own hands, advanced further those pillars in the world of letters, which had hitherto been considered immoveable. But we must not suppose that he laboured alone; Galileo, in Italy, Kepler, in Germany, and Gassendi, in France, led the inquiries of men forward in the same paths.

That he wrote in decided opposition to the dominant opinions of the age may be seen from the manner in which he commits his Novum Organum to the "bosom of his University;" expressing a hope that "they be not troubled because the way in which he walks is new," and attempting to palliate the revolution he was conscious of introducing into the old realms of science, by asserting such changes to be inevitable in the course of years. And he boldly lays the axe to the academic prejudices, by declaring implicit faith to be only due to the Word of God, and experience.

Considered only with reference to his literary merits, Lord Bacon stands eminent among the most celebrated writers of his age. He clothes every topic with a richness of diction, and illustrates it with a fertility of fancy, equalled only by some of his contemporaries. His habits were those of a poet, and imparted a kindred splendour to his imagination. It was his custom to have music in an adjoining room while he meditated; and at every meal his table was strewed with sweet herbs and flowers, which, he said, refreshed his spirits and memory. He adorned his domain with the rarest trees, and the most precious birds from foreign lands. The aviary at York-House cost him three hundred pounds. The splenetic Wilson says, that in many things he sought to be admired rather than understood; but he revived the spirit of a beautiful and decaying philosophy, and brought Wisdom amongst us once more, with the girdle of Beauty in her bosom.

The Chancellor was very intimate with Sir John Danvers, in whose garden at Chelsea he took great delight,

and where he may have occasionally met our poet. One day, after walking some time in this garden with Lady Danvers, he fell down in a swoon, and when he was partially recovered by the application of restoratives, he pleasantly observed-" Madam, I am no good footman." His esteem for Herbert seems to have ripened into a genuine friendship; in 1625 he dedicated to him a translation of a few Psalms in these affectionate terms:

TO HIS VERY GOOD FRIEND, MR. GEORGE HERBERT.

The pains that it pleased you to take about some of my writings, I cannot forget, which did put me in mind to dedicate to you this poor exercise of my sickness. Besides, it being my manner for dedications to choose those that I hold most fit for the argument, I thought that in respect of divinity, whereof the one is the matter, and the other the style of this little writing, I could not make better choice. So, with signification of my love and acknowledgment, I ever rest

Your affectionate friend,

FR. ST. ALBANS.

The Psalms versified are the 12th, 90th, 104th, 126th, 137th, and 149th, and are entirely destitute of merit, being equally deficient in force and harmony of expression.

The sudden and unexpected death, in 1625, of Lodowick Duke of Richmond, and James Marquis of Hamilton, followed, at a short interval, by that of the King himself, destroyed all Herbert's visions of political distinction, and recalled him to a nobler employment of his talents. But though the visitation was sent in mercy, the sufferer was not prepared to welcome it, and he retired to the house of a friend in Kent, where he lived so privately, says Walton, "and was such a lover of solitariness, as was judged to impair his health more than study had done." The whisperings of the Syren still sounded in his ears, and his biographer represents him to have undergone many conflicts with himself, whether he should return to the

"painted pleasures of a court life," or again devote his time to the study of divinity. It had been his mother's constant desire to see him in the church, and her prayers were soon to be accomplished. Still hesitating, he came to London and consulted a 66 court friend," who dissuaded him from entering the church, by flattering his vanity with the illusive honours which his birth and popularity put within his reach. But the film was purged from his eyes, and he beheld the worthlessness of the prizes he had before coveted. He repelled the attempts to undervalue the dignity of the priesthood. "It hath been formerly adjudged," he said, "that the domestic servants of the King of heaven should be of the noblest families on earth; and though the iniquity of late times hath made clergymen meanly valued, and the sacred name of Priest contemptible, yet I will labour to make it honourable, by consecrating all my learning and all my poor abilities to advance the glory of that God who gave them, knowing that I can never do too much for him, that hath done so much for me as to make me a Christian. I will labour to be like my Saviour, by making humility lovely in the sight of all men, and by following the merciful and meek example of my dear Jesus."

