was inducted into the living of St'. Andrew Undershaft, London, where he became a very distinguished preacher. He was presented to this rectory by king William, on the promotion
, a learned English divine, of
the seventeenth century, was a native of Middlesex, and
became a commoner of Queen’s college, Oxford, in 1650,
where he completed his degree of master of arts in 1657.
In 1660, he was elected fellow of All Souls, about which time
he entered into holy orders. His first preferment was to the
rectory of Welwyn in Hertfordshire. He took his degree of
D. D. in 1677, and in April 16i)2 was inducted into the living
of St'. Andrew Undershaft, London, where he became a very
distinguished preacher. He was presented to this rectory
by king William, on the promotion of Dr. Grove to the
bishopric of Chichester, and in consequence of the recommendation of archbishop Tillotson. This he acknowledges
in the epistle dedicatory to his Latin “Tractatus in Epist.
ad Philippenses,
” and in the same place gratefully acknowledges his obligations to Dr. Tudor, rector of Tewing in
Hertfordshire, to whom probably he was indebted for the
living of Welwyn. He died in Oct. 1697, and was interred at Welwyn. Dr. Stanhope preached his funeral
sermon at St. Andrew Undershaft, and gave him a very
high character for piety, humility, and learning. His
works are, 1. a pamphlet, entitled “A brief account of
some expressions in St. Athanasius’s creed,
” Oxon, An Explication of the Decalogue, or Ten Cornmandments,
” and “Explication of the Catechism of the
church of England,
” in three parts or volumes, London,
Of the sacraments in general, in
pursuance of an explication of the catechism of the church
of England,
” Lond. Of the sacrament of
Baptism in particular; of the right of baptism among the
heathen and Jews and of the institution of Christian baptism,
” &c. ibid. 1687, 8vo.
he same place, under the direction of Mr. Stephen James and Mr. Grove. Soon after he had commenced a preacher, he settled with a congregation of dissenters at Moreton-Hampsted
, a protestant dissenting divine
of considerable eminence, was born at Axminster, in Devonshire, Dec. 6, 1700. His father was a physician of the
same place, and the son of Mr. Matthew Towgood, one of
the ministers ejected by the act of uniformity in 1662.
He had his grammar learning under the rev. Mr. Chadwick of Taunton: and in 1717 entered upon a course of
academical studies in the same place, under the direction
of Mr. Stephen James and Mr. Grove. Soon after he had
commenced a preacher, he settled with a congregation of
dissenters at Moreton-Hampsted in Devonshire, and was
ordained there in August 1722, and the following year
married the daughter of James Hawker, esq. of Luppit.
He removed to Creditor], in the same county, in 1735, and
soon after published, without his name, a pious tract entitled “Recovery from Sickness.
” He likewise published
without his name, a pamphlet entitled “High flown episcopal and priestly claims freely examined, in a dialogue
between a country gentleman and a country vicar,
” The
Dissenters Apology,
” Spanish cruelty and
injustice, a justifiable plea for a vigorous war with Spain.
” 1
In this pamphlet, he encourages Britons to hope for success from the justice of the war on our part: the cruelty
of our enemies towards Pagans, Jews, Mahometans, and
Christians: and from their trusting in false protectors.
He published afterwards several occasional sermons; and
during the rebellion in 1754, a pamphlet against the legitimate birth of the Pretender. The work, however, by
which he is held in highest esteem among his party, is
“The Dissenting Gentleman’s answer to Mr. White,
” a
clergyman of the diocese of Norwich, who had written
against the principles of the dissenters with -so much ability as to demand the exertions of their best writers. Mr.
Towgood’s letters to him appeared separately from 174
to 1748, and have passed through six editions; the last,
in 1787, is accompanied by a portrait of the author, from
a painting by Opie. In 1748 he published a pamphlet
intended to diminish the respect paid to the memory of
king Charles I. It consists principally of extracts from
historians, but is deficient in impartial investigation. He
was more successful in 1750, when settled at Exeter, in
some pamphlets in defence of infant baptism. In 1761 he
became a teacher in an academy at Exeter for the education of dissenting ministers. His office was to lecture on
the New Testament, which he continued till 1769. In
1784 the infirmities of age obliged him to resign his public ministry; he enjoyed, however, a moderate share of
health and spirits until Jan. 31, 179-2, when he died at
Exeter, in the ninety-second year of his age. His private
character is represented as highly amiable, and his learning had a very extensive range. His public character
may be collected from the contents of his publications.
“His religious sentiments,
” we are told, “were such as
were deemed highly heretical when he first entered upon
public life; on which account he found some difficulty
in procuring ordination, and experienced the resentment
of bigots long after: but they would be esteemed what is
termed orthodox, by many in the present day, as he attributed to Christ a high degree of pre-existent dignity,
and considered him as a proper object of religious worship.
” It appears by this account that, in departing from
the creed of his forefathers, Mr. Towgood went farther
than his contemporaries, and not so far as his successors.
whence he was elected to St. John’s college, Oxford. Soon after taking orders, he was chosen morning preacher at Lincoln’s-inn chapel, and lecturer of St. Dunstan’s in the
, a learned master of Merchant
Taylors’ school, was the second son of a merchant, and
born in London in 1715. He was educated at that school
over which he afterwards presided, whence he was elected
to St. John’s college, Oxford. Soon after taking orders,
he was chosen morning preacher at Lincoln’s-inn chapel,
and lecturer of St. Dunstan’s in the East. He married, in
1740, Miss Jane Bonnin of Windsor, descended from the
Poyntz family, and related to the late dowager lady Spencer, through whose patronage Mr. Townley obtained the
living of St. Bennett, Gracechurch-street, London. He
afterwards became grammar-master to Christ’s hospital;
and in 1759 was chosen high master of the Merchant Taylors’ school, in which office he died July 15, 1778, having
been presented in 1777 to a living in Wales, by bishop
Shipley, to whom he was chaplain. He was the close intimate of Garrick, from whom he held for some years the
valuable vicarage of Hendon, in Middlesex; and it has
been supposed that many of Garrick’s best productions and
revisals partook of Mr. Townley’s assisting hand. He was
the long- concealed author of the celebrated farce of “High
Life below Stairs,
” anno False Concord,
” a farce, for his friend Woodward’s
benefit; and, in 1765, the “Tutor,
” a farce, under Mr.
Column’s protection, at Drury-lane, but which, from the
juvenile characters, did not succeed. It is to be remarked,
that “False Concord
” contains three characters of lord
Lavender, Mr. Suds, an enriched soap-boiler, and a pert
valet, who are not only the exact lord Ogleby, Mr. Sterling, and Brush, of the “Clandestine Marriage,
” brought
out in
ul in moderating, reading to novices, and lecturing in the chapel. He was alsp an able and laborious preacher, had much, Wood says, of the -primitive religion in his sermons,
, a learned divine who deserves to be
recorded as a rare specimen of a doctrinal puritan, who
retained his loyalty to the king and attachment to the
church with equal firmness, was born at North-Tawton in
Devonshire, in 1602. He was educated at Exeter- college,
Oxford, where he took his degrees, and was chosen fellow
in 1623. Having afterwards taken orders, he was, according to Wood, useful in moderating, reading to novices,
and lecturing in the chapel. He was alsp an able and
laborious preacher, had much, Wood says, of the -primitive religion in his sermons, and “seemed to be a most
precise puritan in his looks and life, on which account his
sermons and expositions in the churches of St. Giles’s and
St. Martin at Oxford, were much frequented by the
puritanical party.
” He appears however to have been decidedly averse to the proceedings of those who were intent
on overturning the establishment of the church; and although, in 1643, he was, from his general character, nominated one of the assembly of divines, he declined attending them, and preferred remaining at Oxford, where
he preached at Christ Church before the king, and at St.
Mary’s before the parliament. In both instances he was
so much approved that he was appointed by the chancellor
of the university, in 1646, to take his doctor’s degree, but
this he declined. Adhering to his loyalty, and to the use of
the Common Prayer, after it had been abolished, he was soon
denounced by the usurping party. Dr. Hakewell, the rector, having left the college, the government devolved on
Mr. Tozer, as sub-rector, who manfully opposed the illegality of the parliamentary visitation, and maintained the
rights and privileges of the college, although the university was at that time in complete possession of the parliamentary forces, and every man was to be expelled who did
not obey their orders as given from the mouth of the visitors. In March 1647-8, he was cited before these visitors,
who kept their judgment-hall in Merton-college, and was
accused of “continuing the Common Prayer in the college,
after the ordinance for the Directory (the new form) came in
force: also of having sent for and admonished one of the house,
for refusing to attend the chapel-prayers on that account.
”
It was among his crimes, likewise, that he had constantly
shown the utmost dislike to the parliamentary faction, and
always countenanced and patronized the loyalists of his
college. And although the visitors had thought proper to
put off the term, yet as Dr. Fell, the vice-chancellor, had
proceeded to open it at the usual time in the university,
without any regard to the visitors’ pleasure, Mr. Tozer did
the same in Exeter college. In answer to all this, Mr.
Tozer did what at the close of the same century conferred
immortal honour on the fellows of Magdalen college, he
disowned their authority; and told them, that “the things
about which he was questioned, concerned the discipline
of the college; and that he had some time before answered
in the name of the whole college, that they could not, withr
out perjury, submit to any other visitors than those to whom
their statutes directed them,
” meaning the bishop of Exeter, a title sufficiently obnoxious.
This answer being, as may be expected, unsatisfactory
to the visitors, they ordered him to be ejected, aad committed the execution of the sentence to the soldiers of the
garrison. Mr. Tozer however contrived to keep possession of the college for some time; in consequence of
which, in June 1648, the visitors again sent for him, and
with equal contempt for the statutes of the house, peremptorily forbade him to proceed to an election the day
following; and as it is probable he refused to comply, they
expelled him both from the college and the university.
But he was not to be terrified from what he thought his
duty even by this sentence, and refused to deliver up the
keys of the college, there being no rector to whom he
could legally give them, and then they imprisoned him.
Even when he was, in the same month, preaching at St.
Martin’s church, he was dragged out of it by the soldiers,
and forbidden to officiate there any more, because he seduced the people. By what means the visitors were afterwards induced to show any degree of lenity to Mr. Tozer,
we are not told; but it is certain that after all their harsh
treatment of him, and his spirited opposition to their authority, he was allowed to remain in his rooms in the college, and they even gave him the profits of a travelling
fellowship for three years. On the strength of this, he
went to Holland, and became minister to the English merchants at Rotterdam, where he died Sept. 11, 1650, in
the forty-eighth year of his age, and was interred in the
English church in that place. Mr. Tozer published a few
occasional sermons; “Directions for a godly life, especially for communicating at the Lord’s Tahle,
” Dicta
et facta Christi ex quatuor evangelistis collecta,
”
which lay at the convenient distance of two miles from his school. His character, as a man and as a preacher, would have recommended him to higher promotion; but he always
, an English divine, and voluminous translator, was the grandson of the rev. John Trapp, vicar of Weston-upon-Avon, and schoolmaster at Stratford in Warwickshire, who wrote large commentaries upon almost all the books of the Old and New Testament, published in several quarto volumes, 1646, &c. and other tracts on subjects of divinity. He never had, nor wished to have, any preferment besides his vicarage, which lay at the convenient distance of two miles from his school. His character, as a man and as a preacher, would have recommended him to higher promotion; but he always refused to accept it, as his condition was equal to his wishes. He died Oct. 17, 1669, aged sixty-eight.
notice of his superiors. In 1681 he removed from Winchester to New college, Oxford, to which, as the preacher of his funeral sermon says, he “brought more meekness and patience
Charles, the subject of this memoir, was born at RiptonAbbots, Dec. 27, 1663, and in 1675 was admitted on the
foundation at Winchester college, where his learning, morals, and respectful behaviour, recommended him to the
notice of his superiors. In 1681 he removed from Winchester to New college, Oxford, to which, as the preacher
of his funeral sermon says, he “brought more meekness
and patience in the study of philosophy, than the generality of philosophers carry from it.
” In Jan. 1688 he was
admitted master of arts, and in the same year appointed
preacher at the Rolls chapel by sir John Trevor, master of
the Rolls. In August 1689, he attended the earl of Sunderland and his lady in their journey to Holland; and,
after their return home, continued with them at Althorp,
as their domestic chaplain. In Dec. 1691 he was installed
prebendary of Norwich. In 1694, he was presented by
the earl of Sunderland to the rectory of Bodington in Northamptonshire, which he resigned two years after on being
instituted to Brington, in which parish Althorp stands, a
living of no greater value than Bodington, although he was
desired to keep both. In 1698 he was installed archdeacon
of Norfolk, and procured leave of his noble patron to resign
the rectory of Brington (at a time, when the remainder of his income did not exceed two hundred pounds per ann.)
in favour of Mr. Downes (afterwards bishop of Derry in Ireland) who had married one of his sisters. On July the
4th, 1699, he was admitted doctor in divinity. In 1701
and 1702, during the controversy that was carried on in
the Lower House of Convocation, he wrote some pieces in
defence of the rights of the crown, and the archbishop;
as, l. “A Vindication of the Proceedings of some Members of the Lower House of Convocation,
” The Pretence to enter the Parliament-Writ considered,
”
An Answer to a third Letter to a Clergyman in defence of the entry of the Parliament- Writ,
” Partiality detected,
” c. a large pamphlet.
uffer near Ratschach, and at St. Bartholomew’s field, chaplain at S. Maximilian of Cilly, Sclavonian preacher at Trieste, and after the first persecution preacher at Rosemburgh
, celebrated for his learned translations, was born in 1508. He was first a canon of Laybach, and began in 1531 to preach publicly in the cathedral of that city Luther’s doctrine concerning the sacrament in both kinds; and to approve the marriage of priests;
so that he embraced Luther’s party, and left Carniola to
retire into the empire, where the town of Kempson chose
him for their pastor. He preached there for fourteen years,
and acquired much fame by his translations. He translated
into the Carniolan tongue, in Latin characters, not onlv
the Gospels, according to the version of Luther, with his
catechism, but also the whole New Testament, and the
Psalms of David in 1553. At length the States of Carniola
recalled him home. He translated also into his mother
tongue the confession of Augsburgb, and Luther’s German
sermons. Herman Fabricius Mosemannus thus notices
Truber’s translation, with the addition of some other particulars: “John Ungnad baron of Sonneck in Croatia, at
the time of the Augsburgh confession, caused the Bible to
be translated into the Sclavonian language at Aurach in the
duchy of Wirternbergh. In this translation he employed
three learned Sclavonians; the first was named Primus
Truber, the second Anthony Dalmata, and the third Stephen Consul. But these books were seized on the road,
and are still shut up in casks at Newstad in Austria. The
character is altogether singular, almost resembling an
Asiatic or Syriac character, with pretty large and square
letters. A copy of this Bible may be seen in the library of
the landgrave of Hesse. There are also some copies of it
to be met with in Sclavonia.
” These Bibles are without
doubt printed in Cyrillic characters. Truber was banished
Carniola a second time, and died June 29, 1586. The same
year, in a letter he wrote to the deputies of Carniola, he
Mjbscribes himself “Primus Truber, formerly canon in ordinary, called and confirmed at Laybach, pastor at Lack,
at Tuffer near Ratschach, and at St. Bartholomew’s field,
chaplain at S. Maximilian of Cilly, Sclavonian preacher at
Trieste, and after the first persecution preacher at Rosemburgh on the Tauber, pastor at Kempten and at Aurais,
afterwards preacher to the States of Carniola, and at Rubia
in the county of Goergh, and after the second persecution
pastor at CauHFen, and now at Deredingen near Tubingen.
”
n, for after the surrender of the garrison, he returned to his college, and became a noted tutor and preacher, and in 1657 was admitted bachelor of divinity. He was soon
, a learned English divine and controversial writer, was born in St. Martin’s parish in the city of Carlisle, July 22, 1620, and was educated partly at the free-school there, and afterwards at Barton-kirk in Westmoreland. He was entered of Queen’s college, Oxford, in 1634, where Gerard Langbaine was his tutor, and attained a fellowship. In 1642 he was created M. A. and became master of the grammar-school at Tetbury in Gloucestershire; but this he seems to have accepted rather as a retreat, while Oxford was garrisoned during the rebellion, for after the surrender of the garrison, he returned to his college, and became a noted tutor and preacher, and in 1657 was admitted bachelor of divinity. He was soon after made principal of Edmund-hall, which he found almost empty, but raised it, as Wood informs us, to a state as flourishing as that of any hall in Oxford. After the restoration, he was created D. D. and was made chaplain to his majesty. He was also presented to the rectory of Griggleton, or Grittleton, near Malmsbury in Wiltshire, by Thomas Gore of Alderton, esq. who had been one of his pupils, and in 1675 the king conferred upon him the deanery of Rippon, which he did not long enjoy, as he died on January 14 following, 1675-6, at the parsonage house at Griggleton, and was interred in the chancel of that church.
hip, but gave this heretic the archdeaconry of Durham; and Fox tells us, that when one Mr. Russel, a preacher, was before bishopTunstail, on a charge of heresy, and Dr. Hinmer,
On the accession of queen Mary in 1553, Tunstall was
restored to his bishopric; but still he was not a man to her
mind, behaving with great lenity and moderation, and
consequently his diocese escaped the cruel persecutions
which prevailed in others. When he left London, he was
strictly charged with the entire extirpation of heresy in his
diocese; and was given to understand, that severity would
be the only allowed test of his zeal. These instructions,
says Mr. Giipin, he received in the spirit they were given;
loudly threatening, that heretics should no where find a
warmer reception than at Durham: and it was thought indeed that the protestants would hardly meet with much
favour from him, as they had shown him so little. But
nothing was further from his intention than persecution:
insomuch that his was almost the only diocese where the
poor protestants enjoyed any repose. When most of the
other bishops sent in large accounts of their services to religion, very lame ones came from Durham; they were
filled with high encomiums of the orthodoxy of the diocese,
interspersed here and there with the trial of an heretic,
but either the depositions against him were not sufficiently
proved, or there were great hopes of his recantation; no
mention however was made of any burnings. A behaviour
of this kind was but ill relished by the zealous council:
and the bishop lay deservedly under the calumny of being
not actuated by true Romish principles. When his
nephew Bernard Gilpin, an avowed protestant, came home
from his travels, the bishop not only received him with
great friendship, but gave this heretic the archdeaconry of
Durham; and Fox tells us, that when one Mr. Russel, a
preacher, was before bishopTunstail, on a charge of heresy,
and Dr. Hinmer, his chancellor, would have examined him
more particularly, the bishop prevented him, saying, “Hitherto, we have had a good report among our neighbours;
I pray you bring not this man’s blood upon my head.
