choice--may be wondered
at: but let us consider that the Prophet Ezekiel says, "There is a
wheel within a wheel;" a secret sacred wheel of Providence,--most
visible in marriages,--guided by his hand, that "allows not the race
to the swift," nor "bread to the wise," nor good wives to good men:
and He that can bring good out of evil--for mortals are blind to this
reason--only knows why this blessing was denied to patient Job, to
meek Moses, and to our as meek and patient Mr. Hooker. But so it was;
and let the Reader cease to wonder, for affliction is a divine diet;
which though it be not pleasing to mankind, yet Almighty God hath
often, very often, imposed it as good, though bitter physic to those
children whose souls are dearest to him.

[Sidenote: At Drayton-Beauchamp]

And by this marriage the good man was drawn from the tranquillity of
his College; from that garden of piety, of pleasure, of peace, and a
sweet conversation, into the thorny wilderness of a busy world; into
those corroding cares that attend a married Priest, and a country
Parsonage; which was Drayton-Beauchamp in Buckinghamshire, not
far from Aylesbury, and in the Diocese of Lincoln; to which he
was presented by John Cheney, Esq.--then Patron of it--the 9th of
December, 1584, where he behaved himself so as to give no occasion of
evil, but as St. Paul adviseth a minister of God--"in much patience,
in afflictions, in anguishes, in necessities, in poverty and no doubt
in long-suffering;" yet troubling no man with his discontents and
wants.

[Sidenote: Res augusta domi]

And in this condition he continued about a year; in which time his two
pupils, Edwin Sandys and George Cranmer, took a journey to see their
tutor; where they found him with a book in his hand,--it was the Odes
of Horace,--he being then like humble and innocent Abel, tending his
small allotment of sheep in a common field; which he told his pupils
he was forced to do then, for that his servant was gone home to dine,
and assist his wife to do some necessary household business. But when
his servant returned and released him, then his two pupils attended
him unto his house, where their best entertainment was his quiet
company, which was presently denied them: for Richard was called to
rock the cradle; and the rest of their welcome was so like this, that
they staid but till next morning, which was time enough to discover
and pity their tutor's condition; and they having in that time
rejoiced in the remembrance, and then paraphrased on many of the
innocent recreations of their younger days, and other like diversions,
and thereby given him as much present comfort as they were able, they
were forced to leave him to the company of his wife Joan, and seek
themselves a quieter lodging for next night. But at their parting from
him, Mr. Cranmer said, "Good tutor, I am sorry your lot is fallen in
no better ground, as to your parsonage; and more sorry that your
wife proves not a more comfortable companion, after you have wearied
yourself in your restless studies." To whom the good man replied, "My
dear George, if Saints have usually a double share in the miseries
of this life, I, that am none, ought not to repine at what my wise
Creator hath appointed for me: but labour--as indeed I do daily--to
submit mine to his will, and possess my soul in patience and peace."

[Sidenote: Master of the Temple]

At their return to London, Edwin Sandys acquaints his father, who was
then Archbishop of York, with his Tutor's sad condition, and solicits
for his removal to some benefice that might give him a more quiet and
a more comfortable subsistence; which his father did most willingly
grant him when it should next fall into his power. And not long after
this time, which was in the year 1585, Mr. Alvey,--Master of the
Temple,--died, who was a man of a strict life, of great learning, and
of so venerable behaviour, as to gain so high a degree of love and
reverence from all men, that he was generally known by the name of
Father Alvey. And at the Temple-reading, next after the death of this
Father Alvey, he, the said Archbishop of York being then at dinner
with the Judges, the Reader, and the Benchers of that Society, met
with a general condolement for the death of Father Alvey, and with a
high commendation of his saint-like life, and of his great merit both
towards God and man; and as they bewailed his death, so they wished
for a like pattern of virtue and learning to succeed him. And here
came in a fair occasion for the Bishop to commend Mr. Hooker to Father
Alvey's place, which he did with so effectual an earnestness, and that
seconded with so many other testimonies of his worth, that Mr.
Hooker was sent for from Drayton-Beauchamp to London, and there the
Mastership of the Temple proposed unto him by the Bishop, as a greater
freedom from his country cares, the advantages of a better society,
and a more liberal pension than his country parsonage did afford him.
But these reasons were not powerful enough to incline him to a willing
acceptance of it: his wish was rather to gain a better country living,
where he might see God's blessings spring out of the earth, and be
free from noise,--so he expressed the desire of his heart,--and eat
that bread which he might more properly call his own, in privacy
and quietness. But, notwithstanding this averseness, he was at last
persuaded to accept of the Bishop's proposal; and was by Patent for
life, made Master of the Temple the 17th of March, 1585, he being then
in the 34th year of his age. [This you may find in the Temple Records.
William Ermstead was master of the Temple at the Dissolution of the
Priory, and died 2 Eliz. (1559). Richard Alvey, Bat. Divinity, Pat.
13 Febr. 2 Eliz. _Magister, sive Custos Domûs et Ecchsiæ Novi Templi_,
died 27 Eliz. (1585). Richard Hooker succeeded that year by Patent, in
terminis, as Alvey had it, and he left it 33 Eliz. (1591). That year
Dr. Balgey succeeded Richard Hooker.]

And here I shall make a stop; and, that the Reader may the better
judge of what follows, give him a character of the times and temper of
the people of this nation, when Mr. Hooker had his admission into this
place; a place which he accepted, rather than desired: and yet here he
promised himself a virtuous quietness, that blessed tranquillity which
he always prayed and laboured for, that so he might in peace bring
forth the fruits of peace, and glorify God by uninterrupted prayers
and praises. For this he always thirsted and prayed: but Almighty
God did not grant it; for his admission into this place was the very
beginning of those oppositions and anxieties, which till then this
good man was a stranger to; and of which the Reader may guess by what
follows.

[Sidenote: Character of the times]

[Sidenote: Hopes under Elizabeth]

In this character of the times, I shall by the Reader's favour, and
for his information, look so far back as to the beginning of the reign
of Queen Elizabeth; a time, in which the many under pretended titles
to the Crown, the frequent treasons, the doubts of her successor, the
late Civil War, and the sharp persecution for Religion that raged to
the effusion of so much blood in the reign of Queen Mary, were fresh
in the memory of all men; and begot fears in the most pious and wisest
of this nation, lest the like days should return again to them, or
their present posterity. And the apprehension of these dangers, begot
a hearty desire of a settlement in the Church and State; believing
there was no other probable way left to make them sit quietly under
their own vines and fig-trees, and enjoy the desired fruit of their
labours. But time, and peace, and plenty begot self-ends: and these
begot animosities, envy, opposition, and unthankfulness for those very
blessings for which they lately thirsted, being then the very utmost
of their desires, and even beyond their hopes.

[Sidenote: Three parties]

This was the temper of the times in the beginning of her reign; and
thus it continued too long; for those very people that had enjoyed
the desires of their hearts in a Reformation from the Church of Rome,
became at last so like the grave, as never to be satisfied, but were
still thirsting for more and more; neglecting to pay that obedience,
and perform those vows, which they made in their days of adversities
and fear: so that in short time there appeared three several
interests, each of them fearless and restless in the prosecution
of their designs: they may for distinction be called, the active
Romanists, the restless Non-conformists,--of which there were many
sorts,--and the passive peaceable Protestants. The counsels of the
first considered and resolved on in Rome; the second both in Scotland,
in Geneva, and in divers selected, secret, dangerous Conventicles,
both there, and within the bosom of our own nation: the third pleaded
and defended their cause by established laws, both Ecclesiastical and
Civil: and if they were active, it was to prevent the other two from
destroying what was by those known Laws happily established to them
and their posterity.

I shall forbear to mention the very many and dangerous plots of the
Romanists against the Church and State; because what is principally
intended in this digression, is an account of the opinions and
activity of the Non-conformists: against whose judgment and practice
Mr. Hooker became at last, but most unwillingly, to be engaged in a
book-war; a war which he maintained not as against an enemy, but with
the spirit of meekness and reason.

[Sidenote: The Non-conformists]

In which number of Non-conformists, though some might be sincere,
well-meaning men, whose indiscreet zeal might be so like charity, as
thereby to cover a multitude of their errors; yet of this party
there were many that were possessed with a high degree of spiritual
wickedness; I mean with an innate restless pride and malice; I do
not mean the visible carnal sins of gluttony and drunkenness, and
the like,--from which, good Lord, deliver us!--but sins of a higher
nature, because they are more unlike God, who is the God of love, and
mercy, and order, and peace: and more like the Devil, who is not
a glutton, nor can be drunk, and yet is a Devil: but I mean those
spiritual wickednesses of malice and revenge, and an opposition to
government: men that joyed to be the authors of misery, which is
properly his work that is the enemy and disturber of mankind; and
thereby greater sinners than the glutton or drunkard, though some will
not believe it. And of this party there were also many, whom prejudice
and a furious zeal had so blinded, as to make them neither to hear
reason, nor adhere to the ways of peace: men that were the very dregs
and pest of mankind; men whom pride and self-conceit had made to
over-value their own pitiful crooked wisdom so much as not to be
ashamed to hold foolish and unmannerly disputes against those men whom
they ought to reverence, and those laws which they ought to obey; men
that laboured and joyed first to find out the faults, and then speak
evil of Government, and to be the authors of confusion; men whom
company, and conversation, and custom had at last so blinded, and made
so insensible that these were sins, that like those that perished
in the gainsaying of Korah, so these died without repenting of these
spiritual wickednesses; of which the practices of Coppinger and
Hacket[15] in their lives, and the death of them and their adherents,
are, God knows, too sad examples, and ought to be cautions to those
men that are inclined to the like spiritual wickednesses.

[Sidenote: Growth of sedition]

And in these times, which tended thus to confusion, there were
also many of these scruple-mongers, that pretended a tenderness of
conscience, refusing to take an oath before a lawful Magistrate: and
yet these very men in their secret Conventicles did covenant and
swear to each other, to be assiduous and faithful in using their best
endeavours to set up the Presbyterian doctrine and discipline; and
both in such a manner as they themselves had not yet agreed on; but
up that government must. To which end there were many that wandered
up and down and were active in sowing discontents and seditions,
by venomous and secret murmurings, and a dispersion of scurrilous
pamphlets and libels against the Church and State; but especially
against the Bishops; by which means, together with venomous and
indiscreet sermons, the common people became so fanatic, as to believe
the Bishops to be Antichrist, and the only obstructers of God's
discipline! and at last some of them were given over to so bloody a
zeal, and such other desperate delusions, as to find out a text in
the Revelation of St. John, that Antichrist was to be overcome by
the sword. So that those very men, that began with tender and meek
petitions, proceeded to admonitions: then to satirical remonstrances:
and at last--having, like Absalom, numbered who was not, and who was,
for their cause--they got a supposed certainty of so great a party,
that they durst threaten first the Bishops, and then the Queen and
Parliament, to all which they were secretly encouraged by the Earl
of Leicester, then in great favour with her Majesty, and the reputed
cherisher and patron-general of these pretenders to tenderness of
conscience; his design being, by their means, to bring such an odium
upon the Bishops, as to procure an alienation of their lands, and a
large proportion of them for himself: which avaricious desire had at
last so blinded his reason, that his ambitious and greedy hopes seemed
to put him into a present possession of Lambeth-House.

[Sidenote: Scottish Non-conformists]

And to these undertakings the Non-conformists of this nation were much
encouraged and heightened by a correspondence and confederacy with
that brotherhood in Scotland; so that here they become so bold, that
one [Mr. Dering][16] told the Queen openly in a sermon, "She was
like an untamed heifer, that would not be ruled by God's people, but
obstructed his discipline." And in Scotland they were more confident;
for there [Vide Bishop Spotswood's History of the Church of Scotland]
they declared her an Atheist, and grew to such an height, as not to be
accountable for any thing spoken against her, nor for treason against
their own King, if it were but spoken in the pulpit; shewing at last
such a disobedience to him, that his mother being in England, and then
in distress, and in prison, and in danger of death, the Church denied
the King their prayers for her; and at another time, when he had
appointed a day of Feasting, the Church declared for a general Fast,
in opposition to his authority.

[Sidenote: Remedial measures.]

To this height they were grown in both nations, and by these means
there was distilled into the minds of the common people such other
venomous and turbulent principles as were inconsistent with the safety
of the Church and State: and these opinions vented so daringly, that,
beside the loss of life and limbs, the governors of the Church and
State were forced to use such other severities as will not admit of an
excuse, if it had not been to prevent the gangrene of confusion, and
the perilous consequences of it; which, without such prevention, would
have been first confusion, and then ruin and misery to this numerous
nation.

[Sidenote: Spectator ab extra]

These errors and animosities were so remarkable, that they begot
wonder in an ingenious Italian, who being about this time come newly
into this nation, and considering them, writ scoffingly to a friend in
his own country, to this purpose; "That the common people of England
were wiser than the wisest of his nation; for here the very women and
shop-keepers were able to judge of Predestination, and to determine
what laws were fit to be made concerning Church-government; and then,
what were fit to be obeyed or abolished. That they were more able--or
at least thought so--to raise and determine perplexed Cases of
Conscience, than the wisest of the most learned Colleges in Italy!
That men of the slightest learning, and the most ignorant of the
common people, were mad for a new, or super, or re-reformation of
Religion; and that in this they appeared like that man, who would
never cease to whet and whet his knife, till there was no steel left
to make it useful." And he concluded his letter with this observation,
"That those very men that were most busy in oppositions, and
disputations, and controversies, and finding out the faults of their
governors, had usually the least of humility and mortification, or of
the power of godliness."

[Sidenote: Growth of Atheism]

And to heighten all these discontents and dangers, there was also
sprung up a generation of godless men; men that had so long given way
to their own lusts and delusions, and so highly opposed the blessed
motions of His Spirit, and the inward light of their own consciences,
that they became the very slaves of vice, and had thereby sinned
themselves into a belief of that which they would, but could not
believe, into a belief, which is repugnant even to human nature;--for
the Heathens believe that there are many Gods;--but these had sinned
themselves into a belief that there was no God! and so, finding
nothing in themselves but what was worse than nothing, began to wish
what they were not able to hope for, namely, "That they might be like
the beasts that perish!" and in wicked company--which is the Atheist's
sanctuary--were so bold as to say so: though the worst of mankind,
when he is left alone at midnight, may wish, but is not then able to
think it: even into a belief that there is no God. Into this wretched,
this reprobate condition, many had then sinned themselves.

[Sidenote: John Whitgift]

And now, when the Church was pestered with them, and with all those
other fore-named irregularities; when her lands were in danger of
alienation, her power at least neglected, and her peace torn to
pieces by several schisms, and such heresies as do usually attend that
sin:--for heresies do usually out-live their first authors;--when the
common people seemed ambitious of doing those very things that were
forbidden and attended with most dangers, that thereby they might be
punished, and then applauded and pitied: when they called the spirit
of opposition a tender conscience, and complained of persecution,
because they wanted power to persecute others: when the giddy
multitude raged, and became restless to find out misery for themselves
and others; and the rabble would herd themselves together, and
endeavour to govern and act in spite of authority:--in this extremity
of fear, and danger of the Church and State, when, to suppress the
growing evils of both, they needed a man of prudence and piety, and
of an high and fearless fortitude, they were blest in all by John
Whitgift, his being made Archbishop of Canterbury; of whom Sir Henry
Wotton--that knew him well in his youth, and had studied him in his
age--gives this true character; "That he was a man of reverend and
sacred memory, and of the primitive temper; such a temper, as when
the Church by lowliness of spirit did flourish in highest examples of
virtue." And indeed this man proved so.

And though I dare not undertake to add to this excellent and true
character of Sir Henry Wotton; yet I shall neither do right to this
discourse, nor to my Reader, if I forbear to give him a further and
short account of the life and manners of this excellent man; and it
shall be short, for I long to end this digression, that I may lead my
reader back to Mr. Hooker where we left him at the Temple.

[Sidenote: Archbishop of Canterbury]

John Whitgift was born in the County of Lincoln, of a family that
was ancient; and noted to be both prudent and affable, and gentle
by nature. He was educated in Cambridge; much of his learning was
acquired in Pembroke Hall,--where Mr. Bradford[17] the Martyr was his
tutor;--from thence he was removed to Peter House; from thence to be
Master of Pembroke Hall; and from thence to the Mastership of Trinity
College. About which time the Queen made him her Chaplain; and not
long after Prebend of Ely, and then Dean of Lincoln; and having for
many years past looked upon him with much reverence and favour,
gave him a fair testimony of both, by giving him the Bishoprick of
Worcester, and--which was not with her a usual favour--forgiving
him his first fruits; then by constituting him Vice-President of
the Principality of Wales. And having experimented his wisdom, his
justice, and moderation in the manage of her affairs in both these
places, she, in the twenty-sixth of her reign, 1583, made him
Archbishop of Canterbury, and, not long after, of her Privy Council;
and trusted him to manage all her Ecclesiastical affairs and
preferments. In all which removes, he was like the Ark, which left a
blessing on the place where it rested; and in all his employments was
like Jehoiada, that did good unto Israel.

These were the steps of this Bishop's ascension to this place of
dignity and cares: in which place--to speak Mr. Camden's very words in
his Annals of Queen Elizabeth--"he devoutly consecrated both his whole
life to God, and his painful labours to the good of his Church."

And yet in this place he met with many oppositions in the regulation
of Church affairs, which were much disordered at his entrance, by
reason of the age and remissness of Bishop Grindal,[18] his immediate
predecessor, the activity of the Non-conformists, and their chief
assistant the Earl of Leicester; and indeed by too many others of
the like sacrilegious principles. With these he was to encounter; and
though he wanted neither courage, nor a good cause, yet he foresaw,
that without a great measure of the Queen's favour, it was impossible
to stand in the breach that had been lately made into the lands and
immunities of the Church, or indeed to maintain the remaining lands
and rights of it. And therefore by justifiable sacred insinuations,
such as St. Paul to Agrippa,--"Agrippa, believest thou? I know thou
believest," he wrought himself into so great a degree of favour with
her, as, by his pious use of it, hath got both of them a great degree
of fame in this world, and of glory in that into which they are now
both entered.

[Sidenote: The "little black husband"]

His merits to the Queen, and her favours to him were such, that she
called him, "her little black husband," and called "his servants her
servants:" and she saw so visible and blessed a sincerity shine in all
his cares and endeavours for the Church's and for her good, that she
was supposed to trust him with the very secrets of her soul, and to
make him her confessor; of which she gave many fair testimonies; and
of which one was, that "she would never eat flesh in Lent, without
obtaining a licence from her little black husband:" and would often
say "she pitied him because she trusted him, and had thereby eased
herself by laying the burthen of all her Clergy-cares upon his
shoulders, which he managed with prudence and piety."

[Sidenote: Church-lands Acts]

I shall not keep myself within the promised rules of brevity in this
account of his interest with her Majesty, and his care of the Church's
rights, if in this digression I should enlarge to particulars; and
therefore my desire is, that one example may serve for a testimony of
both. And, that the Reader may the better understand it, he may take
notice, that not many years before his being made Archbishop,
there passed an Act, or Acts of Parliament, intending the better
preservation of the Church-lands, by recalling a power which was
vested in others to sell or lease them, by lodging and trusting the
future care and protection of them only in the Crown: and amongst many
that made a bad use of this power or trust of the Queen's, the Earl
of Leicester was one; and the Bishop having, by his interest with her
Majesty, put a stop to the Earl's sacrilegious designs, they two fell
to an open opposition before her; after which they both quitted the
room, not friends in appearance. But the Bishop made a sudden and
seasonable return to her Majesty,--for he found her alone--and spake
to her with great humility and reverence, to this purpose.

[Sidenote: An address]

"I beseech your Majesty to hear me with patience, and to believe that
your's and the Church's safety are dearer to me than my life, but
my conscience dearer than both: and therefore give me leave to do my
duty, and tell you, that Princes are deputed nursing Fathers of the
Church, and owe it a protection; and therefore God forbid that you
should be so much as passive in her ruin, when you may prevent it;
or that I should behold it without horror and detestation; or should
forbear to tell your Majesty of the sin and danger of Sacrilege.
And though you and myself were born in an age of frailties, when the
primitive piety and care of the Church's lands and immunities are much
decayed; yet, Madam, let me beg that you would first consider that
there are such sins as Profaneness and Sacrilege: and that, if there
were not, they could not have names in Holy Writ, and particularly
in the New Testament. And I beseech you to consider, that though our
Saviour said, 'He judged no man;' and, to testify it, would not judge
nor divide the inheritance betwixt the two brethren, nor would judge
the woman taken in adultery; yet in this point of the Church's rights
he was so zealous, that he made himself both the accuser, and the
judge, and the executioner too, to punish these sins; witnessed,
in that he himself made the whip to drive the profaners out of the
Temple, overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and drove them out
of it. And I beseech you to consider, that it was St. Paul that said
to those Christians of his time that were offended with Idolatry, and
yet committed Sacrilege; 'Thou that abhorrest Idols, dost thou commit
Sacrilege?' supposing, I think, Sacrilege the greater sin. This
may occasion your Majesty to consider, that there is such a sin as
Sacrilege; and to incline you to prevent the Curse that will follow
it, I beseech you also to consider, that Constantine, the first
Christian Emperor, and Helena his Mother; that King Edgar, and Edward
the Confessor; and indeed many others of your predecessors, and many
private Christians, have also given to God, and to his Church, much
land, and many immunities, which they might have given to those of
their own families, and did not; but gave them for ever as an absolute
right and sacrifice to God: and with these immunities and lands they
have entailed a curse upon the alienators of them: God prevent your
Majesty and your successors from being liable to that Curse, which
will cleave unto Church-lands as the leprosy to the Jews.

"And to make you, that are trusted with their preservation, the better
to understand the danger of it, I beseech you forget not, that, to
prevent these Curses, the Church's land and power have been also
endeavoured to be preserved, as far as human reason and the law of
this nation have been able to preserve them, by an immediate and most
sacred obligation on the consciences of the Princes of this realm.
For they that consult Magna Charta shall find, that as all your
predecessors were at their Coronation, so you also were sworn before
all the Nobility and Bishops then present, and in the presence of
God, and in his stead to him that anointed you, to maintain the
Church-lands, and the rights belonging to it: and this you yourself
have testified openly to God at the holy Altar, by laying your hands
on the Bible then lying upon it. And not only Magna Charta, but many
modern Statutes have denounced a Curse upon those that break Magna
Charta; a Curse like the leprosy, that was entailed on the Jews: for
as that, so these Curses have, and will cleave to the very stones of
those buildings that have been consecrated to God; and the father's
sin of Sacrilege hath, and will prove to be entailed on his son and
family. And now, Madam, what account can be given for the breach of
this Oath at the Last Great Day, either by your Majesty, or by me, if
it be wilfully, or but negligently violated, I know not.

"And therefore, good Madam, let not the late Lord's exceptions
against the failings of some few Clergymen prevail with you to punish
posterity for the errors of the present age; let particular men suffer
for their particular errors; but let God and his Church have their
inheritance: and though I pretend not to prophecy, yet I beg posterity
to take notice of what is already become visible in many families;
that Church-land added to an ancient and just inheritance, hath proved
like a moth fretting a garment, and secretly consumed both: or like
the Eagle that stole a coal from the altar, and thereby set her nest
on fire, which consumed both her young eagles and herself that stole
it. And though I shall forbear to speak reproachfully of your Father,
yet I beg you to take notice, that a part of the Church's rights added
to the vast treasures left him by his Father, hath been conceived to
bring an unavoidable consumption upon both, notwithstanding all his
diligency to preserve them.

"And consider, that after the violation of those laws, to which he had
sworn in Magna Charta, God did so far deny him his restraining grace,
that as King Saul, after he was forsaken of God, fell from one sin
to another; so he, till at last he fell into greater sins than I am
willing to mention. Madam, Religion is the foundation and cement of
human societies; and when they that serve at God's Altar shall be
exposed to poverty, then Religion itself will be exposed to scorn, and
become contemptible; as you may already observe it to be in too many
poor Vicarages in this nation. And therefore, as you are by a late
Act or Acts of Parliament, entrusted with a great power to preserve or
waste the Church-lands; yet dispose of them, for Jesus' sake, as
you have promised to men, and vowed to God, that is, as the donors
intended: let neither falsehood nor flattery beguile you to do
otherwise; but put a stop to God's and the Levites' portion, I beseech
you, and to the approaching ruins of His Church, as you expect
comfort at the Last Great Day; for Kings must be judged. Pardon this
affectionate plainness, my most dear Sovereign, and let me beg to be
still continued in your favour; and the Lord still continue you in
His."

[Sidenote: Its reception]

The Queen's patient hearing this affectionate speech, and her future
care to preserve the Church's rights, which till then had been
neglected, may appear a fair testimony, that he made her's and the
Church's good the chiefest of his cares, and that she also thought so.
And of this there were such daily testimonies given, as begot betwixt
them so mutual a joy and confidence, that they seemed born to believe
and do good to each other; she not doubting his piety to be more than
all his opposers, which were many; nor doubting his prudence to be
equal to the chiefest of her Council, who were then as remarkable for
active wisdom, as those dangerous times did require, or this nation
did ever enjoy. And in this condition he continued twenty years; in
which time he saw some flowings, but many more ebbings of her
favour towards all men that had opposed him, especially the Earl of
Leicester: so that God seemed still to keep him in her favour, that
he might preserve the remaining Church-lands and immunities from
Sacrilegious alienations. And this good man deserved all the honour
and power with which she gratified and trusted him; for he was a pious
man, and naturally of noble and grateful principles: he eased her of
all her Church-cares by his wise manage of them; he gave her faithful
and prudent counsels in all the extremities and dangers of her
temporal affairs, which were very many; he lived to be the chief
comfort of her life in her declining age, and to be then most
frequently with her, and her assistant at her private devotions; he
lived to be the greatest comfort of her soul upon her death-bed, to
be present at the expiration of her last breath, and to behold the
closing of those eyes that had long looked upon him with reverence and
affection. And let this also be added, that he was the Chief Mourner
at her sad funeral; nor let this be forgotten, that, within a
few hours after her death, he was the happy proclaimer, that King
James--her peaceful successor--was heir to the Crown.

[Sidenote: The Bishop's works]

[Sidenote: His Free-school]

Let me beg of my Reader to allow me to say a little, and but a little,
more of this good Bishop, and I shall then presently lead him back to
Mr. Hooker; and because I would hasten, I will mention but one part of
the Bishop's charity and humility; but this of both. He built a large
Alms-house near to his own Palace at Croydon in Surrey, and endowed
it with maintenance for a Master and twenty-eight poor men and women;
which he visited so often, that he knew their names and dispositions;
and was so truly humble, that he called them Brothers and Sisters; and
whensoever the Queen descended to that lowliness to dine with him at
his Palace in Lambeth,--which was very often,--he would usually the
next day shew the like lowliness to his poor Brothers and Sisters at
Croydon, and dine with them at his Hospital; at which time, you may
believe there was joy at the table. And at this place he built also
a fair Free-school, with a good accommodation and maintenance for the
Master and Scholars. Which gave just occasion for Boyse Sisi, then
Ambassador for the French King, and resident here, at the Bishop's
death, to say, "the Bishop had published many learned books; but a
Free-school to train up youth, and an Hospital to lodge and maintain
aged and poor people, were the best evidences of Christian learning
that a Bishop could leave to posterity." This good Bishop lived to see
King James settled in peace, and then fell into an extreme sickness
at his Palace in Lambeth; of which when the King had notice, he
went presently to visit him, and found him in his bed in a declining
condition and very weak; and after some short discourse betwixt them,
the King at his departure assured him, "He had a great affection for
him, and a very high value for his prudence and virtues, and would
endeavour to beg his life of God for the good of his Church." To which
the good Bishop replied, "_Pro Ecclesia Dei! Pro Ecclesia Dei_!" which
were the last words he ever spake; therein testifying, that as in his
life, so at his death, his chiefest care was of God's Church.

This John Whitgift was made Archbishop in the year 1583. In which busy
place he continued twenty years and some months; and in which time you
may believe he had many trials of his courage and patience: but his
motto was "_Vincit qui patitur_;" and he made it good.

[Sidenote: His trials]

Many of his trials were occasioned by the then powerful Earl of
Leicester, who did still--but secretly--raise and cherish a faction of
Non-conformists to oppose him; especially one Thomas Cartwright,[19]
a man of noted learning, sometime contemporary with the Bishop in
Cambridge, and of the same College, of which the Bishop had been
Master; in which place there began some emulations,--the particulars
I forbear,--and at last open and high oppositions betwixt them; and in
which you may believe Mr. Cartwright was most faulty, if his expulsion
out of the University can incline you to it.

And in this discontent after the Earl's death,--which was 1588,--Mr.
Cartwright appeared a chief cherisher of a party that were for the
Geneva Church-government; and, to effect it, he ran himself into many
dangers both of liberty and life, appearing at the last to justify
himself and his party in many remonstrances, which he caused to be
printed: and to which the Bishop made a first answer, and Cartwright
replied upon him; and then the Bishop having rejoined to his first
reply, Mr. Cartwright either was, or was persuaded to be, satisfied,
for he wrote no more, but left the Reader to be judge which had
maintained their cause with most charity and reason. After some
silence, Mr. Cartwright received from the Bishop many personal favours
and betook himself to a more private living, which was at Warwick,
where he was made Master of an Hospital, and lived quietly, and grew
rich; and where the Bishop gave him a licence to preach, upon promises
not to meddle with controversies, but incline his hearers to piety
and moderation: and this promise he kept during his life, which ended
1602, the Bishop surviving him but some few months; each ending his
days in perfect charity with the other.

And now after this long digression, made for the information of my
Reader concerning what follows, I bring him back to venerable Mr.
Hooker, where we left him in the Temple, and where we shall find him
as deeply engaged in a controversy with Walter Travers,[20]--a friend
and favourite of Mr. Cartwright's--as the Bishop had ever been with
Mr. Cartwright himself, and of which I shall proceed to give this
following account.

[Sidenote: The new generation]

[Sidenote: Thomas Nashe]

And first this; that though the pens of Mr. Cartwright and the Bishop
were now at rest, yet there was sprung up a new generation of restless
men, that by company and clamours became possessed of a faith, which
they ought to have kept to themselves, but could not: men that
were become positive in asserting, "That a papist cannot be saved:"
insomuch, that about this time, at the execution of the Queen of
Scots, the Bishop that preached her Funeral Sermon--which was Dr.
Howland,[21] then Bishop of Peterborough--was reviled for not being
positive for her damnation. And besides this boldness of their
becoming Gods, so far as to set limits to His mercies, there was
not only one Martin Mar-Prelate,[22] but other venomous books daily
printed and dispersed; books that were so absurd and scurrilous, that
the graver Divines disdained them an answer. And yet these were grown
into high esteem with the common people, till Tom Nash[23] appeared
against them all, who was a man of a sharp wit, and the master of
a scoffing, satirical, merry pen, which he employed to discover
the absurdities of those blind, malicious, senseless pamphlets, and
sermons as senseless as they; Nash's answers being like his books,
which bore these, or like titles: "An Almond for a Parrot;" "A Fig for
my Godson;" "Come crack me this nut," and the like; so that this
merry wit made some sport, and such a discovery of their absurdities,
as--which is strange--he put a greater stop to these malicious
pamphlets, than a much wiser man had been able.

[Sidenote: Mr. Travers]

And now the Reader is to take notice, that at the death of Father
Alvey, who was Master of the Temple, this Walter Travers was
Lecturer there for the Evening Sermons, which he preached with great
approbation, especially of some citizens, and the younger gentlemen of
that Society; and for the most part approved by Mr. Hooker himself,
in the midst of their oppositions. For he continued Lecturer a part of
his time; Mr. Travers being indeed a man of competent learning, of a
winning behaviour, and of a blameless life. But he had taken Orders
by the Presbytery in Antwerp,--and with them some opinions, that could
never be eradicated,--and if in anything he was transported, it was
in an extreme desire to set up that government in this nation; for
the promoting of which he had a correspondence with Theodore Beza at
Geneva, and others in Scotland; and was one of the chiefest assistants
to Mr. Cartwright in that design.

Mr. Travers had also a particular hope to set up this government in
the Temple, and to that end used his most zealous endeavours to be
Master of it; and his being disappointed by Mr. Hooker's admittance,
proved the occasion of a public opposition betwixt them in their
Sermons: many of which were concerning the doctrine and ceremonies
of this Church: insomuch that, as St. Paul withstood St. Peter to his
face, so did they withstand each other in their Sermons: for, as one
hath pleasantly expressed it, "The forenoon Sermon spake Canterbury;
and the afternoon Geneva."

[Sidenote: His petition]

In these Sermons there was little of bitterness, but each party
brought all the reasons he was able to prove his adversary's opinion
erroneous. And thus it continued a long time, till the oppositions
became so visible, and the consequences so dangerous, especially in
that place, that the prudent Archbishop put a stop to Mr. Travers
his preaching, by a positive prohibition. Against which Mr. Travers
appealed, and petitioned her Majesty's Privy Council to have it
recalled; where, besides his patron, the Earl of Leicester, he met
also with many assisting friends: but they were not able to prevail
with, or against the Archbishop, whom the Queen had intrusted with all
Church-power; and he had received so fair a testimony of Mr. Hooker's
principles, and of his learning and moderation, that he withstood
all solicitations. But the denying this petition of Mr. Travers, was
unpleasant to divers of his party; and the reasonableness of it became
at last to be so publicly magnified by them, and many others of that
party, as never to be answered: so that, intending the Bishop's and
Mr. Hooker's disgrace, they procured it to be privately printed and
scattered abroad; and then Mr. Hooker was forced to appear, and make
as public an Answer; which he did, and dedicated it to the Archbishop;
and it proved so full an answer, an answer that had in it so much of
clear reason, and writ with so much meekness and majesty of style,
that the Bishop began to have him in admiration, and to rejoice that
he had appeared in his cause, and disdained not earnestly to beg his
friendship; even a familiar friendship with a man of so much quiet
learning and humility.

[Sidenote: Points at issue]

To enumerate the many particular points in issue which Mr. Hooker
and Mr. Travers dissented,--all, or most of which I have seen
written,--would prove at least tedious: and therefore I shall impose
upon my Reader no more than two, which shall immediately follow, and
by which he may judge of the rest.

Mr. Travers excepted against Mr. Hooker, for that in one of his
Sermons he declared, "That the assurance of what we believe by the
Word of God is not to us so certain as that which we perceive by
sense." And Mr. Hooker confesseth he said so, and endeavours to
justify it by the reasons following.

"First; I taught that the things which God promises in his Word are
surer than what we touch, handle, or see: but are we so sure and
certain of them? If we be, why doth God so often prove his promises to
us as he doth, by arguments drawn from our sensible experience? For we
must be surer of the proof than of the things proved; otherwise it is
no proof. For example; how is it that many men looking on the moon, at
the same time, every one knoweth it to be the moon as certainly as the
other doth? but many believing one and the same promise, have not all
one and the same fulness of persuasion. For how falleth it out, that
men being assured of any thing by sense, can be no surer of it than
they are; when as the strongest in faith that liveth upon the earth
hath always need to labour, strive, and pray, that his assurance
concerning heavenly and spiritual things may grow, increase, and be
augmented?"

[Sidenote: Hooker's sermon]

The Sermon, that gave him the cause of this his justification,
makes the case more plain, by declaring "That there is, besides this
certainty of evidence, a certainty of adherence." In which having most
excellently demonstrated what the certainty of adherence is, he
makes this comfortable use of it, "Comfortable," he says, "as to weak
believers, who suppose themselves to be faithless, not to believe,
when notwithstanding they have their adherence; the Holy Spirit hath
his private operations, and worketh secretly in them, and effectually
too, though they want the inward testimony of it."

Tell this, saith he, to a man that hath a mind too much dejected by a
sad sense of his sin; to one that, by a too severe judging of himself,
concludes that he wants faith, because he wants the comfortable
assurance of it; and his answer will be, do not persuade me against my
knowledge, against what I find and feel in myself: I do not, I know, I
do not believe.--Mr. Hooker's own words follow.--"Well then, to favour
such men a little in their weakness, let that be granted which they
do imagine; be it, that they adhere not to God's promises, but are
faithless, and without belief: but are they not grieved for their
unbelief? They confess they are; do they not wish it might, and also
strive that it may be otherwise? We know they do. Whence cometh this,
but from a secret love and liking, that they have of those things
believed? For no man can love those things which in his own opinion
are not; and if they think those things to be, which they show they
love, when they desire to believe them; then must it be, that, by
desiring to believe, they prove themselves true believers: for without
faith no man thinketh that things believed are: which argument all the
subtilties of infernal powers will never be able to dissolve." This
is an abridgement of part of the reasons Mr. Hooker gives for his
justification of this his opinion, for which he was excepted against
by Mr. Travers.

[Sidenote: Answers to Travers]

Mr. Hooker was also accused by Mr. Travers, for that he in one of his
Sermons had declared, "That he doubted not but that God was merciful
to many of our forefathers living in Popish superstition, for as much
as they sinned ignorantly;" and Mr. Hooker in his Answer professeth
it to be his judgment, and declares his reasons for this charitable
opinion to be as followeth.

But first, he states the question about Justification and Works, and
how the foundation of Faith without works is overthrown; and then he
proceeds to discover that way which natural men and some others
have mistaken to be the way, by which they hope to attain true and
everlasting happiness: and having discovered the mistaken, he proceeds
to direct to that true way, by which, and no other, everlasting life
and blessedness is attainable. And these two ways he demonstrates
thus;--they be his own words that follow:--"That, the way of Nature;
this, the way of Grace; the end of that way, Salvation merited,
pre-supposing the righteousness of men's works; their righteousness,
a natural ability to do them; that ability, the goodness of God, which
created them in such perfection. But the end of this way, Salvation
bestowed upon men as a gift: pre-supposing not their righteousness,
but the forgiveness of their unrighteousness, Justification; their
justification, not their natural ability to do good, but their hearty
sorrow for not doing, and unfeigned belief in Him, for whose sake
not-doers are accepted, which is their Vocation; their vocation, the
election of God, taking them out of the number of lost children:
their Election, a Mediator in whom to be elected; this mediation,
inexplicable mercy: this mercy, supposing their misery for whom He
vouchsafed to die, and make Himself a Mediator."

And he also declareth, "There is no meritorious cause for our
Justification, but Christ: no effectual, but his mercy;" and says
also, "We deny the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we abuse, disannul
and annihilate the benefit of his passion, if by a proud imagination
we believe we can merit everlasting life, or can be worthy of it."
This belief, he declareth, is to destroy the very essence of our
Justification; and he makes all opinions that border upon this to
be very dangerous. "Yet nevertheless,"--and for this he was
accused,--"considering how many virtuous and just men, how many Saints
and Martyrs have had their dangerous opinions amongst which this was
one, that they hoped to make God some part of amends, by voluntary
punishments which they laid upon themselves: because by this, or the
like erroneous opinions, which do by consequence overthrow the merits
of Christ, shall man be so bold as to write on their graves, 'Such men
are damned; there is for them no Salvation?' St. Austin says, _Errare
possum, Hæreticus esse nolo_. And except we put a difference betwixt
them that err ignorantly, and them that obstinately persist in it, how
is it possible that any man should hope to be saved? Give me a Pope
or Cardinal, whom great afflictions have made to know himself, whose
heart God hath touched with true sorrow for all his sins, and filled
with a love of Christ and his Gospel; whose eyes are willingly open
to see the truth, and his mouth ready to renounce all error,--this one
opinion of merit excepted, which he thinketh God will require at his
hands;--and because he wanteth, trembleth, and is discouraged, and
yet can say, Lord, cleanse me from all my secret sins! shall I think,
because of this, or a like error, such men touch not so much as the
hem of Christ's garment? If they do, wherefore should I doubt, but
that virtue may proceed from Christ to save them? No, I will not be
afraid to say to such a one, You err in your opinion; but be of good
comfort; you have to do with a merciful God, who will make the best
of that little which you hold well; and not with a captious sophister,
who gathereth the worst out of every thing in which you are mistaken."

But it will be said, says Mr. Hooker, the admittance of merit in any
degree overthroweth the foundation, excludeth from the hope of mercy,
from all possibility of salvation. (And now Mr. Hooker's own words
follow.)

"What, though they hold the truth sincerely in all other parts of
Christian faith; although they have in some measure all the virtues
and graces of the Spirit, although they have all other tokens of God's
children in them? although they be far from having any proud opinion,
that they shall be saved by the worthiness of their deeds? although
the only thing, that troubleth and molesteth them, be a little too
much dejection, somewhat too great a fear arising from an erroneous
conceit, that God will require a worthiness in them, which they are
grieved to find wanting in themselves? although they be not obstinate
in this opinion? although they be willing, and would be glad to
forsake it, if any one reason were brought sufficient to disprove it?
although the only cause why they do not forsake it ere they die, be
their ignorance of that means by which it might be disproved? although
the cause why the ignorance in this point is not removed, be the want
of knowledge in such as should be able, and are not, to remove it? Let
me die," says Mr. Hooker, "if it be ever proved, that simply an error
doth exclude a Pope or Cardinal in such a case utterly from hope of
life. Surely, I must confess, that if it be an error to think that God
may be merciful to save men, even when they err, my greatest comfort
is my error: were it not for the love I bear to this error, I would
never wish to speak or to live."

I was willing to take notice of these two points, as supposing them
to be very material; and that, as they are thus contracted, they may
prove useful to my Reader; as also for that the answers be arguments
of Mr. Hooker's great and clear reason, and equal charity. Other
exceptions were also made against him by Mr. Travers, as "That he
prayed before, and not after, his Sermons; that in his prayers he
named Bishops; that he kneeled, both when he prayed, and when he
received the Sacrament;" and--says Mr. Hooker in his Defence--"other
exceptions so like these, as but to name, I should have thought a
greater fault than to commit them."

[Sidenote: His "dove-like temper"]

And it is not unworthy the noting, that, in the manage of so great a
controversy, a sharper reproof than this, and one like it, did never
fall from the happy pen of this humble man. That like it was upon
a like occasion of exceptions, to which his answer was, "your next
argument consists of railing and of reasons: to your railing I say
nothing; to your reasons I say what follows." And I am glad of this
fair occasion to testify the dove-like temper of this meek, this
matchless man. And doubtless, if Almighty God had blest the Dissenters
from the ceremonies and discipline of this Church, with a like measure
of wisdom and humility, instead of their pertinacious zeal, then
obedience and truth had kissed each other; then peace and piety had
flourished in our nation, and this Church and State had been blessed
like Jerusalem, that is at unity with itself: but this can never be
expected, till God shall bless the common people of this nation with
a belief, that Schism is a sin, and they not fit to judge what is
Schism: and bless them also with a belief, that there may be offences
taken which are not given, and, that laws are not made for private men
to dispute, but to obey.

[Sidenote: His writings]

And this also may be worthy of noting, that these exceptions of Mr.
Travers against Mr. Hooker proved to be _felix error_, for they were
the cause of his transcribing those few of his Sermons, which we now
see printed with his books; and of his "Answer to Mr. Travers his
Supplication;" and of his most learned and useful "Discourse of
Justification, of Faith, and Works:" and by their transcription they
fell into such hands as have preserved them from being lost, as too
many of his other matchless writings were: and from these I have
gathered many observations in this discourse of his life.

[Sidenote: "Ecclesiastical Polity"]

After the publication of his "Answer to the Petition of Mr. Travers,"
Mr. Hooker grew daily into greater repute with the most learned and
wise of the nation; but it had a contrary effect in very many of
the Temple, that were zealous for Mr. Travers, and for his
Church-discipline; insomuch, that though Mr. Travers left the place,
yet the seeds of discontent could not be rooted out of that Society,
by the great reason, and as great meekness, of this humble man: for
though the chief Benchers gave him much reverence and encouragement,
yet he there met with many neglects and oppositions by those of Master
Travers' judgment; insomuch that it turned to his extreme grief:
and, that he might unbeguile and win them, he designed to write a
deliberate, sober treatise of the Church's power to make Canons for
the use of ceremonies, and by law to impose an obedience to them, as
upon her children; and this he proposed to do in "Eight Books of
the Law of Ecclesiastical Polity;" intending therein to shew such
arguments as should force an assent from all men, if reason, delivered
in sweet language, and void of any provocation, were able to do it:
and, that he might prevent all prejudice, he wrote before it a large
Preface, or Epistle to the Dissenting Brethren, wherein there were
such bowels of love, and such a commixture of that love with reason,
as was never exceeded but in Holy Writ; and particularly by that of
St. Paul to his dear brother and fellow-labourer Philemon: than which
none ever was more like this epistle of Mr. Hooker's. So that his dear
friend and companion in his studies, Dr. Spencer, might, after his
death, justly say, "What admirable height of learning, and depth of
judgment, dwelt in the lowly mind of this truly humble man--great in
all wise men's eyes, except his own; with what gravity and majesty of
speech his tongue and pen uttered heavenly mysteries; whose eyes, in
the humility of his heart, were always cast down to the ground; how
all things that proceeded from him were breathed as from the Spirit of
Love; as if he, like the bird of the Holy Ghost, the Dove, had wanted
gall:--let those that knew him not in his person, judge these living
images of his soul, his writings."

[Sidenote: Desire for quietness]

The foundation of these books was laid in the Temple; but he found
it no fit place to finish what he had there designed; he therefore
earnestly solicited the Archbishop for a remove from that place; to
whom he spake to this purpose: "My Lord, when I lost the freedom of my
cell, which was my College, yet I found some degree of it in my quiet
country parsonage: but I am weary of the noise and oppositions of this
place; and indeed God and Nature did not intend me for contentions,
but for study and quietness. My Lord, my particular contests with Mr.
Travers here have proved the more unpleasant to me, because I believe
him to be a good man; and that belief hath occasioned me to examine
mine own conscience concerning his opinions; and, to satisfy that, I
have consulted the Scripture, and other laws, both human and divine,
whether the conscience of him, and others of his judgment, ought to be
so far complied with, as to alter our frame of Church-government,
our manner of God's worship, our praising and praying to him, and our
established ceremonies, as often as his, and other tender consciences
shall require us. And in this examination, I have not only satisfied
myself, but have begun a Treatise, in which I intend a justification
of the Laws of our Ecclesiastical Polity; in which design God and his
holy angels shall at the last great Day bear me that witness which my
conscience now does; that my meaning is not to provoke any, but rather
to satisfy all tender consciences: and I shall never be able to do
this, but where I may study, and pray for God's blessing upon my
endeavours, and keep myself in peace and privacy, and behold God's
blessings spring out of my mother earth, and eat my own bread without
oppositions;[24] and therefore, if your Grace can judge me worthy of
such a favour, let me beg it, that I may perfect what I have begun."

