Alen or learned Doctor Stapleton both English men and in Italy when Mr. Hookers four Books were first printed meeting with this general fame of them were desirous to read an Author that both the Rerformed and the Learned of their own Church did so much magnifie and therefore caused them to be sent for and after reading them boasted to the Pope which then was Clement the eight that though he had lately said he never met with an English Book whose Writer deserved the name of an Author yet there now appear'd a wonder to them and it would be so to his Holiness if it were in Latin for a poor obscure English Priest had writ four such Books of Laws and Church Polity and in a Style that exprest so Grave and such Humble Majesty with clear demonstration of Reason that in all their readings they had not met with any that exceeded him and this begot in the Pope an earnest desire that Doctor Stapleton should bring the said four Books and looking on the English read a part of them to him in Latin which Doctor Stapleton did to the end of the first Book at the conclusion of which the Pope spake to this purpose there is no Learning that this man hath not searcht into nothing too hard for his understanding This man indeed deserves the name of an Author his books will get reverence by Age for there is in them such seeds of Eternity that if the rest be like this they shall last till the last Fire shall consume all Learning Nor was this high the only testimony and commendations given to his Books for at the first coming of King Iames into this Kingdom he inquired of the Archbishop Whitegift for his friend Mr. Hooker that writ the Books of Church Polity to which the answer was that he dyed a year before Queen Elizabeth who received the sad news of his Death with very much Sorow to which the King replyed and I receive it with no less that I shall want the desired happinesse of seeing and discoursing with that man from whose Books I have received such satisfaction Indeed my Lord I have received more satisfaction in reading a Leaf or Paragraph in Mr. Hooker though it were but about the fashion of Churches or Church Musick or the like but especially of the Sacraments than I have had in the reading particular large Treatises written but of one of those subjects by others though very Learned men and I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected Language but a comprehensive deer manifestation of Reason and that back't with the Authority of the Scripture the Fathers and Schoolmen and with all Law both Sacred and Civil And though many others write well yet in the next age they will be forgotten but doubtless there is in every page of Mr. Hookers Book the picture of a Divine Soul such Pictures of Truth and Reason and drawn in so sacred colours that they shall never fade but give an immortal memory to the Author And it is so truly true that he thought what he spake that as the most Learned of the Nation have and still do mention Mr. Hooker with reverence so he also did never mention him but with the Epithite of Learned or Iudicious or Reverend or Venerable Mr. Hooker Nor did his Son our late King Charles the first ever mention him but with the same reverence enjoyning his Son our now gracious King to be studious in Mr. Hookers Books And our learned Antiquary Mr. Cambden mentioning the Death the modesty and other vertues of Mr. Hooker and magnifying his Books wisht that for the honour of this and benefit of other Nations they were turn'd into the Universal Language Which work though undertaken by many yet they have been weary and forsaken it but the Reader may now expect it having been long since begun and lately finisht by the happy pen of Doctor Earl now Lord Bishop of Salisbury of whom I may justly say and let it not offend him because it is such a truth as ought not to be conceal'd from Posterity or those that now live and yet know him not that since Mr. Hooker died none have liv'd whom God hath blest with more innocent Wisdom more sanctified Learning or a more pious peaceable primitive Temper so that this excellent person seems to be only like himself our venerable R. Hooker only fit to make the learned of all Nations happy in knowing what hath been too long confin'd to the language of our little I stand There might be many more and just occasions taken to speak of his Books which none ever did or can commend too much but I decline them and hasten to an account of his Christian behaviour and Death at Borne in which place he continued his customary rules of Mortification and Self-denyal was much in Fasting frequent in Meditation and Prayers injoying those blessed Returns which only men of strict lives feel and know and to which men of loose and Godless lives are Strangers At his entrance into this place his Friendship was much sought for by Doctor Hadrian Saravia then one of the Prebends of Canterbury a German by birth and sometimes a Pastor both in Flanders and Holland where he had studied and well considered the controverted points concerning Episcopacy and Sacrilege and in England had a just occasion to declare his Judgement concerning both unto his Brethren Ministers of the Low Countrys which was excepted against by Theodor Beza and others against whose exceptions he rejoyned and thereby became the happy Author of many Learned Tracts writ in Latin especially of three one of the Degrees of Ministers and of the Bishops Superiority above the Presbytery a second against Sacrilege and a third of