Memorials OF Alderman WHITMORE, Bishop WILKINS, Bishop REYNOLDS, Alderman adam's. Clemens Romanus. Seditio paucorum hominum insolentiâ & audaciâ in tantam vesaniam exarsit, ut honorificum & illustre nomen vestrum, & ab omnibus amari dignum, vehementer blasphemetur. Epist. ad Cor. p. 2. LONDON, Printed by J. Redmayne for John Barksdale Bookseller in Cirencester 1681. To the Reader. GOod Reader, be pleased to know, that the Collector of these Four Memorials (chosen out of many) hath formerly set forth Four Decades; and if this little piece be well accepted (i. e. be of quick sale) he intendeth to make them up seven Decades, to be Printed all together in one fair Volume. Wherein you shall receive some of the best Flowers of that sort of History, which is esteemed the best of Histories, that of Lives. In these Four excellent Persons, as the present Bishops of the Church; and the present Magistrates of the Great City, may (perhaps) vouchsafe to note some things worthy of their Imitation; So the People may (I hope) be excited to a greater reverence, both to Magistracy, and Episcopacy. Faxit Deus! C. B. To the Dean of Gloucester Bishop Elect. HEalth to the Dean of Gloucester, Contented with his meaner Chair, May he possess the Bishop's Throne, For public Good and for his own! A good work's fit for a good Man: But this so great a work who can Well manage? He that sees the vast Reward, the Crown bestowed at last. Take courage Sir, and do not fear: Your helper the great God is near. Long may you live, who Gloster please! Gloster? Nay the whole Diocese. We all, that to the Church are true, Esteem ourselves much blest in you. But you above all others we may bless, Who to so many impart Happiness. What Blessed Dostrine have we heard From your Pulpit? And when we jarred, What industry, what hast, what pain You took, to make in one agrin! Propagate your sweet violence Through all our Country, and from hence To your Aleppo send the Influence: Aleppo made more famous by your deeds: My Men to tell them neither can nor needs. What my Verse wants, my vow supplies: May you live gracious in God's eyes: May King and People love you still, And you Preach unto them Gods will: Your Clergy guide with Holy Discipline; Make them in life, as in their Name Divine. Sir G. Whitmore, Sometime Lord Major of London, (obiit 1654. Decemb. 12.) From Mr. Anthony Farindon's Sermon on Psalm. 119. 19 I am a Stranger in the Earth, hid not thy Commandments from me. 1. NOw turn your Eyes and Thoughts upon this Pilgrim here, this Honoured and Worthy Knight, who hath passed through the busy Noise and Tumults of this World to his long home and rest. In which passage of his he hath so exactly performed the part and Office of a Stranger and Pilgrim, that he is followed with the applause of them that knew him. And as in his Death he is become an argument to prove the Doctrine which I have taught, so in his Life he made himself a great example for them to look upon, who are now Travelling and Labouring in the same way. 2. Look upon him then in every capacity and relation, either as a part of the Commonwealth, or a Member of the City, or a Father of a Family, and you shall discover the Image and fair representation of a Stranger in every one of these Relations. For no Man can take this Honour to himself to be a good Commonwealth's Man, or a good Master of a Family, but he who is as David was, a Stranger. All the ataxy and disorder, all the noise we hear, and mischief we see in the World, are from Men who love it too well, and would live and dwell and delight themselves in it for ever. 3. For the First, I may truly say as Lampridius did of Alexander Severus, He was vir bonus & reip. necessarius, a good Man and of necessary use in the Commonwealth. He laid all the strength he had to uphold it, and preferred the Peace and Welfare of it to his own, as well knowing that a private house might sink and fall to the ground, and yet the Commonwealth Stand and Flourish; but that the Ruin of the whole must necessarily draw with it the other parts, and at last bury them in the same grave. And here he found as rough a passage as Rufus in Tacitus did in a public Commotion: who was pulled out of his Chariot, loaden with Scoffs and Reproaches, etc. So was this Worthy Knight taken from his Wife whom he entirely loved, and from his Children those pledges of his love, and conveyed to Ship, and by Ship to Prison in a remote City (where he found some Friends) and then was brought back again from thence to a Prison nearer home; where, if the Providence of God had not gone along with him and shadowed him, he had met the Plague. 