A Century of Sermons, Life · Floating text 2
O Lord God, infinite in power, and incomprehenſible in all goodneſs and mercy, we beſeech thee to hear our prayers for thy gracious aſſiſtance upon the great occaſion of this day. This ſacred Houſe dedicated of old time to thine honour, hath been greatly polluted by the long Sieges and dreadful Wars of moſt prophane and diſloyal Rebels; Thine holy Temple have they defiled, and made it an heap of rubbiſh and ſtones; yea they did pollute it with much bloud, in all manner of hoſtility and cruelty. We beſeech thee, good Father, upon our devout and earneſt prayers, to reſtore it this day to the uſe of thy ſacred Worſhip, and make us not obnoxious to the guilt of their ſins, who did ſo heinouſly diſhonour this place, which was ſet apart for thy glory. Thou art the God of peace, of meekneſs and gentleneſs, and wouldſt not let thy Servant David build a Temple to thee, becauſe his hands were ſtained with the bloud of war, we beſeech thee that this thy Sanctuary, having long continued under much pollution, may be reconciled to thee, and from henceforth and for ever be acceptable unto thee: and that the ſpots of all bloud, prophaneneſs, and ſacriledge, may be waſhed out by thy pardon and forgiveneſs, and that we, and all thy faithful ſervants that ſhall ſucceed us in any religious Office in this place, may be defended for ever from our enemies, and ſerve thee alwayes with thankeful hearts and quiet minds, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord. Amen.
ALmighty Lord, the reſtorer and preſerver of all that is called thine, ſince this Cathedral Church is once again made fit for thy Service, and reconciled to thy Worſhip and Honour, preſerve it henceforth and for ever, that it may never, even to the ſecond coming of Jeſus Chriſt, ſuffer the like devaſtation again, that befel it by the impiety and diſloyalty of a long and moſt pernicious Rebellion. Save it from the power of violent men, that ſuch as are enemies to thy Name, and to the beauty of holineſs, may never prevail to defile it, or erace it; Confound thoſe ungodly ones that ſhall ſay of it, down with it even to the ground. Let the true Proteſtant Religion be celebrated in it, as long as the Sun and Moon endure. And we implore thee with confidence of thy love, and with all vehemency of zeal, that thy heavenly Spirit may fill thy hallowed Temple with thy Grace, and heavenly benediction. Hear the faithful prayers which thy Congregation of Saints ſhall daily pour out here unto thee. And accept their ſorrowful contritions in faſtings and humiliations; and in the days of joyful thanksgivings, let their ſpiritual and gladſome offerings aſcend up unto thee, and be noted in thy Book. Receive all thoſe into the Congregation of Chriſts Flock, with the pardon of their ſins, and the efficacy of thy Spirit, to ſuppreſs the dominion of ſin in them, that ſhall here be preſented to be baptized. Let the bones of them that have been, or ſhall be interred here, reſt in peace untill a joyful reſurrection. Let heavenly goodneſs be on all thoſe that ſhall here be wedded in lawful Matrimony, remembring it is the myſtery of Chriſt and his Church made one with him. O let the moſt Divine Sacrament of Chriſts Body broken, and his Bloud ſhed for us, be the ſavour of life unto all that receive it. Sanctify to holy Calling ſuch as ſhall be ordained Prieſts and Deacons by Impoſition of hands. And we heartily pray, that thy Word preached within theſe walls, may be delivered with that truth, ſincerity, zeal, and efficacy, that it may reclaim the ungodly, confirm the righteous, and draw many to ſalvation, through Jeſus Chriſt, &c.
BLeſſed and immortal Lord, who ſtirreſt up the hearts of thy faithful people to do unto thee true and laudable ſervice, we magnifie thy Grace, and the inward working of thy holy Spirit upon the heart of our gracious Soveraign Lord King CHARLES, his Highneſs James Duke of York, and his moſt Religious Dutcheſs, and all Dukes, Dutcheſſes, Nobles, and Peers of this Realm, with our moſt gracious Metropolitan, and all Biſhops, and others of the holy Orders of the Clergy, all Baronets, Knights and Gentry, Ladies and devout perſons of that Sex, and for all the Gentry and godly Commonalty, for all Cities, Burrows, Towns, and Villages, who have bountifully contributed to re-edify and repair this ancient and beautiful Cathedral, which was almoſt demoliſhed by Sons of Belial. But theſe thy large-hearted and bountiful ſervants have raiſed up this Holy Place to its former beauty and comlineſs again. Lord recompence them all ſevenfold into their boſom. As they have beſtowed their temporal things willingly and largely upon this holy place, ſo recompence them with eternal things, and with increaſe of earthly abundance, as thou knoweſt to be moſt expedient for them. Let the Generation of the faithful be bleſſed, and let their memories be precious to all poſterity. O Lord this is thy Tabernacle, it is thy Houſe, and not mans, perfect it we beſeech thee in that which is wanting to accompliſh it. And for all thoſe thy choice ſervants, whoſe charitable hands have given their oblation to raiſe up again this ſacred Habitation, which was pulled down by impious hands, give them all thine eternal Kingdom for their Habitation. Amen.
O Thou Holy One, who dwelleſt in the higheſt Heavens, and lookeſt down upon all thy ſervants, and conſidereſt the condition of all men, now we have begun to ſpeak to our Lord God, who are but duſt and aſhes, permit us to continue our prayers for the ſouls health, and external proſperity of all thoſe that are concerned in this place. Be favourable and merciful to the moſt reverend Father in God Gilbert Lord Archbiſhop of Canterbury, our moſt munificent Benefactor, under whoſe Government we reap much peace, good order, and happineſs. O Lord be merciful to me thy Servant, the moſt unworthy of them that wear a linnen Ephod, yet by thy providence and his Majeſties favour, the Biſhop of this Church, and of the Dioceſs to which it belongs. Be a loving God to the Dean, Archdeacons, Canon Reſidentiaries, Prebendaries, Vicars Coral, and to all that belong to this Chriſtian Foundation. Bleſs them that live and are encompaſſed in the Cloſe and Ground of this Cathedral. Pour down the plentiful ſhowers of thy bounteous goodneſs upon this neighbour City of Litchfield, the Bailiffs, Sheriff, Aldermen, all the Magiſtrates, and all the Inhabitants thereof. Lord, we extend our petitions further, that thou wilt pleaſe to bleſs all that pertain to this large Dioceſs, for all the Clergy of it, that they may be godly examples to their Flock, that they may attend to Prayer, to Preaching, and to adminiſter thy holy Sacraments, and diligently to do all duties to thoſe under their charge, that are in health or ſickneſs. O Lord multiply thy bleſſings upon all Chriſtian people in the ſeveral Shires and Diſtricts belonging to the Government of this Biſhoprick, and keep us all, O Lord, in faith and obedience to thee, in loyalty to our Soveraign, in charity one toward another, in ſubmiſſion to the good and orderly Diſcipline of the Church. And ſave us from Hereſies, Schiſms, Fanatical ſeparations, and all ſcandals againſt the Goſpel. And guide us all to live as becometh us in the true Communion of Saints. Grant all this, O Lord, for Jeſus Chriſt his ſake: To whom with Thee, and thy Holy Spirit, be aſcribed and given, &c.
PRevent us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy moſt gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help, that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorifie thy holy Name, and finally by thy mercy obtain everlaſting life, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord. Amen.
Then the Biſhop pronounced a ſolemn Bleſſing upon the whole Adminiſtration performed, and upon all that were preſent.
Then followed the Service of Morning Prayer for that day, two eſpecial Anthems in extraordinary being added. Proviſion was made inſtantly for Alms to the Poor.
And in a very ſtately Gallery which the Biſhop erected in the Houſe where he lived, his Lordſhip annexed to the precedent Solemnity a Feaſt for three days.
Firſt to feaſt all that belonged to the Choir and the Church, together with the Proctors and other Officers of the Eccleſiaſtical Courts.
On a ſecond day, to remember God's great goodneſs in the reſtauration and reconciliation of the Church, He feaſted the Bailiffs, Sheriff, and all the Aldermen of the City of Lichfield.
On a third day, to the ſame purpoſe, in the ſame place, He feaſted all the Gentry, Male and Female of the Cloſe and City.
He would often afterwards give God thanks, who had accepted him as an unworthy Inſtrument to build him an Houſe, that what he could not accompliſh at Holbourn in his younger years, when he was more able to take pains, yet He had now enabled him to do in his old age, and far worſe times; when he found by experience, the Wars had exhauſted not only the Wealth but Piety of the Nation, and that it was far eaſier under Charles the Firſt his Reign to raiſe an hundred pound to Pious Ʋſes than now ten pounds: So ſome obſerve that in the Primitive Church Charity ebb'd lower and lower till the ſtream quite dried up: the firſt examples thereof were moſt bountiful, to provoke the liberality of following Ages; Barnabas gave all his Poſſeſſions, and ſo did many others. Ananias divided half or thereabouts, but the next Age minced it to a conſiderable Legacy, and then it fell to Charity in ſmall money, afterwards to good words only as St. James ſayes, and I pray be comforted; ſed ecquid tinnit Dolabella? ſeldom one croſs or coyn dropt from them: the like he obſerv'd in our own Church in the Ages paſt, and preſent; when Chriſtianity was firſt planted among us, our glorious Founders built Colledges and Cathedral Churches; the next rank of Benefactors endowed Schools and Pariſhes; after Ages gave Plate to the Communion, Bells to the Steeples, coſtly Veſtures to the Miniſter; now it's come to this paſs, ſome Great man will be content to ſet up a new Pew for his own uſe, but ſtick at all other new building, and ſometimes at the mending and repair of what was built formerly, and after a while perhaps the World will do juſt nothing, and then it is time ſure for the Goſpel to ſeek out better people, who will bring forth more fruit.