Christian Obedience to Princes the last being occasioned by Gretzerus the Jesuit And it is observable that when Beza gave his reasons to the Chancellor of Scotland for the abrogation of Episcopacy in that Nation partly by Letters and more fully in a Treatise of a three-fold Episcopacy which he calls Divine Humane and Satanical this Doctor Saravia had by the help of Bishop Whitgift made such an early discovery of their intentions that he had almost as soon answered that Treatise as it became Publique and therein discovered how Beza's opinion did contradict that of Calvins and their adherents leaving them to interfere with themselves in point of Episcopacy but these Tracts it will not concern me to say more than that they were most of them dedicated to his and the Church of Englands watchful Patron Iohn Whitgift the Archbishop and printed about the year in which Mr. Hooker also appeared first to the world in the Publication of his first four Books of Ecclesiastical Polity This Friendship being sought for by this Learned Doctor you may believe was not denied by M. Hooker who was fortune so like him as to be ingaged against Mr. Trevers Mr. Cartwright and others in a controversie too like Doctor Saravia's So that
makes the Sick mans Bed easie by giving rest to his Soul made his very Languishment comfortable and yet all this time he was solicitous in his Study and said often to Dr. Saravia who saw him daily and was the chief Comfort of his Life That he did not beg a Long life of God for any other reason but to live to finish his three remaining Books of POLITY and then Lord let thy Servant depart in peace which was his usual Expression And God heard his Prayers though he denied the Church the Benefit of them as completed by himself and 't is thought he hastened his own Death by hastening to give Life to his Books But this is certain that the nearer he was to his Death the more he grew in Humility in holy Thoughts and Resolutions About a moneth before his death this Good man that never knew or at least never consider'd the pleasures of the Palate became first to lose his Appetite then to have an aversness to all Food insomuch that he seem'd to live some intermitted weeks by the smell of Meat onely and yet still studied and writ And now his Guardian Angel seem'd to foretell him that the day of his Dissolution drew near for which his vigorous Soul appear'd to thirst In this time of his Sickness and not many days before his Death his House was robb'd of which he having notice his Question was Are my Books and written Papers safe and being answered that they were his Reply was then it matters not for no other loss can trouble me About one day before his death Dr. Saravia who knew the very Secrets of his Soul for they were supposed to be Confessors to each other came to him and after a Conference of the Benefit the Necessity and Safety of the Churches Absolution it was resolved the Doctor should give him both that and the Sacrament the day following To which end the Doctor came and after a short Retirement and Privacy they return'd to the Company and then the Doctor gave him and some Friends with him the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Bloud of our Jesus Which being performed the Doctor thought he saw a reverend Gaity and Joy in his Face but it lasted not long for his bodily Infirmities did return suddenly and became more visible insomuch that the Doctor apprehended Death ready to seize him yet after some amendment left him at night with a promise to return early the day following which he did and then found him better in appearance deep in Contemplation and not inclinable to Discourse which gave the Doctor occasion to require his present Thoughts to which he replied that he was meditating the Number and Nature of Angels and their blessed Obedience and Order without which Peace could not be in Heaven and oh that it might be so on Earth After which words he said I have lived to see this World is made up of Perturbations and I have been long preparing to leave it and gathering Comfort for the dreadful hour of making my Account with God which I now apprehend to be near and though I have by his Grace lov'd him in my Youth and fear'd him in mine Age and labour'd to have a Conscience void of offence to him and to all men yet if thou O Lord be extreme to mark what I have done amiss who can abide it and therefore where I have failed Lord shew mercy to me and since I owe thee a Death Lord let it not be terrible and then take thine own time I submit to it Let not mine O Lord but let thy Will be done with which Expression he fell into a dangerous Slumber dangerous as to his Recovery yet recover he did but it was to speak onely these few words Good Doctor God hath heard my daily Petitions for I am at peace with all men and he is at peace with me and from that blessed assurance I feel that inward joy which this World can neither give nor take from me More he would have spoken but his Spirits failed him and after a short Conflict betwixt Nature and Death a quiet Sigh put a period to his last breath and so he fell asleep And here I draw his Curtain till with the most blessed Martyrs and Confessours this most Learned most Humble Holy Man shall also awake to receive an Eternal Tranquillity and with it a greater Degree of Glory than common Christians shall be made Partakers of till which blessed time Let Glory be to God on high let Peace be upon Earth and Good-will to Mankind Amen Amen