4. But it may be said, what praise is it to suffer all this, if he suffer as an evil doer, and not for Conscience towards God? I come not hither to dispute that, but am willing to refer it to the great trial, which shall open every eye to behold that truth, which now being dazzled with fears and hopes, and even blinded with the love of the World, it cannot see. But if it were an error, and not knowledge but mistake, that drove him upon these Pricks; yet sure it was an error of a fair descent, begot in him by looking steadfastly on the truth, and by having a steady Eye on the Oath of God. And if here he fell, he fell like a Christian, who did exercise himself to keep a good Conscience. For he that followeth not his Conscience when it erreth, will be as far from harkening to it when it speaks the truth; for even error itself showeth the Face of truth to him that erreth, or else he would not err at all: And yet (I need not fear to say it) it is an error of such a nature, that it may rather deserve applause than censure, even from those who call it by that Name. For we do not use to fall willingly into so dangerous, vexatious, and costly errors, errors which will strip us and put a Yoke upon us, Errors which will put us in Prison. No; to fly from these we too oft fly from the truth itself, when it is as open as the day, and commandeth our Faith though not our Tongue, and forceth our assent when we renounce it. 5. Again, take him in the City; in this he bore the highest honour, and fitted the greatest place, yet was rather an ornament unto it than that unto him. For he sat in it as a Stranger and a Pilgrim; as a Man going out of the World; nor did so much consider his Power as his Duty; which looked forward, and had respect to that which cannot be found in this, but is the Riches and Glory of another world. Therefore this world was never in his Thoughts, never came in to sour Justice; to turn Judgement into Wormwood by corrupting it, or into Vinegar by delaying it. There were no Cries of Orphans, no Tears of Widows, no loud Complaints of the oppressed to disquiet him in his passage, which use to follow the Oppressor even to the gates of Hell, and there deliver him up to those howl which are everlasting. How oft hath he been presented to me, and that by prudent and judicious Men, as the Honour and Glory of the City? And thus he went on his way, full of Temptations and Troubles, and full of Honours, even of those Honours which he refused. For you may remember how he bore that great Office, and you may remember how he refused it, and gained as much Honour in the hearts of Men by the last as by the first, as much Honour by withdrawing himself and staying below, as he did formerly in sitting in the highest place with the Sword in his Hand. For the state and face of things may be such, as may warrant Demosthenes Wish and Choice, and make it more commendable in exilium ire quam tribunal, to go into Banishment then to ascend the Tribunal. And he best deserveth Honour, who can in wisdom withdraw himself: And he can best manage Power, who knoweth when to lay it down. 6. Bring him now from the public stage of Honour to his private House, and there you might have seen him walking, as David speaketh, in the midst of his House in Innocency and with a perfect Heart; as an Angel or Intelligence moving in his own Sphere, and carrying on every thing in it with that order and decorum which is the glory of a Stranger; whose moving in it is but a going out of it, to render an account of every Act and Motion. You might have beheld him looking with a settled and eye of Love on his Wife, walking hand in hand with her for forty four years, and walking with her as his Fellow Traveller with that love which might bring both at last to the same place of rest. You might behold him looking on his Children with an Eye of care as well as of affection, initiating them into the same Fellowship of Pilgrims; and on his Servants, not as on Slaves, but as his humble and inferior Friends, as Seneca calls them, and as his Fellow-Pilgrims too. And thus he was a Domestic Magistrate, a lover and example of that truth which Socrates taught: That they who are good Fathers of their Family will make the best and wisest Magistrates: They who can manage their own Cockboat well, may be fit at last to sit at the Stern of the Commonwealth. For a private Family is a Type and Representation of it, nay (saith Eusebius in vit. Const.) of the Church itself. 7. I confess, I knew him but in his Evening, when he was near his Journeys End, and then too but at some Distance, but even then I could discover in him that sweetness of disposition and that courteous affability, which by Sr. Paul are commended as virtues, but have lost that name with Hypocrites, with Proud and Superstitious Men; who make it a great part of their Religion to pardon none▪ but themselves, and then think they have put off the old Man when they have put off all Humanity. In these Homilitick Virtues I could discern a fair proficiency in this Reverend Knight; and what my Knowledge ledge could not reach was abundantly supplied and brought unto me by the joint testimony of those who knew him, and by a Testimony which commendeth him to Heaven and to God Himself, the Mouths of the Poor which he so often filled. 