of God's judicial dispensations to us in the last day will be, both completely equitable in itself, and likewise actually applied to all the seve ral individuals of the human race without the least respect of persons: yet, to pretend to draw, solely from the contemplation of God's moral at tributes, any determinate conclusions respecting the actual extent of his be neficence towards mankind; or to infer, merely from the consideration of his immutable hatred of iniquity, what are the specific limits necessarily prescribed by it to the extent of his com passion and practical clemency towards our sinful race, has ever appeared to our minds in the highest degree pre, sumptuous and irrational. For, let us only (for a moment) reflect soberly upon the subject. When we read in Holy Scripture, that "to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses," what other consistent meaning can we possibly annex to such ex on the part of the Supreme Judge and Ruler of the Universe, in certain cir cumstances thus relaxed, and that without the least impeachment of his mo ral character; we must, on theverysaine ground of reasoning, of necessity fur ther own, that to decide judicially and finally with regard to the proper oc casions, and the due extent of such relaxation, is the exclusive province of God's unbounded knowledge and unerring wisdom and consequently, that to affirm (with the writer of these Discourses in the passage above cited) that, but for the satisfaction made for human guilt by Christ, mankind must needs have been irrevocably and universally condemned to eternal punish ment, is (as we have already said) to hazard an assertion in the highest de gree presumptuous and irrational. OXONIENSIS, pression, but the following i viz. that WHEN, after the lapse of a cen the Divine Being, through the essential benignity of his nature, is inva riably disposed to remil, as far as to his infinite wisdom it shall seem proper to remit, the merited punishment of buman guilt? In this sense, and in this only, can we reasonably understand the text just quoted from the Holy Prophet (Daniel ix. 9.), and all other correspondent passages of Scripture. It being to every competent understanding a truth self-evident, that, in no way whatever, except by remit ting, either wholly or in part, the merited penalty of guilt, can mercy (divine or human) be in any instance practically exercised. And, therefore, unless it be consistent with rational piety to ascribe to the Supreme Being a specific moral excellence, which the paramount influence of some other divine attribute is continually over-ruling goi. c. (in other words) unless we impute to the Divine mind conflicting excellences and attributes, we must of necessity acknowledge that, truly speaking, there is nothing in the moral character of the Deity which in the least requires, or ever could require him to exact from any portion of mankind, in the day of fianal retribution, the full penalty of their transgression. If, however, we once admit that the demands of rigid justice may be, tury and a half, Authors of eminence have conceived that conjectures relative to a Statesman would interest the publick, any certain accounts of him may with propriety be offered to the Gentleman's Magazine, which by future. Antiquaries will be esteemed the most valuable reposi tory of genealogical information. Prestwich, in his Respublica, asserts that Henry Lawrence was of Buckinghamshire, though he assigns to him the arms of the Lawrences of Saint Ives. Warton, in his edition of Milton, also asserts that he was of Buck inghamshire; Noble, on the contrary, says that he was of Shurdington in Gloucestershire. 7 A cross raguly Gules, according to tradition, was, in 1191, conferred upon Sir Robert Lawrence by Richard Cœur de Lion, for his bravery in scaling the walls of Acre; but, not to trespass on your Miscellany, we will begin with the great-great-grandfa ther of the President, because the connexions and alliances of his ancestors first opened to him his political ca reer. John Lawrence, styled in all evidences Generosus, was living at Ramsey in Huntingdonshire, where his uncle, John Lawrence de Wurde. bois, had been Abbat since 1508, He left three children; William Lawrence, afterwards of Saint Ives; Emma, who married Gabriel Throckmorton, of Ellington Ellington in Huntingdonshire, third, son of Richard Throckmorton, of Higham Ferrers, seneschal of the Duchy of Lancashire; and Agnes, who married Gilbert Smyth, of Fenton. John died 1538, was buried in the Abbey of Ramsey, and bequeathed by his will (registro Dingley) beside considerable donations for masses in honour of the five wounds, to the poor, to churches, roads, &c. two of his best mares to my Lord of Ram sey for his trouble in being the supervisor of his will. This bequest accords with an opinion prevalent in those days, that women and priests ought to ride mares and geldings, but that a stallion only suited the dignity of a knight or man of war. Hence in German the expression Ritter-Hengst, or knight'sstallion. The abbat, at the dissolution of monasteries in 1539, was not only very forward in procuring his own Abbey to be surrendered to the King, but influenced others to submit; for which wicked service, he, according to Dugdale, obtained a large pension of 2661. 