”
, Dr. Hugh Smith, an alderman and eminent physician in London, and Dr. William Kenrick. He commenced preacher, without any of the usual forms of admission, but merely because
, a dissenting minister of the baptist persuasion, was born at Blackwater-farm, in the parish
of St. Michael, and district of St. Alban’s, Hertfordshire, on
March 1, 17 10. He appears to have had some classical
education, which he afterwards diligently improved, but
was not regularly educated for the ministry. In 1738 he
published “An abstract of English grammar and rhetoric,
”
and an advertisement at the end of this volume intimates
that he then kept a boarding school. Two of his pupils
have been ascertained, Dr. Hugh Smith, an alderman and
eminent physician in London, and Dr. William Kenrick.
He commenced preacher, without any of the usual forms
of admission, but merely because he was thought capable
of preaching, when he was about twenty years old; and
having been approved of at his outset, he continued and
was settled as minister of the baptist congregation at Reading. From this he was invited to become pastor of a similar congregation at Abingdon in 1748, where he spent the
remainder of his long life. He began to preach and to
print early in life, and he preached and printed to the last.
Many of his publications were much approved, and produced occasional correspondence between him and some
eminent men of his time, particularly Dr. Watts, Dr. Kennicott, and Dr. Lowth, bishop of London. He was a man
of great piety, and of a disposition peculiarly candid, liberal, and benevolent. He died Sept. 5, 1798, in the eightyninth year of his age, and was interred in the baptist burying-ground at Abingdon.
he practice of many others, united the character of the divine to that of the physician. He became a preacher, travelling into many parts of England, and propagated, with
At Cambridge, Turner imbibed the principles of the reformers, and afterwards, agreeably to the practice of many
others, united the character of the divine to that of the
physician. He became a preacher, travelling into many
parts of England, and propagated, with so much zeal, the
cause of the reformation, that he excited persecution from
bishop Gardiner. He was thrown into prison, and detained
for a considerable time; and on his enlargement submitted
to voluntary exile during the remainder of the reign of
Henry VIII. This banishment proved favourable to his
advancement in medical and botanical studies; he resided
at Basil, Strasburgb, and at Bonn, but principally at Cologn, with many other English refugees. He dwelt for
some time at Weissenburgh; and travelled also into Italy,
and took the degree of doctor of physic at Ferrara. As at
this period the learned were applying with great assiduity
to the illustration of the ancients, it was a fortunate circumstance for Dr. Turner, that he had an opportunity of
attending the lectures of Lucas Ghinus, at Bologna, of
whom he speaks in his “Herbal
” with great satisfaction;
and frequently cites his authority against other commen*
tators. Turner resided a considerable time at Basil, whence
he dates the dedication of his book “On the Baths of England and Germany.
” During his residence in Switzerland
he contracted a friendship with Gesner, and afterwards
kept up a correspondence with him. Gesner had a high
opinion of Turner, as a physician and man of general learning, whose equal, he says, he scarcely remembered. This
encomium occurs in Gesner’s book “De Herb;s Lunariis.
”
gether. In 1604 he proceeded in arts, and about that time taking orders, was a frequent and diligent preacher, “noted to the academicians for his subtile wit, exact judgment,
, a very learned nonconformist divine, was descended from German ancestors, of whom his
grandfather is said to have been the first who settled in
England. He was born about 1575. His father, who was
a clothier at Newbury in Berkshire, perceiving this his sou
to be weil qualified for a learned education, sent him to
Winchester-school, whence he was in 1596 elected probationer fellow of New-college, Oxford, and two years
after became actual fellow. According to Wood, he studied divinity for sixteen years together. In 1604 he proceeded in arts, and about that time taking orders, was a
frequent and diligent preacher, “noted to the academicians
for his subtile wit, exact judgment, exemplary life and
conversation, and for the endowment of such qualities that
were befitting men of his function.
” He was not less
esteemed as a logician and philosopher, and his learning
appeared not only in his public lectures and disputations,
but in the accuracy with which he corrected the works of
the celebrated Bradwardine, published by sir Henry Savile.
Besides his catechistical lectures, which he read every
Thursday in term-time in the college chapel, he preached
every Sunday at St. Aldate’s church; and at length his
fame reaching the court, king James appointed him chaplain to his daughter Elizabeth, afterwards the unfortunate
queen of Bohemia, who was then about to leave her native
country and go to the Palatinate. On this he was admitted
to his degree of D. D.
He was sequestered, however, in 1643, although he had always been accounted, and indeed admired as a preacher of puritan principles. The truth was, that he early perceived
When his son Ephraim was born, does not appear, but
he was educated at Emanuel college, Cambridge, where
he took his degree of A. B. in 1609, and that of A. M. in
1614. His only preferment in the church appears to have
been the rectory of St. Augustine’s, Watling-street, but
the time of his admission is not stated by Newcourt or
Walker. He was sequestered, however, in 1643, although
he had always been accounted, and indeed admired as a
preacher of puritan principles. The truth was, that he
early perceived the real designs of the republican party,
and exerted himself to oppose them. In a sermon at
Mercers’ chapel, he addressed himself to some of them in
these words, “You desire truth and peace; leave your
lying, and you may have truth; lay down your arms,
and you may have peace.
” He went farther than even
this, by declaring openly for episcopacy and the liturgy, and publishing a learned (Treatise against sacrilege, entitled “A Coal from the Altar;
” and another, “Communion comeliness,
” in which he recommended the placing of rails around the communion-table. He also published a sermon, called “Noli me tangere,
” containing many loyal sentiments and much attachment to the church. Crimes like these were not to be forgiven; and accordingly his house was plundered, his library and furniture carried off, and his old and lame wife literally turned into the
street. Mr. Udal died about the latter end of May 1647.
His funeral sermon was preached by the rev. Thomas
Reeve, B. D. who was neither ashamed nor afraid to give
him what he seems to have deserved, a high character for
piety and zeal.
an invitation from the countess of Peterborough to make her house his home and, in 1647, was chosen preacher of Lincoln’s Inn, This society ordered him handsome lodgings,
The king’s affairs declining, and Oxford being threatened with a siege, he left that city, and retired to Cardiff, in Wales, to the house of sir Timothy Tyrrell, who
had married his only daughter, and who was then governor and general of the ordnance. He continued six months
here in tranquillity, prosecuting his studies, particularly
his “Annals,
” and then went to the castle of St. Donate,
whither he was invited by the lady dowager Stradling; but
in his journey thither fell into the hands of the mountaineers, who took away his books and papers; yet these
were, by the kindness of the gentlemen and clergy of that
country, in a great measure restored. Before this had
been achieved, and while his Mss, the labour of so many
years, seemed irrecoverable, he was observed to be more
concerned than at all his former sufferings. At St. Donate’s
he found an excellent library: but a fit of sickness prevented him from making all the use of it he proposed. His
sickness was of an extraordinary nature; it was at first a
suppression of urine, with extremity of torture, ending in
a violent bleeding at the nose for near forty hours, without any intermission; but when he was every moment expected to die, the bleeding stopped, and he gradually recovered. He went to London in 1646, upon an invitation
from the countess of Peterborough to make her house his
home and, in 1647, was chosen preacher of Lincoln’s Inn,
This society ordered him handsome lodgings, ready furnished, and several rooms for his library, which was about
this time brought up from Chester, being almost all the
remains of his substance that had escaped the rebels. Mr.
(afterwards lord chief justice) Hale was then a bencher of
the society, and probably had the chief hand in procuring
him this place; and it happened that the society was well
rewarded for it by that treasure lodged in this library by
the lord chief justice in four volumes, which were extracted
from the primate’s manuscripts; of which Dr. Parr has
subjoined to his Life of the primate a catalogue, consisting
of thirty-three very curious books. Here the primate constantly preached all term-time for almost eight years, till
at last, his eye-sight and teeth beginning to fail him, he
could not well be heard in so large a congregation, and
was forced to quit this place about a year and a half 'before
his death, to the great regret of the society. In the mean
time, amidst all the convulsions of the times, he continued
his studies, and the year he was chosen to Lincoln’s Inn,
published his treatise “De Romanae Ecclesiae Symbol^,
”
which he followed by his “Dissertatio de Macedonum et
Asianorum anno solari
” in the beginning of
funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Nicolas Bernard, who had formerly been his chaplain, and was then preacher of Gray’s-inn: it was printed, and contains many particulars
His great reputation having excited in Cromwell a curiosity to see him, the primate, upon the usurper’s intimation of it to him, went, and was received with great civility:
Cromwell made him also many promises, but never performed them, and it was on this occasion that the primate
predicted the restoration, in a conversation with Dr. Parr,
his biographer. “This false man hath broken his word
with me, and refuses to perform what he promised. Well,
he will have little cause to glory in his wickedness; for he
will not continue long. The king will return: Though I
shall not live to see it, you may. The government, both
in church and state, is in confusion. The papists are advancing their projects, and making such advantages as will
hardly be prevented.
” The same year,
and the happiness of a quiet contemplative life. After sermon, the emperor declared openly that the preacher had begotten in him a resolution to lay down his dignities,
In a letter of Herbert’s he gives the following additional
particulars of Valdesso: “John Valdesso was a Spaniard
of great learning and virtue, much valued by Charles V.
whom he had attended in all his wars. When he was grown
old, and weary both of war and of the world, he took a
proper opportunity to declare to the emperor his resolution to decline the military service, and betake himself
to a quiet contemplative life, because, he said, there ought
to be some vacancy of time between fighting and dying. It
happened at that time the emperor himself had made,
though not publicly declared, the same resolution. He
therefore desired Valdesso to consider well what he had
said, and conceal his purpose till they might have
opportunity for a friendly discourse about it. This opportunity
soon offered, and, after a pious and free discourse together, they agreed, that on a certain day they would
publicly receive the sacrament. At which time the emperor appointed an eloquent friar to preach on the contempt
of the world, and the happiness of a quiet contemplative life. After sermon, the emperor declared openly
that the preacher had begotten in him a resolution to lay
down his dignities, to forsake the world, and betake himself to a monastic life. And he pretended that he had
also persuaded John Valdesso to do the like. Not long after
they carried their resolutions into execution.
”
of Venice. This learned bishop left several excellent works: the most known are, “The Rhetoric of a Preacher,” “De Rhetoric* Ecclesiastica libri tres,” Venice, 1574, 8vo,
, a learned prelate, was born April 7, 1531, at Venice, descended from
one of the best families in that city. After having made a
rapid progress in his studies, he was admitted among the
Savii deir Ordini, a small society of five 5'oung men of the
highest rank at Venice, who had access to the college
where affairs relative to the republic were debated, that
they might be trained up to the science of government.
Valerio took a doctor’s degree in divinity and in canon
law, became professor of philosophy at Venice, 1558, and
having afterwards chosen the ecclesiastical profession, was
appointed bishop of Verona, on the resignation of his
uncle, cardinal Bernardo Naugerio, 1565. He discharged
the duties of the episcopal station with great prudence, and
to the edification of his diocese, and formed a friendship
with St. Charles Borromeo. Pope Gregory XIII. created
him cardinal, 1583, invited him to Rome, and placed him at
the head of several congregations. Valerio acquired universal esteem by his skill in public affairs, his learning and
virtue. He died at Rome, May 24, 1606, aged 75, and
although so advanced, his death is supposed to have been
hastened by chagrin, occasioned by the interdiction under
which pope Paul V. had laid the republic of Venice. This
learned bishop left several excellent works: the most known
are, “The Rhetoric of a Preacher,
” “De Rhetoric* Ecclesiastica libri tres,
” Venice, De cautione adhibenda in edendis Libris,
” which contains a complete
list of Augustine Valerio’s other works both printed and
ms.
and took his degrees in physic, which science he practised with success. He was also for some time a preacher in the sect of the Mennonites (a species of Anabaptists: see
, a learned writer, was born in
Holland, Nov. 8, 1638. He early discovered an eager taste
for acquiring the languages, which, for some time, his
parents obliged him to give up for the more profitable pursuit of commerce. He, however, resumed his studies when
about thirty years of age, acquired skill in Greek and Latin antiquities, and took his degrees in physic, which science
he practised with success. He was also for some time a
preacher in the sect of the Mennonites (a species of Anabaptists: see Menno) and seems, upon the whole, to have
cultivated theological as much as medical studies. The
latter, however, were not neglected, and he died at Harlem, physician to the hospital in that city, November 28,
1708. He wrote in Latin some learned dissertations “on
the Heathen Oracles,
” Amsterdam, 1700, 4to, in which he
maintained that they were frauds of the idolatrous priests.
Fontenelle has given an excellent abridgment of this work
in French in his treatise “des Oracles.
”; Van-Dale also published a treatise on the “Origin and progress of Idolatry,
”
169G, 4to; “Dissertatio super Aristea, de 70 interpretibus,
” Amsterdam, Dissertations
” on important subjects,
dies at Padua, where he resided some years, and procured himself to be ordained priest, and became a preacher, with what success is not known. His mind appears to have been
, a writer who has generally been distinguished
by the title of Atheist, was born at Tourosano, in the kingdom of Naples, in 1585; and was the son of John Baptist
Vanini, steward to Don Francis de Castro, duke of Tourosano, and viceroy of Naples. His Christian name was
Lucilio: but it was customary with him to assume different
names in different countries. In Gascony, he called himself Pompeio; in Holland, Julius Ceesar, which name he
placed in the title-pages of his books; and, at Toulouse,
when he was tried, he was called Lucilio. He had an early
taste for literature, and his father sent him to Rome to
study philosophy and divinity, and on his return to Naples,
he continued his studies in philosophy, and applied himself some time to physic. Astronomy likewise employed
him much, which insensibly threw him into the reveries of
astrology: but he bestowed the principal part of his time
upon divinity. The title of “Doctor in utroque Jure,
”
which he assumes in the title-page of his dialogues, may
indicate that he had applied himself to the civil and canon
law; and from his writings, it certainly appears that he understood both. He finished his studies at Padua, where he
resided some years, and procured himself to be ordained
priest, and became a preacher, with what success is not
known. His mind appears to have been perverted or confused by the reading of Aristotle, Averroes, Cardan, and
Pomponatius, who became his favourite guides. His admiration of Aristotle was such, that he calls him “the god
of philosophers, the dictator of human nature, and the
sovereign pontiff of the sages.
” The system of Averroes,
which is but a branch of that of Aristotle, was so highly
approved of by him, that he recommended it to his scholars at their first entrance upon the study of philosophy.
He styles Pomponatius his “divine master,
” and bestows
great encomiums upon his works. He studied Cardan very
much, and gives him the character of “a man of great
sense, and not at all affected with superstition.
” It is supposed that he derived from these authors those infidel doctrines which he afterwards endeavoured to propagate. Father Mersene assures us, that Vanini, before he was executed at Toulouse, confessed to the parliament, that at
Naples he had agreed with thirteen of his friends to travel
throughout Europe, for the sake of propagating atheism,
and that France had fallen to his share: but this is very
improbable, as the president Gramond, who was upon the
spot, says nothing of such a scheme in his account of Vanini’s trial and execution. It is more probable, that his
inclination to travelling, or perhaps the hopes of procuring
an agreeable settlement, led him to the several places
through which he passed; and that he spread his singular
sentiments according as he had opportunity.
s hospital, which place he held till towards the close of his life. It does not appear that he was a preacher, although most of his writings concern the religious controversies
, an extraordinary enthusiast in the seventeenth century, was born in London in 1582, descended
from the family of Vicars in Cumberland. He was educated in Christ’s hospital, London, and afterwards was a
member of Queen’s college, Oxford, but whether he took
his degrees, Wood has rppt discovered. After leaving college he went to London, and became usher of Christ’s hospital, which place he held till towards the close of his life.
It does not appear that he was a preacher, although most
of his writings concern the religious controversies of the
times Upon the commencement of the rebellion, “he
showed his great forwardness,
” says Wood, “for presbyterianism, hated all people that loved obedience, and affrighted many of the weaker sort, and others, from having
any agreement with the king’s party, by continually inculcating into their heads strange stories of God’s wrath against
the cavaliers. Afterwards, when the independents became
predominant, he manifested great enmity against them,
especially after the king’s death.
” Foulis, in his “History
of Plots,
” says that “he could out-scold the boldest face
in Billingsgate, especially if kings, bishops, organs, or
maypoles, were to be the objects of his zealous indignation.
” This indeed is a pretty just character of John Vicars’s writings, which form a store-house of the abusive
epithets and gross personal reflections which passed between the lower order of sectaries in that period of confusion. The title of his work against John Goodwin, will afford a good specimen of John’s language. This was published in 1648, “Coleman-street Conclave visited; and
that grand impostor, the schismatics’ cheater-in-chief (who hath long slily lurked therein) truly and duly discovered;
containing a most palpable and plain display of Mr. John
Goodwin’s self-conviction (under his own hand- writing),
and of the notorious heresies, errors, malice, pride, and
hypocrisy, of this most huge Garagantua in falsely pretended piety, to the lamentable misleading of his too
credulous soul-murdered proselytes of Coleman-street, and
elsewhere; collected principally out of his own big-braggadochio wave-like swelling and swaggering writings, full
fraught with six-footed terms, and fleshlie rhetorical phrases,
far more than solid and sacred truths, and may fitly serve
(if it be the Lord’s will) like Belshazzar’s hand-writing on
the wall of his conscience, to strike terror and shame into
his own soul and shameless face, and to undeceive his most
miserably cheated, and iuchanted or be-witched followers.