He appears to have written the Quip while smarting under the ridicule of some fashionable acquaintance.

The merry world did on a day

With his train-bands and mates agree
To meet together where I lay,
And all in sport to jeer at me.

First Beauty crept into a rose,
Which when I pluckt not, Sir, said she,
Tell me, I pray, whose hands are those?
But thou shalt answer, Lord, for me.
Then Money came, and chinking still,
What tune is this, poor man? said he;
I heard in music you had skill—
But thou shalt answer, Lord, for me.

Then came brave Glory puffing by
In silks that whistled; who but he !
He scarce allow'd me half an eye,
But thou shalt answer, Lord, for me.

In this year he was ordained a Deacon, but the "day when, or by whom," Walton was unable to discover. On the 15th of July, 1626, he was made Prebendary of Leighton Ecclesia, in the Diocese of Lincoln, by Bishop Williams. Leighton is a village in Huntingdonshire, and the church was then in so dilapidated a state as to prevent the celebration of divine service. It had been in this con-dition almost twenty years, during which period various efforts had been made to rebuild it by subscription, but without success. Herbert applied himself to the completion of this good work with an ardour and perseverance that usually overcome difficulties. When his mother, who was residing at Danvers-House, Chelsea*, heard of her son's intention, she sent for him, and urged him, under all circumstances, to return the prebend to the patron, adding that it was unreasonable to expect that he, with his weak body and empty purse, should be able to build churches. Herbert is stated to have desired one day to consider his mother's advice, and on seeing her the second time, he entreated her "that she would, at the age of thirty-three, allow him to Become an undutiful son; for he had made a vow to God, that if he were able, he would rebuild that church." So sweet and filial a spirit, united to such calm fixedness of purpose, might have prevailed on a more determined opponent. Lady Danvers subscribed herself, and prevailed upon the Earl of Pembroke to give 50l., which he was induced to increase to 100l., by a witty and persuasive letter" of Herbert. The Duke of Lennox,

66

*The family seat of Sir John Danvers was at Culworth, in Northamptonshire, but he lived generally at Chelsea. Danvers-House was pulled down in 1696, when Danvers-Street was built on the site.-Lysons's Environs of London, vol. ii. p. 123.

Sir Henry Herbert, Mr. Nicholas Ferrar, and Mr. Arthur Woodnot were among the list of benefactors.

Leighton church gradually rose from its ruins beneath the unwearied assiduity of the workmen, whom Herbert cheered by his presence. Walton was misinformed, when he said that the “workmanship was a costly mosaic," and that Herbert lived to see it wainscoted, for in 1795 no traces of either were to be seen*. The builder's primary object was simplicity. There were no communion-rails, but three steps conducted to the altar. The windows were ⚫large and handsome, and ornamented with some fragments of painted glass. The seats and pews were of oak, without any ornaments. The reading-desk and pulpit were placed near each other, and were of an equal height; for Herbert often said, "that they should neither have a precedency or priority of the other; but that prayer and preaching, being equally useful, might agree like brethren, and have an equal honour and estimation." In 1795 the church had again fallen into partial ruin.

Before we leave Herbert with his Prebend, something should be said of its munificent donor. A Life of Archbishop Williams, alike free from the adulation of Hackett, and the malignity of Wilson, has long been a desideratum in our Ecclesiastical Biography. In the gorgeousness of his character, he may be thought to resemble the magnificent Wolsey: throughout his life he was a generous patron of learning. Trinity College partook largely of his liberality. Hacket enumerates ten individuals gathered out of

* See Walton's Lives, by Zouch, p. 306.

+ Hacket, who was the Archbishop's Chaplain, wrote with the warmth of a friend, and the intemperance of a partisan. The style of the book is the strangest that can be imagined. It was intended not so much for the memoir of one person, as for a general treatise, and the author says, part ii. p. 229, that his "scope was not so much to insist upon the memorable things of one man's life, as to furnish them with reading out of his small store, that are well-wishers to learning in theolological, political, and moral knowledge." To the student, however, this quaint folio is a treasure.