upon a general charge imputing to the Church of England the great crime of Schism and by this they thought they might with most probability deceive unwary and unskilful Readers for they saw the Schism and they saw we had left them and because they consider'd not the Causes they resolved to out-face us in the Charge The Bishop now having an Argument fit to employ his great abilities undertakes the question and in a full Discourse proves the Church of Rome not only to be guilty of the Schism by making it necessary to depart from them but they did actuate the Schism and themselves made the first separations in the great point of the Pope's Supremacy which was the palladium for which they principally contended He made it appear that the Popes of Rome were Usurpers of the Rights of Kings and Bishops that they brought in new Doctrines in every Age that they impos'd their own devices upon Christendom as Articles of Faith that they prevaricated the Doctrines of the Apostles that the Church of England only return'd to her Primitive purity that she joyn'd with Christ and his Apostles that she agreed in all the sentiments of the Primitive Church 18. The old Bishop of Chalcedon known to many of us replyed to this excellent Book but was soon answer'd by a Rejoynder made by the Lord Bishop of Derry in which he so pressed the former Arguments refuted the Cavils brought in so many imimpregnable Authorities and probations and added so many moments and weights to his Discourse that the pleasures of reading the Book would be the greatest if the profit to the Church of God were not greater Whenever men will desire to be satisfied in those great questions the Bishop of Derry's Book shall be their Oracle 19. I will not insist upon his other excellent Writings but it is known every where with what Piety and acumen he wrote against the Manichaean Doctrine of fatal necessity which a late witty man had pretended to adorn with a new Vizor but this excellent person washed off the ceruss and the meretricious paintings rarely well asserted the Oeconomy of the Divine Providence and having once more triumph'd over his Adversary betook himself to the more agreeable attendance upon Sacred Offices and having usefully and wisely discoursed of the Sacred Rite of Confirmation impos'd hands upon the most illustrious Princes the Dukes of York and Glocester and the Princess Royal and ministred to them the promise of the Holy Spirit and ministerially established them in the Religion and Service of the Holy Jesus 20. And one thing more I shall remark that at his leaving those parts upon the Kings Return some of the Remonstrant Ministers of the Low-Countries coming to take their leaves of his great man and desiring that by his means the Church of England would be kind to them He had reason to grant it because they were learned men and in many things of a most excellett Belief yet he reproved them and gave them caution against it that they approached too near and gave too much countenance to the great and dangerous errours of the Socinians 21. He thus having serv'd God and the King abroad God was pleas'd to return to the King and to us all as in the days of old and we sung the Song of David In convertendo captivitatem Sion When King David and all his Servants returned to Jerusalem this great person having trod in the Wine-press was called to drink of the Wine and as an honorary Reward of his great Services and Abilities was chosen Primate of this National Church He had this Remark in all his Government that as he was a great hater of Sacriledge so he professed himself a publick enemy to non-residence and religiously against it allowing it in no case but of necessity or the greater good of the Church 22. There are great things spoken of his Predecessor St. Patrick that he founded 700 Churches and Religious Covents that he ordained 5000 Priests and with his own hands Consecrated 350 Bishops How true the story is I know not but we are all witnesses that the late Primate whose memory we now Celebrate did by an extraordinary contingency of Providence in one day consecrate two Archbishops and ten Bishops and did benefit to almost all the Churches in Ireland and was greatly instrumental to the endowments of the whole Clergy and in the greatest abilities and incompararable industry was inferiour to none of his most glorious Antecessors 23. The Character which was given of that Learned Primate Richard of Armagh by Trithemius does exactly fit this our Father Vir in divinis c. He was learned in the Scriptures skilled in secular Philosophy and not unknowing in the Civil and Canon Laws in which studies I wish the Clergy were with some carefulness and diligence still more conversant He was of an excellent Spirit a Scholar in his Discourses an early and industrious Preacher to the People And as if there were a more particular sympathy between their souls our Primate had so great a veneration to his Memory that he purposed if he had lived to have restor'd his Monument in Dundalk which time or impiety or unthankfulness had either omitted or destroyed