”
This is accompanied by a portrait of Goodwin (the only one mentioned by Granger, and of course in great request)
with a windmill over his head, and a weather-cock upon it;
the devil is represented blowing the sails; and there are
other emblems, significant of Goodwin’s fickleness. Vicars
died Aug. 12, 1652, in the seventy-second year of his age,
and was buried in Christ church, Newgate-street. Wood
has given a list of sixteen of his writings, the most curious
of which is his “Parliamentary Chronicle.
” This is still
esteemed useful, and being scarce, is generally sold at a
very high price. It was printed at different times under
the following titles: 1. “God in the Molint; or England’s
Remembrancer, being the first and second part of a Parliamentary Chronicle,
” God’s Arke overtopping the World’s waves; or, a third part of a Parliamentary Chronicle,
” The Burning-bush not
consumed; or the fourth and last part of a Parliamentary
Chronicle,
” Magnalia Dei Anglicana, or, England’s
Parliamentary Chronicle,
” Censura Literaria,
” we have an account and
specimen of a work of this kind entitled “Mischief’s Mysterie; or, Treason’s Master-piece; the powder-plot, invented by hellish malice; prevented by heavenly mercy
truly related, and from the Latin of the learned and reverend Dr. Herring, translated, and very much dilated by
John Vicars,
”
midst all these employments he did not neglect the duties of his profession, but was a very frequent preacher, and having obtained the cure of Copenick, near Berlin, he passed
, a learned chronologist,
was born Oct. 29, 1649, at the castle of Aubais, in Languedoc, of a very ancient family, and received a liberal
education. His preparatory studies being finished, he passed
a year at Geneva, and heard a course of lectures ou divinity. His father had intended him for the army, but was
unwilling to put any restraint upon his inclinations, and
therefore permitted him to go to Saumur, and afterwards
to England, to complete his divinity studies. In 1675 he
returned to Aubais, and was appointed minister of that
church, which he afterwards resigned for that of Cailar,
and while he performed the functions of his order with
great zeal, found leisure at the same time to indulge his
taste for chronological researches. On the revocation of
the edict of Nantz he returned to Geneva, and afterwards
to Berlin, where he was appointed pastor of the church of
Schwedt. When his merit became better known, he had
the choice of many churches of more emolument, but ^ave
the preference to that of Brandenburgh, on account of its
vicinity to the metropolis, where he might enjoy opportunities of study. In the mean time he began to form an
intimacy with many eminent men, as Lenfant, La Croze,
Kirck, &c. and distinguished himself by some learned papers inserted in the iiterary journals. When the royal society of Berlin was founded in 1701, he was chosen one of
the members, and at the suggestion of Leibnitz was invited
to settle in Berlin, that the new society might profit by his
communications. With this he appears to have complied,
and on the formation of the society of the Anonymi was
chosen their secretary. In 1711 he became one of the
editors of the “Bibliotheque Germanique,
” which he enriched with many valuable criticisms, and analyses of books.
Amidst all these employments he did not neglect the duties
of his profession, but was a very frequent preacher, and
having obtained the cure of Copenick, near Berlin, he
passed his summers there, and there composed his great
chronological work, the plan of which he published in
1721, but the whole did not appear until some years afterwards. Its success did not answer the expectation of the
author, or of his friends, and although one of the best
which had appeared on the subject, sold so slowly, that
tKe bookseller was obliged more than once to have recourse
to the trick of a new title-page. Vignoles, however, satisfied with a moderate competence, a stranger to worldly
ambition and passions, lived quietly and happily among
his books, with the occasional conversation of a few agreeable and steady friends. His wife died in child-bed, and
none of the children she brought survived him. He was,
in his old age, on the point of losing his sight by two cataracts, the one of which was dissipated naturally, and the
other removed by an operation, the particulars of which he
published in the “Miscellanea Berolinensia,
” vol. IV. The
king and queen shewed him many marks of kindness. The
latter, it appears from the dedication of his chronology,
had at one time ordered the eve of his birth-day to be kept
by an entertainment, at which her proxy expressed her
royal wishes forthe continuance of his life. He died at
Berlin, July 24, 1744, aged upwards of ninety-four. His
principal work, already noticed, was published under the
title of “Chronologic de l‘historie sainte et des histoires
etrangeres depuis la sortie d’Egypte jusqu'a la captivite
de Babylone,
” Berlin,
ed, and reckoned dangerous, at a time when this sort of curiosities began to gain credit. Our devout preacher was denied the pulpit, and his book forbidden to be read. It
, a French abbe, related to
the celebrated Montfaucon the antiquary, appears to have
been a native, or to have been educated at Toulouse,
whence he came to Paris, in hopes of recommending himself by his talents in the pulpit, which were of no mean
kind, and by his lively conversation, which perhaps fully as
much contributed to procure him friends. He also entertained the public with his pen, and published various works
of imagination and criticism, written in a peculiar style of
humour, one of which at least entitles him to the notice of
the English reader. This, which was first published at
Paris in 1670, was entitled “Le eomte de Gabalis, ou entretiens sur les sciences secrettes,
” with an addition entitled
“Les genies assistans et les gnomes irreconciliables.
”
D'Argonne, in his “Melanges d'Histoire et de Litterature,
”
gives the following account of this singular work, as quoted
by Dr. Warton: “The five dialogues of which it consists,
are the result of those gay conversations in which the abbe
was engaged with a small circle of men, of fine wit and
kumour, like himself. When the book first appeared, it
was universally read as innocent and amusing. But at
length its consequences were perceived, and reckoned
dangerous, at a time when this sort of curiosities began to
gain credit. Our devout preacher was denied the pulpit,
and his book forbidden to be read. It was not dear whether the author intended to be ironical, or spoke all seriously. The second volume, which he promised, would
have decided the question; but the unfortunate abbe was
soon afterwards assassinated by ruffians on the road to
Lyons. The laughers gave out, that the gnomes and
sylphs, disguised like ruffians, had shot him, as a punishment for revealing the secrets of the Cabala; a crime not
to be pardoned by those jealous spirits, as Villars himself
has declared in his book.
” It was from this book that
Pope took the machinery of the sylphs, of which he has
made such admirable use in his “Rape of the Lock,
” although it does not appear that he borrowed any particular
circumstances relating to those spirits, but merely the
general idea of their existence. The abbe* was killed in
1675, and it is said that the fatal shot came from one of
his relations.
, a learned and excellent divine, a popular and laborious preacher, and a most industrious and useful man in his college, was born
, a learned and excellent divine, a
popular and laborious preacher, and a most industrious
and useful man in his college, was born at Blaston in Leicestershire, and educated in Magdalen college, Cambridge, where he commenced M. A. and was remarkable
for his sober and grave behaviour, not being chargeable
even with the venial levities of youth. From the university
he was elected (most probably at the recommendation of his contemporary Thomas Cleiveland) school-master at
Hinckley; where he entered into holy orders, and (as appears by an extract from the register of that parish)
married, and had at least one child. After remaining some
time in the faithful discharge of his office at Hinckleyschool, he obtained the rectory of Weddington, in Warwickshire; and, at the beginning of the civil war, was
driven from his parish, and forced to take shelter in Coventry. When the assembly of divines which established
the presbyterian government in 164 1 was called, Mr. Vines,
who was a good speaker, was unanimously chosen of their
number; and, as Fuller says, was the champion of the
party. While he was at London he became the minister
of St. Clement Danes, and vicar of St. Lawrence Jewry;
afterwards he removed to Watton, in Hertfordshire; and
was appointed master of Pembroke Hall, in Cambridge, in
1645, by the earl of Manchester, on the ejection of Dr.
Benjamin Lavey; but resigned that and his living of St.
Lawrence Jewry in 1650, on account of the engagement.
He joined in a letter from the principal ministers of the city
of London (presented Jan. 1, 1645, to the assembly of divines sitting at Westminster by authority of parliament),
complaining against the independents. He was a son of
thunder, and therefore compared to Luther; yet moderate
and charitable to them that differed from him in judgment.
The parliament employed him in all their treaties with the
king; and his majesty, though of a different judgment,
valued him for his ingenuity, seldom speaking to him without touching his hat, which Mr. Vines returned with most
respectful language and gestures. This particular was the
more remarkable, as no other of the parliament commissioners ever met with the same token of attention. Dr.
Grey, in his answer to Neal, relates that when Mr. Vines
returned from this treaty, he addressed one Mr. Walden,
saying, “Brother, how hath this nation been fooled We
have been told that our king is a child, and A foot- but if I
understand any thing by my converse with him, which I
have had with great liberty, he is as much of a Christian
prince as ever I read or heard of since onr Saviour’s time.
He is a very precious prince, and is able of himself to
argue with the ablest divines we have. And among all the
kings of Israel and Jndah, there was none like him.
”
t also Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic. He was always indefatigable in his studies and duties, and when a preacher, long before he came to Utrecht, he used to preach eight times
In 1634, Voetius was invited to Utrecht, where an intention was to found a school for divinity and the oriental languages, and he was at the same time appointed one of the ministers of the city. Two years afterwards, when this school was made an university, Voetius thought proper now to take the degree of doctor of divinity, and for that purpose went to Groningen, where Gomarus, his old master, was professor. In 1637, during the vacation he paid a visit to England, became acquainted with many of the literati, and inspected the public libraries. During three years, after his return, he executed the office of divinity professor at Utrecht, giving eight public lectures a week, besides private ones, and taught also Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic. He was always indefatigable in his studies and duties, and when a preacher, long before he came to Utrecht, he used to preach eight times in a week.
but having afterwards chosen the ecclesiastical profession, was raised to the priesthood, and became preacher and almoner to Armand de Bourbon, prince of Conti. M. de Voisin
, an ingenious doctor, and one of
the most learned men of the seventeenth century, in Hebrew and the Oriental languages, was a native of Bourdeaux, descended from a respectable family of distinction
in the law. He at first held the office of counsellor to the
parliament in his native city; but having afterwards chosen
the ecclesiastical profession, was raised to the priesthood,
and became preacher and almoner to Armand de Bourbon,
prince of Conti. M. de Voisin was extremely well skilled
in rabbinical learning, and the ecclesiastical authors. He
died 1685. His principal works are, a “System of Jewish
Theology,
” On the Divine Law,
” 8vo another “On the Jubilee of the Jews,
”
8vo, both in Latin learned notes on Raymond Martin’s
“Pugio Fidei
” Defense du Traite de M. le Prince
de Conti centre la Comédie et les Spectacles,
”
he beginning of the reign of James II. he returned home with lord Preston, and was soon after chosen preacher to the honourable society of Gray’s Inn. This, it would appear,
While in France he is said to have made a considerable
figure in the learned world, and was applied to by Dr.,
now bishop Fell, to procure the collation of some valuable
Greek Mss. of the New Testament at Paris, for the use of
Dr. Mill, whose edition Dr. Fell patronised. In the beginning of the reign of James II. he returned home with
lord Preston, and was soon after chosen preacher to the
honourable society of Gray’s Inn. This, it would appear,
was against the wish of the king, who, on the death of his
predecessor, Dr. Claget, sent a message to the society,
desiring them not to proceed to an election until they
heard from him, but they returned an answer that they
bad already chosen Dr. Wake.
During his residence in France an incident occurred
which occasioned his first appearance as an author, and his
being known as an able writer both at home and abroad.
Bossuet, the bishop of Meaux (See Bossuet) had now published his very artful “Exposition of the Roman Catholic
Faith,
” a copy of which came into the hands of Mr. Wake,
who, in the preface to his Answer, gives a very curious account of the different alterations the work had undergone,
in order to answer the real purposes for which it was written. He observes, that “the first design of monsieur de
Meaux’s book was either to satisfy or to seduce the late
mareschal de Turenne. How far it contributed thereunto
I am not able to say, but am willing to believe that the
change that honourable person made of his religion was
upon somewhat better grounds than the bare Exposition of
a few articles of the Roman faith; and that the author
supplied either in his personal conferences with him, or by
some other papers to us unknown, what was wanting to the
first draught, which we have seen of this. The manuscript
copy which then appeared, and for about four years together passed up and down in private hands with great applause, wanted all those chapters of the Eucharist, Tradition, the Authority of the Church and Pope, which now
make up the most considerable part of it; and in the other
points which it handled, seemed so loosely and favourably
to propose the opinions of the church of Rome, that not
only many undesigning persons of that communion were
offended at it, but the protestants, who saw it, generally
believed that monsieur de Meaux durst not publicly own
what in his Exposition he privately pretended to be their
doctrine. And the event shewed that they were not altogether mistaken. For in the beginning of 1671 the Exposition being with great care, and after the consideration of
many years, reduced into the form in which we now see it,
and to secure all, fortified with the approbation of the archbishop of Rheims, and nine otheV bishops, who profess that
‘ having examined it with all the care which the importance
of the matter required, they found it conformable to the doctrine of the church, and as such recommended it to the people
which God had committed to their conduct,’ it was sent to
the press. The impression being finished and just ready to
come abroad, the author, who desired to appear with all advantage to himself and his cause that was possible, sent it to
some of the doctors of the Sorbonne for their approbation
to he joined to that of the bishops, that so no authority,
ordinary or extraordinary, might be wanting to assert the*
doctrine contained in it to be so far from the suspicion the
Protestants had conceived of it, that it was truly and without disguise Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman. But, to the
great surprise of monsieur de Meaux, and those who had
so much cried up his treatise before, the doctors of the
Sorbonne, to whom it was communicated, instead of the
approbation that was expected, confirmed what the Protestants had said of it; and, as became their faculty, marked
several of the most considerable parts of it, wherein the
Exposition by the too great desire of palliating had absolutely perverted the doctrine of their church. To prevent
the open scandal, which such a censure might have caused,
with great industry and all the secrecy possible the whole
edition was suppressed, and the several places, which the
doctors had marked, changed; and the copy so speedily
sent back to the press again, that in the end of the same
year another much altered was publicly exposed, as the
first impression that had at all been made of it. Yet this
could not be so privately carried on, but that it soon came
to a public knowledge; insomuch that one of the first answers that was made to it, charged monsieur de Meaux
with this change. I do not hear, that he has ever yet
thought fit to deny the relation, either in the advertisement
prefixed to the later editions of his book, wherein yet he
replies to some other passages of the same treatise, or in
any other vindication: whether it be that such an imputation was not considerable enough to be taken notice of, or
that it was too true to be denied, let the reader judge.
But certainly it appears to us not only to give a clear account of the design and genius of the whole book, but to
be a plain demonstration, how improbable soever monsieur
de Meaux would represent it, * that it is not impossible for
a bishop of the Church of Rome, either not to be sufficiently instructed in his religion to know what is the doctrine of it; or not sufficiently sincere, as without disguise
to represent it.' And since a copy of that very book so
marked, as has been said, by the doctors of the Sorbonne,
is fallen into my hands, I shall gratify the reader’s curiosity
with a particular view of the changes that have been made,
that so he may judge whether of the two was the cause of
those great advances which the author in that first edition
had thought fit to make towards us.
”
Such was part of the preface to Mr. Wake’s “Exposition
of the Doctrine of the Church of England,
”
. John Donne, dean of St. Paul’s, was vicar, he became of course a frequent hearer of that excellent preacher, and at length, as he himself expresses it, his convert. Upon
Living, while in London, in the parish of St. Dunstan
in the West, of which Dr. John Donne, dean of St. Paul’s,
was vicar, he became of course a frequent hearer of that
excellent preacher, and at length, as he himself expresses
it, his convert. Upon his decease, in 1631, sir H. Wotton requested Walton to collect materials for a life of the
doctor, which sir Henry had undertaken to write; but,
sir Henry dying before he had completed the life, Walton
undertook it himself; and in 1640 finished and published
it, with a collection of the doctor’s sermons, in folio. Sir
H. Wotton dying in 1639, Walton was importuned by
King to undertake the writing of his life also and it was
finished about 1644. The precepts of angling, that is, the
rules and directions for taking fish with a hook and line, till
Walton’s time, having hardly ever been reduced to writing,
were propagated from age to age chiefly by tradition; but
Walton, whose benevolent and communicative temper appears in almost every line of his writings, unwilling to conceal from the world those assistances which his long practice and experience enabled him, perhaps the best of any
man of his time, to give, in 1653 published in a very elegant manner his K Complete Angler, or Contemplative
Man’s Recreation,“in small 12mo, adorned with exquisite
cuts of most of the fish mentioned in it. The artist who
engraved them has been so modest as to conceal his name;
but there is great reason to suppose they are the work of
Lombart, who is mentioned in the
” Sculptura“of Mr.
Evelyn; and also that the plates were of steel.