[Sidenote: Rector of Boscombe]

[Sidenote: Prebend of Salisbury]

About this time the Parsonage or Rectory of Boscum, in the Diocese of
Sarum, and six miles from that City, became void. The Bishop of Sarum
is patron of it; but in the vacancy of that See,--which was three
years betwixt the translation of Bishop Pierce to the See of York, and
Bishop Caldwell's admission into it,--the disposal of that, and all
benefices belonging to that See, during this said vacancy, came to be
disposed of by the Archbishop of Canterbury: and he presented Richard
Hooker to it in the year 1591. And Richard Hooker was also in the
said year instituted, July 17, to be a Minor Prebend of Salisbury, the
corps to it being Nether-Haven, about ten miles from that City;
which prebend was of no great value, but intended chiefly to make
him capable of a better preferment in that church. In this Boscum he
continued till he had finished four of his eight proposed books of
"The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity," and these were entered into the
Register-Book in Stationers' Hall, the 9th of March, 1592, but not
published till the year 1594, and then were with the before-mentioned
large and affectionate Preface, which he directs to them that seek--as
they term it--the reformation of the Laws and Orders Ecclesiastical
in the Church of England; of which books I shall yet say nothing more,
but that he continued his laborious diligence to finish the remaining
four during his life;--of all which more properly hereafter;--but at
Boscum he finished and published but only the first four, being then
in the 39th year of his age.

He left Boscum in the year 1595, by a surrender of it into the
hands of Bishop Caldwell: and he presented Benjamin Russell, who was
instituted into it the 23rd of June in the same year.

[Sidenote: Rector of Bishops-bourne]

The Parsonage of Bishop's Bourne in Kent, three miles from Canterbury,
is in that Archbishop's gift; but, in that latter end of the year
1594, Dr. William Redman, the Rector of it, was made Bishop of
Norwich; by which means the power of presenting to it was _pro eâ
vice_ in the Queen; and she presented Richard Hooker, whom she loved
well, to this good living of Bourne, the 7th July, 1595; in which
living he continued till his death, without any addition of dignity or
profit.

And now having brought our Richard Hooker from his birth-place, to
this where he found a grave, I shall only give some account of his
books and of his behaviour in this Parsonage of Bourne, and then give
a rest both to myself and my Reader.

His first four books and large epistle have been declared to be
printed at his being at Boscum, anno 1594. Next I am to tell, that
at the end of these four books there was, when he first printed them,
this Advertisement to the Reader. "I have for some causes, thought it
at this time more fit to let go these first four books by themselves,
than to stay both them and the rest, till the whole might together
be published. Such generalities of the cause in question as are here
handled, it will be perhaps not amiss to consider apart, by way of
introduction unto the books that are to follow concerning particulars;
in the mean time the Reader is requested to mend the Printer's errors,
as noted underneath."

[Sidenote: "Ecclesiastical Polity"]

[Sidenote: The Pope his reader]

And I am next to declare, that his Fifth Book--which is larger than
his first four--was first also printed by itself, anno 1597,
and dedicated to his patron--for till then he chose none--the
Archbishop.--These books were read with an admiration of their
excellency in this, and their just fame spread itself also into
foreign nations. And I have been told, more than forty years past,
that either Cardinal Allen,[25] or learned Dr. Stapleton,[26]--both
Englishmen, and in Italy about the time when Mr. Hooker's four books
were first printed,--meeting with this general fame of them, were
desirous to read an author, that both the reformed and the learned of
their own Romish Church did so much magnify; and therefore caused
them to be sent for to Rome: and after reading them, boasted to the
Pope,--which then was Clement the Eighth,--"That though he had lately
said, he never met with an English book, whose writer deserved the
name of author; yet there now appeared a wonder to them, and it would
be so to his Holiness, if it were in Latin: for a poor obscure English
Priest had writ four such books of Laws, and Church-polity, and in a
style that expressed such a grave and so humble a majesty, with such
clear demonstration of reason, that in all their readings they had not
met with any that exceeded him:" and this begot in the Pope an earnest
desire that Dr. Stapleton should bring the said four books, and,
looking on the English, read a part of them to him in Latin; which
Dr. Stapleton did, to the end of the first book; at the conclusion of
which, the Pope spake to this purpose: "There is no learning that this
man hath not searched into, nothing too hard for his understanding:
this man indeed deserves the name of an author: his books will get
reverence by age; for there is in them such seeds of eternity, that
if the rest be like this, they shall last till the last fire shall
consume all learning."

[Sidenote: King James on Hooker]

Nor was this high, the only testimony and commendation given to his
books; for at the first coming of King James into this kingdom, he
enquired of the Archbishop Whitgift for his friend Mr. Hooker, that
writ the books of Church-polity; to which the answer was, that he died
a year before Queen Elizabeth, who received the sad news of his death
with very much sorrow; to which the King replied, "And I receive it
with no less, that I shall want the desired happiness of seeing and
discoursing with that man, from whose books I have received such
satisfaction: indeed, my Lord, I have received more satisfaction in
reading a leaf or paragraph, in Mr. Hooker, though it were but about
the fashion of Churches, or Church-Music, or the like, but especially
of the Sacraments, than I have had in the reading particular large
treatises written but of one of those subjects by others, though
very learned men: and I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected
language: but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason,
and that backed with the authority of the Scripture, the Fathers, and
Schoolmen, and with all Law both sacred and civil. And, though many
others write well, yet in the next age they will be forgotten; but
doubtless there is in every page of Mr. Hooker's book, the picture
of a divine soul, such pictures of truth and reason, and drawn in
so sacred colours, that they shall never fade, but give an immortal
memory to the author." And it is so truly true, that the King thought
what he spake, that, as the most learned of the nation have, and still
do mention Mr. Hooker with reverence; so he also did never mention
him but with the epithet of learned, or judicious, or reverend, or
venerable Mr. Hooker.

[Sidenote: A Latin version]

Nor did his son, our late King Charles the First, ever mention him but
with the same reverence, enjoining his son, our now gracious King,
to be studious in Mr. Hooker's books. And our learned antiquary, Mr.
Camden [in his Annals, 5299], mentioning the death, the modesty, and
other virtues of Mr. Hooker, and magnifying his books, wished, "that,
for the honour of this, and benefit of other nations, they were turned
into the Universal Language." Which work, though undertaken by many,
yet they have been weary, and forsaken it: but the Reader may now
expect it, having been long since begun and lately finished, by the
happy pen of Dr. Earle,[27] now Lord Bishop of Salisbury, of whom I
may justly say,--and let it not offend him, because it is such a truth
as ought not to be concealed from posterity, or those that now live,
and yet know him not,--that since Mr. Hooker died, none have lived
whom God hath blessed with more innocent wisdom, more sanctified
learning, or a more pious, peaceable, primitive temper: so that this
excellent person seems to be only like himself, and our venerable
Richard Hooker, and only fit to make the learned of all nations happy,
in knowing what hath been too long confined to the language of our
little island.

[Sidenote: Life at Bishops-bourne]

There might be many more and just occasions taken to speak of his
books, which none ever did or can commend too much; but I decline
them, and hasten to an account of his Christian behaviour and death
at Bourne; in which place he continued his customary rules of
mortification and self-denial; was much in fasting, frequent in
meditation and prayers, enjoying those blessed returns, which only men
of strict lives feel and know, and of which men of loose and godless
lives cannot be made sensible; for spiritual things are spiritually
discerned.

[Sidenote: Saravia's tracts]

At his entrance into this place, his friendship was much sought for
by Dr. Hadrian Saravia,[28] then, or about that time, made one of the
Prebends of Canterbury; a German by birth, and sometime a pastor both
in Flanders and Holland, where he had studied, and well considered
the controverted points concerning Episcopacy and sacrilege; and in
England had a just occasion to declare his judgment concerning both,
unto his brethren ministers of the Low Countries; which was excepted
against by Theodore Beza and others; against whose exceptions he
rejoined, and thereby became the happy author of many learned
tracts writ in Latin, especially of three; one, of the "Degrees of
Ministers," and of the "Bishops' superiority above the Presbytery;"
a second, "against Sacrilege;" and a third of "Christian Obedience to
Princes;" the last being occasioned by Gretzerus the Jesuit.[29] And
it is observable, that when, in a time of Church tumults, Beza gave
his reasons to the Chancellor of Scotland for the abrogation of
Episcopacy in that nation, partly by letters, and more fully in a
Treatise of a threefold Episcopacy,--which he calls divine, human, and
satanical,--this Dr. Saravia had, by the help of Bishop Whitgift, made
such an early discovery of their intentions, that he had almost
as soon answered that Treatise as it became public; and he therein
discovered how Beza's opinion did contradict that of Calvin's and
his adherents; leaving them to interfere with themselves in point of
Episcopacy. But of these tracts it will not concern me to say more,
than that they were most of them dedicated to his, and the Church of
England's watchful patron, John Whitgift, the Archbishop; and printed
about the time in which Mr. Hooker also appeared first to the world,
in the publication of his first four books of "Ecclesiastical Polity."

This friendship being sought for by this learned Doctor, you may
believe was not denied by Mr. Hooker, who was by fortune so like him,
as to be engaged against Mr. Travers, Mr. Cartwright, and others of
their judgment, in a controversy too like Dr. Saravia's; so that in
this year of 1595, and in this place of Bourne, these two excellent
persons began a holy friendship, increasing daily to so high and
mutual affections, that their two wills seemed to be but one and the
same; and their designs both for the glory of God, and peace of the
Church, still assisting and improving each other's virtues, and
the desired comforts of a peaceable piety; which I have willingly
mentioned, because it gives a foundation to some things that follow.

[Sidenote: "What went they out to see?"]

[Sidenote: His bashfulnes]

This Parsonage of Bourne is from Canterbury three miles, and near to
the common road that leads from that City to Dover; in which Parsonage
Mr. Hooker had not been twelve months, but his books, and the
innocency and sanctity of his life became so remarkable, that
many turned out of the road, and others--scholars especially--went
purposely to see the man, whose life and learning were so much
admired: and alas! as our Saviour said of St. John Baptist, "What went
they out to see? a man clothed in purple and fine linen?" No, indeed:
but an obscure, harmless man; a man in poor clothes, his loins usually
girt in a coarse gown, or canonical coat; of a mean stature, and
stooping, and yet more lowly in the thoughts of his soul; his body
worn out, not with age, but study and holy mortifications; his face
full of heat-pimples, begot by his unactivity and sedentary life.
And to this true character of his person, let me add this of his
disposition and behaviour: God and Nature blessed him with so blessed
a bashfulness, that as in his younger days his pupils might easily
look him out of countenance; so neither then, nor in his age, did he
ever willingly look any man in the face: and was of so mild and humble
a nature, that his poor Parish-Clerk and he did never talk but with
both their hats on, or both off, at the same time: and to this may
be added, that though he was not purblind, yet he was short or
weaksighted; and where he fixed his eyes at the beginning of his
sermon, there they continued till it was ended: and the Reader has a
liberty to believe, that his modesty and dim sight were some of the
reasons why he trusted Mrs. Churchman to choose his wife.

[Sidenote: His Parish Clerk]

This Parish-Clerk lived till the third or fourth year of the late Long
Parliament; betwixt which time and Mr. Hooker's death there had come
many to see the place of his burial, and the Monument dedicated to his
memory by Sir William Cowper, who still lives; and the poor Clerk
had many rewards for shewing Mr. Hooker's grave place, and his said
Monument, and did always hear Mr. Hooker mentioned with commendations
and reverence; to all which he added his own knowledge and
observations of his humility and holiness; and in all which discourses
the poor man was still more confirmed in his opinion of Mr. Hooker's
virtues and learning. But it so fell out, that about the said third or
fourth year of the Long Parliament, the then present Parson of Bourne
was sequestered,--you may guess why,--and a Genevan Minister put into
his good living. This, and other like sequestrations, made the Clerk
express himself in a wonder, and say, "They had sequestered so many
good men, that he doubted, if his good master Mr. Hooker had lived
till now, they would have sequestered him too!"

It was not long before this intruding Minister had made a party in and
about the said Parish, that were desirous to receive the Sacrament as
in Geneva; to which end, the day was appointed for a select company,
and forms and stools set about the altar, or communion-table, for them
to sit and eat and drink: but when they went about this work, there
was a want of some joint-stools, which the Minister sent the Clerk to
fetch, and then to fetch cushions,--but not to kneel upon.--When the
Clerk saw them begin to sit down, he began to wonder; but the Minister
bade him "cease wondering, and lock the Church-door:" to whom he
replied, "Pray take you the keys, and lock me out: I will never come
more into this Church; for all men will say, my master Hooker was a
good man, and a good scholar; and I am sure it was not used to be
thus in his days:" and report says the old man went presently home and
died; I do not say died immediately, but within a few Christian days
after.[30]

[Sidenote: His Christian behavior]

But let us leave this grateful Clerk in his quiet grave, and return
to Mr. Hooker himself, continuing our observations of his Christian
behaviour in this place, where he gave a holy valediction to all the
pleasures and allurements of earth; possessing his soul in a virtuous
quietness, which he maintained by constant study, prayers, and
meditations. His use was to preach once every Sunday, and he, or his
Curate, to catechise after the second Lesson in the Evening Prayer.
His Sermons were neither long nor earnest, but uttered with a grave
zeal and an humble voice: his eyes always fixed on one place, to
prevent imagination from wandering; insomuch that he seemed to
study as he spake. The design of his Sermons--as indeed of all his
discourses--was to shew reasons for what he spake; and with these
reasons such a kind of rhetoric, as did rather convince and persuade,
than frighten men into piety; studying not so much for matter,--which
he never wanted,--as for apt illustrations, to inform and teach his
unlearned hearers by familiar examples, and then make them better by
convincing applications; never labouring by hard words, and then by
heedless distinctions and sub-distinctions, to amuse his hearers, and
get glory to himself; but glory only to God. Which intention, he would
often say, was as discernible in a Preacher, "as a natural from an
artificial beauty."

[Sidenote: Fasting and prayer]

He never failed the Sunday before every Ember-week to give notice
of it to his parishioners, persuading them both to fast, and then
to double their devotions for a learned and a pious Clergy, but
especially the last; saying often, "That the life of a pious Clergyman
was visible rhetoric; and so convincing, that the most godless
men--though they would not deny themselves the enjoyment of their
present lusts--did yet secretly wish themselves like those of the
strictest lives." And to what he persuaded others, he added his own
example of fasting and prayer; and did usually every Ember-week take
from the Parish-Clerk the key of the Church-door, into which place he
retired every day, and locked himself up for many hours; and did the
like most Fridays and other days of fasting.

He would by no means omit the customary time of Procession, persuading
all, both rich and poor, if they desired the preservation of love,
and their Parish-rights and liberties, to accompany him in his
perambulation; and most did so: in which perambulation he would
usually express more pleasant discourse than at other times, and
would then always drop some loving and facetious observations to be
remembered against the next year, especially by the boys and young
people; still inclining them, and all his present parishioners, to
meekness, and mutual kindness and love; because "Love thinks not evil,
but covers a multitude of infirmities."

[Sidenote: Parish work]

He was diligent to enquire who of his Parish were sick, or any ways
distressed, and would often visit them, unsent for; supposing that
the fittest time to discover to them those errors, to which health and
prosperity had blinded them. And having by pious reasons and prayers
moulded them into holy resolutions for the time to come, he would
incline them to confession and bewailing their sins, with purpose
to forsake them, and then to receive the Communion, both as a
strengthening of those holy resolutions, and as a seal betwixt God and
them of his mercies to their souls, in case that present sickness did
put a period to their lives.

And as he was thus watchful and charitable to the sick, so he was
as diligent to prevent lawsuits; still urging his parishioners and
neighbours to bear with each other's infirmities, and live in love,
because, as St. John says, "He that lives in love, lives in God:
for God is love." And to maintain this holy fire of love constantly
burning on the altar of a pure heart, his advice was to watch and
pray, and always keep themselves fit to receive the Communion,
and then to receive it often; for it was both a confirming and
strengthening of their graces. This was his advice; and at his
entrance or departure out of any house, he would usually speak to the
whole family, and bless them by name; insomuch, that as he seemed his
youth to be taught of God, so he seemed in this place to teach
his precepts as Enoch did, by walking with him in all holiness and
humility, making each day a step towards a blessed eternity. And
though, in this weak and declining age of the world, such examples are
become barren, and almost incredible; yet let his memory be blessed by
this true recordation, because he that praises Richard Hooker,
praises God who hath given such gifts to men; and let this humble
and affectionate relation of him become such a pattern, as may invite
posterity to imitate these his virtues.

[Sidenote: Slanderous tongues]

[Sidenote: False accusations]

[Sidenote: A prayer]

This was his constant behaviour both at Bourne, and in all the places
in which he lived: thus did he walk with God, and tread the footsteps
of primitive piety; and yet, as that great example of meekness and
purity, even our blessed Jesus, was not free from false accusations,
no more was this disciple of his, this most humble, most innocent,
holy man. His was a slander parallel to that of chaste Susannah's by
the wicked Elders; or that against St. Athanasius, as it is recorded
in his life,--for this holy man had heretical enemies,--a slander
which this age calls _trepanning_.[31] The particulars need not a
repetition; and that it was false, needs no other testimony than the
public punishment of his accusers, and their open confession of
his innocency. It was said, that the accusation was contrived by a
dissenting brother, one that endured not Church-ceremonies, hating
him for his book's sake, which he was not able to answer; and his name
hath been told me; but I have not so much confidence in the relation,
as to make my pen fix a scandal on him to posterity; I shall rather
leave it doubtful till the great day of revelation. But this is
certain, that he lay under the great charge, and the anxiety of this
accusation, and kept it secret to himself for many months; and, being
a helpless man, had lain longer under this heavy burthen, but that the
Protector of the innocent gave such an accidental occasion, as forced
him to make it known to his two dearest friends, Edwin Sandys and
George Cranmer, who were so sensible of their tutor's sufferings,
that they gave themselves no rest, till by their disquisitions and
diligence they had found out the fraud, and brought him the welcome
news, that his accusers did confess they had wronged him, and begged
his pardon. To which the good man's reply was to this purpose: "The
Lord forgive them; and the Lord bless you for this comfortable news.
Now have I a just occasion to say with Solomon, 'Friends are born for
the days of adversity;' and such you have proved to me. And to my
God I say, as did the Mother of St. John Baptist, 'Thus hath the Lord
dealt with me, in the day wherein he looked upon me, to take away
my reproach among men. 'And, O my God! neither my life, nor my
reputation, are safe in my own keeping; but in thine, who didst take
care of me when I yet hanged upon my mother's breast. Blessed are they
that put their trust in thee, O Lord! for when false witnesses were
risen up against me; when shame was ready to cover my face; when my
flights were restless; when my soul thirsted for a deliverance, as the
hart panteth after the rivers of water; then thou, Lord, didst hear my
complaints, pity my condition, and art now become my deliverer; and as
long as I live I will hold up my hands in this manner, and magnify thy
mercies, who didst not give me over as a prey to mine enemies: the
net is broken, and they are taken in it. Oh! blessed are they that put
their trust in thee! and no prosperity shall make me forget those days
of sorrow, or to perform those vows that I have made to thee in the
days of my affliction; for with such sacrifices, thou, O God, art well
pleased; and I will pay them."[32]

[Sidenote: His charity]

Thus did the joy and gratitude of this good man's heart break forth;
and it is observable, that as the invitation to this slander was his
meek behaviour and dove-like simplicity, for which he was remarkable;
so his Christian charity ought to be imitated. For though the spirit
of revenge is so pleasing to mankind, that it is never conquered but
by a supernatural grace, revenge being indeed so deeply rooted in
human nature, that, to prevent the excesses of it,--for men would not
know moderation,--Almighty God allows not any degree of it to any man,
but says "vengeance is mine:" and though this be said positively
by God himself, yet this revenge is so pleasing, that man is hardly
persuaded to submit the manage of it to the time, and justice, and
wisdom of his Creator, but would hasten to be his own executioner
of it. And yet nevertheless, if any man ever did wholly decline, and
leave this pleasing passion to the time and measure of God alone, it
was this Richard Hooker, of whom I write: for when his slanderers
were to suffer, he laboured to procure their pardon; and when that was
denied him, his reply was, "That however he would fast and pray
that God would give them repentance, and patience to undergo their
punishment." And his prayers were so far returned into his own bosom,
that the first was granted, if we may believe a penitent behaviour,
and an open confession. And 'tis observable, that after this time he
would often say to Dr. Saravia, "Oh! with what quietness did I enjoy
my soul, after I was free from the fears of my slander! And how much
more after a conflict and victory over my desires of revenge!"

[Sidenote: A long sickness]

About the year 1600, and of his age forty-six, he fell into a long
and sharp sickness, occasioned by a cold taken in his passage by water
betwixt London and Gravesend, from the malignity of which he was never
recovered; for after that time, till his death, he was not free from
thoughtful days and restless nights: but a submission to His will that
makes the sick man's bed easy, by giving rest to his soul, made his
very languishment comfortable: and yet all this time he was solicitous
in his study, and said often to Dr. Saravia,--who saw him daily, and
was the chief comfort of his life,--"That he did not beg a long life
of God for any other reason, but to live to finish his three remaining
books of Polity; and then, 'Lord, let thy servant depart in peace;'"
which was his usual expression. And God heard his prayers, though he
denied the Church the benefit of them, as completed by himself; and
'tis thought he hastened his own death, by hastening to give life to
his books. But this is certain, that the nearer he was to his death,
more he grew in humility, in holy thoughts, and resolutions.

[Sidenote: Approaching end]

About a month before his death, this good man, that never knew, or at
least never considered, the pleasures of the palate, became first
to lose his appetite, and then to have an averseness to all food,
insomuch that he seemed to live some intermitted weeks by the smell of
meat only, and yet still studied and writ. And now his guardian angel
seemed to foretel him that the day of his dissolution drew near; for
which his vigorous soul appeared to thirst.

In this time of his sickness and not many days before his death, his
house was robbed; of which he having notice, his question was, "Are my
books and written papers safe?" And being answered that they were; his
reply was, "Then it matters not; for no other loss can trouble me."

[Sidenote: Closing hours]

[Sidenote: Last words]

About one day before his death, Dr. Saravia, who knew the very
secrets of his soul,--for they were supposed to be confessors to
each other,--came to him, and, after a conference of the benefit, the
necessity, and safety of the Church's absolution, it was resolved the
Doctor should give him both that and the Sacrament the following
day. To which end the Doctor came, and, after a short retirement and
privacy, they two returned to the company; and then the Doctor
gave him and some of those friends which were with him, the blessed
Sacrament of the body and blood of our Jesus. Which being performed,
the Doctor thought he saw a reverend gaiety and joy in his face; but
it lasted not long; for his bodily infirmities did return suddenly,
and became more visible, insomuch that the Doctor apprehended death
ready to seize him; yet, after some amendment, left him at night, with
a promise to return early the day following; which he did, and
then found him better in appearance, deep in contemplation, and not
inclinable to discourse; which gave the Doctor occasion to require
his present thoughts. To which he replied, "That he was meditating the
number and nature of Angels, and their blessed obedience and order,
without which, peace could not be in Heaven: and Oh! that it might be
so on Earth!" After which words, he said, "I have lived to see this
world is made up of perturbations; and I have been long preparing to
leave it, and gathering comfort for the dreadful hour of making my
account with God, which I now apprehend to be near: and though I have
by his grace loved him in my youth, and feared him in mine age, and
laboured to have a conscience void of offence to him, and to all men;
yet if thou, O Lord! be extreme to mark what I have done amiss, who
can abide it? And therefore, where I have failed, Lord, shew mercy
to me; for I plead not my righteousness, but the forgiveness of my
unrighteousness, for His merits, who died to purchase pardon for
penitent sinners. And since I owe thee a death, Lord, let it not be
terrible, and then take thine own time: I submit to it: let not mine,
O Lord! but let thy will be done." With which expression he fell into
a dangerous slumber; dangerous as to his recovery, yet recover he did,
but it was to speak only these few words: "Good Doctor, God hath heard
my daily petitions, for I am at peace with all men, and he is at peace
with me; and from that blessed assurance I feel that inward joy, which
this world can neither give nor take from me: my conscience beareth me
this witness, and this witness makes the thoughts of death joyful. I
could wish to live to do the Church more service; but cannot hope it,
for my days are past as a shadow that returns not." More he would
have spoken, but his spirits failed him; and, after a short conflict
betwixt Nature and Death, a quiet sigh put a period to his last
breath, and so he fell asleep. And now he seems to rest like Lazarus
in Abraham's bosom. Let me here draw his curtain, till with the most
glorious company of the Patriarchs and Apostles, the most Noble Army
of Martyrs and Confessors, this most learned, most humble, holy man
shall also awake to receive an eternal tranquillity, and with it a
greater degree of glory than common Christians shall be made partakers
of.

[Sidenote: A prayer]

In the mean time, Bless, O Lord! Lord, bless his brethren, the Clergy
of this nation, with effectual endeavours to attain, if not to his
great learning, yet to his remarkable meekness, his godly simplicity,
and his Christian moderation; for these will bring peace at the last.
And, Lord, let his most excellent writings be blest with what he
designed, when he undertook them: which was, glory to thee, O God! on
high, peace in thy Church, and goodwill to mankind. Amen, Amen.

IZAAK WALTON.


[Footnote 1: Dr. John Jewel was born in the Parish of Berry Narber, in
Devon, May 24th, 1522. He was educated at Merton, and Corpus Christi
Colleges, Oxford, and in the reign of Edward VI, he publickly
professed the Reformed Religion. During the reign of Mary he remained
abroad; but on the accession of Elizabeth, he returned, and was
made Bishop of Salisbury, in 1559. In his controversy with the
Roman Catholics, he published his famous "Apology for the Church of
England," which was translated into several languages, although it was
greatly opposed by the Papists. His fatigues abroad, and his incessant
study, so much impaired his constitution, that he died, Sept. 21st,
1571.]

[Footnote 2: Dr. William Cole, 1599, exchanged with Dr. Reynolds the
Presidentship of Corpus Christi College for the Deanery of Lincoln,
which he did not long enjoy. He fled into Germany in the time of
Queen Mary, and Anthony Wood names him as one of the exiles of Geneva
engaged with Miles Coverdale in a new translation of the Bible.]

[Footnote 3: He was professor of Divinity in Oxford, and died May
21st, 1607. It has been said that he was brought up in the Romish
faith, and that he was afterwards a strong supporter of the
Puritans; but Fuller supposes that it was only for the sake of
giving satisfaction to some of the more tender consciences of the
Non-conformists, since the virtue of Reynolds was almost proverbial.]

[Footnote 4: One of Translators of the Bible of 1565, born at
Hawkshead in Lancashire in 1519, and educated at St. John's College,
Cambridge, where he embraced the Protestant faith. He was committed
to the Tower and Marshalsea for having preached in favour of Lady Jane
Grey; and on his release he left the kingdom, till the accession of
Elizabeth, by whom he was made Bishop of Worcester. In 1570, he was
translated to London, in 1576 to York, and in 1588, he died: his
sermons are still admired, and a most virtuous character is given him
by Fuller. His son, Sir Edward Sandys, Prebendary of York, was born
about 1561, and is well known as the author of the tract entitled,
"Europae Speculum," a view of the State of Religion in the Western
parts of the World. He thus describes the various contrarieties of
the state and church of Rome. "What pomp, what riot, to that of their
Cardinals? What severity of life comparable to that of their Heremits
and Capuchins? Who wealthier than their Prelates? who poorer by vow
and profession than their Mendicants? On the one side of the street,
a cloister of Virgins: on the other a stye of courtezans, with public
toleration. This day all in masks, with all looseness and foolery: to
morrow all in processions, whipping themselves till the blood follow.
On one door an excommunication throwing to Hell all transgressours:
on another a Jubilee, or full discharge from all transgressions. Who
learneder in all kinds of sciences than their Jesuits? what thing
more ignorant than their ordinary mass-priests? What prince so able
to prefer his servants and followers as the Pope, and in so great
multitude? Who able to take deeper or readier revenge on his enemies?
What pride equal unto his, making Kings kiss his pantofle? What
humility greater than his, shriving himself daily on his knees to an
ordinary priest?"]

[Footnote 5: The name of this well-known English Cardinal is omitted
in the later editions.]

[Footnote 6: Dr. Jackson was born at Wilton on the Wear, in Durham, in
1579, and was educated at Queen's and Corpus Christi Colleges, Oxford.
He was made Prebendary of Winchester in 1635, and Dean of Peterborough
in 1638; he died in 1640, and his principal work is a "Commentary on
the Creed."]

[Footnote 7: Dr. Thomas Harding, educated at Winchester school, became
Fellow of New College, Oxford, in 1536. He was the first King's Hebrew
Professor in that University, and in the reign of King Edward VI. he
displayed great zeal for the Reformed Religion. Under Queen Mary he
abandoned his principles, and obtained considerable preferment;
a Prebend in the Church of Winchester, and the Treasurership of
Salisbury. On the accession of Queen Elizabeth he adhered to the
religion to which he had recently conformed, and fled beyond sea to
Louvain, where he distinguished himself by writing against Bishop
Jewel's "Challenge." He had been Chaplain to the Duke of Suffolk,
father of Lady Jane Grey.]

[Footnote 8: John Hart, a Jesuit, was educated in the University of
Oxford. In 1571 he was admitted to the English College at Douay, and
in 1578 was ordained priest. Returning in 1580 to England, he was
apprehended, tried, and condemned to death; but on the day of his
execution he was reprieved, and sent back to the Tower, where he
remained three years. It was during his confinement in the Tower that
he held a disputation with Dr. Reynolds. In 1584, being banished from
England, Hart proceeded to Verdun and joined the Society of Jesus. He
died at Jarislau, in Poland, on 19 July, 1594.]

[Footnote 9: A man of great piety of life, and such gravity, that he
was scarcely ever seen to laugh. He was a native of Westphalia,
in Germany: was Canon of Christ Church, Vice-Chancellor of the
University, and in 1585-86, was consecrated Bishop of Hereford.]

[Footnote 10: Sir H. Savile was born at Over Bradley, near Halifax in
Yorkshire, Nov. 30th, 1549, and was entered of Merton College, Oxford.
He was Greek and Mathematical Preceptor to Queen Elizabeth, and was
one of the Translators of the Bible, under James I., who knighted him
in 1604. He died Feb. 19th, 1621-22.]

[Footnote 11: Mr. Morrison, Secretary to Lord Mountjoy, and author
of "An Itinerary, containing his ten Years Travels through the twelve
Dominions of Germany, Bohmerland, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland,
England, Scotland, and Ireland; divided into three Parts. London,
1617." Fol. Published after his death, and originally written in
Latin.]

[Footnote 12: The later editions of the Life of Hooker omit the
account of this expulsion.]

[Footnote 13: A pulpit cross formed of timber, covered with lead, and
mounted upon stone steps, which stood in the midst of the Church-yard
of the Cathedral; in which Sermons were preached by eminent Divines
every Sunday in the forenoon, when the Court, the Magistrates of the
City, and a vast concourse of people usually attended. There is notice
of its use so early as 1259, but it was not finished in its final form
until 1449, by Kemp, Bishop of London, and it was finally destroyed by
order of Parliament, in 1643. The Corporation of London ordained that
all Ministers who came from a distance to preach at this Cross, were
to have lodgings and provision for five days; and the Bishop of London
gave them notice of their place of residence.]

[Footnote 14: The excellent Aylmer, was born at Aylmer-Hall, in
Norfolk, in 1521, and was Tutor to Lady Jane Grey; he left England,
during the reign of Mary, and went to Zurich. He returned on
Elizabeth's accession, and was made Bishop of London in March,
1576--7, strictly governing the Puritans throughout his Prelacy. He
died in 1594.]

[Footnote 15: Two wretched fanatics; the first died in prison, and
the second was hanged in 1591. Hacket was called by his followers
"the supreme Monarch of the world from whom all Princes of Europe hold
their sceptres," and was held "to be a greater prophet than Moses or
John Baptist, even Jesus Christ, who was come with his fan in his
hand to judge the world." Fuller says that Hacket was of so "cruel and
fierce a nature that he is reported to have bit off and eat down the
nose of his schoolmaster."]

[Footnote 16: Edward Dering, a Puritan Divine, and a native of Kent,
educated at Christ College, Cambridge. He was suspended from his
Lectureships on account of his nonconformity, but he is commended as
a truly religious man, whose pure and virtuous life was followed by a
happy death, in 1576. He wrote some Sermons, and a Defence of Bishop
Jewel's Apology for the Church.]

[Footnote 17: A mild and beneficent man burned by the Papists at
Smithfield, July 1, 1555.]

[Footnote 18: Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury, born in 1519,
at Hinsingham, in Cumberland, and educated at Cambridge. In 1552 he
became Prebendary of Westminster, but on the death of King Edward he
retired to Strasburg. Here he continued to reside till the accession
of Elizabeth, who nominated him in 1559 to the See of London, whence,
in 1570, he was translated to York, and in 1575, on the death of
Parker, to Canterbury. His indulgence to the Puritans procured him the
Queen's displeasure, and for some time he was sequestered and confined
to his house, but in 1582 he resigned his office, and died July 6th,
1583.]

[Footnote 19: Thomas Cartwright was born in Hertfordshire in 1535,
and was educated at Cambridge. In 1567 he graduated B.D., and was
appointed Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity. Having vigorously
assailed the Church Establishment in his lectures, he was deprived
of his professorship; whereupon he went to Geneva, and made the
acquaintance of Beza. In 1572 he revisited England, and entered into
a long controversy with Whitgift; in 1573 he went to Heidelberg, and
afterwards served as minister to the English congregations at Antwerp
and Middleburg. On returning to England, in 1585, he was imprisoned by
order of Bishop Aylmer, but was soon released at the instance of Lord
Burghley. In 1595 he accompanied Lord Zouch to Guernsey, remaining on
the island till 1598. He died at Warwick on 27th December, 1603 (not,
as Walton says, 1602). Among his works are a Latin Harmony of the
Gospels, Commentaries on the Colossians, &c.]

[Footnote 20: Walter Travers, who had been Fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge, to which Cartwright removed, and he was also his intimate
friend, and joint preacher with him in Antwerp. When Travers came
to England, he was made Chaplain to Lord Burghley, whose interest
procured him to be Lecturer at the Temple.]

[Footnote 21: Dr. RICHARD ROWLAND, Master of St. John's College in
Cambridge, and the fourth Bishop of Peterborough, died in 1600. It
does not appear that he was the preacher on this occasion, for Gunton,
in his "History of the Church of Peterborough," states that it was
Wickham, Bishop of Lincoln.]

[Footnote 22: In 1588, many satirical libels were published against
the Bishops, written principally by a Society of men assuming the name
of Martin Mar-Prelate; some of them were entitled, _Diotrephes, the
Minerals, the Epistle to the Convocation-House, Have you any work for
a Cooper?_ and _More work for a Cooper_, referring to the Defence
of the Church and Bishops of England, written by Cowper, Bishop of
Winchester. The real authors of these tracts, were John Penry, a
Welchman, John Udall, and other ministers.]

[Footnote 23: Thomas Nashe, an English Satirical writer, baptized in
1567 at Lowestoffe, in Suffolk, and educated at St. John's College,
Cambridge. As a master of invective he has no superior; he died in
or before 1601.--_An Almond for a Parrot_, was probably by Lyly the
Euphuist. _A Fig for my Godson_, and _Come, Crack me this Nut_, are
the after-titles of _Pappe with an Hatchet_, another tract of Lyly's
(if we may believe the testimony of Gabriel Harvey).]

[Footnote 24: In some of the later editions of the Life of Hooker,
this paragraph is thus altered--"And in this examination: I have not
only satisfied myself, but have begun a treatise in which I intend the
satisfaction of others, by a demonstration of the reasonableness
of our Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity; and therein laid a hopeful
foundation for the Church's peace; and so as not to provoke your
adversary, Mr. Cartwright, nor Mr. Travers, whom I take to be
mine--but not mine enemy--God knows this to be my meaning. To which
end I have searched many books, and spent many thoughtful hours; and I
hope not in vain, for I write to reasonable men. But, my Lord, I shall
never be able to finish what I have begun, unless I be removed into
some quiet country parsonage, where I may see God's blessings spring
out of my mother earth, and eat mine own bread in peace and privacy.
A place where I may, without disturbance, meditate my approaching
mortality and that great account, which all flesh must at the last
great day give to the God of all Spirits. This is my design; and as
those are the designs of my heart, so they shall, by God's assistance,
be the constant endeavours of the uncertain remainder of my life."]

[Footnote 25: He was for some time Fellow of Oriel College, and
principal of St. Mary Hall. He was made a Cardinal by Pope Sixtus V.
in 1587. In 1589, he was appointed Archbishop of Mechlin in Brabant,
and died on 6th October, 1594.]

[Footnote 26: It is ascertained by Bishop King's letter to Walton,
that it was Dr. Stapleton who introduced the works of Hooker to the
Pope. Thomas Stapleton was a Romish Divine, born in 1536, at Henfield,
in Sussex, and educated at Winchester, and New College, Oxford. In
the reign of Mary he was made Prebendary of Chichester; but at the
accession of Elizabeth he left England, and became Professor of
Divinity at Douay. He died at Louvain, in 1598, and his works form
four volumes in folio.]

[Footnote 27: Dr. John Earle, author of the "Microcosmography, or a
piece of the World, discovered in Essays and characters," was born
at York, in 1601; was educated at Oxford, and was Tutor to Prince
Charles. In the Civil Wars, he lost both his property and preferments,
and attended the King abroad as his Chaplain. At the Restoration
he was made Dean of Westminster, in 1662 was consecrated Bishop of
Worcester, and in 1663 was translated to Salisbury. He died at Oxford,
1665. His translation of Hooker's Polity was never printed.]

[Footnote 28: A Protestant Divine, and Professor of Divinity at
Leyden, born at Artois in 1531, came to England in 1587. He was the
bosom friend of Whitgift. For some time he was master of the Free
Grammar School of Southampton. Dr. Saravia was one of the Translators
of King James's Bible, and died in 1613. His tracts have been printed,
both in Latin and English.]

[Footnote 29: A most learned Jesuit. He read theological lectures
at Ingolstadt, where he died in 1625, aged 63 years. His works were
published at Ratisbon, in 1734-1741, in 17 vols. fol.]

[Footnote 30: Our biographer has lamented that it was not in his power
to recover the name of Mr. Hooker's worthy school-master. That of
his grateful parish-clerk was Sampson Horton. It appears from the
parish-register of Bishop's-Bourne, that "Sampson Horton was buried
the 9th of May 1648, an aged man who had been clarke to this parish,
by his own relation, threescore yeares."]

[Footnote 31: "Can there be any of friendship in snares, hooks and
_trepans_?"

"Nothing but gins, and snares and _trapans_ for souls."--_Dr. South_.]

[Footnote 32: "A certain lewd woman came to his chamber, and solicited
his charity under this cogent argument, 'that if he should deny her,
she would lay base attempts to his charge;' and by this means, at
several times, she had gotten money from him; until at last Providence
was pleased to concern itself for the righting wronged innocence. It
so fell out, that this woman came to him when his two dear friends Mr.
Sandys and Mr. Cranmer were with him: wondering to see such a person
come with so much confidence, they inquired of their tutor the
occasion of it, who in a little time tells them the truth of the whole
abuse. Upon which they contrive a way to be present in his chamber,
where they might hear the whole discourse at her next coming. An
opportunity soon offered, and the lewd woman persisting in her threats
of laying ill things to his charge, if she was denied what she came
for, money, his two friends stepped forth from behind the curtains to
her confusion and the shame of those who had employed her in so
vile an action; for his slanderers were punished for this their vile
attempt, who at their suffering shewed a penitent behaviour, and made
an open confession."--_Prince's Worthies of Devon_.]




[Sidenote: Cowper's epitaph]

This following Epitaph was long since presented to the world, in
memory of Mr. HOOKER, by Sir WILLIAM COWPER, who also built him a
fair Monument in Bourne Church, and acknowledges him to have been his
spiritual father.

  Though nothing can be spoke worthy his fame,
  Or the remembrance of that precious name,
  Judicious Hooker; though this cost be spent
  On him, that hath a lasting monument[1]
  In his own books; yet ought we to express,
  If not his worth, yet our respectfulness.
  Church-Ceremonies he maintain'd; then why
  Without all ceremony should he die?
  Was it because his life and death should be
  Both equal patterns of humility?
  Or that perhaps this only glorious one
  Was above all, to ask, why had he none?
  Yet he, that lay so long obscurely low,
  Doth now preferr'd to greater honours go.
  Ambitious men, learn hence to be more wise,
  Humility is the true way to rise:
  And God in me this lesson did inspire,
  To bid this humble man, "Friend, sit up higher."

[Footnote 1: On this monument is a bust of Hooker, representing him in
his cap and gown.]




AN APPENDIX
TO THE
LIFE OF MR. RICHARD HOOKER.


[Sidenote: Other details]

And now, having by a long and laborious search satisfied myself, and I
hope my Reader, by imparting to him the true relation of Mr. Hooker's
life, I am desirous also to acquaint him with some observations that
relate to it, and which could not properly fall to be spoken till
after his death; of which my Reader may expect a brief and true
account in the following Appendix.

[Sidenote: Date of death]

And first, it is not to be doubted but that he died in the
forty-seventh, if not in the forty-sixth year of his age: which I
mention, because many have believed him to be more aged: but I have so
examined it, as to be confident I mistake not: and for the year of
his death, Mr. Camden, who in his Annals of Queen Elizabeth, 1599,
mentions him with a high commendation of his life and learning,
declares him to die in the year 1599; and yet in that in of his
Monument, set up at the charge of Sir William Cowper, in Bourne
Church, where Mr. Hooker was buried, his death is there said to be
in anno 1603; but doubtless both are mistaken; for I have it attested
under the hand of William Somner, the Archbishop's Registrar for the
Province of Canterbury, that Richard Hooker's Will bears date October
26th in anno 1600, and that it was proved the third of December
following. [And the Reader may take notice, that since I first writ
this Appendix to the Life of Mr. Hooker, Mr. Fulman, of Corpus Christi
College, hath shewed me a good authority for the very day and hour
of Mr. Hooker's death, in one of his books of Polity, which had been
Archbishop Laud's. In which book, beside many considerable marginal
notes of some passages of his time, under the Bishop's own hand,
there is also written in the title-page of that book--which now is
Mr. Fulman's--this attestation: Ricardus Hooker _vir summis doctrinæ
dotibus ornatus, de Ecclesia præcipue Anglicana optime meritus, obiit
Novemb. 2, circiter horam secundam post-meridianum_, Anno 1600.]

[Sidenote: His daughters]

And that at his death he left four daughters, Alice, Cicely, Jane and
Margaret; that he gave to each of them an hundred pounds; that he left
Joan, his wife, his sole executrix; and that, by his inventory his
estate--a great part of it being in books--came to £1,092 9_s_. 2_d_.,
which was much more than he thought himself worth; and which was not
got by his care, much less by the good housewifery of his wife, but
saved by his trusty servant, Thomas Lane, that was wiser than his
master in getting money for him, and more frugal than his mistress in
keeping of it. Of which Will of Mr. Hooker's I shall say no more, but
that his dear friend Thomas, the father of George Cranmer,--of whom
I have spoken, and shall have occasion to say more,--was one of the
witnesses to it.

One of his elder daughters was married to one Chalinor, sometime a
School-master in Chichester, and are both dead long since. Margaret,
his youngest daughter, was married unto Ezekiel Charke, Bachelor in
Divinity, and Rector of St. Nicholas in Harbledown, near Canterbury,
who died about sixteen years past, and had a son Ezekiel, now living,
and in Sacred Orders; being at this time Rector of Waldron, in Sussex.
She left also a daughter, with both whom I have spoken not many months
past, and find her to be a widow in a condition that wants not, but
very far from abounding. And these two attested unto me, that Richard
Hooker, their grandfather, had a sister, by name Elizabeth Harvey,
that lived to the age of 121 years, and died in the month of
September, 1663.

For his other two daughters I can learn little certainty, but have
heard they both died before they were marriageable. And for his wife,
she was so unlike Jephtha's daughter, that she staid not a comely time
to bewail her widowhood; nor lived long enough to repent her second
marriage; for which, doubtless, she would have found cause, if there
had been but four months betwixt Mr. Hooker's and her death. But she
is dead, and let her other infirmities be buried with her.

Thus much briefly for his age, the year of his death, his estate, his
wife, and his children. I am next to speak of his books; concerning
which I shall have a necessity of being longer, or shall neither
do right to myself, or my Reader, which is chiefly intended in this
Appendix.

[Sidenote: His books]

I have declared in his Life, that he proposed Eight Books, and that
his first Four were printed anno 1594, and his Fifth book first
printed, and alone, anno 1597; and that he lived to finish the
remaining Three of the proposed Eight: but whether we have the
last Three as finished by himself, is a just and material question;
concerning which I do declare, that I have been told almost forty
years past, by one that very well knew Mr. Hooker and the affairs of
his family, that, about a month after the death of Mr. Hooker, Bishop
Whitgift, then Archbishop of Canterbury, sent one of his Chaplains to
enquire of Mrs. Hooker, for the three remaining books of Polity,
writ by her husband: of which she would not, or could not, give
any account: and that about three months after that time the Bishop
procured her to be sent for to London, and then by his procurement she
was to be examined by some of her Majesty's Council, concerning the
disposal of those books: but, by way of preparation for the next
day's examination, the Bishop invited her to Lambeth, and after some
friendly questions, she confessed to him, that one Mr. Charke, and
another Minister that dwelt near Canterbury, came to her, and desired
that they might go into her husband's study, and look upon some of
his writings: and that there they two burnt and tore many of them,
assuring her, that they were writings not fit to be seen: and that she
knew nothing more concerning them. Her lodging was then in King street
in Westminster, where she was found next morning dead in her bed, and
her new husband suspected and questioned for it; but he was declared
innocent of her death.

[Sidenote: Those of Polity]

And I declare also, that Dr. John Spencer,--mentioned in the Life of
Mr. Hooker,--who was of Mr. Hooker's College, and of his time there,
and betwixt whom there was so friendly a friendship, that they
continually advised together in all their studies, and particularly
in what concerned these books of Polity--this Dr. Spencer, the Three
perfect books being lost, had delivered into his hands--I think by
Bishop Whitgift--the imperfect books, or first rough draughts of
them, to be made as perfect as they might be by him, who both knew Mr.
Hooker's handwriting, and was best acquainted with his intentions. And
a fair testimony of this may appear by an Epistle, first, and usually
printed before Mr. Hooker's Five books,--but omitted, I know not why,
in the last impression of the Eight printed together in anno 1662, in
which the Publishers seem to impose the three doubtful books, to be
the undoubted books of Mr. Hooker,--with these two letters, J.S. at
the end of the said Epistle, which was meant for this John Spencer:
in which Epistle the Reader may find these words, which may give some
authority to what I have here written of his last Three books.