Two things the Biſhop uſed greatly to bewail in his Dioceſs; Firſt the great loſs and ſpoil of the Antient Demeans of the Biſhoprick, having had many Mannors torn from it in the time of Edw. 6. beſides an antient Epiſcopal Houſe in London to entertain the Biſhops when they came up to Parliament, pulled down, with others by the Duke of Somerſet, to make room for the building of his new Houſe in the Strand; and his Palace at Lychfield, and Caſtle of Eccleſhal likewiſe were quite demoliſhed by the late Wars; ſo that the good Biſhop was fain to lye in a Prebendal Houſe, upon which he laid out a 1000 l. to make it fitting for his Reſidence, and thought to have procured an Act of Parliament to have annexed it to the See for ever; but till he had finiſhed Gods Houſe he leſs regarded his own. The antient Biſhops of this See, and of all others, were famous for the breeding up many young Scholars and Gentlemen to piety and learning in their own Families, as one (that's beſt able) tells us, that Biſhops Families were Schools of gravity and wiſdom,Hooker Pol. l. 5. §. 81. to breed Divines and Gentlemen civilly before they were transfer'd to Noblemen's and King's Houſes, and were as requiſite after Scholars came from the Ʋniverſities to adapt them to buſineſs and publick charge, as the Ʋniverſities themſelves were for the ripening of ſuch as were raw before: But our Biſhop would complain, though he had means enough left for himſelf and other ordinary uſes, yet the curtail'd Revenues of his Biſhoprick, reliquiae Danaum ac immitis Achillî, Virg.were no way proportionable for this great Expence.
Secondly, far more than this loſs to his own See he would bewail the Sacrilege committed upon very many poor Vicarages under his Juriſdiction in that Dioceſs, ſome great perſons to whom God hath given many Lordſhips, yet would not allow their poor Vicars a competency of Glebe and Tythes to reſide upon, and watch over their Tenents ſouls in the Country, nor wherewithal to buy Books and become learned men, nor indeed tolerable Preachers: Till better proviſion was made in this kind, he never hoped to ſee Chriſtian Religion flouriſh in the remote parts of his Dioceſs, and therefore earneſtly deſired that future Parliaments would take this greateſt grievance into their Chriſtian conſideration, and cauſe the joyful Jubilee to be proclaimed, when theſe Revenues ſhould return to their right Owners, or at leaſt in this flouriſhing Kingdom, where all others poſſeſs great Inheritance, Country Divines alone might not have a ſcanty Patrimony, and till that were done he had juſt cauſe to fear that Sacrilege was the ſin of the Reformed Churches, and as the Papacy was much too blame to endure no Reformation in the Church becauſe of their covetouſneſs, ſo many Proteſtants were more too blame who reformed, not out of conſcience, but covetouſneſs; whereby all Church means were of more uncertain Tenure now adays than any other private Eſtate; for whereas every Mechanick could leave an Inheritance ſecure to his own Children, only the publick Charities bequeathed to pious uſes were in danger of being taken away.
His Lordſhip would ſometime pleaſantly compare our times with theirs of the Old Teſtament, when there was laid up in the Ark for greater ſecurity, Aaron's Rod, the Pot of Manna, and the two Tables of the Law; but we read that all was loſt but the Tables of the Law; 1 King. 8.9.in like Manner now Some men ſteal away our Diſcipline, Aaron's Rod; others ſteal away our golden Pot of Manna, the Tythe of the Church; and if they had loved the Law or Commandments, Mart.they had ſtole them away too; Sed tu quod facias hoc mihi Paete dolet. But that this ſhould be done by Proteſtants troubled our Biſhop exceedingly, who would much commend Archbiſhop Cranmar for oppoſing King Henry the 8.Nele…. Adam in vita. his Alienation of Abby Lands from uſes of piety and charity; and Peter Martyr much more, who when he left the Monaſtery, Ib. in vita p. 35.would not carry away the leaſt thing from it, but reſtored a Ring belonging to the Houſe (the Seal of the Abbot) which he was wont to wear formerly; and wiſhed all Proteſtant Miniſters oftentimes to preach upon this Theme, not out of charity to themſelves, but the ſouls of their hearers; not ſo much to prevent their own poverty and hard fortune for a little time, as the others condemnation and endleſs ſorrow for ever.
No Biſhop ever more deſired to have his Clergy pious and learned, that they who were ſent to reprove the faults of others might be without offence themſelves; but he deſpaired of ſuch as long as the Vicarages of his Dioceſs were ſo exceeding low, where wit and poverty often meeting together, did not always make honeſt men; yet for his own part he was very careful in all his Ordinations to allow none without ſufficient teſtimony, and to examin all himſelf, in Latin or in Engliſh, as they liked beſt, that he might better know the State of his Clergie, where he would not ſpare to reprove whatſoever he found amiſs in any ſort, their very hair and habit it ſelf, which he alwayes required to be grave and modeſt, becoming Divines the Embaſſadors of Chriſt, and not like Ruffians and the Woers of Penelope: To that purpoſe under his Signification Paper for Orders upon the Cathedral Door was ſometimes alſo written Nemo accedat petitum ſacros Ordines cum longâ Caeſarie. When ever he found a learned modeſt Scholar preſented to him, he would bid him very welcom; yet after long wars where the Ʋniverſities could not be attended, and Church Means commonly were ſeized upon, he would not refuſe any tolerable competency of learning, if he found it accompanied with diſcretion and gravity: Sometimes he would note how he had heard in our troubleſom times, that the Presbyterians were ſo ſtrict in their uſurped Ordinations and Tryals of Miniſters, that he believed in his conſcience, he ſhould not have been able to have paſſed them himſelf, if he had been bound to appear before them; but in all his Dioceſs he found none greater Dunces than ſuch as had been of their ſtamp formerly, ſeveral of whom craved to receive Orders from him, and though he could not endure to have the Ark of God drawn by meagre and feeble Cattle, yet in hope of future improvement and better conformity he did admit them. He never cared to have any preſented to him very young, till the heats which boyl in the blouds of youth were well ſcum'd off, if not quite boyl'd away; affirming that a ſcandalous Miniſter had confiſcated his own authority of reprehending that in others which he was guilty of himſelf, and that the Doctrin and Diſcipline of our Church could never have been ſo contemptible, but for their ſakes, who with their ill lives and manners made all the threatnings of holy Scripture, which they preached, and all the Cenſures of the Church, which they paſſed, or denounced, ridiculous and inſignificant: yet withal his Lordſhip ever gave the people warning not to deſpiſe the chaſtening of their Mother; for no man can lightly eſteem the power of the Keys upon earth,Prov. 1. and yet be well prepared in heart, to receive the judgment of God in the World to come.
For better amendment of whatſoever was amiſs his Lordſhip would like St. Auſtin and other antient Biſhops frequently ſit Judg in his Eccleſiaſtical Courts, and haſten the diſpatch of all Affairs, and eſpecially if there were any thing that concerned his Clergie, would always be preſent at the hearing of thoſe Cauſes, that neither his Clergie, nor any by them might be wronged: when he went not in perſon to the Court, he gave ready acceſs at his own Houſe to all who came to complain, even the meaneſt people, who were grieved with long and tedious Suits, and after hearing what they could ſay, would ſometimes ſend for the Chancellour and Proctors on both ſides, and what he could not redreſs at home, he would oftentimes go to Court and end there, throwing out many Cauſes, that had been long depending for trivial matters, and would not ſuffer any Cauſes to be entred for defamatory words or trifles without his own knowledg firſt, to the end they might be compoſed without much vexation to the parties: by this means his Lordſhip created to himſelf much trouble, which he valued not, for the great good he did by it; and though leſs profit came to the Officers of the Court, yet were they alſo contented, believing God would better bleſs them for taking onelyonly thoſe Fees which ſo conſcientious a Judge was willing to allow.