” The
Complete Angler“came into the world attended with en.
comiastic verses by several writers of that day. What reception in general the book met with may be naturally inferred from the dates of the subsequent editions; the second
came abroad in 1655; the third in 1664; the fourth in
1668, and the fifth and last in 1676, Sir John Hawkins
bad traced the several variations which the author from
time to time made in these suhsequent editions, as well by
adding new facts and discoveries as by enlarging on the
more entertaining parts of the dialogue. The third and
fourth editions of his book have several entire new chapters; and the fifth, the last of the editions published in his
life-time, contains no less than eight chapters more than
the first, and twenty pages more than the fourth. Not
having the advantage of a learned education, it may seem
unaccountable that Walton so frequently cites authors that
have written only in Latin, as Gesner, Cardan, Aldrovandus, Rondeletius, and even Albertus Magnus; but it may
be observed, that the voluminous history of animals, of
which the first of these was author, is in effect translated
into English by Mr. Edward Topsel, a learned divine,
chaplain, as it seems, in the church of St. Botolph, Aldersgate, to Dr. Neile, dean of Westminster: the translation was published in 1658, and, containing in it numberless particulars concerning frogs, serpents, caterpillars, and
other animals, though not of fish, extracted from the other
writers above-named, and others, with their names to the
respective facts, it furnished Walton with a great variety
of intelligence, of which in the later editions of his book he
has carefully availed himself: it was therefore through the
medium of this translation alone that he was enabled to
cite the other authors mentioned above; vouching the authority of the original writers, as he elsewhere does sir
Francis Bacon, whenever occasion occurs to mention his
natural history, or any other of his works. Pliny was
translated to his hand by Dr. Philemon Holland; as were
also Janus Dubravius
” de Piscinis & Piscium natura,“and
Lebault’s
” Maison Rustique,“so often referred to by him
in the course of his work. Nor did the reputation of
” The
Complete Angler“subsist only in the opinions of those for
whose use it was more peculiarly calculated; but even the
learned, either from the known character of the author, or
those internal evidences of judgment and veracity contained
in it, considered it as a work of merit, and for various purposes referred to its authority. Dr. Thomas Fuller, in his
” Worthies,“whenever he has occasion to speak of fish,
uses his very words. Dr. Plot, in his
” History ofMaffordshire,“has, on the authority of our author, related two of the
instances of the voracity of the pike, and confirmed them
by two other signal ones, that had then lately fallen out in
that county. These are testimonies in favour of Walton’s
authority in matters respecting fish and fishing; and it will
hardly be thought a diminution of that of Fuller to say,
that he was acquainted with, and a friend of, the person
whom he thus implicitly commends. About two years after
the restoration, Walton wrote the life of Mr. Richard
Hooker, author of the
” Ecclesiastical Polity:“he was
enjoined to undertake this work by his friend Dr. Gilbert
Sheldon, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, who, by
the way, was an angler. Bishop King, in a letter to the
author, says of this life,
” I have often seen Mr. Hooker
with my father, who was afterwards bishop of London, from
whom, and others at that time, I have heard of the most
material passages which you relate in the history of his
life.“Sir William Dugdale, speaking of the three posthumous books of the
” Ecclesiastical Polity,“refers the
reader
” to that seasonable historical discourse lately compiled and published, with great judgment- and integrity, by
that much-deserving person Mr. Isaac Walton."
Wales) until April 1746, when he was unanimously called by the society of Lincoln’s Inn to be their preacher. In November he published “A Sermon preached on the Thanksgiving
Mr. Pope’s affection for Mr. Warburton was of service to
him in more respects than merely increasing his fame. He
introduced and warmly recommended him to most of his
friends, and amongst the rest to Ralph Allen, esq. of Prior
Park, whose niece he some years afterwards married. In
consequence of this introduction, we find Mr. Warburton
at Bath in 1742. There he printed a sermon which had
been preached at the abbey-church, on the 24th of October, for the benefit of Mr. Allen’s favourite charity, the
general hospital, or infirmary. To this sermon, which was
published at the request of the governors, was added, “A*
short account of the nature, rise, and progress, of the General Infirmary, at Bath.
” In this year also he printed a
dissertation on the Origin of Books of Chivalry, at the end
of Jarvis’s preface to a translation of Don Quixote, which,
Mr. Pope tells him, he had not got over two paragraphs of
before he cried out, < Aut Erasmus, aut Dmbolus. 1 “I
knew you,
” adds he, “as certainly as the ancients did the
Gods, by the first pace and the very gait. I have not a
moment to express myself in; but could not omit this,
which delighted me so much.
” Mr. Tyrwhitt, however,
has completely demolished Warburton’s system o-n this
subject. Pope’s attention to his interest did not rest in
matters which were in his own power; he recommended
him to some who were more able to assist him; in particular, he obtained a promise from lord Granville, which
probably, however, ended in nothing. He appears also to
have been very solicitous to bring lord Bolingbroke and
Mr. Warburton together, and the meeting accordingly took
place, but we are told by Dr. Warton, they soon parted in
mutual disgust with each other. In 1742 Mr. Warburton
published “A critical and philosophical Commentary on
Mr. Pope’s Essay on Man: in which is contained a Vindication of the said Essay from the misrepresentations of Mr.
de Resnel, the French translator, and of Mr. de Crousaz,
professor of philosophy and mathematics in the academy of
Lausanne, the commentator.
” It was at this period, when
Mr. Warburton had the entire confidence of Pope, that he
advised him to complete the Dunciad, by changing the
hero,- and adding to it a fourth book. This was accordingly executed in 1742, and published early in 1743, 4to,
with notes by our author, who, in consequence of it, received his share of the castigation which Gibber liberally
bestowed on both Pope and his annotator. In the latter
end of the same year. he published complete editions of
“The Essay on Man,
” and “The Essay on Criticism:
”
and,from the specimen which he there exhibited of his
abilities, it may be presumed Pope determined to commit
to him the publication of those works which he should
leave. At Pope’s desire, he about this time revised and
corrected the “Essay on Homer,
” as it now stands in the
last edition of that translation. The publication of “The
Dunciad
” was the last service which our author rendered
Pope in his life-time. After a lingering and tedious illness,
the event of which had been long foreseen, this great
poet died on the 30th of' May, 1744; and by his will, dated
the 12th of the preceding December, bequeathed to Mr.
Warburton one half of his library, and the property of all
such of his works already printed as he had not otherwise
disposed of or alienated, and all the. profits which should
arise from any edition to be printed after his death; but
at the same time directed that they should be published
without any future alterations. In 1744 Warburton’s assistance to Dr. Z. Grey was handsomely acknowledged in
the preface to Hudibras; but with this gentleman he had
afterwards a sharp controversy (See Grey.) “The Divine
Legation of Moses
” had now been published some time;
and various answers and objections to it had started up
from different quarters. In this year, 1744, Mr Warburton turned his attention to these attacks on his favourite
work; and defended himself in a manner which, if it did
not prove him to be possessed of much humility or diffidence, at least demonstrated that he knew how to wield the
weapons of controversy with the hand of a master. His
first defence now appeared under the title of “Remarks on
several Occasional Reflections, in answer to the Rev, Dr.
Middleton, Dr. Pococke, the master of the Charter-house,
Dr. Richard Grey, and others; serving to explain and justify divers passages in the Divine Legation as far as it is
yet advanced: wherein is considered the relation the several parts bear to each other and the whole. Together
with an Appendix, in answer to a late pamphlet, entitled
” An Examination of Mr. W's Second Proposition,“8vo.
And this was followed next year by
” Remarks on several
Occasional Reflections; in answer to the Rev. Doctors
Stebbing and Sykes; serving to explain and justify the
Two Dissertations, in the Divine Legation, concerning the
command to Abraham to offer up his son, and the nature
of the Jewish theocracy, objected to by those learned
writers. Part II. and last;“8vo. Both these answers are
couched in those high terms of confident superiority which
marked almost every performance that fell from his pen
during the remainder of his life. Sept. 5, 1745, the friendship between him and Mr. Allen was more closely cemented
by his marriage with his niece, Miss Tucker, who survived him. At this juncture the kingdom was under a great
alarm, occasioned by the rebellion breaking out in Scotland. Those who wished well to the then-established government found it necessary to exert every effort which
could be used against the invading enemy. The clergy
were not wanting on their part; and no one did more service than Mr. Warburton, who published three very excellent and seasonable sermons at this important crisis. I,
” A faithful portrait of Popery by which it is seen to be
the reverse of Christianity, as it is the destruction of morality, piety, and civil liberty. A sermon preached at St.
James’s church, Westminster, Oct. 1745,“Sva. II.
” A
sermon occasioned by the present unnatural Rebellion, &e>
preached in Mr. Allen’s chapel, at Prior Park, near Bath,
Nov. 1745, and published at his request,'? 8vo. III. “The
nature of National Offences truly stated. A sermon preached on the general fast-day, Dec. 18, 1745,
” An Apologetical Dedication to the
Rev. Dr. Henry Stebbing, in answer to his censure and
misrepresentations of the sermon preached on the general
fast-day to be observed Dec. 18, 1745,
” A Sermon preached on the Thanksgiving appointed to be observed the 9th Oct. for the suppression of
the late unnatural Rebellion,
” Sbakspeare,
” from which he derived very little reputation. Of this edition, the nameless
critic already quoted, says, “To us it exhibits a phenomenon unobserved before in the operations of human intellect a mind, ardent and comprehensive, acute and penetrating, warmly devoted to the subject and furnished
with all the stores of literature ancient or modern, to illustrate and adorn it, yet by some perversity of understanding,
or some depravation of taste, perpetually mistaking what
was obvious, and perplexing what was clear; discovering
erudition of which the author was incapable, and fabricating
connections to which he was indifferent. Yet, with all
these inconsistencies, added to the affectation, equally discernible in the editor of Pope and Shakspeare, of understanding the poet better than he understood himself, there
sometimes appear, in the rational intervals of his critical
delirium, elucidations so happy, and disquisitions so profound, that our admiration of the poet (even of such a poet), is suspended for a moment while we dwell on the
excellencies of the commentator.
”
and having deservedly attained the character of a judicious and useful writer, as well as a popular preacher, he was frequently engaged in compilations for the booksellers,
, a very voluminous writer,
was born in 1703, but where we are not told. He was of
Jesus college, Cambridge, according to Mr. Cole, but we
do not find his name among the graduates of that university. In 1730 he became vicar of Ronde, in Wiltshire; in
1746 rector of St. Michael Queenhithe, London, and in
1758 rector of Barnes, in Surrey. He also styles himself
chaplain to the lord chancellor, and LL. D.; the latter title
probably obtained from some northern university. He died
Oct. 3, 1768, aged sixty-five. Dr. Warner was a laborious man, and having deservedly attained the character
of a judicious and useful writer, as well as a popular
preacher, he was frequently engaged in compilations for
the booksellers, which, however, he executed in a very
superior manner, and gave many proofs of diligent research
and judgment, both in his reflections and in the use he
made of his materials. The following we believe to be a
complete, or nearly complete list of his publications 1.
“A Sermon preached before the Lord Mayor, January 30,
1748.
” 2. “A Sermon preached before the Lord Mayor,
on September 2,
” A system of Divinity and
Morality, containing a series of discourses on the principal
and most important points of natural and revealed Religion;
compiled from the works of the most eminent divines of the
Church of England,
” A scheme for a Fund for
the better Maintenance of the Widows and Children of the
clergy,
” 1753, 8vo. For this scheme, when carried into
execution, he received the thanks of the London clergy,
assembled in Sion college, May 21, 1765, and published
another pamphlet, hereafter to be mentioned. 5. “An
illustration of the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of
the Church of England,
” &c. Bolingbroke,
or a dialogue on the origin and authority of Revelation,
”
A free and necessary enquiry whether the
Church of England in her Liturgy, and many of her learned
divines in their writings, have not, by some unwary expressions relating to Transubstantiation and the real presence, given so great an advantage to papists and deists as
may prove fatal to true religion, unless some remedy be
speedily supplied; with remarks on the power of priestly
absolution,
” Ecclesiastical History to the Eighteenth
Century,
” folio; the second volume in Memoirs of the Life of sir
Thomas More, lord high chancellor of England in the reign
of Henry VIII. 1758,
” 8vo. This is dedicated to sir Rcbert Henley, afterwards lord chancellor Northington, who
is complimented for the favours he had conferred on him
on his receiving the seals; probably for the rectory of
Barnes, with which he held Queenhithe and Trinity the
Less. 10. “Remarks on the History of Fingal and other
poems of Ossian, translated by Mr. Macpherson, in a letter to the right hon. the lord L (Lyttelton),
”
er, was of Trinity college, Cambridge, B. A. 1758, M. A. 1761, and D. D. 1773. For many years he was preacher at a chapel in Long Acre, which was his private property. In
Dr. Warner’s son, the late Dr. John Warner, was of
Trinity college, Cambridge, B. A. 1758, M. A. 1761, and
D. D. 1773. For many years he was preacher at a chapel
in Long Acre, which was his private property. In 1771
he was presented to the united rectories of HocklifTe and
Chalgrave, in Bedfordshire, and afterwards to the rectory
of Stourton, in Wilts. Having resided in France at the
sera of the revolution he imbibed all those principles which
produced it, and although no man could be more an enemy
to the atrocities which followed, they made no difference
in his republican attachments. He is known in the literary
world by a singular publication entitled “Metronariston,
”
and wrote the *' Memoirs of Mekerchus," in the Gentleman’s Magazine. He died, after a few days illness, in St.
John’s-square, Clerkenwell, Jan. 22, 1800, aged sixtyfour.
s of Dr. Yarborough. John “Whiston adds that Wasse was” a facetious man in conversation, but a heavy preacher; a very deserving charitable man, and universally esteemed."
That he was a good scholar and critic, his essays in the
“Bibliotheca Literaria
” afford sufficient 'evidence; but he
was not the editor of that work, as some have reported.
Dr. Jebb was the editor, but Wasse contributed several
pieces, as many others did, and at length destroyed the
sale of the work by making his essays too long, particularly his life of Justinian, who filled two whole numbers,
and was not then finished. This displeased the readers of
the work, and after it had reached ten numbers (at Is. each) it was discontinued for want of encouragement.
* What were published make a 4to volume, finished in 1724.
Mr. Wasse was the author of three articles in the Philosophical Transactions;!. “On the difference of the height
of a human body between morning and night.
” 2. “On
the effects of Lightning, July 3, 1725, in Northamptonshire.
” 3. “An account of an earthquake In Oct. 1731,
in Northamptonshire.
” He was also a considerable
contributor to the edition of “Thucydides,
” which
by the name of “Wassii et Dukeri,
” Amst. Whiston adds that Wasse was
” a facetious man in conversation, but a heavy preacher; a very deserving charitable man, and universally esteemed." A considerable
part of his library appeared in one of Whiston’s sale catalogues.
At this time he had become a preacher; and a vacancy having happened in one of the churches of St.
At this time he had become a preacher; and a vacancy
having happened in one of the churches of St. Andrew’s,
he offered himself a candidate for that living, but was dis^appointed, yet he succeeded in what proved more advantageous. Mr. Henry Rymer, who then taught logic at St.
Salvador’s college, was in a very infirm state of health,
and entertaining thoughts of retiring. Mr. Watson purchased, for no great sum of money, what, in familiar
phraseology, may be termed the good-will of Mr. Rymer’s
place; and with the consent of the other masters of St.
Salvador’s, was appointed professor of logic. He obtained
also a patent from the crown, constituting him professor of
rhetoric and belles-lettres. The study of logic in St. Andrew’s, as in most other places, was at this time confined
to syllogisms, modes, and figures. Mr. Watson, whose
mind had been opened by conversation, and by reading
the writings of the literati who had begun to flourish in the
Scotch capital, prepared, and read to his students, a
course of metaphysics and logic on the most enlightened
plan; in which he analyzed the powers of the mind, aod
entered deeply into the nature of truth or knowledge. Oil
the death of principal Tullidelph, Dr. Watson, through
the interest of the earl of Kinnoul, was appointed his successor, in which station he lived only a few years, dying
in 1780. He is chiefly known in the literary world by his
“History of Philip II.
” a very interesting portion of history, and in which the English, under queen Elizabeth,
had a considerable share. He wrote also the history of
Philip III. but lived only to complete four books; the last
two were written, and the whole published in 4to, 1783
(afterwards reprinted in 2 vols. 8vo), by Dr. William Thomson, at the desire of the guardians of Dr. Watson’s children, whom he had by his wife, who was daughter to
Mr. Shaw, professor of divinity in St. Mary’s-college, St.
Andrew’s.
, he became rector of St. Stephen’s, W r albrook, by the sequestration of his predecessor, and was a preacher of great fame and popularity until the restoration, when he
, a nonconformist divine of considerable eminence, was educated at Emmanuel college,
Cambridge, where he was remarked to be a very hard student. In 1646, he became rector of St. Stephen’s, W r albrook, by the sequestration of his predecessor, and was a
preacher of great fame and popularity until the restoration,
when he was ejected for nonconformity. In other respects
he was a man rather of loyal principles, and besides a vigorous opposition to the measures adopted against the life
of Charles 1. and a remonstrance to Cromweli r against the
murder of that sovereign, he was concerned in what was
called Love’s plot to bring in Charles II. and was for some
time imprisoned in the Tower on that account. After his
ejectment from St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, he occasionally
preached where he could with safety, until undulgence
being granted in 1672, he fitted up the great hall in Crosby
House, Bishopsgate-street, which then belonged to sir John
Langham, a nonconformist, and preached there several
years. At length he retired to Essex, where he died sud*
denly, as is supposed about 1689 or 1690. The time,
either of his birth or death, is no where mentioned. He
published a variety of small works on practical subjects,
particularly “The Art of Divine Contentment,
” which
has gone through several editions; but his greatest work is
his “Body of Divinity,
”
ons Hughes the poet, and Horte, afterwards archbishop of Tuam, Mr. Samuel Say, afterwards an eminent preacher among the dissenters, and other persons of literary eminence.
This son, the eldest of nine children, was a remarkable
instance of early attention to books. He began to learn
Latin at the age of four, probably at home, and was
afterwards taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, by the Rev.
John Pinhorne, master of the free-school at Southampton,
rector of All-Saints in the same place, prebendary of Leekford, and vicar of Eling in the New Forest. To this gentleman Mr. Watts afterwards inscribed an elegant Latin
ode, which is inserted among his “Lyric Poems.
” The
proficiency he made at this school induced some persons of
property to raise a sum sufficient to maintain him at one
of the universities; but his determination was soon fixed
to remain among the dissenters, with whom his ancestors
had long been connected. In 1690, he went to an academy superintended by the Rev. Thomas Rowe, where he
had for his companions Hughes the poet, and Horte, afterwards archbishop of Tuam, Mr. Samuel Say, afterwards
an eminent preacher among the dissenters, and other persons of literary eminence. It is well known that Dr. Watts
strove to wean Hughes from his attachment to the stage.