[Sidenote: "J.S.," his Epistle]

"And though Mr. Hooker hastened his own death by hastening to give
life to his books, yet he held out with his eyes to behold these
Benjamins, these sons of his right hand, though to him they proved
Benonies, sons of pain and sorrow. But some evil-disposed minds,
whether of malice or covetousness, or wicked blind zeal, it is
uncertain, as soon as they were born, and their father dead, smothered
them, and by conveying the perfect copies, left unto us nothing but
the old, imperfect, mangled draughts, dismembered into pieces; no
favour, no grace, not the shadow of themselves remaining in them. Had
the father lived to behold them thus defaced, he might rightly have
named them Benonies, the sons of sorrow: but being the learned will
not suffer them to die and be buried, it is intended the world shall
see them as they are; the learned will find in them some shadows and
resemblances of their father's face. God grant, that as they were with
their brethren dedicated to the Church for messengers of peace: so,
in the strength of that little breath of life that remaineth in them,
they may prosper in their work, and, by satisfying the doubts of
such as are willing to learn, they may help to give an end to the
calamities of these our civil wars."--J.S.

[Sidenote: The Three Books]

And next the Reader may note, that this Epistle of Dr. Spencer's
was writ and first printed within four years after the death of
Mr. Hooker, in which time all diligent search had been made for
the perfect copies; and then granted not recoverable, and therefore
endeavoured to be completed out of Mr. Hooker's rough draughts, as
is expressed by the said Dr. Spencer in the said Epistle, since whose
death it is now fifty years.

And I do profess by the faith of a Christian, that Dr. Spencer's
wife--who was my Aunt, and Sister to George Cranmer, of whom I have
spoken--told me forty years since, in these, or in words to this
purpose: "That her husband had made up, or finished Mr. Hooker's last
Three books; and that upon her husband's death-bed, or in his last
sickness, he gave them into her hand, with a charge that they should
not be seen by any man, but be by her delivered into the hands of the
then Archbishop of Canterbury, which was Dr. Abbot, or unto Dr. King,
then Bishop of London, and that she did as he enjoined her."

I do conceive, that from Dr. Spencer's, and no other copy, there have
been divers transcripts; and I know that these were to be found in
several places; as namely, in Sir Thomas Bodley's Library; in that of
Dr. Andrews, late Bishop of Winton; in the late Lord Conway's; in the
Archbishop of Canterbury's; and in the Bishop of Armagh's; and in many
others: and most of these pretended to be the Author's own hand, but
much disagreeing, being indeed altered and diminished, as men have
thought fittest to make Mr. Hooker's judgment suit with their fancies,
or give authority to their corrupt designs; and for proof of a part of
this, take these following testimonies.

[Sidenote: "Clavi Trabales"]

Dr. Barnard, sometime Chaplain to Dr. Usher, late Lord Archbishop of
Armagh, hath declared in a late book, called "Clavi Trabales," printed
by Richard Hodgkinson, anno 1661, that, in his search and examination
of the said Bishop's manuscripts, he found the Three written books
which were supposed the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth of Mr. Hooker's
books of Ecclesiastical Polity; and that in the said Three books--now
printed as Mr. Hooker's--there are so many omissions, that they amount
to many paragraphs, and which cause many incoherencies: the omissions
are set down at large in the said printed book, to which I refer
the Reader for the whole; but think fit in this place to insert this
following short part of some of the said omissions.

[Sidenote: Omissions]

First, as there could be in natural bodies no motion of any thing,
unless there were some first which moved all things, and continued
unmoveable; even so in politic societies there must be some
unpunishable, or else no man shall suffer punishment: for sith
punishments proceed always from superiors, to whom the administration
of justice belongeth; which administration must have necessarily a
fountain, that deriveth it to all others, and receiveth not from any,
because otherwise the course of justice should go infinitely in a
circle, every superior having his superior without end, which cannot
be: therefore a well-spring, it followeth, there is: a supreme head of
justice, whereunto all are subject, but itself in subjection to none.
Which kind of pre-eminency if some ought to have in a kingdom, who
but a King shall have it? Kings, therefore, or no man, can have lawful
power to judge.

If private men offend, there is the Magistrate over them, which
judgeth; if Magistrates, they have their Prince; if Princes, there is
Heaven, a tribunal, before which they shall appear; on earth they are
not accountable to any. Here, says the Doctor, it breaks off abruptly.

And I have these words also attested under the hand of Mr. Fabian
Philips, a man of note for his useful books. "I will make oath, if I
shall be required, that Dr. Sanderson, the late Bishop of Lincoln,
did a little before his death affirm to me, he had seen a manuscript
affirmed to him to be the hand-writing of Mr. Richard Hooker, in
which there was no mention made of the King or supreme governors being
accountable to the people. This I will make oath, that that good man
attested to me.

              "FABIAN PHILIPS." [1]

So that there appears to be both omissions and additions in the said
last Three printed books: and this may probably be one reason why Dr.
Sanderson, the said learned Bishop,--whose writings are so highly and
justly valued,--gave a strict charge near the time of his death, or
in his last Will, "That nothing of his that was not already printed,
should be printed after his death."

[Sidenote: King Charles on Hooker]

It is well known how high a value our learned King James put upon
the books writ by Mr. Hooker; and known also that our late King
Charles--the Martyr for the Church--valued them the second of all
books, testified by his commending them to the reading of his son
Charles, that now is our gracious King: and you may suppose that this
Charles the First was not a stranger to the Three pretended books,
because, in a discourse with the Lord Say, in the time of the Long
Parliament, when the said Lord required the King to grant the truth of
his argument, because it was the judgment of Mr. Hooker,--quoting him
in one of the three written books, the King replied, "They were not
allowed to be Mr. Hooker's books: but, however, he would allow them
to be Mr. Hooker's, and consent to what his Lordship proposed to prove
out of those doubtful books, if he would but consent to the judgment
of Mr. Hooker in the other five, that were the undoubted books of Mr.
Hooker."

[Sidenote: To the Reader]

In this relation concerning these Three doubtful books of Mr.
Hooker's, my purpose was to enquire, then set down what I observed and
know; which I have done, not as an engaged person, but indifferently;
and now leave my Reader to give sentence, for their legitimation, as
to himself; but so as to leave others the same liberty of believing or
disbelieving them to be Mr. Hooker's: and 'tis observable, that as
Mr. Hooker advised with Dr. Spencer, in the design and manage of
these books; so also, and chiefly with his dear pupil, George
Cranmer,--whose sister was the wife of Dr. Spencer,--of which this
following letter may be a testimony, and doth also give authority to
some things mentioned both in this Appendix and in the Life of Mr.
Hooker, and is therefore added. I.W.


[Footnote 1: A Barrister of eminence, particularly noted for his
loyalty, born at Prestbury, in Gloucestershire, in 1601. He died in
1690; and was the Author of several excellent Law Tracts, as well as
one asserting that Charles I. was a martyr for his people.]




GEORGE CRANMER'S LETTER
UNTO
MR. RICHARD HOOKER,

_February_, 1598.[1]


[Sidenote: New Church Discipline]

[Sidenote: Change in opinion]

What posterity is likely to judge of these matters concerning
Church-discipline, we may the better conjecture, if we call to mind
what our own age, within few years, upon better experience, hath
already judged concerning the same. It may be remembered, that at
first, the greatest part of the learned in the land were either
eagerly affected, or favourably inclined that way. The books then
written for the most part savoured of the disciplinary style; it
sounded every where in pulpits, and in common phrase of men's speech.
The contrary part began to fear they had taken a wrong course; many
which impugned the discipline, yet so impugned it, not as not being
the better form of government, but as not being so convenient for our
state, in regard of dangerous innovations thereby likely to grow: one
man [John Whitgift, the Archbishop] alone there was to speak
of,--whom let no suspicion of flattery deprive of his deserved
commendation,--who, in the defiance of the one part, and courage
of the other, stood in the gap and gave others respite to prepare
themselves to the defence, which, by the sudden eagerness and violence
of their adversaries, had otherwise been prevented, wherein God hath
made good unto him his own impress, _Vincit qui patitur:_ for what
contumelious indignities he hath at their hands sustained, the world
is witness; and what reward of honour above his adversaries God hath
bestowed upon him, themselves,--though nothing glad thereof,--must
needs confess. Now of late years the heat of men towards the
discipline is greatly decayed; their judgments begin to sway on the
other side; the learned have weighed it, and found it light; wise
men conceive some fear, lest it prove not only not the best kind of
government, but the very bane and destruction of all government. The
cause of this change in men's opinions may be drawn from the general
nature of error, disguised and clothed with the name of truth; which
did mightily and violently possess men at first, but afterwards, the
weakness thereof being by time discovered, it lost that reputation,
which before it had gained. As by the outside of an house the
passers-by are oftentimes deceived, till they see the conveniency of
the rooms within; so, by the very name of discipline and reformation,
men were drawn at first to cast a fancy towards it, but now they
have not contented themselves only to pass by and behold afar off the
fore-front of this reformed house; they have entered it, even at the
special request of the master-workmen and chief-builders thereof: they
have perused the rooms, the lights, the conveniences, and they find
them not answerable to that report which was made of them, nor to
that opinion which upon report they had conceived: so as now the
discipline, which at first triumphed over all, being unmasked,
beginneth to droop, and hang down her head.

[Sidenote: Causes]

[Sidenote: Gregory Martin]

The cause of change in opinion concerning the discipline is proper to
the learned, or to such as by them have been instructed. Another cause
there is more open, and more apparent to the view of all, namely,
the course of practice, which the Reformers have had with us from the
beginning. The first degree was only some small difference about the
cap and surplice; but not such as either bred division in the
Church, or tended to the ruin of the government established. This was
peaceable; the next degree more stirring. Admonitions were directed to
the Parliament in peremptory sort against our whole form of regiment.
In defence of them, volumes were published in English and in Latin:
yet this was no more than writing. Devices were set on foot to erect
the practice of the discipline without authority; yet herein some
regard of modesty, some moderation was used. Behold at length it brake
forth into open outrage, first in writing by Martin;[2] in whose
kind of dealing these things may be observed: 1. That whereas Thomas
Cartwright and others his great masters, had always before set out the
discipline as a Queen, and as the daughter of God; he contrariwise, to
make her more acceptable to the people, brought her forth as a
Vice[3] upon the stage. 2. This conceit of his was grounded--as may
be supposed--upon this rare policy, that seeing the discipline was by
writing refuted, in Parliament rejected, in secret corners hunted
out and decried, it was imagined that by open railing,--which to the
vulgar is commonly most plausible,--the State Ecclesiastical might
have been drawn into such contempt and hatred, as the overthrow
thereof should have been most grateful to all men, and in a manner
desired by all the common people. 3. It may be noted--and this I know
myself to be true--how some of them, although they could not for shame
approve so lewd an action, yet were content to lay hold on it to
the advancement of their cause, by acknowledging therein the secret
judgments of God against the Bishops, and hoping that some good might
be wrought thereby for his Church; as indeed there was, though
not according to their construction. For 4thly, contrary to their
expectation, that railing spirit did not only not further, but
extremely disgrace and prejudice their cause, when it was once
perceived from how low degrees of contradiction, at first, to what
outrage of contumely and slander, they were at length proceeded; and
were also likely to proceed further.

[Sidenote: Hacket and Coppinger]

A further degree of outrage was also in fact: certain [Hacket and
Coppinger] prophets did arise, who deeming it not possible that God
should suffer that to be undone, which they did so fiercely desire to
have done, namely, that his holy saints, the favourers and fathers of
the discipline, should be enlarged and delivered from persecution;
and seeing no means of deliverance ordinary, were fain to persuade
themselves that God must needs raise some extraordinary means; and
being persuaded of none so well as of themselves, they forthwith must
needs be the instruments of this great work. Hereupon they framed
unto themselves an assured hope, that, upon their preaching out of a
peascart in Cheapside, all the multitude would have presently joined
unto them, and in amazement of mind have asked them, _Viri fratres,
quid agimus?_ whereunto it is likely they would have returned an
answer far unlike to that of St. Peter: "Such and such are men
unworthy to govern; pluck them down: such and such are the dear
children of God; let them be advanced."

Of two of these men it is meet to speak with all commiseration; yet
so, that others by their example may receive instruction, and withal
some light may appear, what stirring affections the discipline is like
to inspire, if it light upon apt and prepared minds.

[Sidenote: Bancroft's book]

Now if any man doubt of what society they were; or if the Reformers
disclaim them, pretending that by them they were condemned; let
these points be considered. 1. Whose associates were they before they
entered into this frantic passion? Whose sermons did they frequent?
Whom did they admire? 2. Even when they were entering into it, Whose
advice did they require? and when they were in, Whose approbation?
Whom advertised they of their purpose? Whose assistance by prayer did
they request? But we deal injuriously with them to lay this to their
charge; for they reproved and condemned it. How! did they disclose
it to the Magistrate, that it might be suppressed? or were they not
rather content to stand aloof off, and see the end of it, as being
loath to quench that spirit? No doubt these mad practitioners were of
their society, with whom before, and in the practice of their madness,
they had most affinity. Hereof read Dr. Bancroft's book.[4]

[Sidenote: Brownists and Barrowists]

A third inducement may be to dislike of the discipline, if we consider
not only how far the Reformers themselves have proceeded, but what
others upon their foundations have built. Here come the Brownists[5]
in the first rank, their lineal descendants, who have seized upon a
number of strange opinions; whereof, although their ancestors, the
Reformers, were never actually possessed, yet, by right and interest
from them derived, the Brownists and Barrowists[6] have taken
possession of them: for if the positions of the Reformers be true, I
cannot see how the main and general conclusions of Brownism should be
false; for upon these two points, as I conceive, they stand.

[Sidenote: Their two points]

1. That, because we have no Church, they are to sever themselves from
us. 2. That without Civil authority they are to erect a Church of
their own. And if the former of these be true, the latter, I suppose,
will follow: for if above all things men be to regard their salvation;
and if out of the Church there be no salvation; it followeth, that,
if we have no Church, we have no means of salvation; and therefore
separation from us in that respect is both lawful and necessary; as
also, that men, so separated from the false and counterfeit Church,
are to associate themselves unto some Church; not to ours; to the
Popish much less; therefore to one of their own making. Now the ground
of all these inferences being this, That in our Church there is no
means of salvation, is out of the Reformers' principles most clearly
to be proved. For wheresoever any matter of faith unto salvation
necessary is denied, there can be no means of salvation; but in the
Church of England, the discipline, by them accounted a matter of
faith, and necessary to salvation, is not only denied, but impugned,
and the professors thereof oppressed. _Ergo_.

Again,--but this reason perhaps is weak,--every true Church of Christ
acknowledgeth the whole Gospel of Christ: the discipline, in their
opinion, is a part of the Gospel, and yet by our Church resisted.
_Ergo_.

[Sidenote: Essential discipline]

Again, the discipline is essentially united to the Church: by which
term essentially, they must mean either an essential part, or an
essential property. Both which ways it must needs be, that where that
essential discipline is not, neither is there any Church. If therefore
between them and the Brownists there should be appointed a solemn
disputation, whereof with us they have been oftentimes so earnest
challengers; it doth not yet appear what other answer they could
possibly frame to these and the like arguments, wherewith they may be
pressed, but fairly to deny the conclusion,--for all the premises
are their own,--or rather ingeniously to reverse their own principles
before laid, whereon so foul absurdities have been so firmly built.
What further proofs you can bring out of their high words, magnifying
the discipline, I leave to your better remembrance: but, above all
points, I am desirous this one should be strongly enforced against
them, because it wringeth them most of all, and is of all others--for
aught I see--the most unanswerable. You may notwithstanding say, that
you would be heartily glad these their positions might be salved, as
the Brownists might not appear to have issued out of their loins: but
until that be done, they must give us leave to think that they have
cast the seed whereout these tares are grown.

[Sidenote: "Godless politics"]

Another sort of men there are, which have been content to run on with
the Reformers for a time, and to make them poor instruments of their
own designs. These are a sort of godless politics, who, perceiving
the plot of discipline to consist of these two parts, the overthrow
of Episcopal, and erection of Presbyterial authority; and that this
latter can take no place till the former be removed; are content to
join with them in the destructive part of discipline, bearing them in
hand, that in the other also they shall find them as ready. But when
time shall come, it may be they would be as loath to be yoked with
that kind of regiment, as now they are willing to be released from
this. These men's ends in all their actions is distraction; their
pretence and colour, reformation. Those things which under this
colour they have effected to their own good, are, 1. By maintaining a
contrary faction, they have kept the Clergy always in awe, and
thereby made them more pliable, and willing to buy their peace. 2. By
maintaining an opinion of equality among ministers, they have made way
to their own purposes for devouring Cathedral Churches, and Bishops'
livings. 3. By exclaiming against abuses in the Church, they have
carried their own corrupt dealing in the Civil State more covertly.
For such is the nature of the multitude, that they are not able to
apprehend many things at once; so as being possessed with a dislike or
liking of any one thing, many other in the mean time may escape them
without being perceived. 4. They have sought to disgrace the Clergy,
in entertaining a conceit in men's minds, and confirming it by
continual practice, That men of learning, and especially of the
Clergy, which are employed in the chiefest kind of learning, are not
to be admitted to matters of State; contrary to the practice of all
well-governed commonwealths, and of our own till these late years.

[Sidenote: Atheists]

[Sidenote: Causes of Atheism]

A third sort of men there are, though not descended from the
Reformers, yet in part raised and greatly strengthened by them;
namely, the cursed crew of Atheists. This also is one of those points,
which I am desirous you should handle most effectually, and strain
yourself therein to all points of motion and affection; as in that of
the Brownists, to all strength and sinews of reason. This is a sort
most damnable, and yet by the general suspicion of the world at
this day most common. The causes of it, which are in the parties
themselves, although you handle in the beginning of the fifth book,
yet here again they may be touched: but the occasions of help and
furtherance, which by the Reformers have been yielded unto them, are,
as I conceive, two; namely, senseless preaching, and disgracing of the
Ministry: for how should not men dare to impugn that, which neither
by force of reason, nor by authority of persons, is maintained? But in
the parties themselves these two causes I conceive of Atheism: 1. More
abundance of wit than judgment, and of witty than judicious learning;
whereby they are more inclined to contradict any thing, than willing
to be informed of the truth. They are not therefore men of sound
learning for the most part, but smatterers; neither is their kind of
dispute so much by force of argument, as by scoffing; which humour
of scoffing, and turning matters most serious into merriment, is now
become so common, as we are not to marvel what the Prophet means
by the seat of scorners, nor what the Apostles, by foretelling of
scorners to come; for our own age hath verified their speech unto
us: which also may be an argument against these scoffers and Atheists
themselves, seeing it hath been so many ages ago foretold, that such
men the latter days of the world should afford: which could not
be done by any other spirit, save that whereunto things future and
present are alike. And even for the main question of the resurrection,
whereat they stick so mightily, was it not plainly foretold, that men
should in the latter times say, "Where is the promise of his coming?"
Against the creation, the ark, and divers other points, exceptions are
said to be taken, the ground whereof is superfluity of wit, without
ground of learning and judgment. A second cause of Atheism is
sensuality, which maketh men desirous to remove all stops and
impediments of their wicked life; among which because Religion is the
chiefest, so as neither in this life without shame they can persist
therein, nor--if that be true--without torment in the life to come;
they therefore whet their wits to annihilate the joys of Heaven,
wherein they see--if any such be--they can have no part, and likewise
the pains of Hell, wherein their portion must needs be very great.
They labour therefore, not that they may not deserve those pains, but
that, deserving them, there may be no such pains to seize upon them.
But what conceit can be imagined more base, than that man should
strive to persuade himself even against the secret instinct, no doubt,
of his own mind, that his soul is as the soul of a beast, mortal, and
corruptible with the body? Against which barbarous opinion their own
Atheism is a very strong argument. For, were not the soul a nature
separable from the body, how could it enter into discourse of things
merely spiritual, and nothing at all pertaining to the body? Surely
the soul were not able to conceive any thing of Heaven, no not so much
as to dispute against Heaven, and against God, if there were not in it
somewhat heavenly, and derived from God.

[Sidenote: Papists]

The last which have received strength and encouragement from the
Reformers are Papists; against whom, although they are most bitter
enemies, yet unwittingly they have given them great advantage. For
what can any enemy rather desire than the breach and dissension of
those which are confederates against him? Wherein they are to remember
that if our communion with Papists in some few ceremonies do so much
strengthen them, as is pretended, how much more doth this division and
rent among ourselves, especially seeing it is maintained to be, not in
light matters only, but even in matters of faith and salvation? Which
over-reaching speech of theirs, because it is so open an advantage for
the Barrowist and the Papist, we are to wish and hope for, that they
will acknowledge it to have been spoken rather in heat of affection,
than with soundness of judgment; and that through their exceeding love
to that creature of discipline which themselves have bred, nourished,
and maintained, their mouth in commendation of her did so often
overflow.

[Sidenote: Points of controversy]

From hence you may proceed--but the means of connexion I leave to
yourself--to another discourse, which I think very meet to be handled
either here or elsewhere at large; the parts whereof may be these: 1.
That in this cause between them and us, men are to sever the proper
and essential points and controversy from those which are accidental.
The most essential and proper are these two: overthrow of the
Episcopal, and erection of Presbyterial authority. But in these two
points whosoever joineth with them, is accounted of their number;
whosoever in all other points agreeth with them, yet thinketh the
authority of Bishops not unlawful, and of Elders not necessary, may
justly be severed from their retinue. Those things, therefore, which
either in the persons, or in the laws and orders themselves are
faulty, may be complained on, acknowledged, and amended, yet they no
whit the nearer their main purpose: for what if all errors by them
supposed in our Liturgy were amended, even according to their own
heart's desire; if non-residence, pluralities, and the like were
utterly taken away; are their lay-elders therefore presently
authorized? or their sovereign ecclesiastical jurisdiction
established?

[Sidenote: Faults of the complainants]

But even in their complaining against the outward and accidental
matters in Church-Government, they are many ways faulty. 1. In their
end, which they propose to themselves. For in declaiming against
abuses, their meaning is not to have them redressed, but, by
disgracing the present state, to make way for their own discipline. As
therefore in Venice, if any Senator should discourse against the
power of their Senate, as being either too sovereign, or too weak in
government, with purpose to draw their authority to a moderation, it
might well be suffered; but not so, if it should appear he spake with
purpose to induce another state by depriving the present. So in all
causes belonging either to Church or Commonwealth, we are to have
regard what mind the complaining part doth bear, whether of amendment
or innovation; and accordingly either to suffer or suppress it. Their
objection therefore is frivolous, "Why, may not men speak against
abuses?" Yes; but with desire to cure the part affected, not
to destroy the whole. 2. A second fault is in their manner of
complaining, not only because it is for the most part in bitter and
reproachful terms, but also it is to the common people, who are judges
incompetent and insufficient, both to determine any thing amiss, and
for want of skill and authority to amend it. Which also discovereth
their intent and purpose to be rather destructive than corrective. 3.
Those very exceptions which they take are frivolous and impertinent.
Some things indeed they accuse as impious; which if they may appear to
be such, God forbid they should be maintained.

[Sidenote: "Doubly Deceived"]

Against the rest it is only alleged, that they are idle ceremonies
without use, and that better and more profitable might be devised.
Wherein they are doubly deceived; for neither is it a sufficient plea
to say, this must give place, because a better may be devised; because
in our judgments of better and worse, we oftentimes conceive amiss,
when we compare those things which are in devise with those which are
in practice: for the imperfections of the one are hid, till by time
and trial they be discovered: the others are already manifest and
open to all. But last of all,--which is a point in my opinion of great
regard, and which I am desirous to have enlarged,--they do not see
that for the most part when they strike at the State Ecclesiastical,
they secretly wound the Civil State, for personal faults; "What can
be said against the Church, which may not also agree to the
Commonwealth?" In both, Statesmen have always been, and will be
always, men; sometimes blinded with error, most commonly perverted
by passions; many unworthy have been and are advanced in both; many
worthy not regarded. And as for abuses, which they pretend to be in
the law themselves; when they inveigh against non-residence, do they
take it a matter lawful or expedient in the Civil State, for a man
to have a great and gainful office in the North, himself continually
remaining in the South? "He that hath an office let him attend his
office." When they condemn plurality of livings spiritual to the pit
of Hell, what think they of the infinity of temporal promotions? By
the great Philosopher, _Pol. lib. ii. cap. 9,_ it is forbidden as a
thing most dangerous to Commonwealths, that by the same man many great
offices should be exercised. When they deride our ceremonies as vain
and frivolous, were it hard to apply their exceptions even to those
civil ceremonies, which at the Coronation, in Parliament, and all
Courts of Justice, are used? Were it hard to argue even against
Circumcision, the ordinance of God, as being a cruel ceremony? against
the Passover, as being ridiculous--shod, girt, a staff in their hand,
to eat a lamb?

[Sidenote: Conclusion]

To conclude: you may exhort the Clergy,--or what if you direct your
conclusion not to the Clergy in general, but only to the learned in or
of both Universities?--you may exhort them to a due consideration of
all things, and to a right esteem and valuing of each thing in that
degree wherein it ought to stand. For it oftentimes falleth out, that
what men have either devised themselves, or greatly delighted in,
the price and the excellency thereof they do admire above desert. The
chiefest labour of a Christian should be to know, of a Minister to
preach Christ crucified: in regard whereof, not only worldly things,
but things otherwise precious, even the discipline itself, is vile
and base. Whereas now, by the heat of contention, and violence of
affection, the zeal of men towards the one hath greatly decayed their
love to the other. Hereunto therefore they are to be exhorted to
preach Christ Crucified, the mortification of the flesh, the renewing
of the Spirit; not those things which in time of strife seem precious
but--passions being allayed--are vain and childish. G.C.


[Footnote 1: This admirable dissertation originally appeared in 1642,
entitled, "Concerning the New Church Discipline; an excellent Letter
written by Mr. George Cranmer, to Mr. R.H."]

[Footnote 2: Gregory Martin, born at Maxfield, near Winchelsea,
admitted of St. John's Coll. Oxford, 1557, embraced the Roman
Catholic Religion and was ordained priest at Douay, 1573. The Rheims
translation of the Vulgate has been ascribed entirely to him. He died
at Rheims in 1582.]

[Footnote 3: Vice was the fool of the old moralities, with his dagger
of lath, a long coat, and a cap with a pair of ass's ears.]

[Footnote 4: Entitled "A Survey of the pretended holy Discipline,
to which is prefixed a Sermon, preached against the Puritans, at
St. Paul's Cross, Feb. 9, 1588-9, from the following text: 'Dearly
beloved, believe not every Spirit, but try the Spirits whether they be
of God, for many false Prophets have gone out into the world.' I John
iv. 1."]

[Footnote 5: Robert Brown, a native of Northampton, educated at Corpus
Christi College in Cambridge, was the founder of a sect of Puritans,
who took their name from him. He wrote several tracts in support
of his opinions, and sustained various persecutions, having been
committed at different times to thirty-two prisons, in some of which
he could not see his hand at broad day. Before his removal with his
followers to Middleburg in Zealand, he became disgusted with their
divisions and disputes; and though he had gone a further distance than
any of the Puritans did, he renounced his principles of separation,
being promoted by his relation, Lord Burghley, to the benefice of
Achurch in Northamptonshire. He died in Northampton Gaol in 1630, in
the 80th year of his age, having been sent thither by a justice of the
peace for assaulting a constable, who was executing a warrant against
him.]

[Footnote 6: So denominated from Henry Barrow, a layman, and noted
sectary, who was executed at Tyburn on 6th April, 1593, for publishing
seditious books against the Queen and the State.]




THE WORKS OF MR. RICHARD HOOKER.


[Sidenote: Hooker's Works]

The Works of Mr. Hooker, exclusive of the Books of Ecclesiastical
Polity, are,

I. "ANSWER to the SUPPLICATION that Mr. TRAVERS made to the COUNCIL.
_Oxon_. 1612." 4to.

II. "A learned DISCOURSE of JUSTIFICATION, WORKS, and how the
FOUNDATION of FAITH is overthrown: on _Habak_. i. 4. _Oxon_. 1612."
4to.

III. "A learned SERMON of the NATURE of PRIDE: on _Habak_. ii. 4.
_Oxon_. 1612." 4to.

IV. "A REMEDY against SORROW and FEAR, delivered in a FUNERAL SERMON:
on _John_ xiv. 27. _Oxon_. 1612." 4to.

V. "A learned and comfortable SERMON of the CERTAINTY and PERPETUITY
of FAITH in the ELECT: especially of the PROPHET HABAKKUK'S FAITH: on
_Habak_. i. 4. _Oxon_. 1612." 4to.

VI. "TWO SERMONS upon part of ST. JUDE'S EPISTLE. _Epist. Jude_, ver.
17, 18, 19, 20, 21, _Oxon_. 1613." 4to.

VII. In 1641, a volume was published under the following title: "A
SUMMARIE VIEW of the GOVERNMENT both of the OLD and NEW TESTAMENT;
whereby the EPISCOPAL GOVERNMENT of CHRIST'S CHURCH is vindicated,"
out of the rude draughts of Launcelot Andrews, late Bishop of
Winchester.

To this volume is prefixed, as a preamble to the whole, "A DISCOVERY
of the CAUSES of these CONTENTIONS touching CHURCH GOVERNMENT, out of
the FRAGMENTS of RICHARD HOOKER."

This volume contains certain brief treatises, written by divers
learned men, concerning the ancient and modern Government of the
Church. The treatises are seven in number, of which this posthumous
work of Mr. Hooker is one, and as it stands before the rest it is
therefore called a Preamble to the whole.

VIII. THREE TREATISES inserted in the "CLAVI TRABALES," viz. 1. "On
the KING'S POWER in Matters of RELIGION." 2. "Of his POWER in the
ADVANCEMENT of BISHOPS to their ROOMS of PRELACY." 3. "The KING'S
EXEMPTION from CENSURE and other JUDICIAL POWER."

It will not be improper to notice a publication of great merit,
entitled "A FAITHFUL ABRIDGMENT of the WORKS of that learned and
judicious Divine, Mr. RICHARD HOOKER, in eight books of ECCLESIASTICAL
POLITY, and of all the other Treatises which were written by the same
Author. With an Account of his Life. By a Divine of the Church of
England. _London_, 1705."




THE LIFE
OF
MR. GEORGE HERBERT,
PREBENDARY OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.

  "Where with a soul composed of harmonies,
  Like a sweet swan, he warbles as he dies
  His Maker's praise, and his own obsequies."

    --COTTON.




INTRODUCTION
TO THE
LIFE OF GEORGE HERBERT.


[Sidenote: A box of ointment]

In a late retreat from the business of this world, and those many
little cares with which I have too often cumbered myself, I fell into
a contemplation of some of those historical passages that are recorded
in Sacred Story: and more particularly of what had passed betwixt our
blessed Saviour and that wonder of Women, and Sinners, and Mourners,
St. Mary Magdalen. I call her Saint, because I did not then, nor do
now consider her, as when she was possessed with seven devils; not as
when her wanton eyes and dishevelled hair were designed and managed
to charm and ensnare amorous beholders. But I did then, and do now
consider her, as after she had expressed a visible and sacred sorrow
for her sensualities; as after those eyes had wept such a flood of
penitential tears as did wash, and that hair had wiped, and she most
passionately kissed the feet of her's and our blessed Jesus. And I do
now consider, that because she loved much, not only much was forgiven
her: but that beside that blessed blessing of having her sins
pardoned, and the joy of knowing her happy condition, she also had
from him a testimony, that her alabaster box of precious ointment
poured on his head and feet, and that spikenard, and those spices
that were by her dedicated to embalm and preserve his sacred body
from putrefaction, should so far preserve her own memory, that these
demonstrations of her sanctified love, and of her officious and
generous gratitude, should be recorded and mentioned wheresoever his
Gospel should be read; intending thereby, that as his, so her name,
should also live to succeeding generations, even till time itself
shall be no more.

[Sidenote: Reasons for this Life]

Upon occasion of which fair example, I did lately look back, and not
without some content,--at least to myself,--that I have endeavoured to
deserve the love, and preserve the memory, of my two deceased friends,
Dr. Donne, and Sir Henry Wotton, by declaring the several employments
and various accidents of their lives. And though Mr. George
Herbert--whose Life I now intend to write--were to me a stranger as to
his person, for I have only seen him; yet since he was, and was worthy
to be, their friend, and very many of his have been mine, I judge it
may not be unacceptable to those that knew any of them in their
lives, or do now know them by mine, or their own writings, to see this
conjunction of them after their deaths; without which, many things
that concerned them, and some things that concerned the age in which
they lived, would be less perfect, and lost to posterity.

For these reasons I have undertaken it; and if I have prevented any
abler person, I beg pardon of him and my Reader.




THE LIFE
OF
MR. GEORGE HERBERT.


[Sidenote: Birth and family]

George Herbert was born the Third day of April, in the Year of our
Redemption 1593. The place of his birth was near to the Town of
Montgomery, and in that Castle[1] that did then bear the name of that
Town and County; that Castle was then a place of state and strength,
and had been successively happy in the Family of the Herberts, who
had long possessed it; and with it, a plentiful estate, and hearts
as liberal to their poor neighbours. A family, that hath been blessed
with men of remarkable wisdom, and a willingness to serve their
country, and, indeed, to do good to all mankind; for which they
are eminent: But alas! this family did in the late rebellion suffer
extremely in their estates; and the heirs of that Castle saw it laid
level with that earth, that was too good to bury those wretches that
were the cause of it.

[Sidenote: Father and mother]

The Father of our George was Richard Herbert, the son of Edward
Herbert, Knight, the son of Richard Herbert, Knight, the son of the
famous Sir Richard Herbert of Colebrook, in the County of Monmouth,
Banneret, who was the youngest brother of that memorable William
Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, that lived in the reign of our King Edward
the Fourth.

His Mother was Magdalen Newport, the youngest daughter of Sir Richard,
and sister to Sir Francis Newport of High-Arkall, in the County of
Salop, Knight, and grandfather of Francis Lord Newport, now Controller
of his Majesty's Household. A family that for their loyalty have
suffered much in their estates, and seen the ruin of that excellent
structure, where their ancestors have long lived, and been memorable
for their hospitality.

[Sidenote: Lord Herbert of Cherbury]

This Mother of George Herbert--of whose person, and wisdom, and virtue
I intend to give a true account in a seasonable place--was the happy
Mother of seven sons and three daughters, which she would often say
was Job's number, and Job's distribution; and as often bless God, that
they were neither defective in their shapes, or in their reason;
and very often reprove them that did not praise God for so great a
blessing. I shall give the Reader a short account of their names, and
not say much of their fortunes. Edward, the eldest, was first made
Knight of the Bath, at that glorious time of our late Prince Henry's
being installed Knight of the Garter; after many years' useful travel,
and the attainment of many languages, he was by King James sent
Ambassador resident to the then French King, Lewis the thirteenth.
There he continued about two years; but he could not subject himself
to a compliance with the humours of the Duke de Luisnes, who was then
the great and powerful favourite at Court: so that upon a complaint to
our King, he was called back into England in some displeasure; but at
his return he gave such an honourable account of his employment, and
so justified his comportment to the Duke and all the Court, that he
was suddenly sent back upon the same Embassy, from which he returned
in the beginning of the reign of our good King Charles the First, who
made him first Baron of Castle-Island, and not long after of Cherbury,
in the County of Salop. He was a man of great learning and reason, as
appears by his printed book "De Veritate," and by his "History of the
reign of King Henry the Eighth," and by several other tracts.[2]

[Sidenote: Other Herberts]

The second and third brothers were Richard and William, who ventured
their lives to purchase honour in the wars of the Low Countries, and
died officers in that employment. Charles was the fourth, and died
fellow of New College in Oxford. Henry was the sixth, who became
a menial servant to the Crown in the days of King James, and hath
continued to be so for fifty years; during all which time he hath been
Master of the Revels; a place that requires a diligent wisdom, with
which God hath blessed him. The seventh son was Thomas, who, being
made captain of a ship in that fleet with which Sir Robert Mansell
was sent against Algiers, did there shew a fortunate and true English
valour. Of the three sisters I need not say more, than that they were
all married to persons of worth, and plentiful fortunes; and lived to
be examples of virtue, and to do good in their generations.

[Sidenote: George Herbert]

I now come to give my intended account of George, who was the fifth of
those seven brothers.

George Herbert spent much of his childhood in a sweet content under
the eye and care of his prudent Mother, and the tuition of a Chaplain,
or tutor to him and two of his brothers, in her own family,--for she
was then a widow,--where he continued till about the age of twelve
years; and being at that time well instructed in the rules of Grammar,
he was not long after commended to the care of Dr. Neale,[3] who was
then Dean of Westminster; and by him to the care of Mr. Ireland,[4]
who was then Chief Master of that School; where the beauties of his
pretty behaviour and wit shined, and became so eminent and lovely in
this his innocent age, that he seemed to be marked out for piety, and
to become the care of Heaven, and of a particular good angel to guard
and guide him. And thus he continued in that School, till he came
to be perfect in the learned languages, and especially in the Greek
tongue, in which he after proved an excellent critic.

[Sidenote: At Cambridge]

About the age of fifteen--he being then a King's Scholar--he was
elected out of that School for Trinity College in Cambridge, to which
place he was transplanted about the year 1608; and his prudent Mother,
well knowing that he might easily lose or lessen that virtue and
innocence, which her advice and example had planted in his mind, did
therefore procure the generous and liberal Dr. Nevil,[5] who was then
Dean of Canterbury, and Master of that College, to take him into his
particular care, and provide him a tutor; which he did most gladly
undertake, for he knew the excellencies of his mother, and how to
value such a friendship.

This was the method of his education, till he was settled in
Cambridge; where we will leave him in his study, till I have paid my
promised account of his excellent mother; and I will endeavour to make
it short.

[Sidenote: Lady Magdalen Herbert]

I have told her birth, her marriage, and the number of her children,
and have given some short account of them. I shall next tell the
Reader, that her husband died when our George was about the age of
four years: I am next to tell, that she continued twelve years a
widow; that she then married happily to a noble gentleman, the brother
and heir of the Lord Danvers,[6] Earl of Danby, who did highly value
both her person and the most excellent endowments of her mind.

[Sidenote: Her character]

[Sidenote: Dr. Donne]

In this time of her widowhood, she being desirous to give Edward, her
eldest son, such advantages of learning, and other education, as might
suit his birth and fortune, and thereby make him the more fit for the
service of his country, did, at his being of a fit age, remove from
Montgomery Castle with him, and some of her younger sons, to Oxford;
and having entered Edward into Queen's College, and provided him a
fit tutor, she commended him to his care, yet she continued there
with him, and still kept him in a moderate awe of herself, and so
much under her own eye, as to see and converse with him daily: but she
managed this power over him without any such rigid sourness as might
make her company a torment to her child; but with such a sweetness and
compliance with the recreations and pleasures of youth, as did incline
him willingly to spend much of his time in the company of his dear and
careful mother; which was to her great content: for she would often
say, "That as our bodies take a nourishment suitable to the meat
on which we feed; so our souls do as insensibly take in vice by the
example or conversation with wicked company:" and would therefore
as often say, "That ignorance of vice was the best preservation of
virtue; and that the very knowledge of wickedness was as tinder to
inflame and kindle sin and keep it burning." For these reasons she
endeared him to her own company, and continued with him in Oxford four
years; in which time her great and harmless wit, her cheerful gravity,
and her obliging behaviour, gained her an acquaintance and friendship
with most of any eminent worth or learning, that were at that time
in or near that University; and particularly with Mr. John Donne, who
then came accidentally to that place, in this time of her being
there. It was that John Donne who was after Dr. Donne, and Dean of St.
Paul's, London: and he, at his leaving Oxford, writ and left there, in
verse, a character of the beauties of her body and mind: of the first
he says,

  No Spring nor Summer-beauty hath such grace
  As I have seen in an Autumnal face.

Of the latter he says,

  In all her words to every hearer fit,
  You may at revels, or at council sit.

The rest of her character may be read in his printed poems, in that
Elegy which bears the name of "The Autumnal Beauty." For both he and
she were then past the meridian of man's life.

This amity, begun at this time and place, was not an amity that
polluted their souls; but an amity made up of a chain of suitable
inclinations and virtues; an amity like that of St. Chrysostom's to
his dear and virtuous Olympias; whom, in his letters, he calls his
Saint: or an amity, indeed, more like that of St. Hierome to his
Paula; whose affection to her was such, that he turned poet in his old
age, and then made her epitaph: wishing all his body were turned into
tongues, that he might declare her just praises to posterity. And this
amity betwixt her and Mr. Donne was begun in a happy time for him, he
being then near to the fortieth year of his age,--which was some years
before he entered into Sacred Orders;--a time when his necessities
needed a daily supply for the support of his wife, seven children,
and a family. And in this time she proved one of his most bountiful
benefactors; and he as grateful an acknowledger of it. You may take
one testimony for what I have said of these two worthy persons, from
this following Letter and Sonnet.

[Sidenote: Letter and Sonnet]

"MADAM,

"Your favours to me are every where: I use them and have them. I enjoy
them at London, and leave them there; and yet find them at Mitcham.
Such riddles as these become things inexpressible; and such is your
goodness. I was almost sorry to find your servant here this day;
because I was loath to have any witness of my not coming home last
night, and indeed of my coming this morning. But my not coming was
excusable, because earnest business detained me; and my coming this
day is by the example of your St. Mary Magdalen, who rose early upon
Sunday to seek that which she loved most; and so did I. And, from her
and myself, I return such thanks as are due to one, to whom we owe all
the good opinion, that they, whom we need most, have of us. By this
messenger, and on this good day, I commit the inclosed Holy Hymns and
Sonnets--which for the matter, not the workmanship, have yet escaped
the fire--to your judgment, and to your protection too, if you think
them worthy of it; and I have appointed this inclosed Sonnet to usher
them to your happy hand.

             "Your unworthiest servant,
  Unless your accepting him to be so have mended him,
                    Jo. DONNE.

"Mitcham, July 11, 1607."

TO THE LADY MAGDALEN HERBERT: OF ST. MARY MAGDALEN.

  Her of your name, whose fair inheritance
    Bethina was, and jointure Magdalo,
  An active faith so highly did advance,
    That she once knew more than the Church did know,
  The Resurrection! so much good there is
    Delivered of her, that some Fathers be
  Loth to believe one woman could do this:
    But think these Magdalens were two or three.
  Increase their number, Lady, and their fame:
    To their devotion add your innocence:
  Take so much of th' example, as of the name;
    The latter half; and in some recompense
  That they did harbour Christ himself, a guest,
    Harbour these Hymns, to his dear name addrest.
  J.D.

These Hymns are now lost to us; but doubtless they were such as they
two now sing in Heaven.

[Sidenote: Her Funeral Sermon]

There might be more demonstrations of the friendship, and the many
sacred endearments betwixt these two excellent persons,--for I have
many of their letters in my hand,--and much more might be said of her
great prudence and piety: but my design was not to write her's, but
the life of her son; and therefore I shall only tell my Reader, that
about that very day twenty years that this letter was dated, and sent
her, I saw and heard this Mr. John Donne--who was then Dean of St.
Paul's--weep, and preach her Funeral Sermon, in the Parish Church
of Chelsea, near London, where she now rests in her quiet grave: and
where we must now leave her, and return to her son George, whom we
left in his study in Cambridge. And in Cambridge we may find our
George Herbert's behaviour to be such, that we may conclude he
consecrated the first-fruits of his early age to virtue, and a serious
study of learning. And that he did so, this following Letter and
Sonnet, which were, in the first year of his going to Cambridge,
sent his dear Mother for a New-year's gift, may appear to be some
testimony.

[Sidenote: A Letter]

--"But I fear the heat of my late ague hath dried up those springs,
by which scholars say the Muses use to take up their habitations.
However, I need not their help to reprove the vanity of those many
love-poems, that are daily writ, and consecrated to Venus; nor to
bewail that so few are writ, that look towards God and Heaven. For my
own part, my meaning--dear Mother--is, in these Sonnets, to declare my
resolution to be, that my poor abilities in Poetry, shall be all and
ever consecrated to God's glory: and I beg you to receive this as one
testimony."

[Sidenote: and Sonnets]

  My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee,
    Wherewith whole shoals of Martyrs once did burn,
    Besides their other flames? Doth Poetry
  Wear Venus' livery? only serve her turn?
  Why are not Sonnets made of thee? and lays
    Upon thine altar burnt? Cannot thy love
    Heighten a spirit to sound out thy praise
  As well as any she? Cannot thy Dove
  Outstrip their Cupid easily in flight?
    Or, since thy ways are deep, and still the same,
    Will not a verse run smooth that bears thy name?
  Why doth that fire, which by thy power and might
    Each breast does feel, no braver fuel choose
    Than that, which one day, worms may chance refuse?
  Sure, Lord, there is enough in thee to dry
    Oceans of ink; for as the Deluge did
    Cover the Earth, so doth thy Majesty;
  Each cloud distils thy praise, and doth forbid
  Poets to turn it to another use.
    Roses and lilies speak Thee; and to make
    A pair of cheeks of them, is thy abuse.
  Why should I women's eyes for crystal take?
  Such poor invention burns in their low mind
    Whose fire is wild, and doth not upward go
    To praise, and on thee, Lord, some ink bestow.
  Open the bones, and you shall nothing find
   In the best face but filth; when, Lord, in Thee
   The beauty lies in the discovery.
  G.H.

This was his resolution at the sending this letter to his dear Mother,
about which time he was in the seventeenth year of his age: and as he
grew older, so he grew in learning, and more and more in favour both
with God and man: insomuch that, in this morning of that short day
of his life, he seemed to be marked out for virtue, and to become the
care of Heaven; for God still kept his soul in so holy a frame, that
he may, and ought to be a pattern of virtue to all posterity, and
especially to his brethren of the Clergy, of which the Reader may
expect a more exact account in what will follow.

[Sidenote: College honours]

I need not declare that he was a strict student, because, that he was
so, there will be many testimonies in the future part of his life. I
shall therefore only tell, that he was made Minor Fellow in the year
1609, Bachelor of Arts in the year 1611; Major Fellow of the College,
March 15th, 1615: and that in that year he was also made Master of
Arts, he being then in the 22nd year of his age; during all which
time, all, or the greatest diversion from his study, was the practice
of Music, in which he became a great master; and of which he would
say, "That it did relieve his drooping spirits, compose his distracted
thoughts, and raised his weary soul so far above earth, that it gave
him an earnest of the joys of Heaven, before he possessed them." And
it may be noticed, that from his first entrance into the College, the
generous Dr. Nevil was a cherisher of his studies, and such a lover of
his person, his behaviour, and the excellent endowments of his mind,
that he took him often into his own company; by which he confirmed his
native gentleness: and if during his time he expressed any error,
it was, that he kept himself too much retired, and at too great a
distance with all his inferiors; and his clothes seemed to prove, that
he put too great a value on his parts and parentage.