After Ordination he ſeldom diſmiſſed any whom he ordain'd without rare counſel, To remember they were Ordain'd to Cures, not to Sine Cures, the Cure of Souls, the greateſt of all others, and wiſh them every day to think of the invaluable dignity and ſeriouſneſs thereof, and therefore in all their Preachings to avoid lightneſs,S. Bern. Quia Nugae in ore Sacerdotum ſunt blaſphemiae; as likewiſe all ridiculous geſtures, and loud vociferations, empty affectation of words and phraſes without weighty and ponderous ſenſe and ſignificancy, accounting that elegant words without ſolid matter were but perfum'd Nonſenſe, and that there was infinite difference between plainneſs and rudeneſs: They had a duty to diſcharge both to the wiſe and unwiſe, and therefore muſt take care, that the learned Auditor might ſtill learn ſomewhat, and the unlearned Auditor might underſtand, not only ſome, but all. His charge was, that in every thing we ſhould retain this great Principle, to offer to God the very Beſt we have; whoſoever builds God an Houſe, let them build it better than their own, the Ornaments thereof ſhould be fairer than our own, our Sermons there ſuperiour to our ordinary diſcourſes or labours in any other kind, ariſing not from extemporary ſawcineſs, but our ſtudied and beſt induſtry;1 Tim. 4.15. and therefore ever warned them, as St. Paul did Timothy, though he had the gift of Prophecying, ſtill to attend to reading as Preaching, and remember St. Paul himſelf would not preach without Books, and therefore cauſed them to be brought after him in all his Travels, and ſometimes preached the ſame thing the next Sabbath-day, and therefore probably kept Notes: He conceived it ſmall commendations to any to pour out faſter than they took in, and that indiligent and over-frequent Preaching beyond the Preacher's parts, or what the peoples needs required, was no advantage to learning or piety, eſpecially in the obvious way of Preaching altogether by Doctrin, Reaſon and Ʋſe, which of all Expoſitors of Scripture Muſculus firſt took up, and was one great means to lay the Pulpit open to the prophanations of the late times, ſuch Preaching being oftentimes ſo poor and eaſie, that every Juſtice of Peace his Clerk thought he could perform as well as his Miniſter; whereas a good Preacher had need be skill'd in the whole Encyclopedy of Arts and Sciences, Logick to divide the Word aright, Rhetorick to perſwade, School Divinity to convince Gainſayers, knowledge of many Tongues to underſtand Originals and learned Authors; and above all, he would recommend St. Hierom's counſel,Epiſt. ad Paulam. Diſcamus in Terris quorum ſcientia nobis perſeverabit in Coelis, for otherwiſe all kind of learning in a Miniſter without good Example and innocency of life was but a jewel of gold in a Swine's ſnout.
This was his conſtant advice to his Clergie at Ordinations and Viſitations, which he duly held every third year. Viſitation of Churches he would maintain was no Filia noctis, ſtarted up in a night of darkneſs and Popery, but an Apoſtolical Inſtitution, and practiſed afterwards by all the Primitive Fathers and Biſhops. Herein his Lordſhip would oftentimes be the Preacher himſelf, ſo that in his firſt Viſitation Anno 1665. in his Progreſs in Shropſhire, and at Stafford, from the laſt of May to the fifteenth of June he preached eight times in the compaſs of thoſe few dayes, at Bridgnorth, Salop, Elſmere, Wem, Whitchurch, Drayton, Hodnet and Stafford; and confirmed above five thouſand perſons, whom he required not to be tumultuarily preſented, but with the preexamination of their ſeveral Miniſters, and was in all places moſt joyfully received.
So that when he put on his Epiſcopal Robes, he put not off his Miniſterial Labours; no man had reaſon to ſay, his Majeſty by making him Biſhop had ſpoiled a good Preacher, as it was ſaid of Frier Giles, that the Pope had marr'd a painful Clerk by making him a powerful Cardinal: nor was he like Julius the third, of whom the Hiſtorian complains,Onuphrius in vitá. that he had been formerly a diligent man, but when he came to the Popedom never minded his Study, or the Affairs of the Church more: Our Biſhop on the other ſide profeſſed he found as many cares in his Biſhops Rochet, as he believed Antigonus did in his Royal Purple; and if it were not for the glory of God, and good of his Church, had rather throw it away than hang it about his ſhoulders.
St. Paul very well underſtood his Office when he called it a good work, 1 Tim. 3.7.not to be diſcharged without painful ſtudy, often preaching, daily hearing and determining Caſes of Conſcience, judging in Cauſes Eccleſiaſtical, repairing or building of Churches. Theſe and ſo many other things beſide he found to do at home, that all abſence ſeemed tedious and intolerable to him abroad, ſo that he never ſlept out of his Biſhoprick in many years, nor was willingly abſent from his Flock but upon extraordinary occaſions, as in Parliament, &c. and then would often requeſt my Lord Chamberlain to beg the Kings leave to let him go home before the end of the Seſſion, ſometimes in froſty Winter weather, to be like the good Paſtor among his Sheep, where they might hear his voice at Chriſtmas and the other great Feaſts, and accounted ſilence a Womans vertue, but not a Biſhops, who, if ſickneſs and great Affairs moleſted not, was ſtill bound to labour in the Word and Doctrine, and held it a miſtake to prefer Governing before Preaching, whereas it was ever contrary, as appeared by 1 Tim. 15.17. Let the Elders that rule well be accounted worthy of double honour, eſpecially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine; and therefore the Biſhop alwayes preached, and the Presbyter never before him, Downam Def. l. 3. c. 2.but when deputed, or in his abſence: ſo that when he was ſometimes told by his friends, that he was now Miles emeritus, and might lawfully lay aſide his Preaching pains, in his extreme old age, he would by no means conſent, but ſtill lay-by his other Studies upon Saturday afternoon, and retire to his preaching Meditations, and for the moſt part preacht once upon Sunday mornings, both to profit others, and to warm himſelf. Three Sundays at leaſt every Month he would preach up and down his Dioceſs, and not only in his chief City of Lichfield, or near to his own Cathedral, but like to a benign Star would irradiate all places within his Orb; He would often take Coach and go more than ſeven miles, ſometimes nine or ten upon Sunday morning, and yet be at Church before moſt of the Pariſh, and go home again to dinner, and yet alwayes have the full Service of the Church before Sermon, and many times afterwards rectify diſorders in Churches, and ſometimes differences about Seats or Pews. This Cuſtom he continued till he died, often mentioning the words of Biſhop Andrews, who was wont to inſtitute all his Miniſters in curam meam & tuam, and therefore thought he muſt no more hide his Talent in a Rochet, than they might theirs under a Caſſock.
Thus was his diligence equal to any of the Ancients, and his ſucceſs anſwerable, reducing multitudes in all places to piety and conformity with the Church of England, almoſt like another Gregorius Thaumaturgus Biſhop of Neocaeſarea, a great and populous City, who when he came thither found but ſeventeen Chriſtians, and when he died gave God thanks he left but ſeventeen Pagans.Baron. 2.
This great ſucceſs did owe it ſelf not only to his frequent preaching and diligent ſtudy, but to his eximious piety and perpetual prayer. Formerly he had taken great pains in the Study of Antiquity, and for Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory especially he was inferior to very few; no man could give a better account of the Travels of the Apoſtles after the day of Pentecoſt, and the Converſion of the World by the Primitive Chriſtians; and for the Hiſtory of the Reformation after the ſecond Pentecoſt, no man I think could give the like Narrative, how miraculouſly in all places it was effected: In our own Church there was nothing whereof he was ignorant, all the Councils and paſſages of the Reformation from the firſt beginning or Matrix thereof he perfectly underſtood. But of late years he would ſay his Studies were not to be more wiſe and learned, but more holy and good, and therefore laid aſide Polemical Divinity wholly, and his principal ſtudy were Caſes of Conſcience, Canon Law, and the Liturgies of the Antient Church, in which he was very skilful; yet would often complain, he found this laſt an unlearned ſtudy, and much againſt his own nature, who was a lover of Philology and Rationality. But he much wondred that any learned men could, contrary to the practice of the whole Church, Ep. ad Protector.lay aſide all uſe of Liturgies, even againſt the ſenſe of Calvin himſelf, who wiſhes there might be in every Church an uniform Liturgy, (for preſervation of Unity, and prevention of Vainglory, and other inconveniencies,) from which it ſhould be unlawful for Miniſters to depart; but eſpecially in our Church, where ſo many young men are ordain'd, he wondred any wiſe man would be againſt a ſet Liturgie, and refer all the Service of God to free Prayer; and would aſſert that it was more eaſie to marr than to mend the Book of Common-Prayer, and therefore we ought not to adventure the one for the other; but in regard the Miniſter of the Pariſh was permitted to compoſe a Prayer of his own before his Sermon, he thought no Sectary had cauſe to complain.
Bidding of Prayer before Sermon he never practiſed, and ſaid no more did Dr. Ravis and Dr. Fletcher, Archbiſhop Whitgift's Chaplains, afterwards Biſhops, who drew up the 55. Canon, whom he knew very well, and often heard preach, and always uſed a Form of their own, and no Biſhops Articles ever examined or found fault with it, and was certainly uſed by St. Ambroſe in Antiquity, and therefore in the Convocation 1640 it was carried for a Form.
And although it was his mind, that all Students were not to be tied up to Canonical hours, but ſuch only whoſe Devotion need not be interrupted by neceſſary ſtudy and employment; yet he would rarely intermit them himſelf, unleſs want of health, or very extraordinary buſineſs conſtrained him.