So great a lover he was of all true and inherent worth that he loved it in the very memory of the Dead and to have such great examples transmitted to the intuition and imitation of Posterity 24. At his coming to the Primacy he knew he should at first espy little besides the ruines of Discipline a Harvest of Thorns and Heresies prevailing in the hearts of the people the Churches possessed by Wolves and Intruders mens hearts greatly estranged from true Religion and therefore he set himself to weed the Fields of the Church He treated the Adversaries sometimes sweetly sometimes he confuted them learnedly sometimes he rebuked them sharply He visited his Charges diligently and in his own person not only by proxies and instrumental deputations he design'd nothing that we know of but the Redintegration of Religion the Honour of God and the King the restoring of collapsed Discipline and the renovation of the Faith and the Service of God in the Churches and still he was indefatigable and even in the last Scene of his life not willing that God should take him unemployed 25. The last of January God sent him a brisk alarm of Death whereupon he made his Will in which beside the prudence and presence of Spirit manifested in making a just and wise settlement of his Estate and provisions for his descendants at midnight and in the trouble of his sickness and circumstances of addressing death he kept still a special sentiment and made confession of Gods admirable mercies and gave thanks that God had permitted him to live to see the blessed Restauration of his Majesty and the Church of England confessed his Faith to be the same as ever gave praises to God that he was born and bred up in this Religion and prayed
as it is the best incentive to great things so to conceal what good God hath wrought by them is great unthankfulness to God and good men 2. This great man whom God hath lately taken from our eies was bred in Cambridge in Sidney Colledge under Mr Hulet a grave and a worthy man and he shewed himself not only a fruitful plant by his great progress in his studies but made him another return of gratitude by taking care to provide a good employment for him in Ireland where he then began to be greatly interested Augustus Caesar gave his Tutor an honourable Funeral Marcus Antonius erected a Statue to his Gratian the Emperour made his Master Ausonius to be Consul and our worthy Primate suffered not the industry of his teacher to pass unrewarded 3. Having passed the course of his studies in the University and done his Exercise with that Applause which is usually the reward of pregnant wits and hard study he was remov'd into Yorkshire where first in the City of York he was an assiduous Preacher but by the Disposition of Divine providence he happened to be engaged at Northalerton in disputation with three pragmatical Romish Priests of the Jesuits order whom he so much worsted in the Conference and so shamefully disadvantaged by the evidence of Truth represented Wisely and Learnedly that the famous Primate of York Archb. Matthews a learned and most excellent Prelate and a most worthy Preacher hearing of that Triumph sent for him and made him his Chaplain In whose service he continued till the Death of the Primate but in that time had given so much testimony of his great dexterity in the Conduct of Ecclesiastical and Civil Assairs that he grew dear to his Master and in that employment was made Prebendary of York and then of Rippon The Dean of which Church having made him his Sub-dean he managed the affairs of that Church so well that he soon acquired a greater fame and entred into the possession of many hearts and admiration to those many more that knew him 4. There and at his Parsonage he continued long to do the duty of a Learned and good Preacher and by his wisedome eloquence and deportment so gain'd the Affections of the Nobility Gentry and Commons of that County that as at his return thither upon the blessed Restauration of his most Sacred Majesty he knew himself obliged enough and was so kind as to give them a Visit so they by their coming in great numbers to meet him their joyful reception of him their great caressing of him when he was there their forward hopes to enjoy him as their Bishop their trouble at his departure their unwillingness to let him go away gave signal testimonies that they were wise and kind enough to understand and value his great worth 5. But while he lived there he may seem like a Diamond in the dust his low fortune cover'd a most valuable person till he became observ'd by Sir Tho. Wentworth Lord President of York whom we all knew for his great excellencies and his great but glorious misfortunes This great person espied the great abilities of Doctor Bramhall and made him his Chaplain and brought him into Ireland as one whom he believed would prove the most fit instrument to serve in that design which for two years before his arrival here he had greatly meditated and resolved the Reformation of Religion and the Reparation of the broken Fortunes of the Church 6. The complaints were many