[Sidenote: Orator]

This may be some account of his disposition, and of the employment of
his time till he was Master of Arts, which was anno 1615, and in the
year 1619 he was chosen Orator for the University. His two precedent
Orators were Sir Robert Naunton,[7] and Sir Francis Nethersole.[8] The
first was not long after made Secretary of State, and Sir Francis,
not very long after his being Orator, was made Secretary to the
Lady Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. In this place of Orator our George
Herbert continued eight years; and managed it with as becoming and
grave a gaiety, as any had ever before or since his time. For "he had
acquired great learning, and was blessed with a high fancy, a civil
and sharp wit; and with a natural elegance, both in his behaviour, his
tongue, and his pen." Of all which there might be very many particular
evidences; but I will limit myself to the mention of but three.

[Sidenote: Letter to King James]

And the first notable occasion of shewing his fitness for this
employment of Orator was manifested in a letter to King James, upon
the occasion of his sending that University his book called "Basilicon
Doron;"[9] and their Orator was to acknowledge this great honour, and
return their gratitude to his Majesty for such a condescension; at the
close of which letter he writ,

  Quid Vaticanam Bodleianamque objicis, hospes!
    Unicus est nobis Bibliotheca Liber.

This letter was writ in such excellent Latin, was so full of conceits,
and all the expressions so suited to the genius of the King, that he
enquired the Orator's name, and then asked William Earl of Pembroke,
if he knew him? whose answer was, "That he knew him very well, and
that he was his kinsman; but he loved him more for his learning and
virtue, than for that he was of his name and family." At which answer
the King smiled, and asked the Earl leave that he might love him too,
for he took him to be the jewel of that University.

[Sidenote: Andrew Melville]

[Sidenote: Herbert's answers]

[Sidenote: Lady Arabella Stuart]

The next occasion he had and took to shew his great abilities, was,
with them, to shew also his great affection to that Church in which he
received his baptism, and of which he professed himself a member; and
the occasion was this: There was one Andrew Melvin,[10] a Minister
of the Scotch Church, and Rector of St. Andrew's; who, by a long
and constant converse with a discontented part of that Clergy which
opposed Episcopacy, became at last to be a chief leader of that
faction; and had proudly appeared to be so to King James, when he was
but King of that nation, who, the second year after his Coronation in
England, convened a part of the Bishops, and other learned Divines
of his Church, to attend him at Hampton-Court, in order to a friendly
conference with some dissenting brethren, both of this and the Church
of Scotland: of which Scotch party Andrew Melvin was one; and he being
a man of learning, and inclined to satirical poetry, had scattered
many malicious, bitter verses against our Liturgy, our ceremonies, and
our Church-government; which were by some of that party so magnified
for the wit, that they were therefore brought into Westminster School,
where Mr. George Herbert, then, and often after, made such answers to
them, and such reflections on him and his Kirk, as might unbeguile
any man that was not too deeply pre-engaged in such a quarrel.--But
to return to Mr. Melvin at Hampton-Court Conference;[11] he there
appeared to be a man of an unruly wit, of a strange confidence, of so
furious a zeal, and of so ungoverned passions, that his insolence to
the King, and others at this Conference, lost him both his Rectorship
of St. Andrew's and his liberty too; for his former verses, and his
present reproaches there used against the Church and State, caused
him to be committed prisoner to the Tower of London; where he remained
very angry for three years. At which time of his commitment, he found
the Lady Arabella[12] an innocent prisoner there; and he pleased
himself much in sending, the next day after his commitment, these two
verses to the good lady; which I will underwrite, because they may
give the Reader a taste of his others, which were like these.

  Causa tibi mecum est communis, carceris, Ara-
    Bella, tibi causa est, Araque sacra mihi.

I shall not trouble my Reader with an account of his enlargement from
that prison, or his death; but tell him Mr. Herbert's verses were
thought so worthy to be preserved, that Dr. Duport,[13] the learned
Dean of Peterborough, hath lately collected and caused many of them
to be printed, as an honourable memorial of his friend Mr. George
Herbert, and the cause he undertook.

[Sidenote: In favour with James]

And in order to my third and last observation of his great abilities,
it will be needful to declare, that about this time King James came
very often to hunt at Newmarket and Royston, and was almost as often
invited to Cambridge, where his entertainment was comedies,[14] suited
to his pleasant humour; and where Mr. George Herbert was to welcome
him with gratulations, and the applauses of an Orator; which he always
performed so well, that he still grew more into the King's favour,
insomuch that he had a particular appointment to attend his Majesty
at Royston; where, after a discourse with him, his Majesty declared to
his kinsman, the Earl of Pembroke, that he found the Orator's learning
and wisdom much above his age or wit. The year following, the King
appointed to end his progress at Cambridge, and to stay there certain
days; at which time he was attended by the great Secretary of
Nature and all learning, Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, and by the
ever-memorable and learned Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, both
which did at that time begin a desired friendship with our Orator.
Upon whom, the first put such a value on his judgment, that he usually
desired his approbation before he would expose any of his books to
be printed; and thought him so worthy of his friendship, that having
translated many of the Prophet David's Psalms into English verse, he
made George Herbert his patron, by a public dedication of them to him,
as the best judge of Divine Poetry. And for the learned Bishop, it is
observable, that at that time there fell to be a modest debate betwixt
them two about Predestination, and Sanctity of life; of both of which
the Orator did, not long after, send the Bishop some safe and useful
aphorisms, in a long letter, written in Greek; which letter was so
remarkable for the language and reason of it, that, after the reading
of it, the Bishop put it into his bosom, and did often shew it to many
Scholars, both of this and foreign nations; but did always return it
back to the place where he first lodged it, and continued it so near
his heart till the last day of his life.

[Sidenote: His friends]

To this I might add the long and entire friendship betwixt him and Sir
Henry Wotton, and Dr. Donne; but I have promised to contract myself,
and shall therefore only add one testimony to what is also mentioned
in the Life of Dr. Donne; namely, that a little before his death he
caused many Seals to be made, and in them to be engraven the figure of
Christ, crucified on an Anchor,--the emblem of Hope,--and of which Dr.
Donne would often say, "_Crux mihi anchora_."--These Seals he gave
or sent to most of those friends on which he put a value: and, at
Mr. Herbert's death, these verses were found wrapt up with that seal,
which was by the Doctor given to him;

  When my dear friend could write no more,
  He gave this _Seal_ and so gave o'er.

  When winds and waves rise highest I am sure,
  This _Anchor_ keeps my faith, that, me secure.

[Sidenote: His attainments]

At this time of being Orator, he had learned to understand the
Italian, Spanish, and French tongues very perfectly: hoping, that as
his predecessors, so he might in time attain the place of a Secretary
of State, he being at that time very high in the King's favour, and
not meanly valued and loved by the most eminent and most powerful of
the Court Nobility. This, and the love of a Court-conversation, mixed
with a laudable ambition to be something more than he then was, drew
him often from Cambridge, to attend the King wheresoever the Court
was, who then gave him a sinecure, which fell into his Majesty's
disposal, I think, by the death of the Bishop of St. Asaph.[15] It was
the same that Queen Elizabeth had formerly given to her favourite Sir
Philip Sidney, and valued to be worth an hundred and twenty pounds per
annum. With this, and his annuity, and the advantage of his College,
and of his Oratorship, he enjoyed his genteel humour for clothes, and
Court-like company, and seldom looked towards Cambridge, unless the
King were there, but then he never failed; and, at other times, left
the manage of his Orator's place to his learned friend, Mr. Herbert
Thorndike, who is now Prebend of Westminster.[16]

[Sidenote: His health]

I may not omit to tell, that he had often designed to leave the
University, and decline all study, which he thought did impair his
health; for he had a body apt to a consumption, and to fevers, and
other infirmities, which he judged were increased by his studies;
for he would often say, "He had too thoughtful a wit; a wit like a
penknife in too narrow a sheath, too sharp for his body." But his
Mother would by no means allow him to leave the University, or to
travel; and though he inclined very much to both, yet he would by
no means satisfy his own desires at so dear a rate, as to prove an
undutiful son to so affectionate a Mother; but did always submit to
her wisdom. And what I have now said may partly appear in a copy of
verses in his printed poems; 'tis one of those that bear the title
of Affliction; and it appears to be a pious reflection on God's
providence, and some passages of his life, in which he says,

[Sidenote: "Affliction"]

  Whereas my birth and spirit rather took
    The way that takes the town:
  Thou didst betray me to a lingering book,
    And wrapt me in a gown:
  I was entangled in a world of strife,
  Before I had the power to change my life.

  Yet, for I threaten'd oft the siege to raise,
    Not simpering all mine age;
  Thou often didst with academic praise
    Melt and dissolve my rage:
  I took the sweeten'd pill, till I came where
  I could not go away, nor persevere.

  Yet, lest perchance I should too happy be
    In my unhappiness,
  Turning my purge to food, thou throwest me
    Into more sicknesses.
  Thus dost thy power cross-bias me, not making
  Thine own gifts good, yet me from my ways taking.

  Now I am here, what thou wilt do with me
    None of my books will show.
  I read, and sigh, and wish I were a tree,
    For then sure I should grow
  To fruit or shade, at least some bird would trust
  Her household with me, and I would be just.

  Yet, though thou troublest me, I must be meek,
    In weakness must be stout,
  Well, I will change my service, and go seek
    Some other master out;
  Ah, my dear God! though I am clean forgot,
  Let me not love thee, if I love thee not.

  G.H.

[Sidenote: Retires into Kent]

In this time of Mr. Herbert's attendance and expectation of some good
occasion to remove from Cambridge to Court, God, in whom there is an
unseen chain of causes, did in a short time put an end to the lives of
two of his most obliging and most powerful friends, Lodowick Duke of
Richmond, and James Marquis of Hamilton; and not long after him King
James died also, and with them, all Mr. Herbert's Court-hopes: so that
he presently betook himself to a retreat from London, to a friend
in Kent, where he lived very privately, and was such a lover of
solitariness, as was judged to impair his health, more than his study
had done. In this time of retirement, he had many conflicts with
himself, whether he should return to the painted pleasures of a
Court-life, or betake himself to a study of Divinity, and enter into
Sacred Orders, to which his dear mother had often persuaded him. These
were such conflicts, as they only can know, that have endured them;
for ambitious desires, and the outward glory of this world, are not
easily laid aside; but at last God inclined him to put on a resolution
to serve at his altar.

[Sidenote: Holy Orders]

He did, at his return to London, acquaint a Court-friend with his
resolution to enter into Sacred Orders, who persuaded him to alter
it, as too mean an employment, and too much below his birth, and the
excellent abilities and endowments of his mind. To whom he replied,
"It hath been formerly judged that the domestic servants of the King
of Heaven should be of the noblest families on earth. And though the
iniquity of the late times have made clergymen meanly valued, and
the sacred name of priest contemptible; yet I will labour to make it
honourable, by consecrating all my learning, and all my poor abilities
to advance the glory of that God that gave them; knowing that I can
never do too much for him, that hath done so much for me, as to make
me a Christian. And I will labour to be like my Saviour, by making
humility lovely in the eyes of all men, and by following the merciful
and meek example of my dear Jesus."

[Sidenote: Layton Ecclesia]

This was then his resolution; and the God of constancy, who intended
him for a great example of virtue, continued him in it, for within
that year he was made Deacon, but the day when, or by whom, I cannot
learn; but that he was about that time made Deacon, is most certain;
for I find by the Records of Lincoln, that he was made Prebend of
Layton Ecclesia, in the Diocese of Lincoln, July 15th, 1626, and that
this Prebend was given him by John,[17] then Lord Bishop of that See.
And now he had a fit occasion to shew that piety and bounty that was
derived from his generous mother, and his other memorable ancestors,
and the occasion was this.

[Sidenote: Church-building]

This Layton Ecclesia is a village near to Spalden, in the County of
Huntingdon, and the greatest part of the Parish Church was fallen
down, and that of it which stood was so decayed, so little, and so
useless, that the parishioners could not meet to perform their duty
to God in public prayer and praises; and thus it had been for almost
twenty years, in which time there had been some faint endeavours for
a public collection to enable the parishioners to rebuild it; but with
no success, till Mr. Herbert undertook it; and he, by his own, and
the contribution of many of his kindred, and other noble friends,
undertook the re-edification of it; and made it so much his whole
business, that he became restless till he saw it finished as it now
stands; being for the workmanship, a costly Mossaic; for the form, an
exact cross; and for the decency and beauty, I am assured, it is the
most remarkable Parish Church that this nation affords. He lived to
see it so wainscotted, as to be exceeded by none; and, by his order,
the Reading pew and Pulpit were a little distant from each other, and
both of an equal height; for he would often say, "They should neither
have a precedency or priority of the other; but that prayer and
preaching, being equally useful, might agree like brethren, and have
an equal honour and estimation."

Before I proceed farther, I must look back to the time of Mr.
Herbert's being made Prebend, and tell the Reader, that not long
after, his Mother being informed of his intentions to rebuild that
Church, and apprehending the great trouble and charge that he was like
to draw upon himself, his relations and friends, before it could
be finished, sent for him from London to Chelsea,--where she then
dwelt,--and at his coming, said, "George, I sent for you, to persuade
you to commit Simony, by giving your patron as good a gift as he has
given to you; namely, that you give him back his prebend; for, George,
it is not for your weak body, and empty purse, to undertake to
build Churches." Of which, he desired he might have a day's time to
consider, and then make her an answer. And at his return to her the
next day, when he had first desired her blessing, and she given it
him, his next request was, "That she would at the age of thirty-three
years, allow him to become an undutiful son: for he had made a vow to
God, that, if he were able, he would rebuild that Church." And
then shewed her such reasons for his resolution, that she presently
subscribed to be one of his benefactors; and undertook to solicit
William Earl of Pembroke to become another, who subscribed for fifty
pounds; and not long after, by a witty and persuasive letter from Mr.
Herbert, made it fifty pounds more. And in this nomination of some
of his benefactors, James Duke of Lenox, and his brother, Sir Henry
Herbert, ought to be remembered; as also the bounty of Mr. Nicholas
Farrer,[18] and Mr. Arthur Woodnot: the one a gentleman in the
neighbourhood of Layton, and the other a Goldsmith in Foster Lane,
London, ought not to be forgotten: for the memory of such men ought to
outlive their lives. Of Mr. Farrer, I shall hereafter give an account
in a more seasonable place; but before I proceed farther, I will give
this short account of Mr. Arthur Woodnot.

[Sidenote: Mr. Arthur Woodnot]

He was a man that had considered overgrown estates do often require
more care and watchfulness to preserve than get them, and considered
that there be many discontents, that riches cure not; and did
therefore set limits to himself, as to desire of wealth. And having
attained so much as to be able to shew some mercy to the poor, and
preserve a competence for himself, he dedicated the remaining part of
his life to the service of God, and to be useful to his friends; and
he proved to be so to Mr. Herbert; for besides his own bounty,
he collected and returned most of the money that was paid for the
rebuilding of that Church; he kept all the account of the charges, and
would often go down to state them, and see all the workmen paid. When
I have said, that this good man was a useful friend to Mr. Herbert's
father, and to his mother, and continued to be so to him, till he
closed his eyes on his death-bed; I will forbear to say more, till I
have the next fair occasion to mention the holy friendship that was
betwixt him and Mr. Herbert. From whom Mr. Woodnot carried to his
mother this following letter, and delivered it to her in a sickness,
which was not long before that which proved to be her last.

[Sidenote: A Letter]

A Letter of Mr. GEORGE HERBERT to his Mother, In her Sickness."

"MADAM,

"At my last parting from you, I was the better content, because I was
in hope I should myself carry all sickness out of your family: but
since I know I did not and that your share continues, or rather
increaseth, I wish earnestly that I were again with you; and would
quickly make good my wish, but that my employment does fix me here, it
being now but a month to our commencement: wherein my absence, by how
much it naturally augmenteth suspicion, by so much shall it make my
prayers the more constant and the more earnest for you to the God of
all consolation.--In the mean time, I beseech you to be cheerful,
and comfort yourself in the God of all comfort, who is not willing to
behold any sorrow but for sin.--What hath affliction grievous in it
more than for a moment? or why should our afflictions here, have
so much power or boldness as to oppose the hope of our joys
hereafter?--Madam, as the earth is but a point in respect of the
heavens, so are earthly troubles compared to heavenly joys; therefore,
if either age or sickness lead you to those joys, consider what
advantage you have over youth and health, who are now so near those
true comforts. Your last letter gave me earthly preferment, and I hope
kept heavenly for yourself: but would you divide and choose too?
Our College customs allow not that: and I should account myself most
happy, if I might change with you; for I have always observed the
thread of life to be like other threads or skeins of silk, full of
snarles and incumbrances. Happy is he, whose bottom is wound up, and
laid ready for work in the New Jerusalem.--For myself, dear Mother, I
always feared sickness more than death, because sickness hath made me
unable to perform those offices for which I came into the world, and
must yet be kept in it; but you are freed from that fear, who have
already abundantly discharged that part, having both ordered your
family and so brought up your children, that they have attained to the
years of discretion, and competent maintenance. So that now, if they
do not well, the fault cannot be charged on you, whose example
and care of them will justify you both to the world and your own
conscience; insomuch that, whether you turn your thoughts on the life
past, or on the joys that are to come, you have strong preservatives
against all disquiet. And for temporal afflictions, I beseech you
consider, all that can happen to you are either afflictions of estate,
or body, or mind. For those of estate, of what poor regard ought they
to be? since, if we had riches, we are commanded to give them away: so
that the best use of them is, having, not to have them. But perhaps,
being above the common people, our credit and estimation calls on us
to live in a more splendid fashion: but, O God! how easily is that
answered, when we consider that the blessings in the holy Scripture
are never given to the rich, but to the poor. I never find 'Blessed be
the rich,' or 'Blessed be the noble;' but, 'Blessed be the meek,' and,
'Blessed be the poor,' and, 'Blessed be the mourners, for they shall
be comforted.'--And yet, O God! most carry themselves so, as if
they not only not desired, but even feared to be blessed.--And for
afflictions of the body, dear Madam, remember the holy Martyrs of God,
how they have been burned by thousands, and have endured such other
tortures, as the very mention of them might beget amazement: but their
fiery trials have had an end; and your's--which, praised be God, are
less,--are not like to continue long. I beseech you, let such thoughts
as these moderate your present fear and sorrow; and know that if any
of yours should prove a Goliah-like trouble, yet you may say with
David, 'That God, who hath delivered me out of the paws of the lion
and bear, will also deliver me out of the hands of this uncircumcised
Philistine.'--Lastly, for those afflictions of the soul; consider that
God intends that to be as a Sacred Temple for himself to dwell in, and
will not allow any room there for such an inmate as grief; or allow
that any sadness shall be his competitor. And, above all, if any care
of future things molest you, remember those admirable words of the
Psalmist: 'Cast thy care on the Lord, and he shall nourish thee.'
[Psal. lv. 22.] To which join that of St. Peter, 'Casting all your
care on the Lord, for he careth for you.' [1 Pet. v. 7.] What an
admirable thing is this, that God puts his shoulder to our burden, and
entertains our care for us, that we may the more quietly intend his
service! To conclude, let me commend only one place more to you:
Philipp. iv. 4. St. Paul saith there, 'Rejoice in the Lord always: and
again I say, rejoice.' He doubles it to take away the scruple of those
that might say, What, shall we rejoice in afflictions? Yes, I say
again, rejoice; so that it is not left to us to rejoice, or not
rejoice; but, whatsoever befalls us, we must always, at all times,
rejoice in the Lord, who taketh care for us. And it follows in the
next verses: 'Let your moderation appear to all men: The Lord is at
hand: Be careful for nothing.' What can be said more comfortably?
Trouble not yourselves; God is at hand, to deliver us from all, or in
all.--Dear Madam, pardon my boldness, and accept the good meaning of

     "Your most obedient son,

                 "GEORGE HERBERT.

"_Trin. Coll. May 25th,_ 1622."

[Sidenote: Sickness]

About the year 1629, and the thirty-fourth of his age, Mr. Herbert was
seized with a sharp quotidian ague, and thought to remove it by the
change of air; to which end, he went to Woodford in Essex, but thither
more chiefly to enjoy the company of his beloved brother, Sir Henry
Herbert, and other friends then of that family. In his house he
remained about twelve months, and there became his own physician, and
cured himself of his ague, by forbearing to drink, and not eating any
meat, no not mutton, nor a hen, or pigeon, unless they were
salted; and by such a constant diet he removed his ague, but with
inconveniences that were worse; for he brought upon himself
a disposition to rheums, and other weaknesses, and a supposed
consumption. And it is to be noted, that in the sharpest of his
extreme fits he would often say, "Lord, abate my great affliction, or
increase my patience: but Lord, I repine not; I am dumb, Lord, before
thee, because thou doest it." By which, and a sanctified submission to
the will of God, he shewed he was inclinable to bear the sweet yoke of
Christian discipline, both then and in the latter part of his life, of
which there will be many true testimonies.

[Sidenote: At Dauntsey]

And now his care was to recover from his consumption, by a change
from Woodford into such an air as was most proper to that end. And his
remove was to Dauntsey in Wiltshire, a noble house, which stands in a
choice air; the owner of it then was the Lord Danvers, Earl of Danby,
who loved Mr. Herbert so very much, that he allowed him such an
apartment in it as might best suit with his accommodation and liking.
And in this place, by a spare diet, declining all perplexing studies,
moderate exercise, and a cheerful conversation, his health was
apparently improved to a good degree of strength and cheerfulness. And
then he declared his resolution both to marry, and to enter into the
Sacred Orders of Priesthood. These had long been the desires of his
Mother, and his other relations; but she lived not to see either, for
she died in the year 1627. And though he was disobedient to her about
Layton Church, yet, in conformity to her will, he kept his Orator's
place till after her death, and then presently declined it; and
the more willingly, that he might be succeeded by his friend Robert
Creighton,[19] who now is Dr. Creighton, and the worthy Bishop of
Wells.

I shall now proceed to his marriage; in order to which, it will be
convenient that I first give the Reader a short view of his person,
and then an account of his wife, and of some circumstances concerning
both.--He was for his person of a stature inclining towards tallness;
his body was very straight, and so far from being cumbered with too
much flesh, that he was lean to an extremity. His aspect was cheerful,
and his speech and motion did both declare him a gentleman; for they
were all so meek and obliging, that they purchased love and respect
from all that knew him.

[Sidenote: Jane Danvers]

These, and his other visible virtues, begot him much love from a
gentleman of a noble fortune, and a near kinsman to his friend the
Earl of Danby; namely, from Mr. Charles Danvers of Bainton, in the
County of Wilts, Esq. This Mr. Danvers, having known him long,
and familiarly, did so much affect him, that he often and publicly
declared a desire, that Mr. Herbert would marry any of his nine
daughters,--for he had so many,--but rather his daughter Jane than any
other, because Jane was his beloved daughter. And he had often said
the same to Mr. Herbert himself; and that if he could like her for a
wife, and she him for a husband, Jane should have a double blessing:
and Mr. Danvers had so often said the like to Jane, and so much
commended Mr. Herbert to her, that Jane became so much a platonic, as
to fall in love with Mr. Herbert unseen.

[Sidenote: His marriage]

This was a fair preparation for a marriage; but, alas! her father died
before Mr. Herbert's retirement to Dauntsey: yet some friends to
both parties procured their meeting; at which time a mutual affection
entered into both their hearts, as a conqueror enters into a surprised
city; and love having got such possession, governed, and made there
such laws and resolutions, as neither party was able to resist;
insomuch, that she changed her name into Herbert the third day after
this first interview.

This haste might in others be thought a love-frenzy, or worse; but
it was not, for they had wooed so like princes, as to have select
proxies; such as were true friends to both parties, such as well
understood Mr. Herbert's and her temper of mind, and also their
estates, so well before this interview, that the suddenness was
justifiable by the strictest rules of prudence; and the more, because
it proved so happy to both parties; for the eternal lover of mankind
made them happy in each other's mutual and equal affections, and
compliance; indeed, so happy, that there never was any opposition
betwixt them, unless it were a contest which should most incline to
a compliance with the other's desires. And though this begot, and
continued in them, such a mutual love, and joy, and content, as was no
way defective; yet this mutual content, and love, and joy, did receive
a daily augmentation, by such daily obligingness to each other, as
still added such new affluences to the former fulness of these divine
souls, as was only improvable in Heaven, where they now enjoy it.

[Sidenote: A presentation]

About three months after this marriage, Dr. Curle, who was then Rector
of Bemerton, in Wiltshire, was made Bishop of Bath and Wells, and
not long after translated to Winchester, and by that means the
presentation of a Clerk to Bemerton did not fall to the Earl of
Pembroke,--who was the undoubted Patron of it,--but to the King,
by reason of Dr. Curie's advancement: but Philip, then Earl of
Pembroke,--for William was lately dead,--requested the King to bestow
it upon his kinsman George Herbert; and the King said, "Most willingly
to Mr. Herbert, if it be worth his acceptance;" and the Earl as
willingly and suddenly sent it him, without seeking. But though Mr.
Herbert had formerly put on a resolution for the Clergy; yet, at
receiving this presentation, the apprehension of the last great
account, that he was to make for the cure of so many souls, made him
fast and pray often, and consider for not less than a month: in which
time he had some resolutions to decline both the Priesthood, and that
living. And in this time of considering, "he endured," as he would
often say, "such spiritual conflicts, as none can think, but only
those that have endured them."

[Sidenote: Rector of Bemerton]

In the midst of these conflicts, his old and dear friend, Mr. Arthur
Woodnot, took a journey to salute him at Bainton,--where he then
was, with his wife's friends and relations,--and was joyful to be
an eye-witness of his health and happy marriage. And after they had
rejoiced together some few days, they took a journey to Wilton, the
famous seat of the Earls of Pembroke; at which time the King, the
Earl, and the whole Court were there, or at Salisbury, which is near
to it. And at this time Mr. Herbert presented his thanks to the Earl,
for his presentation to Bemerton, but had not yet resolved to accept
it, and told him the reason why: but that night, the Earl acquainted
Dr. Laud, then Bishop of London, and after Archbishop of Canterbury,
with his kinsman's irresolution. And the Bishop did the next day so
convince Mr. Herbert, that the refusal of it was a sin, that a tailor
was sent for to come speedily from Salisbury to Wilton, to take
measure, and make him canonical clothes against next day; which
the tailor did: and Mr. Herbert being so habited, went with his
presentation to the learned Dr. Davenant,[20] who was then Bishop of
Salisbury, and he gave him institution immediately,--for Mr. Herbert
had been made Deacon some years before,--and he was also the same
day--which was April 26th, 1630--inducted into the good, and more
pleasant than healthful, Parsonage of Bemerton; which is a mile from
Salisbury.

[Sidenote: Preparation]

I have now brought him to the Parsonage of Bemerton,[21] and to the
thirty-sixth year of his age, and must stop here, and bespeak the
Reader to prepare for an almost incredible story, of the great
sanctity of the short remainder of his holy life; a life so full of
charity, humility, and all Christian virtues, that it deserves the
eloquence of St. Chrysostom to commend and declare it: a life, that
if it were related by a pen like his, there would then be no need for
this age to look back into times past for the examples of primitive
piety; for they might be all found in the life of George Herbert. But
now, alas! who is fit to undertake it? I confess I am not; and am not
pleased with myself that I must; and profess myself amazed, when I
consider how few of the Clergy lived like him then, and how many live
so unlike him now. But it becomes not me to censure: my design is
rather to assure the Reader, that I have used very great diligence to
inform myself, that I might inform him of the truth of what follows;
and though I cannot adorn it with eloquence, yet I will do it with
sincerity.

When at his induction he was shut into Bemerton Church, being left
there alone to toll the bell,--as the Law requires him,--he staid so
much longer than an ordinary time, before he returned to those friends
that staid expecting him at the Church-door, that his friend Mr.
Woodnot looked in at the Church-window, and saw him lie prostrate on
the ground before the Altar; at which time and place--as he after told
Mr. Woodnot--he set some rules to himself, for the future manage of
his life; and then and there made a vow to labour to keep them.

[Sidenote: and resolutions]

And the same night that he had his induction, he said to Mr. Woodnot,
"I now look back upon my aspiring thoughts, and think myself more
happy than if I had attained what then I so ambitiously thirsted for.
And I now can behold the Court with an impartial eye, and see plainly
that it is made up of fraud and titles, and flattery, and many other
such empty, imaginary, painted pleasures; pleasures, that are so
empty, as not to satisfy when they are enjoyed. But in God, and his
service, is a fulness of all joy and pleasure, and no satiety. And I
will now use all my endeavours to bring my relations and dependents to
a love and reliance on Him, who never fails those that trust him. But
above all, I will be sure to live well, because the virtuous life of
a Clergyman is the most powerful eloquence to persuade all that see
it to reverence and love, and at least to desire to live like him. And
this I will do, because I know we live in an age that hath more need
of good examples than precepts. And I beseech that God, who hath
honoured me so much as to call me to serve him at his altar, that as
by his special grace he hath put into my heart these good desires
and resolutions; so he will, by his assisting grace, give me ghostly
strength to bring the same to good effect. And I beseech him, that my
humble and charitable life may so win upon others, as to bring glory
to my Jesus, whom I have this day taken to be my Master and Governor;
and I am so proud of his service, that I will always observe, and
obey, and do his will; and always call him, Jesus my Master; and I
will always contemn my birth, or any title or dignity that can be
conferred upon me, when I shall compare them with my title of being a
Priest, and serving at the Altar of Jesus my Master."

[Sidenote: "The Odour"]

And that he did so, may appear in many parts of his book of Sacred
Poems: especially in that which he calls "The Odour." In which he
seems to rejoice in the thoughts of that word Jesus, and say, that
the adding these words, my Master, to it, and the often repetition of
them, seemed to perfume his mind, and leave an oriental fragrancy in
his very breath. And for his unforced choice to serve at God's altar,
he seems in another place of his poems, "The Pearl," (Matt. xiii. 45,
46,) to rejoice and say--"He knew the ways of learning; knew what
nature does willingly, and what, when it is forced by fire; knew the
ways of honour, and when glory inclines the soul to noble expressions;
knew the Court; knew the ways of pleasure, of love, of wit, of music,
and upon what terms he declined all these for the service of his
Master Jesus;" and then concludes, saying,

  That, through these labyrinths, not my grovelling wit,
  But thy silk twist, let down from Heaven to me,
  Did both conduct, and teach me, how by it To climb to thee.

[Sidenote: A Priest's Wife]

The third day after he was made Rector of Bemerton, and had changed
his sword and silk clothes into a canonical coat, he returned so
habited with his friend Mr. Woodnot to Bainton; and immediately after
he had seen and saluted his wife, he said to her--"You are now a
Minister's wife, and must now so far forget your father's house, as
not to claim a precedence of any of your parishioners; for you are to
know, that a Priest's wife can challenge no precedence or place, but
that which she purchases by her obliging humility; and I am sure,
places so purchased do best become them. And let me tell you, that I
am so good a Herald, as to assure you that this is truth." And she was
so meek a wife, as to assure him, "it was no vexing news to her, and
that he should see her observe it with a cheerful willingness."
And, indeed, her unforced humility, that humility that was in her so
original, as to be born with her, made her so happy as to do so; and
her doing so begot her an unfeigned love, and a serviceable respect
from all that conversed with her; and this love followed her in all
places, as inseparably as shadows follow substances in sunshine.

[Sidenote: A parishioner]

It was not many days before he returned back to Bemerton, to view the
Church, and repair the Chancel: and indeed to rebuild almost three
parts of his house, which was fallen down, or decayed by reason of his
predecessor's living at a better Parsonage-house; namely, at Minal,
sixteen or twenty miles from this place. At which time of Mr.
Herbert's coming alone to Bemerton, there came to him a poor old
woman, with an intent to acquaint him with her necessitous condition,
as also with some troubles of her mind: but after she had spoke some
few words to him, she was surprised with a fear, and that begot a
shortness of breath, so that her spirits and speech failed her; which
he perceiving, did so compassionate her, and was so humble, that he
took her by the hand, and said, "Speak, good mother; be not afraid to
speak to me; for I am a man that will hear you with patience; and
will relieve your necessities too, if I be able: and this I will do
willingly; and therefore, mother, be not afraid to acquaint me with
what you desire." After which comfortable speech, he again took her by
the hand, made her sit down by him, and understanding she was of his
parish, he told her "He would be acquainted with her, and take her
into his care." And having with patience heard and understood her
wants,--and it is some relief for a poor body to be but heard with
patience,--he, like a Christian Clergyman, comforted her by his meek
behaviour and counsel: but because that cost him nothing, he relieved
her with money too, and so sent her home with a cheerful heart,
praising God, and praying for him. Thus worthy, and--like David's
blessed man--thus lowly, was Mr. George Herbert in his own eyes, and
thus lovely in the eyes of others.

At his return that night to his wife at Bainton, he gave her an
account of the passages betwixt him and the poor woman; with which she
was affected, that she went next day to Salisbury, and there bought
a pair of blankets, and sent them as a token of her love to the poor
woman; and with them a message, "That she would see and be acquainted
with her, when her house was built at Bemerton."

[Sidenote: Bemerton Parsonage]

There be many such passages both of him and his wife, of which some
few will be related: but I shall first tell, that he hasted to get
the Parish-Church repaired; then to beautify the Chapel,--which stands
near his house,--and that at his own great charge. He then proceeded
to rebuild the greatest part of the Parsonage-house, which he did
also very completely, and at his own charge; and having done this
good work, he caused these verses to be writ upon, or engraven in, the
mantle of the chimney in his hall.

  TO MY SUCCESSOR.

  If thou chance for to find
  A new house to thy mind,
  And built without thy cost;
    Be good to the poor,
    As God gives thee store,
  And then my labour's not lost.

We will now, by the Reader's favour, suppose him fixed at Bemerton,
and grant him to have seen the Church repaired, and the Chapel
belonging to it very decently adorned at his own great charge,--which
is a real truth;--and having now fixed him there, I shall proceed
to give an account of the rest of his behaviour, both to his
parishioners, and those many others that knew and conversed with him.

[Sidenote: Ordained Priest]

Doubtless Mr. Herbert had considered, and given rules to himself for
his Christian carriage both to God and man, before he entered
into Holy Orders. And 'tis not unlike, but that he renewed those
resolutions at his prostration before the holy altar, at his induction
into the Church of Bemerton: but as yet he was but a Deacon, and
therefore longed for the next Ember-week, that he might be ordained
Priest, and made capable of administering both the Sacraments. At
which time the reverend Dr. Humphrey Henchman,[22] now Lord Bishop
of London,--who does not mention him but with some veneration for
his life and excellent learning,--tells me, "He laid his hand on Mr.
Herbert's head, and, alas! within less than three years, lent his
shoulder to carry his dear friend to his grave."

[Sidenote: "The Country Parson"]

And that Mr. Herbert might the better preserve those holy rules which
such a Priest as he intended to be, ought to observe; and that time
might not insensibly blot them out of his memory, but that the next
year might shew him his variations from this year's resolutions; he
therefore did set down his rules, then resolved upon, in that order as
the world now sees them printed in a little book, called "The Country
Parson;" in which some of his rules are:

  The Parson's knowledge.
  The Parson on Sundays.
  The Parson praying.
  The Parson preaching.
  The Parson's charity.
  The Parson comforting the sick.
  The Parson arguing.
  The Parson condescending.
  The Parson in his journey.
  The Parson in his mirth.
  The Parson with his Churchwardens.
  The Parson blessing the people.

And his behaviour towards God and man may be said to be a practical
comment on these, and the other holy rules set down in that useful
book: a book so full of plain, prudent, and useful rules, that that
Country Parson, that can spare twelve pence, and yet wants it, is
scarce excusable; because it will both direct him what he ought to do,
and convince him for not having done it.

[Sidenote: First sermon]

At the death of Mr. Herbert, this book fell into the hands of his
friend Mr. Woodnot; and he commended it into the trusty hands of Mr.
sermon Barnabas Oley,[23] who published it with a most conscientious
and excellent preface; from which I have had some of those truths,
that are related in this life of Mr. Herbert. The text of his first
Sermon was taken out of Solomon's Proverbs, chap. iv. 23, and the
words were, "Keep thy heart with all diligence." In which first Sermon
he gave his Parishioners many necessary, holy, safe rules for the
discharge of a good conscience, both to God and man; and delivered
his Sermon after a most florid manner, both with great learning and
eloquence; but, at the close of this Sermon, told them, "That should
not be his constant way of preaching; for since Almighty God does not
intend to lead men to Heaven by hard questions, he would not therefore
fill their heads with unnecessary notions; but that, for their sakes,
his language and his expressions should be more plain and practical
in his future sermons." And he then made it his humble request, "That
they would be constant to the Afternoon's Service, and Catechising:"
and shewed them convincing reasons why he desired it; and his obliging
example and persuasions brought them to a willing conformity to his
desires.

[Sidenote: Other sermons]

The texts for all his future sermons--which, God knows, were not
many--were constantly taken out of the Gospel for the day; and he
did as constantly declare why the Church did appoint that portion
of Scripture to be that day read; and in what manner the Collect for
every Sunday does refer to the Gospel, or to the Epistle then read
to them; and, that they might pray with understanding, he did usually
take occasion to explain, not only the Collect for every particular
Sunday, but the reasons of all the other Collects and Responses in our
Church-service; and made it appear to them, that the whole service of
the Church was a reasonable, and therefore an acceptable sacrifice
to God: as namely, that we begin with "Confession of ourselves to be
vile, miserable sinners;" and that we begin so, because, till we have
confessed ourselves to be such, we are not capable of that mercy which
we acknowledge we need, and pray for: but having, in the prayer of
our Lord, begged pardon for those sins which we have confessed; and
hoping, that as the Priest hath declared our absolution, so by our
public confession, and real repentance, we have obtained that pardon;
then we dare and do proceed to beg of the Lord, "to open our lips,
that our mouth may shew forth his praise;" for till then we are
neither able nor worthy to praise him. But this being supposed, we are
then fit to say, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost;" and fit to proceed to a further service of our God, in
the Collects, and Psalms, and Lauds, that follow in the service.

[Sidenote: Psalms and Lauds]

And as to the Psalms and Lauds, he proceeded to inform them why they
were so often, and some of them daily, repeated in our Church-service;
namely, the Psalms every month, because they be an historical and
thankful repetition of mercies past, and such a composition of prayers
and praises, as ought to be repeated often, and publicly; for with
such sacrifice God is honoured and well-pleased. This for the Psalms.

[Sidenote: His teaching]

And for the Hymns and Lauds appointed to be daily repeated or sung
after the first and second Lessons are read to the congregation; he
proceeded to inform them, that it was most reasonable, after they have
heard the will and goodness of God declared or preached by the Priest
in his reading the two chapters, that it was then a seasonable duty
to rise up, and express their gratitude to Almighty God, for those his
mercies to them, and to all mankind; and then to say with the Blessed
Virgin, "that their souls do magnify the Lord, and that their spirits
do also rejoice in God their Saviour:" and that it was their duty also
to rejoice with Simeon in his song, and say with him, "That their eyes
have" also "seen their salvation;" for they have seen that salvation
which was but prophesied till his time: and he then broke out into
these expressions of joy that he did see it; but they live to see it
daily in the history of it, and therefore ought daily to rejoice, and
daily to offer up their sacrifices of praise to their God, for that
particular mercy. A service, which is now the constant employment of
that Blessed Virgin and Simeon, and all those blessed Saints that are
possessed of Heaven: and where they are at this time interchangeably
and constantly singing, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God; glory be to God
on high, and on earth peace." And he taught them, that to do this was
an acceptable service to God, because the Prophet David says in his
Psalms, "He that praiseth the Lord honoureth him."

He made them to understand how happy they be that are freed from the
incumbrances of that law which our forefathers groaned under: namely,
from the legal sacrifices, and from the many ceremonies of the
Levitical law; freed from Circumcision, and from the strict
observation of the Jewish Sabbath, and the like. And he made them
know, that having received so many and so great blessings, by being
born since the days of our Saviour, it must be an acceptable sacrifice
to Almighty God, for them to acknowledge those blessings daily, and
stand up and worship, and say as Zacharias did, "Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, for he hath--in our days--visited and redeemed his
people; and he hath--in our days--remembered, and shewed that mercy,
which by the mouth of the Prophets, he promised to our forefathers;
and this he has done according to his holy covenant made with them."
And he made them to understand that we live to see and enjoy
the benefit of it, in his Birth, in his Life, his Passion, his
Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven, where he now sits sensible of
all our temptations and infirmities; and where he is at this present
time making intercession for us, to his and our Father: and therefore
they ought daily to express their public gratulations, and say daily
with Zacharias, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that hath thus
visited and thus redeemed his people."--These were some of the
reasons, by which Mr. Herbert instructed his congregation for the
use of the Psalms and Hymns appointed to be daily sung or said in the
Church-service.

[Sidenote: Prayers]

He informed them also, when the Priest did pray only for the
congregation, and not for himself; and when they did only pray for
him; as namely, after the repetition of the Creed before he proceeds
to pray the Lord's Prayer, or any of the appointed Collects, the
Priest is directed to kneel down, and pray for them, saying, "The
Lord be with you;" and when they pray for him, saying, "And with thy
spirit;" and then they join together in the following Collects: and
he assured them, that when there is such mutual love, and such joint
prayers offered for each other, then the holy Angels look down
from Heaven, and are ready to carry such charitable desires to God
Almighty, and he as ready to receive them; and that a Christian
congregation calling thus upon God with one heart, and one voice, and
in one reverent and humble posture, looks as beautifully as Jerusalem,
that is at peace with itself.

[Sidenote: Mode of worship]

He instructed them also why the prayer of our Lord was prayed often
in every full service of the Church; namely, at the conclusion of the
several parts of that service; and prayed then, not only because it
was composed and commanded by our Jesus that made it, but as a perfect
pattern for our less perfect forms of prayer, and therefore fittest to
sum up and conclude all our imperfect petitions.

He instructed them also, that as by the second Commandment we are
required not to bow down to, or worship an idol, or false god; so,
by the contrary rule, we are to bow down and kneel, or stand up and
worship the true God. And he instructed them why the Church required
the congregation to stand up at the repetition of the Creeds; namely,
because they thereby declare both their obedience to the Church, and
an assent to that faith into which they had been baptized. And he
taught them, that in that shorter Creed or Doxology, so often repeated
daily, they also stood up to testify their belief to be, that "the God
that they trusted in was one God, and three persons; the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost; to whom they and the Priest gave glory." And
because there had been heretics that had denied some of those three
persons to be God, therefore the congregation stood up and honoured
him, by confessing and saying, "It was so in the beginning, is now so,
and shall ever be so world without end." And all gave their assent to
this belief, by standing up and saying, Amen.

[Sidenote: Commemorations]

He instructed them also what benefit they had by the Church's
appointing the celebration of holidays and the excellent use of them,
namely, that they were set apart for particular commemorations of
particular mercies received from Almighty God; and--as Reverend Mr.
Hooker says--to be the landmarks to distinguish times; for by them we
are taught to take notice how time passes by us, and that we ought
not to let the years pass without a celebration of praise for those
mercies which those days give us occasion to remember, and therefore
they were to note that the year is appointed to begin the 25th day
of March; a day in which we commemorate the Angel's appearing to the
Blessed Virgin, with the joyful tidings that "she should conceive and
bear a son, that should be the Redeemer of mankind." And she did so
forty weeks after this joyful salutation; namely, at our Christmas:
a day in which we commemorate his Birth with joy and praise: and
that eight days after this happy birth we celebrate his Circumcision;
namely, in that which we call New-year's day. And that, upon that day
which we call Twelfth-day, we commemorate the manifestation of the
unsearchable riches of Jesus to the Gentiles: and that that day we
also celebrate the memory of his goodness in sending a star to guide
the three Wise Men from the East to Bethlehem, that they might there
worship, and present him with their oblations of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh. And he--Mr. Herbert--instructed them, that Jesus was forty
days after his birth presented by his blessed Mother in the Temple;
namely, on that day which we call, "The Purification of the Blessed
Virgin, Saint Mary."

[Sidenote: Other instructions]

And he instructed them, that by the Lent-fast we imitate and
commemorate our Saviour's humiliation in fasting forty days; and
that we ought to endeavour to be like him in purity: and that on
Good Friday we commemorate and condole his Crucifixion; and at Easter
commemorate his glorious Resurrection. And he taught them, that after
Jesus had manifested himself to his Disciples to be "that Christ that
was crucified, dead and buried;" and by his appearing and conversing
with his Disciples for the space of forty days after his Resurrection,
he then, and not till then, ascended into Heaven in the sight of those
Disciples; namely, on that day which we call the Ascension, or Holy
Thursday. And that we then celebrate the performance of the promise
which he made to his Disciples at or before his Ascension; namely,
"that though he left them, yet he would send them the Holy Ghost to
be their Comforter;" and that he did so on that day which the Church
calls Whitsunday.--Thus the Church keeps an historical and circular
commemoration of times, as they pass by us; of such times as ought to
incline us to occasional praises, for the particular blessings which
we do, or might receive, by those holy commemorations.

[Sidenote: His own practice]

He made them know also why the Church hath appointed Ember-weeks; and
to know the reason why the Commandments, and the Epistles and Gospels,
were to be read at the Altar or Communion Table: why the Priest was to
pray the Litany kneeling; and why to pray some Collects standing: and
he gave them many other observations, fit for his plain congregation,
but not fit for me now to mention; for I must set limits to my pen,
and not make that a treatise, which I intended to be a much shorter
account than I have made it: but I have done, when I have told the
Reader, that he was constant in catechising every Sunday in the
afternoon, and that his catechising was after his Second Lesson,
and in the pulpit; and that he never exceeded his half hour, and was
always so happy as to have an obedient and a full congregation.

And to this I must add, that if he were at any time too zealous in his
Sermons, it was in reproving the indecencies of the people's behaviour
in the time of divine service; and of those Ministers that huddle up
the Church-prayers, without a visible reverence and affection; namely,
such as seemed to say the Lord's prayer, or a Collect in a breath. But
for himself, his custom was to stop betwixt every Collect, and give
the people time to consider what they had prayed, and to force
their desires affectionately to God, before he engaged them into new
petitions.