13s. 6d. per annum. At this pe riod commenced the connexion between the Cromwells and the Law The Abbey of Ramsey was granted to the Cromwelis; and William Lawrence, great grandfather of the President, settled at St. Ives. The exabbat, by his will, dated 1541, and proved Nov. 1542 (registro Spert) endeavours to make his peace with heayen, by making considerable bequests to the churches at St. Ives, Ramsey, Burwell, and other places; he leaves ten pounds among twenty paupers, and bequeaths his silver plate, his velvet cushions, the hangings in the parlors, &c. to his cousin William Lawrence, to his neice Emma Throckmorton, aud to Gilbert Smyth and his wife: nor are his utensils for fishing and fowling unmentioned; bequests to his Steward, Chaplain, &c. His directions for his splendid funeral, hearse, torches, &c. might interest an Antiquary. He orders that he may be buried in St. Mary's Burwell, and leaves five pounds to each of his four executors, of whom William Law. rence, of St. Ives, gentleman, is one. Nor is the will of Margaret, widow of John Lawrence of Ramsey, less curious (dated Sept. 1, 1545, proved, May 31, 1546, registro Alen): she be queaths eight pence to her unmar ried godchildren, and four pence to her married godchildren each; a singular distinction. And, beside other notable legacies, leaves her gurdles and beads to her daughters, and to their daughters after their death, except one gurdle and one coral bead to Joan Lawrence, daughter of her son William. A modern woman of fashion might smile at such a bequest from a grandmother; yet Jane Law rence was a worshipful dame in her day. She married Robert Bevil, of Chesterton, esquire; and her son and her grandson, both Sir Robert by name, were successively. Knights of the Bath at the coronations of James and Charles the First. William Lawrence, esq. of St. Ives, was Sheriff for Cambridge and Huntingdonshire at the death of Queen Mary. By his first wife Frances Honston, he had Henry his successor at St. Ives, and William who settled at Selscomb in Sussex, ancestor of the Lawrences of Chichester and Alding bourn; and by his second wife Margaret, daughter of Edward Kaye, of Woodsom, in Yorskire, and sister of Robert Kaye, of Glatton, in Hunting donshire, he had Robert, who died in 1597, at Enneth, in Norfolk, ances tor of the Lawrences of Brakedish, in Norfolk. Lucy Kaye, another sister, married John Pickering, of Titmarsh, esq. and with this alliance cominenced the connexion between the Lawrences and Pickerings, which lasted during two centuries. William Lawrence was buried at St. Ives, 20 Dec. 1572, and by his will (registro Peter) be queathed to his son Henry his armour, the plate which he had inherited from his uncle Sir John Lawrence, late abbat of Ramsey, and the iron chest in the library, containing papers and evi dences which had already been parti, cularly mentioned in the will of his father. Henry Lawrence, of St. Ives, grand father of the President, was buried tbere, Feb. 25, 1580-1; he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Hagar of Bourne Castle, Cambridgeshire. She took for her second husband, Gilbert Pickering, esq. (afterwards kuighted) son of the above John Piekering and Lucy Kaye: and his sister Elizabeth Pickering married Robert Throckmorton, only son of the the aforementioned Gabriel Throck morton and Emma Lawrence. Sir John Lawrence, of St. Ives, father of the President, was, in 1603; knighted at Windsor by James the First, previously to the coronation. He married Elizabeth, sole daughter and heir of Ralph Waller, esq. of Clerkenwell, Middlesex, fourth son of Robert Waller of Beaconsfield. Sir John was buried at St. Ives, Feb. 10, 1604; and she remarried to Robert Bathurst, esq. Sheriff of Glostershire, and was the mother of Sir Edward Bathurst, created a Baronet, 1643. The will of Sir John Lawrence (registro Hayes) is dated '10 Jan, and proved Feb. 9, 1604, and mentions his two sons, Henry and John. 3 Henry Lawrence, at the inquisition taken at Huntingdon after the death of Sir John, anno 2 Jac I. was aged years, 2 months, and four days. (Cole's Escheats, Harl. MS. 760.) He entered as a fellow commoner at Emanuel College, Cambridge, 1622. reader is touched with the filial affec- against Charles I. on his rash attempt When Sir Walter Mildmay, after founding this College, appeared at Court, Queen Elizabeth told him, "I hear, Sir Walter, you have erected Puritan foundation." "No, madam, answered he, far be it from me to countenance any thing against your esta blished laws; but I have