8. Thus did he walk on as a Stranger, comforting and supporting his Fellow-Pilgrims, and reaching forth his Charity to them as a Staff. Thus he expressed himself Living, and thus he hath expressed himself in his last Will, which is voluntas ul●ra mortem, the Will, the Mandate, the Language of a Deadman: Speculum morum (saith Pliny) the Glass wherein you may see the Charity, that is, the Face, the Image of a Pilgrim; by which he hath bequeathed a Legacy of Comfort and supply to every Prison, and to many Parishes within this City. He remembered them who are in Bonds, as one who was sometimes a Prisoner. 9 I know, in this World it is a hard thing justum esse sine infamia, to be good and not to hear ill. Expedit enim in malis, neminem esse bonum: For evil Men make it their work to deface every fair Image of Virtue, and then think well of themselves when they have made all as evil as themselves. But it was this our Honoured Brother's happiness to find no Accuser, but himself: I may truly say, I never yet heard any. Report hath given him an Honourable Pass. The Voice of the Poor was, He was full of good works: the Voice of the City, He was a good Magistrate; the Voice of his Equals, He was a true Friend; the Voice of all that I have heard, He was a just Man; and then our Charity will soon conclude, He was a good Christian. For he lived and died a Son of the Church, of the Reformed; and according to the way which some call Heresy, some Superstition, so Worshipped he the God of his Fathers. 10. And now he is gone to his Long Home, and the Mourners go about the Streets. He is gone to the Grave in a full Age, when that was well near expired which is but Labour and Sorrow, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (as Cyril speaks) grown in Wisdom and Grace; which is a fairer Testimony of Age, than the Gray-hairs or Fourscore Years. His Body must return to the dust, and his Soul is returned to God that gave it; and being dead he yet speaketh, speaketh by his Charity to the Poor; speaketh by his fair Example to his Brethren of the City, to honour and reverence their Conscience more than their Purse, vitamque impendere vero; to be ready to resign all, even life itself, for the truth: He speaketh to his Friends, and he speaketh to his relict, his Virtuous and Reverend Lady, once Partner of his cares and joys, his Fellow-Traveller; and to his Children, who are now on their way, and following apace after him; Weep not for me? Why should you weep? I have laid by my Staff, my Scrip, my Provision, and am at my journey's end, at rest. I have left you in a Valley, in a busy tumultuous World: But the same Hand, the same Provision, the same Obedience to God's Commands will guide you also, and promote you to the same place, where we shall rest and rejoice together for evermore. Dr. John Wilkins, Lord Bishop of Chester. (Oblit. 1672.) From Dr. William Lloyd. 1. TO begin with the Natural Endowments of his Mind: He had an Understanding, that extended to all parts of useful Learning and Knowledge; a Will always disposed to great and public and generous things. He had a natural aversion from all idle Speculations, and from the eager pursuit of small and frivolous designs. In great matters he judged so well, that he was not usually surprised with events. He pursued his Intentions with such Equalness of Mind, that he was never carried beyond the calmness of his natural Temper, except through his zeal for public good, or where his Friend was concerned. 2. What he was in his Studies, I have reason to know, that have often been tired with studying with him. He was indefatigable, and would have worn himself out, if he had not been relieved with multiplicity of business. However, he impaired by it, a Body which seemed to have been built for a long Age, and contracted those infirmities that hastened his Death. The effect of his Studies, in his Preaching and Writings, are sufficiently known, and would have been much more, if God had given him Time. 3. As for his Preaching, it was sometimes Famous at St. Laurence, London; though he sought rather the Profit than the Praise of his Hearers. He spoke solid Truth, with as little show of Art as was possible. He expressed all things in their true and natural Colours; with that aptness and plainness of Speech, that grave natural way of Elocution, that shown he had no design upon his Hearers. His Plainness was best for the instruction of the Simple; and for the better sort, he applied himself rather to their Understanding, than Affections. He saw so