[Sidenote: "Mr. Herbert's Saint's-bell"]

And by this account of his diligence to make his parishioners
understand what they prayed, and why they praised and adored their
Creator, I hope I shall the more easily obtain the Reader's belief
to the following account of Mr. Herbert's own practice; which was to
appear constantly with his wife and three nieces--the daughters of
a deceased sister--and his whole family, twice every day at
the Church-prayers in the Chapel, which does almost join to his
Parsonage-house. And for the time of his appearing, it was strictly at
the canonical hours of ten and four: and then and there he lifted up
pure and charitable hands to God in the midst of the congregation. And
he would joy to have spent that time in that place, where the honour
of his Master Jesus dwelleth; and there, by that inward devotion which
he testified constantly by an humble behaviour and visible adoration,
he, like Joshua, brought not only "his own household thus to serve the
Lord;" but brought most of his parishioners, and many gentlemen in the
neighbourhood, constantly to make a part of his congregation twice
a day: and some of the meaner sort of his parish did so love and
reverence Mr. Herbert, that they would let their plough rest when Mr.
Herbert's Saint's-bell rung to prayers, that they might also offer
their devotions to God with him; and would then return back to their
plough. And his most holy life was such, that it begot such reverence
to God, and to him, that they thought themselves the happier, when
they carried Mr. Herbert's blessing back with them to their labour.
Thus powerful was his reason and example to persuade others to a
practical piety and devotion.

And his constant public prayers did never make him to neglect his own
private devotions, nor those prayers that he thought himself bound to
perform with his family, which always were a set form, and not long;
and he did always conclude them with a Collect which the Church hath
appointed for the day or week.--Thus he made every day's sanctity a
step towards that kingdom, where impurity cannot enter.

[Sidenote: Music]

His chiefest recreation was Music, in which heavenly art he was a
most excellent master, and did himself compose many Divine Hymns and
Anthems, which he set and sung to his lute or viol: and though he was
a lover of retiredness, yet his love to Music was such, that he went
usually twice every week, on certain appointed days, to the Cathedral
Church in Salisbury; and at his return would say, "That his time spent
in prayer, and Cathedral-music, elevated his soul, and was his Heaven
upon earth." But before his return thence to Bemerton, he would
usually sing and play his part at an appointed private Music-meeting;
and, to justify this practice, he would often say, "Religion does not
banish mirth, but only moderates and sets rules to it."

And as his desire to enjoy his Heaven upon earth drew him twice every
week to Salisbury, so his walks thither were the occasion of many
happy accidents to others; of which I will mention some few.

In one of his walks to Salisbury he overtook a gentleman, that is
still living in that City; and in their walk together, Mr. Herbert
took a fair occasion to talk with him, and humbly begged to be
excused, if he asked him some account of his faith; and said, "I
do this the rather, because though you are not of my parish, yet I
receive tythe from you by the hand of your tenant; and, Sir, I am the
bolder to do it, because I know there be some sermon-hearers that be
like those fishes, that always live in salt water, and yet are always
fresh."

After which expression, Mr. Herbert asked him some needful questions,
and having received his answer, gave him such rules for the trial of
his sincerity, and for a practical piety, and in so loving and meek
a manner, that the gentleman did so fall in love with him, and his
discourse, that he would often contrive to meet him in his walk to
Salisbury, or to attend him back to Bemerton; and still mentions the
name of Mr. George Herbert with veneration, and still praiseth God for
the occasion of knowing him.

[Sidenote: The cure for indifference]

In another of his Salisbury walks, he met with a neighbour Minister;
and after some friendly discourse betwixt them, and some condolement
for the decay of piety, and too general contempt of the Clergy, Mr.
Herbert took occasion to say,

"One cure for these distempers would be, for the Clergy themselves to
keep the Ember-weeks strictly, and beg of their parishioners to join
with them in fasting and prayers for a more religious Clergy.

"And another cure would be, for themselves to restore the great and
neglected duty of Catechising, on which the Salvation of so many of
the poor and ignorant lay-people does depend; but principally, that
the Clergy themselves would be sure to live unblameably; and that
the dignified Clergy especially which preach temperance, would avoid
surfeiting and take all occasions to express a visible humility and
charity in their lives; for this would force a love and an imitation,
and an unfeigned reverence from all that knew them to be such." (And
for proof of this, we need no other testimony than the life and death
of Dr. Lake,[24] late Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells.) "This," said Mr.
Herbert, "would be a cure for the wickedness and growing Atheism of
our age. And, my dear brother, till this be done by us, and done in
earnest, let no man expect a reformation of the manners of the Laity;
for 'tis not learning, but this, this only that must do it; and, till
then, the fault must lie at our doors."

[Sidenote: The Good Samaritan]

In another walk to Salisbury, he saw a poor man with a poorer horse,
that was fallen under his load: they were both in distress, and needed
present help; which Mr. Herbert perceiving, put off his canonical
coat, and helped the poor man to unload, and after to load, his horse.
The poor man blessed him for it, and he blessed the poor man; and was
so like the Good Samaritan, that he gave him money to refresh both
himself and his horse; and told him, "That if he loved himself he
should be merciful to his beast." Thus he left the poor man: and at
his coming to his musical friends at Salisbury, they began to wonder
that Mr. George Herbert, which used to be so trim and clean, came into
that company so soiled and discomposed: but he told them the occasion.
And when one of the company told him "He had disparaged himself by so
dirty an employment," his answer was, "That the thought of what he had
done would prove music to him at midnight; and that the omission of it
would have upbraided and made discord in his conscience, whensoever he
should pass by that place: for if I be bound to pray for all that be
in distress, I am sure that I am bound, so far as it is in my power,
to practice what I pray for. And though I do not wish for the like
occasion every day, yet let me tell you, I would not willingly pass
one day of my life without comforting a sad soul, or shewing
mercy; and I praise God for this occasion. And now let's tune our
instruments."

Thus, as our blessed Saviour, after his Resurrection, did take
occasion to interpret the Scripture to Cleopas, and that other
Disciple, which he met with and accompanied in their journey to
Emmaus; so Mr. Herbert, in his path toward Heaven, did daily take any
fair occasion to instruct the ignorant, or comfort any that were in
affliction; and did always confirm his precepts, by shewing humility
and mercy, and ministering grace to the hearers.

[Sidenote: Mrs. Herbert]

[Sidenote: His charity]

And he was most happy in his wife's unforced compliance with his acts
of Charity, whom he made his almoner, and paid constantly into her
hand, a tenth penny of what money he received for tythe, and gave her
power to dispose that to the poor of his parish, and with it a power
to dispose a tenth part of the corn that came yearly into his barn:
which trust she did most faithfully perform, and would often offer to
him an account of her stewardship, and as often beg an enlargement of
his bounty; for she rejoiced in the employment: and this was usually
laid out by her in blankets and shoes for some such poor people as she
knew to stand in most need of them. This as to her charity.--And for
his own, he set no limits to it: nor did ever turn his face from
any that he saw in want, but would relieve them; especially his poor
neighbours; to the meanest of whose houses he would go, and inform
himself of their wants, and relieve them cheerfully, if they were in
distress; and would always praise God, as much for being willing, as
for being able to do it. And when he was advised by a friend to be
more frugal, because he might have children, his answer was, "He would
not see the danger of want so far off: but being the Scripture does
so commend Charity, as to tell us that Charity is the top of Christian
virtues, the covering of sins, the fulfilling of the Law, the Life of
Faith; and that Charity hath a promise of the blessings of this life,
and of a reward in that life which is to come: being these, and more
excellent things are in Scripture spoken of thee, O Charity! and that,
being all my tythes and Church-dues are a deodate from thee, O my God!
make me, O my God! so far to trust thy promise, as to return them back
to thee; and by thy grace I will do so, in distributing them to any
of thy poor members that are in distress, or do but bear the image
of Jesus my Master." "Sir," said he to his friend, "my wife hath a
competent maintenance secured after my death; and therefore, as
this is my prayer, so this my resolution shall, by God's grace, be
unalterable."

[Sidenote: His illness]

This may be some account of the excellencies of the active part of his
life; and thus he continued, till a consumption so weakened him, as to
confine him to his house, or to the Chapel, which does almost join to
it; in which he continued to read prayers constantly twice every day,
though he were very weak: in one of which times of his reading, his
wife observed him to read in pain, and told him so, and that it wasted
his spirits, and weakened him; and he confessed it did, but said, his
"life could not be better spent, than in the service of his Master
Jesus, who had done and suffered so much for him. But," said he, "I
will not be wilful; for though my spirit be willing, yet I find my
flesh is weak; and therefore Mr. Bostock shall be appointed to read
prayers for me to-morrow; and I will now be only a hearer of them,
till this mortal shall put on immortality." And Mr. Bostock did
the next day undertake and continue this happy employment, till Mr.
Herbert's death. This Mr. Bostock was a learned and virtuous man,
an old friend of Mr. Herbert's, and then his Curate to the Church of
Fulston, which is a mile from Bemerton, to which Church Bemerton is
but a Chapel of Ease. And this Mr. Bostock did also constantly
supply the Church-service for Mr. Herbert in that Chapel, when the
Music-meeting at Salisbury caused his absence from it.

[Sidenote: Mr. Edward Duncon]

About one month before his death, his friend Mr. Farrer,--for an
account of whom I am by promise indebted to the Reader, and intend to
make him sudden payment,--hearing of Mr. Herbert's sickness, sent
Mr. Edmund Duncon--who is now Rector of Friar Barnet in the County of
Middlesex--from his house of Gidden Hall, which is near to Huntingdon,
to see Mr. Herbert, and to assure him, he wanted not his daily prayers
for his recovery; and Mr. Duncon was to return back to Gidden, with an
account of Mr. Herbert's condition. Mr. Duncon found him weak, and
at that time lying on his bed, or on a pallet; but at his seeing
Mr. Duncon he raised himself vigorously, saluted him, and with some
earnestness enquired the health of his brother Farrer; of which Mr.
Duncon satisfied him, and after some discourse of Mr. Farrer's holy
life, and the manner of his constant serving God, he said to Mr.
Duncon,--"Sir, I see by your habit that you are a Priest, and I desire
you to pray with me:" which being granted, Mr. Duncon asked him, "What
prayers?" To which Mr. Herbert's answer was, "O, Sir! the prayers of
my Mother, the Church of England: no other prayers are equal to them!
But at this time, I beg of you to pray only the Litany, for I am
weak and faint:" and Mr. Duncon did so. After which, and some other
discourse of Mr. Farrer, Mrs. Herbert provided Mr. Duncon a plain
supper, and a clean lodging, and he betook himself to rest. This Mr.
Duncon tells me; and tells me, that, at his first view of Mr. Herbert,
he saw majesty and humility so reconciled in his looks and behaviour,
as begot in him an awful reverence for his person; and says, "his
discourse was so pious, and his motion so genteel and meek, that after
almost forty years, yet they remain still fresh in his memory."

The next morning Mr. Duncon left him, and betook himself to a journey
to Bath, but with a promise to return back to him within five days;
and he did so: but before I shall say any thing of what discourse then
fell betwixt them two, I will pay my promised account of Mr. Farrer.

[Sidenote: Mr. Nicholas Ferrer]

[Sidenote: Little Gidden]

Mr. Nicholas Farrer--who got the reputation of being called Saint
Nicholas at the age of six years--was born in London, and doubtless
had good education in his youth; but certainly was, at an early age,
made Fellow of Clare-Hall in Cambridge; where he continued to
be eminent for his piety, temperance, and learning. About the
twenty-sixth year of his age, he betook himself to travel: in which
he added, to his Latin and Greek, a perfect knowledge of all the
languages spoken in the Western parts of our Christian world; and
understood well the principles of their Religion, and of their manner,
and the reasons of their worship. In this his travel he met with many
persuasions to come into a communion with that church which calls
itself Catholic: but he returned from his travels as he went, eminent
for his obedience to his mother, the Church of England. In his absence
from England, Mr. Farrer's father--who was a merchant--allowed him a
liberal maintenance; and, not long after his return into England, Mr.
Farrer had, by the death of his father, or an elder brother, or both,
an estate left him, that enabled him to purchase land to the value of
four or five hundred pounds a year; the greatest part of which land
was at Little Gidden, four or six miles from Huntingdon, and about
eighteen from Cambridge; which place he chose for the privacy of it,
and for the Hall, which had the Parish-Church or Chapel, belonging
and adjoining near to it; for Mr. Farrer, having seen the manners and
vanities of the world, and found them to be, as Mr. Herbert says, "a
nothing between two dishes," did so contemn it, that he resolved to
spend the remainder of his life in mortifications, and in devotion,
and charity, and to be always prepared for death. And his life was
spent thus:

[Sidenote: Life there]

He and his family, which were like a little College, and about thirty
in number, did most of them keep Lent and all Ember-weeks strictly,
both in fasting and using all those mortifications and prayers that
the Church hath appointed to be then used; and he and they did the
like constantly on Fridays, and on the Vigils or Eves appointed to
be fasted before the Saints' days: and this frugality and abstinence
turned to the relief of the poor: but this was but a part of his
charity; none but God and he knew the rest.

[Sidenote: The daily round]

This family, which I have said to be in number about thirty, were a
part of them his kindred, and the rest chosen to be of a temper fit
to be moulded into a devout life; and all of them were for their
dispositions serviceable, and quiet, and humble, and free from
scandal. Having thus fitted himself for his family, he did, about the
year 1630, betake himself to a constant and methodical service of God;
and it was in this manner:--He, being accompanied with most of his
family, did himself use to read the common prayers--for he was a
Deacon--every day, at the appointed hours of ten and four, in the
Parish-Church, which was very near his house, and which he had both
repaired and adorned; for it was fallen into a great ruin, by reason
of a depopulation of the village before Mr. Farrer bought the manor.
And he did also constantly read the Matins every morning at the hour
of six, either in the Church, or in an Oratory, which was within his
own house. And many of the family did there continue with him after
the prayers were ended, and there they spent some hours in singing
Hymns, or Anthems, sometimes in the Church, and often to an organ in
the Oratory. And there they sometimes betook themselves to meditate,
or to pray privately, or to read a part of the New Testament to
themselves, or to continue their praying or reading the Psalms; and in
case the Psalms were not always read in the day, then Mr. Farrer,
and others of the congregation, did at night, at the ringing of
a watch-bell, repair to the Church or Oratory, and there betake
themselves to prayers and lauding God, and reading the Psalms that
had not been read in the day: and when these, or any part of the
congregation, grew weary or faint, the watch-bell was rung, sometimes
before, and sometimes after midnight; and then another part of the
family rose, and maintained the watch, sometimes by praying, or
singing lauds to God, or reading the Psalms; and when, after some
hours, they also grew weary or faint, then they rung the watch-bell
and were also relieved by some of the former, or by a new part of
the society, which continued their devotions--as hath been
mentioned--until morning. And it is to be noted, that in this
continued serving of God, the Psalter or the whole Book of Psalms, was
in every four and twenty hours sung or read over, from the first to
the last verse: and this was done as constantly as the sun runs his
circle every day about the world, and then begins again the same
instant that it ended.

[Sidenote: Mr. Farrer's Death]

Thus did Mr. Farrer and his happy family serve God day and night; thus
did they always behave themselves as in his presence. And they did
always eat and drink by the strictest rules of temperance; eat and
drink so as to be ready to rise at midnight, or at the call of a
watch-bell, and perform their devotions to God. And it is fit to
tell the Reader, that many of the Clergy, that were more inclined
to practical piety and devotion, than to doubtful and needless
disputations, did often come to Gidden Hall, and make themselves a
part of that happy society, and stay a week or more, and then join
with Mr. Farrer and the family in these devotions, and assist and ease
him or them in their watch by night. And these various devotions had
never less than two of the domestic family in the night; and the
watch was always kept in the Church or Oratory, unless in extreme cold
winter nights, and then it was maintained in a parlour, which had
a fire in it; and the parlour was fitted for that purpose. And this
course of piety, and great liberality to his poor neighbours, Mr.
Farrer maintained till his death, which was in the year 1639.[24]

[Sidenote: "Valdesso's Considerations"]

Mr. Farrer's and Mr. Herbert's devout lives were both so noted, that
the general report of their sanctity gave them occasion to renew that
slight acquaintance which was begun at their being contemporaries in
Cambridge; and this new holy friendship was long maintained without
any interview, but only by loving and endearing letters. And one
testimony of their friendship and pious designs, may appear by Mr.
Farrer's commending the "Considerations of John Valdesso"--a book
which he had met with in his travels, and translated out of Spanish
into English,--to be examined and censured by Mr. Herbert before it
was made public: which excellent book Mr. Herbert did read, and return
back with many marginal notes, as they be now printed with it; and
with them, Mr. Herbert's affectionate letter to Mr. Farrer.

[Sidenote: Valdesso himself]

This John Valdesso was a Spaniard, and was for his learning and virtue
much valued and loved by the great Emperor Charles the Fifth, whom
Valdesso had followed as a Cavalier all the time of his long and
dangerous wars: and when Valdesso grew old, and grew weary both of war
and the world, he took his fair opportunity to declare to the Emperor,
that his resolution was to decline his Majesty's service, and betake
himself to a quiet and contemplative life, "because there ought to
be a vacancy of time betwixt fighting and dying." The Emperor
had himself, for the same, or other like reasons, put on the same
resolution: but God and himself did, till then, only know them; and
he did therefore desire Valdesso to consider well of what he had said,
and to keep his purpose within his own breast, till they two might
have a second opportunity of a friendly discourse; which Valdesso
promised to do.

In the mean time the Emperor appoints privately a day for him and
Valdesso to meet again; and, after a pious and free discourse,
they both agreed on a certain day to receive the blessed Sacrament
publicly; and appointed an eloquent and devout Friar to preach a
Sermon of contempt of the world, and of the happiness and benefit of a
quiet and contemplative life; which the Friar did most affectionately.
After which Sermon, the Emperor took occasion to declare openly, "That
the Preacher had begot in him a resolution to lay down his dignities,
and to forsake the world, and betake himself to a monastical life."
And he pretended, he had persuaded John Valdesso to do the like: but
this is most certain, that after the Emperor had called his son Philip
out of England, and resigned to him all his kingdoms, that then the
Emperor and John Valdesso did perform their resolutions.

This account of John Valdesso I received from a friend, that had it
from the mouth of Mr. Farrer. And the Reader may note, that in this
retirement John Valdesso writ his Hundred and Ten Considerations,
and many other treatises of worth, which want a second Mr. Farrer to
procure and translate them.[25]

[Sidenote: Failing strength]

[Sidenote: "The Temple"]

After this account of Mr. Farrer and John Valdesso, I proceed to my
account of Mr. Herbert and Mr. Duncon, who according to his promise
returned from Bath the fifth day, and then found Mr. Herbert much
weaker than he left him; and therefore their discourse could not be
long: but at Mr. Duncon's parting with him, Mr. Herbert spoke to this
purpose: "Sir, I pray you give my brother Farrer an account of the
decaying condition of my body, and tell him I beg him to continue his
daily prayers for me; and let him know that I have considered, that
God only is what he would be; and that I am, by his grace, become now
so like him, as to be pleased with what pleaseth him; and tell him,
that I do not repine, but am pleased with my want of health: and tell
him, my heart is fixed on that place where true joy is only to be
found; and that I long to be there, and do wait for my appointed
change with hope and patience." Having said this, he did, with so
sweet a humility as seemed to exalt him, bow down to Mr. Duncon, and
with a thoughtful and contented look, say to him, "Sir, I pray deliver
this little book to my dear brother Farrer, and tell him, he shall
find in it a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed
betwixt God and my soul, before I could subject mine to the will of
Jesus my Master: in whose service I have now found perfect freedom.
Desire him to read it; and then, if he can think it may turn to the
advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be made public; if
not, let him burn it; for I and it are less than the least of God's
mercies." Thus meanly did this humble man think of this excellent
book, which now bears the name of "The Temple; or, Sacred Poems and
Private Ejaculations;" of which Mr. Farrer would say, "There was in
it the picture of a divine soul in every page: and that the whole book
was such a harmony of holy passions, as would enrich the world with
pleasure and piety." And it appears to have done so; for there
have been more than twenty thousand of them sold since the first
impression.

[Sidenote: Its publication]

And this ought to be noted, that when Mr. Farrer sent this book to
Cambridge to be licensed for the press, the Vice-Chancellor would by
no means allow the two so much noted verses,

  Ready to pass to the American strand,

to be printed; and Mr. Farrer would by no means allow the book to be
printed and want them. But after some time, and some arguments for and
against their being made public, the Vice-Chancellor said, "I knew Mr.
Herbert well, and know that he had many heavenly speculations, and
was a divine poet: but I hope the world will not take him to be an
inspired prophet, and therefore I license the whole book." So that it
came to be printed without the diminution or addition of a syllable,
since it was delivered into the hands of Mr. Duncon, save only that
Mr. Farrer hath added that excellent Preface that is printed before
it.

[Sidenote: Retrospect]

[Sidenote: Waiting for death]

At the time of Mr. Duncon's leaving Mr. Herbert,--which was about
three weeks before his death,--his old and dear friend Mr. Woodnot
came from London to Bemerton, and never left him till he had seen him
draw his last breath, and closed his eyes on his death-bed. In this
time of his decay, he was often visited and prayed for by all the
Clergy that lived near to him, especially by his friends the Bishop
and Prebends of the Cathedral Church in Salisbury; but by none
more devoutly than his wife, his three nieces,--then a part of his
family,--and Mr. Woodnot, who were the sad witnesses of his daily
decay; to whom he would often speak to this purpose: "I now look back
upon the pleasures of my life past, and see the content I have taken
in beauty, in wit, in music, and pleasant conversation, are now all
past by me like a dream, or as a shadow that returns not, and are now
all become dead to me, or I to them; and I see, that as my father and
generation hath done before me, so I also shall now suddenly (with
Job) make my bed also in the dark; and I praise God I am prepared for
it; and I praise him that I am not to learn patience now I stand
in such need of it; and that I have practised mortification, and
endeavoured to die daily, that I might not die eternally; and my hope
is, that I shall shortly leave this valley of tears, and be free from
all fevers and pain; and, which will be a more happy condition, I
shall be free from sin, and all the temptations and anxieties that
attend it: and this being past, I shall dwell in the New Jerusalem;
dwell there with men made perfect; dwell where these eyes shall see my
Master and Saviour Jesus; and with him see my dear Mother, and all
my relations and friends. But I must die, or not come to that happy
place. And this is my content, that I am going daily towards it: and
that every day which I have lived, hath taken a part of my appointed
time from me; and that I shall live the less time, for having lived
this and the day past," These, and the like expressions, which he
uttered often, may be said to be his enjoyment of Heaven before he
enjoyed it. The Sunday before his death, he rose suddenly from his bed
or couch, called for one of his instruments, took it into his hand and
said,

  My God, my God,
  My music shall find thee,
      And every string
  Shall have his attribute to sing.

And having tuned it, he played and sung:

    The Sundays of man's life,
  Threaded together on time's string,
  Make bracelets to adorn the wife
  Of the eternal glorious King:
  On Sundays Heaven's doors stand ope;
  Blessings are plentiful and rife,
    More plentiful than hope.

Thus he sung on earth such Hymns and Anthems, as the Angels, and he,
and Mr. Farrer, now sing in Heaven.

[Sidenote: His Will]

[Sidenote: Last words]

Thus he continued meditating, and praying, and rejoicing, till the day
of his death; and on that day said to Mr. Woodnot, "My dear friend,
I am sorry I have nothing to present to my merciful God but sin and
misery; but the first is pardoned, and a few hours will now put a
period to the latter; for I shall suddenly go hence, and be no more
seen." Upon which expression Mr. Woodnot took occasion to remember him
of the re-edifying Layton Church, and his many acts of mercy. To which
he made answer, saying, "They be good works, if they be sprinkled
with the blood of Christ, and not otherwise." After this discourse he
became more restless, and his soul seemed to be weary of her earthly
tabernacle; and this uneasiness became so visible, that his wife,
his three nieces, and Mr. Woodnot, stood constantly about his bed,
beholding him with sorrow, and an unwillingness to lose the sight of
him, whom they could not hope to see much longer. As they stood thus
beholding him, his wife observed him to breathe faintly, and with
much trouble, and observed him to fall into a sudden agony; which so
surprised her, that she fell into a sudden passion, and required of
him to know how he did. To which his answer was, "that he had passed
a conflict with his last enemy, and had overcome him by the merits of
his Master Jesus." After which answer, he looked up, and saw his wife
and nieces weeping to an extremity, and charged them, if they loved
him, to withdraw into the next room, and there pray every one alone
for him; for nothing but their lamentations could make his death
uncomfortable. To which request their sighs and tears would not suffer
them to make any reply; but they yielded him a sad obedience, leaving
only with him Mr. Woodnot and Mr. Bostock. Immediately after they had
left him, he said to Mr. Bostock, "Pray, Sir, open that door, then
look into that cabinet, in which you may easily find my last Will, and
give it into my hand:" which being done, Mr. Herbert delivered it into
the hand of Mr. Woodnot, and said, "My old friend, I here deliver
you my last Will, in which you will find that I have made you my sole
Executor for the good of my wife and nieces; and I desire you to shew
kindness to them, as they shall need it: I do not desire you to be
just; for I know you will be so for your own sake; but I charge you,
by the religion of our friendship, to be careful of them." And having
obtained Mr. Woodnot's promise to be so, he said, "I am now ready
to die." After which words, he said, "Lord, forsake me not now my
strength faileth me: but grant me mercy for the merits of my Jesus.
And now, Lord--Lord, now receive my soul." And with those words he
breathed forth his divine soul, without any apparent disturbance, Mr.
Woodnot and Mr. Bostock attending his last breath, and closing his
eyes.

Thus he lived, and thus he died, like a Saint, unspotted of the
world, full of alms-deeds, full of humility, and all the examples of a
virtuous life; which I cannot conclude better, than with this borrowed
observation:

  ----All must to their cold graves:
  But the religious actions of the just
  Smell sweet in death, and blossom in the dust.[26]

Mr. George Herbert's have done so to this, and will doubtless do so to
succeeding generations.--I have but this to say more of him; that if
Andrew Melvin died before him,[27] then George Herbert died without an
enemy.[28] I wish--if God shall be so pleased--that I may be so happy
as to die like him.

IZ. WA.

[Sidenote: Mrs. Herbert]

There is a debt justly due to the memory of Mr. Herbert's virtuous
Wife; a part of which I will endeavour to pay, by a very short account
of the remainder of her life, which shall follow.

She continued his disconsolate widow about six years, bemoaning
herself, and complaining, that she had lost the delight of her eyes;
but more that she had lost the spiritual guide for her poor soul; and
would often say, "O that I had, like holy Mary, the Mother of Jesus,
treasured up all his sayings in my heart! But since I have not been
able to do that, I will labour to live like him, that where he now is
I may be also." And she would often say,--as the Prophet David for his
son Absalom,--"O that I had died for him!" Thus she continued mourning
till time and conversation had so moderated her sorrows, that she
became the happy wife of Sir Robert Cook, of Highnam, in the County
of Gloucester, Knight. And though he put a high value on the excellent
accomplishments of her mind and body, and was so like Mr. Herbert, as
not to govern like a master, but as an affectionate husband; yet
she would even to him often take occasion to mention the name of Mr.
George Herbert, and say, that name must live in her memory till she
put off mortality. By Sir Robert she had only one child, a daughter,
whose parts and plentiful estate make her happy in this world, and her
well using of them gives a fair testimony that she will be so in that
which is to come.

Mrs. Herbert was the wife of Sir Robert eight years, and lived his
widow about fifteen; all which time she took a pleasure in mentioning
and commending the excellencies of Mr. George Herbert. She died in the
year 1663, and lies buried at Highnam: Mr. Herbert in his own
Church, under the altar, and covered with a gravestone without any
inscription.

[Sidenote: Lost relics]

This Lady Cook had preserved many of Mr. Herbert's private writings,
which she intended to make public; but they and Highnam House were
burnt together by the late rebels, and so lost to posterity.

I.W.


[Footnote 1: A fortress first erected by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of
Shrewsbury, under William I., to secure his conquests in Wales, though
it was twice partly destroyed by the Welsh. It stands near the Severn,
on a gentle ascent, having a fair prospect over the plain beneath. The
order of Parliament for its destruction was made June 11th, 1649.]

[Footnote 2: That eloquent and acute biographer, Edmund Lodge, thus
truly gives the character of Lord Herbert of Cherbury. "Of that
anomaly of character by the abundance and variety of which foreigners
are pleased to tell us that our country is distinguished, we meet with
few examples more striking than in the subject of this memoir--wise
and unsteady; prudent and careless; a philosopher, with ungovernable
and ridiculous prejudices; a good humoured man, who even sought
occasions to shed the blood of his fellow creatures; a deist,
with superstition too gross for the most secluded cloister. These
observations are not founded on the report of others, but on the
fragment which remains of his own sketch of his life,--a piece of
infinite curiosity." His autobiography has been edited by Horace
Walpole and Scott. He is also the author of a volume of poems written
in the style of Donne, frequently marred by harsh rhythm and violent
conceits, but occasionally displaying artistic excellence of a very
high order.]

[Footnote 3: It has been said of Dr. Richard Neale, that no one
was more thoroughly acquainted with the distresses as well as the
conveniences of the clergy, having served the Church as Schoolmaster,
Curate, Vicar, Rector, Master of the Savoy, Dean of Westminster,
Clerk of the Closet to James I. and Charles I., Bishop of Rochester,
Lichfield, Durham, Winchester, and Archbishop of York (1631). "He
died," says Echard, "full of years as he was full of honours; a
faithful subject to his prince, an indulgent father to his clergy,
a bountiful patron to his chaplains, and a true friend to all that
relied upon him."]

[Footnote 4: He was made Master of Westminster School in 1599, and
continued so to 1610.]

[Footnote 5: Thomas Nevil, D.D., eminent for the splendour of his
birth, his extraordinary piety and learning, was educated at Pembroke
Hall in the University of Cambridge. In 1582 he was admitted Master of
Magdalen College in the same University, and in 1593 he succeeded Dr.
John Still in the Mastership of Trinity College, being then Dean
of the Cathedral Church of Peterborough, over which he presided
commendably eight years. Upon the demise of Queen Elizabeth, Dr.
Nevil, who had been promoted to the Deanery of Canterbury in 1597, was
sent by Archbishop Whitgift to King James in Scotland, in the names of
the Bishops and Clergy of England, to tender their bounden duties, and
to understand his Highness's pleasure for the ordering and guiding of
the Clergy. The Dean brought a most gracious answer of his Highness's
purpose, which was to uphold and maintain the government of the late
Queen, as she left it settled.]

[Footnote 6: Born on 28th June, 1573; created Baron Danvers in 1603,
and Earl of Danby 7th February, 1625-6; died on 10th January, 1643-4.]

[Footnote 7: This gentleman was born in Suffolk, in 1563, and was
descended from a very ancient family in that County. He was educated
at Trinity College, Cambridge, and on January 8th, 1617-18, was made
Secretary of State: King James I. having been previously so well
pleased with his eloquence and learning as to appoint him Master
of the Court of Wards. Sir Robert Naunton was the Author of the
interesting "Fragmenta Regalia, or Observations on Queen Elizabeth and
her Favourites." He died on Good Friday, 1633-34.]

[Footnote 8: Sir Francis Nethersole was a native of Kent, Ambassador
to the Princes of the Union, and Secretary to the Queen of Bohemia,
and was equally remarkable for his doings and sufferings in her
behalf.]

[Footnote 9: This royal work is divided into three books; the first on
"A Christian King's duty towards God." The second on "A King's duty in
his office." The third on "A King's behaviour in things indifferent."]

[Footnote 10: Andrew Melville procured the Basilicon Doron in
Manuscript, and circulated it in Scotland, which produced a libel
against it and first caused its publication in 1599. This celebrated
person was born in 1545, and was educated at the University of St.
Andrews, which he left with an eminent character for learning, and
travelled through France to Geneva. He was elected principal Master
of Glasgow College in 1574, when he began to enforce the Presbyterian
System; and after much opposition, and two years' imprisonment, he
died Professor of Divinity to the Protestants of Sedan, in 1622.]

[Footnote 11: Andrew Melville was not present at the celebrated
conference held at Hampton-Court, in the first year of King James
I., upon the complaint of the Puritans against the ceremonies and the
liturgy of the Church of England. He was summoned to appear before the
King and Council in 1604. In the first edition of "Mr. Walton's Life
of Mr. George Herbert," Melville is described to be "Master of a great
wit; a wit full of knots and clenches; a wit sharp and satirical;
exceeded, I think, by none of that nation, but their Buchanan."]

[Footnote 12: Daughter of Charles Stuart, Earl of Lenox, the younger
brother of Henry, Earl of Darnley, father of King James I. She was
born at Hampstead in 1577, and received a very liberal education;
added to which, she possessed a large estate, and, the English
succession being doubtful, she was supposed to be a probable heir
to the crown. She incurred the displeasure of James, by marrying Mr.
William Seymour, grandson of the Earl of Hertford, for which she was
sent to the Tower; and although she had made her escape thence, she
was overtaken, brought back, and died there in 1615.]

[Footnote 13: James Duport, the learned son of a learned father, John
Duport, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, was Greek Professor in
that University. On the promotion of Dr. Edward Rainbow to the See
of Carlisle, he was appointed Dean of Peterborough, and in 1668 was
elected Master of Magdalen College, Cambridge.]

[Footnote 14: In the margin of the 1670 edition is written "Albumazar,
Ignoramus." The author of "Albumazar," a piece presented before the
King at Cambridge in 1614, and printed in the same year, was John
Tomkis. "Ignoramus," a Latin comedy by James Ruggle (or Ruggles), was
first printed in 1630.]

[Footnote 15: Dr. Richard Parry, who died September 26, 1623. The
"sinecure" here mentioned was the rectory of Whitford.]

[Footnote 16: Mr. Herbert Thorndike was then Fellow of Trinity
College. He was ejected from his Fellowship by the usurped powers, and
admitted to the Rectory of Barley in Hertfordshire, July 2, 1642.
On the death of Dr. Samuel Ward, he was elected to the Mastership of
Sidney College, but was kept out of it by the oppression of the times.
For his sufferings and great learning he was installed Prebendary
of Westminster, Sept. 5, 1660. In the year following he resigned his
living of Barley, and died in 1672. He assisted Dr. Walton in the
edition of the Polyglot Bible.]

[Footnote 17: Dr. John Williams, afterwards Archbishop of York, was
then Bishop of Lincoln, the last ecclesiastic who was Lord Keeper of
the Great Seal.]

[Footnote 18: See Prof. Mayor's "Nicholas Farrer: Two Lives by his
brother John and Dr. Jebb." (Cambridge, 1855.)]

[Footnote 19: A native of Scotland, educated at Westminster School
and Trinity College, Cambridge, afterwards Greek Professor of the
University. During the Civil Wars, he suffered extremely for the Royal
Cause, and was an exile with Charles II., who gave him the Deanery of
Wells on the Restoration, and in 1670, he was made Bishop of Bath and
Wells. He died in 1672.]

[Footnote 20: He was, in 1609, Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity
at Cambridge, and in 1611, Bishop of Salisbury. He was appointed by
James I. to attend the Synod of Dort, and his endeavours to effect an
union between the reformed Churches were zealous and sincere. He died
in 1641.]

[Footnote 21: The House and grounds of this Rectory were in the same
state as in the time of Herbert, when the late Archdeacon Coxe was
presented to the living; the principal part of the former was single,
with small windows, and the river Neder flowed at the bottom of the
garden. Bemerton is two miles west by north of Salisbury, and the
Church is dedicated to St. Andrew.]

[Footnote 22: At the time Dr. Henchman was Prebendary of Salisbury,
of which See he became Bishop in 1660, and in 1663 he was removed to
London. He was much esteemed by King Charles II., whose escape at the
battle of Worcester, he was very instrumental in promoting: but when
the declaration for liberty of conscience was published in 1671-72,
this Prelate was not afraid of the King's displeasure, but enjoined
his Clergy to preach against Popery. He died in 1675.]

[Footnote 23: A private Clergyman, of Clare Hall, Cambridge, who
suffered much for his gallant devotion to the cause of his King,
Charles I.]

[Footnote 24: The extraordinary course of life pursued at Gidding, the
strictness of their rules, their prayers, literally without ceasing,
their abstinence, mortifications, nightly watchings, and various
other peculiarities, gave birth to censure in some, and inflamed the
malevolence of others, but excited the wonder and curiosity of all. So
that they were frequently visited with different views by persons of
all denominations, and of opposite opinions. They received all who
came with courteous civility; and from those who were inquisitive they
concealed nothing, as indeed there was not any thing either in their
opinions or their practice, in the least degree necessary to be
concealed. Notwithstanding this, they were by some abused as Papists,
by others as Puritans, Mr. Ferrar himself, though possessed of
uncommon patience and resignation, yet in anguish of spirit complained
to his friends, that the perpetual obloquy he endured was a sort
of unceasing martyrdom. Added to all this, violent invectives and
inflammatory pamphlets were published against them. Amongst others,
not long after Mr. Ferrar's death, a treatise was addressed to the
Parliament, entitled, "The Arminian Nunnery, or a brief description
and relation of the late erected monastical place called the Arminian
Nunnery at Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire: humbly addressed to the
wise consideration of the present parliament. The foundation is by a
company of Ferrars at Gidding," printed by Thomas Underbill, 1641.

Soon after Mr. Ferrar's death, certain soldiers of the Parliament
resolved to plunder the house at Gidding. The family being informed of
their hasty approach, thought it prudent to fly; while these military
zealots, in the rage of what they called _reformation_, ransacked both
the church and the house; in doing which, they expressed a particular
spite against the organ. This they broke in pieces, of which they made
a large fire, and at it roasted several of Mr. Ferrar's sheep, which
they had killed in his grounds. This done, they seized all the plate,
furniture, and provision, which they could conveniently carry away.
And in this general devastation perished the works which Mr. Ferrar
had compiled for the use of his household, consisting chiefly of
harmonies of the Old and New Testament.]

[Footnote 25: Valdesso died at Naples in 1540.]

[Footnote 26: Altered from a Dirge in Shirley's "Contention of Ajax
and Ulysses."--The lines in Shirley are

  "Your heads must come
  To the cold tomb--
  Only the actions of the just
  Smell sweet and blossom in their dust."]

[Footnote 27: "Mr. George Herbert, Esq., Parson of Fuggleston and
Bemerton, was buried 3d day of March, 1632." (_Parish Register of
Bemerton_.')--It does not appear whether he was buried in the parish
church or in the chapel. His letter to Mr. Nicholas Ferrar, the
translator of Valdesso, is dated from his Parsonage at Bemerton, near
Salisbury, Sept. 29, 1632. It must be remembered, that the beginning
of the year, at that time, was computed the 25th of March. In this
year also, he wrote the short address to the Reader, which is prefixed
to his "Priest to the Temple," which was not published till after his
death.]

[Footnote 28: It is not to be supposed that Andrew Melville could
retain the least personal resentment against Mr. Herbert; whose verses
have in them so little of the poignancy of satire, that it is scarce
possible to consider them as capable of exciting the anger of him to
whom they are addressed.]




LETTER FROM
MR. GEORGE HERBERT
TO
NICHOLAS FARRER,

_the Translator of Valdesso_


[Sidenote: Concerning Valdesso]

My dear and deserving brother, your Valdesso I now return with many
thanks, and some notes, in which perhaps you will discover some care
which I forbear not in the midst of my griefs; first for your sake,
because I would do nothing negligently that you commit unto me:
secondly for the Author's sake, whom I conceive to have been a true
servant of God; and to such, and all that is their's, I owe diligence:
thirdly for the Church's sake, to whom by printing it, I would have
you consecrate it. You owe the Church a debt, and God hath put this
into your hands--as he sent the fish with money to St. Peter--to
discharge it; happily also with this--as his thoughts are
fruitful--intending the honour of his servant the Author, who, being
obscured in his own country, he would have to flourish in this land
of light, and region of the Gospel among his chosen. It is true, there
are some things which I like not in him, as my fragments will express,
when you read them: nevertheless, I wish you by all means to publish
it, for these three eminent things observable therein: First, that God
in the midst of Popery, should open the eyes of one to understand and
express so clearly and excellently, the intent of the Gospel in the
acceptation of Christ's righteousness,--as he sheweth through all
his Considerations,--a thing strangely buried and darkened by the
adversaries, and their great stumbling block. Secondly, the great
honour and reverence which he every where bears towards our dear
Master and Lord; concluding every Consideration almost with his holy
name, and setting his merit forth so piously; for which I do so love
him, that were there nothing else, I would print it, that with it the
honour of my Lord might be published. Thirdly, the many pious rules
of ordering our life about mortification, and observation of God's
kingdom within us, and the working thereof; of which he was a very
diligent observer. These three things are very eminent in the Author,
and overweigh the defects--as I conceive--towards the publishing
thereof.

  From his Parsonage of
  Bemerton, near Salisbury,
  Sept. 29th, 1632.




THE WORKS OF MR. GEORGE HERBERT.


[Sidenote: Herbert's Works]

I. "ORATIO quâ auspicatissimum serenissimi Principis CAROLI reditum
ex Hispaniis celebravit GEORGIUS HERBERT, Academæ Cantabrigiensis
Orator.--1623."

II. "ORATIO ... habita coram Dominis Legatis cum Magistro in Artib.
titulis insignirentur. 27 Febr. 1622."

III. "A TRANSLATION of LEWIS CORNARO'S TREATISE on TEMPERANCE."
Printed at Cambridge in 1634, along with Mr. Nicholas Ferrar's
translation of "The Hygiasticon, or the right Course of preserving
Health, by Leonard Lessius." To Mr. Herbert's Translation is annexed
"A Paradox, translated out of Italian, That a more spare diet is
better than a splendid or sumptuous."

IV. "HERBERT'S REMAINS; or Sundry Pieces of that sweet Singer of the
Temple, Mr. GEORGE HERBERT, some time Orator of the University of
Cambridge, now exposed to public Light." _London, 1652._

This volume consists of--1. "A Priest to the Temple, or the Country
Parson in his Character and Rule of Holy Life; with a Prefatory View
of the Life and Virtues of the Author and Excellencies of this Book,
by Barnabas Oley." In the second and subsequent impressions of this
volume is added, "A Preface to the Christian Reader," consisting
of six paragraphs, by Mr. Oley. 2. "Jacula Prudentum; or Outlandish
Proverbs, Sentences, &c., selected by Mr. George Herbert."

V. "THE TEMPLE: SACRED POEMS and Private EJACULATIONS, by Mr. GEORGE
HERBERT, late orator of the University of Cambridge. In his Temple
doth every Man speak of his Honour, Psal. xxix. _Cambridge, 1633_."

VI. "MUSÆ RESPONSORÆ AD ANDREÆ MELVINI ANTI-TAMI-CAMI-CATEGORIAM. Ex
officinâ, Joh. Field, _Cantab. 1662._" 12mo.

During his residence at Cambridge, he composed Latin Poems on the
Death of Henry Prince of Wales; and of Anne, Queen to James I. See
"Epicedium Cantabrigiense in obitum immaturum semperque deflendum
Henrici illustrissimi Principis Walliæ, _Cantab. 1612._" And
"Lachrymæ Cantabrigienses in obitum serenissimæ Regiæ Annæ, Conjugis
dilectissimæ Jacobi Magnæ Britanniæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Regis.
_Cantab. 1619._"

The following letters, written by Herbert, when he was Public Orator,
are in the Orator's Book at Cambridge:

1. "To Sir Robert Naunton, with thanks for some acts of kindness
procured by him from Government to the University."

2. "To Fulke Greville, on the same account."

3. "To George Villiers, Marquis of Buckingham, on his being created a
Marquis."

4. "To Sir Francis Bacon, with thanks for his Novum Organum."

5. "To Sir Thomas Coventry, Attorney-General."

6. "To Montagu, Lord Treasurer," and

7. "To Sir Robert Heath, Solicitor-General, congratulating them on
their several promotions."

8. "To King James, with thanks for a present of his Doron Basilicon."

9. "To the same, with thanks for the preservation of the river."

10. "To Sir Francis Bacon, on the same subject."

11. "To Dr. Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, against the London
Printers monopolizing foreign books."

12. "To Sir Francis Bacon, on the same subject."

13. "To Leigh, Chief Justice, on his promotion."

14. "To Cranfield, Lord Treasurer, on the same occasion."




THE LIFE
OF
DR. ROBERT SANDERSON,
LATE BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

"Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile."--Ps. xxxii.
2.




TO THE RIGHT REVEREND AND HONOURABLE,
GEORGE,
LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, PRELATE OF THE GARTER, AND ONE OF HIS
MAJESTY'S PRIVY COUNCIL.


[Sidenote: Dedication]

MY LORD,

If I should undertake to enumerate the many favours and advantages
I have had by my very long acquaintance with your Lordship, I
should enter upon an employment, that might prove as tedious as the
collecting of the materials for this poor Monument, which I have
erected, and do dedicate to the Memory of your beloved friend, Dr.
Sanderson: But though I will not venture to do that; yet I do remember
with pleasure, and remonstrate with gratitude, that your Lordship made
me known to him, Mr. Chillingworth,[1] and Dr. Hammond; men, whose
merits ought never to be forgotten.

My friendship with the first was begun almost forty years past, when
I was as far from a thought, as a desire to outlive him; and farther
from an intention to write his Life. But the wise Disposer of all
men's lives and actions hath prolonged the first, and now permitted
the last; which is here dedicated to your Lordship,--and, as it ought
to be--with all humility, and a desire that it may remain as a public
testimony of my gratitude.

        My Lord,
  Your most affectionate old friend,
        and most humble servant,
               IZAAK WALTON.


[Footnote 1: William Chillingworth, born at Oxford in 1602, and
educated at Trinity College. He was proverbially celebrated there
for clear and acute reasoning; but he so much involved himself in the
Romish Controversy with John Fisher, a Jesuit, as to become a convert,
and enter the College at Douay. His re-conversion was brought about by
his godfather, Archbishop Laud, in 1631, when he returned to England;
and in 1638, he wrote his famous work called "The Religion of
Protestants a safe Way to Salvation." Fol. He was zealously attached
to the Royal cause, and served at the Siege of Gloucester: but being
taken prisoner, he was carried to the Bishop's Palace, at Chichester,
on account of his illness, and, dying there Jan. 30th, 1644, was
buried in the Cathedral, without any other ceremony than that of his
book being cast into the grave by the hand of a fanatic.]




THE PREFACE


[Sidenote: Introductory]

I dare neither think, nor assure the Reader, that I have committed no
mistakes in this relation of the Life of Dr. Sanderson; but I am sure,
there is none that are either wilful, or very material. I confess, it
was worthy the employment of some person of more Learning and greater
abilities than I can pretend to; and I have not a little wondered
that none have yet been so grateful to him and to posterity, as to
undertake it. For it may be noted, that our Saviour hath had such
care, that, for Mary Magdalen's kindness to him, her name should never
be forgotten: and doubtless Dr. Sanderson's meek and innocent life,
his great and useful Learning, might therefore challenge the like
endeavours to preserve his memory: And 'tis to me a wonder, that it
has been already fifteen years neglected. But, in saying this, my
meaning is not to upbraid others,--I am far from that,--but excuse
myself, or beg pardon for daring to attempt it. This being premised, I
desire to tell the Reader, that in this relation I have been so bold,
as to paraphrase and say, what I think he--whom I had the happiness
to know well--would have said upon the same occasions: and if I have
erred in this kind, and cannot now beg pardon of him that loved me;
yet I do of my Reader, from whom I desire the same favour.