the abuses great the Causes of the Church vastly numerous but as fast as they were brought in so fast they were by the Lord Deputy referred back to Doctor Bramhall Who by his indefatigable pains great sagacity perpetual watchfulness daily and hourly consultations reduc'd things to a more tolerable condition than they had been left in by the Schismatical principles of some and the unjust prepossessions of others for many years before For the Bishops were easie to be oppress'd by those that would and they complained but for a long time had no helper till God raised up that glorious instrument the Earl of Strafford who brought over with him as great affections to the Church and to all publick interests and as admirable abilities as ever before his time did invest and adorn any of the Kings Vice-gerents 7. And God fitted his hand with an instrument as good as his skill was great For the first Specimen of his Abilities and diligence in recovery of some lost Tithes being represented to his late Majesty of blessed and glorious Memory it pleased his Majesty upon the Death of Bishop Downham to advance the Doctor to the Bishoprick of Derry Which he not only adorned with an excellent spirit and a wise Government but did more than double tht Revenue not by taking any thing from them to whom it was due but by resuming some of the Churches Patrimony which by undue means was detained in unfitting hands 8. But his care was beyond his Diocess and his zeal broke out to warm all his Brethren for by the favour of the Lord Lieutenant and his own incessant and assiduous labour and wise conduct he bought in divers Impropriations cancell'd many unjust alienations and did restore them to a condition much more tolerable I say much more tolerable for though he rais'd them above contempt yet they were not near to envy But he knew there could not in all times be wanting too many that envied to the Church every degree of prosperity And for ever since the Church by Gods blessing and the favour of Religious Kings and Princes and pious Nobility hath been endowed with fair Revenues the enemy hath not been wanting by pretences of Religion to take away Gods portion from the Church c. I have heard from a most worthy hand that at his going into England he gave account to the Archbishop of Canterbury of 30000 l. a year in the recovery of which he was greatly and principally instrumental 9. But his care was not determined in the exteriour part only and accessories of Religion he was careful and he was prosperous in it to reduce that Divine and Excellent Service of our Church to publick and constant Exercise to Unity and Devotion and to cause the Articles of the Church of England to be accepted as the rule of publick confessions and perswasions here that they and we might be populus unius labii of one heart and one lip building up our hopes of heav'n on a most holy Faith and taking away that Shibboleth which made this Church lisp too undecently And the excellent and wise pains he took in this particular no man can dehonestate or reproach but he that is not willing to confess That the Church of England is the best Reformed Church in the World God by the prosperity of his labours and a blessed effect gave testimony not only of the piety and wisdom of his purposes but that he loves to bless a wise instructor when he is vigorously
employed in a wise and Religious Lahour 10. These were great things and matter of great envy At first the product was nothing but great admiration at his stupendious parts and wonder at his mighty diligence and observation of his unusual zeal but this quickly past into the natural daughters of envy obloquy and slander His zeal for recovery of the Church Revenues was called oppression and rapine his care of reducing Religion to wise and justifiable Principles was called Popery and Arminianism and I know not what names which signifie what the Authors are pleas'd to mean and the people to construe and to hate This made him to walk more warily and do justly and act prudently and conduct his Affairs by the measure of Laws as far as he understood and indeed that was a very great way And though every slanderer could tell a story yet none could prove that ever he receiv'd a bribe to blind his eyes to the value of a pair of Gloves It was his own expression when he gave Glory to God who had preserv'd him innocent 11. See the greatness of truth and prudence and how greatly God stood with him When the numerous Armies of vexed people heaped up Catalogues of Accusations when the Parliament of Ireland imitated the violent procedures of the then disordered English when his glorious Patron was taken from his head and he was disrobed of his great defences when Petitions were invited and Accusations furnished and Calumny was rewarded and managed with Art and Power when there was above 200 Petitions put in against him and himself denyed leave to answer by word of mouth when he was long imprison'd and treated so that a guilty man would have been broken into affrightment and pittiful and low considerations yet then he himself