much of the Beauty of Goodness himself, that he thought the bare showing of it was enough, to make all Wise Men (as it did him) to be in love with it. 4. In his Writings, he was judicious and plain, like one that valued not the Circumstances, so much as the Substance. And he shown it in whatsoever Argument he undertook; sometimes beating out new untraveled ways, sometimes repairing those that had been beaten already. No subject he handled, but I dare say is the better for him, and will be the easier for them that come after him. 5. If in these he went sometimes beside his Profession, it was in following the Design of it, to make Men wiser and better: which I think is the business of Universal Knowledge. And this he promoted with much zeal and sincerity, in hope of the great Benefit that may accrue to Mankind. It was his aim, as in all things, so especially in that, which (I conceive) is much more censured than understood: I mean, in the design of the Royal Society. He joined himself to it, with no other end, but to promote modern knowledge, without any Contempt or lessening of those Great Men in former times. With due Honour to whom, he thought it lawful for others to do that which, we have no reason to doubt, they themselves would have done, if they were living. 6. His Prudence was great: I think, it never failed in any thing to which he applied himself. And yet he wanted that part, which some hold to be essential; he so wanted Dissimulation, that he had rather too much openness of Heart. It was Sincerity indeed that was natural to him; he so abhorred a Lie, that he was not at all for show; he could not put on any thing that looked like it; and presuming the same of other Men, through excess of Benignity, he would be sometimes deceived, in believing they were what they seemed to be, and what he knew they ought to have been. 7. His Greatness of Mind, was known to all that knew any thing of him. He neither eagerly sought any Dignity, nor declined any capacity of doing Good. He looked down upon Wealth, as much as others admire it. He knew the Use of an Estate, but did not covet it. What he yearly received of the Church he bestowed in its service. As for his Temporal Estate, being secured against want, he sought no farther, he set up his rest. I have heard him say often, I will be no Richer, and I think he was as good as his Word. 8. As for Revenge, how could it enter into the Breast of him, that hated nothing, but that which makes us hateful to God? I say not, but he had a sense of Personal Injuries, and especially of those that reflected upon his Name, when they proceeded from those that had good Names of their own: What others said, de despised; but by those, he would often wish, he had been better understood: That he was not, he bore as his misfortune: He would not requite them with the like, but mentioned them with all due respect, and was always ready to oblige them, and to do them good. 8. Yet it was not so , to be at those terms with him, as to be his Acquaintance or Friend. They that were never so little familiar with him, could not but find, as well benefit as delight in his Conversation. His Discourse was commonly of useful things: it never caused trouble or weariness to the Hearer. Yet he would venture to displease one for his good: and indeed, he was the Man that ever I knew, for that most needful and least practised point of Friendship. He would not spare to give seasonable reproof, and wholesome advice, when he saw occasion. I never kn●w any, that would do it so freely, and that knew how to manage that freedom of Speech so inoffensively. 9 It was his way of Friendship, not so much to oblige Men, as to do them good: he did this; not slightly and superficially, but like one that made it his Business: He durst do for his Friend, any thing that was honest, and no more: He would undertake nothing, but what well became him; and then he was unwearied till he had effected it. 10. It hath been spoken by some, that he had not that zeal for the Church, that they would seem to have that object this: He seemed to look upon Dissenters, with too much favour to their persons and ways. 11. As for the Persons, no doubt that Goodness of Nature, that true Christian Principle, which made him willing to think well of all Men, and to do good, or at least not hurt to any, might and ought to extend itself to them among others. But besides he was inclined to it by his Education, under his Grandfather Mr. Dod, a turly pious and learned man, who yet was a Dissenter himself in some things: Not, that he had any delight in contradiction, or could find in his heart to disturb the Peace of the Church for those matters: He was so far from it, that when some thought their dissents ground enough for a War, Mr. Dod declared himself against it, and confirmed others in their Allegiance, professing to the last a just hatred of that horrid Rebellion. Now his Relation to this Man, and Conversation with those of his Principles, might incline him to hope the like of others of that way, and vehemently desire to reduce them to the Unity of the Church, in which his Grandfather lived and died. 12. As for himself, He was so far from approving their Ways, that in the worst of Times, when One bewailed to him the Calamities of the Church, and declared his Obedience, even then, to the Laws of it; He encouraged him in it, he desired his Friendship, and protected both him and many others, by an interest that he had gained, and made use of chief for such purposes. 