[Sidenote: Reasons for writing]

And, though my age might have procured me a Writ of Ease, and that
secured me from all further trouble in this kind; yet I met with such
persuasions to begin, and so many willing informers since, and from
them, and others, such helps and encouragements to proceed, that when
I found myself faint, and weary of the burthen with which I had loaden
myself, and ready to lay it down; yet time and new strength hath at
last brought it to be what it now is, and presented to the Reader, and
with it this desire; that he will take notice, that Dr. Sanderson did
in his Will, or last sickness, advertise, that after his death nothing
of his might be printed; because that might be said to be his, which
indeed was not; and also for that he might have changed his opinion
since he first writ it. And though these reasons ought to be regarded,
yet regarded so, as he resolves in that Case of Conscience concerning
Rash Vows; that there may appear very good second reasons why we may
forbear to perform them. However, for his said reasons, they ought to
be read as we do Apocryphal Scripture; to explain, but not oblige us
to so firm a belief of what is here presented as his.

[Sidenote: Tracts and a Sermon]

And I have this to say more; That as in my queries for writing Dr.
Sanderson's Life, I met with these little Tracts annexed; so, in my
former queries for my information to write the Life of venerable Mr.
Hooker, I met with a Sermon, which I also believe was really his, and
here presented as his to the Reader. It is affirmed,--and I have
met with reason to believe it,--that there be some Artists, that do
certainly know an original picture from a copy; and in what age of the
world, and by whom drawn. And if so, then I hope it may be as safely
affirmed, that what is here presented for their's is so like their
temper of mind, their other writings, the times when, and the
occasions upon which they were writ, that all Readers may safely
conclude, they could be writ by none but venerable Mr. Hooker, and the
humble and learned Dr. Sanderson.

And lastly, I am now glad that I have collected these memoirs, which
lay scattered, and contracted them into a narrower compass; and if I
have, by the pleasant toil of doing so, either pleased or profited any
man, I have attained what I designed when I first undertook it. But I
seriously wish, both for the Reader's and Dr. Sanderson's sake, that
posterity had known his great Learning and Virtue by a better pen; by
such a pen, as could have made his life as immortal, as his learning
and merits ought to be.

I.W.




THE LIFE
OF
DR. ROBERT SANDERSON,
LATE LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN.


[Sidenote: Birth and birth-place]

Doctor Robert Sanderson, the late learned Bishop of Lincoln, whose
Life I intend to write with all truth and equal plainness, was born
the nineteenth day of September in the year of our Redemption 1587.
The place of his birth was Rotherham[1] in the County of York; a Town
of good note, and the more for that Thomas Rotherham,[2] some time
Archbishop of that see, was born in it; a man, whose great wisdom,
and bounty, and sanctity of life, have made it the more memorable: as
indeed it ought also to be, for being the birth-place of our Robert
Sanderson. And the Reader will be of my belief, if this humble
relation of his life can hold any proportion with his great Piety, his
useful Learning, and his many other extraordinary endowments.

[Sidenote: His father]

He was the second and youngest Son, of Robert Sanderson, of
Gilthwaite-Hall, in the said Parish and County, Esq., by Elizabeth,
one of the daughters of Richard Carr, of Butterthwaite-Hall, in the
Parish of Ecclesfield, in the said County of York, Gentleman.

This Robert Sanderson, the Father, was descended from a numerous,
ancient, and honourable family of his own name: for the search of
which truth, I refer my Reader, that inclines to it, to Dr. Thoroton's
"History of the Antiquities of Nottinghamshire," and other records;
not thinking it necessary here to engage him into a search for bare
titles, which are noted to have in them nothing of reality: for titles
not acquired, but derived only, do but shew us who of our ancestors
have, and how they have achieved that honour which their descendants
claim, and may not be worthy to enjoy. For, if those titles descend to
persons that degenerate into Vice, and break off the continued line of
Learning, or Valour, or that Virtue that acquired them, they destroy
the very foundation upon which that Honour was built; and all the
rubbish of their vices ought to fall heavy on such dishonourable
heads; ought to fall so heavy, as to degrade them of their titles, and
blast their memories with reproach and shame.

But our Robert Sanderson lived worthy of his name and family: of
which one testimony may be, that Gilbert, called the Great Earl
of Shrewsbury, thought him not unworthy to be joined with him as
a Godfather to Gilbert Sheldon,[3] the late Lord Archbishop of
Canterbury; to whose merits and memory, posterity--the Clergy
especially--ought to pay a reverence.

[Sidenote: His youth]

But I return to my intended relation of Robert the Son, who began in
his youth to make the Laws of God, and obedience to his parents, the
rules of his life; seeming even then to dedicate himself, and all his
studies, to Piety and Virtue.

[Sidenote: His early training]

And as he was inclined to this by that native goodness, with which the
wise Disposer of all hearts had endowed his; so this calm, this
quiet and happy temper of mind--his being mild, and averse to
oppositions--made the whole course of his life easy and grateful both
to himself and others: and this blessed temper was maintained and
improved by his prudent Father's good example; and by frequent
conversing with him, and scattering short apophthegms and little
pleasant stories, and making useful applications of them, his son was
in his infancy taught to abhor Vanity and Vice as monsters, and to
discern the loveliness of Wisdom and Virtue; and by these means, and
God's concurring grace, his knowledge was so augmented, and his native
goodness so confirmed, that all became so habitual, as it was not easy
to determine whether Nature or Education were his teachers.

And here let me tell the Reader, that these early beginnings of
Virtue, were by God's assisting grace, blessed with what St. Paul
seemed to beg for his Philippians [Phil. i. 6.]; namely, "That he,
that had begun a good work in them, would finish it." And Almighty
God did: for his whole life was so regular and innocent, that he might
have said at his death--and with truth and comfort--what the same St.
Paul said after to the same Philippians, when he advised them to walk
as they had him for an example [chap. iii. 17].

[Sidenote: At Rotherham]

And this goodness, of which I have spoken, seemed to increase as his
years did; and with his goodness his Learning, the foundation of which
was laid in the Grammar-school of Rotherham--that being one of those
three that were founded and liberally endowed by the said great and
good Bishop of that name.--And in this time of his being a Scholar
there, he was observed to use an unwearied diligence to attain
learning, and to have a seriousness beyond his age, and with it a more
than common modesty; and to be of so calm and obliging a behaviour,
that the Master and whole number of Scholars loved him as one man.

And in this love and amity he continued at that School till about
the thirteenth year of his age; at which time his Father designed to
improve his Grammar learning, by removing him from Rotherham to one of
the more noted Schools of Eton or Westminster; and after a year's stay
there, then to remove him thence to Oxford. But, as he went with him,
he called on an old friend, a Minister of noted learning, and told him
his intentions; and he, after many questions with his Son, received
such answers from him, that he assured his Father, his Son was so
perfect a Grammarian, that he had laid a good foundation to build
any or all the Arts upon; and therefore advised him to shorten his
journey, and leave him at Oxford. And his Father did so.

[Sidenote: At Oxford]

[Sidenote: Master of Arts]

His father left him there to the sole care and manage of Dr.
Kilbie,[4] who was then Rector of Lincoln College. And he, after some
time and trial of his manners and learning, thought fit to enter him
of that College, and, after to matriculate him in the University,
which he did the first of July, 1603; but he was not chosen Fellow
till the third of May, 1606; at which time he had taken his degree of
Bachelor of Arts: at the taking of which degree, his Tutor told the
Rector, "That his pupil Sanderson had a metaphysical brain and a
matchless memory; and that he thought he had improved or made the last
so by an art of his own invention." And all the future employments of
his life proved that his tutor was not mistaken. I must here stop
my Reader, and tell him that this Dr. Kilbie was a man of so great
learning and wisdom, and was so excellent a critic in the Hebrew
Tongue, that he was made Professor of it in this university; and was
also so perfect a Grecian, that he was by King James appointed to
be one of the Translators of the Bible; and that this Doctor and Mr.
Sanderson had frequent discourses, and loved as father and son. The
Doctor was to ride a journey into Derbyshire, and took Mr. Sanderson
to bear him company: and they going together on a Sunday with the
Doctor's friend to that Parish Church where they then were, found the
young Preacher to have no more discretion, than to waste a great part
of the hour allotted for his Sermon in exceptions against the late
Translation of several words,--not expecting such a hearer as Dr.
Kilbie,--and shewed three reasons why a particular word should have
been otherwise translated. When Evening Prayer was ended, the Preacher
was invited to the Doctor's friend's house; where after some other
conference the Doctor told him, "He might have preached more useful
doctrine, and not have filled his auditors' ears with needless
exceptions against the late Translation: and for that word, for which
he offered to that poor congregation three reasons why it ought to
have been translated as he said; he and others had considered
all them, and found thirteen more considerable reasons why it was
translated as now printed;" and told him, "If his friend, then
attending him, should prove guilty of such indiscretion, he should
forfeit his favour." To which Mr. Sanderson said, "He hoped he should
not." And the preacher was so ingenuous as to say, "He would not
justify himself." And so I return to Oxford. In the year 1608,--July
the 11th,--Mr. Sanderson was completed Master of Arts. I am not
ignorant, that for the attaining these dignities the time was shorter
than was then or is now required; but either his birth or the well
performance of some extraordinary exercise, or some other merit, made
him so: and the Reader is requested to believe, that 'twas the last:
and requested to believe also, that if I be mistaken in the time, the
College Records have misinformed me: but I hope they have not.

In that year of 1608, he was--November the 7th--by his College chosen
Reader of Logic in the House; which he performed so well, that he was
chosen again the sixth of November, 1609. In the year 1613, he was
chosen Sub-Rector of the College, and the like for the year 1614, and
chosen again to the same dignity and trust for the year 1616.

In all which time and employments, his abilities and behaviour were
such, as procured him both love and reverence from the whole Society;
there being no exception against him for any faults, but a sorrow
for the infirmities of his being too timorous and bashful; both which
were, God knows, so connatural as they never left him. And I know not
whether his lovers ought to wish they had; for they proved so like the
radical moisture in man's body, that they preserved the life of virtue
in his soul, which by God's assisting grace never left him till this
life put on immortality. Of which happy infirmities--if they may be so
called--more hereafter.

[Sidenote: Standing for Proctor]

In the year 1614 he stood to be elected one of the Proctors for the
University. And 'twas not to satisfy any ambition of his own, but to
comply with the desire of the Rector and whole Society, of which he
was a Member; who had not had a Proctor chosen out of their College
for the space of sixty years;--namely, not from the year 1554, unto
his standing;--and they persuaded him, that if he would but stand for
Proctor, his merits were so generally known, and he so well beloved,
that 'twas but appearing, and he would infallibly carry it against any
opposers; and told him, "That he would by that means recover a right
or reputation that was seemingly dead to his College." By these, and
other like persuasions, he yielded up his own reason to their's, and
appeared to stand for Proctor. But that election was carried on by so
sudden and secret, and by so powerful a faction, that he missed it.
Which when he understood, he professed seriously to his friends, "That
if he were troubled at the disappointment, it was for their's, and
not for his own sake: for he was far from any desire of such an
employment, as must be managed with charge and trouble, and was too
usually rewarded with hard censures, or hatred, or both."

[Sidenote: Lectures on Logic]

[Sidenote: Their success]

In the year following he was earnestly persuaded by Dr. Kilbie and
others, to review the Logic Lectures which he had read some years past
in his College; and, that done, to methodise and print them, for the
ease and public good of posterity. But though he had an averseness to
appear publicly in print; yet after many serious solicitations,
and some second thoughts of his own, he laid aside his modesty, and
promised he would; and he did so in that year of 1615. And the book
proved as his friends seemed to prophesy, that is, of great and
general use, whether we respect the Art or the Author. For Logic may
be said to be an Art of right reasoning; an Art that undeceives men
who take falsehood for truth; enables men to pass a true judgment, and
detect those fallacies, which in some men's understandings usurp the
place of right reason. And how great a master our Author was in this
art, will quickly appear from that clearness of method, argument, and
demonstration, which is so conspicuous in all his other writings. He,
who had attained to so great a dexterity in the use of reason
himself, was best qualified to prescribe rules and directions for the
instructions of others. And I am the more satisfied of the excellency
and usefulness of this, his first public undertaking, by hearing that
most Tutors in both Universities teach Dr. Sanderson's Logic to their
Pupils, as a foundation upon which they are to build their future
studies in Philosophy. And, for a further confirmation of my belief,
the Reader may note, that since his Book of Logic was first printed
there has not been less than ten thousand sold: and that 'tis like to
continue both to discover truth and to clear and confirm the reason of
the unborn world.[5]

[Sidenote: Senior Proctor]

It will easily be believed that his former standing for a Proctor's
place, and being disappointed, must prove much displeasing to a man of
his great wisdom and modesty, and create in him an averseness to run a
second hazard of his credit and content: and yet he was assured by Dr.
Kilbie, and the Fellows of his own College, and most of those that
had opposed him in the former Election, that his Book of Logic had
purchased for him such a belief of his learning and prudence, and
his behaviour at the former Election had got for him so great and so
general a love, that all his former opposers repented what they had
done; and therefore persuaded him to venture to stand a second time.
And, upon these, and other like encouragements, he did again, but not
without an inward unwillingness, yield up his own reason to their's,
and promised to stand. And he did so; and was the tenth of April,
1616, chosen Senior Proctor for the year following; Mr. Charles
Crooke[6] of Christ Church being then chosen the Junior.

In this year of his being Proctor, there happened many memorable
accidents; namely, Dr. Robert Abbot,[7] Master of Balliol College, and
Regius Professor of Divinity,--who being elected or consecrated Bishop
of Sarum some months before,--was solemnly conducted out of Oxford
towards his Diocese, by the Heads of all Houses, and the chief of
all the University. And Dr. Prideaux[8] succeeded him in the
Professorship, in which he continued till the year 1642,--being then
elected Bishop of Worcester,--and then our now Proctor, Mr. Sanderson,
succeeded him in the Regius Professorship.

[Sidenote: Dr. Lake]

And in this year Dr. Arthur Lake[9]--then Warden of New College--was
advanced to the Bishopric of Bath and Wells: a man of whom I take
myself bound in justice to say, that he has made the great trust
committed to him, the chief care and whole business of his life. And
one testimony of this proof may be, that he sate usually with his
Chancellor in his Consistory, and at least advised, if not assisted,
in most sentences for the punishing of such offenders as deserved
Church-censures. And it may be noted, that, after a sentence for
penance was pronounced, he did very rarely or never, allow of any
commutation for the offence, but did usually see the sentence
for penance executed; and then as usually preached a Sermon on
mortification and repentance, and did so apply them to the offenders,
that then stood before him, as begot in them a devout contrition, and
at least resolutions to amend their lives: and having done that, he
would take them--though never so poor--to dinner with him, and use
them friendly, and dismiss them with his blessing and persuasions to
a virtuous life, and beg them to believe him. And his humility and
charity, and other Christian excellencies, were all like this. Of
all which the Reader may inform himself in his Life, truly writ, and
printed before his Sermons.

And in this year also, the very prudent and very wise Lord Ellesmere,
who was so very long Lord Chancellor of England, and then of Oxford,
resigning up the last, the Right Honourable, and as magnificent,
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, was chosen to succeed him.

[Sidenote: University matters]

And in this year our late King Charles the First--then Prince of
Wales--came honourably attended to Oxford; and having deliberately
visited the University, the Schools, Colleges, and Libraries, he and
his attendants were entertained with ceremonies and feasting suitable
to their dignity and merits.

And this year King James sent letters to the University for the
regulating their studies; especially of the young Divines: advising
they should not rely on modern sums and systems, but study the Fathers
and Councils, and the more primitive learning. And this advice was
occasioned by the indiscreet inferences made by very many Preachers
out of Mr. Calvin's doctrine concerning Predestination, Universal
Redemption, the Irresistibility of God's Grace, and of some other
knotty points depending upon these; points which many think were not,
but by interpreters forced to be, Mr. Calvin's meaning; of the truth
or falsehood of which I pretend not to have an ability to judge; my
meaning in this relation, being only to acquaint the Reader with the
occasion of the King's Letter.

[Sidenote: Revision of the Statutes]

It may be observed, that the various accidents of this year did afford
our Proctor large and laudable matter to dilate and discourse upon:
and that though his office seemed, according to statute and custom,
to require him to do so at his leaving it; yet he chose rather to
pass them over with some very short observations, and present the
governors, and his other hearers, with rules to keep up discipline and
order in the University; which at that time was, either by defective
Statutes, or want of the due execution of those that were good, grown
to be extremely irregular. And in this year also, the magisterial part
of the Proctor required more diligence, and was more difficult to be
managed than formerly, by reason of a multiplicity of new Statutes,
which begot much confusion; some of which Statutes were then, and
others suddenly after, put into an useful execution. And though these
Statutes were not then made so perfectly useful as they were designed,
till Archbishop Laud's time--who assisted in the forming and promoting
them;--yet our present Proctor made them as effectual as discretion
and diligence could do: of which one example may seem worthy the
noting; namely, that if in his night-walk he met with irregular
Scholars absent from their Colleges at University hours, or disordered
by drink, or in scandalous company, he did not use his power of
punishing to an extremity; but did usually take their names, and a
promise to appear before him unsent for next morning; and when they
did, convinced them, with such obligingness, and reason added to it,
that they parted from him with such resolutions, as the man after
God's own heart was possessed with, when he said, "There is mercy with
thee, and therefore thou shall be feared:" Psal. cxxx. 4. And by this
and a like behaviour to all men, he was so happy as to lay down this
dangerous employment, as but very few, if any, have done, even without
an enemy.

[Sidenote: Looking back]

After his speech was ended, and he retired with a friend into a
convenient privacy, he looked upon his friend with a more than common
cheerfulness, and spake to him to this purpose: "I look back upon my
late employment with some content to myself, and a great thankfulness
to Almighty God, that he hath made me of a temper not apt to provoke
the meanest of mankind, but rather to pass by infirmities, if noted;
and in this employment I have had--God knows--many occasions to do
both. And when I consider, how many of a contrary temper are by sudden
and small occasions transported and hurried by anger to commit such
errors, as they in that passion could not foresee, and will in their
more calm and deliberate thoughts upbraid, and require repentance: and
consider, that though repentance secures us from the punishment of
any sin, yet how much more comfortable it is to be innocent than need
pardon: and consider, that errors against men, though pardoned both by
God and them, do yet leave such anxious and upbraiding impressions in
the memory, as abates of the offender's content:--when I consider all
this, and that God hath of his goodness given me a temper that hath
prevented me from running into such enormities, I remember my temper
with joy and thankfulness. And though I cannot say with David--I wish
I could,--that therefore 'his praise shall always be in my mouth;'
Psal. xxxiv. 1; yet I hope, that by his grace, and that grace seconded
by my endeavours, it shall never be blotted out of my memory; and I
now beseech Almighty God that it never may."

[Sidenote: Gilbert Sheldon]

And here I must look back, and mention one passage more in his
Proctorship, which is, that Gilbert Sheldon, the late Lord Archbishop
of Canterbury, was this year sent to Trinity College in that
University; and not long after his entrance there, a letter was sent
after him from his godfather--the father of our Proctor--to let his
son know it, and commend his godson to his acquaintance, and to
more than a common care of his behaviour; which proved a pleasing
injunction to our Proctor, who was so gladly obedient to his father's
desire, that he some few days after sent his servitor to intreat
Mr. Sheldon to his chamber next morning. But it seems Mr. Sheldon
having--like a young man as he was--run into some such irregularity
as made him conscious he had transgressed his statutes, did therefore
apprehend the Proctor's invitation as an introduction to punishment;
the fear of which made his bed restless that night: but, at their
meeting the next morning, that fear vanished immediately by the
Proctor's cheerful countenance, and the freedom of their discourse of
friends. And let me tell my Reader, that this first meeting proved the
beginning of as spiritual a friendship as human nature is capable of;
of a friendship free from all self ends: and it continued to be so,
till death forced a separation of it on earth; but it is now reunited
in Heaven.

[Sidenote: Ordination]

And now, having given this account of his behaviour, and the
considerable accidents in his Proctorship, I proceed to tell my
Reader, that, this busy employment being ended, he preached his sermon
for his Degree of Bachelor in Divinity in as elegant Latin, and as
remarkable for the matter, as hath been preached in that University
since that day. And having well performed his other exercises for that
Degree, he took it the nine and twentieth of May following, having
been ordained Deacon and Priest in the year 1611, by John King, then
Bishop of London, who had not long before been Dean of Christ Church,
and then knew him so well, that he became his most affectionate
friend. And in this year, being then about the twenty-ninth of his
age, he took from the University a license to preach.

[Sidenote: Wibberton and Boothby Pagnell]

In the year 1618, he was by Sir Nicholas Sanderson, Lord Viscount
Castleton, presented to the Rectory of Wibberton, not far from Boston,
in the County of Lincoln, a living of very good value; but it lay in
so low and wet a part of that country as was inconsistent with his
health. And health being--next to a good conscience--the greatest of
God's blessings in this life, and requiring therefore of every man a
care and diligence to preserve it, he, apprehending a danger of losing
it, if he continued at Wibberton a second Winter, did therefore resign
it back into the hands of his worthy kinsman and patron, about one
year after his donation of it to him.

And about this time of his resignation he was presented to the Rectory
of Boothby Pannell, in the same County of Lincoln; a town which
has been made famous, and must continue to be famous, because Dr.
Sanderson, the humble and learned Dr. Sanderson, was more than forty
years Parson of Boothby Pannell, and from thence dated all or most of
his matchless writings.

To this living--which was of no less value, but a purer air than
Wibberton--he was presented by Thomas Harrington, of the same County,
and Parish, Esq., who was a gentleman of a very ancient family, and of
great use and esteem in his country during his whole life. And in this
Boothby Pannell the meek and charitable Dr. Sanderson and his patron
lived with an endearing, mutual, and comfortable friendship, till the
death of the last put a period to it.

[Sidenote: Resigns his Fellowship]

About the time that he was made Parson of Boothby Pannell, he resigned
his Fellowship of Lincoln College unto the then Rector and Fellows;
and his resignation is recorded in these words:

Ego Robertus Sanderson perpetuus, &c.

I Robert Sanderson, Fellow of the College of St. Mary's and
All-Saints, commonly called Lincoln College, in the University of
Oxford, do freely and willingly resign into the hands of the Rector
and Fellows, all the right and title that I have in the said College,
wishing to them and their successors all peace, and piety, and
happiness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen.

       ROBERT SANDERSON.

May 6, 1619.

And not long after this resignation, he was by the then Bishop of
York,[10] or the King _sede vacante_, made Prebend of the Collegiate
Church of Southwell in that Diocese; and shortly after of Lincoln by
the Bishop of that See.

[Sidenote: Marriage]

And being now resolved to set down his rest in a quiet privacy at
Boothby Pannell, and looking back with some sadness upon his removal
from his general acquaintance left in Oxford, and the peculiar
pleasures of a University life; he could not but think the want of
society would render this of a country Parson the more uncomfortable,
by reason of that want of conversation; and therefore he did put
on some faint purposes to marry. For he had considered, that though
marriage be cumbered with more worldly care than a single life; yet a
complying and a prudent wife changes those very cares into so mutual a
content, as makes them become like the sufferings of St. Paul, Colos.
i. 24, which he would not have wanted because they occasioned his
rejoicing in them. And he, having well considered this, and observed
the secret unutterable joys that children beget in parents, and
the mutual pleasures and contented trouble of their daily care and
constant endeavours to bring up those little images of themselves, so
as to make them as happy as all those cares and endeavours can make
them: he, having considered all this, the hopes of such happiness
turned his faint purposes into a positive resolution to marry. And he
was so happy as to obtain Anne, the daughter of Henry Nelson, Bachelor
in Divinity, then Rector of Haugham, in the County of Lincoln, a man
of noted worth and learning. And the Giver of all good things was so
good to him, as to give him such a wife as was suitable to his own
desires; a wife, that made his life happy by being always content when
he was cheerful; that divided her joys with him, and abated of his
sorrow, by bearing a part of that burden; a wife that demonstrated her
affection by a cheerful obedience to all his desires, during the whole
course of his life; and at his death too, for she outlived him.

[Sidenote: A country parson]

And in this Boothby Pannell, he either found or made his parishioners
peaceable, and complying with him in the decent and regular service
of God. And thus his Parish, his patron, and he lived together in
a religious love and a contented quietness; he not troubling their
thoughts by preaching high and useless notions, but such plain truths
as were necessary to be known, believed and practised, in order to
their salvation. And their assent to what he taught was testified by
such a conformity to his doctrine, as declared they believed and loved
him. For he would often say, "That, without the last, the most evident
truths--heard as from an enemy, or an evil liver--either are not, or
are at least the less effectual; and do usually rather harden than
convince the hearer."

And this excellent man did not think his duty discharged by only
reading the Church prayers, catechising, preaching, and administering
the Sacraments seasonably; but thought--if the Law or the Canons may
seem to enjoin no more,--yet that God would require more, than the
defective laws of man's making can or do enjoin; the performance of
that inward law, which Almighty God hath imprinted in the conscience
of all good Christians, and inclines those whom he loves to perform.
He, considering this, did therefore become a law to himself,
practising what his conscience told him was his duty, in reconciling
differences, and preventing lawsuits, both in his Parish and in the
neighbourhood. To which may be added his often visiting sick and
disconsolate families, persuading them to patience, and raising them
from dejection by his advice and cheerful discourse, and by adding
his own alms, if there were any so poor as to need it: considering how
acceptable it is to Almighty God, when we do as we are advised by
St. Paul, Gal. vi. 2, "Help to bear one another's burden," either of
sorrow or want: and what a comfort it will be, when the Searcher of
all hearts shall call us to a strict account for that evil we have
done, and the good we have omitted, to remember we have comforted and
been helpful to a dejected or distressed family.

[Sidenote: The poor tenant]

And that his practice was to do good, one example may be, that he met
with a poor dejected neighbour, that complained he had taken a meadow,
the rent of which was 9_l_. a year; and when the hay was made ready
to be carried into his barn, several days' constant rain had so raised
the water, that a sudden flood carried all away, and his rich Landlord
would bate him no rent; and that unless he had half abated, he and
seven children were utterly undone. It may be noted, that in this age
there are a sort of people so unlike the God of Mercy, so void of the
bowels of pity, that they love only themselves and children: love them
so, as not to be concerned, whether the rest of mankind waste their
days in sorrow or shame; people that are cursed with riches, and a
mistake that nothing but riches can make them and their's happy. But
it was not so with Dr. Sanderson; for he was concerned, and spoke
comfortably to the poor dejected man; bade him go home and pray, and
not load himself with sorrow, for he would go to his Landlord next
morning; and if his Landlord would not abate what he desired, he and a
friend would pay it for him.

[Sidenote: The rich landlord]

[Sidenote: A successful mediator]

To the Landlord he went the next day, and, in a conference, the
Doctor presented to him the sad condition of his poor dejected Tenant;
telling him how much God is pleased when men compassionate the poor:
and told him, that though God loves sacrifice, yet he loves mercy so
much better, that he is pleased when called the God of Mercy. And
told him, the riches he was possessed of were given him by that God of
Mercy, who would not be pleased, if he, that had so much given,
yea, and forgiven him too, should prove like the rich steward in the
Gospel, "that took his fellow servant by the throat to make him pay
the utmost farthing." This he told him: and told him, that the law of
this nation--by which law he claims his rent--does not undertake to
make men honest or merciful; but does what it can to restrain men from
being dishonest or unmerciful, and yet was defective in both: and that
taking any rent from his poor Tenant, for what God suffered him not to
enjoy, though the law allowed him to do so, yet if he did so, he was
too like that rich Steward which he had mentioned to him; and told him
that riches so gotten, and added to his great estate, would, as Job
says, "prove like gravel in his teeth:" would in time so corrode his
conscience, or become so nauseous when he lay upon his deathbed, that
he would then labour to vomit it up, and not be able: and therefore
advised him, being very rich, to make friends of his unrighteous
Mammon, before that evil day come upon him: but however, neither
for his own sake, nor for God's sake, to take any rent of his poor,
dejected, sad Tenant; for that were to gain a temporal, and lose his
eternal happiness. These and other such reasons were urged with so
grave and compassionate an earnestness, that the Landlord forgave his
Tenant the whole rent.

The Reader will easily believe that Dr. Sanderson, who was so meek and
merciful, did suddenly and gladly carry this comfortable news to the
dejected Tenant; and we believe, that at the telling of it there was
mutual rejoicing. It was one of Job's boasts, that "he had seen none
perish for want of clothing: and that he had often made the heart of
the widow to rejoice." Job xxxi. 19. And doubtless Dr. Sanderson
might have made the same religious boast of this and very many like
occasions. But, since he did not, I rejoice that I have this just
occasion to do it for him; and that I can tell the Reader, I might
tire myself and him, in telling how like the whole course of Dr.
Sanderson's life was to this which I have now related.

[Sidenote: Contented obscurity]

Thus he went on in an obscure and quiet privacy, doing good daily both
by word and by deed, as often as any occasion offered itself; yet not
so obscurely, but that his very great learning, prudence, and piety
were much noted and valued by the Bishop of his Diocese, and by most
of the nobility and gentry of that county. By the first of which
he was often summoned to preach many Visitation Sermons, and by the
latter at many Assizes. Which Sermons, though they were much esteemed
by them that procured, and were fit to judge them; yet they were the
less valued, because he read them, which he was forced to do; for
though he had an extraordinary memory,--even the art of it,--yet he
had such an innate invincible fear and bashfulness, that his memory
was wholly useless, as to the repetition of his sermons as he had writ
them; which gave occasion to say, when they were first printed and
exposed to censure, which was in the year 1632,--"that the best
Sermons that were ever read, were never preached."

[Sidenote: Chaplain to Charles I.]

In this contented obscurity he continued, till the learned and good
Archbishop Laud,[11] who knew him well in Oxford,--for he was
his contemporary there,--told the King,--'twas the knowing and
conscientious King Charles the First,--that there was one Mr.
Sanderson, an obscure country Minister, that was of such sincerity,
and so excellent in all casuistical learning, that he desired
his Majesty would make him his Chaplain. The King granted it most
willingly, and gave the Bishop charge to hasten it, for he longed to
discourse with a man that had dedicated his studies to that useful
part of learning. The Bishop forgot not the King's desire, and Mr.
Sanderson was made his Chaplain in Ordinary in November following,
1631. And when they became known to each other, the King did put many
Cases of Conscience to him, and received from him such deliberate,
safe, and clear solutions, as gave him great content in conversing
with him; so that, at the end of his month's attendance, the King told
him, "he should long for the next November; for he resolved to have a
more inward acquaintance with him, when that month and he returned."
And when the month and he did return, the good King was never absent
from his Sermons, and would usually say, "I carry my ears to hear
other preachers; but I carry my conscience to hear Mr. Sanderson,
and to act accordingly." And this ought not to be concealed from
posterity, that the King thought what he spake; for he took him to be
his adviser, in that quiet part of his life, and he proved to be his
comforter in those days of his affliction, when he apprehended himself
to be in danger of death or deposing. Of which more hereafter.

[Sidenote: Clerk of the Convocation]

In the first Parliament of this good King,--which was 1625,--he was
chosen to be a Clerk of the Convocation for the Diocese of Lincoln;
which I here mention, because about that time did arise many disputes
about Predestination, and the many critical points that depend upon,
or are interwoven in it; occasioned, as was said, by a disquisition of
new principles of Mr. Calvin's, though others say they were before
his time. But of these Dr. Sanderson then drew up, for his own
satisfaction, such a scheme--he called it _Pax Ecclesiæ_--as then gave
himself, and hath since given others, such satisfaction, that it still
remains to be of great estimation among the most learned. He was also
chosen Clerk of all the Convocations during that good King's reign.
Which I here tell my Reader, because I shall hereafter have occasion
to mention that Convocation in 1640, the unhappy Long Parliament,
and some debates of the Predestination points as they have been since
charitably handled betwixt him, the learned Dr. Hammond,[12] and Dr.
Pierce,[13] the now Reverend Dean of Salisbury.

[Sidenote: "D.D."]

In the year 1636, his Majesty, then in his progress, took a fair
occasion to visit Oxford, and to take an entertainment for two days
for himself and honourable attendants; which the Reader ought to
believe was suitable to their dignities. But this is mentioned,
because at the King's coming thither, Dr. Sanderson did attend him,
and was then--the 31st of August--created Doctor of Divinity; which
honour had an addition to it, by having many of the Nobility of this
nation then made Doctors and Masters of Arts with him; some of whose
names shall be recorded and live with his, and none shall outlive it.
First, Dr. Curle and Dr. Wren,[14] who were then Bishops of Winton and
of Norwich,--and had formerly taken their degrees in Cambridge,
were with him created Doctors of Divinity in his University. So was
Meric,[15] the son of the learned Isaac Casaubon; and Prince Rupert,
who still lives, the then Duke of Lenox, Earl of Hereford, Earl of
Essex, of Berkshire, and very many others of noble birth--too many to
be named--were then created Masters of Arts.

[Sidenote: The New Covenant]

[Sidenote: What followed]

Some years before the unhappy Long Parliament, this nation being then
happy and in peace,--though inwardly sick of being well,--namely, in
the year 1639, a discontented party of the Scots Church were zealously
restless for another reformation of their Kirk-government; and to
that end created a new Covenant, for the general taking of which
they pretended to petition the King for his assent, and that he would
enjoin the taking of it by all of that nation. But this petition was
not to be presented to him by a committee of eight or ten men of their
fraternity; but by so many thousands, and they so armed as seemed
to force an assent to what they seemed to request; so that though
forbidden by the King, yet they entered England, and in the heat of
zeal took and plundered Newcastle, where the King was forced to meet
them with an army: but upon a treaty and some concessions, he sent
them back,--though not so rich as they intended, yet,--for that time,
without bloodshed. But, Oh! this peace, and this Covenant, were but
the fore-runners of war, and the many miseries that followed: for in
the year following there were so many chosen into the Long Parliament,
that were of a conjunct council with these very zealous and as
factious reformers, as begot such a confusion by the several desires
and designs in many of the members of that Parliament, and at last
in the very common people of this nation, that they were so lost by
contrary designs, fears, and confusions, as to believe the Scots and
their Covenant would restore them to their former tranquillity. And to
that end the Presbyterian party of this nation did again, in the year
1643, invite the Scotch Covenanters back into England: and hither they
came marching with it gloriously upon their pikes and in their hats,
with this motto: "For the Crown and Covenant of both Kingdoms." This
I saw, and suffered by it. But when I look back upon the ruin of
families, the bloodshed, the decay of common honesty, and how the
former piety and plain dealing of this now sinful nation is turned
into cruelty and cunning, I praise God that he prevented me from being
of that party which helped to bring in this Covenant, and those sad
confusions that have followed it. And I have been the bolder to say
this to myself, because in a sad discourse with Dr. Sanderson, I heard
him make the like grateful acknowledgment.

[Sidenote: Changes in the Service Book]

This digression is intended for the better information of the reader
in what will follow concerning Dr. Sanderson. And first, that the
Covenanters of this nation, and their party in Parliament, made many
exceptions against the Common Prayer and ceremonies of the Church, and
seemed restless for a Reformation: and though their desires seemed not
reasonable to the King, and the learned Dr. Laud, then Archbishop
of Canterbury; yet, to quiet their consciences, and prevent future
confusion, they did, in the year 1641, desire Dr. Sanderson to call
two more of the Convocation to advise with him, and that he would
then draw up some such safe alterations as he thought fit in the
Service-book, and abate some of the ceremonies that were least
material for satisfying their consciences:--and to this end they did
meet together privately twice a week at the Dean of Westminster's[16]
house, for the space of three months or more. But not long after that
time, when Dr. Sanderson had made the reformation ready for a view,
the Church and State were both fallen into such a confusion, that Dr.
Sanderson's model for reformation became then useless. Nevertheless,
his reputation was such, that he was, in the year 1642, proposed by
both Houses of Parliament to the King, then in Oxford, to be one of
their trustees for the settling of Church-affairs, and was allowed of
by the King to be so: but that treaty came to nothing.

[Sidenote: Regius Professor of Divinity]

In the year 1643, the two Houses of Parliament took upon them to make
an ordinance, and call an Assembly of Divines, to debate and settle
some Church-controversies, of which many were very unfit to judge; in
which Dr. Sanderson was also named, but did not appear; I suppose for
the same reason that many other worthy and learned men did forbear,
the summons wanting the King's authority. And here I must look back,
and tell the Reader, that in the year 1642, he was, July 21st, named
by a more undoubted authority to a more noble employment, which was
to be Professor Regius of Divinity in Oxford: but, though knowledge be
said to puff up, yet his modesty and too mean an opinion of his great
abilities, and some other real or pretended reasons,--expressed in his
speech, when he first appeared in the chair, and since printed,--kept
him from entering into it till October, 1646.

[Sidenote: His lectures]

He did, for about a year's time, continue to read his matchless
Lectures, which were first _de Juramento_, a point very difficult, and
at that time very dangerous to be handled as it ought to be. But this
learned man, as he was eminently furnished with abilities to satisfy
the consciences of men upon that important subject; so he wanted not
courage to assert the true obligation of Oaths in a degenerate age,
when men had made perjury a main part of their religion. How much
the learned world stands obliged to him for these, and his following
Lectures _de Conscientiâ_, I shall not attempt to declare, as
being very sensible that the best pens must needs fall short in the
commendation of them: so that I shall only add, that they continued
to this day, and will do for ever, as a complete standard for the
resolution of the most material doubts in Casuistical Divinity. And
therefore I proceed to tell the Reader, that about the time of his
reading those Lectures,--the King being then prisoner in the Isle of
Wight,--the Parliament had sent the Covenant, the Negative Oath, and
I know not what more, to be taken by the Doctor of the Chair, and
all Heads of Houses; and all other inferior Scholars, of what degree
soever, were all to take these Oaths by a fixed day; and those that
did not, to abandon their College, and the University too, within
twenty-four hours after the beating of a drum; for if they remained
longer, they were to be proceeded against as spies.

Dr. Laud, then Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of Strafford, and
many others, had been formerly murdered by this wicked Parliament; but
the King yet was not: and the University had yet some faint hopes that
in a Treaty then in being, or pretended to be suddenly, there might
be such an agreement made between King and Parliament, that the
Dissenters in the University might both preserve their consciences and
subsistence which they then enjoyed by their Colleges.

[Sidenote: A mistaken hope]

[Sidenote: Manifesto to Parliament.]

And being possessed of this mistaken hope, that the Parliament were
not yet grown so merciless as not to allow manifest reason for their
not submitting to the enjoined Oaths, the University appointed
twenty delegates to meet, consider, and draw up a Manifesto to the
Parliament, why they could not take those oaths but by violation
of their consciences: and of these delegates Dr. Sheldon,--late
Archbishop of Canterbury,--Dr. Hammond,--Dr. Sanderson, Dr.
Morley,--now Bishop of Winchester,--and that most honest and as
judicious Civil Lawyer, Dr. Zouch,[17] were a part; the rest I cannot
now name: but the whole number of the delegates requested Dr. Zouch
to draw up the Law part, and give it to Dr. Sanderson: and he was
requested to methodise and add what referred to reason and conscience,
and put it into form. He yielded to their desires and did so. And
then, after they had been read in a full Convocation, and allowed of,
they were printed in Latin, that the Parliament's proceedings and the
University's sufferings might be manifested to all nations: and the
imposers of these oaths might repent, or answer them: but they were
past the first; and for the latter, I might swear they neither can,
nor ever will. And these Reasons were also suddenly turned into
English by Dr. Sanderson, that those of these three kingdoms might the
better judge of the loyal party's sufferings.

[Sidenote: "Cases of Conscience"]

[Sidenote: The King's errors]

[Sidenote: Translation of "De Juramento"]

About this time the Independents--who were then grown to be the most
powerful part of the army--had taken the King from a close to a
more large imprisonment; and, by their own pretences to liberty of
conscience, were obliged to allow somewhat of that to the King,
who had, in the year 1646, sent for Dr. Sanderson, Dr. Hammond, Dr.
Sheldon,--the late Archbishop of Canterbury,--and Dr. Morley,--the now
Bishop of Winchester,--to attend him, in order to advise with them,
how far he might with a good conscience comply with the proposals of
the Parliament for a peace in Church and State: but these, having been
then denied him by the Presbyterian Parliament, were now allowed
him by those in present power. And as those other Divines, so Dr.
Sanderson gave his attendance on his Majesty also in the Isle of
Wight, preached there before him, and had in that attendance many,
both public and private, conferences with him, to his Majesty's great
satisfaction. At which time he desired Dr. Sanderson, that, being the
Parliament had proposed to him the abolishing of Episcopal Government
in the Church, as inconsistent with Monarchy, that he would consider
of it; and declare his judgment. He undertook to do so, and did it;
but it might not be printed till our King's happy Restoration, and
then it was. And at Dr. Sanderson's taking his leave of his Majesty in
his last attendance on him, the King requested him to betake himself
to the writing Cases of Conscience for the good of posterity. To which
his answer was, "That he was now grown old, and unfit to write Cases
of Conscience." But the King was so bold with him as to say, "It was
the simplest answer he ever heard from Dr. Sanderson; for no young man
was fit to be a judge, or write Cases of Conscience." And let me here
take occasion to tell the Reader this truth, not commonly known;
that in one of these conferences this conscientious King told Dr.
Sanderson, or one of them that then waited with him, "that the
remembrance of two errors did much afflict him; which were, his assent
to the Earl of Strafford's death, and the abolishing Episcopacy in
Scotland; and that if God ever restored him to be in a peaceable
possession of his Crown, he would demonstrate his repentance by a
public confession, and a voluntary penance,"--I think barefoot--from
the Tower of London, or Whitehall, to St. Paul's Church, and desire
the people to intercede with God for his pardon. I am sure one of them
that told it me lives still, and will witness it. And it ought to
be observed, that Dr. Sanderson's Lectures _de Juramento_ were so
approved and valued by the King, that in this time of his imprisonment
and solitude he translated them into exact English; desiring Dr.
Juxon,[18]--then Bishop of London,--Dr. Hammond, and Sir Thomas
Herbert,[19] who then attended him,--to compare them with the
original. The last still lives, and has declared it, with some other
of that King's excellencies, in a letter under his own hand, which was
lately shewed me by Sir William Dugdale, King at Arms. The book was
designed to be put into the King's Library at St. James's; but, I
doubt, not now to be found there. I thought the honour of the Author
and the Translator to be both so much concerned in this relation, that
it ought not to be concealed from the Reader, and 'tis therefore here
inserted.

[Sidenote: Expelled from Oxford]

I now return to Dr. Sanderson in the Chair in Oxford; where they that
complied not in taking the Covenant, Negative Oath, and Parliament
Ordinance for Church-discipline and worship, were under a sad and
daily apprehension of expulsion: for the Visitors were daily expected,
and both City and University full of soldiers, and a party of
Presbyterian Divines, that were as greedy and ready to possess, as the
ignorant and ill-natured Visitors were to eject the Dissenters out of
their Colleges and livelihoods: but, notwithstanding, Dr. Sanderson
did still continue to read his Lecture, and did, to the very faces of
those Presbyterian Divines and soldiers, read with so much reason, and
with a calm fortitude make such applications, as, if they were not,
they ought to have been ashamed, and begged pardon of God and him,
and forborne to do what followed. But these thriving sinners were
hardened; and, as the Visitors expelled the Orthodox, they, without
scruple or shame, possessed themselves of their Colleges; so that,
with the rest, Dr. Sanderson was in June, 1648, forced to pack up and
be gone, and thank God he was not imprisoned, as Dr. Sheldon, and Dr.
Hammond, and others then were.

[Sidenote: Dr. Morley]

[Sidenote: His fortitude]

I must now again look back to Oxford, and tell my Reader, that the
year before this expulsion, when the University had denied this
subscription, and apprehended the danger of that visitation which
followed, they sent Dr. Morley, then Canon of Christ Church,--now
Lord Bishop of Winchester,--and others, to petition the Parliament for
recalling the injunction, or a mitigation of it, or accept of their
reasons why they could not take the Oaths enjoined them; and the
petition was by Parliament referred to a committee to hear and report
the reasons to the House, and a day set for hearing them. This done,
Dr. Morley and the rest went to inform and fee Counsel, to plead their
cause on the day appointed; but there had been so many committed
for pleading, that none durst undertake it; for at this time the
privileges of that Parliament were become a _Noli me tangere_, as
sacred and useful to them, as traditions ever were, or are now, to the
Church of Rome; their number must never be known, and therefore not
without danger to be meddled with. For which reason Dr. Morley was
forced, for want of Counsel, to plead the University's Reasons for
non-compliance with the Parliament's injunctions: and though this was
done with great reason, and a boldness equal to the justice of his
cause; yet the effect of it was, but that he and the rest appearing
with him were so fortunate as to return to Oxford without commitment.
This was some few days before the Visitors and more soldiers were sent
down to drive the Dissenters out of the University. And one that
was, at this time of Dr. Morley's pleading, a powerful man in
the Parliament,[20] and of that committee, observing Dr. Morley's
behaviour and reason, and inquiring of him and hearing a good report
of his morals, was therefore willing to afford him a peculiar favour;
and, that he might express it, sent for me that relate this story, and
knew Dr. Morley well, and told me, "he had such a love for Dr. Morley,
that knowing he would not take the Oaths, and must therefore be
ejected his College, and leave Oxford; he desired I would therefore
write to him to ride out of Oxford, when the Visitors came into it,
and not return till they left it, and he should be sure then to
return in safety; and that he should, without taking any Oath or other
molestation, enjoy his Canon's place in his College." I did receive
this intended kindness with a sudden gladness, because I was sure
the party had a power, and as sure he meant to perform it, and did
therefore write the Doctor word: and his answer was, that I must
not fail to return my friend,--who still lives,--his humble and
undissembled thanks, though he could not accept of his intended
kindness; for when the Dean, Dr. Gardner, Dr. Paine, Dr. Hammond, Dr.
Sanderson and all the rest of the College were turned out, except Dr.
Wall,[21] he should take it to be, if not a sin, yet a shame, to be
left behind with him only. Dr. Wall I knew, and will speak nothing of
him, for he is dead.

[Sidenote: Matters in London]

It may easily be imagined, with what a joyful willingness these
self-loving reformers took possession of all vacant preferments, and
with what reluctance others parted with their beloved Colleges and
subsistence; but their consciences were dearer than their subsistence,
and out they went; the reformers possessing them without shame or
scruple: where I leave these scruple-mongers, and make an account of
the then present affairs of London, to be the next employment of my
Reader's patience.