In 1693, he joined the congregation which was under the
care of Mr. Rowe, as a communicant.
church-yard in Limerick. “He was a person of a strict life and conversation,” and esteemed the best preacher at the court of king Charles; and his published compositions
, a pious prelate, the son of a clergyman at Bromham in Wiltshire, was born there in 1581,
and was entered first of University-college, Oxford, in
1598; but became the same year a scholar of Corpus-college. Here he took his degrees in arts r entered into holy
orders, and was made minister of Steeple Aston in Wiltshire, where he also kept a grammar-school, as he afterwards did at Bath. In 1621 he was inducted to the rectory
of St. Peter and St. Paul in Bath, being then bachelor in
divinity. In 1624 he proceeded D. D. On the accession
of Charles I. he was made one of his chaplains in ordinary,
and in 1629 baptised his majesty’s first child, which died
immediately after. He was consecrated bishop of Limerick, in Ireland, in December 1634. Before his death he
was confined by the rebels in Limerick castle, where he
died in the latter end of 1641, and was permitted by them
to be buried in St. Munchin’s church-yard in Limerick.
“He was a person of a strict life and conversation,
” and
esteemed the best preacher at the court of king Charles;
and his published compositions are in a more pure and
elegant style than those of most of his contemporaries. His
principal work ishis “Practice of Quietness, directing a
Christian to live quietly in this troublesome world.
” We
have not discovered when this was first published, but it
had reached a third edition in 1631, and was afterwards
often reprinted. The best edition is that of 1705, cr. 8vo,
with his portrait and an engraved title-page. It is a work
which gives a high idea of the author’s placid temper and
pious resignation, amidst the confusions he lived to witness.
His other publications are, 1. “A brief exposition of the
principles of the Christian religion,
” Loud. ibid. 1619, 12mo. 3.
” Agur’s
prayer, or the Christian choice, &c.“ibid. 1621, 12mo.
4.
” Catalogue protestantium: or the Protestant’s Calendar; containing a survey of the protestant religion long
before Luther’s days,“ibid. 1624, 4to. 5.
” Lessons and
exercises out of Cicero ad Atticum," 1627, 4to. He published also some other books for grammar-schools, a Latin
and English edition of two of Terence’s comedies; and
several sermons, which appeared from 1609 to 1619.
In order to form the numerous societies of which the Methodists consist, Mr. Wesley’s labours as a preacher are without precedent. During the fifty years which compose
In order to form the numerous societies of which the Methodists consist, Mr. Wesley’s labours as a preacher are without precedent. During the fifty years which compose his itinerant life, he travelled about 4500 miles every year, one year with another, which amount, in the above space of time, to 225,000 miles. It had been impossible for him to perform this almost incredible degree of labour, without great punctuality and care in the management of his time. He had stated hours for every purpose, and his only relaxation was a change of employment. For fifty-two years, or upwards, he generally delivered two, frequently three or four, sermons in a day. But calculating at two sermons a day, and allowing, as one of his biographers has done, fifty annually for extraordinary occasions, the N whole number during this period will be 40,560. To these may be added, an infinite number of exhortations to the societies after preaching, and in other occasional meetings at which he assisted.
ersuasion with great popularity; sometimes residing in the metropolis, but generally as an itinerant preacher. In some points of discipline he differed much with his brother
Mr. Wesley’s brother and coadjutor, Charles, was born atEpworth, Dec, 18, 1708. He was first educated at home, under the care of his mother; but, in 1716, was sent to Westminster-school. In 1721 he was admitted a scholar on the foundation and at length became captain of the school. In 1726 he was elected to Christ-Church, Oxford at which time his brother John was fellow of Lincoln. Here he pursued his studies with remarkable diligence, and became more and more of a religious turn of mind. He proceeded master of arts in the usual course; and, in 1735, was pr/evailed upon by his brother John to accompany him in his mission to Georgia. Charles accordingly engaged himself as secretary to general Oglethorpe, in which character he left England; but he was first of all ordained both deacon and priest. After preaching to the Indians, and undergoing various difficulties and hardships, he returned to England in 1736. In England he officiated as a public minister among those of the Methodist persuasion with great popularity; sometimes residing in the metropolis, but generally as an itinerant preacher. In some points of discipline he differed much with his brother John. He died in 1788, in the 79th year of his age. He was of a warm and lively character, well acquainted with all texts of scripture; and his discourses were greatly admired. He was also respectable as a scholar and a poet, and was the author of the Hymns now used in the society. He left two sons, of great reputation in the musical world.
om faction?' Wood, who allows that he possessed excellent parts, was a noted disputant, an excellent preacher, a good orator, and well versed in the original text, both Greek
, an eminent puritan divine, was
born at Banbury in Oxfordshire, in May 1583, where his
father, Thomas Whately, was justice of the peace, and had
been several times mayor. He was educated at Christ’scollege, Cambridge, under the tuition of Mr. Potman, a
man of learning and piety, and was a constant hearer of
Dr. Chaderton, Perkins, and other preachers of the Puritan-stamp. It does not appear that he was originally destined for the church, as it was not until after his marriage
with the daughter of the Rev. George Hunt that he was
persuaded to study for that purpose, at Edmund -hall,
Oxford. Here he was incorporated bachelor of arts, and,
according to Wood, with the foundation of logic, philosophy, and oratory, that he had brought with him from Cambridge, he became a noted disputant and a ready orator.
In 1604, he took his degree of M. A. as a member of
Edmund-hall, “being then esteemed a good philosopher
and a tolerable mathematician.
” He afterwards entered
into holy orders, and was chosen lecturer of Banbury, his
native place. In 1610, he was presented by king James
to the vicarage of Banbury, which he enjoyed until his
death. He also, with some of his brethren, delivered a
lecture, alternately at Stratford-upon-Avon. In his whole
conduct, Mr. Leigh says, he “was blameless, sober, just, holy,
temperate, of good behaviour, given to hospitality
”,&c.
Fuller calls him “a good linguist, philosopher, mathematician, and divine;
” and adds, that he “was free from
faction?' Wood, who allows that he possessed excellent
parts, was a noted disputant, an excellent preacher, a
good orator, and well versed in the original text, both
Greek and Hebrew, objects, nevertheless, that,
” being a
zealous Calvinist, a noted puritan, and much frequented
by the precise party, for his too frequent preaching, he
laid such a foundation of faction at Banbury, as will not
easily be removed.“Granger, who seems to have considered all these characters with some attention, says,
that
” his piety was of a very extraordinary strain; and his
reputation as a preacher so great, that numbers of different
persuasions went from Oxford, and other distant places,
to hear him. As he ever appeared to speak from his heart,
his sermons were felt as well as heard, and were attended
with suitable effects.“In the life of Mede, we have aa
anecdote of him, which gives a very favourable idea of his
character. Having, in a sermon, warmly recommended his
hearers to put in a purse by itself a certain portion from
every pound of the profits of their worldly trades, for
works of piety, he observed, that instead of secret grudging, when objects of charity were presented, they would
look out for them, and rejoice to find them. A neighbouring clergyman hearing him, and being deeply affected
with what he so forcibly recommended, consulted him as to
what proportion of his income he ought to give.
” As to
that,“said Whately,
” lam not to prescribe to others;
but I will tell you what hath been my own practice. You
know, sir, some years ago, I was often beholden to you
for the loan of ten pounds at a time; the truth is, I could
not bring the year about, though my receipts were not
despicable, and I was not at all conscious of any unnecessary expenses. At length, I inquired of my family
what relief was given to the poor; and not being satisfied,
I instantly resolved to lay aside every tenth shilling of all
my receipts for charitable uses; and the Lord has made
me so to thrive since I adopted this method, that now, if
you have occasion, I can lend you ten times as much as I
have formerly been forced to borrow."
y Christian philosopher, whom for his appearing thus in defence of natural goodness, we may call the preacher of good nature. This is what he insists on everywhere, and to,
The fate of his “Sermons,*' which have been so much
admired, was somewhat singular. They were first ushered
into the world by one who could not be supposed very
eager to propagate the doctrines of Christianity, the celebrated earl of Shaftesbury, author of the
” Characteristics,' 7
&c. In 1698 his lordship published “Select Sermons of
Dr. Whichcote, in two parts,
” 8vo. He employed on this
occasion the rev. William Stephens, rector of Sutton, in
Surrey, to revise, and probably superintend the press;
but the long preface is unquestionably from his lordship.
In addition to every other proof we may add the evidence
of the late Mr. Harris of Salisbury, who informed a friend
that his mother, lady Betty Harris, (who was sister to the earl of Shaftesbury) mentioned her having written the preface from her brother’s dictation, he being at that time too
ill to write himself. That his lordship should become the
voluntary editor and recommender of the sermons of any
divine, has been accounted for by one of Dr. Whichcote’s
biographers in this way: that his lordship found in these
sermons some countenance given to his own peculiar sentiments concerning religion, as sufficiently practicable by
our natural strength or goodness, exclusive of future rewards or punishments. To this purpose lord Shaftesbury
has selected some passages of the sermons, and adds,
“Thus speaks our excellent divine and truly Christian
philosopher, whom for his appearing thus in defence of
natural goodness, we may call the preacher of good nature.
This is what he insists on everywhere, and to, make this
evident is in a manner the scope of all his discourses. And
in conclusion it is hoped, that what has been here suggested, may be sufficient to justify the printing of these
sermons.
” Whatever may be in this, it is rather singular
that the same collection was republished at Edinburgh in
1742, 12mo, with a recommendatory epistle by a presby*
terian divine, the rev. Dr. William Wish art, principal of
the college of Edinburgh.
In 1773 we find Mr. Whi taker the morning preacher of Berkeley chapel, London; to which office he had been appointed
In 1773 we find Mr. Whi taker the morning preacher of
Berkeley chapel, London; to which office he had been appointed in November, by a Mr. Hughes; but in less than
two months he was removed from that situation. This gave
occasion to “The Case between Mr. W. and Mr. Hughes,
relative to the Morning Preachership of Berkeley Chapel;
”
in which Mr. W. declares himself “unalterably determined
to carry the matter into Westminster-hall.
” But the fervour of his resentment threw him off his guard; and he expressed himself so indiscreetly, that his Case was considered
as a libel by the Court of King’s Bench. During his residence in London, he had an opportunity of conversing
with several of our most celebrated writers; among whom
were Dr. Johnson, and Gibbon, the historian of the Roman
Empire. It does not appear, indeed, that Johnson was much
attached to Whitaker. Both strong in understanding,
equally tenacious of opinion, and equally impassioned in
conversation, it is not probable that they should amicably
coalesce on all occasions. In the Ossianic controversy
they were decidedly hostile. With Gibbon Mr.Whitaker
was well acquainted; and the ms. of the first volume of
“The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
” was sub r
rnitted to his inspection. But he was greatly surprised
when, as he read the same volume in print, that chapter
which has been so obnoxious to the Christian world, was
then first introduced to his notice! That chapter Gibbon
had suppressed in tjie ms. overawed by Mr. Whitaker’s
high character, and afraid of his censure. And, in fact,
that the deist should have shrunk from his indignant eye,
may well be conceived, when we see his Christian principle and his manly spirit in the rejection of a living of considerable value, which was at this time offered him by an
Unitarian patron. Of his integrity, however, some recompense was now at hand: and about 1778, he succeeded as
fellow of Corpus Christi college, to the rectory of RuanLanyhorne, one of the most valuable livings in the gift of
that College; and into Cornwall he went, to reside upon
his rectory. There, it might have been expected that retirement and leisure would greatly favour the pursuits of
literature; and that, though “the converser
” (to use an expression of Mr. Whitaker’s) had disappeared, the author
would break forth with new energies. But Ruan-Lany-r
home was, for several years, no tranquil seat of the muses.
That pleasant seclusion was now the scene of unavoidable
contest. Mr. W. had proposed a tithe-composition with
his par shiontTs, by no means unreasonable. This they refused to pay: but he was steady to his purpose. A rupture ensued between the parties; the tithes were demanded
in kind; disputes arose upon disputes; animosities were
kindled; and litigations took place. That Mr. Whitaker
was finally victorious, afforded pleasure to the friends of
the rector, and to the friends of justice and truth; yet it
was long before harmony was restored to Ruan-Lanyhorne.
That his literary schemes had been so sadly interrupted,
was the subject of general regret. But the conscientious
pastor looked with a deeper concern to the spiritual welfare of his parishioners. He saw with sorrow their aversion to his preaching; their indifference to his instructions;
their repugnance“to his authority; and
” he laboured more
abundantly;“till, after a few years, he had the satisfaction
to perceive a visible alteration in the behaviour of the principal parishioners; and a mutual good understanding was
established between the pastor and his flock. His cordial,
his familiar manner, indeed, was always pleasing to those
whom prejudice had not armed against him; and, in proportion as they became acquainted with his kind disposition, the transitoriness of his resentments, and, after injuries, his promptness to forgive, and anxious wish to be
forgiven; they endeavoured more and more to cultivate
his friendship, and at length loved and revered him as
their father. Kothing can more fully display the warmth
of his affections, his zeal as a minister of Christ, or his impassioned style of eloquence, than those
” Sermons“upon
death, judgment, heaven, and hell, which he published in
1783, after having preached them to his parishioners, we
doubt not, with a voice and manner calculated to penetrate the conscience. That he should have published so
little in the line of his profession, is perhaps to be regretted. His
” Origin of Arianism,“however, is a large
volume, full of erudition and ingenious argumentation.
We have read no other work of Mr. W. in divinity, except
” The Real Origin of Government“(expanded into a v considerable treatise, from a sermon which he had preached before bishop Buller, at his lordship’s primary visitation),
and
” The Introduction to FlindelPs Bible.“This has
been much admired as a masterly piece of eloquence.
In the mean time the antiquary was not at rest. His
” Mary, queen of Scots,“published in 1787, in three octavo volumes; his
” Course of Hannibal over the Alps“his
” Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall;“and his
” Supplement to Polwhele’s Antiquities of Cornwall;“furnish good
evidence of an imagination continually occupied in pursuits which kindled up its brightest flame; though not
always of that judgment, discretion, or candour, which (if human characters had been ever perfect) we should have
expected from a Whitaker. But not even here were his
antiquarian stores exhausted.
” The Life of St Neot,“”The History of Oxford,“and
” The History of London,"
were works all at once projected, and no sooner projected
than executed in imagination, and more than half executed
in reality.
ord, in 1595. Here he took his degrees in arts, was admitted into holy orders, and became a frequent preacher in, or near Oxford. In 1606 he became rector of Trinity church,
, a puritan divine, and, Wood says,
usually called the Patriarch Of Dorchester, was born
in the latter end of December, 1574, at Stanton St. John,
in Oxfordshire. He was sent for education to Winchester
school, and after two years of probation, was admitted perpetual fellow of New college, Oxford, in 1595. Here he
took his degrees in arts, was admitted into holy orders, and
became a frequent preacher in, or near Oxford. In 1606
he became rector of Trinity church, Dorchester, in the
county of Dorset, where in the course of his ministry he
expounded the whole of the scripture, and went through
about half of it a second time, having, says Wood, “an excellent faculty in the clear and solid interpreting of it.
”
ivity, and learning, and, as Wood allows, a “most moderate puritan.” Fuller says, “he was a constant preacher, and by his wisdom and ministerial labours, Dorchester was much
About 1624, Mr. White, with some of his friends, projected the new colony of Massachusetts in New England,
and, after surmounting many difficulties, succeeded in obtaining a patent. The object was to provide a settlement
or asylum for those who could not conform to the church
discipline and ceremonies. He himself appears to have
been inclined to the same disaffection, and is said to have
been in 1630 prosecuted by archbishop Laud in the high
commission court for preaching against Arminianism and
the ceremonies. But as no account exisjs of the issue of
this trial, or of his having been at all a sufferer upon this
account, it is more probable, or at least as probable, that
Wood is right, who tells us that he conformed as well after,
as before, the advancement of Laud. Afterwards indeed
he was a sufferer during the rage of civil war; for a party
of horse in the neighbourhood of Dorchester, under the
command of prince Rupert, plundered his house, and carried away his library. On this occasion he made his escape
to London, and was made minister of the Savoy. In 1640
he was appointed one of the learned divines to assist in a
committee of religion, appointed by the House of Lords;
and in 1643 was chosen one of the Westminster assembly
of divines. In 1645 he was appointed to succeed the ejected
Dr. Featley as rector of Lambeth, and the doctor’s library
was committed to his care, until his own should be returned
which was carried away by prince Rupert’s soldiers. In
1647 he was offered the wardenship of New college, but
refused it, and as soon as he could, returned to his people
at Dorchester, for whom he had the greatest affection, and
where he had passed the happiest of his days, being a man
of great zeal, activity, and learning, and, as Wood allows,
a “most moderate puritan.
” Fuller says, “he was a constant preacher, and by his wisdom and ministerial labours,
Dorchester was much enriched with knowledge, piety, and
industry.
” He died there suddenly, July 21, 1648, in the
seventy-second year of his age. His works are but few, 1.
“A commentary upon the first three chapters of Genesis,
”
A way to the tree of life, discovered in
sundry directions for the profitable reading of the Scriptures,
” &c. A digression concerning the
morality of the Fourth commandment,
” printed with the
preceding. He published also a few sermons.
en Hall, Oxford, about 1566, took his degrees in arts, was ordained, and became a noted and frequent preacher. He afterwards settled in London, where he had the living of
, founder of Sion college, London,
the.son of John White, was born in Temple parish, in the
city of Bristol. His family was a branch of the Whites
of Bedfordshire. He was entered of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, about 1566, took his degrees in arts, was ordained,
and became a noted and frequent preacher. He afterwards
settled in London, where he had the living of St. Gregory’s, near St. Paul’s, and in 1575 was made vicar of St.
Dunstan’s, Fleet-street, where his pulpit services were much
admired. In 1584 he was licensed to proceed in divinity,
and commenced doctor in that faculty. In 1588 he had the
prebend of Mora/ in the church of St. Paul, conferred
upon him, and in 1590 was made treasurer of the church of
Sarum by the queen’s letters. In 1591 he was made canon
of Christ Church, and in 1593, canon of Windsor. He
died March 1, 1623-4, according to Reading, but Wood
says 1622-3; and was buried in the chancel of St.
