and drew up a Scheme of excellent Rules to be ob ferv'd by him in his Morning and Evening Devotions, in his Bufinefs and Employments, his Solitude and Retirements, his Company and Converfe, his Refreshments and Recreations, concluding every Day with cafting up the Accounts thereof, and recommending himself to the Divine Mercy and Prote Єtion.

After he had made great Improvements in the Study of the Law, he ftill enlarg'd his Knowledge by applying himself to all Kinds of Learning, going thro' all the. Mathematical Sciences, and all Parts of Philofophy, together with Phyfick and Anatomy, History and Chronology. But above all these he feem'd to have made the Study of Divinity the chief of all others; to which he not only directed every thing else, but arriv'd at as high a pitch in it, as might have been expected from him, if Theology had been his peculiar Profeffion. Neither will his acquiring fo huge a Variety of useful Knowledge feem very ftrange, if we confider how quick and lively his Natural Parts were, and how conftantly they were exercised with an Industry that was almost indefatigable. He rofe betimes in the Morning, never indulged the leaft Idlenefs in any part of the Day, feldom held any Difcourfe about News, entered into no Correfpondence by Letters, except about neceffary Business or Matters of Learning, and fpent very little Time in Eatiug or Drinking, obferving therein great Moderation, and always ending his Meal with an Appetite; whereby he was not indifpofed for any Study, to which he thought fit to apply himself immediately after he had dined.

For the Reason already mentioned, I fhall not fo much as touch on feveral Parts of his pious Life. But in fhort, He was a devout Chriftian, a fincere Proteftant, and a true Son of the Church of England; moderate towards Diffenters, and juft even to thofe

from

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from whom he differ'd moft, Candid in his Opinions, Charitable in his Actions; Plain in his Furniture and way of Living, rais'd above the World and the Love thereof. As he did not take several of the Profits he might have had by his Practice; lo he diftributed the Tenth Penny of all he got to the Poor. And after he was a Judge, many of the Perquifites of his Place were fent by him to the Jayles to discharge poor Prisoners. He was a gentle Landlord to all his Tenants, and very liberal to the Poor, not only of his own, but alfo of the neighbouring Parishes; and many of the meaner People were often invited to his Table. His whole Life, fo far as could be expected in this imperfect State, was a continu'd Course of Piety and Devotion towards God, of Benignity and Charity to Men, and of Labour and Industry in his weighty Employments; and when he could borrow any Time from the Publick Service, it was employ'd either in Philofophical or Divine Meditations. To conclude; His Studies, his Bufinefs, his Converfation, and all his Actions, were regulated with fo great Prudence, as well as Innocency and Goodness, that he was univerfally valu'd and admir'd by Men of all Sides and Perfuafions.

I might add many other remarkable Paffages concerning him, together with the particular Defcriptions of his Virtues: But for those I refer the Reader to the History of his Life and Death, written by the Lord Bishop of Sarum; in which there is an extraordinary Character given of him, not only by the Bishop, but alfo by a Perfon of the highest Eminency in the Profeffion of the Law. There the Reader will find how far Sir Matthew Hale was from being infnar'd by the Temptations which arife from Riches, Power and Honour, and how defervedly it must be acknowledg'd, That he was one of the greatest Patterns Age afforded, whether in his private Deportment as a Chriftian, or in his more confpicuous Behaviour as a

the

Gentle

Gentleman, or in his Publick Employments, either at the
Bar, or on the Bench.

Another Inftance of this kind, both for the Encouragement, and the Imitation of our young Gentry, is that Primitive Man, Mr. George Herbert, who being of noble Parentage wanted no Advantages of Fortune or Education; neither was he ignorant of the Pleasures and Blandifhments of a Court, and yet overlooking them all, betook himself to the Divine and Spiritual Joys of a Religious Life; yea, and ftoop'd fo low (for the World is apt to think it stooping) as to ferve at the Altar, and become a Minifter of Chrift, whom he us'd to call his Mafter Jefus, and in whofe Service he found a perfect Freedom. His Life was written by Mr. Ifaac Walton, from whom I fhall collect fome of its moft obfervable Paffages.