13. How he demeaned Himself then, is known in both Universities; where he governed with praise, and left a very grateful Remembrance behind him: How in the next Times since, is well known in London. And having named this City and the two Universities, I think he could not be placed in a better light in this Nation. There were enough that could judge, and he did not use to disguise himself: I appeal to you that conversed with him in those days: what zeal he hath expressed for the Faith, and for the Unity of the Church; How he stood up in defence of the Order and Government: How he hath asserted the Liturgy and the Rites of it. He conformed himself to every thing that was commanded: beyond which, for any Man to be vehement, in little and unnecessary things, whether for or against them, he could not but dislike, and as his free manner was, he hath oft been heard to call it Fanaticalness. How this might be misrepresented I know not, or how his Design of Comprehension might be understood. 14. Sure I am, that since he came into the Government of the Church (to which he was called in his Absence) he so well became the Order, that it out did the expectation of all that did not very well know him: He filled his Place with a Goodness answerable to the rest of his Life, and with a Prudence above it; considering the two extremes, which were not where so much as in his Diocese. Though he was, as before, very tender to those that differed from him; yet he was, as before, exactly conformable himself, and brought others to Conformity, some eminent Men in his Diocese. He endeavoured to bring in all that came within his reach, and might have had great success, if God had pleased to continue him. But having given full proof of his Intentions and Desires, it pleased God to reserve the Fruit for other Hands; from which we have cause to expect much Good to the Church. 15. He was in perfect Health in all other respects, when a known Infirmity, from an unknown Cause (that had been easier to cure than it was to discover) stole upon him, and soon became incurable. He was for many days in a prospect of Death, which he saw as it approached, and felt it come on by degrees. Some days before he died, he found within himself, as he often said, A sentence of Death. In all this time, who ever saw him dismayed? who ever found him surprised; or heard a word from him, unbecoming a wise man and a true Christian. At the times I was with him, I saw great Cause to admire his Faith towatds God, his Zeal for his Church, his Constancy of Mind, his Contempt of the World, and his cheerful Hopes of Eternity. That the Memory of this Worthy Prelate may not be abused, I declare, and that upon most certain Grounds: That he died in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Communion of the Church of England, as it is by Law established. 16. He died only too soon for the Church, and for his Friends; but for Himself he had lived long enough. He has lived long enough that dies well. As for us we must submit to the Will of God: Our Comfort is, that we shall follow, and come together again in due Time. Doctor Edward Reynolds Lord Bishop of Norwich. (Obiit. 1676.) From Mr. B. Riveley. VIr nec tacendus, nec dicendus: A Man of whom I can't be silent, without detriment to the Church, and dishonour to God; and yet a Man of whom I can't speak, without loss to his Merit, and diminution to his Worth. 1. He was a Good Man. He was of a most sweet and obliging temper, of great Candour and Integrity: He had a comely Countenance, a gentle Disposition, a pleasantness of Conversation. Reason sat as Queen in his Soul, Passion and Appetite were as Handmaids. 2. He was a Good Christian. Revelation was a great Mistress with him, and he was a great Adorer, as well as Practiser of the will of God. Religion sanctified his Reason, and Grace his Nature; and of all Accomplishments, he accounted it his Glory to be a Disciple of Christ▪ The Fear of the Lord was to him the top of his Wisdom. He endeavoured that his ways might be found perfect before God. He was careful to maintain good Works (I speak it knowingly) as the necessary Fruits of Christian Faith; and such Works as are due to Men, as well as those that have a more immediate respect to Cod. To honour his King, to speak well of his Superiors, to be obedient to Laws in Church and State; to govern his Tongue, to love his Neighbours, and to take the worst Enemies he had in the world into the number; This was his Religion. 