DunStan’s church. In his will he ordered a grave-stone to be
placed over his remains, with a short inscription, but this
was either neglected, or has been destroyed. As soon as
an account of his death arrived at Oxford, the heads of the
university, in honour of his memory as a benefactor, appointed Mr. Price, trie first reader of the moral philosophy
lecture, to deliver an oration, which, with several encomiastic verses by other members of the university, was
printed under the title of “Schola Moralis Philosophise
Oxon. in funere Whiti pullata,
” Oxon.
ive plentifully by the preaching of the gospel without any preferment. He was accordingly a frequent preacher, and in various places where preaching was most wanted. He remained
, an eminent divine of the sixteenth century, was of the family of Whiteheads of Tuderiey in Hampshire, and was educated at Oxford, but whether
at All Souls or Brasenose colleges, Wood has not deter*
mined. He was chaplain to queen Anne Boleyn. Wood
says, he was “a great light of learning, and a most heavenly
professor of divinity.
” Archbishop Cranmer says that “he
was endowed with good knowledge, special honesty, fervent zeal, and politic wisdom,
”' for which, in 1552, he nominated him as the fittest person for the archbishopric of
Armagh. This nomination, however, did not succeed. lit
the beginning of the tyrannic reign of queen Mary, he retired, with/many pf his countrymen, to Francfort, where
he was chosen pastor to the English congregation of exiles,
and when differences arose respecting church discipline,
endeavoured to compose them by the moderation of his
opinions. On the accession of queen Elizabeth, he “returned to England, and was one of the committee appointed
to review king Edward’s liturgy; and in 1559 was also appointed one of the public disputants against the popish
bishops* In this he appeared to so much advantage, that
the queen is said to have offered him the archbishopric of
Canterbury, but this he declined, as well as the mastership
of the Savoy, excusing himself to the queen by saying that
he could live plentifully by the preaching of the gospel
without any preferment. He was accordingly a frequent
preacher, and in various places where preaching was most
wanted. He remained a single man, which much pleased
the queen, who had a great antipathy against the married
clergy. Lord Bacon informs us that when Whitehead was
one day at court, the queen said,
” I like thee better,
Whitehead, because thou livest unmarried.“” In troth,
madam,“he replied,
” I like you the worse for the same
cause.“Maddox, in his examination of Neal’s History of
the Puritans, thinks that
” Whitehead ought to be added
to the number of those eminent pious men, who approved
of the constitution, and died members of the church of
England;“but it appears from Strype’s life of Grindal,
that he was deprived in 1564 for objecting to the habits;
how long he remained under censure we are not told. He
died in 1571, but where buried, Wood was not able to discover. The only works attributed to his pen are,
” Lections and Homilies on St. Paul’s Epistles“and in a
” Brief Discourse of the Troubles begun at Francfort,“1575, 4to, are several of his discourses, and answers to the
objections of Dr. Home concerning matters of discipline
and worship. In Parkhurst’s
” Epigram. Juvenil." are some
addressed to Whitehead; and from the same authority we
learn that he had been preceptor to Charles Brandon, duke
of Suffolk.
, a physician, and preacher among the Methodists in the connexion of Wesley, whose life
, a physician, and preacher
among the Methodists in the connexion of Wesley, whose
life he wrote, was born of honest industrious parents in the
country. At an early age he exhibited proofs of genius;
and, before twenty, was a proficient in the Latin and Greek
languages. Early in life he was connected with the Messrs.
Wesley, and preached at Bristol. He left them, however,
and set up as a linen-draper in that city, but failed in business; after which he became a Quaker, and a speaker in
the congregations of that respectable body, who, by their
beneficent friendship, set him up in a large boardingschool at Wandsworth, where many of their children were
educated. Mr. Barclay, wishing his son to travel, proposed
Dr. Whitehead to be his companion, paid all his expences,
and settled on him \00l. a year. They went to Leyden,
and his thirst for knowledge induced him to attend the anatomical, philosophical, and medical lectureship; and, about
1790, he had arrived at such a pitch of knowledge that his
correspondence with Dr. Lettsotn determined the latter to
bring him forward; so that, even while at Leyden (Dr. Kooystra, physician of the London Dispensary in Primrose-street, dying) the Doctor introduced him to that most excellent
charity. After he had been in London two years, the Friends
endeavoured to bring him into the London Hospital, Mileend, which was only lost by one vote, occasioned by giving
a draft on a banker for payment the next day instead of the
present at the time of the election. In about three years
the Doctor left the Quakers, and united himself again to
the Wesleys; and Mr. Wesley said to Mr. Ranken, “Do
what you can to unite Dr. Whitehead with us again.
” He
succeeded; and Dr. W. preached very often, and was
highly esteemed both as a physician and v preacher; so
much so, that he attended Mr. Wesley in his last illness,
and preached his funeral sermon. He afterwards published
“The Life of the Rev, John Wesley, M. A. some time fellow of Lincoln college, Oxford, collected from his private
Papers and printed Works, and written at the request of
his Executors.
” Of this work, which professedly forms
<c a History of Methodism,“the first volume appeared in
1793, the second in 1796. This valuable and candid work
occasioned a rupture between Dr. Coke and his associates,
who were styled
” The Conference," and Dr. Whitehead;
as they intended themselves to publish a Life; and the
publication caused much party-dispute among the Wesleys, so as to exclude the Doctor from preaching; but a
reconciliation took place, and he was again admitted to the
pulpit. He died March 7, 1804.
ppear to have been much skilled in the deeper points of theology; but he was an admired and diligent preacher, and took delight in exercising his talent that way; it was,
He was interred in the parish church of Croydon, where a monument was erected, with an inscription to his memory. He is described as being in person of a middle stature, a grave countenance, and brown complexion, black hair and eyes. He wore his beard neither long nor thick. He was small-boned, and of good agility, being straight and weli shaped in all his limbs, to the light habit of his body, which began somewhat to spread and fill out towards his latter years. His learning seems to have been confined to the Latin language, as Hugh Broughton often objected to him, nor does he appear to have been much skilled in the deeper points of theology; but he was an admired and diligent preacher, and took delight in exercising his talent that way; it was, however, in ecclesiastical government that his/brte lay, in the administration of which he was both indefatigable and intrepid. It is by his conduct in this that his character has been estimated by posterity, and has been variously estimated according to the writer’s regard for, or aversion to, the constitution of the church of England.
eath of the French king, in 1560. And he attended Ambrose, earl of Warwick, to Havre de Grace, to be preacher there, while the earl defended it against the French; and Wood
, the puritan dean of Durham, the son of William Whittingham, esq. by a daughter of Haughton, of Haughton Tower, was born in the city of Chester, in 1524. In his sixteenth year he became a commoner of Brasenose college, Oxford, where he made great proficiency in literature. After taking his degree of bachelor of arts, he was elected fellow of All Souls in 1545, and two years afterwards was made one of the seniors of Christ-church, on the foundation oi Henry VIII. In May 1550, having obtained leave to travel for three yearsj he passed his time principally at Orleans, where he married the sister of Calvin. He returned to England in the latter end of the reign of Edward VI. but, as he was a staunch adherent to the doctrines of the reformation, he found it necessary to leave home, when queen Mary came to the throne, and joined the exiles at Francfort. Here he became one of those who took part against the ceremonies of the Church of England being observed among the exiles, and afterwards became a member of the Church of Geneva. On the Scotch reformer, Knox, leaving that society to return to his own country, Whittingham was prevailed upon by Calvin to take orders in the Geneva form, and was Knox’s successor. While here, he undertook, along with other learned men of the same society, an English translation of the Bible, which was not completed when those employed upon it had an opportunity to return to England, on the accession of queen Elizabeth. Whittingham, however, remained at Geneva to finish the work, during which time he translated into metre five of the Psalms, inscribed W. W. of which the 119th was one, together with the ten commandments, and a prayer, all which make part of the collection known by the names of Sternhold and Hopkins. Soon after his return to England, he was employed to accompany Francis, earl of Bedford, on his embassy of condolence for the death of the French king, in 1560. And he attended Ambrose, earl of Warwick, to Havre de Grace, to be preacher there, while the earl defended it against the French; and Wood says, he preached nonconformity in this place. Warwick appears to have had a very high opinion of him, and it was by his interest that Whittingham was promoted to the deanery of Durham in 1563, which he enjoyed for sixteen' years. During this time he was one of the most zealous opponents of the habits and ceremonies, and so outrageous in his zeal against popery, as to destroy some of the antiquities and monuments in Durham cathedral, and even took up the stone coffins of the priors of Durham, and ordered them to be used as troughs for horses to drink in.
rdained after the establishment of the Protestant religion. He soon became a very useful and popular preacher, and on the week-days read lectures to the youth in logic and
, a learned divine of the reformed religion, was born at Mansfeld in Upper Saxony in 1523. His parents, who were of the middle rank, perceiving his love of learning, gave him a good education at school, whence he was sent to the university of Wirtemberg, where he studied the arts and languages for about three years; attending, at the same time, the lectures of Luther and Melancthon. He became also acquainted with other contributors to the reformation, as Gruciger, Justus Jonas, &c. and heard the Greek lectures of Vitus. In 1541, by the advice of his tutors and friends, he went to Noriberg, where he was made master of St. Lawrence-school, and taught there for three years; but being desirous of adding to his own knowledge, under the ablest instructors, he returned to Wirtemberg again. There he commenced M. A. before he was twenty-two years old, and begun the study of divinity, which he engaged in with gr/eat assiduity, until the events of the war dispersed the students of this university. He then was invited to his native place, Mansfeld, where he was ordained, and is said to have been the first who was ordained after the establishment of the Protestant religion. He soon became a very useful and popular preacher, and on the week-days read lectures to the youth in logic and philosophy. While here, at the request of the superintendent, John Spangenberg, he wrote a confutation of Sidonius’s popish catechism, which was afterwards printed both in Latin and Dutch. He wrote also a confutation of George Major, who held that a man is justified by faith, but not saved, &c. He was one of those who strongly opposed the Interim.
his sisters. He still, however, prosecuted his studies, and at the accustomed period was admitted a preacher in the church of Scotland.
, a Scotch poet of some fame in his day, was born in the parish of Dalmeny, in the county of West Lothian, Oct. 5, 1721. His father, although a small farmer, and poor and unfortunate, endeavoured to give him a liberal education, which he appears to have improved by diligence. At the age of thirteen, he was sent to the university of Edinburgh, where he made a rapid progress in learning, but before he completed his academical course, tois father died, leaving him no other inheritance than his small farm, and the care of three sisters. Necessity thus turned his attention to the study of agriculture, which he cultivated with sc- much success, although upon a confined scale, that he acquired a solid reputation as a practical farmer, and was enabled to provide for himself and his sisters. He still, however, prosecuted his studies, and at the accustomed period was admitted a preacher in the church of Scotland.
ity-college in Cambridge; but ejected thence the year following upon the restoration. Then he became preacher to the honourable society of Gray’s-inn, and rector of St.
, an ingenious and learned English
bishop, was the son of Mr. Walter Wilkins, citizen and
goldsmith of Oxford, and was born in 1614, at Fawsley,
near Daventry, in Northanvptonshire, in the house of his
mother’s father, the celebrated dissenter Mr. John Dod.
He was taught Latin and Greek by Edward Sylvester, a
teacher of much reputation, who kept a private school in
the parish of All-Saints in Oxford and his proficiency
was such, that at thirteen he entered a student of New-innhall, in 1627. He made no long stay there, but was removed to Magdalen-hall, under the tuition of Mr. John
Tombes, and there took the degrees in arts. He afterwards entered into orders; and was first chaplain to William lord Say, and then to Charles count Palatine of the
Khine, and prince elector of the empire, with whom he continued some time. To this last patron, his skill in the mathematics was a very great recommendation. Upon the
breaking out of the civil war, he joined with the parliament,
and took the solemn league and covenant. He was afterwards made warden of Wadham-college by the committee
of parliament, appointed for reforming the university; and,
being created bachelor of divinity the 12th of April, 1648,
was the day following put into possession of his wardenship. Next year he was created D. D. and about that time
took the engagement then enjoined by the powers in being.
In 1656, he married Robina, the widow of Peter French,
formerly canon of Christ-church, and sister to Oliver Cromwell, then lord-protector of England: which marriage being
contrary to the statutes of Wadham-college, because they
prohibit the warden from marrying, he procured a dispensation from Oliver, to retain the wardenship notwithstanding. In 1659, he was by Richard Cromwell made master
of Trinity-college in Cambridge; but ejected thence the
year following upon the restoration. Then he became
preacher to the honourable society of Gray’s-inn, and rector of St. Lawrence-Jewry, London, upon the promotion
Dr. Seth Ward to the bishopric of Exeter. About this
time, he became a member of the Royal Society, was
chosen of their council, and proved one of their most eminent members. Soon after this, he was made dean of Rippon; and, in 1668, bishop of Chester, Dr. Tillotson, who
had married his daughter-in-law, preaching his consecration sermon. Wood and Burnet both inform us, that he
obtained this bishopric by the interest of Villiers duke of
Buckingham; and the latter adds, that it was no stnall prejudice against him to be raised by so bad a man. Dr. Walter Pope observes, that Wilkins, for some time after the
restoration, was out of favour both at Whitehall and Lambeth, on account of his marriage with Oliver Cromwell’s
sister; and that archbishop Sheldon, who then disposed of
almost all ecclesiastical preferments, opposed his
promotion; that, however, when bishop Ward introduced him
afterwards to the archbishop, he was very obligingly received, and treated kindly by him ever after. He did not
enjoy his preferment long; for he died of a suppression of
urine, which was mistaken for the stone, at Dr. Tiilotson’s
house, in Chancery-lane, London, Nov. 19, 1672. He was
buried in the chancel of the church of St. Lawrence Jewry;
and his funeral sermon was preached by Dr. William Lloyd,
then dean of Bangor, who, although Wilkins had been
abused and vilified perhaps beyond any man of his time,
thought it no shame to say every thing that was good of
him. Wood also, different as his complexion and principles were from those of Wilkins, has been candid enough
to give him the following character “He was,
” says he,
“a person endowed with rare gifts he was a noted theologist and preacher, a curious critic in several matters, an
excellent mathematician and experimentist, and one as well
seen in mechanisms and new philosophy, of which he was
3 great promoter, as any man of his time. He also highly
advanced the study and perfecting, of astronomy, both at
Oxford while he was warden of Wadham-college, and at
London while he was fellow of the Royal Society; and I
cannot say that there was any thing deficient in him, but a
constant mind and settled principles.
”
shall perish everlastingly.“Gift of Prayer, c, 28. In his” Ecclesiastes,“section 3, he commends to a preacher, for his best authors, Calvin, Jiuiius, P. Martyr. Musculus,
Wilkins had two characteristics, neither of which was
calculated to make him generally admired: first, he avowed
moderation, and was kindly affected towards dissenters, for
a comprehension of whom he openly and earnestly contended: secondly, he thought 'it right and reasonable to
submit to the powers in being, be those powers who they
would, or let them be established how they would. And
this making him as ready to swear allegiance to Charles II.
after he was restored to the crown, as to the usurpers, while
they prevailed, he was charged with being various and unsteady in his principles; with having no principles at all,
with Hobbism, and every thing that is bad. Yet the
greatest and best qualities are ascribed to him, if not unanimously, at least by many eminent and good men. Dr.
Tillotson, in the preface to some “Sermons of Bishop
Wilkins,
” published by him in Historia & Antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis;
” “whether by the author,
” says he, “or
by some other hand, I am not curious to know:
” and
concludes his animadversions in the following words: “Upon
the whole, it hath often been no small matter of wonder to
me, whence it should come to pass, that so great a man,
and so great a lover of mankind, who was so highly valued
and reverenced by all that knew him, should yet have the
hard fate to fall under the heavy displeasure and censur6
of those who knew him not; and that he, who never did
any thing to make himself one personal enemy, should
have the ill fortune to have so many. I think I may truly
say, that there are or have been very few in this age and
nation so well known, and so greatly esteemed and favoured,
by so many persons of high rank and quality, and of singular worth and eminence in all the learned professions, as
our author was. And this surely cannot be denied him, it
is so well known to many worthy persons yet living, and
hath been so often acknowledged even by his enemies, that,
in the late times of confusion, almost all that was preserved
and kept up, of ingenuity and good learning, of good
order and government in the university of Oxford, was
chiefly owing to his prudent conduct and encouragement:
which consideration alone, had there been no other, might
bave prevailed with some there to have treated his memory
with at least common kindness and respect.
” The other
hand, Dr. Tillotson mentions, was Dr. Fell, the dean of
Christ church, and under whose inspection Wood’s
Athenæ Oxonienses“was translated into Latin and who,
among other alterations without the privity of that compiler, was supposed to insert the poor diminishing character of bishop Wilkins, to be found in the Latin version.
The friendship which subsisted between our author and
Dr. Tillotson is a proof of their mutual moderation, for
Wilkins was in doctrine a strict and professed Calvinism
We need quote no more to prove this, than what has been
already quoted by Dr. Edwards in his
” Veritas Redux,“p. 553.
” God might (says Dr. Wilkins) have designed us
for vessels of wrath; and then we had been eternally undone, without all possible remedy. There was nothing to
move him in us, when we lay all together in the general
heap of mankind. It was his own free grace and bounty,
that madehim to take delight in us, to chuse us from the
rest, and to sever us from those many thousands in the
world who shall perish everlastingly.“Gift of Prayer, c,
28. In his
” Ecclesiastes,“section 3, he commends to a
preacher, for his best authors, Calvin, Jiuiius, P. Martyr.