standing almost alone like Callimachus at Marathon invested with Enemies and cover'd with Arrows defended himself beyond all the powers of guiltiness even with the defences of Truth and the bravery of Innocence and answer'd the Petitions in Writing sometimes 20 in a day with so much clearness evidence of truth reality of fact and testimony of Law that his very enemies were asham'd and convinc'd they found they had done like AEsop's Viper they licked the File till their tongues bled but himself was wholly invulnerable 12. They were therefore to leave their Muster rolls and decline the particulars and fall to their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to accuse him for going about to subvert the Fundamental Laws the way by which great Stafford and Canterbury fell Which was a device when all reasons fail'd to oppress the Enemy by the bold affirmation of a conclusion they could not prove But the Martyr-King Charles the first of most glorious and eternal memory seeing so great a Champion likely to be oppress'd with numbers and despair sent what rescue he could his Royal Letter for his Bail which was hardly granted to him and when it was it was upon such hard terms that his very delivery was a persecution He that does great things cannot avoid the tongues and teeth of Envy but if Calumnies must pass for Evidences the bravest Heroes must always be the most reproached persons in the world But God who takes care of Reputations as he does of Lives by the orders of his Providence confutes the slanderer that the memory of the righteous man might be embalm'd with Honour And so it hapned to this great man For by a publick warrantry by the concurrent consent of both Houses of Parliament the Libellous Petitions against him the false Records and publick Monuments of injurious shame were cancell'd and he was restor'd in integrum to that fame where his great Labours and just Procedures had first instated him Which though it was but justice yet it was also such an honour that it is greater than the virulence of tongues which Stratagem they did in part by open Force they turned the Bishop out of the Town and upon trifling and unjust pretences search'd his Carriages and took what they pleas'd till they were asham'd to take more However though the usage was sad yet it was recompenc'd to him by his taking Sanctuary in Oxford where he was graciously receiv'd by that most incomparable and divine Prince But having serv'd the King in Yorkshire by his Pen and by his Counsels and by his Interest he return'd back to Ireland where under the excellent conduct of his Grace the now Lord Lieutenant he ran the risque and fortune of oppressed Virtue 15. But God having still resolv'd to afflict us the good man was forced into the fortune of the Patriarchs to leave his Country and his Charges and seek for safety and bread in a strange Land He was not asham'd to suffer where the Cause was honourable and glorious Thus God provided for the needs of his banished and sent a man who could minister comfort to the afflicted and courage to the persecuted and resolution to the tempted and strength to that Religion for which they all suffered 16. And here this great man was indeed triumphant for so it was that he stood in publick and brave defence for the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England There wanted not diligent Tempters in the Church of Rome who taking advantage of the Afflictions of his Sacred Majesty in which state men commonly suspect every thing and like men in sickness are willing to change from side to side hoping for ease and finding none flew at Royal Game and hop'd to draw away the King from that Religion which his most Royal Father the best Man and the wisest Prince in the world had seal'd with the best Blood in Christendom and which himself suck'd in with his Education and had confirmed by choice and reason and confess'd publickly and bravely and hath since restor'd prosperously Millitier was the man witty and bold enough to attempt a zealous and a foolish undertaking and address'd himself with ignoble indeed but witty Arts to perswade the King to leave what was dearer to him than his eyes It is true it was a Wave dash'd against a Rock and an Arrow shot against the Sun it could not reach him but the Bishop of Derry turn'd it also and made it fall upon the Shooters head For he made so ingenious so learned and so acute Reply to that Book he so discover'd the Errours of the Roman Church retorted the Arguments stated the Questions demonstrated the Truth and shamed their Procedures that nothing could be a greater Argument of the Bishops Learning great Parts deep Judgment quickness of Apprehension and sincerity in the Catholick and Apostolick Faith or of the Follies and Prevarications of the Church of Rome 17. But this most Reverend Prelate found a nobler adversary and a braver Scene for his Contention He found that the Roman Priests being wearied and baffled by the wise Discourses and pungent Arguments of the English Divines studiously declin'd any more to dispute the particular questions against us but fell at last