And in London all the Bishops' houses were turned to be prisons, and
they filled with Divines, that would not take the Covenant, or forbear
reading Common Prayer, or that were accused for some faults like
these. For it may be noted, that about this time the Parliament set
out a proclamation, to encourage all laymen that had occasion to
complain of their Ministers for being troublesome or scandalous, or
that conformed not to Orders of Parliament, to make their complaint to
a committee for that purpose; and the Minister, though a hundred
miles from London, should appear there, and give satisfaction, or be
sequestered;--and you may be sure no Parish could want a covetous, or
malicious, or cross-grained complaint;--by which means all prisons
in London, and in some other places, became the sad habitations of
conforming Divines.

And about this time the Bishop of Canterbury having been by an unknown
law condemned to die, and the execution suspended for some days, many
of the malicious citizens, fearing his pardon, shut up their shops,
professing not to open them till justice was executed. This malice and
madness is scarce credible; but I saw it.

[Sidenote: Mr. Thomas Brightman]

The Bishops had been voted out of the House of Parliament, and some
upon that occasion sent to the Tower; which made many Covenanters
rejoice, and believe Mr. Brightman[22]--who probably was a good and
well-meaning man--to be inspired in his "Comment on the Apocalypse,"
an abridgment of which was now printed, and called Mr. Brightman's
"Revelation of the Revelation." And though he was grossly mistaken
in other things, yet, because he had made the Churches of Geneva and
Scotland, which had no Bishops, to be Philadelphia in the Apocalypse,
the Angel that God loved; Rev. iii. 7-13, and the power of Prelacy to
be Antichrist, the evil Angel, which the House of Commons had now
so spewed up, as never to recover their dignity; therefore did those
Covenanters approve and applaud Mr. Brightman for discovering and
foretelling the Bishops' downfall; so that they both railed at them,
and rejoiced to buy good pennyworths of their land, which their
friends of the House of Commons did afford them, as a reward of their
diligent assistance to pull them down.

[Sidenote: Contentions]

And the Bishops' power being now vacated, the common people were made
so happy, as every Parish might choose their own Minister, and tell
him when he did, and when he did not, preach true doctrine: and by
this and like means, several Churches had several teachers, that
prayed and preached for and against one another: and engaged their
hearers to contend furiously for truths which they understood not;
some of which I shall mention in the discourse that follows.

[Sidenote: and contradictions]

I have heard of two men, that in their discourse undertook to give a
character of a third person: and one concluded he was a very honest
man, "for he was beholden to him;" and the other, that he was not,
"for he was not beholden to him." And something like this was in the
designs both of the Covenanters and Independents, the last of which
were now grown both as numerous and as powerful as the former: for
though they differed much in many principles, and preached against
each other, one making it a sign of being in the state of grace, if we
were but zealous for the Covenant; and the other, that we ought to buy
and sell by a measure, and to allow the same liberty of conscience to
others, which we by Scripture claim to ourselves; and therefore not
to force any to swear the Covenant contrary to their consciences, and
lose both their livings and liberties too. Though these differed thus
in their conclusions, yet they both agreed in their practice to preach
down Common Prayer, and get into the best sequestered livings; and
whatever became of the true owners, their wives and children, yet to
continue in them without the least scruple of conscience.

They also made other strange observations of Election, Reprobation,
and Free Will, and the other points dependent upon these; such as the
wisest of the common people were not fit to judge of; I am sure I am
not: though I must mention some of them historically in a more proper
place, when I have brought my Reader with me to Dr. Sanderson at
Boothby Pannell.

And in the way thither I must tell him, that a very Covenanter, and a
Scot too, that came into England with this unhappy Covenant, was got
into a good sequestered living by the help of a Presbyterian Parish,
which had got the true owner out. And this Scotch Presbyterian, being
well settled in this good living, began to reform the Churchyard,
by cutting down a large yew-tree, and some other trees that were an
ornament to the place, and very often a shelter to the parishioners;
who, excepting against him for so doing, were answered, "That the
trees were his, and 'twas lawful for every man to use his own, as he,
and not as they thought fit." I have heard, but do not affirm it,
that no action lies against him that is so wicked as to steal the
winding-sheet of a dead body after it is buried; and have heard the
reason to be, because none were supposed to be so void of humanity;
and that such a law would vilify that nation that would but suppose so
vile a man to be born in it: nor would one suppose any man to do what
this Covenanter did. And whether there were any law against him, I
know not; but pity the Parish the less for turning out their legal
Minister.

[Sidenote: Boothby again]

We have now overtaken Dr. Sanderson at Boothby Parish, where he hoped
to enjoy himself though in a poor, yet in a quiet and desired privacy;
but it proved otherwise: for all corners of the nation were filled
with Covenanters, confusion, Committee-men, and soldiers, serving
each other to their several ends, of revenge, or power, or profit: and
these Committee-men and soldiers were most of them so possessed with
this Covenant, that they became like those that were infected with
that dreadful Plague of Athens; the plague of which Plague was, that
they by it became maliciously restless to get into company, and to
joy,--so the Historian saith,--when they had infected others, even
those of their most beloved or nearest friends or relations:[23] and
though there might be some of these Covenanters that were beguiled and
meant well; yet such were the generality of them, and temper of
the times, that you may be sure Dr. Sanderson, who though quiet
and harmless, yet an eminent dissenter from them, could not live
peaceably; nor did he: for the soldiers would appear, and visibly
disturb him in the Church when he read prayers, pretending to advise
him how God was to be served most acceptably: which he not approving,
but continuing to observe order and decent behaviour in reading the
Church-service, they forced his book from him, and tore it, expecting
extemporary prayers.

At this time he was advised by a Parliament man of power and note,
that valued and loved him much, not to be strict in reading all the
Common Prayer, but make some little variation, especially if the
soldiers came to watch him; for then it might not be in the power of
him and his other friends to secure him from taking the Covenant, or
Sequestration: for which reasons he did vary somewhat from the strict
rules of the Rubric. I will set down the very words of confession
which he used, as I have it under his own hand; and tell the Reader,
that all his other variations were as little, and much like to this.

[Sidenote: A Confession]

HIS CONFESSION.

"O Almighty God and merciful Father, we, thy unworthy servants, do
with shame and sorrow confess, that we have all our life long gone
astray out of thy ways like lost sheep; and that, by following
too much the vain devices and desires of our own hearts, we have
grievously offended against thy holy laws, both in thought, word, and
deed; we have many times left undone those good duties which we might
and ought to have done; and we have many times done those evils,
when we might have avoided them, which we ought not to have done.
We confess, O Lord! that there is no health at all, nor help in
any creature to relieve us; but all our hope is in thy mercy, whose
justice we have by our sins so far provoked. Have mercy therefore upon
us, O Lord! have mercy upon us miserable offenders: spare us, good
God, who confess our faults, that we perish not; but, according to
thy gracious promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord,
restore us upon our true repentance into thy grace and favour. And
grant, O most merciful Father! for his sake, that we henceforth study
to serve and please thee by leading a godly, righteous, and a sober
life, to the glory of thy holy name, and the eternal comfort of our
own souls, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Amen.

[Sidenote: Wise submission]

In these disturbances of tearing his servicebook, a neighbour came on
a Sunday, after the Evening service was ended, to visit and condole
with him for the affront offered by the soldiers. To whom he spake
with a composed patience, and said; "God hath restored me to my
desired privacy, with my wife and children; where I hoped to have met
with quietness, and it proves not so: but I will labour to be pleased,
because God, on whom I depend, sees it is not fit for me to be quiet.
I praise him, that he hath by his grace prevented me from making
shipwreck of a good conscience to maintain me in a place of great
reputation and profit: and though my condition be such, that I need
the last, yet I submit; for God did not send me into this world to do
my own, but suffer his will, and I will obey it." Thus by a sublime
depending on his wise, and powerful, and pitiful Creator, he did
cheerfully submit to what God had appointed, justifying the truth of
that doctrine which he had preached.

About this time that excellent book of "The King's Meditations in his
Solitude" was printed, and made public; and Dr. Sanderson was such a
lover of the Author, and so desirous that the whole world should see
the character of him in that book, and something of the cause for
which they suffered, that he designed to turn it into Latin: but
when he had done half of it most excellently, his friend Dr. Earle
prevented him, by appearing to have done the whole very well before
him.

[Sidenote: Preaching without book]

About this time his dear and most intimate friend, the learned Dr.
Hammond, came to enjoy a conversation and rest with him for some days;
and did so. And having formerly persuaded him to trust his excellent
memory, and not read, but try to speak a sermon as he had writ it, Dr.
Sanderson became so compliant, as to promise he would. And to that end
they two went early the Sunday following to a neighbour Minister,
and requested to exchange a sermon; and they did so. And at Dr.
Sanderson's going into the pulpit, he gave his sermon--which was a
very short one--into the hand of Dr. Hammond, intending to preach
it as it was writ: but before he had preached a third part, Dr.
Hammond,--looking on his sermon as written,--observed him to be out,
and so lost as to the matter, that he also became afraid for him: for
'twas discernible to many of the plain auditory. But when he had ended
this short sermon, as they two walked homeward, Dr. Sanderson said
with much earnestness, "Good Doctor, give me my sermon; and know, that
neither you nor any man living, shall ever persuade me to preach again
without my books." To which the reply was, "Good Doctor, be not angry:
for if I ever persuade you to preach again without book, I will give
you leave to burn all those that I am master of."

Part of the occasion of Dr. Hammond's visit, was at this time to
discourse with Dr. Sanderson about some opinions, in which, if they
did not then, they had doubtless differed formerly; it was about those
knotty points, which are by the learned called the Quinquarticular
Controversy; of which I shall proceed, not to give any judgment,--I
pretend not to that,--but some short historical account which shall
follow.

[Sidenote: Liberties of doctrine]

There had been, since the unhappy Covenant was brought and so
generally taken in England, a liberty given or taken by many
Preachers--those those of London especially--to preach and be too
positive in the points of Universal Redemption, Predestination, and
those other depending upon these. Some of which preached, "That
all men were, before they came into this world, so predestinated to
salvation or damnation, that it was not in their power to sin so, as
to lose the first, nor by their most diligent endeavour to avoid the
latter. Others, that it was not so: because then God could not be said
to grieve for the death of a sinner, when he himself had made him
so by an inevitable decree, before he had so much as a being in this
world;" affirming therefore, "that man had some power left him to do
the will of God, because he was advised to work out his salvation with
fear and trembling;" maintaining, "that it is most certain every man
can do what he can to be saved;" and that "he that does what he can
to be saved, shall never be damned." And yet many that affirmed this
would confess, "That that grace, which is but a persuasive offer, and
left to us to receive, or refuse, is not that grace which shall bring
men to Heaven." Which truths, or untruths, or both, be they which they
will, did upon these, or the like occasions, come to be searched into,
and charitably debated betwixt Dr. Sanderson, Dr. Hammond, and Dr.
Pierce,--the now Reverend Dean of Salisbury,--of which I shall proceed
to give some account, but briefly.

[Sidenote: A charitable disquisition]

In the year 1648, the fifty-two London Ministers--then a fraternity of
Sion College in that City--had in a printed Declaration aspersed Dr.
Hammond most heinously, for that he had in his Practical Catechism
affirmed, that our Saviour died for the sins of all mankind. To
justify which truth, he presently makes a charitable reply--as 'tis
now printed in his works.--After which there were many letters passed
betwixt the said Dr. Hammond, Dr. Sanderson and Dr. Pierce, concerning
God's grace and decrees. Dr. Sanderson was with much unwillingness
drawn into this debate; for he declared it would prove uneasy to him,
who in his judgment of God's decrees differed with Dr. Hammond,--whom
he reverenced and loved dearly,--and would not therefore engage him
into a controversy, of which he could never hope to see an end: but
they did all enter into a charitable disquisition of these said points
in several letters, to the full satisfaction of the learned; those
betwixt Dr. Sanderson and Dr. Hammond being printed in his works; and
for what passed betwixt him and the learned Dr. Pierce, I refer my
Reader to a Letter annexed to the end of this relation.

[Sidenote: Changes of judgment]

I think the judgment of Dr. Sanderson, was, by these debates, altered
from what it was at his entrance into them; for in the year 1632, when
his excellent Sermons were first printed in quarto, the Reader may on
the margin find some accusation of Arminius for false doctrine; and
find that, upon a review and reprinting those Sermons in folio, in the
year 1657, that accusation of Arminius is omitted. And the change
of his judgment seems more fully to appear in his said letter to Dr.
Pierce. And let me now tell the Reader, which may seem to be perplexed
with these several affirmations of God's decrees before mentioned,
that Dr. Hammond, in a postscript to the last letter of Dr.
Sanderson's, says, "God can reconcile his own contradictions,
and therefore advises all men, as the Apostle does, to study
mortification, and be wise to sobriety." And let me add farther, that
if these fifty-two Ministers of Sion College were the occasion of the
debates in these letters, they have, I think, been the occasion of
giving an end to the Quinquarticular Controversy: for none have since
undertaken to say more; but seem to be so wise, as to be content to be
ignorant of the rest, till they come to that place, where the secrets
of all hearts shall be laid open. And let me here tell the Reader
also, that if the rest of mankind would, as Dr. Sanderson, not conceal
their alteration of judgment, but confess it to the honour of God
and themselves, then our nation would become freer from pertinacious
disputes, and fuller of recantations.

[Sidenote: Dr. Laud]

I cannot lead my Reader to Dr. Hammond and Dr. Sanderson, where we
left them at Boothby Pannell, till I have looked back to the Long
Parliament, the Society of Covenanters in Sion College, and those
others scattered up and down in London, and given some account
of their proceedings and usage of the late learned Dr. Laud, then
Archbishop of Canterbury. And though I will forbear to mention the
injustice of his death, and the barbarous usage of him, both then and
before it; yet my desire is that what follows may be noted, because it
does now, or may hereafter, concern us; namely, that in his last sad
sermon on the scaffold at his death, he having freely pardoned all his
enemies, and humbly begged of God to pardon them, and besought those
present to pardon and pray for him; yet he seemed to accuse the
magistrates of the City, for suffering a sort of wretched people,
that could not know why he was condemned, to go visibly up and down
to gather hands to a petition, that the Parliament would hasten his
execution. And having declared how unjustly he thought himself to be
condemned, and accused for endeavouring to bring in Popery,--for
that was one of the accusations for which he died,--he declared with
sadness, "That the several sects and divisions then in England,--which
he had laboured to prevent,--were like to bring the Pope a far greater
harvest, than he could ever have expected without them." And said,
"These sects and divisions introduce profaneness under the cloak of an
imaginary Religion; and that we have lost the substance of Religion by
changing it into opinion: and that by these means this Church, which
all the Jesuits' machinations could not ruin, was fallen into apparent
danger by those which were his accusers." To this purpose he spoke at
his death: for this, and more of which, the Reader may view his last
sad sermon on the scaffold. And it is here mentioned, because his dear
friend, Dr. Sanderson, seems to demonstrate the same in his two large
and remarkable Prefaces before his two volumes of Sermons; and he
seems also with much sorrow to say the same again in his last Will,
made when he apprehended himself to be very near his death. And these
Covenanters ought to take notice of it, and to remember, that, by the
late wicked war begun by them, Dr. Sanderson was ejected out of the
Professor's Chair in Oxford; and that if he had continued in it,--for
he lived fourteen years after,--both the learned of this, and other
nations, had been made happy by many remarkable Cases of Conscience,
so rationally stated, and so briefly, so clearly, and so convincingly
determined, that posterity might have joyed and boasted, that Dr.
Sanderson was born in this nation, for the ease and benefit of all the
learned that shall be born after him: but this benefit is so like time
past, that they are both irrecoverably lost.

[Sidenote: Prisoner at Lincoln]

I should now return to Boothby Pannell, where we left Dr. Hammond and
Dr. Sanderson together; but neither can be found there: for the first
was in his journey to London, and the second seized upon the day
after his friend's departure, and carried prisoner to Lincoln, then
a garrison of the Parliament's. For the pretended reason of which
commitment, I shall give this following account.

[Sidenote: Exchanged for Dr. Clarke]

There was one Mr. Clarke, the Minister of Alington, a town not many
miles from Boothby Pannell, who was an active man for the Parliament
and Covenant; one that, when Belvoir Castle--then a garrison for the
Parliament--was taken by a party of the King's soldiers, was taken
in it, and made a prisoner of war in Newark, then a garrison of the
King's; a man so active and useful for his party, that they became so
much concerned for his enlargement, that the Committee of Lincoln sent
a troop of horse to seize and bring Dr. Sanderson a prisoner to that
garrison: and they did so. And there he had the happiness to meet with
many, that knew him so well as to treat him kindly; but told him,
"He must continue their prisoner, till he should purchase his own
enlargement by procuring an exchange for Mr. Clarke, then prisoner in
the King's garrison of Newark." There were many reasons given by the
Doctor of the injustice of his imprisonment, and the inequality of
the exchange: but all were ineffectual; for done it must be, or he
continue a prisoner. And in time done it was, upon the following
conditions.

[Sidenote: Mode of life]

First, that Dr. Sanderson and Mr. Clarke being exchanged, should live
undisturbed at their own Parishes; and if either were injured by the
soldiers of the contrary party, the other, having notice of it, should
procure him a redress, by having satisfaction made for his loss, or
for any other injury; or if not, he to be used in the same kind by the
other party. Nevertheless, Dr. Sanderson could neither live safe nor
quietly, being several times plundered, and once wounded in three
places: but he, apprehending the remedy might turn to a more
intolerable burden by impatience or complaining, forbore both;
and possessed his soul in a contented quietness, without the least
repining. But though he could not enjoy the safety he expected by this
exchange, yet, by His providence that can bring good out of evil, it
turned so much to his advantage, that whereas as his living had been
sequestered from the year 1644, and continued to be so till this time
of his imprisonment, he, by the Articles of War in this exchange for
Mr. Clarke, procured his sequestration to be recalled, and by that
means enjoyed a poor, but contented subsistence for himself, wife, and
children, till the happy restoration of our King and Church.

In this time of his poor, but contented privacy of life, his
casuistical learning, peaceful moderation, and sincerity, became so
remarkable, that there were many that applied themselves to him for
resolution in cases of conscience; some known to him, many not; some
requiring satisfaction by conference, others by letters; so many, that
his life became almost as restless as their minds; yet he denied
no man: and if it be a truth which holy Mr. Herbert says, "That all
worldly joys seem less, when compared with shewing mercy or doing
kindnesses;" then doubtless Dr. Sanderson might have boasted for
relieving so many restless and wounded consciences; which, as Solomon
says, "are a burden that none can bear, though their fortitude may
sustain their other infirmities;" and if words cannot express the
joy of a conscience relieved from such restless agonies; then Dr.
Sanderson might rejoice that so many were by him so clearly and
conscientiously satisfied, for he denied none, and would often praise
God for that ability, and as often for the occasion, and that God had
inclined his heart to do it to the meanest of any of those poor, but
precious souls, for which his Saviour vouchsafed to be crucified.

[Sidenote: Cases of conscience]

Some of these very many cases that were resolved by letters, have been
preserved and printed for the benefit of posterity; as namely,

  1. Of the Sabbath.
  2. Marrying with a Recusant.
  3. Of unlawful love.
  4. Of a military life.
  5. Of Scandal.
  6. Of a bond taken in the King's name.
  7. Of the Engagement.
  8. Of a rash vow.

But many more remain in private hands, of which one is of Simony; and
I wish the world might see it, that it might undeceive some Patrons,
who think they have discharged that great and dangerous trust, both
to God and man, if they take no money for a living, though it may be
parted with for other ends less justifiable.

[Sidenote: Preface to last sermons]

And in this time of his retirement, when the common people were amazed
and grown giddy by the many falsehoods, and misapplications of truths
frequently vented in sermons; when they wrested the Scripture by
challenging God to be of their party, and called upon him in their
prayers to patronise their sacrilege and zealous frenzies; in this
time he did so compassionate the generality of this misled nation,
that though the times threatened danger, yet he then hazarded his
safety by writing the large and bold Preface now extant before his
last twenty Sermons;--first printed in the year 1655;--in which there
was such strength of reason, with so powerful and clear convincing
applications made to the Non-conformists, as being read by one of
those dissenting brethren, who was possessed with such a spirit of
contradiction, as being neither able to defend his error, nor yield
to truth manifest,--his conscience having slept long and quietly in
a good sequestered living,--was yet at the reading of it so awakened,
that after a conflict with the reason he had met, and the damage he
was to sustain if he consented to it,--and being still unwilling to be
so convinced, as to lose by being over-reasoned,--he went in haste to
the bookseller of whom it was bought, threatened him, and told him in
anger, "he had sold a book in which there was false Divinity; and that
the Preface had upbraided the Parliament, and many godly Ministers of
that party, for unjust dealing." To which his reply was,--'twas Tim.
Garthwaite,--"That 'twas not his trade to judge of true or false
Divinity, but to print and sell books: and yet if he, or any friend
of his, would write an answer to it, and own it by setting his name to
it, he would print the Answer, and promote the selling of it."

[Sidenote: A meeting in Little Britain]

About the time of his printing this excellent Preface, I met him
accidentally in London, in sad-coloured clothes, and, God knows,
far from being costly. The place of our meeting was near to Little
Britain, where he had been to buy a book, which he then had in his
hand. We had no inclination to part presently, and therefore turned
to stand in a corner under a penthouse,--for it began to rain,--and
immediately the wind rose, and the rain increased so much, that both
became so inconvenient, as to force us into a cleanly house, where we
had bread, cheese, ale, and a fire for our money. This rain and wind
were so obliging to me, as to force our stay there for at least an
hour, to my great content and advantage; for in that time he made to
me many useful observations, with much clearness and conscientious
freedom. I shall relate a part of them, in hope they may also turn to
the advantage of my Reader. He seemed to lament, that the Parliament
had taken upon them to abolish our Liturgy, to the scandal of so many
devout and learned men, and the disgrace of those many martyrs, who
had sealed the truth and use of it with their blood: and that no
Minister was now thought godly that did not decry it, and at least
pretend to make better prayers _ex tempore_: and that they, and only
they, that could do so, prayed by the Spirit, and were godly; though
in their sermons they disputed, and evidently contradicted each other
in their prayers. And as he did dislike this, so he did most highly
commend the Common Prayer of the Church, saying, "the Collects were
the most passionate, proper, and most elegant expressions that any
language ever afforded; and that there was in them such piety, and so
interwoven with instructions, that they taught us to the power, the
wisdom, the majesty, and mercy of God, and much of our duty both to
him and our neighbour: and that a congregation, behaving themselves
reverently, and putting up to God these joint and known desires for
pardon of sins, and praises for mercies received, could not but be
more pleasing to God, than those raw, unpremeditated expressions, to
which many of the hearers could not say, Amen."

[Sidenote: "The Treasury of Christian comfort"]

And he then commended to me the frequent use of the Psalter, or Psalms
of David; speaking to this purpose: "That they were the Treasury of
Christian comfort, fitted for all persons and necessities; able to
raise the soul from dejection by the frequent mention of God's mercies
to repentant sinners; to stir up holy desires: to increase joy; to
moderate sorrow; to nourish hope, and teach us patience, by waiting
God's leisure: to beget a trust in the mercy, power, and providence of
our Creator; and to cause a resignation of ourselves to his will; and
then, and not till then, to believe ourselves happy." This, he said,
the Liturgy and Psalms taught us; and that by the frequent use of the
last, they would not only prove to be our soul's comfort, but would
become so habitual, as to transform them into the Image of his soul
that composed them. After this manner he expressed himself concerning
the Liturgy and Psalms; and seemed to lament that this, which was
the devotion of the more primitive times, should in common pulpits
be turned into needless debates about Freewill, Election, and
Reprobation, of which, and many like questions, we may be safely
ignorant, because Almighty God intends not to lead us to Heaven by
hard questions, but by meekness and charity, and a frequent practice
of devotion.

[Sidenote: Dangerous mistakes]

[Sidenote: A year of Homilies]

And he seemed to lament very much, that, by the means of irregular and
indiscreet preaching, the generality of the nation were possessed with
such dangerous mistakes, as to think, "they might be religious first,
and then just and merciful; that they might sell their consciences,
and yet have something left that was worth keeping; that they might
be sure they were elected, though their lives were visibly scandalous;
that to be cunning was to be wise; that to be rich was to be happy,
though their wealth was got without justice or mercy; that to be
busy in things they understood not, was no sin." These and the like
mistakes he lamented much, and besought God to remove them, and
restore us to that humility, sincerity, and singleheartedness, with
which this nation was blessed before the unhappy Covenant was brought
into the nation, and every man preached and prayed what seemed best
in his own eyes. And he then said to me, "That the way to restore this
nation to a more meek and Christian temper, was to have the body of
Divinity--or so much of it as was needful to be known--to be put into
fifty-two Homilies or Sermons, of such a length as not to exceed a
third, or fourth part of an hour's reading: and these needful points
to be made so clear and plain, that those of a mean capacity might
know what was necessary to be believed, and what God requires to be
done; and then some applications of trial and conviction: and these
to be read every Sunday of the year, as infallibly as the blood
circulates the body; and then as certainly begun again, and continued
the year following: and that this being done, it might probably abate
the inordinate desires of knowing what we need not, and practising
what we know and ought to do." This was the earnest desire of this
prudent man. And Oh that Dr. Sanderson had undertaken it! for then in
all probability it would have proved effectual.

[Sidenote: Another conference]

At this happy time of enjoying his company and his discourse, he
expressed a sorrow by saying to me, "Oh that I had gone Chaplain
to that excellently accomplished gentleman, your friend, Sir Henry
Wotton! which was once intended, when he first went Ambassador to
the State of Venice: for by that employment I had been forced into a
necessity of conversing, not with him only, but with several men of
several nations; and might thereby have kept myself from my unmanly
bashfulness, which has proved very troublesome, and not less
inconvenient to me; and which I now fear is become so habitual as
never to leave me: and by that means I might also have known, or at
least have had the satisfaction of seeing, one of the late miracles
of general learning, prudence, and modesty, Sir Henry Wotton's dear
friend, Padre Paulo, who, the author of his life says, was born with
a bashfulness as invincible as I have found my own to be: a man whose
fame must never die, till virtue and learning shall become so useless
as not to be regarded."

This was a part of the benefit I then had by that hour's conversation:
and I gladly remember and mention it, as an argument of my happiness,
and his great humility and condescension. I had also a like advantage
by another happy conference with him, which I am desirous to impart
in this place to the Reader. He lamented much, that in many Parishes,
where the maintenance was not great, there was no Minister to
officiate; and that many of the best sequestered livings were
possessed with such rigid Covenanters as denied the Sacrament to their
Parishioners, unless upon such conditions, and in such a manner, as
they could not take it. This he mentioned with much sorrow, saying,
"The blessed Sacrament did, by way of preparation for it, give
occasion to all conscientious receivers to examine the performance
of their vows, since they received their last seal for the pardon of
their sins past; and to examine and re-search their hearts, and make
penitent reflections on their failings; and, that done, to bewail
them, and then make new vows or resolutions to obey all God's
commands, and beg his grace to perform them. And this done,
the Sacrament repairs the decays of grace, helps us to conquer
infirmities, gives us grace to beg God's grace, and then gives us
what we beg; makes us still hunger and thirst after his righteousness,
which we then receive, and being assisted with our endeavours, will
still so dwell in us, as to become our satisfaction in this life, and
our comfort on our last sick beds." The want of this blessed benefit
he lamented much, and pitied their condition that desired, but could
not obtain it.

[Sidenote: His character]

I hope I shall not disoblige my Reader, if I here enlarge into a
further character of his person and temper. As first, that he was
moderately tall: his behaviour had in it much of a plain comeliness,
and very little, yet enough, of ceremony or courtship; his looks and
motion manifested affability and mildness, and yet he had with these a
calm, but so matchless a fortitude, as secured him from complying
with any of those many Parliament injunctions, that interfered with a
doubtful conscience. His learning was methodical and exact, his wisdom
useful, his integrity visible, and his whole life so unspotted, that
all ought to be preserved as copies for posterity to write after; the
Clergy especially, who with impure hands ought not to offer sacrifice
to that God, whose pure eyes abhor iniquity.

There was in his Sermons no improper rhetoric, nor such perplexed
divisions, as may be said to be like too much light, that so dazzles
the eyes, that the sight becomes less perfect: but there was therein
no want of useful matter, nor waste of words; and yet such clear
distinctions as dispelled all confused notions, and made his hearers
depart both wiser, and more confirmed in virtuous resolutions.

[Sidenote: His memory]

[Sidenote: His even temper]

His memory was so matchless and firm, as 'twas only overcome by his
bashfulness; for he alone, or to a friend, could repeat all the Odes
of Horace, all Tully's Offices, and much of Juvenal and Persius,
without book: and would say, "the repetition of one of the Odes of
Horace to himself, was to him such music, as a lesson on the viol was
to others, when they played it to themselves or friends." And though
he was blest with a clearer judgment than other men, yet he was so
distrustful of it, that he did over-consider of consequences, and
would so delay and re-consider what to determine, that though none
ever determined better, yet, when the bell tolled for him to appear
and read his Divinity Lectures in Oxford, and all the Scholars
attended to hear him, he had not then, or not till then, resolved and
writ what he meant to determine; so that that appeared to be a truth,
which his old dear friend Dr. Sheldon would often say, namely, "That
his judgment was so much superior to his fancy, that whatsoever
this suggested, that disliked and controlled; still considering, and
re-considering, till his time was so wasted, that he was forced to
write, not, probably, what was best, but what he thought last." And
yet what he did then read, appeared to all hearers to be so useful,
clear, and satisfactory, as none ever determined with greater
applause. These tiring and perplexing thoughts begot in him an
averseness to enter into the toil of considering and determining all
casuistical points; because during that time, they neither gave rest
to his body or mind. But though he would not be always loaden with
these knotty points and distinctions; yet the study of old records,
genealogies, and Heraldry, were a recreation and so pleasing, that he
would say they gave rest to his mind. Of the last of which I have seen
two remarkable volumes; and the Reader needs neither to doubt their
truth or exactness.

And this humble man had so conquered all repining and ambitious
thoughts, and with them all other unruly passions, that, if the
accidents of the day proved to his danger or damage, yet he both began
and ended it with an even and undisturbed quietness; always praising
God that he had not withdrawn food and raiment from him and his poor
family; nor suffered him to violate his conscience for his safety, or
to support himself or them in a more splendid or plentiful condition;
and that he therefore resolved with David, "That his praise should be
always in his mouth."

[Sidenote: "De Conscientiâ"]

I have taken a content in giving my Reader this character of his
person, his temper, and some of the accidents of his life past; and
more might be added of all; but I will with sorrow look forward to the
sad days, in which so many good men suffered, about the year 1658, at
which time Dr. Sanderson was in a very low condition as to his estate;
and in that time Mr. Robert Boyle[24]--a gentleman of a very noble
birth, and more eminent for his liberality, learning, and virtue,
and of whom I would say much more, but that he still lives--having
casually met with and read his Lectures _de Juramento_, to his great
satisfaction, and being informed of Dr. Sanderson's great innocence
and sincerity, and that he and his family were brought into a low
condition by his not complying with the Parliament's injunctions,
sent him by his dear friend Dr. Barlow[25]--the now learned Bishop of
Lincoln--50_l._ and with it a request and promise. The request was,
that he would review the Lectures _de Conscientiâ_, which he had read
when he was Doctor of the Chair in Oxford, and print them for the good
of posterity:--and this Dr. Sanderson did in the year 1659.--And the
promise was, that he would pay him that, or a greater sum if desired,
during his life, to enable him to pay an amanuensis, to ease him from
the trouble of writing what he should conceive or dictate. For the
more particular account of which, I refer my Reader to a letter
writ by the said Dr. Barlow, which I have annexed to the end of this
relation.

[Sidenote: The Restoration]

Towards the end of this year, 1659, when the many mixed sects, and
their creators and merciless protectors, had led or driven each other
into a whirlpool of confusion: when amazement and fear had seized
them, and their accusing consciences gave them an inward and fearful
intelligence, that the god which they had long served was now ready to
pay them such wages, as he does always reward witches with for their
obeying him: when these wretches were come to foresee an end of
their cruel reign, by our King's return; and such sufferers as Dr.
Sanderson--and with him many of the oppressed Clergy and others--could
foresee the cloud of their afflictions would be dispersed by it; then,
in the beginning of the year following, the King was by God restored
to us, and we to our known laws and liberties, and a general joy
and peace seemed to breathe through the three nations. Then were the
suffering Clergy freed from their sequestration, restored to their
revenues, and to a liberty to adore, praise, and pray to God in such
order as their consciences and oaths had formerly obliged them. And
the Reader will easily believe, that Dr. Sanderson and his dejected
family rejoiced to see this day, and be of this number.

[Sidenote: Commended to Charles II.]

It ought to be considered--which I have often heard or read--that in
the primitive times men of learning and virtue were usually sought
for, and solicited to accept of Episcopal government, and often
refused it. For they conscientiously considered, that the office of
a Bishop was made up of labour and care; that they were trusted to be
God's almoners of the Church's revenue, and double their care for the
poor; to live strictly themselves, and use all diligence to see that
their family, officers, and Clergy did so; and that the account of
that stewardship, must, at the last dreadful day, be made to the
Searcher of all Hearts: and that in the primitive times they were
therefore timorous to undertake it. It may not be said, that Dr.
Sanderson was accomplished with these, and all the other requisites
required in a Bishop, so as to be able to answer them exactly: but
it may be affirmed, as a good preparation, that he had at the age of
seventy-three years--for he was so old at the King's Return--fewer
faults to be pardoned by God or man, than are apparent in others in
these days, in which, God knows, we fall so short of that visible
sanctity and zeal to God's glory, which was apparent in the days of
primitive Christianity. This is mentioned by way of preparation to
what I shall say more of Dr. Sanderson; and namely, that, at
the King's return, Dr. Sheldon, the late prudent Bishop of
Canterbury,--than whom none knew, valued, or loved Dr. Sanderson more
or better,--was by his Majesty made a chief trustee to commend to him
fit men to supply the then vacant Bishoprics. And Dr. Sheldon knew
none fitter than Dr. Sanderson, and therefore humbly desired the King
that he would nominate him: and, that done, he did as humbly desire
Dr. Sanderson that he would, for God's and the Church's sake,
take that charge and care upon him. Dr. Sanderson had, if not an
unwillingness, certainly no forwardness to undertake it; and would
often say, he had not led himself, but his friend would now lead him
into a temptation, which he had daily prayed against; and besought
God, if he did undertake it, so as to assist him with his grace, that
the example of his life, his cares and endeavours, might promote his
glory, and help forward the salvation of others.

[Sidenote: Bishop of Lincoln]

This I have mentioned as a happy preparation to his Bishopric; and
am next to tell, that he was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln at
Westminster, the 28th of October, 1660.

[Sidenote: Mr. Richard Baxter]

There was about this time a Christian care taken, that those whose
consciences were, as they said, tender, and could not comply with the
service and ceremonies of the Church, might have satisfaction given
by a friendly debate betwixt a select number of them, and some like
number of those that had been sufferers for the Church-service and
ceremonies, and now restored to liberty; of which last some were then
preferred to power and dignity in the Church. And of these Bishop
Sanderson was one, and then chose to be a moderator in that debate:
and he performed his trust with much mildness, patience, and reason;
but all proved ineffectual: for there be some prepossessions like
jealousies, which, though causeless, yet cannot be removed by reasons
as apparent as demonstration can make any truth. The place appointed
for this debate was the Savoy in the Strand: and the points debated
were, I think, many; some affirmed to be truth and reason, some denied
to be either; and these debates being then in words, proved to be so
loose and perplexed as satisfied neither party. For some time that
which had been affirmed was immediately forgot or denied, and so no
satisfaction given to either party. But that the debate might become
more useful, it was therefore resolved that the day following the
desires and reasons of the Non-conformists should be given in writing,
and they in writing receive answers from the conforming party. And
though I neither now can, nor need to mention all the points debated,
nor the names of the dissenting brethren; yet I am sure Mr. Baxter was
one, and am sure what shall now follow was one of the points debated.

Concerning a command of lawful superiors, what was sufficient to its
being a lawful command; this proposition was brought by the conforming
party.

"That command which commands an act in itself lawful, and no other act
or circumstance unlawful, is not sinful."

Mr. Baxter[26] denied it for two reasons, which he gave in with his
own hand in writing, thus:

One was, "Because that may be a sin _per accidens_, which is not so in
itself, and may be unlawfully commanded, though that accident be
not in the command." Another was, "That it may be commanded under an
unjust penalty."

Again this proposition being brought by the Conformists, "That command
which commandeth an act in itself lawful, and no other act whereby
any unjust penalty is enjoined, nor any circumstance whence, _per
accidens_, any sin is consequent which the commander ought to provide
against, is not sinful."

[Sidenote: His contentions or denials]

Mr. Baxter denied it for this reason, then given in with his own
hand in writing thus: "Because the first act commanded may be _per
accidens_ unlawful, and be commanded by an unjust penalty, though no
other act or circumstance commanded be such."

Again, this proposition being brought by the Conformists, "That
command which commandeth an act in itself lawful, and no other act
whereby any unjust penalty is enjoined, nor any circumstance,
whence directly, or _per accidens_, any sin is consequent, which the
commander ought to provide against, hath in it all things requisite
to the lawfulness of a command, and particularly cannot be guilty of
commanding an act _per accidens_ unlawful, nor of commanding an act
under an unjust penalty."

Mr. Baxter denied it upon the same reasons.

                 PETER GUNNING.[27]

                 JOHN PEARSON.[28]

These were then two of the disputants, still alive, and will attest
this; one being now Lord Bishop of Ely, and the other of Chester.
And the last of them told me very lately, that one of the
Dissenters--which I could, but forbear to name--appeared to Dr.
Sanderson to be so bold, so troublesome, and so illogical in the
dispute, as forced patient Dr. Sanderson--who was then Bishop of
Lincoln, and a moderator with other Bishops--to say, with an unusual
earnestness, "That he had never met with a man of more pertinacious
confidence, and less abilities, in all his conversation."

[Sidenote: Results of the debate]

But though this debate at the Savoy was ended without any great
satisfaction to either party, yet both parties knew the desires, and
understood the abilities, of the other, much better than before it:
and the late distressed Clergy, that were now restored to their former
rights and power, did, at the next meeting in Convocation, contrive to
give the dissenting party satisfaction by alteration, explanation, and
addition to some part both of the Rubric and Common Prayer, as also
by adding some new necessary Collects, and a particular Collect
of Thanksgiving. How many of those new Collects were worded by Dr.
Sanderson, I cannot say; but am sure the whole Convocation valued him
so much that he never undertook to speak to any point in question, but
he was heard with great willingness and attention; and when any point
in question was determined, the Convocation did usually desire him to
word their intentions, and as usually approve and thank him.

[Sidenote: New Offices]

At this Convocation the Common Prayer was made more complete, by
adding three new necessary Offices; which were, "A Form of Humiliation
for the Murder of King Charles the Martyr; A Thanksgiving for the
Restoration of his Son our King; and For the Baptising of Persons of
riper Age." I cannot say Dr. Sanderson did form, or word them all,
but doubtless more than any single man of the Convocation; and he
did also, by desire of the Convocation, alter and add to the forms of
Prayers to be used at Sea--now taken into the Service-Book.--And
it may be noted, that William, the now Right Reverend Bishop of
Canterbury,[29] was in these employments diligently useful; especially
in helping to rectify the Calendar and Rubric. And lastly, it may
be noted, that, for the satisfying all the dissenting brethren and
others, the Convocation's reasons for the alterations and additions
to the Liturgy were by them desired to be drawn up by Dr. Sanderson;
which being done by him, and approved by them, was appointed to be
printed before the Liturgy, and may be known by this title--"The
Preface;" and begins thus--"It hath been the Wisdom of the Church."--

I shall now follow him to his Bishopric, and declare a part of his
behaviour in that busy and weighty employment. And first, that it was
with such condescension and obligingness to the meanest of his Clergy,
as to know and be known to them. And indeed he practised the like to
all men of what degree soever, especially to his old neighbours or
parishioners of Boothby Pannell; for there was all joy at his table,
when they came to visit him: then they prayed for him, and he for
them, with an unfeigned affection.

I think it will not be denied, but that the care and toil required of
a Bishop, may justly challenge the riches and revenue with which their
predecessors had lawfully endowed them: and yet he sought not that so
much, as doing good both to the present age and posterity; and he made
this appear by what follows.

[Sidenote: The Bishop at Buckden]

[Sidenote: Repairs and restorations]

The Bishop's chief house at Buckden, in the County of Huntingdon, the
usual residence of his predecessors,--for it stands about the midst
of his Diocese,--having been at his consecration a great part of it
demolished, and what was left standing under a visible decay, was by
him undertaken to be erected and repaired: and it was performed with
great speed, care, and charge. And to this may be added, that the King
having by an Injunction commended to the care of the Bishops, Deans,
and Prebends of all Cathedral Churches, "the repair of them, their
houses, and augmentation of small Vicarages;" he, when he was
repairing Buckden, did also augment the last, as fast as fines were
paid for renewing leases so fast, that a friend, taking notice of his
bounty, was so bold as to advise him to remember, "he was under his
first-fruits, and that he was old, and had a wife and children yet but
meanly provided for, especially if his dignity were considered." To
whom he made a mild and thankful answer, saying, "It would not become
a Christian Bishop to suffer those houses built by his predecessors
to be ruined for want of repair; and less justifiable to suffer any of
those, that were called to so high a calling as to sacrifice at God's
altar, to eat the bread of sorrow constantly, when he had a power by
a small augmentation, to turn it into the bread of cheerfulness: and
wished, that as this was, so it were also in his power to make all
mankind happy, for he desired nothing more. And for his wife and
children, he hoped to leave them a competence, and in the hands of a
God that would provide for all that kept innocence, and trusted his
providence and protection, which he had always found enough to make
and keep him happy."

[Sidenote: His favourite books]

There was in his Diocese a Minister of almost his age, that had been
of Lincoln College when he left it, who visited him often, and always
welcome, because he was a man of innocence and openheartedness. This
Minister asked the Bishop what books he studied most, when he laid the
foundation of his great and clear learning. To which his answer was,
"that he declined reading many; but what he did read were well chosen,
and read so often, that he became Very familiar with them;" and said,
"they were chiefly three, Aristotle's Rhetoric, Aquinas's _Secunda
Secundit_, and Tully, but chiefly his offices, which he had not read
over less than twenty times, and could at this age say without book."
And told him also, "the learned Civilian Doctor Zouch--who died
lately--had writ _Elementa Jurisprudentiae_, which was a book that he
could also say without book; and that no wise man could read it too
often, or love or commend too much;" and told him, "these had been his
toil: but for himself he always had a natural love to genealogies and
Heraldry; and that when his thoughts were harassed with any perplexed
studies, he left off, and turned to them as a recreation; and that his
very recreation had made him so perfect in them, that he could, in a
very short time, give an account of the descent, arms, and antiquity
of any family of the Nobility or gentry of this nation."

[Sidenote: His Will]

Before I give an account of Dr. Sanderson's last sickness, I desire to
tell the Reader that he was of a healthful constitution, cheerful and
mild, of an even temper, very moderate in his diet, and had had little
sickness, till some few years before his death; but was then every
winter punished with a diarrhoea, which left not till warm weather
returned and removed it: and this distemper did, as he grew older,
seize him oftener, and continue longer with him. But though it
weakened him, yet it made him rather indisposed than sick, and did no
way disable him from studying--indeed too much.--In this decay of his
strength, but not of his memory or reason,--for this distemper works
not upon the understanding,--he made his last Will, of which I shall
give some account for confirmation of what hath been said, and what I
think convenient to be known, before I declare his death and burial.

He did in his last Will,[30] give an account of his faith and
persuasion in point of religion, and Church-government, in these very
words:

"I, Robert Sanderson, Doctor of Divinity, an unworthy Minister of
Jesus Christ, and, by the providence of God, Bishop of Lincoln, being
by the long continuance of an habitual distemper brought to a great
bodily weakness and faintness of spirits, but--by the great mercy of
God--without any bodily pain otherwise, or decay of understanding,
do make this my Will and Testament,--written all with my own
hand,--revoking all former Wills by me heretofore made, if any such
shall be found. First, I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty
God, as of a faithful Creator, which I humbly beseech him mercifully
to accept, looking upon it, not as it is in itself,--infinitely
polluted with sin,--but as it is redeemed and purged with the precious
blood of his only beloved Son, and my most sweet Saviour Jesus Christ;
in confidence of whose merits and mediation alone it is, that I cast
myself upon the mercy of God for the pardon of my sins, and the hopes
of eternal life. And here I do profess, that as I have lived, so I
desire, and--by the grace of God--resolve, to die in the communion
of the Catholic Church of Christ, and a true son of the Church
of England: which, as it stands by law established, to be both in
doctrine and worship agreeable to the word of God, and in the most,
and most material points of both conformable to the faith and practice
of the godly Churches of Christ in the primitive and purer times, I do
firmly believe: led so to do, not so much from the force of custom and
education,--to which the greatest part of mankind owe their particular
different persuasions in point of Religion,--as upon the clear
evidence of truth and reason, after a serious and impartial
examination of the grounds, as well of Popery as Puritanism, according
to that measure of understanding, and those opportunities which God
hath afforded me: and herein I am abundantly satisfied, that the
schism which the Papists on the one hand, and the superstition which
the Puritan on the other hand, lay to our charge, are very justly
chargeable upon themselves respectively. Wherefore I humbly beseech
Almighty God, the Father of mercies, to preserve the Church by his
power and providence, in peace, truth, and godliness, evermore to
the world's end: which doubtless he will do, if the wickedness and
security of a sinful people--and particularly those sins that are so
rife, and seem daily to increase among us, of unthankfulness, riot,
and sacrilege--do not tempt his patience to the contrary. And I also
further humbly beseech him, that it would please him to give unto our
gracious Sovereign, the reverend Bishops, and the Parliament, timely
to consider the great danger that visibly threatens this Church in
point of Religion by the late great increase of Popery, and in point
of revenue by sacrilegious inclosures; and to provide such wholesome
and effectual remedies, as may prevent the same before it be too
late."

And for a further manifestation of his humble thoughts and desires,
they may appear to the Reader by another part of his Will which
follows.