In a morning he would rarely permit any to viſit or diſturb him, but held that time was made for God, rather than for men, as the Hiſtorian ſays of Charles the fifth, Florin. Raimond l. 1.Manè frequentior cum Deo quàm cum hominibus ſermo; therefore the firſt thing after his ſleep was his private Devotion, with reading of the holy Bible, Pſalms and Chapters, then gentle walking for health, then Study, then Publick Prayer, then Private Prayers again before Dinner; preſently after Dinner to his Private Prayers again, and then to his Study, unleſs Eccleſiaſtical Affairs or ſutable Company prevented him for an hour or ſo; and of all ſorts of Prayer, he would eſpecially abound in thanksgiving, uſing St. Paul's words often,1 Theſ. 5.8. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God, and wiſh that our Common Prayer had more Forms to that purpoſe, and would ſometimes wonder, that when the world had been ſo cloyed with Religious Orders, Predicants, Humiliats, Oratorians, Mendicants, and many other titles, yet there was never any called Euchariſtici, a Congregation appointed to give God thanks for all the good things wherewith this World is repleniſhed. In the Evening of every day, Recount thy own actions, and the divine preſervations, was his rule to others, and cuſtomary to himſelf; and to pray for the pardon of the one, and praiſe God for the receit of the other: And in all his Prayers day and night he was a continual ſollicitor for the peace of the Catholick Church: All his counſels, like Melanchton's, were ever moderate, and he often wiſhed ſuch a Form of Prayer were compoſed that all Chriſtians might joyn in, being a great Enemy to ſharpneſs and violence in the matters of Religion, and would often uſe Eraſmus his words, Mihi adeò eſt inviſa diſcordia, ut veritas diſpliceat ſeditioſa.
After his Majeſtie's return, and reſtauration of the Church of England, he prayed for nothing more in this World than the downfal of Mahomet, and the reſurrection of the Greek Empire and Church again, and would ſay, he thought in his complexion and Religion both, that he was the greateſt Anti-Ottoman in Europe; he was extremely afflicted for poor Hungary, the Antimurale or Bulwark of Chriſtendom, in the laſt Invaſion, and conſequently for the horrible diviſion of Chriſtians through the juglings of the Papacy, for which reaſon he could not yet foreſee which way poſſible they ſhould unite under one General, who might be able to put an Hook into the jaws of Mahomet, and repulſe the Grand Signior into Arabia again, or to his Scythian Cottages; and therefore he never hoped for this happy time till he ſaw the Papacy fall firſt, which yet he hoped ſhould never be brought to paſs by thoſe Infidels, though he was very much affected with the words of Muſculus, ſpoken above a hundred years ago. Eccleſia Sancti Petri ſic aedificatur Romae, Loci Com. de Eccleſia p. 299.ut ad plenum aedificata ſit nunquam, citiùſque deſtruenda ſit a Turcis, quàm ad finem ſtructurae perducenda a Romanis.
He took the Pope to be an ill Member of Chriſtendom, yet would have no man deſire the Devil ſhould pull him down, viz. the Turk; or Goths and Vandals, viz. German Anabaptiſts and Socinians, for fear the change ſhould be for the worſe: the Italians were a civil people, and lovers of learning, the Anabaptiſts of Germany more ignorant and bloudy far than they. From this civility of his own temper he did not much love to fix the Title of Antichriſt upon the Papacy, Synopſis Prophetica.yet believed that our learned Divines (Mr. Mede and Dr. More eſpecially) had with that great learning in all kinds ſo charg'd this crime upon Him, that he admired his Champions, who daily ſcatter books of all other matters, could permit their ſupreme Pontife to be ſo ſlander'd, (if it were not true) and he thought it frivolous for them to write upon other controverſies, before they were able to clear themſelves before all the world of this Capital one, and which being true, concluded all other crimes in it.
Though a reconciliation of all Chriſtians were deſireable, yet he held it impoſſible to be effected, as long as the Doctrines of their Churches Infallibility and the Popes Supremacy were ſo obſtinately maintain'd. The Pope was now become like a Blazing-ſtar, dreadful to all Potentates and Rulers; and therefore whereas his two great Friends, Biſhop Ʋſher and Mr. Mede, out of Apocalyptical Principles, were of opinion that there would be a general Apoſtacy, and Dagon ſet upon his feet again, he could not believe it: For he never feared Chriſtian Princes would be ſo forſaken of their own underſtandings, and other Counſellers, as to reſign their own Crowns to adorn a foreign Mitre; eſpecially when both Mr. Selden and Sir Robert Cotton had told him, they could ſhew undoubted teſtimonies, that all the Princes in Chriſtendom envied Henry the Eighth's Act in this kind, and would gladly have imitated him if they durſt: But this he imputed to a foreign or want of Magnanimity in them who would not endeavour to recover their own rights, in calling Councils, preſenting to Churches, and other Flowers of their Crowns unjuſtly deteined from them by the See of Rome, and therefore ever prayed the Kings of England might ſtill retein their own juſt Supremacy, without giving up their Regalia to any foreign Juriſdiction.
He thought the increaſe of Popery ought to be ſtrictly watched, not only for the perniciouſneſs of the Tenents of their Heterodox Religion in themſelves, as being in his opinion Idolatrous and favouring of Rebellion, but likewiſe for the cruelty and ſanguinary minds of Papiſts themſelves, that whereas all Proteſtants expreſs a charitable reſpect towards the ſouls and bodies of all Papiſts, abhorring all bloudy Perſecutions of them; on the other ſide Deſignant nos oculis ad mortem; Papiſts ever bear bloudy minds towards us, and want nothing but power and opportunity to make as many Bonfires in England, as they had done formerly; and whereas in their excuſe, ſome ſay, that the many late Treaſons againſt their Princes were but the private Acts of ſome particular Papiſts, then he wondred no Pope ſhould ever think fit to ſend out his Bull to declare that he abhorred them; or that none of their learned men ſhould print books licenſed by authority, wherein they were renounced, which he would have given a great deal of money to read.
The Biſhop was an enemy to all ſeparation from the Church of England, of whatſoever Faction or Sect: But their hypocriſie he thought ſuperlative that allowed the Doctrine, and yet would ſeparate for miſlike of the Diſcipline; theſe mens impudence outwent all preceding Hiſtories; and he would challenge any to ſhew him in all Antiquity for 1500 years where any Chriſtian withdrew from the Churches Communion, much leſs roſe up againſt lawful Governors, for their impoſition of indifferent matters or Ceremonies? though in ancient times they impoſed more than we do now; All that were baptized were preſented in White Garments, S. Ambr. l. de Initiand. Tert. de Cor. Mil.which the Prieſt charged them to keep white and undefiled to the Coming of the Lord; and they uſed not only the Sign of the Croſs, but praeguſtatio mellis & lactis, intimating that they were now brought to the Land of Canaan flowing with Milk and Honey: Standing at Prayers was required upon all Lords-days between Eaſter and Whitſuntide, and Prayer with their hands extended, after the ſimilitude of a Croſs ſometimes, which muſt needs be very tedious; and ſo many other things in St. Auſtin's time, that his complaint is well known,S. Aug. Ep. 119. ad Ja. & 86. ad Caſ. Tolerabilior erat Judaeorum conditio: yet no Separate Churches were then ſet up for theſe things: Truth is, he thought the permiſſion of Conventicles did ſhew great irreſolution and unſatisfaction in the Truth, adminiſtred great tentation to Shopkeepers and ſedentary people to be tainted with errors and novelties, of which the Engliſh temper is too receptive, people being generally vain and whimſically ſceptical, and never to be ſatisfied, like Him in the Talmud, that would alwayes be queſtioning why the Sun roſe in the Eaſt, and ſet in the Weſt! to whom it was anſwered, if it ſhould do otherwiſe he would ſtill complain to know the reaſon. But above all he held we ought to become wiſe by former experience, for Conventicles in Corporations were the Seminaries out of which the Warriours againſt the King and the Church came, and therefore would much admire, that if any man coin'd falſe money it was counted Treaſon; if any man cheated a Pupil or an Orphan he was puniſht, or if he ſpread falſe News he was lyable to ſuffer for it; but if any man publiſh'd falſe Divinity to the damnation of ſouls, or perverting the minds of people from their obedience to their Governors, there was little or no regard of it: Beſide, he had often heard from credible Witneſſes, it was too uſual with the diſcontented at their Meetings to charge the Church of England with thoſe conſequences which they did terminis terminantibus deny, as the making of indifferent Ceremonies to be Sacraments, and in kneeling at Sacrament to worſhip the Bread; and thereupon be ſo furious againſt that reverend poſture, as though Kneeling were Popery, and Sitting Proteſtancy, Card. Bona de rebus Liturg. p. 440.when the Pope himſelf ever Communicates ſitting. Theſe things were only ſpoken to make our Church odious to ignorant people, and being permitted muſt needs in time deſtroy our Foundations again; and therefore he wiſhed that as of old, all Kings and other Chriſtians ſubſcribed to the Conciliary Decrees, ſo now a Law might paſs that all Juſtices of Peace ſhould do ſo in England, and then they would be more careful to puniſh the depravers of Church Orders.
In matter of Doctrine he embraced no private and ſingular opinions, as many great men delight to do, in vetere viâ novam ſemitam quaerentes, S. Hier.ſays the Father, but was in all points a perfect Proteſtant, according to the Articles of the Church of England, always accounting it a ſpice of pride and vanity to affect ſingularity in any opinions, or Expoſitions of Scripture, without great cauſe; and withal very dangerous to affect precipices (as Goats uſe) when they may walk in plain paths.