to God and hoped he should die in the Communion of this Church which he declared to be the most pure and Apostolical Church in the whole world He prayed to God to pardon his frailties and infirmities relyed upon the Mercies of God and the Merits of Jesus Christ and with a singular sweetness resign'd up his soul into the hands of his Redeemer 26. But God who is the great Choragus and Master of the Scenes of Life and Death was not pleas'd to draw the Curtains There was an Epilogue to his life yet to be acted and spoken He returned to Actions of Life and went on in the methods of the same procedure as before was desirous still to establish the Affairs of the Church complain'd of some disorders which he purposed to redress girt himself to the work but though his Spirit was willing yet his Flesh was weak and he was heavy unto death and look'd for the last warning which seiz'd on him in the midst of business and though it was sudden yet it could not be unexpected or unprovided by surprize and therefore could be no other than that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Augustus used to wish unto himself a civil and well natur'd death without the amazement of troublesome circumstances His passive fortitude had been abundantly tryed before and therefore there was the less need of it now his active Graces had been abundantly demonstrated by the great and good things he did and therefore his last Scene was not so laborious but God call'd him away something after the manner of Moses which the Jews express by osculum oris Dei the kiss of Gods mouth that is a death indeed foresignified but gentle and serene and without temptation 27. To sum up all he was a wise Prelate a learned Doctor a just Man a true Friend a great Benefactor to others a thankful Beneficiary where he was obliged himself He was a faithful Servant to his Masters a loyal Subject to the King a zealous Assertor of his Religion against Popery on the one side and Fanaticism on the other The practice of his Religion was not so much in form and exteriour Ministeries though he was a great observer of all the publick Rites and Ministeries of the Church as it was in doing good for others He had the sate of the Apostle St. Paul he passed through evil report and good report as a deceiver and yet true He was a man of great business and great resort he divided his life into Labour and his Book he took care of his Churches when he was alive and even after his death having left 500 l. for the repair of his Cathedral of Armagh and St. Peters Church in Drogheda He was an excellent Scholar and rarely well accomplished first instructed to great excellency by natural parts and then consummated by study and experience Melancthon was us'd to say that himself was a Logician Pomeranus a Grammarian Justus Jonas an Orator but that Luther was all these It was greatly true of him that the single perfections which make many men eminent were united in this Primate and made him illustrious It will be hard to find his equal in all things for in him were visible the great lines of Hookers Judiciousness of Jewels Learning and of the Acuteness of Bishop Andrews He wrote many things fit to be read and did very many things worthy to be written which if we wisely imitate we may hope to meet him in the Resurrection of the Just. Ob. 1663. X. Dr. Jeremy Taylor L d Bishop of Down From Dr. George Rust. 1. HE was born at Cambridge and brought up in the Free-School there and was ripe for the University afore Custom would allow of his admittance but by that time he was thirteen years old he was entred into Caius Colledge and as soon as he was Graduate he was chosen Fellow 2. He was a Man long afore he was of Age and knew little more of the state of Childhood than its Innocency and pleasantness From the University by that time he was Master of Arts he removed to London and became publick Lecturer in the Church of St. Pauls where he preached to the admiration and astonishment of his Auditory and by his florid and youthful Beauty and sweet and pleasant Air and sublime and rais'd Discourses he made his Hearers take him for some young Angel newly descended from the visions of Glory 3. The Fame of this new Star that out-shone all the rest of the Firmament quickly came to the notice of the great Archbishop of Canterbury who would needs have him Preach before him which he performed not less to his wonder than satisfaction His Discourse was beyond exception and beyond imitation Yet the wise Prelate thought him too young But the great youth humbly beg'd his Grace to pardon that fault and promis'd if he liv'd he would mend it 4. However the grand Patron of Learning and ingenuity thought it for the advantage of the world that such mighty parts should be afforded better opportunities of study and improvement than a course of constant Preaching would allow of And to that purpose he plac'd him in the Colledge of All-Souls in Oxford where love and admiration still waited upon him which so long as there is any spark of Ingenuity in the breasts of men must needs be