Musculus, Pargeus, Piscator, Rivet, Zanchius, &c. 9
” most eminent for their orthodox sound judgement.“Burnet, in his Life of Sir Matthew Hale, printed irt 1682,
declares of Wilkins, that
” he was a man of as great a mind,
as true a judgement, as eminent virtues, and of as good a
soul, as any he ever knew “and in his
” History“he says,
that, though
” he married Cromwell’s sister, yet he made
no other use of that alliance but to do good offices, and to
cover the university of Oxford from the sourness of Owen
and Goodwin. At Cambridge he joined with those who
studied to propagate better thoughts, to take men off from
being in parties, or from narrow notions, from superstitious conceits, and fierceness about opinions. He was also
a great observer and promoter of experimental philosophy,
which was then a new thing, and much looked after. He
was naturally ambitious, but was the wisest clergyman I
ever knew. He was a lover of mankind, and had a delight
in doing good.“The historian mentions afterwards another
quality Wilkins possessed in a supreme degree; and that
was, says he,
” a courage, which could stand against a
current, and against all the reproaches with which ill-natured clergymen studied to load him."
inister of St. Faith’s, under St. Paul’s, and one of the assembly of divines. He was also a frequent preacher before the parliament on their monthly fasts, or on thanksgiving
With this encouragement Wilkinson went on preaching
what he pleased without fear, but removed to London, as
the better scene of action, where he was made minister of
St. Faith’s, under St. Paul’s, and one of the assembly of
divines. He was also a frequent preacher before the parliament on their monthly fasts, or on thanksgiving days. In
1645 he was promoted to the rectory of St. Dunstan’s in
the West. Soon after he was constituted one of the six
ministers appointed to go to Oxford (then in the power of parliament), and to establish preachings and lectures upon
presbyterian principles and forms. He was also made one
of the visitors for the ejection of all heads of houses, fellows, students, &c. who refused compliance with the now
predominant party. For these services he was made a
senior fellow of Magdalen college (which, Wood says, he kept till he married a holy woman called the Lady Carr),
a canon of Christ church, doctor of divinity, and, after
Cheynel’s departure, Margaret professor. Of all this he
was deprived at the restoration, but occasionally preached
in or about London, as opportunity offered, particularly
at Clapham, where he died in September 1675, and his
body, after lying in state in Drapers’ hall, London, was
buried with great solemnity in the church of St. Dunstan’s.
His printed works are entirely “Sermons
” preached before
the parliament, or in the “Morning Exercise
” at Cripplegate and Southwark, and seem to confirm part of the character Wood gives of him, that “he was a good scholar,
always a close student, an excellent preacher (though his voice was shrill and whining),
” yet, adds Wood, “his sermons were commonly full of dire and confusion, especially
while the rebellion lasted.
”
ns, he quitted the university in 1642, and going to London, took the covenant, and became a frequent preacher. On the surrender of Oxford to the parliamentary forces, he
, denominated sometimes Junior, but commonly called Dean Harry, to distinguish
him from the preceding, was the son of the rev. William
Wilkinson of Adwick, or Adwickstreet, in the West Riding
of Yorkshire, the brother of the first Henry Wilkinson,
rector of Waddesdon; and consequently cousin to the preceding Long Harry. He was born at Adwick in 1616, and
was educated in grammar at a school in All Saints parish,
Oxford. He entered a commoner of Magdalen-hall in
1631, took the degrees in arts, was admitted into holy
orders, and became a noted tutor, and moderator or dean
of Magdalen-hall. Being of the same principles with his
relations, he quitted the university in 1642, and going to
London, took the covenant, and became a frequent
preacher. On the surrender of Oxford to the parliamentary forces, he returned thither, and was created bachelor
of divinity, and made principal of his hall, and moral philosophy reader of the university. He also took the degree
of D. D. and became a frequent preacher at the different
churches in Oxford. As the governor of a society, Wood
ipeaks of him very highly, and his character indeed in this
respect was so well established, that he might have remained principal, if he could have conformed. He suffered
considerably afterwards for nonconformity, while endeavouring to preach at Buckminster in Leicestershire, Gosfield in Essex, Sible-Headingham, and finally at Connard
near Sudbury in Suffolk, where he died May 13, 1690. He
was buried at Milding near Lavenham, in Suffolk. Wood
says “he was a zealous person in the way he professed,
but overswayed more by the principles of education than
reason. He was very courteous in speech and carriage,
communicative of his knowledge, generous and charitable
to the poor; and so public-spirited (a rare thing, adds Wood, in a presbyterian), that he always minded the common good, more than his own concerns.
” He was a considerable benefactor to Magdalen -hall, having built the
library, and procured a good collection of books for it.
library, from the great extent of his reading and. of his memory. He was also not less admired as a preacher, not only in his parish, but at court. He also obtained a great,
Dr. Willet was usually called a living library, from the
great extent of his reading and. of his memory. He was
also not less admired as a preacher, not only in his parish,
but at court. He also obtained a great, degree of celebrity
by his numerous publications, particularly his “Synopsis
Papismi; or a general view of papistrie,
” a work dedicated
to the queen, which, although a folio of 1300 pages, passed
through five editions, and was much admired in both universiyes, and by the clergy and laity at large, aa the best
refutation of popery, which had then appeared. He died
of the consequences of a fall from his horse, at Hoddesdon,
in Hertfordshire, Dec. 4, 1621, in the fifty-eighth year of
his age. He was interred in the chancel of Barley church,
where there is a representation of him at full length, in a
praying attitude, and with an inscription, partly Latin and
partly English.
e years old, he had no employment, but his studies, and that by nineteen he was regularly admitted a preacher.” As this was among the nonconformists, it is probable that
, an eminent divine among the
dissenters, aud a munificent benefactor to their and other
societies, both of the learned and charitable kind, was born
about 1644, at Wrexham, in the county of Denbigh, in
North Wales. No particulars are known of his parents,
or of his early years, but it appears that he laboured under
some disadvantages as to education, which, however, he
surmounted by spirit and perseverance. He says of himself, that “from five years old, he had no employment, but
his studies, and that by nineteen he was regularly admitted
a preacher.
” As this was among the nonconformists, it is
probable that his parents or early connections lay among
that society. As he entered on his ministry about 1663,
when the exercise of it was in clanger of incurring the penalties of the law, he was induced to go to Ireland, and was
there invited to be chaplain to the countess of Meath.
Some time after he was called to be pastor to a congregation f dissenters assembling in Wood-street, Dublin,
in which situation he continued for nearly twenty years,
and was highly approved and useful. Here he married
Ins first wife, a lady of family and fortune, which last,
while it gave him a superior rank and consequence to
many of his brethren, he contemplated only as the means
of doing good.
relations and friends, he left donations for the education of youth in Dublin, and for an itinerant preacher to the native Irish; to the poor in Wood-street congregation,
Dr. Williams died, after a short illness, Jan. 26, 1715—16,
in the seventy- third year of his age. He appears to
have been a man of very considerable abilities, and having
acquired an independent fortune, had great weight both as
a member of the dissenting interest, and as a politician in
general. As he had spent much of his life in benevolent actions, at his death he fully evinced, that they were the governing principles of his character. The bulk of his estate
fie bequeathed to a great variety of chanties. Besides the settlement on his wife, and legacies to his relations and friends,
he left donations for the education of youth in Dublin, and
for an itinerant preacher to the native Irish; to the poor
in Wood-street congregation, and to that in Hand-alley,
where he had been successively preacher; to the French
refugees; to the poor of Shoreditch parish, where he
lived; to several ministers’ widows; to St. Thomas’s hospital; to the London workhouse; to several presbyterian
meetings in the country; to the college of Glasgow; to
the society for the reformation of manners; to the society
of Scotland for propagating Christian knowledge; to the
society for New-England, to support two persons to preach
to the Indians; to the maintaining of charity-schools in
Wales, and the support of students; for the distribution
of Bibles, and pious books among the poor, &c. He also
ordered a convenient building to be purchased, or erected,
for the reception of his own library, and the curious collection of Dr. Bates, which he purchased for that purpose,
at the expence of between five and six hundred pounds.
Accordingly, a considerable number of years after his death,
a commodious building was erected by subscription among
the opulent dissenters, in lledcross-street, Cripplegate,
where the doctor’s books were deposited, and by subsequent additions, the collection has become a very considerable one. It is also a depository for paintings of nonconformist ministers, which are now very numerous; of manuscripts, and other matters of curiosity or utility. In
this place, the dissenting ministers meet for transacting all
business relating to the general body. Registers of births
of the children of protestant dissenters are also kept here
with accuracy, and have been, in the courts of law, allowed
equal validity with parish registers. The librarian, who
resides in the house, is usually a minister, chosen from
among the English presbyterians, to which denomination
the founder belonged. Dr. Williams’s publications, be^
sides his “Gospel Truth stated,
” are chiefly sermons
preached on occasion of ordinations, or funerals. These
were published together in 1738, 2 vols. 8vo, with some
account of his life.
ed to a more weighty charge at Exeter. There the eminent abilities and engaging manners of the young preacher opened to him the seductive path of pleasure; when the reproof
, a literary and religious projector
of some note, was born at a village near Cardigan, in 1738,
and after receiving the rudiments of education, was placed
in a school or college at Carmarthen, preparatory to the
dissenting ministry; which profession he entered upon in
obedience to parental authority, but very contrary to his
own inclination. His abilities and acquirements even then
appeared of a superior order; but he has often in the latter part of his life stated to the writer of his memoirs, in
the Gentleman’s Magazine, that he had long considered it
&s a severe misfortune, that the most injurious impressions
were made upon his youthful and ardent mind by the cold,
austere, oppressive, and unarniable manner in which the
doctrines and duties of religion were disguised in the stern
and rigid habits of a severe puritanical master. From this
college he took the office of teacher to a small congregation at Frome, in Somersetshire, and after a short residence was removed to a more weighty charge at Exeter.
There the eminent abilities and engaging manners of the
young preacher opened to him the seductive path of pleasure; when the reproof that some elder members of the
society thought necessary, being administered in a manner
to awaken resentment rather than contrition; and the eagle
eye of anger discovering in his accusers imperfections of a
different character indeed, but of tendency little suited to
a public disclosure, the threatened recrimination suspended
the proceedings, and an accommodation took place, by
which Mr. Williams left Exeter, and was engaged to the
superintendence of a dissenting congregation at Highgate.
After a residence there of a year or two, he made his first
appearance in 1770, as an author, by a “Letter to David
Garrick,
” a judicious and masterly critique on the actor,
but a sarcastic personal attack qn the man, intended to
rescue Mossop from the supposed unjust displeasure of the
modern Roscius: this effect was produced, Mossop was
liberated, and the letter withdrawn from the booksellers,
Shortly after appeared “The Philosopher, in three Conversations,
” which were much read, and attracted considerable notice. This was soon followed by “Essays on
Public Worship, Patriotism, and Projects of Reformation;
”
written and published upon the occasion of the leading religious controversy of the day; but though they obtained
considerable circulation, they appear not to have softened
the asperities of either of the contending parties. The
Appendix to these Essays gave a strong indication of that
detestation of intolerance, bigotry, and hypocrisy which
formed the leading character of his subsequent life, and
which had been gradually taking possession of his mind
from the conduct of softie of the circle of associates into
which his profession had thrown him.
and not without some difficulty, to obtain a pass from the lord mayor of London, “as a poor pillaged preacher of Ireland,” and by this means got to Northampton, and thence
In the mean time he was employed to go to London to
try to bring over the earl of Pembroke to the royal cause
(two of whose sons were with the king at Oxford, and had been the bishop’s pupils). This task he undertook, surrounded as it was with danger, and obnoxious as he knew
himself to be by his publications. The negociation failed,
and the earl was so incensed, that Dr. Williams had reason to think he would deliver him up to parliament, who
had recently ordered his last mentioned publication to be
burnt. He contrived, therefore, and not without some
difficulty, to obtain a pass from the lord mayor of London,
“as a poor pillaged preacher of Ireland,
” and by this
means got to Northampton, and thence to Oxford, whence
he went first to Wales, and then to Ireland, where he remained until after the battle of Naseby, in 1645.
to the study of divinity under the rev. Mr. Boyse. After passing the usual examinations, he became a preacher, but returned to England, and in 1714, when only twenty-two
, a learned dissentingdivine, was born
May 15, 1693, at Hutton-John, in the parish of Graystock,
in Cumberland, where his father was a farmer. He was educated in grammatical learning at Penruddock, and in his
fifteenth year began his divinity and philosophy studies at
a dissenting academy at Whitehaven, where he had for his
contemporaries Dr. Rotheram of Kendal, and Mr. John
Taylor of Norwich, author of the Hebrew-English Concordance. From Whitehaven, Mr. Winder removed to Dublin, where for two years he applied very closely to the
study of divinity under the rev. Mr. Boyse. After passing
the usual examinations, he became a preacher, but returned to England, and in 1714, when only twenty-two years
of age, succeeded Mr. Edward Rothwell, as pastor of a
congregation at Tunley in Lancashire, and in 1716 was
ordained. In 1718 he was chosen pastor of the meeting at
Castle-hey in Liverpool, where it appears that he had
some trouble with his congregation, during certain disputes
on liberty, charity, and the rights of conscience, whiqh he
endeavoured to compose by referring them to the Bible as
the only standard of orthodoxy, not sufficiently adverting
to the fact that this is what all sects profess to do, without
any approach towards harmony of sentiment. In 1740,
when he was on a visit at Glasgow, the degree of D. D.
was conferred upon him by that university. He continued
to preside over his congregation at Liverpool, with great
approbation, until his death, Aug. 9, 1752. As a testimony
of his esteem for his people, he bequeathed his wellchosen library for the use of his successors. Dr. Winder
is known in the literary world by an ingenious and elaborate
work, published a second time in 1756, 2 vols. 4to, entitled “A critical and chronological History of the Rise,
Progress, Declension, and Revival of Knowledge, chiefly
religious; in two periods, the period of tradition from
Adam to Moses, and the period of Letters from Moses to
Christ.
” To this are prefixed memoirs of his life by the
rev. Dr. George Benson.
rs and five months old; and, the winter following, was invited to London by Dr. Gilbert Burner, then preacher at the Rolls, who introduced him to almost all the learned;
In 1679 he took the degree of B. A. when he was but
twelve years and five months old; and, the winter following, was invited to London by Dr. Gilbert Burner, then
preacher at the Rolls, who introduced him to almost all the
learned; and among the rest to Dr. William Llovd, bishopi
of St. Asaph, who was so highly pleased with him, that he
took him a an assistant in making the catalogue of his library, and carried him the summer following to St. Asaph.
Upon his return, Dr. Turner, afterwards bishop of Ely^
procured him by his interest a fellowship in St. John’s colege, where he took his degree of ML A. in 1683, and iri
1691 he commenced bachelor of divinity. The same year
bishop Lloyd gave him the sinecure of LlandriUo, in Denbighshire. He was afterwards made chaplain to the earl of
Nottingham, then secretary of state, who in 1693 presented
him to the rectory of Middleton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire. In 1694- he published “Reflections upon Ancient
and modern Learning
” and dedicated his book to his patron the earl of Nottingham^ To settle the bounds of all
branches of literature, and all arts and sciences, as they
have been extended by both ancients and moderns, and
thus to make a comparison between each, was a work too
vast, one should think, for any one man, even for a whole
life spent in study; yet it was executed with very considerable ability by Mr. Wotton at twenty-eight years of
age; and if it did involve him somewhat in the controversy
between Boyle and Bentley, that was rather owing to his
connections with Bentley, whose “Dissertations upon Phalaris,
” &c. were printed at the end of the 2d edition of his
book in 1697, than to any intermeddling of his own. Boyle
himself acknowledged that “Mr. Wotton is modest and
decent, speaks generally with respect of those he differs
from, and with a due distrust of his own opinion. His
book has a vein of learning running through it, where there
is no ostentation of it.
” This and much more is true of
Wotton’s performance yet it must not be dissembled,
that this,as it stands in Boyle’s hook, appears to have
been said rather for the sake of reflecting on Bentley than
to commend Wotton. Wotton suffered, as is well known,
under the satirical pen of Swift; and this induced him to
write “A Defence of the Reflections upon Ancient and
Modern Learning, in answer to the objections of sir William Temple and others;
” with “Observations upon the
Tale of a Tub;
” reprinted with a third corrected edition of
the “Reflections,
” &c. in Tale is of a very irreligious nature, and a crude banter
upon all that is esteemed as sacred among all sects and
religions among men;
” and his judgment of that famous
piece is confirmed by that of Mr. Moyle, in the following
passage: “I have read over the * Tale of a Tub.' There
is a good deal of wild wit in it, which pleases by its extravagance and uncommonness; but I think it, upon the
whole, the profanest piece of ribaldry which has appeared
since the days of Rabelais, the great original of banter and
ridicule.
”
was very young he remembered the whole of- almost any discourse he had heard, and often surprised a preacher with repeating his sermon to him. This first recommended him
What distinguished him from other men chiefly was his
memory: his superiority seems to have lain in the strength
pf that faculty; for, by never forgetting any thing, he
became immensely learned and knowing; and, what is
more, his learning (as one expresses it) was all in ready
cash, which he was able to produce at sight. When he
was very young he remembered the whole of- almost any
discourse he had heard, and often surprised a preacher
with repeating his sermon to him. This first recommended
him to bishop Lloyd, to whom he repeated one of his own
sermons, as Dr. Burnet had engaged that he should. But
above all, he had great humanity and friendliness of temper. His time and abilities were at the service of any person who was making advances in real learning. The narrowness of a party-spirit never broke in upon any of his
friendships; he was as zealous in recommending Dr. Hickes’s
great work as if it had been his own-, and assisted Mr.