set an acorn, which, when it comes to be an oak, God alone knows what will be the fruit of it." And surely the Queention to the Court: he drew his pen was endowed with a prophetic spirit; for on the list of Emanuel College are found the names of Henry Cromwell, Hampden, Lawrence, Pickering, Cley pole, Bradshaw, &c.; and here Henry Lawrence proceeded 1623, B. A.; and 1627, M. A. Anthony Wood probably stated that he was educated at Oxford, merely to introduce an acrimonious account of him from an abusive pamphlet, "The Narrative of the late Parliament." He says that he retired into Holland to avoid the severity of Bishops and their Courts; that he returned in 1641, and was a member of the Long Parliament for Westmoreland; but that he left it, when he saw the Independents' design against the King's life. In 1646, he published at Amsterdam a book "Of our Communion and Warre with Aned gels," which he dedicated to his most dear and most honoured mother, the Lady Lawrence; and whatever may be the intrinsic value of the work, the e Henry Lawrence was not only allied to Cromwell, but had been his landlord, as he had let to him his estate at St. Ives from 1631 to 1635-0; hence the mansion, called by the present proprietor, Sir Thomas White, Slepe Hall, is more commonly call Cromwell-place. The irons with which Oliver used to mark his sheep, and which are mentioned by Noble, were lost soon after the Historian's visit to St. Ives. He was member for Hertfordshire 2 Hertfordshire twice, in 1553 and 1554; but in 1556, being elected both for Colchester and Carnarvonshire, he chose to represent the latter. He was president of the Council, 1654, and gazetted as a Lord of the other house, in Dec. 1657. After the death of Oliver, he proclaimed Richard Cromwell his successor. Notwithstanding the accusations of Anthony Wood, of his arbitrary and illegal treatment of Cavaliers, Anabaptists, and Fifth-monarchy men, there is in the second volume of Thurloe's State papers a letter to him from the Queen of Bohemia, sister of Charles I. and ancestress of the House of Hanover, recommending Lord Craven to his good offices, and saying that she was confident that he had accepted his post only to render services to those who needed them; and from this letter it appears that they were in the habit of corresponding. A Harleian MS. No. 1460, contains a drawing of all the ensigns and trophies won in battle by Oliver. This work is dedicated to his Counsellors, and ornamented with their arms. It commences, "Ad Olivari Dei gratiâ Angliæ Scotiæ et Hiberniæ cum ditionibus circumjacentibus, necnon Insularum longius occidentalium peramplissimi Protectoris et Imperatoris semper Augusti, consilio cooptatis, Dom. Primoribus Patriæque suæ Luminibus eminentissimis; eruditissimo Domino, Domino Henrico Laurentio, prædicti Consilii Præsidi perquam prudentissimo." His arms here are a cross raguly Gules without a chief, the motto "Nil admirari." same motto being painted under the achievement of Sir Edward Lawrence, in St. Ives church, has produced among the common people there a belief that the baronet was Admiral of the Nile. Milton, speaking of one of the Montagues, and of the President, styles them, Montacutum Laurentium que summo ingenio optimisque artibus expositos. In D'Ewes's Collectio Epistolarum, is a Latin letter from Sir Simonds, dated Westminster, Dec. 1644-5, and directed, Amico et Affini suo colendissimo Heurico Laurentio, armigero, Arnhemiæ in Ducato Gelriæ. Harl. MS.No.878, and No.374, contains a Latin Letter to the Baronet, dictated by Henry Lawrence, but in the bandwriting of his son. Sir Simonds be ing related to the Hindes of Cambridgeshire, styles his correspondent, Affinis. The second letter is only directed "To my Honoured Friend, Sir Simonds D'Ewes, knight and baronet, att his House att Westminster;" and is sealed with a small red seal of a cross raguly with a lion in the chief. Accepi tandem literas tuas (vir ornatissime) ac simul amoris tui erga nos pignus eruditos codices, jam secundo typis mandatos, dignos sane, qui omnium animis imprimantur, præsertim quibuscum publico negotio res est. Quod si ludens et quasi aliud agens, tam egregia ingenii tui specimina edidisti, quid nobis expectandum erit de studiis tuis seriis, et ubi omnes animi nervos intende ris. Quamobrem te etiam atque etiam rogo, ut doctissimis lucubrationibus tuis Rempublicam literariam adornare velis, neque permittas ut quæ publici juris esse debent, unius solummodo commodo atque utilitati inserviant. Filius meus natu maximus tredecim annorum puer (quo nunc etiam amanuensi utor ipse non satis rectâ valetudine) se tibi commendatissimum esse desiderat; et versionem hanc Gallicam quæ literatissimæ Principis nomini dicavit, ut æque animo accipere digneris, obnixe flagitat. Quod hæc Romano idiomate scribo, id eo nomine à me factum esse scias velim ut tibi obsecundem, qui prior fecisti. Nam utor, aliis vero Gallica, ut