'Twas a piece of his Conscience to do these things; as well as to preach and to pray, and to frequent the worship of God. 3. He was a good Minister of the Gospel. For this he had a great name, all his undignified time; and when he came to the high place, he did not make an end of prophesying. He was built and framed on purpose, to be an Instructor and Curate of Souls: For he was sober and wise, able to salve difficulties, to determine cases, to quiet consciences. He was an Interpreter, one of a thousand; another Apollo's mighty in the Scriptures. He was of a sedate mind, of a tender Compassionate Spirit, hearty desirous of men's eternal Good; and not only his Industry, but his delights run out that way, how to bring it about. 4. He was a good Bishop. There are two sorts of People, and they differ among themselves toto coelo, that can hardly allow him to have been a good Bishop: The one sort think him not good, because a Bishop at all, making those terms Good and Bishop inconsistent, but these are absurd and unreasonable Men, and their tongue is no slander, and I trouble myself no further with them; the other can't afford him to be good in his capacity, because he was not so much a Bishop, as they would have had him: that is to say, because he would not drive their pace, he would not govern by their Rules, not execute censures at their heights, nor interpret Canons in their sense. What truer Indication would you have of wise and good Government, then from its natural and proper effects? And for that matter I dare appeal to your own observation, whether in any Diocese in the Kingdom (caeteris paribus) there be to be found a more sober, regular, and loyal Clergy, a more conformable People, more decent and well repaired Churches, and a greater alteration both of Judgement and Manners of Men, since the late Times of Anarchy and Confusion (which is especially visible in matter of the Sacrament) then in this Diocese. Resolve this into the true Reason, and continue malevolent to the Memory of him that is gone, if you can. I pass on, to his Learning, Writing, Preaching, Living. 1. He was an excellent Scholar: He had a great stock of natural Parts, and endowments, to which he added an indefatigable Industry, and God gave a plentiful Benediction. His skill in the Greek Tongue got him his Fellowship in Merton College in Oxford, in Sir Henry Savils time. And what a rare Humanist he was, and how well versed in the Polite parts of Learning, his juvenile piece upon the Passions abundantly testifies. 2. And indeed he was an admirable Writer for wit, judgement and fancy; of all which there seems to be a curious mixture in his Books. 3. Moreover he was a Great Divine, and in his Time a most celebrated Preacher. For his Divinity I need only say He was a true continuer of the name of Reynolds, in the Church of England; and for his Sermons they met with the Approbation, both of Prince and People, Scholars, Gentlemen, and Citizens; all ranks of Men have given their honourable Testimony to them. He was a Man of God, throughly furnished to every good word and work: He had the Art of saving Souls, if ever any had. 4. But above all I must not forget the Virtues and Graces wherein he did excel. For he was as good a Liver, as he was a Preacher or a Writer. All his other good qualities were adorned, and both greener and riper years were seasoned with the Piety of a Saint. His youth was not observed to be stained with the vices of that Age, and when the Church brought him her Mitre, God had Crowned his Head before, according to that of Solomon: The hoary head is a Crown of Glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. But more particularly, his Humility, Meekness, Patience, Charity are remarkable in him. 1. He was clothed with Humility, and 'twas his upper Garment, and covered all the rest of his Accomplishments. He had mean thoughts of Himself, and was content that others should have so of him too; and though his face shone yet he would not know it. There was no leven of Pride, or ill Humour, or Surliness, or Ambition in him; no difficulty of access nor affectation of distance; if you had but the face of a Gentleman, or the habit of a Clergyman, all Ceremony must be laid aside in order to Converse. Doubtless, he was a great Judge of Learning, and yet the most candid Auditor of Sermons in the World: he was never heard to censure any body, though he himself has not been spared. 