In the Quinquarticular Controverſie he was ever very moderate, but being bred under Biſhop Davenant, and Dr. Ward in Cambridge, was addicted to their Sentiments. Biſhop Ʋſher would ſay Davenant underſtood thoſe Controverſies better than ever any man did ſince St. Auſtin; but He uſed to ſay, he was ſure he had three excellent men of his mind in this Controverſie. Hornb. Sum. Controv.1. Padre Paulo, whoſe Letter is extant to Heinſius Anno 1604. 2. Thomas Aquinas. 3. St. Auſtin; but beſides and above them all, he believed in his conſcience St. Paul was of the ſame mind likewiſe; yet would profeſs withal, he diſliked no Arminian, but ſuch a one as reviled and defamed every one that was not ſo, and would often commend Arminius himſelf for his excellent wit and parts, but only tax his want of reading and knowledg in Antiquity, and ever held it was the fooliſheſt thing in the world to ſay the Arminians were Papiſts, when ſo many Dominicans and Janſeniſts were no Arminians; and ſo again to ſay the Anti-Arminians were Puritans, or Presbyterians, when Ward, and Davenant, and Prideaux, and Brownrig were Anti-Arminians, and alſo ſtout Champions for Epiſcopacy; and Arminius himſelf was ever a Presbyterian, and therefore much commended the moderation of our Church, which made not any of theſe nice and doubtful Opinions the reſolved Doctrin of the Church; this he judg'd was the great fault of the Tridentine and late Weſtminſter Aſſemblies: But our Church was more ingenuous, and left theſe dark and curious points to the ſeveral apprehenſions of learned men, and extended equal Communion to both.
There is another Controverſie that hath been much vexed in our times concerning the caſe of Divorce and Marriage afterwards; in which it is confeſſed our Biſhop did diſlike all thoſe Churches or Polities that were facile to allow ſeparation in Marriage, and much more Marriage after; yet allowed the queſtion was intricate, and ſuch a one as the Phariſees ſought to entangle our Saviour withal, and that the Church of England had doctrinally determined neither way, but for practice only judg'd it better that neither party ſhould marry again after Divorce, while the other liv'd, and therefore in the Canons of Queen Elizabeth Anno 97; and in 107 Canon of King James Anno 1604. required Caution by ſufficient Sureties to that purpoſe: He condemned not other Churches that allowed it otherwiſe, but prefer'd our own Caution before them, and for this he wanted not many more reaſons, than were wrot in a haſty Letter to a Gentleman his Neighbour, and publiſhed (without leave) after his death, together with his own Anſwer; but it is no credit to conquer the dead, ſays the old Proverb.
While living He would urge for the indiſſolubleneſs of Wedlock, the Authority of Divine Inſtitution, how God was pleaſed to make them Male and Female, and firſt one, and then two out of one, and then again two to become one, by a Divine Inſtitution, ſaying, Whom God hath once joyned, let no man put aſunder. 2. The Dignity of Marriage, which repreſents the myſtical Union that is betwixt Chriſt and his Church, and His Union with our humane nature, both which are indiſſoluble and perpetual. 3. The excellency of that love that one ought to bear to the other in Marriage, Gen. 2.For this cauſe ſhall a man leave his Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife; therefore it is a ſtronger relation then between Father and Son; but the Son while his Father lives can never ceaſe to be a Son, much more while the Wife lives can the Husband ceaſe to be an Husband, foreign, he ſhall cleave to his Wife, Gen. 2.ſignifying a glutinous conjunction, that will ſooner break any where than be parted there. 4. The manner of the conjunction, one fleſh, that is according to the Hebrew Idiom, one Man, which ſuppoſes the Woman to be the Body, and the Man to be the Soul; ſo that none can part theſe, but He alone that can part Soul and Body. 5. And therefore though he conceived Eve did Adam a far greater injury, than when a loathed Strumpet does defile the Bed of Marriage, yet God nor Adam thought of no rupture in the caſe, but God only pronounced her future ſorrow in Conception: indeed Paludanus and Navar, Roman Caſuiſts, maintain if one party be indangered to be drawn into mortal ſin by the other, it is ſufficient occaſion to ſeparate, and therefore probably would have cited Eve into their Courts, and proceeded accordingly againſt her; but from the beginning it was not ſo. 6. In the New Teſtament he obſerv'd our Saviour's anſwer ſeem'd ſtrange to his own Diſciples, inſomuch that they replied; If the caſe were ſo, it were better not marry at all, which ſhews how they underſtood him. 7. To be ſure St. Paul would not allow it in a Biſhop, but ſtrictly required him to be the Husband of one Wife, 1 Tim. 3.2.that is having repudiated one to take no other without exception of any caſe. 8. He was ſure he had in the New Teſtament ſix places of his ſide to one againſt him, one only carrying an outward face for it, Matth. 19.9. Whoſoever ſhall put away his Wife except it be for fornication, and marrieth another committeth adultery: But Matth. 5. & 32. Mark 10.11. Luke 16.18. all ſound another way; Whoſoever putteth away his Wife and marrieth another committeth adultery. Rom. 7.2. The Woman that hath an Husband is bound as long as her Husband lives. 1 Cor. 7.10. Let not the Wife depart from her Husband, and if ſhe depart let her remain unmarried: and again the 27. verſe; Art thou bound to a Wife, ſeek not to be looſed: he held it ſafer to hold with ſix places than with one: ſome only ſay St. Matthew has that which others have not, and he muſt expound them; yea but one Evangeliſt is not falſe without the ſupplement of another, and St. Mark's Goſpel was in ſome places where St. Matthew's was not. 9. This would have given great ſcandal in the Heathen World, who a long time uſed no Divorces; the Romans none for 500 years,Tert. Apol. c. 6. Gellius l. 4. c. 3. Noct. Att. Spurius Carbilius Gema was the firſt that broke the hedge, a great ſhame for God's people to be more ſenſual than the Heathen, that they ſhould exceed them in chaſtity and integrity. 10. We plight our faith in the face of the Church to hold till death us do part, not till Adultery or any other ſcandalous cauſe, which promiſe ought to be alter'd if we do not think meet to perform it. Upon theſe and many like conſiderations which he would repeat (but I cannot readily remember) I know he held it more ſafe to bear with a private inconvenience than alter the antient ſtrictneſs according to the looſeneſs of our later times, and ſince antient Writers tell us the Turtle is pudica & univira, would often wiſh God would pleaſe that the voice of the Turtle might be again heard in our Land.
Indeed he was a Prelate of venerable ſtrictneſs and purity, who would much bewail the unruly and horrid licentiouſneſs of our times, which he conceived grew great by the leſſening of Eccleſiaſtical Juriſdiction: the Sword of Excommunication was lockt up in the Sheath, and the Church had not the Key of it; but men of vitious and lewd lives, who formerly would have been thruſt out for ſeven years, were admitted without cenſure to the comfort of the Sacraments; and ſo inſtead of godly ſorrow too many exult in their ſins, jeſt and droll upon them in all Companies, chant their Crimes to Muſick, and ſing them ſometimes in the high places of the Streets.
Our holy Biſhop had a very chaſte ear, and would never permit the foreign, or tongue-fornications of any, but would preſently reprove them whereſoever he was: and he was once at a publick Table, where he could not preſently allay that prophane merriment, ſo that he put back his Chair, and reſolv'd like Cato, to be gone, till the Company became ſorry, and promiſed to preſerve his Epiſcopal reverence and gravity.
At a Table no man more chearful and pleaſant, yet ever wiſely and inoffenſively facete, and would often call upon the company as Plato to the rough Xenocrates, Diog. Lacr. in vitá.foreign, to ſacrifice to the Graces to obtain hilarity. But according to his own Motto, Inſervi Deo & laetare, Serve God and be chearful. His Salt was ever candid and white, not bitter and biting, without all Sarcaſms or Ironies, ſaying mirth was too good a creature to be abuſed with any affrontive jeaſts, ſcurrility, or bawdry. He loved innocuos ſine dente ſales, Mart.ſo as to make every body ſmile, and no body bluſh: Impudence and drolling upon Divine things he would not allow to be wit, but want of wit; on the other ſide, God Almighty never forbad lawful pleaſures, and they are not more religious and ſpiritual who are more auſtere and moroſe than others. Chriſt Jeſus refuſed not chearful meetings, but condemn'd the ſad countenances and ſullenneſs of the Phariſees: and melancholy of all humours he held was fit to make a Bath for the Devil.
Chearfulneſs and innocent pleaſure preſerves our Mind from ruſt, and the Body from putrifying with dulneſs and diſtempers; and therefore would ſometimes chearfully ſay, he did not love to look upon a ſowre man at dinner, and if his Gueſts were pleaſed and merry within, would bid them hang out the white Flag in their countenance.
In his Entertainments he was ever very Hoſpitable, and held where Divines wanted a competency of Means, beſides neceſſary proviſion for a Family, to be hoſpitable to others, it was the fault of the State; but where Divines had good Livings, and did not keep Hoſpitality, the Governors of the Church were in fault if they did not exact it of them: Yet if he found in his Viſitation an evil Churchman that ſpent vainly and riotouſly upon himſelf, he would tell him he was guilty of Sacrilege, and bound to make reſtitution to the Poor.