Spinkes in his replies to Mr. Collier in the controversy
about the necessity of mixing wine and water in the sacrament, in 1718 and 1719. He was a great lover of etymology; and 'Mr. Thwaites in his Saxon Grammar, takes
notice of his skill and acuteness that way, which he was
extremely well qualified for, by knowing most of the languages from east to west. Mr. John Chapman, chaplain
to the archbishop of Canterbury (in “Remarks upon the Letter to Dr. Waterland in relation to the natural account of Languages,
” pag. 8, 9.) has done him the honour to
place him in a list of great names after Bochart, Walton,
Vossius, Scaliger, Duret, Heinsius, Selclen, &c. all men
of letters and tracers of languages. Wotton lived at a time
when a man of learning would have been better preferred
than he was; but it is supposed that some part of his conduct, which was very exceptionable, prevented it.
accepted and a room was fitted up for its reception, and it is placed under the care of the master, preacher, head schoolmaster, and a librarian. The public at large, and
, a man of taste and learning, was born
Nov. 28, 1701, in the parish of St. Botolph, Aldersgate.
His father, sir Daniei Wray, was a London citizen, who
resided in Little Britain, made a considerable fortune in
trade (as a soap-boiler), and purchased an estate in Essex,
near Ingatestone, which his son possessed aftr r him. Sir
Daniel served the office of sheriff for that county, and was
knighted in 1708 on presenting a loyal address to queen
Anne. His son was educated at the Charter-house, and
was supposed in 1783 to have been the oldest survivor of
any person educated there. In 1718 he went to Queen’s
college, Cambridge, as a fellow commoner. He took his
degree of B. A. in 1722, after which he made the tour of
Italy, accompanied by John, earl of Morton, and Mr. King,
the son of lord chancellor King, who inherited his title.
How long he remained abroad between 1722 and 1728 is
not precisely ascertained, except by the fact that a cast in
bronze, by Pozzo, was taken of his profile, in 1726, at
Home. It had this inscription upon the reverse, “Nil actum reputans, si quid superesset agendum,
” which line is
said to have been a portrait of his character, as he was in
all his pursuits a man of uncommon diligence and perseverance. After his return from his travels, he became
M.A.-in 1728, and was already so distinguished in philosophical attainments, that he was chosen a fellow of the
Royal Society in March 1728-9. He resided however generally at Cambridge, though emigrating occasionally^ to
London, till 1739, or 1740, in which latter year, January
1740-41, he was elected F. S. A. and was more habitually a
resident in town. In 1737 commenced his acquaintance
and friendship with the noble family of Yorke; and in 1745,
Mr. Yorke, afterwards earl of Hardwicke, as teller of the
exchequer, appointed Mr.Wray his deputy teller, in which
office he continued until 1782, when his great punctuality
and exactness in any business he undertook made the constant attendance of the office troublesome to him. He was
an excellent critic in the English language; an accomplished judge of polite literature, of virtft, and the fine
arts; and deservedly a member of most of our learned societies; he was also an elected trustee of the British Museum. He was one of the writers of the “Athenian Letters
” published by the earl of Hardwicke; and in the first
volume of the Archaeologia, p. 128, are printed “Notes on
the walls of antient Rome,
” communicated by him in Extracts from different Letters from Rome, giving an
Account of the Discovery of a most beautiful Statue of Venus, dug up there 1761.
” He died Dec. 29, 1783, in his
eighty. second year, much regretted by his surviving friends,
to whose esteem he was entitled by the many worthy and
ingenious qualities. which he possessed. Those of his heart
were as distinguished as those of his mind; the rules of religion, of virtue, and morality, having regulated his conduct from the beginning to the end of his days. He was
married to a lady of merit equal to his own, the daughter
of Barrel, esq. of Richmond. This lady died at Richmond, where Mr.Wray had a house, in May 1803. Mr.
Wray left his library at her disposal and she, knowing his
attachment to the Charter-house, made the governors an
offer of it, which was thankfully accepted and a room was
fitted up for its reception, and it is placed under the care
of the master, preacher, head schoolmaster, and a librarian.
The public at large, and particularly the friends of Mr.
Wray, will soon be gratified by a memoir of him written by
the lare George Hardinge, esq. intended for insertion in
Mr. Nichols’s “Illustrations of Literature.
” This memoir,
of which fifty copies have already been printed for private
distribution, abounds with interesting anecdotes and traits
of character, and copious extracts from Mr. Wray’s correspondence, and two portraits, besides an engraving of the
cameo.
In Sept. 1637, and 1639, betook deacon’s and priest’s orders, and was so much admired as an eloquent preacher as to be frequently called upon to preach at St. Mary’s, St.
In Sept. 1637, and 1639, betook deacon’s and priest’s
orders, and was so much admired as an eloquent preacher
as to be frequently called upon to preach at St. Mary’s, St.
Paul’s, London, &c, In 1645 he became vicar of Okeham
in Rutlandshire, by the interest of his patron Jnxon, now
bishop of London, and received institution, but refused
induction, because in that case he must have taken the
covenant, which was altogether repugnant to his principles,
and therefore a nonconformist was placed in his living, one
Benjamin King. Mr. Wright then went to London, and
lived retired till after the death of the king, when he was
hospitably received into the family of sir George Grime or
Graham at Peckham, and while here he instructed sir
George’s sons in Latin and Greek, and read the Commonprayer on all Sundays and holidays, and preached and administered the sacrament. About 1655 he returned to
London, on being chosen by the parishioners of St. Olave,
Silver-street, to be their minister. In this office he remained for four years, and was in fact rector, but would
not take possession on account of the republican oaths and
obligations necessary. He performed all his duties, however, according to the forms of the Church of England,
although at some risk. On the restoration Benjamin King,
who had been put into his living at Okeham, resigned, by
his hand and seal, all title to it, and Mr. Wright took possession and retained it to his dying day, refusing some
other preferments. He lived here to a very advanced age,
and died May 9, 1690, and was buried in Okeham church.
Besides the “Delitiae paetarum
” already mentioned, he
published 1. “Five Sermons in five several stiles or ways
of preaching,
” Lond. A practical commentary, or exposition on the hook of
Psalms,
” Lond. Practical Commentary on
the Pentateuch,
” ibid. fol. 4. “Parnassus biceps, or several choice pieces of poetry, composed by the best wits
that were in both the universities before their dissolution,
”
ibid.
hen she solicited a son, recommended herself to Xavier as her patron saint. Besides this, a Wesleyan preacher published, in 1764, anabridgment of Bouhours, as if he had intended
, commonly called the Apostle of the Indies, was born April 7, 1506, in Navarre, at the castle of Xavier. His father, Don John de Jasso, was one of the chief counsellors of state to John III. king of Navarre. Among their numerous family of children, of which Francis was the youngest, those that were elder bore the surname of Azpilcueta, the younger that of Xavier. Francis was sent to the university of Paris, in the eighteenth year of his age. He was afterwards admitted master of arts, and tauglit philosophy in the college of Beauvais, with an intention of entering the society of the Sorbonne; but having formed a friendship with Ignatius Loyola, he renounced all establishments, and became one of his first disciples. Xavier then went to Italy, where he attended the sick at the hospital of incurables at Venice, and was ordained priest. Some time after, John III. king of Portugal, having applied to St. Ignatius for some missionaries to preach the gospel in the East Indies, Xavier was chosen for that purpose, who, embarking at Lisbon, April 7, 1541, arrived at Goa, May 6, 1542. In a short time he spread the knowledge of the Christian religion, or, to speak more properly, of the Romish system, over a great part of the continent, and in several of the islands of that remote region. Thence in 1549 he passed into Japan, and laid there, with amazing rapidity, the foundation 'of the famous church which flourished during so many years in that vast empire. His indefatigable zeal prompted him to attempt the conversion of the Chinese, and with this view he embarked for that extensive and powerful kingdom, but died on an island in sight of China, Dec. 2, 1552. The body of this missionary lies interred at Goa, where it is worshipped with the highest marks of devotion. There is also a magnificent church at Cotati dedicated to Xavier, to whom the inhabitants of the Portuguese settlements pay the most devout tribute of veneration and worship. In 1747, the late king of Portugal obtained for Xavier, or rather for his memory, the title of protector of the Indies, from Benedict XIV. There are two lives of this saint, the one by Tursellinus, and the other by Bouhours, but the latter is little more than a translation from Latin into French of the former, dressed out in a more elegant manner. They both contain the miracles ascribed to this saint, which are among the most absurd and incredible in the annals of superstition. For this, however, Xavier, who appears to have been only a zealous enthusiast, ought not to be censured. He claims no miracles for himself, nor were any such heard of for many years after his death; on the contrary, in his correspondence with his friends, during his mission, he not only makes no mention of miracles, but disclaims all supernatural assistance. For the miracles, therefore, his biographers must be accountable, and we know of no evidence they have produced in confirmation of them. The life of Xavier is not unknown in this country. No less a person than our celebrated poet Dryden published a translation of Bouhours’s Life of Xavier, in 1688, in consequence qf the queen of James II. having, when she solicited a son, recommended herself to Xavier as her patron saint. Besides this, a Wesleyan preacher published, in 1764, anabridgment of Bouhours, as if he had intended to assist bishop Lavington in proving the alliance between the enthusiasm of the methodists and papists. Xavier’s Letters were published at Paris, 1631, 8vo, with some lesser works ascribed to him.
e had the prebends, or sinecures, of Deans, Hains, and Pendles, in Devonshire. In 1713 he was chosen preacher of Bridewell Hospital, upon the resignation of Dr. Atterbury.
, a divine and poet, the sixth son
of Mr. John Yalden, of Sussex, was born at Exeter in 1671.
Having been educated in the grammar-school belonging to
Magdalen college, Oxford, he was, in 1690, at the age of
nineteen, admitted commoner of Magdalen Hall, under
the tuition of Josiah Pullen, a man whose name is still remembered in the university. He became next year one
of the scholars of Magdalen college, where he was distinguished by a declamation, which Dr. Hough, the president,
happening to attend, thought too good to be the speaker’s.
Some time after, the doctor, finding him a little irregularly busy in the library, set him an exercise, for punishment; and, that he might not be deceived by any artifice,
locked the door. Yalden, as it happened, had been latelyreading on the subject given, and produced with little difficulty a composition which so pleased the president that
he told him his former suspicions, and promised to favour
him. Among his contemporaries in the college were Addison and Sacheverell, men who were in those times friends,
and who both adopted Yalden to their intimacy. Yalden
continued throughout his life to think, as probably he
thought at first, yet did not lose the friendship of Addison.
When Namur was taken by king William, Yalden made an
ode . He wrote another poem, on the death of the duke
of Gloucester. In 1700 he became fellow of the college,
and next year entering into orders, was presented by the
society with the living of Willoughby, in Warwickshire,
consistent with his fellowship, and chosen lecturer of moral
philosophy, a very honourable office. On the accession of
queen Anne he wrote another poem; and is said, by the
author of the “Biographia,
” to have declared himself one
of the party who had the distinction of high-churchmen.
In 1706 he was received into the family of the duke of
Beaufort. Next year he became D. D. and soon after he
resigned his fellowship and lecture; and, as a token of his
gratitude, gave the college a picture of their founder. The
duke made him rector of Chalton and Cleanville, two adjoining towns and benefices in Hertfordshire; and he had
the prebends, or sinecures, of Deans, Hains, and Pendles,
in Devonshire. In 1713 he was chosen preacher of Bridewell Hospital, upon the resignation of Dr. Atterbury. From
this time he seems to have led a quiet and inoffensive life,
till the clamour was raised about Atterbury’s plot. Every
loyal eye was on the watch for abettors or partakers of the
horrid conspiracy; and Dr. Yalden, having some acquaintance with the bishop, and being familiarly conversant with
Kelly his secretary, fell under suspicion, and was taken
into custody. Upon his examination he was charged with
a dangerous correspondence with Kelly. The correspondence he acknowledged; but maintained that it had no
treasonable tendency. His papers were seized; but nothing was found that could fix a crime upon him, except
two words in his pocket-book, f< thorough- paced doctrine.“This expression the imagination of his examiners had impregnated with treason; and the doctor was enjoined to
explain them. Thus pressed, he told them that the words
had lain unheeded in his pocket-book from the time of
queen Anne, and 'that he was ashamed to give an account
of them; but the truth was, that he had gratified his curiosity one day by hearing Daniel Burgess in the pulpit,
and these words were a memorial hint of a remarkable sentence by which he warned his congregation to
” beware of
thorough-paced doctrine, that doctrine, which, coming in
at one ear, paces through the head, and goes out at the
other.“Nothing worse than this appearing in his papers,
and no evidence arising against him, he was set at liberty.
It will not be supposed that a man of this character attained high dignities in the church; but he still retained
the friendship, and frequented the conversation of a very
numerous and splendid body of acquaintance. He died
July 16, 1736, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. Of his
poems which have been admitted into Dr. Johnson’s collection, his
” Hymn to Darkness“seems to be his best
performance, and is, for the most part, imagined with great
vigour, and expressed with great propriety. His
” Hymn
to Light" is not equal to the other. On his other poems it
is sufficient to say that they deserve perusal, though they
are not always exactly polished, though the rhymes are
sometimes very ill sorted, and though his faults seem rather the omissions of idleness than the negligences of enthusiasm.
People concerning Impositions,” Lond. 1679; “Thirty- two Sermons of Mr. Edward Phillips,” a puritan preacher, taken by him in short-hand. Some additional particulars concerning
His “Reports of Special Cases in the King’s Bench, from
44 Eliz. to 10 Jac. I.
” were originally published in French
by sir W. Wylde, 1661, and 1674, and were afterwards
carefully translated into English, and published in 1735,
folio. Under his name there are extant in print, several speeches in parliament, and particularly one in Rushworth’s collection also “The Rights of the People concerning Impositions,
” Lond. Thirty- two Sermons
of Mr. Edward Phillips,
” a puritan preacher, taken by him
in short-hand. Some additional particulars concerning our
author and his family and descendants may be seen in a
long note to the article of Baroness Grey de Ruthyn, in
Collins’s Peerage. It is remarkable that sir Henry, who,
we are inclined to think, was a man of independent spirit,
fell under king James’s displeasure in 1609, by his freedom of speech and conduct in parliament. His own narrative of this affair was lately communicated to the society
of antiquaries, and is printed in the “Archaeologia,
” vol.
XV.
blished, with which the bishop was so pleased, that he told the chapter he was concerned to find the preacher had one of the worst prebends in their church. Some time after
, a very celebrated and popular English poet, was born at Upham, near Winchester, in June 1681. He was the son of Edward Young, at that time fellow of Winchester college, and rector of Upham: who was the son of John Young of Woodhay, in Berkshire, styled by W T ood, gentleman. In September 1682 the poet’s father was collated to the prebend of Gillingham Minor, in the church of Sarum, by bishop Ward. When Ward’s faculties were impaire'd by age, his duties were necessarily performed by others. We learn from Wood, that at a visitation of bishop Sprat, July 12, 1686, the prebendary preached a Latin sermon, afterwards published, with which the bishop was so pleased, that he told the chapter he was concerned to find the preacher had one of the worst prebends in their church. Some time after this, in consequence of his merit and reputation, and of the interest of lord Bradford, to whom, in 1702, he dedicated two volumes of sermons, he was appointed chaplain to king William and queen Mary, and preferred to the, deanery of Salisbury, where he died in 1705, in the sixtythird of his age.
entitled” An Apology for Princes, or the reverence due to government.“He soon became a very popular preacher, and was very much followed for the grace and animation of his
Not long after he took orders, he published in prose,
tf A true Estimate of Human Life,“and a sermon preached
before the House of Commons on Jan. 30, 1729, entitled
” An Apology for Princes, or the reverence due to government.“He soon became a very popular preacher, and was
very much followed for the grace and animation of his delivery. According to his life in the
” Biographia," he was
pnce in his life deserted by his oratorical talents. As he
was preaching in his turn at St James’s, he plainly perceived it was out of his power to command the attention
ef his audience. This so affected his feelings, that he sat
back in the pulpit, and burst into tears.
Leaving the university, he became first a preacher at Murten in the Pays de Vaud, whence he was translated to Moti
Leaving the university, he became first a preacher at Murten in the Pays de Vaud, whence he was translated to Moti stein, in the Grisons, and soon after was invited to Isenburg. Kone of these places enjoyed him long; for, at the age of eight-and-twenty, he was appointed to the office of preacher to the reformed church at Leipsic. This was a theatre worthy of his abilities; and his church was soon crowded with the chief people of the city, and the members of the university. His attention was not confined to the pulpit. Psalmody and prayer formed, in his estimation, an essential part of public worship; and his selection of hymns, in which the productions of the most esteemed modern poets of Germany Gellert, Cramer, and Klopstock, were not forgotten, appeared in 1766. He was twice married; but both marriages were childless. After having fulfilled the duties of his place till within a year of his decease, he formed the resolution of resigning his office; but, at the united request of his congregation, who acceded to his preaching a discourse only once a fortnight, he was still induced to remain in his situation. A short time only elapsed before he was called from them, after an illness extremely painful, which he bore with the patience of a wise man, and the resignation of a Christian. He died Jan. 22, 1788, aged fifty-eight. The whole of his numerous congregation, together with some hundred students of the university, attended His body t6 the grave on the 25th, with every token of unfeigned sorrow.
means deliver souls infallibly from purgatory.” Zuinglius declaimed powerfully not only against the preacher, but even against the indulgences, or at least the use that
In 1519 a Franciscan of Milan, being sent from Leo X.
as general visitor of his order, came to publish indulgences
at Zurich, and preached according to the usual manner;
namely, “That the pope had granted an absolute pardon of
sins to those who. purchased such indulgences with money,
and that men might by this means deliver souls infallibly
from purgatory.
” Zuinglius declaimed powerfully not
only against the preacher, but even against the indulgences,
or at least the use that was made of them. Hugh, bishop
of Constance, supposing that he was displeased only with
th.e abuse of them, exhorted him to go on, aad promised
him his patronage; but Zuinglius went farther, and solicited the bishop, and the pope’s legate in Switzerland, to
favour the doctrine he was about to establish, and which
he called evangelical truth. The bishop and the legate refusing to hearken to his proposals, he told them, that he
would oppose the errors of the court of Rome, and propagate his own doctrines, in defiance of them; and thus continued to preach, from 1519 to 1523, not only against indulgences, but other articles of the catholic church.