This following Epitaph was long since presented to the world in memory of Mr. Hooker by Sir William Cooper who also built him a fair Monument in Borne Church and acknowledges him to have been his Spiritual Father Though nothing can be spoke worthy his Fame Or the Remembrance of that precious Name Iudicious Hooker though this cost be spent On him that hath a Lasting Monument In his own Books yet ought we to express If not his Worth yet our Respectfulness Church Ceremonies he maintain'd then why Without all Ceremony should he dye Was it because his Life and Death should be Both equal paterns of Humility Or that perhaps this only glorious one Was above all to ask why had he none Yet he that lay so long Obscurely low Doth now preferr'd to greater Honors go Ambitious men learn hence to be more wise Humility is the true way to rise And God in me this lesson did Inspire To bid this Humble man Friend sit up higher AN APPENDIX To the LIFE of Mr. Richard Hooker ANd now having by a long and Laborious search satisfied my self and I hope my Reader by imparting to him the true relation of Mr. Hookers Life I am desirous also to acquaint him with some Observations that relate to it and which could not properly fall to be spoken till after his Death of which my Reader may expect a brief and true account in the following Appendix And first it is not to be doubted but that he died in the forty-seventh if not in the forty-sixt year of his Age which I mention because many have believed him to be more aged but I have so examined it as to be confident I mistake not and for the year of his death Mr. Cambden who in his Annals of Queen Elizabeth 1599. mentions him with a high commendation of his Life and Learning declares him to die in the year 1599. and yet in that Inscription of his Monument set up at the charge of Sir William Cooper in Borne Church where Mr. Hooker was buried his Death is said to be in Anno 1603. but doubtless both mistaken for I have it attested under the hand of William Somner the Archbishops Register for the Province of Canterbury that Richard Hookers Will bears date October the 26. in Anno 1600. and that it was prov'd the third of December following And that at his Death he left four Daughters Alice Cicily Iane and Margaret
Friendship of his Edwin Sandys and George Cranmer of whom my Reader may note that this Edwin Sandys was after Sir Edwin Sandys and as famous for his Speculum Europae as his brother George for making Posterity beholden to his Pen by a learned Relation and Comment on his remarkable Travels and for his harmonious Translation of the Psalms of David the Book of Iob and other Poetical parts of Holy Writ into most high and elegant Verse And for Cranmer his other Pupil I shall refer my Reader to the Testimonies of our learned Mr. Cambden the Lord Tottenes Fines Morison and others This Cranmer whose Christen name was George was a Gentleman of singular hopes the eldest Son of Thomas Cranmer Son of Edward Cranmer the Archbishops Brother he spent much of his youth in Corpus-Christi College in Oxford where he continued Master of Arts for many years before he removed and then betook himself to Travel accompanying that worthy Gentleman Sir Edwin Sandys into France Germany and Italy for the space of three years and after their happy return he betook himself to an Imployment under Secretary Davison after whose Fall he went in place of Secretary with Sir Henry Killigrew in his Embassage into France and after his death he was sought after by the most Noble Lord Mount-Ioy with whom he went into Ireland where he remained untill in a battel against the Rebels near Carlingford an unfortunate wound put an end both to his Life and the great Hopes that were conceived of him Betwixt Mr. Hooker and these his two Pupils there was a sacred Friendship a Friendship made up of Religious Principles which increased daily by a similitude of Inclinations to the same Recreations and Studies a Friendship elemented in Youth and in an University free from self-ends which usually the Friendships of Age are not and in this sweet this blessed this spiritual Amity they went on for many years and as the holy Prophet saith so they took sweet counsel together and walked in the House of God as Friends By which means they improved it to such a degree of Amity as bordered upon Heaven a Frienship so sacred that when it ended in this world it began in the next where it shall have no end And though this World cannot give any degree of Pleasure equal to such a Friendship yet Obedience to Parents and a desire to know the Affairs and Manners and Learning of other Nations that they might thereby become the more serviceable unto their own made them put off their Gowns and leave Mr. Hooker to his College Where he was daily more assiduous in his Studies still enriching his quiet and capacious Soul with the precious Learning of the Philosophers Casuists and Schoolmen and with them the Foundation and Reason of all Laws both Sacred and Civil and with such other Learning as lay most remote from the track of common Studies And as he was diligent in these so he seemed restless in searching the scope and intention of Gods Spirit revealed to Mankind in the sacred Scripture for the understanding of which he seemed to be assisted by the same Spirit with which they were written and he would often say The Scripture was not writ to beget Pride and Disputations and Opposition to Government but Humility and Obedience and Peace and Piety