2. Neither was there wanting in him the Ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit, whereby he became a true Copy of the Grand Exemplar, and Bishop of our Souls. 'Tis an usual saying among some, such a thing would vex a Saint: but truly what would vex or ruffle, or discompose this holy Man was a hard matter to determine. 'Tis scarce remembered, that ever he was seen in Passion. For forty nine years together, wherein He and his Consort lived in married state, not many words, worthy of the denomination of Angry, have been observed to drop from him. This I can assure you, He had his share both of Injuries from Men, and of Afflictions from God, and he was sensible of them; always with the preservation of his Religious Integrity, and the exercise of Meekness towards Men, and of Patience towards God. 3. And I may truly say that in him Patience had her work. Though toward the latter end of his Life his days were full of pain, nights of weariness, yet he knew that by Patience he was as well to wait, as to endure; and that he was to honour the Sovereign of his Life and Death, as well by tarrying his leisure, as by bearing his hand. His repeated Prayer to Heaven was, that in his utmost Extremities he might not be provoked to speak dishonourably of God; and when through some fierce exacerbation of his disease, he was constrained to make some noise and outcry, he would presently subjoin, Though he did roar, he did not murmur. 4. As the Compliment of all the rest; His Universal Charity to the Persons and Souls of Men was so conspicuous, that the world could not deny it, but was forced to call it Compliance. All the doubt may be concerning his Charity to the Poor and Needy, because the excellency of this Virtue lies in the secrecy of its Practice. Daily and hourly were the Emanations of his Charity, while he lived, but most of them running like streams under ground, till he was dead. Many were the Gifts he scattered to the bringing up of poor Children at School, to the maintenance of poor Scholars in the University: to the supportation and encouragement of ancient foundations of Piety and Learning: to the relief of visited places in his Diocese: to the supply of the wants of poor Ministers Widows: to the Augmentation of small Vicarages in his Gift Add the several shares that Southampton, the place of his Birth, Merton College the place of his first Preferment, Northhampton the place of his first Ministerial Employment, Norwich▪ where he departed had; you cannot want a sufficient evidence of his abundant Charity. Lastly, God was pleased to do him an extraordinary kindness, an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a gentle Death, the last sand in the Hourglass falling with no less difficulty, than wherewith he expired. iv Sir Thomas Adam's Alderman of London. (Obiit. 1667.) (From Doctor Hardy.) 1. THere is no less than a obligation laid upon us of publishing the excellencies, of those who have done worthily and been Famous in their Generations. Hereby we glorify the Lord in his Servants, and that is Piety; we honour the Dead in their Memory, and that is Equity; we benefit the People by their Examples, and that is Charity. I shall not say more of this Worthy Person, then what not only very credible Information, but (for the most part) my own personal knowledge will warrant me, having had the honour of more than Twenty Years acquaintance with him, Fifteen whereof he was the Chief Inhabitant of that Parish, wherein I was an Unworthy labourer. 2. His very outward aspect was amiable, nay venerable, and his presence as the appearance of some bright Star, having a pleasing influence upon all that looked upon him. But could you have viewed his inside, beheld that virtuous Soul which inhabited his comely Body, how would it have ravished you, and yet, though we could not directly, we might reflexively, and that both from his words and works, The Lips of the Righteous feed many; to wit, with wholesome Counsels and Comforts; keeping as it were an open Table for all Comers; such were his Lips, with which (as well, nay better than with his Bountiful Table) he fed not only his Children and Servants, but all who conversed with him. Among whom I can truly say, I never went to him, but I did, or might come away bettered by his gracious and prudent discourse. Nor was he only a Man of words; his goodness was not only at his Tongue's end, but at his Finger's ends. That of our Saviour concerning himself, is (in an inferior way) verified of him, My Works testify of me. So that, he was not only, in respect of his words, a sweet and pleasing Voice, but of his works, a Burning and Shining Light. 