mos hic est Anglis nostris semper linguâ vernacula non solum nobilium, verum etiam literatorum pene omnium, qui istius linguæ amore usque adeo insaniunt, ut optent vel tria verba male proferre Gallice, quam copiosè et disertè Latinè loqui. Sed negotiis tuis, quæ nunc esse maxima conjicere fas est, dimittendus es, atque exorandus, ut amare pergas, quod et mutuo facies Tibi addictissimum, HE LAURENCE. Altena, Jan. 21, 1646. Stilo loci." This letter contradicts Mr. Todd, who, in his edition of Milton, attri butes the work "Of our Communion with Angels" to the son of the Presi deat. The future friend of Milton might, at the age of 13, produce a French translation, but certainly not write a work of that abstruse nature. This letter is also curious because it shows the early predilection of the nations on the continent to the French language, which has given the French a decided superiority in all negotiations, and facilitated their intrigues in foreign courts. The The following table, enlarged from one in Noble's ingenious History, shews the connexions between the leading characters, of the Republic: iver Cromwell, Protector, first cousin to John Hampden, Patriot, father to one of Cromwell's Lords, first cousin to and the opposition complained that sel veral experienced Senators were expell ed from the House to make room for such infants as the son of President Lawrence. It is uncertain whether he or Henry was the eldest son, whoj according to the letter to Sir Simonds D'Ewes, must, in 1656, have been 29 years old. He was buried at St. Mar Edmund Waller, Poet, second cougaret's (which estate belonged to him) sin to Henry Lawrence, President, half wards Earl of Sandwich. A picture of the President is inserted in Lord Clarendon's History, in the King's Library at Buckingham house ; and his gravestone was, in 1802, not yet effaced in the Chapel at St. Margaret's, alias Thele, in Hertford shire. The arms are a cross raguly Gules without the chief, impaling Peyton; the crest, a fish's tail. Here the provident piety of his wife, who, in some genealogies, is styled Anne Peyton, has preserved his memory. On other occasions her extraordinary devotion only exposed her to the satire of the Cavaliers. "Here lyeth interred the body of Henry Lawrence, esq. sometime of this place, who married Amy Peyton, daughter of Sir Edw. Peyton, of Iselham, in the county of Cambridge, knt. and bart. He had issue by her seven sons and six daughters. He departed this life August the 8th, 1664, in the 64th year of his age. Also in this place lie buried four of his children; viz. Edward under a stone adjoining upon the South side of this stone, and Elizabeth next adjoining and in part under this stone on the North side, who died Feb. 1662, about the thir. tieth year of her age. Theodosia lieth under this stone with her father. She died Sept. the 2d, 1664, about the twentieth year of her age. Also Henrietta the youngest daughter, died the 20th of Sept. 1664, in the 13th year of her age, who lieth by her brother in part under this stone on the South side. The said Amy Laurence, in memory of her loving consort and children, hath caused this stone to be faid here." Edw. Lawrence, esq. one of the President's sons, was elected M.P. for Pembrokeshire(Merc. Polit. 27 Nov.1656), with this inscription: "Here lieth the body of Edward Lawrence, esq. and also of the Lady Martha, daughter of Richard Earl of Barramore, by Mars tha his wife, sister of the said Edward who deceased in the year of the Lord; 1657." It was to the eldest son that Milton addressed his sonnet, beginning "Lawrence of virtuous father vir tuous son." For in a political Squib, printed 1660, called "The Receipts and Disbursements of the Committee of Safety," we find, “Item reimbursed to the said Lord Lawrence several sums of money, which his eldest son had squandered away on poets and dedica tions to his ingenuity, to the value of five hundred pounds more. Item, paid for three great saddles for the Lord. Laurence's son, and for provender for his lofty steeds ever since the Protec tor's political death, 5007. Item, paid for a pound of May butter, made of a cow's milk that fed on Hermon bill; given to the Lady Lawrence for pious uses, 877. 10s." Henry, who was the eldest at his father's death, was pro bably the Mæcenas; but, possibly, one of his brothers was the horseman! The President dying intestate, Henry administered the goods of his father and of his sisters Theodora and Heni rietta; and dying himself in 1679, left two sons Henry and Edward. The former of whom died unmarried, and Sir Edward died May 2, 1749, having been created a baronet with remain der to his sister's son Isaac Wollaston, of Loseby in Leicestershire, esq. Sir Edward left 100 pounds for his fune ral expenses, and 60 pounds to erect monument to his ancestors at St. Ives. Sir Edward Pickering, bart, is one of the trustees to the settlement of his estates. a |