in Mankind And that this was really his Judgment did appear in his future Writings and in all the Actions of his Life Nor was this excellent man a stranger to the more light and aëry parts of Learning as Musick and Poëtry all which he had digested and made uselful and of all which the Reader will have a fair testimony in what follows Thus he continued his Studies in all quietness for the space of three or more years about which time he entered into Sacred Orders and was made Deacon and Priest and not long after in obedience to the College Statutes he was to preach either at S. Peters Oxford or at S. Pauls Cross London and the last fell to his allotment In order to which Sermon to London he came and immediately to the Shunamites house which is a House so called for that besides the Stipend paid the Preacher there is provision made also for his Lodging and Diet two days before and one day after his Sermon this House was then kept by Iohn Churchman sometimes a Draper of good note in Watling-street upon whom Poverty had at last come like an armed man and brought him into a Necessitous condition which though it be a punishment is not always an argument of Gods disfavour for he was a good man I shall not yet give the like testimony of his Wife but leave the Reader to judge by what follows But to this House Mr. Hooker came so wet so weary and weather-beaten that he was never known to express more passion than against a Friend that dissuaded him from Footing it to London and for finding him no easier an Horse supposing the Horse trotted when he did not and at this time also such a Faintness and Fear possest him that he would not be persuaded two days Quietness or any other means could be used to make him able to preach his Sundays Sermon but a warm Bed and Rest and Drink proper for a Cold given him by Mrs. Church-man and her diligent Attendance added unto it enabled him to perform the office of the day which was in or about the year 1581. And in this first publick appearance to the World he was not so happy as to be free from Exceptions against a point of Doctrine delivered in his Sermon which was That in God there were two Wills an Antecedent and a Consequent Will his first Will that all mankind should be saved but his second Will was that those onely should be saved that did live answerable to that degree of Grace which he had offered or afforded them This seemed to cross a late Opinion of Mr. Calvins and then taken for granted by many that had not a Capacity to examine it as it had been by him and hath been since by Dr. Iackson and Dr. Hammond who believe that a contrary Opinion trenches upon the Honour and Justice of God How he justified this I will not undertake to declare but it was not excepted against as Mr. Hooker declares in his Answer to Mr. Travers by Iohn Elmer then Bishop of London at this time one of his Auditors and at last one of his Advocates too when Mr. Hooker was accused for it But the Justifying of this Doctrine did not prove of so bad consequence as the Kindness of Mrs. Churchmans curing him of his late Distemper and Cold for that was so gratefully apprehended by Mr. Hooker that he thought himself bound in conscience to believe all that she said so that the Good man came to be persuaded by her that he was a man of a tender constitution and that it was best for him to have a Wife that might prove a Nurse to him such
an one as might both prolong his life and make it more comfortable and such a one she could and would provide for him if he though fit to marry And he not considering that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light but like a true Nathanael fearing no guile because he meant none did give her such a power as Eleazar was trusted with when he was sent to chuse a Wife for Isaac for he trusted her to chuse for him promising upon a fair summors to return to London and accept of her choice And he did so Now the Wife provided for him was her Daughter Ioan who brought him neither Beauty nor Portion and for her Conditions they were too like that Wife 's which is by Solomon compar'd to a dripping house so that he had no reason to rejoyce in the Wife of his youth but too just cause to say with the holy Prophet Wo is me that I am constrained to have my habitation in the tents of Kedar This Choice of Mr. Hookers if it were his Choice may be wondered at but let us consider that the Prophet Ezekiel says There is a wheel within a wheel a secret sacred Wheel of Providence especially in Marriages guided by his hand that allows not the race to the swift nor bread to the wise nor good Wives to good Men and he that can bring good out of evil for Mortals are blind to this Reason onely knows why this blessing was denied to patient Iob and as some think to meek Moses and to our as meek and patient Mr. Hooker But so it was and let the Reader cease to wonder for Affliction is a Divine diet which though it be not pleasing to Mankind yet Almighty God hath often imposed it as Physick to those children whose Souls are dearest to him And by this means the Good man was drawn from the tranquillity of his College from that Garden of Piety of Pleasure of Peace and a sweet Conversation into the thorny Wilderness of a busie World into those corroding cares that attend a married Priest and a Countrey Parsonage which was Draiton Beauchamp in Buckingham-shire not far from Alesbury and in the Diocese of Lincoln to which he was presented by Iohn Cheny Esquire then Patron of it