But in all his own Entertainments his Lordſhip was as free and communicative of his Diſcourſe as of his Chear; the Mind had the principal ſhare there, for he gave ever ſuch excellent Sawce with his Meat, ſo many witty Apophthegms and other ingenious ſallies of wit, as made every body eat with a better appetite. He loved to be a rational Feeder, not as at a Manger, but a Table, not much caring what his Provender was, for ſuch was all kind of food without talk, Prandium Boum & Aſinorum: and his diſcourſe was not only chearful and pleaſant, but moſt learned and profitable, full of recondite and polite learning, that whoever heard preſently became all ear, and was not only better the next day, but for ever. I have heard many affirm, that they never heard more learning from any man than from him, ſometimes at the cloſe of a Dinner, at a Table, or in his Arbour afterwards; and though he was very ſplendid in the Entertainment of his Friends, yet very ſparing in the entertainment of himſelf; for himſelf he choſe rather to have a Table repleniſhed from an Orchard or a Dairy than from the Butchers Shambles. To eat fleſh he thought lawful from the beginning of the World, but never uſed by Seth's Poſterity (the Line of the Church) before the Floud, and ſtill recommended to all Scholars a plain Diet, to which, as Socrates ſaid, hunger and thirſt was the beſt ſawce; and for his own part whenever he dined with any other Haugouſt he loſt the afternoon, and therefore drank ſo little wine, as to be almoſt abſtemious, and always of a very ſmall ſort, and diluted with water for fear of fumes, that hindred his Studies and Prayers, ſaying withal that whoever eats and drinks temperately ſacrifices to his own bodily health, and good temper of mind; but whoever eats and drinks otherwiſe, muſt needs have a groſs body and a foggy brain.
After he was made Biſhop, it made no change of his former ſweetneſs and affability, ſtill he knew us, and we knew him, like a Star in the Firmament, quo altior eo minor, he rather ſeemed leſs to himſelf for being raiſed higher: Who ever once diſcover'd inſolency in him, or that he bore himſelf with a big carriage to any man? Humility with honour, and urbanity with high dignity were never more really conjoyned, he would ſtill inſtantly condeſcend to ſpeak with any Scholar, though never ſo poor or young. Once when he lay in Channel-row during his Attendance upon Parliament, he roſe at midnight and baptized a dying Child at a Neighbour's houſe, when the Curate of the Pariſh could not be found; and ever deem'd humility was the infallible cognizance or mark to diſtinguiſh Apoſtolical Biſhops from others,Bede Hiſt. according to the old Story of Auſtin the Monk, who came into England in the time of King Ethelred 600 years after Chriſt, and preſt the Weſt Britains of this Iſland to receive him as their Maſter and Governour, becauſe he was ſent by the Biſhop of Rome. A learned Abbot of Bangor having no fancy to his Meſſage, conſulted with an Hermit what they ſhould think of this man, and his Meſſage from Rome; hearken (ſays the Hermit) the next time you and your Brethren meet to attend this Auſtin in Synod, obſerve if he ſhew any reverence or carry himſelf humbly when he comes before you; but if he ſalute not, and bear himſelf diſdainfully, receive him not, for he is no Apoſtle of Chriſt. At the next Synod the jolly Prelat entred among the Monks, with a braving courage, never ſtoopt nor vail'd his head, but uſurped the higheſt place in the Congregation, as the Roman Legate: at this the Britains diſliked his Arrogancy, and would not receive his Meſſage.
Yet our good Biſhop's humility appeared not only in his outward demeanour, and verbal ſalutation, which he knew were often forced, and more then was required, and that Rivers were not deepeſt where they overflow but in their own Channels: but in paying all due reſpect to the deſerts of others without reflecting upon his own perfections; therefore it was not his faſhion to undervalue other mens learning, or magnify his own. Upon frequent occaſions he would confeſs his want of Eaſtern Languages, but in ſuch ſtudies wherein he was converſant, would by private letters give great help to many writers of books, who have confeſſed in their returns to him that the books were not theirs, but his, and thereupon would have had him to have own'd them, or at leaſt to have ſuffered an honorable mention of himſelf in thoſe books which he would in no ſort permit, that as Camerarius ſaid of Melanchton, he was like a Nightingale, that with his ſinging ſweetly affected all others, but would not endure to hear of it himſelf.Hiſt. vitae p. 80.
Notwithſtanding this great civility and ſweetneſs of temper towards all people generally, we muſt acknowledg a vanity and defect in all humane accompliſhments and perfections; it being not poſſible that almoſt 80 years ſhould be ſpent in this Age of humane infirmity, and that any mans actions ſhould be all fine flour, without mixture of coarſer Meal and Bran; to ſay ſo, were not to commend, but to flatter, not truly to repreſent, but to dawb; our Biſhop would often ſeverely cenſure himſelf (and ſaid he beſt knew his own heart) to be of ſinners the chief, moſt unthankful to God for many Divine Talents confer'd upon Him, and moſt wanting eſpecially in many grains of meekneſs and forbearance to his Neighbours. Indeed he was by nature foreign (as moſt great wits are) irritable and ſubject to great eruptions of anger oftentimes, eſpecially if he had met with bold and arrogant,Apol. 1. adv. Ruff. but ſlow parts. St. Hierom acknowledges the like harſh diſpoſition in himſelf, and compares himſelf to an angry horn'd Beaſt, and ſays that all the ſtrict Diſcipline of Bethlehem and Watchings of Arabia could not mortifie this indecent paſſion in him. God Almighty permitting theſe moſt holy and learned men ſometimes to betray themſelves in ſuch palpable weakneſſes, does ſufficiently convince us,Dall. de uſu patr. that humane infirmity cleaves to humane nature, and abſolute perfection belongs only to the Divine.
Yet I will add, that as he was very irritable and apt to be offended, ſo he was exceeding placable and ready to be appeaſed; too generous he was to be vindicative, and therefore though he would chide earneſtly, yet he ever cenſur'd mildly; like the Apoſtles who had fiery tongues, but gentle hands; beſides it was his judgment, that if any man asked unreaſonable things, it was much better to chide him away from his houſe for his fault, than give him good words and afterwards not do it: minus negatur qui negatur celeriter, and would alwayes adviſe other people, if any thing troubled them to ſpeak it out, and never to retain a dry diſcontent, and for the moſt part made his paſſion ſubſervient to virtuous ends; by his great natural inclination to anger, becoming far more active and zealous in the carrying on his great projectments for piety and charity.
For any other cenſures of being illiberal and covetous, which are ſo frequently and unduely caſt upon Divines, examin his life, and few men will appear more incontaminat and free. In bad times when he had loſt his beſt Incoms, and like the Widow of Sarepta, had but an handful of Meal and a Cruze of Oyl left for himſelf and his Family, yet he then thought Elias was worthy of one Cake out of it, and accordingly has given a diſtreſſed friend twenty pounds at a time, and would always argue, that Times of perſecution were the moſt proper ſeaſons of charity, and that charity was oftentimes the happy means to preſerve us from ſuffering; for Tyrants more commonly oppreſs the rich than their inopious Enemies; as the Hiſtorian obſerved in the days of Nero, Alium Thermae, alium Horti trucidarunt, many men might have fared better, but for delicious Gardens and ſweet Baths; no man was ſafe that had a ſumptuous Building, or an envied Poſſeſſion; and therefore he believed it a prudent, as well as a religious act in the Primitive Church at Jeruſalem, to ſurrender their Eſtates to the holy Apoſtles for pious uſes, rather than to leave them to a violent extenſion of prophane perſons in a ſhort time afterwards.
When he was made a Biſhop no man was leſs lucripetous, he deſired to hold nothing in Commendam, he renewed all his Leaſes for years, and not for lives, and upon very moderate Fines, and ſpent a very conſiderable ſhare thereof upon the repairs of his Cathedral, often applying to the Church what the Orator ſaid of the Common-wealth,in Laelis. Non minori mihi eſt curae qualis futura ſit Reſpublica quam qualis eſt hodie; while he lived, beſides his conſtant charity to the poor of Lichfield City, he enquired out diſtreſſed Cavaliers in his Dioceſs, and lent them 50 or 100 l. for a year or two upon their own Bill or Bond, and afterwards frequently gave it to them: And thus he did ſometimes to perſons of a differing Religion, with whom he held no Chriſtian Communion but in this one thing of giving, and never looking to receive again. He reckoned that charitable Expences left to the power and managment of Executors were more theirs than the Founders, and therefore was reſolved to diſpenſe his own in his life time, and not be like the Whale, that affords no Oyl till ſhe die and muſt diſgorge it.
To ſeveral Colledges in Cambridge he gave liberal ſumms of money, to Clare-Hall fifty pounds, to St. John's fifty pounds, to Trinity Colledge he added a peculiar building call'd Biſhops Hoſtle, which coſt him 1200 l. and appointed, that with the yearly Rents of thoſe Chambers Books ſhould be bought into the Colledge Library; and to the Ʋniverſity Library he bequeath'd by Will all his own Books, which coſt him about 1500 l.