the inseparable attendants of so extraordinary a worth and sweetness 5. He had not been long here afore my Lord of Canterbury bestowed upon him the Rectory of Upingham in Rutland-shire and soon after preferr'd him to be Chaplain to King Charles the Martyr of Blessed and immortal Memory Thus were Preferments heaped upon him but still less than his deserts and that not through the fault of his great Masters but because the amplest Honours and Rewards were poor and inconsiderable compar'd with the greatness of his worth and merit 6. This great man had no sooner launch'd out into the world but a fearful tempest arose and a barbarous and unnatural War disturb'd a long and uninterrupted Peace and Tranquillity and brought all things into disorder and confusion But his Religion taught him to be Loyal and engaged him on his Princes side whose cause and quarrel he always owned and maintain'd with a great courage and constancy till at last he and his little Fortune were shipwrack'd in that great Hurricane that over-turn'd both Church and State This fatal storm cast him ashore in a private corner of the world and a tender Providence shrouded him under her wings and the Prophet was fed in the Wilderness and his great worthiness procur'd him friends that supply'd him with bread and necessaries 7. In this solitude he began to write those excellent Discourses which are enough of themselves to furnish a Library and will be famous to all succeeding Generations for their greatness of Wit and profoundness of Judgment and richness of Fansie and clearness of Expression and copiousness of Invention and general usefulness to all the purposes of a
Christian. And by these he soon got a great Reputation among all persons of judgment and indifferency and his Name will grow greater still as the world grows better and wiser 8. When he had spent some years in this retirement it pleased God to visit his Family with Sickness and to take to himself the dear pledges of his favour three Sons of great hopes and expectations within the space of two or three months And though he had learn'd a quiet submission unto the Divine will yet the Affliction touch'd him so sensibly that it made him desirous to leave the Country And going to London he there met my Lord Conway a person of great Honour and Generosity who making a kind profer the good man embrac'd it and that brought him over into Ireland and settled him at Portmore a place made for study and contemplation which he therefore dearly loved And here he wrote his Cases of Conscience a Book that is able alone to give its Author Immortality 9. By this time the wheel of Providence brought about the Kings happy Restauration and there began a new world and the Spirit of God mov'd upon the face of the Waters and out of a confused Chaos brought forth Beauty and Order and all the three Nations were inspir'd with a new Life and became Drunk with an excess of Joy Among the rest this Loyal Subject went over to Congratulate the Prince and Peoples Happiness and bear a part in the Universal Triumph 10. It was not long after his Sacred Majesty began the settlement of the Church and the Great Doctor Jeremey Taylor was resolv'd upon for the Bishoprick of Down and Conor and not long after Dromore was added to it And it was but reasonable that the King and Church should consider their Champion and reward the pains and sufferings he underwent in the defence of their Cause and Honour 11. With what care and faithfulness he discharg'd his Office we are all his witnesses what good Rules and Directions he gave his Clergy and how he taught us the practice of them by his own Example Upon his coming over Bishop he was made a Privy Counsellor and the University of Dublin gave him their Testimony by recommending him for their Vice-Chancellor which honourable Office he kept to his dying day 12. During his being in this See he wrote several excellent Discourses particularly his Disswasive from Popery which was received by a general Approbation and a Vindication of it from some impertinent Cavillers that pretend to answer Books when there is nothing towards it more than the very Title Page 13. This great Prelate improv'd his Talent with a mighty industry and managed his Stewardship rarely well and his Master when he call'd for his Accounts found him busie and at his work and employ'd upon an excellent Subject A Discourse upon the Beatitudes Which if finish'd would have been of great use to the world and solv'd most of the Cases of Conscience that occur to a Christian in all the varieties of states and conditions But the All-wise God hath ordained it otherwise and hath call'd home his good Servant to give him a portion in that blessedness that Jesus Christ hath promised to all his faithful Disciples and Followers 14. Thus having given you a brief account of his Life I will add a Character of his person although the Subject can hardly be reach'd by any expressions for he was none of Gods ordinary works but his Endowments were so many and so great as really made him a Miracle 15. Nature had befriended him much in