the 9. of December 1594. where he behaved himself so as to give no occasion of Evil but as S. Paul adviseth a Minister of God in much patience in afflictions in anguishes in necessities in poverty and no doubt in long-suffering yet troubling no man with his discontents and wants And in this condition he continued about a year in which time his two Pupils Edwin Sandys and George Craumer were returned from Travel and took a journey to see their Tutor where they found him with a Book in his hand it was the Odes of Horace he being then tending his small allotment of Sheep in a common Field which he told his Pupils he was forced to do for that his Servant was gone home to dine and assist his Wife to do some necessary houshold business When his Servant returned and released him his two Pupils attended him unto his House where their best Entertainment was his Company which was presently denied them for Richard was call'd to rock the Cradle and the rest of their Welcom was so like this that they staid but till next morning which was time enough to discover and pitty their Tutors condition and having given him as much present comfort as they were able they were forced to leave him to the company of his Wife Ioan and seek themselves a quieter Lodging At their returns to London Edwin Sandys acquaints his Father then Archbishop of York with his Tutors sad condition and sollicits for his removal to some Benefice that might give him a more comfortable subsistence which his Father did most willingly grant him when it should next fall into his power And not long after this time which was in the year 1585 Mr. Alvie Master of the Temple died who was a man of a strict Life of great Learning and of so venerable Behaviour as to gain such a degree of love and reverence from all men that he was generally known by the name of FATHER ALVIE At the Temple Reading next after the death of this Father Alvie the Archbishop of York being then at Dinner with the Judges the Reader and Benchers of that Society met with a Condolement for the Death of Father Alvie an high commendation of his Saint-like Life and of his great Merit both to God and Man and as they bewail'd his Death so they wisht for a like Patern of Virtue and Learning to succeed him And here came in a fair occasion for the Bishop to commend Mr. Hooker to Father Alvies Place which he did with so effectual an earnestness and that seconded with so many other Testimonies of his worth that Mr. Hooker was sent for from Draiton Beauchamp to London and there the Mastership of the Temple proposed unto him by the Bishop as a greater freedom from Cares and the advantage of a better Society and a more liberal Pension than his Countrey Parsonage did afford him But these Reasons were not powerful enough to incline him to a willing acceptance of it his wish was rather to gain a better Countrey Living where he might see Gods blessings spring out of the Earth and be free from Noise so he exprest the desire of his Heart and eat that bread which he might more properly call his own in privacy and quietness But notwithstanding this aversness he was at last persuaded to accept of the Bishops Proposal and was by Patent for Life made Master of the Temple the 17. of March 1585. And here I shall make a stop and that the Reader may the better judge of what follows give him a Character of the Times and Temper of the people of this Nation when Mr. Hooker had his Admission into this Place A Place which he accepted rather than desired and yet here he promised himself a virtuous quietness that blessed Tranquillity which he always prayed and labour'd for that so he might in peace bring forth the fruits of peace and glorifie God by uninterrupted prayers and praises for this he always thirsted and yet this was denied him For his Admission into this Place was the very beginning of those Oppositions and Anxieties which till then this Good man was a stranger to and of which the Reader may guess by what follows In this Character of the Times I shall by the Readers favour and for his information look so far back as to the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth a time in which the many pretended Titles to the Crown the frequent Treasons the Doubts of her Successour the late Civil War and the sharp Persecution that raged to the effusion of so much Bloud in the Reign of Queen Mary were fresh in the memory of all men and begot fears in the most
that the fittest time to discover those errors to which health and prosperity had blinded them and having by pious Reasons and Prayers moulded them into holy Resolutions for the time to come he would incline them to Confession and bewailing their sins with purpose to forsake them and then to receive the Communion both as a strengthning of those holy Resolutions as a seal betwixt God and them of his Mercies to their Souls in case that present sickness did put a period to their lives And as he was thus watchful charitable to the sick so he was as diligent to prevent Law-sutes still urging his Parishioners Neighbours to bear with each others infirmities and live in love because as S. John says he that lives in Love lives in God for God is Love And to maintain this holy fire of Love constantly burning on the Altar of a pure heart his advice was to watch and pray and alwayes keep themselves fit to receive the Communion then to receive it often for it was both a Confirming and a Strengthning of their Graces this was his advice and at his entrance