It was his judgment that a Biſhop was bound by antient Canons to diſpend his Epiſcopal Revenues in Acts of charity, and therefore no year paſſed without ſome eminent actions of that kind, which were never written in any Book upon Earth, the more certain that they are in Heaven. To the ſeveral Priſons in London he ſent oftentimes good relief by a Friend, whom he ever ſtraitly charged to conceal from whence it came. When the Plague was in London he collected from his poor Dioceſs 351 l. by November Anno 65. for the City in that woful time, beſides what he ſent particularly and bountifully to his old Pariſh of Holbourn from himſelf: And all this he did without being burthenſome to his Clergy, ever giving them quick diſpatch when they repaired to him for Inſtitution, and gave in charge to diſmiſs them with very ſmall Fees: Whenever he gave any of them preferment he was as clear from Simony as from Witchcraft, which he deteſted above all ſins, and ever accounted it among the fatal Prognoſticks of a dying Church: 2 Mach. 4.When Jaſon outbid Onias, and Menelaus outbid Jaſon 300 Talents, it is ſet down as a prodigious token of the deſtruction of Jeruſalem, and joyned with the fiery Horſemen that appeared in the next Chapter to the ſame affrighting purpoſe.chap. 5. Truth is, in his poor Church he had but few preferments to give, otherwiſe he would ſay, he would never ſuffer good Scholars to ſit cloſe in their Studies unpreferred, while others who leſs deſerved ſharkt them away. To give the beſt Preferments to the worſt men was in his opinion to ſet the Goats on the right hand and the Sheep on the left, which would certainly haſten the Divine Judgment, which would decree righteouſneſs. I will only add further upon this Head, that wherever any object commendable and deſerving was repreſented to him, there needed not much ſpeaking, his charity was Diſtillatio Favi, like the dropping of an Honeycomb, you need not preſs it, it would drop of it ſelf, without ſtraining: But for ſuch as were Validi mendicantes, Vagabonds and ſturdy Beggars, who had both health and limbs, and yet ſought to eat their bread by the ſweat of others, our Biſhop never would encourage them; for by long acquaintance with Judges, he had heard they were generally Atheiſts, Libertines living in promiſcuous luſt, Pilferers, evil Servants to God, unprofitable to the King and Common-wealth, diſhonorers of the Chriſtian Name, and therefore ſometimes was of the mind to go from the Church to the Quarter Seſſions, and complain there that Gods heavy Judgments would fall upon that Kingdom where theſe were permitted.
There never was a greater Enemy to idleneſs than this diligent and painful Biſhop, who would ſeldom ſpare an afternoon; but nothing could divert him from his Morning ſtudy to his laſt, and ſay, he was then like a French-man, primo impetu acerrimus, beſt in a Morning, and that Aurora was the Mother of Hony-dews and Pearls, which dropt from Scholars Pens upon their Papers, and ever reckoned that he had great advantage of ſome great Divines, Dr. Holdſworth and Jeffries, his dear Friends, whom for their late watchings he called Noctuae Londinenſes. But by a conſtant ſtudy he had ſearcht into all kinds of learning; he had been a great enquirer into the knowledg of Nature, and made many peculiar obſervations of very many Creatures, eſpecially Bees, Spiders, Snails, and of all ſorts of Husbandry, and would often merrily ſay, ſince Husbandry was turned over to Swains and mean perſons, the Earth diſdain'd to give ſo luxuriant a Crop, as when it was turned up laureato vomere & triumphali aratro, Pliny.by a laureat Plowman, and one that had triumph'd in the Capitol, and that it was much eaſier to be great and rich, than wiſe and learned; and if it were not below his Profeſſion he would undertake to grow rich by Hops, having ſtrange skill in the weather, and in the nature of the Plant, ſo that he had an extraordinary foreſight when they were likely to take or not:Ariſt. pol. l. 7. Diog. Laert. in vitâ. as Ariſtotle reports of Thales the wiſe man, that one year he bought up all the Oyle before hand, when he foreſaw the ſcarcity of the next; but the Biſhop intended nothing but Philoſophy, and therein the contemplation of the Creator of all things; aſſerting that the leaſt creature beneath us was worthy the contemplation of our whole life, and yet would not be throughly underſtood, and that David worthily made a Choir of all Creatures to praiſe God from the greateſt Angel in the Hoſt of Heaven to the ſmalleſt Flake of Snow.
In his younger time he had been much addicted to School-learning, being then much uſed in the Ʋniverſity, but afterwards grew weary of it, and profeſſed he found more ſhadows and names than ſolid juyce and ſubſtance in it, and would much miſlike their horrid and barbarous terms more proper for Incantation than Divinity, and became perfectly of B. Rhenanus his mind,In praef. ad Tert. that the Schoolmen were rather to be reckoned Philoſophers than Divines; but if any pleaſed to account them ſuch, he had much rather with St. John Chryſoſtom be ſtyled a pious Divine, than an invincible or irrefragable one with T. Aquinas, or our own Countryman Alex. Hales.
For knowledg in the Tongues, he would confeſs, he could never fix uppon Arabian learning, the place was ſiticuloſa regio, a dry and barren land where no water is, and had been diſcouraged in his younger years by ſuch as had plodded moſt in it, and often quarrelled his great friend Salmaſius for ſaying, he accounted no man ſolidly learned without skill in Arabick, and other Eaſtern Languages, our Biſhop declared his mind otherwiſe, and bewailed that many good Wits of late years proſecuted the Eaſtern Languages ſo much as to neglect the Weſtern learning and diſcretion too ſometimes; Mr. Selden and Biſhop Creitton had both affirmed to him, that they ſhould often read ten Pages for one line of ſenſe, and one word of moment, and did confeſs there was no learning like to what Scholars may find in Greek Authors, as Plato, Plutarch, &c. and himſelf could never diſcern but that many of their quotations and proofs from them were in his own words, incerta, inexplorata, & foreign.
After all this I would detein the Reader no longer in things of leſs concern, eſpecially knowing it to be againſt his mind to permit any Picture of himſelf that could not repreſent him within, as well as without, approving what Plotinus ſaid, that the other was only the Image of an Image, and in thirty years commonly out of faſhion, and then grew ridiculous, and ſerv'd only to make people laugh: yet he had one taken by ſtealth, to which I will add only a touch or two (as is uſual) quia me juvat ire per omnem Heroa.
He was of bodily ſtature ſmall and ſlender, in all parts clean and well ſhapen, of a very ſerene and comely countenance, vivid eyes, with a rare alacrity and ſuavity of aſpect, repreſenting the inward candour and ſerenity of his mind: the temper of his body was rather delicate than ſtrong, yet through temperance and cuſtom, grown patient of long ſitting and hard ſtudy: His voice was ever wonderful ſweet and clear, ſo that Dr. Collins would ſay, he had the fineſt Bell in the Ʋniverſity, and in one of his Speeches term'd him foreign, i. e. Canora Cicada: Heſiod in Scut. Here. & in diebus.His behaviour was moſt gentile and civil, no Courtier carried a better meen, nor better underſtood the Art of behaviour, which though fortuitous and contingent to him, yet much became him in all company. His Apparel was ever plain, not moroſe or careleſs, but would never endure to be coſtly upon himſelf, either in Habit or Diet, often quoting that of St. Auſtin, Profectò de pretioſa veſte erubeſco, he was as much aſhamed of a rich Garment as others of a poor one, and thought that they were fitter for a Roman Conſul than a Chriſtian Praeſul, and accordingly never put on a ſilk Caſſock but at a great Feſtival, or a Wedding of ſome near Friend, holding that a glittering Prelate without inward Ornaments was but the Paraphraſe of a painted Wall; Acts 23.3.and on the other ſide, if the Graces of the Mind could be ſeen, the Beauties of the Body would ſeem but deformities, nothing being ſo fair, and to be admired, as the luſtre of Divine knowledg, the eye of the ſoul attended with a fair hand of ſuitable practice. Theſe two were like Tabor and Hermon, the two ſtately tops of the Soul, that reach to Heaven it ſelf: And indeed though he had great comelineſs and elegance of body, his Divine Soul within was fairer than the lodging without.
When he was young he had a moſt lively and acute wit, which rendred him acceptable to all companies, but ever temper'd with wiſdom and learning, that rendred him more acceptable to the Beſt; and with it he had a prodigious and immortal memory, whereby he ever bore about him a conſtant Chronicle of all occurrences, that he was able to give a preſent account of whatſoever he had at any time read, heard, or ſeen; even all remarkable alterations and changes of weather that had been in his time were as preſent to his memory, as if he had ſeen them written in the Air before his eyes; yet all theſe no man valued leſs than he in compariſon of his higher accompliſhments. He abounded not barely with great learning, acute wit, excellent judgment and memory, but with an incomparable integrity, prudence, juſtice, piety, charity, conſtancy to God and to his Friend in adverſity, and in his friendſhip was moſt induſtrious and painful to fulfil it with good offices, and withal ſo ready and able upon all occaſions to give good counſel, that he to whomſoever God gave that Favour of his Lordſhip had a bleſſing ſcarce valuable.