his constitution for he was a person of a most sweet and obliging Humour of great Candour and ingenuity and there was so much of Salt and fineness of Wit and prettiness of address in his familiar Discourses as made his Conversation have all the pleasantness of a Comedy and all the usefulness of a Sermon His Soul was made up of Harmony and he never spake but he charm'd his Hearer not only with the clearness of his Reason but all his words and his very Tone and Cadencies were strangely Musical 16. But that which did most of all captivate and enrich was the gaiety and richness of his Fansie For he had much in him of that natural Enthusiasm that inspires all great Poets and Orators and there was a generous ferment in his Blood and Spirits that set his Fansie bravely a work and made it swell and teem and become pregnant to such degrees of Luxuriancy as nothing but the greatness of his Wit and Judgment could have kept it within due bounds and measures 17. And indeed it was a rare mixture and a single instance hardly to be found in any Age. For the great Tryer of Wits has told us That there is a peculiar and several Complexion requir'd for Wit and Judgment and Fansie and yet you might have found all these in this great Personage in their eminency and perfection 18. But that which made his Wit and Judgment so considerable was the largeness and freedom of his Spirit For Truth is plain and easie to a mind disintangled from Superstition and prejudice He was one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sort of brave Philosophers that Laërtius speaks of that did not addict themselves to any particular Sect but ingenuously sought for Truth among all the wrangling Schools And they found her miserably torn and rent to pieces and parcell'd into rags by the several contending parties and so dis-figur'd and mishapen that it was hard to know her but they made a shift to gather up her scatter'd Limbs which as soon as they came together by a strange sympathy and connaturalness presently united into a lovely and beautiful Body 19. This was the Spirit of this great man he weighed mens Reasons and not their Names and was not scar'd with the ugly Vizars men usually put upon persons they hate and opinions they dislike nor affrighted with the Anathema's and Execrations of an Infallible Chair which he looked upon only as Bugbears to terrifie weak and childish minds He consider'd that it is not likely any one party should wholly engross Truth to themselves that Obedience is the only way to true knowledge which is an Argument that he hath manag'd rarely well in that excellent Sermon of his which he calls Via intelligentiae that God always and only teaches docible and ingenuous minds that are willing to hear and ready to obey according to their Light that it is impossible a pure humble resigned God-like Seul should be kept out of Heav'n whatever mistakes it might be subject to in this state of Mortality that the design of Heav'n is not to fill mens Heads and feed their Curiosities but to better their Hearts and mend their Lives Such considerations as these made him impartial in his disquisitions and give a due allowance to the Reasons of his Adversary and contend for Truth and not for Victory 20. To these advantages of Nature and excellency of
his Spirit he added an indefatigable Industry and God gave a plentiful Benediction for there were very few kinds of Learning but he was a Mystes and a great Master in them 21. He was a rare Humanist and hugely verst in all the polite parts of Learning and had throughly concocted all the antient Moralists Greek and Roman Poets and Orators and was not unacquainted with the refined Wits of the later Ages whether French or Italian 22. But he had not only the Accomplishments of a Gentleman but so universal were his parts that they were proportion'd to every thing And though his Spirit and Humour were made up of smoothness and gentleness yet he could bear with the harshness and roughness of the Schools and was not unseen in their subtilties and spinosities and upon occasion could make them serve his purpose And yet I believe he thought many of them very near a kin to the Famous Knight of the Muncha and would make sport sometimes with the Romantick Sophistry and phantastick Adventures of School-Errantry 23. His skill was great both in the Civil and Canon Law and Casuistical Divinity And he was a rare conductor of Souls and knew how to counsel and to advise to solve difficulties and determine Cases and quiet Consciences And he was no Novice in Mr. S.'s new Science of Controversie but could manage an Argument and make reparties with a strange dexterity He understood what the several Parties in Christendom have to say for themselves and could plead their cause to better advantage than any Advocate of their Tribe and when he had done he could confute them too and shew that better Arguments than ever they could produce for themselves would afford no sufficient ground for their fond Opinions 24. I shall adde only his great acquaintance with the Fathers and Ecclesiastical Writers and