or departure out of any House he would usually speak to the whole Family and bless them insomuch that as he seem'd in his youth to be taught of God so he seem'd in this place to teach his Precepts as Enoch did by walking with him in all Holiness and Humility making each day a step towards a blessed Eternity And though in this weak and declining Age of the World such examples are become barren and almost incredible yet let his Memory be blest with this true Recordation because he that praises Richard Hooker praises God who hath given such gifts to men and let this humble and affectionate relation of him become such a pattern as may invite posterity to imitate his vertues This was his constant behaviour at Borne thus did he tread in the footsteps of Primitive Piety and yet as our blessed Iesus was not free from false accusations no more was this Disciple of his this most humble most innocent holy man his was a slander parallel to that of chaste Susannaes by the wicked Elders and which this age calls Trepaning the particulars need not a repetion and that it was false needs no other Testimony than the publick punishment of his Accusers and their open Confession of his Innocency 't was said that the accusation was contrived by a dissenting Brother one that indur'd not Church Ceremonies hating him for his Books sake which he was not able to answer and his Name hath been told me but I have not so much confidence in the relation as to make my Pen fix a scandal on him to posterity I shall rather leave it doubtful till the great day of Revelation But this is certain that he lay under the great charge and the Anketiety of this Accusation and kept it secret to himself for many moneths and being a helplesse man had layn longer under this heavy burthen but that the Protector of the innocent gave such an accidental occasion as forced him to make it known to his two dear Friends Edwin Sandys and George Cranmer who were so sensible of their Tutors sufferings that they gave themselves no rest till by their disquisitions and diligence they had found out the Fraud brought him the welcom news hat his Accusers did confess they had wrong'd him and begg'd his pardon to which the good mans reply was to this purpose the Lord forgive them and the Lord bless you for this comfortable news Now I have a just occasion to say with Solomon Friends are born for the days of adversity and such you have prov'd to me and to my God I say as did the mother of St. Iohn Baptist thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the day wherein he looked upon me to take away my reproach among men And oh my God neither my Life nor my Reputation are safe in mine own keeping but in thine who didst take care of me when I yet hanged upon my Mothers brest blessed are they that put their trust in thee O Lord for when false witnesses were risen up against me when shame was ready to cover my face when I was bowed down with an horrible Dread and went mourning all the day long when my nights were restless and my Sleeps broken with a fear worse than Death when my Soul thirsted for a deliverance as the Heart panteth after the rivers of waters then thou Lord didst hear my Complaints pitty my condition and become my deliverer and as long as I live I will hold up my hands in this manner and magnifie thy mercies who didst not give me over as a prey to mine enemies Oh blessed are they that put their trust in thee and no prosperity shall make me forget to perform those vows that I have made to thee in the days of my affliction for with such sacrifices thou O God art well pleased and I will pay them Thus did the Joy and Gratitude of this Good mans heart break forth and 't is observable that as the invitation to this Slander was his Meek behaviour and Dove-like simplicity for which he was remarkable so his Christian Charity ought to be imitated For though the Spirit of Revenge is so pleasing to Mankind that it is never conquered but by a Supernatural Grace being indeed so deeply rooted in Humane Nature that to prevent the Excesses of it for men would not know Moderation Almighty God allows not any Degree of it to any man but says Vengeance is mine And though this be said by God himself yet this Revenge is so pleasing that Man is hardly persuaded to submit the menage of it to the Time and Justice and Wisdom of his Creator but would hasten to be his own Executioner of it And yet nevertheless if any man ever did wholly decline and leave this pleasing Passion to the Time and Measure of God alone it was this Richard Hooker of whom I write for when his Slanderers were to suffer he laboured to procure their Pardon and when that was denied him his Reply was That however he would fast and pray that God would give them repentance and patience to undergo their punishment And his Prayers were so far returned into his own bosom that the first was granted if we may believe a penitent Behavior and an open Confession And 't is observable that after this time he would often say to Dr. Saravia Oh with what quietness did I enjoy my Soul after I was free from the fears of my Slander and how much more after a Conflict and Victory over my Desires of Revenge In the Year 1600 and of his Age 46 he fell into a long and sharp Sickness occasioned by a Cold taken in his Passage betwixt London and Gravesend from the Malignity of which he was never recovered for till his death he was not free from thoughtful Days and restless Nights but a submission to his Will that