He was Born in Montgomery-Castle, April 3. 1593. His Father was Richard, the Son of Sir Edward Herbert, Knight, of the Family of the Earls of Pembroke. His Mother was Magdalen, the youngest Daughter of Sir Richard Newport, who was Great-Grandfather to Francis, Lord Newport. His Father Dying while he was very young, he spent much of his Childhood under the Eye of his Mother, and the Inftruction of her Domestick Chaplain, until about the Age of Twelve Years he was committed to the Care of Mr. Ireland, the chief Master of Westminster School, where the Beauties of his sweet Behaviour and innocent Wit appear'd fo Lovely, that he feem'd to be mark'd out for Piety, and to wear the Livery of Heaven, under the more immediate Guard of fome particular good Angel. About the Age of Fifteen having acquir'd a confiderable Knowledge in the Learned Languages, and especially the Greek, he was elected out of that School into Trinity-College in Cambridge, where he confecrated the first Blossoms of his Youth to an early Virtue, and a serious Study of Learning. Before he had been there a Year, in a Letter fent his Mother, E 4

with

4

with a devout Sonnet, for a New-Year's Gift, he thus expresses himself:

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"But I fear the Heat of my late Ague hath "dried up thofe Springs, by which Scholars fay the "Mufes ufe to take up their Habitations. However "I need not their Help to reprove the Vanity of those many Love-Poems, that are daily writ and confe"crated to Venus; nor to bewail that few are writ "that look towards God and Heaven. For my own part, my Meaning (Dear Mother) is in thefe Sonnets, to declare my Refolution, that my poor A "bilities in Poetry fhall be all, and ever confecrated ct to God's Glory.

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In this Morning of that fhort Day of his Life, he was a diligent and affiduous Student; and as he grew older, fo he grew in Learning, and more and more. in Favour both with God and Man, the Divine Grace keeping his Soul in fo holy a Frame, as might make him worthy to be a Pattern of Virtue to all Pofterity. From his first Admiffion into Trinity-College, till he was Major-Fellow and Master of Arts, all, or the greatest Diversion from his Study, was the Practice of Mufick, in which he became a great Mafter, and of which he would fay, "That it did relieve his drooping Spirits, compofe his diftracted Thoughts, and Сс raise his weary Soul fo far above Earth, that it ૫ gave him an Earneft of the Joys of Heaven, before "he poffeft them.

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*

Dr. Nevil, the generous Mafter of this College, was a conftant Cherifher of his Studies, and fuch a Lover of his Perfon, his Behaviour, and the excellent Endownients of his Mind, that he took him often into his own Company, by which he confirm'd his native Genteelness; and, if during this Time he exprefs'd any Error, it was that he kept himself too much retir'd, and at too great a Distance with his Inferiors; and curioully affected, that his very Cloathes fhould leem

1

feem to distinguish both his Parts and Parentage from the common Level.

In the Year 1619. he was chofen Orator for the University, which Office he manag'd eight Years with great Reputation; and was much efteem'd, not only by the University, but by King James and the Court, for the Elegant Letters he wrote to the King, in the Name of the Univerfity, and the Orations he made before him at his coming to Cambridge. The King gave him a Sine Cure worth an Hundred and Twenty Pound per Annum; and he was greatly valu'd and lov'd by the most Eminent and Powerful of the Nobility, which often drew him to Court to attend the King. The Affection the Earl of Pembroke had for him was more than ordinary, not fo much because he was his Kinfman, as becaufe of his Learning, and Virtue, and obliging Behaviour; which excellent Qualities made him alfo received into intimate Friendfhip with the Lord Bacon, and Bishop Andrews, and into great Favour with the Duke of Richmond, and the Marquess of Hamilton. But God putting an End to the Lives of fome of thefe his most potent Friends, and King James himself fhortly after Dying, all Mr. Herbert's Court-Hopes died with them. Whereupon he prefently left London, and lived privately with a Friend in Kent, fo devoted to Solitude, that it was judged to impair his Health, more than his Study had done. In this Retirement he had many Conflicts with himself, whether he fhould return to the painted Pleafures of a Court-Life, or betake himself to the Study of Divinity, and enter into Sacred Orders? For ambitious Defires, and the outward Glory of this World, are not eafily laid afide. But at laft God inclined him to put on a Refolution to ferve at his Altar. And when a Court-Friend diffuaded him from it, as too mean an Employment, and too much below his Birth, and the Endowments of his Mind; he thus replyed, "It hath been formerly judged, that the "Domestick