the Doctors of the first and purest Ages both of the Greek and Latin Church which he has made use of against the Romanists to vindicate the Church of England from the Challenge of Innovation and prove her to be truly Antient Catholick and Apostolical 25. But Religion and Virtùe is the Crown of all other Accomplishments and it was the Glory of this great man to be thought a Christian and whatever you added to it he look'd upon as a term of diminution And yet he was a zealous Son of the Church of England but that was because he judg'd her and with great reason a Church the most purely Christian of any in the world 26. In his younger years he met with some assaults from Popery and the high pretensions of their Religious Orders were very accommodate to his devotional Temper But he was always so much Master of himself that he would never be govern'd by any thing but Reason and the evidence of Truth which engag'd him in the study of those Controversies and to how good purpose the world by this time a sufficient witness But the longer and the more he consider'd the worse he lik'd the Roman Cause and became at last to censure them with some severity but I confess I have so great an opinion of his Judgment and the Charitableness of his Spirit that I am afraid he did not think worse of them than they deserve 27. But Religion is not matter of Theory and Orthodox Notions and it is not enough to believe aright but we must practice accordingly and to Master our Passions and to make a right use of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and power that God has given us over our own actions is a greater glory than all other Accomplishments that can adorn the mind of man And therefore I shall close my Character of this great Personage with a touch upon some of those Virtues for which his Memory will be precious to all Posterity 28. He was a person of great Humility and notwithstanding his stupendious Parts and Learning and eminency of place he had nothing in him of Pride and Humour but was courteous and affable and of easie access and would lend a ready ear to the Complaints yea to the impertinences of the meanest persons 29. His Humility was coupled with an extraordinary Piety and I believe he spent the greatest part of his time in Heaven His solemn hours of Prayer took up a considerable portion of his life and we are not to doubt but he had learn'd of St. Paul to pray continually and that occasional ejaculations and frequent aspirations and emigrations of his Soul after God made up the best part of his Devotions 30. But he was not only a good man God-ward but he was come to the top of St. Peters Gradation and to all his other Virtues added a large and diffusive Charity And whoever compares his plentiful Incomes with the inconsiderable estate he left at his Death will be easily convinc'd that Charity was steward for a great proportion of his Revenue But the Hungry that he fed and the Naked that he cloath'd and the distress'd that he supply'd and the fatherless that he provided for the poor Children that he put to Apprentice and brought up at school and maintain'd at the University will not sound a Trumpet to that Charity which he dispersed with his right hand but wouldnot suffer his left hand to have any knowledge of it 31. To sum up all in a few words This Great Prelate had the Good Humour of a Gentleman the Eloquence of an Orator the Fansie of a Poet the acuteness of a Schoolman The profoundness of a Philosopher the Wisdom of a Chancellor the Sagacity of a Prophet the Reason of an Angel and the Piety of a Saint He had Devotion enough for a Cloister Learning enough for an University and Wit enough for a Colledge of Virtuosi And had his Parts and Endowments been parcell'd out among his poor Clergy that he left behind him it would perhaps have made one of the best Diocese in the world 32. But alas Our Father Our Father The Horses of our Israel and the Chariot thereof He is gone and has carried his Mantle and his Spirit along with him up to Heaven and the Sons of the Prophets have lost all their beauty and lustre which they enjoy'd only from the reflection of his Excellencies which were bright and radiant enough to cast a glory upon a whole order of Men. But the Sun of this our world after many attempts to break through the crust of an earthly Body is at last swallow'd up in the great Vortex of Eternity and there all his Maculae are scatter'd and dissolv'd and he is fix'd in an Orb of Glory and shines among his Brethren-stars that in their several Ages gave Light to the world and turn'd many Souls unto Righteousness 33. And we that are left behind though we can never reach his perfections must study to imitate his Virtues that we may at last come to sit at his feet in the Mansions of Glory which God grant for his infinite Mercies in Jesus Christ. Ob. Aug. 13. 1667. Soli Deo Gloria FINIS * Duacens Praef. ad Lib. de triplici Hom. officio * See a former Vol. * AEnea Pila Diog. Laert. * Archbish Laud B Mentague B. Lindsey Mr. John Selden c. * Jo. Antioch hist. tran out of Greek into Latine with Annot.