Yet notwithſtanding all theſe Endowments King Solomons words are true in regard of the body, Ecclſ. 9.2. Pſal. 49 10.There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, and wiſe men muſt alſo die as well as the ignorant and fooliſh; and the time was now come that this wiſe and good Biſhop muſt die. He had finiſhed both Church and Quire, which he beautified with moſt comely Stals of exquiſite workmanſhip, and had likewiſe ſet up an excellent Organ, the whole Appartements about it, Pipes, Gilding, Wainſcot-caſe, &c. coſt above 600 l. being a great lover of Church-Muſick, and would much bewail the peoples ignorance and fierceneſs, who loved Guns more than Organs; or elſe their laſciviouſneſs, that would pull them out of Churches, and ſet them up in Taverns, and chuſe rather to ſing in Babylon than in Zion. And the laſt of his Lordſhips cares for that Church was for the Bells; he had contracted with very able Founders for ſix excellent Bells fitting for a Cathedral, which his Executor ſet up, though three only were caſt before his death, and onelyonly one (viz.) the Tenor hanged up, which had not been hung ſo ſoon, but that his Lordſhip called upon the Workmen to do it. The firſt time it was rung his Lordſhip was very weak, yet he went out of his own Bedchamber into the next Room to hear it, and ſeem'd very well pleaſed with the ſound, and bleſſed God that had favour'd him with life to hear it, but withal concluded it would be his own Paſſing Bell, and ſo retired to his Chamber, and never came out till he was carried to his Grave.
He had done his work, and he muſt depart to the Church Triumphant. He often ſaid by a kind of preſage many years before his death, that ſome odd October would part us, he felt his body more weak at that Autumnal ſeaſon then any other, and could not have held out ſo long, but that he was forced to fly to Phyſick and Diet to corroborate, or rather keep him from ſinking every Spring and fall. Accordingly he ſickned upon St. Lukes day October 18. and died upon St.Anno 1670. Simon and Judes day following, aged 78 years, the juſt time of Athanaſius and St. Hierom of old, according to Baronius.
Within a fortnight before his death he remitted nothing of his former ſtudies; when he was firſt taken ſick he did not conceive it to be mortal, and therefore ſent the week before he died to a Friend in London to ſend him down the new Books from abroad or at home: But being ever upon his Watch-Tower, when he perceived God beckoned Him to come away, then he laid aſide his Books, and all Communication or thoughts concerning any temporal matter; his heart was fixed, and not to be removed, from the great Object of Eternal life. He would ſay to his Viſitants, he was a decaying old man, and deſire them to avoid the Room; where in confeſſion of his ſins he was ever moſt humble, in godly ſorrow moſt contrite, in prayer moſt aſſiduous, in faith moſt ſtedfaſt, in ſuffering his ſickneſs moſt patient, in deſiring to be uncloath'd of the Body moſt joyful and content: He ſhewed no fear of death, not the leaſt ſign of any perturbation of mind for his aproaching end; but rather rejoyced that the day of the Lord was come, which he had ſo often deſired; and as G. Nazianzen in his Funeral Sermon for St. Baſil, rejoyces that he died foreign, with godly ſayings in his mouth, in like manner did our godly Biſhop ſo conclude his days in this world as he looked to begin them in the next, that the end of this life ſhould be ſutable to the beginning of the other, and that his laſt words he breathed forth here ſhould have a good connexion with his firſt addreſſes when he ſaw God face to face there: therefore being in perfect ſenſe he ſent for one of his Prebendaries to come and pray with him, who after ſome holy conference, read the Office appointed for the Sick; after that his Lordſhip deſired him to add two Collects, naming firſt that for the ſecond Sunday in Lent, and then afterward that for the firſt Sunday after Trinity (both moſt pertinent to that great occaſion) and then to give the Bleſſing: which being done he thanked him heartily with a faltring ſpeech, whereby the Company plainly perceived, that with the end of his Prayers he drew near the end of his mortal life, and deſired to be left alone; and ſo all departed the Room ſave a couple of Servants, who within half a quarter of an hour gave notice of his placid departure, with as gentle a tranſmigration to happineſs as I think was ever heard of.
Thus I have declared ſincerely the Life, the Sickneſs, the Departure of this worthy Chriſtian Prelate, who lived as good men deſire to live, and as many men, that are but ſhadows, appear to live; and then departed with as eaſie an foreign as any man could deſire to die.
His Funerals onelyonly remain, which were performed by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Scattergood his Lordſhips Chaplain, in the Cathedral Church, where He was interred neer the Body of his Predeceſſor Biſhop Langthon, as old people ſaid, both great Benefactors to that Church, under a fair Tomb erected by the Piety of the moſt accompliſht Sir Andrew Hacket his Eldeſt Son and Heir both of his Eſtate and Virtues.
He was attended thither by multitudes of the Loyal Gentry and ſorrowful Clergy of his Dioceſs, all deſirous to pay the utmoſt dues and rights they were able to his Memory, thinking no Flowers too ſweet for his Herſe, and no Box of Ointment too coſtly for his Burial, all admiring his paſt Diligence,Aeneid. 11. ſage Government, admirable Miniſtrations, and bewailing the great and univerſal loſs by his Death; Quantum praeſidium Auſonia, & quantum Tu perdis Iule!
O Dioceſs of Lichfield, what a Father haſt thou loſt! O Univerſity of Cambridge, what a Friend! O Houſe of Aaron, what an Ornament! O Church of England, what a Saint! Sic ora ferebant.
But we will no more deplore his Death, or repine that He is taken from us, but rather rejoyce and give God thanks that we ever had Him, and that He lived ſo long with us.
This World was not worthy of Him, who was fitter Company for Angels and Stars of Heaven, then Clods of duſt and bloud below; and therefore God took Him from this Dunghil to ſtand before his Throne; Where we leave thee (bleſſed Soul) among the Angelical Choir, joyful in the illumination of the holy Trinity, and raviſht with thy contemplation of the Divine and unconceivable glory.
We will endeavour not only to read and admire, but practiſe all thy holy Counſels, which now ſound more loud from thy Books and Writings, then they formerly did from thy rare Diſcourſes and Preachings.
We aſcribe the glory of all to God, and will compoſe our ſelves to imitate thy Graces and Virtues (O Divine Hacket) whoſe Name is renowned, and Memory for ever bleſſed.
And will hereafter liſten with patience for the voice of the Arch-Angel and Trump of God, for the Reſurrection of the Dead, the Renovation of the World, the Creation of the New Heaven and New Earth at the glorious appearing of Chriſt Jeſus with all his holy Angels and Saints; and then in the Number of godly Prelates and faithful Doctors of the Chriſtian Church I ſhall ſee again my Biſhop and Father, and hope to be ſeen of Him in Glory. AMEN.
Come Lord Jeſu, come quickly.
OPTIMO PATRI PIENTISSIMVS FILIVS ANDREAS HACKET MILES, F. F.
JOANNIS HACKET Epiſc. Lichf. & Coventr. cinerib. ſacrum.
PRimaevae pietatis Et ſummae eloquentiae Praeſulem, Eccleſiae Anglicanae & fidei orthodoxae Aſſertorem ſtrenuum, Concionatorem etiam ad ultimum aſſiduum, Et Superſtitionis Babylonicae tam maturum hoſtem, Ʋt penè in cunis ſtraverit Loyolitas; (Raro exemplo Ʋt Poeta praeluderet Theologo) Vitae denique integritate, & innocentiâ, Morum ſuavitate & candore, Charitate ergà pauperes eximiâ, Et liberalitate erga ſuos inſignem typum; (Verbo omnia) Joh. Williams Metropol. Ebor. Patroni ſui Ectypum, (Deſine ulterius quaerere) Iſta omnia Tabula haec unico in Hacketo exhibet. Adverſus poſitum caetera marmor habet. Obiit 28. Oct. 1670. ſub anno aetatis ſuae 79.
Siſtamus ergo! Morae pretium eſt ſcire, Quis demum Langthono claudit latus? Solus HACKETUS tanto dignus contubernio; Cujus piae liberalitati debetur, Quod Langthoni cineres non frigeſcunt. Aedis Cathedralis Lichfieldiae Inſtanrator illic, Reſtaurator hìc jacet. Eccleſiae Anglicanae antiſtitum par ingens, Eóque ingentius quòd ſibimet pares. Scire vis Lector, Quàm multis ille bonis flebilis occidit? Schola regia Weſtmonaſt. Alumnum, Collegium SS. Trinitatis Cantabr. Socium, Eccleſia S. Andreae Holbourn Quadragenarium Rectorem, Et Cheam in agro Surrienſi Quadragenarium Rectorem, Aedes D. Pauli Reſidentiarium, Sedes haec Epiſcopalis digniſſimum ſibi Praeſulem abreptum deflet. Sed ludo te, Viator, Dum inter mortuos refero Eum VIRƲM Quem reſtauratae Pauli reliquiae, & Ceddae ruinae, Quem Hoſpitium Epiſcopale SS. Trin. Coll. de novo extructum, Et Cantabr. Bibliotheca libris cumulatè aucta, Longum dabunt ſuperſtitem.
At the head of the Statue upon the Monument is ingraved
I will not ſuffer mine eyes to ſleep, — till I have found out a place for the Temple of the Lord. Pſal. 132.
At the Feet,
Quam ſpecioſa veſtigia Evangelizantium pacem.
The Motto of the Coat at the Head of the Tomb,
Zelus domus tuae exedit me.
On the oppoſite Coat at the Feet,
Inſervi Deo & laetare.
Upon the Grave-ſtone (that covers the Body) in the Iſle contiguous to the Monument,
JOHANNES HACKET, Epiſcopus Lichf. & Coventr. heic ſitus eſt.