"As for my corruptible body, I bequeath it to the earth whence it was
taken, to be decently buried in the Parish Church of Buckden,
towards the upper end of the Chancel, upon the second, or--at the
furthest--the third day after my decease; and that with as little
noise, pomp, and charge as may be, without the invitation of any
person how near soever related unto me, other than the inhabitants
of Buckden; without the unnecessary expense of escutcheons, gloves,
ribbons, &c., and without any blacks to be hung any where in or about
the house or Church, other than a pulpit cloth, a hearse-cloth, and
a mourning gown for the Preacher; whereof the former--after my body
shall be interred--to be given to the Preacher of the Funeral Sermon,
and the latter to the Curate of the Parish for the time being. And
my will further is that the Funeral Sermon be preached by my own
household Chaplain, containing some wholesome discourse concerning
Mortality, the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment; and
that he shall have for his pains 5_l._ upon condition that he speak
nothing at all concerning my person, either good or ill, other than
I myself shall direct; only signifying to the auditory that it was my
express will to have it so. And it is my will, that no costly monument
be erected for my memory, but only a fair flat marble stone to be laid
over me, with this inscription in legible Roman characters, DEPOSITUM
ROBERTI SANDERSON NUPER LINCOLNIENSIS EPISCOPI, QUI OBIIT ANNO DOMINI
MDCLXII. ET ÆTATIS SUÆ SEPTUAGESIMO SEXTO, HIC REQUIESCIT IN SPE BEATE
RESURRECTIONIS. This manner of burial, although I cannot but foresee
it will prove unsatisfactory to sundry my nearest friends and
relations, and be apt to be censured by others, as an evidence of
my too much parsimony and narrowness of mind, as being altogether
unusual, and not according to the mode of these times: yet it is
agreeable to the sense of my heart, and I do very much desire my Will
may be carefully observed herein, hoping it may become exemplary to
some or other: at least however testifying at my death--what I have so
often and earnestly professed in my life time--my utter dislike of the
flatteries commonly used in Funeral Sermons, and of the vast expenses
otherwise laid out in Funeral solemnities and entertainments, with
very little benefit to any; which if bestowed in pious and charitable
works, might redound to the public or private benefit of many
persons."

[Sidenote: His death]

I am next to tell, that he died the 29th of January, 1662; and that
his body was buried in Buckden, the third day after his death; and for
the manner, that it was as far from ostentation as he desired it;
and all the rest of his Will was as punctually performed. And when
I have--to his just praise--told this truth, "that he died far from
being rich," I shall return back to visit, and give a further account
of him on his last sick bed.

His last Will--of which I have mentioned a part--was made about three
weeks before his death, about which time, finding his strength to
decay by reason of his constant infirmity, and a consumptive cough
added to it, he retired to his chamber, expressing a desire to enjoy
his last thoughts to himself in private, without disturbance or care,
especially of what might concern this world. And that none of his
Clergy--which are more numerous than any other Bishop's--might suffer
by his retirement, he did by commission impower his Chaplain, Mr.
Pullin,[31] with Episcopal power to give institutions to all livings
or Church-preferments, during this his disability to do it himself.
In this time of his retirement he longed for his dissolution; and when
some that loved him prayed for his recovery, if he at any time found
any amendment, he seemed to be displeased, by saying, "His friends
said their prayers backward for him: and that it was not his desire to
live a useless life, and by filling up a place keep another out of it,
that might do God and his Church service." He would often with
much joy and thankfulness mention, "That during his being a
housekeeper--which was more than forty years--there had not been one
buried out of his family, and that he was now like to be the first."
He would also often mention with thankfulness, "That till he was
three score years of age, he had never spent five shillings in law,
nor--upon himself--so much in wine: and rejoiced much that he had
so lived, as never to cause an hour's sorrow to his good father; and
hoped he should die without an enemy."

[Sidenote: Rules and habits]

He, in this retirement, had the Church prayers read in his chamber
twice every day; and at nine at night, some prayers read to him and
a part of his family out of "The Whole Duty of Man." As he was
remarkably punctual and regular in all his studies and actions, so he
used himself to be for his meals. And his dinner being appointed to
be constantly ready at the ending of prayers, and he expecting and
calling for it, was answered, "It would be ready in a quarter of an
hour." To which his reply was, "A quarter of an hour! Is a quarter
of an hour nothing to a man that probably has days not many hours to
live?" And though he did live many hours after this, yet he lived
not many days; for the day after--which was three days before his
death--he was become so weak and weary of either motion or sitting,
that he was content, or forced, to keep his bed: in which I desire he
may rest, till I have given some account of his behaviour there, and
immediately before it.

[Sidenote: His last days]

The day before he took his bed,--which was three days before his
death,--he, that he might receive a new assurance for the pardon of
his sins past, and be strengthened in his way to the New Jerusalem,
took the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of his and our
blessed Jesus, from the hands of his Chaplain, Mr. Pullin, accompanied
with his wife, children, and a friend, in as awful, humble, and ardent
a manner, as outward reverence could express. After the praise and
thanksgiving for it was ended, he spake to this purpose: "Thou, O
God! tookest me out of my mother's womb, and hast been the powerful
protector of me to this present moment of my life: Thou hast neither
forsaken me now I am become greyheaded, nor suffered me to forsake
thee in the late days of temptation, and sacrifice my conscience for
the preservation of my liberty or estate. It was by grace that I have
stood, when others have fallen under my trials: and these mercies I
now remember with joy and thankfulness; and my hope and desire is,
that I may die praising thee."

[Sidenote: Use of the Psalms]

The frequent repetition of the Psalms of David, hath been noted to be
a great part of the devotion of the primitive Christians; the Psalms
having in them not only prayers and holy instructions, but such
commemorations of God's mercies, as may preserve, comfort, and confirm
our dependence on the power, and providence, and mercy of our Creator.
And this is mentioned in order to telling, that as the holy Psalmist
said, that his eyes should prevent both the dawning of the day and
night watches, by meditating on God's word (Psal. cxix. 147), so it
was Dr. Sanderson's constant practice every morning to entertain his
first waking thoughts with a repetition of those very Psalms that
the Church hath appointed to be constantly read in the daily Morning
service: and having at night laid him in his bed, he as constantly
closed his eyes with a repetition of those appointed for the service
of the evening, remembering and repeating the very Psalms appointed
for every day; and as the month had formerly ended and began again,
so did this exercise of his devotion. And if his first waking thoughts
were of the world, or what concerned it, he would arraign and condemn
himself for it. Thus he began that work on earth, which is now his
employment in Heaven.

[Sidenote: Death]

After his taking his bed, and about a day before his death, he
desired his Chaplain, Mr. Pullin, to give him absolution: and at his
performing that office, he pulled off his cap, that Mr. Pullin
might lay his hand upon his bare head. After this desire of his was
satisfied, his body seemed to be at more ease, and his mind more
cheerful; and he said, "Lord, forsake me not now my strength faileth
me; but continue thy mercy, and let my mouth be filled with thy
praise." He continued the remaining night and day very patient, and
thankful for any of the little offices that were performed for his
ease and refreshment: and during that time did often say the 103rd
Psalm to himself, and very often these words, "My heart is fixed, O
God! my heart is fixed where true joy is to be found." His thoughts
seemed now to be wholly of death, for which he was so prepared, that
the King of Terrors could not surprise him as a thief in the night:
for he had often said, he was prepared, and longed for it. And as this
desire seemed to come from Heaven, so it left him not till his soul
ascended to that region of blessed spirits, whose employments are to
join in concert with him, and sing praise and glory to that God, who
hath brought them to that place, into which sin and sorrow cannot
enter.

Thus this pattern of meekness and primitive innocence changed this for
a better life. 'Tis now too late to wish that my life may be like
his; for I am in the eighty-fifth year of my age: but I humbly beseech
Almighty God, that my death may: and do as earnestly beg of every
Reader, to say--Amen.

Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile, Psal. xxxii. 2.


[Footnote 1: This is a mistake; Bishop Sanderson was born at Sheffield
on the 19th of September.]

[Footnote 2: Thomas Scot, or Rotheram, so called after his
birth-place, Fellow of King's College, in Cambridge, was afterward
Master of Pembroke Hall, and 1483 and 1484, Chancellor of the
University. He obtained great ecclesiastical preferment, being
successively Provost of Beverley, Bishop of Rochester and of Lincoln,
and lastly Archbishop of York. Nor was he less adorned with civil
honours, having been appointed, first, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and
then Lord Chancellor of England. The two Universities and his native
town still enjoy the fruits of his bounty. He died 29th May, 1500.]

[Footnote 3: Dr. Gilbert Sheldon was born July 19, 1598.--His father,
Roger Sheldon, though of no obscure parentage, was a menial servant
to Gilbert Earl of Shrewsbury.--He was of Trinity College, Oxford, and
took his Master's degree in May, 1620. He was introduced to Charles I.
by Lord Coventry, and became one of His Majesty's Chaplains. Upon the
Restoration, he was made Dean of the Chapel Royal, succeeded Dr. Juxon
as Bishop of London, and after as Archbishop of Canterbury; in 1667
he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He died at
Lambeth, Nov. 9, 1677.]

[Footnote 4: Dr. Richard Kilbie, born at Ratcliffe, in Leicestershire,
and a great benefactor to his College, since he restored the neglected
library, added eight new repositories for books, and gave to it
many excellent volumes. He became Rector in 1590, and in 1610 he was
appointed the King's Hebrew Professor. He died in 1620.]

[Footnote 5: An edition of this work was published in Oxford so
recently as 1841.]

[Footnote 6: Mr. Charles Crooke, a younger son of Sir John Crooke, of
Chilton, in Bucks, one of the Justices of the King's Bench. In 1615,
he proceeded D.D., being then Rector of Amersham and a Fellow of Eton
College.]

[Footnote 7: Brother of George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, born
at Guildford in 1560, and promoted to the See of Salisbury in 1615, as
a reward for his Lectures against Suarez and Bellarmine, in defence of
the King's supreme power. On his way to Sarum, he made an oration to
the University, and his friends parted from him with tears. He died
March 2nd, 1617-8.]

[Footnote 8: Dr. John Prideaux, born at Harford, in Devon in 1578, and
Rector of Exeter College in 1612, when he acquired so much fame in the
government of it, that several eminent foreigners placed themselves
under his care. He was made King's Professor in Divinity in 1615, and
Bishop of Worcester in 1641; but was reduced to great poverty in the
Civil Wars, and died July 20th, 1650.]

[Footnote 9: Dr. Arthur Lake, born at Southampton about 1550, and
educated at Winchester School, whence he proceeded to New College,
Oxford. He was created Dean of Worcester in 1608, and Bishop of Bath
and Wells in 1616. He died on 4th May, 1626.]

[Footnote 10: Dr. Tobias Matthew--died March 29, 1628, aged 83.]

[Footnote 11: Dr. William Laud, born at Reading, Oct. 7, 1573, and
educated there, and at St. John's College, Oxford. In 1616, he was
made Dean of Gloucester, in 1621 Bishop of St. David's, and in 1622 he
had a conference with Fisher the Jesuit, of which the printed account
evinces how opposed he was to Popery; but his Arminian tenets gave
offence to the Calvinists. In 1626 he was translated to the See of
Bath and Wells, in 1628 to London, and in 1633 to Canterbury. His zeal
for the establishment of the Liturgy in Scotland produced him numerous
enemies, by whose means he was imprisoned in the Tower for three
years, and beheaded Jan. 10th, 1644-45. His works were published at
Oxford, 6 vols. 8vo., 1847-9.]

[Footnote 12: Dr. Henry Hammond was born at Chertsey, in Surrey, Aug.
18th, 1605, and was educated at Eton, and Magdalen College, Oxford.
His loyalty caused him to be deprived of his preferments during the
Civil Wars, and at the Restoration he was designed for Bishop of
Worcester, but died before consecration, April 25th, 1660. His
principal works are, his "Practical Catechism," and "A Paraphrase and
Annotations on the New Testament."]

[Footnote 13: Dr. Thomas Pierce, for some years President of Magdalen
College, Oxford. In his epitaph composed by himself he says, "Here
lies all that was mortal, the outside, dust, and ashes of Thomas
Pierce, D.D., once the President of a College in Oxford, at first the
Rector of _Brington-cum-Membris,_ Canon of Lincoln, and at last Dean
of Sarum; who fell asleep in the Lord Jesus [Mar. 28, an. 1691], but
in hope of an awake at the resurrection."]

[Footnote 14: Dr. Matthew Wren, successively Bishop of Hereford,
Norwich, and Ely, died April 14, 1667, aged eighty-one years and
upwards. He was distinguished for his extraordinary attachment to the
royal cause, having suffered an imprisonment for eighteen years with
singular patience and magnanimity.

It should not be forgotten, that when Cromwell had repeatedly offered
to release the Bishop, he refused to accept of the proffered boon,
saying, "that he scorned to receive his liberty from a tyrant and
usurper." His life was kindly prolonged by Providence, that as he had
seen the destruction, so he might also see the happy restoration of
his order.]

[Footnote 15: Born at Geneva on August 14, 1599, and educated at
Christ Church, Oxford. Archbishop Laud gave him the living of Minster,
Kent, and a Prebend in the Cathedral of Canterbury. He suffered
much in the civil wars, but at the Restoration he recovered his
preferments. Among his works are "A Treatise of Use and Custom,"
1638, "De Quatuor Linguis Commentatio," 1650, "Of Credulity and
Incredulity," 1668. He died on July 14, 1671.]

[Footnote 16: Dr. John Williams was then Dean of Westminster. He held
this Deanery _in Commendam_ during the whole time of his being Bishop
of Lincoln, and likewise three years after his translation to York.]

[Footnote 17: Was born at Anstley, in Wiltshire, in 1590; he received
his education in William of Wykeham's school, near Winchester; was
matriculated in the University of Oxford in 1608, and admitted Fellow
of New College in 1609. He took the degree of LL.B. June 30, 1614,
and that of LL.D. April 8, 1619. He no sooner had obtained his first
degree than he became an Advocate in Doctors' Commons. Through the
influence of his noble kinsman, who was then Lord of the Cinque Ports,
he was elected, in 1620, a Burgess to serve in Parliament for Hythe
in Kent. In the same year he succeeded Dr. John Budden as Professor
of Civil law; and in 1625, he was appointed Principal of Alban's Hall.
Though a layman, he held the Prebend of Shipston, in the Church of
Salisbury, which was then first annexed to the Law Professorship by
James I.

After the Restoration, Dr. Zouch, whose loyalty always remained
unimpeached, had the honour of being named by the King, along with
several other Commissioners, to restore the splendours and regulate
the disorders of the University. He was re-instated in the Court of
Admiralty; and if he had lived he would doubtless have attained those
higher dignities in his profession, to which his integrity and great
abilities entitled him. He died at his apartments in Doctors' Commons,
London, March 1, 1660.]

[Footnote 18: Let it ever be remembered to the honour of this Prelate,
whom Charles I. was wont to call "the good man," and whom he declared
to be his greatest comfort in his most afflictive situation, that he
delivered his sentiments without disguise to the King, on the subject
of Lord Strafford's fate, telling him plainly, that "he ought to do
nothing with an unsatisfied conscience, upon any consideration in
the world." His character is thus beautifully pourtrayed by Sir Henry
Wotton, in a letter to the Queen of Bohemia. "There is in him no
tumour, no sourness, no distraction of thoughts; but a quiet mind, a
patient care, free access, mild and moderate answers. To this I must
add, a solid judgment, a sober plainness, and a most indubitable
character of fidelity in his very face; so as there needs not much
study to think him both a good man and a wise man."]

[Footnote 19: This learned person went abroad in 1626, and spent
four years in visiting Asia and Africa. He again left England, and
travelled over several parts of Europe. He afterwards joined the
Parliament against Charles I., whom he was appointed to attend from
the very beginning of his imprisonment to the time of his death.
He shewed himself a most faithful servant to the King, whose real
character he soon discovered to be totally different from that which
had been represented to him. In 1660, Charles II. advanced him to the
Dignity of a Baronet, by the name of Thomas Herbert of Tinterne, in
Monmouth "for faithfully serving his royal father during the two
last years of his life."--In 1678 he published "Threnodia Carolina;
containing Memoirs of the two last Years of the reign of King Charles
I." This little work was reprinted in 1813, upon the opening the tomb
of the royal martyr, by Mr. G. Nicoll of Pall Mall, with a "sensible
and seasonable Preface." Sir T. Herbert assisted Sir William Dugdale
in compiling the third volume of his "Monasticon Anglicanum;" and died
at York, his native place, 1682, leaving several MSS. to the public
library at Oxford, and others to that of the Cathedral at York.]

[Footnote 20: This is supposed to have been Mr. Swinfen, an ancestor
(on the female side) of the late Earl St. Vincent.]

[Footnote 21: They were all, except Dr. Wall, ejected in 1647. Dr.
Samuel Fell died of grief, the day he was made acquainted with the
murder of Charles I., viz. on Feb. 1, 1648-9. Dr. Gardner, Canon of
the third stall, lived to be restored, and died in 1670. Dr. Paine,
Canon of the fourth stall, died during the rebellion. Dr. Hammond,
Sub-dean and Canon of the second stall, died in 1660. As for Dr. Wall,
Canon of the seventh stall, he conformed no doubt to the measures of
the Visitors. He died possessed of it in 1666.]

[Footnote 22: Mr. Thomas Brightman, born at Nottingham, and educated
at Queen's College in Cambridge, was Rector of Hawnes in Bedfordshire.
He died suddenly Aug. 24, 1607.

Mr. Thomas Cartwright, the noted Puritan, in allusion to the name of
Mr. Brightman, considers him as full of illumination as "a bright star
in the Church of God." Though no favourable opinion can be entertained
of his writings, yet the acknowledged innocence of his life and
conversation entitles him to every encomium.]

[Footnote 23: Honest Walton rather overstates the case. Thucydides
simply says that attendance on the sick promoted the spread of the
pestilence. (Lib. II. c. 51.)]

[Footnote 24: This amiable philosopher was born Jan. 25th, 1626-17, at
Lismore, in the province of Munster, in Ireland. He was a scholar, a
gentleman, a Christian of the most exalted piety and charity, and a
very eminent Natural philosopher. He died Dec. 30th, 1691.]

[Footnote 25: Dr. Thomas Barlow was born in 1607, at Orton, in
Westmoreland, was made Bishop of Lincoln, in 1675, and died at
Buckden, in 1691. His character appears to have been vacillating; he
was not among the venerable Prelates who stood forth the Protectors
of the Protestant Religion in 1688. His theological learning was
considerable.]

[Footnote 26: Richard Baxter was born at Rowton, in Shropshire, 1615,
and was a Chaplain in the Parliamentary Army, though he was a defender
of Monarchy. He refused the Bishopric of Hereford, and died in 1691.
His "Saint's Everlasting Rest" and "Call to the Unconverted" are his
most famous books.]

[Footnote 27: Dr. Peter Gunning was a loyalist Divine, who suffered
considerably for the Royal cause, and died Bishop of Ely, in 1684.]

[Footnote 28: Dr. John Pearson was the author of the famous
"Exposition of the Creed;" in 1661, he was made Lady Margaret's
Professor of Divinity, at Cambridge, and died Bishop of Chester, in
1686, aged 74.]

[Footnote 29: Dr. William Bancroft, born at Freshingfield, in Suffolk,
in 1616, and educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, where he
was deprived of his Fellowship in 1649, for refusing to take the
engagement. He was made Archbishop in 1677, and in 1688, he was one of
the seven Prelates sent to the Tower by James II. At the Revolution
he refused taking the Oaths to the new government, for which he was
suspended and deprived. He died in retirement Nov. 14th, 1693.]

[Footnote 30: Bishop Sanderson's Will is recorded in the Prerogative
Court of Canterbury, in the volume called Juxon, Article 37. After his
death, it was industriously reported that he repented of his writing
against the Presbyterians, and would not suffer a Church Minister to
pray by him, which is refuted by the narrative of Mr. Pullin's giving
him the Sacrament.]

[Footnote 31: Mr. John Pullin, B.D., and formerly Fellow of Magdalen
College, Cambridge. His name is subscribed to a copy of commendatory
Latin verses prefixed to "Duport's Greek Version of Job." He was a
Prebendary, and also Chancellor of Lincoln.]




DR. PIERCE'S LETTER.


[Sidenote: Letters from Sanderson]

GOOD MR. WALTON,

At my return to this place, I made a yet stricter search after the
letters long ago sent me from our most excellent Dr. Sanderson, before
the happy restoration of the King and Church of England to their
several rights: in one of which letters more especially, he was
pleased to give me a narrative both of the rise and the progress,
and reasons also, as well of his younger, as of his last and riper
judgment, touching the famous points controverted between the
Calvinians and the Armenians, as they are commonly (though unjustly
and unskilfully) miscalled on either side.

[Sidenote: Dr. Hammond's book]

The whole letter I allude to does consist of several sheets, whereof
a good part had been made public long ago, by the most learned, most
judicious, most pious Dr. Hammond, (to whom I sent it both for his
private, and for the public satisfaction, if he thought fit,) in his
excellent book, entitled, "A Pacific Discourse of God's Grace and
Decrees, in full accordance with Dr. Sanderson:" to which discourse
I refer you for an account of Dr. Sanderson and the history of his
thoughts in his own hand-writing, wherein I sent it to Westwood, as I
received it from Boothby Pannel. And although the whole book, (printed
in the year 1660, and reprinted since with his other tracts in folio,)
is very worthy of your perusal; yet, for the work you are about, you
shall not have need to read more at present than from the 8th to the
23rd page, and as far as the end of section 33. There you will find in
what year the excellent man, whose life you write, became a Master of
Arts: how his first reading of learned Hooker had been occasioned by
certain puritanical pamphlets; and how good a preparative he found it
for his reading of Calvin's Institutions, the honour of whose name
(at that time especially) gave such credit to his errors: how he erred
with Mr. Calvin, whilst he took things upon trust in the sublapsarian
way: how, being chosen to be a Clerk of the Convocation for the
Diocese of Lincoln, 1625, he reduced the Quinquarticular Controversy
into five schemes or tables; and thereupon discerned a necessity of
quitting the sublapsarian way, of which he had before a better liking,
as well as the supralapsarian, which he could never fancy. There you
will meet with his two weighty reasons against them both, and find his
happy change of judgment to have been ever since the year 1625, even
thirty-four years before the world either knew, or, at least, took
notice of it; and more particularly his reasons for rejecting Dr.
Twiss, (or the way he walks in,) although his acute and very learned
and ancient friend.

[Sidenote: Arriba discussed]

I now proceed to let you know from Dr. Sanderson's own hand,[1] which
was never printed, (and which you can hardly know from any, unless
from his son, or from myself,) that, when that Parliament was broken
up, and the convocation therewith dissolved, a gentleman of his
acquaintance, by occasion of some discourse about these points, told
him of a book not long before published at Paris, (A.D. 1623,) by a
Spanish Bishop,[2] who had undertaken to clear the differences in
the great controversy _De Concordia Gratiæ et Liberi Arbitrii_. And
because his friend perceived he was greedily desirous to see the book,
he sent him one of them, containing the four first books of twelve
which he intended then to publish. "When I had read," says Dr.
Sanderson, in the following words of the same letter, "his Epistle
Dedicatory to the Pope (Gregory XV.), he spake so highly of his own
invention, that I then began rather to suspect him for a mountebank,
than to hope I should find satisfaction from his performances. I found
much confidence and great pomp of words, but little matter as to the
main knot of the business, other than had been said an hundred times
before, to wit, of the co-existence of all things past, present, and
future [Latin] _in mente divina realiter ab aeterno_, which is
the subject of his whole third book: only he interpreteth the word
_realiter_ so as to import not only _præsentialitatem objectivam,_ (as
others held before him,) but _propriam et actualem existentiam_; yet
confesseth it is hard to make this intelligible. In his fourth book
he endeavours to declare a twofold manner of God's working _ad extra_;
the one _sub ordine prædestinationis_, of which eternity is the proper
measure: the other _sub ordine gratia_, whereof time is the
measure; and that God worketh _fortiter_ in the one (though not
_irresistibiliter_) as well _suamter_ in the other, wherein the
free will hath his proper working also. From the result of his whole
performance I was confirmed in this opinion; that we must acknowledge
the work of both grace and free will in the conversion of a
sinner; and so likewise in all other events, the consistency of the
infallibility of God's foreknowledge at least (though not with any
absolute, but conditional predestination) with the liberty of man's
will, and the contingency of inferior causes and effects. These, I
say, we must acknowledge for the [Greek: hoti] but for the [Greek: to
pos], I thought it bootless for me to think of comprehending it. And
so came the two _Acta Synodalia Dordrechtana_ to stand in my study,
only to fill up a room to this day."

[Sidenote: "Vindiciæ Gratiæ" discussed]

And yet see the restless curiosity of man. Not many years after, to
wit, A.D. 1632, out cometh Dr. Twiss's[3] _Vindiciæ Gratiæ_, a large
volume, purposely writ against Arminius: and then, notwithstanding my
former resolution, I must need be meddling again. The respect I bore
to his person and great learning, and the acquaintance I had had with
him in Oxford, drew me to the reading of that whole book. But from the
reading of it (for I read it through to a syllable) I went away with
many and great dissatisfactions. Sundry things in that book I took
notice of, which brought me into a greater dislike of his opinion than
I had before: but especially these three: First, that he bottometh
very much of his discourse upon a very erroneous principle, which yet
he seemeth to be so deeply in love with, that he hath repeated it, I
verily believe, some hundreds of times in that work: to wit this;
That whatsoever is first in the intention is last in execution, and
_e converso._ Which is an error of that magnitude, that I cannot
but wonder how a person of such acuteness and subtilty of wit could
possibly be deceived with it. All logicians know there is no such
universal maxim as he buildeth upon. The true maxim is but this:
_Finis qui primus est in intentione, est ultimus in executione_. In
the order of final causes, and the means used for that end, the rule
holdeth perpetually: but in other things it holdeth not at all, or
but by chance; or not as a rule, and necessarily. Secondly, that,
foreseeing such consequences would naturally and necessarily follow
from his opinion, as would offend the ear of a sober Christian at the
very first sound, he would yet rather choose not only to admit the
said harsh consequences, but professedly endeavour also to maintain
them, and plead hard for them in large digressions, than to recede
in the least from that opinion which he had undertaken to defend.
Thirdly, that seeing (out of the sharpness of his wit) a necessity of
forsaking the ordinary sublapsarian way, and the supralapsarian too,
as it had diversely been declared by all that had gone before him,
(for the shunning of those rocks, which either of those ways must
unavoidably cast him upon,) he was forced to seek out an untrodden
path, and to frame out of his own brain a new way, (like a spider's
web wrought out of her own bowels,) hoping by that device to salve all
absurdities, that could be objected; to wit, by making the glory of
God (as it is indeed the chiefest, so) the only end of all other his
decrees, and then making all those other decrees to be but one
entire co-ordinate medium conducing to that one end, and so the whole
subordinate to it, but not any one part thereof subordinate to any
other of the same. Dr. Twiss should have done well to have been more
sparing in imputing the _studium partlum_ to others, wherewith his own
eyes, though of eminent perspicacity, were so strangely blindfolded,
that he could not discern how this his new device, and his old dearly
beloved principle, (like the _Cadmean Sparti_,) do mutually destroy
the one the other.

This relation of my past thoughts having spun out to a far greater
length than I intended, I shall give a shorter account of what they
now are concerning these points.

[Sidenote: Hammond and Sanderson]

For which account I refer you to the following parts of Dr. Hammond's
book aforesaid, where you may find them already printed: and
for another account at large of Bishop Sanderson's last judgment
concerning _God's concurrence_ or _non-concurrence_ with the _actions
of men_, and the _positive entity of sins of commission_, I refer you
to his letters already printed by his consent, in my large Appendix to
my Impartial Enquiry into the Nature of Sin, § 68, p. 193, as far as
p. 200.

"Sir, I have rather made it my choice to transcribe all above out of
the letters of Dr. Sanderson, which lie before me, than venture the
loss of my originals by post or carrier, which, though not often, yet
sometimes fail. Make use of as much or as little as you please, of
what I send you from himself (because from his own letters to me) in
the penning of his life, as your own prudence shall direct you: using
my name for your warranty in the account given of him, as much or as
little as you please too. You have a performance of my promise, and an
obedience to your desires from

"Your affectionate

"Humble Servant,

"THO. PIERCE.

"North Tidworth,

"March 5, 1677-8."


[Footnote 1: Sir, I pray note, that all that follows between inverted
commas are Dr. Sanderson's own words, excellently worthy, but no where
else extant; and commend him as much as any thing you can say of him.
T.P.]

[Footnote 2: Arriba.]

[Footnote 3: This learned nonconformist was born at Reading about
1575, and educated at Winchester School, and New College, Oxford. He
had been Chaplain to the Princess Elizabeth. He died at Newbury, July
20, 1646. Wood says, "his plain preaching was esteemed good; his solid
disputations were accounted better; but his pious life was reckoned
best of all."]




THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S LETTER.


[Sidenote: Sanderson's Life]

[Sidenote: Erroneous doctrines]

MY WORTHY FRIEND, MR. WALTON,

I am heartily glad, that you have undertaken to write the Life of that
excellent person, and, both for learning and Piety, eminent Prelate,
Dr. Sanderson, late Bishop of Lincoln; because I know your ability to
know, and integrity to write truth: And sure I am, that the life
and actions of that pious and learned Prelate will afford you matter
enough for his commendation, and the imitation of posterity. In order
to the carrying on your intended good work, you desire my assistance,
that I would communicate to you such particular passages of his life,
as were certainly known to me. I confess I had the happiness to be
particularly known to him for about the space of twenty years; and,
in Oxon, to enjoy his conversation, and his learned and pious
instructions while he was Regius Professor of Divinity there.
Afterwards, when (in the time of our late unhappy confusions) he
left Oxon, and was retired into the country, I had the benefit of his
letters; wherein, with great candour and kindness, he answered those
doubts I proposed, and gave me that satisfaction, which I neither had
nor expected from some others of greater confidence, but less judgment
and humility. Having, in a letter, named two or three books writ (_ex
professo_) against the being of any original sin; and that Adam,
by his fall, transmitted some calamity only, but no crime to his
posterity; the good old man was exceedingly troubled, and bewailed the
misery of those licentious times, and seemed to wonder (save that the
times were such) that any should write, or be permitted to publish
any error so contradictory to truth, and the doctrine of the Church
of England, established (as he truly said) by clear evidence of
Scripture, and the just and supreme power of this nation, both sacred
and civil. I name not the books, nor their authors, which are not
unknown to learned men (and I wish they had never been known) because
both the doctrine and the unadvised abettors of it are, and shall be,
to me apocryphal.

[Sidenote: "De Conscientiâ"]

Another little story I must not pass in silence, being an argument
of Dr. Sanderson's piety, great ability, and judgment, as a casuist.
Discoursing with an honourable person[1] (whose piety I value more
than his nobility and learning, though both be great) about a case of
conscience concerning oath and vows, their nature and obligation; in
which, for some particular reasons, he then desired more fully to
be informed; I commended to him Dr. Sanderson's book "De Juramento;"
which having read, with great satisfaction, he asked me,--"If I
thought the Doctor could be induced to write Cases of Conscience,
if he might have an honorary pension allowed him to furnish him with
books for that purpose?" I told him I believed he would: And, in a
letter to the Doctor, told him what great satisfaction that honourable
person, and many more, had reaped by reading his book "De Juramento;"
and asked him "whether he would be pleased, for the benefit of the
Church, to write some tract of Cases of Conscience;" He replied, "That
he was glad that any had received any benefit by his books:" and added
further, "That if any future tract of his could bring such benefit
to any, as we seemed to say his former had done, he would willingly,
though without any Pension, set about that work." Having received this
answer, that honourable person, before mentioned, did, by my hands,
return 50_l_. to the good Doctor, whose condition then (as most
good men's at that time were) was but low; and he presently revised,
finished, and published that excellent book, "De Conscientiâ:" a book
little in bulk, but not so if we consider the benefit an intelligent
reader may receive by it. For there are so many general propositions
concerning conscience, the nature and obligation of it, explained and
proved, with such firm consequence and evidence of reason, that he who
reads, remembers, and can with prudence pertinently apply them _hic
et nunc_ to particular cases, may, by their light and help, rationally
resolve a thousand particular doubts and scruples of conscience. Here
you may see the charity of that honourable person in promoting,
and the piety and industry of the good Doctor, in performing that
excellent work.

[Sidenote: A good casuist:]

[Sidenote: his equipment]

And here I shall add the judgment of that learned and pious Prelate
concerning a passage very pertinent to our present purpose. When he
was in Oxon, and read his public lectures in the school as Regius
Professor of Divinity, and by the truth of his positions, and
evidences of his proofs, gave great content and satisfaction to all
his hearers, especially in his clear resolutions of all difficult
cases which occurred in the explication of the subject-matter of his
lectures; a person of quality (yet alive) privately asked him, "What
course a young Divine should take in his studies to enable him to be a
good casuist?" His answer was, "That a convenient under of the learned
languages, at least of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and a sufficient
knowledge of arts and sciences presupposed; I there were two things in
human literature, a comprehension of which would be of very great use,
to enable a man to be a rational and able casuist, which otherwise was
very difficult, if not impossible: I. A convenient knowledge of moral
philosophy; especially that part of it which treats of the nature of
human actions: To know, _'quid sit actus humanus (spontaneus, invitus,
mixtus), unde habet bonitatem et malitiam moralem? an ex genere et
objecto, vel ex circumstantiis?'_ How the variety of circumstances
varies the goodness or evil of human actions? How far knowledge and
ignorance may aggravate or excuse, increase or diminish the goodness
or evil of our actions? For every case of conscience being only
this--'Is this action good or bad? May I do it, or may I not?'--He
who, in these, knows not how and whence human actions become morally
good and evil, never can (_in hypothesi_) rationally and certainly
determine, whether this or that particular action be so.--2. The
second thing, which," he said, "would be a great help and advantage to
a casuist, was a convenient knowledge of the nature and obligation of
laws in general: to know what a law is; what a natural and a positive
law; what's required to the _'latio, dispensato, derogatio, vel
abrogalio legis;'_ what promulgation is antecedently required to
the obligation of any positive law; what ignorance takes off the
obligation of a law, or does excuse, diminish, or aggravate the
transgression: For every case of conscience being only this--'Is this
lawful for me, or is it not?' and the law the only rule and measure by
which I must judge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of any action;
it evidently follows, that he who, in these, knows not the nature and
obligation of laws, never can be a good casuist, or rationally assure
himself or others, of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of actions in
particular."

[Sidenote: Conclusion]

This was the judgment and good counsel of that learned and pious
Prelate: And having, by long experience, found the truth and benefit
of it, I conceive, I could not without ingratitude to him, and want
of charity to others, conceal it.--Pray pardon this rude, and, I fear
impertinent scribble, which, if nothing else, may signify thus much,
that I am willing to obey your desires, and am indeed,

Your affectionate friend,

THOMAS LINCOLN.

London, May 10, 1678.


[Footnote 1: Robert Boyle, Esq.]




THE WORKS OF DR. ROBERT SANDERSON.


[Sidenote: Sanderson's Works]

I. "LOGICÆ ARTIS COMPENDIUM. _Oxon._ 1615." 8vo.

II. "PHYSICÆ SCIENTIÆ COMPENDIUM, à ROBERTO SANDERSON, Coll. Lincoln,
in almâ Oxoniensi olim socio, &c. _Oxoniæ_, 1671."

III. SERMONS. "Dr. Sanderson's XII. Sermons, 1632." 4to.--"Dr.
Sanderson's Sermons (including the twelve before printed), 1664."
Folio.--"Ditto, with his Life by Isaac Walton, 1689." Folio.

IV. "NINE CASES OF CONSCIENCE DETERMINED, 1678. 1685." 8vo.

V. "DE JURAMENTI PROMISSORII OBLIGATIONE PRÆLECTIONES SEPTEM: HABITÆ
in SCHOLA THEOLOGICA OXONII, Termino Michaëlis anno Dom. MDCXLVI.
à ROBERTO SANDERSON. Præmissâ Oratione ab eodem habitâ cùm Publicam
Professionem auspicaretur, 26 Octobris, 1646. _Lona_. 1647."

These Lectures were translated into the English language by Charles I.
during his confinement in the Isle of Wight, and printed at London, in
1655--8vo.

VI. "DE OBLIGATIONE CONSCIENTIÆ PRÆLECTIONES DECEM OXONII in SCHOLA
THEOLOGICA HABITÆ, anno Dom. MDCXLVII." An English translation of the
"Prelections on the Nature and Obligation of Promissory Oaths and of
Conscience," was published in 3 vols. 8vo. _London_, 1722.

VII. "CENSURE OF MR. ANTON. ASCHAM his BOOK of the CONFUSIONS and
REVOLUTIONS of GOVERNMENT, _London_, 1649." 8vo.

VIII. "EPISCOPACY (as established by Law in England) NOT PREJUDICIAL
to REGAL POWER. Written in the Time of the Long Parliament, by the
special Command of the late King. _London_, 1673."

IX. "DISCOURSE CONCERNING the CHURCH, in THESE PARTICULARS: First,
concerning the Visibility of the true Church: Secondly, concerning the
Church of Rome. _London_, 1688."

X. 1. "BISHOP SANDERSON'S JUDGMENT concerning SUBMISSION to USURPERS."
2. "PAX ECCLESIÆ." 3. "BISHOP SANDERSON'S JUDGMENT in ONE VIEW for the
SETTLEMENT of the CHURCH." 4. "REASONS of the present JUDGMENT of the
UNIVERSITY of OXFORD, concerning the SOLEMN LEAGUE and COVENANT,
the NEGATIVE OATH, the ORDINANCES concerning DISCIPLINE and WORSHIP.
_London_, 1678."

XI. A large "PREFACE" to a book written at the command of Charles I.
by Archbishop Usher, and published by Dr. Sanderson, entitled "The
POWER communicated by GOD to the PRINCE, and the OBEDIENCE required of
the SUBJECT. _London_, 1661."--4to. Second corrected edition of this
work was published in 8vo. 1683.

XII. "A PREFATORY DISCOURSE," in defence of Usher and his Writings,
prefixed to a collection of Treatises, entitled 'CLAVI TRABALES, or
NAILES fastened by some great MASTERS of ASSEMBLYES, concerning the
KING'S SUPREMACY and CHURCH GOVERNMENT under BISHOPS.'

The Preface is dated "London, Aug. 10, 1661," and subscribed "The
unworthy servant of Jesus Christ, Ro. LINCOLN."

XIII. "PROPHECIES concerning the RETURN of POPERY," inserted in a book
entitled 'Fair Warning: The Second Part. _London_, 1663.'

XIV. "The PREFACE to the BOOK of COMMON PRAYER," beginning with these
words; "It hath been the wisdom of the Church"----.

XV. "[Greek: EPINOMIS], seu EXPLANATIO JURAMENTI," &c., inserted in
the 'Excerpta è Corpore Statutorum Univ. Oxoniensis,' p. 194.

XVI. "ARTICLES of VISITATION and ENQUIRY concerning MATTERS
ECCLESIASTICAL, exhibited to the Ministers, Churchwardens, and Sidemen
of every Parish within the Diocese of Lincoln, in the first episcopal
Visitation of the Right Rev. Father in God, ROBERT, by Divine
Providence, Lord Bishop of Lincoln; with the oath to be administered
to the Churchwardens, and the Bishop's Admonition to them. _London_,
1662." 4to.

XVII. Peck, in the 'Desiderata Curiosa,' Vol. II., has inserted "The
HISTORY and ANTIQUITIES of the CATHEDRAL CHURCH of the Blessed Virgin
St. MARY at LINCOLN; containing an exact Copy of all the Monumental
Inscriptions there, in Number 163, as they stood in 1641; most of
which was soon after torn up, or otherwise defaced. Collected by
ROBERT SANDERSON, S.T.P., afterwards Lord Bishop of that Church, and
compared with and corrected by Sir WILLIAM DUGDALE'S MS. Survey."

Dr. White Kennet, Bishop of Peterborough, had in his possession the
copies of two letters transcribed from the originals that were in the
hands of Bishop Barlow. 1. Superscribed "For Mr. Thomas Barlow, at the
Library in Oxon," and subscribed "Your very loving friend and
servant, ROBERT SANDERSON," dated "Botheby Pagnell, Sept. 28, 1656,"
importuning Dr. Barlow, "to undertake the managing that dispute in the
question of great importance upon the ancient landmarks, by Dr. Jeremy
Taylor; so unhappily (and so unseasonably too) endeavoured to be
removed in the doctrine of original sin." 2. Another letter of Dr.
Sanderson to Dr. Barlow, at Queen's College, dated "Botheby Pagnell,
Sept. 17, 1657," expressing himself, "That Dr. Taylor is so peremptory
and pertinacious of his errors as not to hearken to the sober advices
of his grave, reverend, and learned friends, amidst the distractions
of these times," &c.

Dr. Sanderson and Dr. Hammond were jointly concerned in a work
entitled "A PACIFIC DISCOURSE of GOD'S GRACE and DECREES," published
by the latter in 1660.

It would be improper not to observe, that in the Preface to the
Polyglott Bible, printed at London in 1657, Dr. Bryan Walton has
classed Dr. Sanderson among those of his much honoured friends who
assisted him in that noble work.




ADDITIONAL NOTES

_The numbers at the beginning of paragraphs refer to the pages_


LIFE OF HOOKER

_Frontispiece._--The portrait here given is from Hooker's monument in
Bishopsbourne Church.

_Text, etc._--_The Life of Mr. Richard Hooker_ was first published
in small _octavo_ in 1665. The second edition was prefixed to the
_Ecclesiastical Polity_ of 1666, _folio_, and again in 1676 and 1682.
It was also included in Walton's collection of 1670. A valuable essay
on Hooker by Dean Church is prefixed to the Clarendon Press edition of
the first book of _Ecclesiastical Polity_, 1876.

_Page_

3. _at this time of my age._ He says at p. 4 that he was "past the
seventy of his age."

5. _John Hales._ See vol. i. p. 193, note.

7. _He was born, etc._ "Probably in March, 1553-54," says the _Dict.
of Nat. Biography_.

8. _a school-boy._ He was educated at Exeter grammar school.

14. _the Bishop said to him. Cf._ chap. iii. of the _Vicar of
Wakefield_, where this anecdote is referred to. Indeed Hooker is there
alleged to have been the "great ancestor" of George Primrose.

23. _elemented._ See note to vol. i. p. 53.

26. _I cannot learn the pretended cause._ It seems probable that
the views of Hooker and his friends had offended Barfoot, who was a
zealous Puritan.

17. _he entered into Sacred Orders._ About 1581.

30. _her conditions_, personal qualities, manners. Recent
investigations tend to show that honest Izaak's account is prejudiced,
as Hooker in his will makes his "wel-beloved wife" sole executrix and
residuary legatee, and his father-in-law was one of the overseers.
Nevertheless Wood calls her "a clownish, silly woman, and withal a
mere Xanthippe."

58. _The forenoon ... Geneva._ The speaker was Fuller, but the
quotation is not quite textual.

70. _and behold God's blessings. Cf._ p. 33.

71. _corps_, endowment. "When the _corps_ of the profit or benefice
is but one the title can be but one man's" (Hooker, _Ecclesiastical
Polity_, v. lxxx, § 11).

94. _Judicious Hooker._ This is the first application to Hooker of
this time-honoured epithet. Sir W. Cowper was the grandfather of
William, first Earl Cowper. The monument was erected in 1635.

97. _one of his elder daughters. I.e._ Cicely.

97. _both died before they were marriageable._ Alice died unmarried in
1649; but Jane (or Jone) married Edward Nethersole at Bishopsbourne,
23rd March 1600.

99. _dead in her bed._ In March 1601.

108, _regiment_, regimen, regulation, management. _Cf_. Bacon's essay
"Of Regiment of Health."

121. _in devise_, in contemplation.


LIFE OF HERBERT

_Text, etc.--The Life of Mr. George Herbert_ was first published in
1670, 12mo, with his letters to his mother, etc. It was also included
in the collected _Lives_ of 1670. All his known writings have been
edited by Dr. Grosart for the _Fuller Worthies Library_, 1874, and the
_Aldine Poets_, 1876.

134. _he was elected ... Cambridge._ He was admitted scholar 5th May
1609, and matriculated pensioner at Trinity 18th December 1609.

135. _her husband died._ Sir Richard Herbert died in 1597.

136. _in Oxford four years._ From 1598 to 1603-4.

142. _Bachelor of Arts in 1611._ The correct date is 1612-13.

142. _Matter of Arts, 1616._ See also p. 143. These data were
furnished to Dr. Grosart by the University authorities.

143. _chosen Orator._ 18th January 1620.

149. _many Seals._ See vol. i. p. 72.

150. _a sinecure._ Whitford is in Flintshire.

152. _cross-bias me._ A bowling-green image.

154. _Prebend of Layton Ecclesia._ Grosart points out that Walton was
wrong here. Herbert was not a Deacon. He held the prebendary of Layton
(Leighton Bromswold) as a laic, as he did the sinecure rectorship of
Whitford.

163. _she died in the year_ 1627. In June. On July 1 Donne preached
her Funeral Sermon. See _ante_, p. 139. When it was published (London,
1627, 12mo) Herbert appended to it the Greek and Latin poems to
her memory, entitled _Parentalia_; these were the chief verses he
published in his lifetime.

165. _three months after this marriage._ It took place at Edington on
5th March 1629.

167. _canonical clothes._ This, as Dr. Grosart says, shows that he
"was still a layman."

167. _Parsonage of Bemerton._ In the presentation in the Record
Office, which is dated 16th April 1630, ten days before his induction,
it is styled "Rectory of the parish church of Fulston (Fuggleston) St.
Peter's and Bemerton."

175. "_The Country Parson._" For further particulars see p. 212. Of
the simplicity of this beautiful little book Canon Ainger has well
said, "Not for the first or last time in our literature was it to be
shown that the euphuistic tendency is killed when the writer begins
to think more of his topic than himself" (Craik's _English Prose_, ii.
(1894), 204).

190. _being_, seeing. _Cf._ also p. 258.

193. _genteel_, refined, well-bred.

201. "_The Temple._" See full title on p. 213.

205. _passion_, violent commotion of the mind, perturbation.

206. _my last Will._ This, which Walton had not seen, is printed by
Dr. Grosart (_Herbert's Poetical Works_, 1876, p. lxi).

207. _buried 3rd day of March, 1632._ I.e. in 1633, as the rest of the
note seems to imply. He lies under the altar in the church.


LIFE OF SANDERSON

_Text, etc_ The first separate edition of the _Life of Dr. Robert
Sanderson_ was printed in 1678, 8vo. It is corrected and supplemented
in Jacobson's edition of Sanderson's works, 1854, 6 vols.

223. _the place of his birth was Rotherham._ As stated in the note, it
was Sheffield, in a house called the Lane Head Stane. He was baptized
on the 10th September.

240. _about this time._ He was presented to the Rectory of Boothby
Pagnell in 1619. There is a print of Boothby Parsonage in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1801, i. 105.

241. _resigned his Fellowship._ In May 1619.

241. _pennyworths_, bargains.

271. _prevented him_, anticipated him.

282. _Little Britain_. Like Duck Lane, Little Britain was (in Strype's
words) "much inhabited by booksellers."

296. _conversation_, intercourse with the world.

303. _blacks_, mourning. _Cf_. Bacon "Of Death" (Essay 2).

305. _29th of January 1662._ Should be 1663. He was buried in the
chancel of Buckden Church.





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