3. God was pleased so far to bless his honest endeavours, in that calling wherein his Providence had placed him, that he enjoyed a liberal Portion of this World's goods, nor did he want those honours which were suitable to him. Whatsoever honour in the City he was capable of, he was chosen to; Master of his Company, Alderman of a Ward, Precedent of St. Thomas Hospital, several times Burgess in Parliament (though the iniquity of the times would not permit him to sit) Sheriff and Lord Major. After which he at length became, and so continued for some Years the first among the Twenty Six, the Elde● Alderman upon the Bench that had served in the Office of Lord Major; to whom is given that Honourable Title The Father of the City. Nor had he only this Honour from the City, but his King also gave him the greatest Honour he was capable of in his Station, making him not only a Knight, but a Baronet; which descends upon Posterity. I mention these, in as much as they are Instruments of Virtue, and so they were to him, he being a bountiful Steward of his Riches, nor did his Dignities so much Honour him as he them. 4. Throughout the Age of his Life he was by God's Providence instated in manifold Relations, entrusted with various Offices, conversant in several employments; in all which he had no cause to complain with him who said; Omnia fui, nihil profuit; All of them being as so many Channels, through which run his several Virtues and Graces. 5. I will begin with that which is the beginning of Wisdom, the Fear of the Lord. He was eminent for Religion and Devotion. That Orthodox Religion which is professed in the Church of England, he faithfully adhered to, cordially owning Her Doctrine and Discipline, Hierarchy and Liturgy: and though he lived in an unconstant Age (wherein it was the mode to change Religions as Women do Fashions) he proved not a Reed or a Willow, but an Oak, steadfast and immovable. Great was his respect to the Orthodox and Orthoprax Clergy: Those who were sufferers, he charitably relieved: Those who were Laborers, he bountifully encouraged: Schismatical Conventicles he abhorred, but duly frequented the Church Assemblies, a Judicious Hearer of God's Word, a diligent Receiver of the Lords Supper: and though it was an Age wherein irreverence was in Fashion, and devotion decried as Superstition, he was exemplary for his reverend behaviour in God's House. Nor was he only Religious in the Church, but in his Family, resolving with Joshua, I and my House will serve the Lord, and daily setting apart time for his private Meditations and Prayers, beginning and closing up every day with God. 6. Thus served he God, and no less careful was he to serve the King, remembering that Fear the Lord and the King are joined together. He was a strenuous assertor of Monarchical Government; nor can I pass by one Argument, which he often used upon that account, where Almighty God by his Prophet Ezekiel (16. 13.) reckoning up the manifold Blessings he had conferred upon his People Israel, mentioneth this among other, as none of the least: Thou didst prosper into a Kingdom; by which is clearly intimated, that those Nations are most prosperous which are under Kingly Government; nay, that Kingly Government is the prosperity to a People. 7. Upon the account of his Loyalty to Charles the first of Blessed Memory, when Lord Mayor, his House was searched by those in Power, supposing there to have found the King; the Year after, he was cast into the Tower, and there kept a Prisoner, and for several Years put by all Offices and Employments. Upon the account of his Loyalty to Charles the Second, during his Exile, he hazarded his Estate and Life, by sending him considerable Sums of Money beyond Sea; and when the Blessed time came of his joyful Return to his Throne, though he was in the Seventy Third Year of his Age (which might have been a just excuse for his staying at home) this Aged Barzillai went, not only over Jordan-river, but crossed the Sea to attend his Sovereign home. 8. Next to God and the King, I dare say, the City of London was written upon his Heart, wherein he spent by far the greatest part of his Life, and hath now breathed his last. Here, through God's Blessing he got, and here he spent a considerable part of his Estate in the City's Service. He was of so public a Spirit, that when his Son in Law brought him the first news of his being chosen Sheriff of London, he immediately dismissed the particular business about which he was, and never after personally followed his Trade, but gave himself up to the City Concerns. It was his Study to know the Customs and Usages, the liberties and privileges of the City, and accordingly his endeavour in his several capacities to preserve and maintain them. He was not only in Word but in Deed, an Assistant, a Guardian, yea a Pillar of the Company of Drapers. He was a Vigilant Precedent of St. Thomas Hospital; which probably had been ruined before this, but that his sagacity and industry discovered the fraud of an unjust Steward. In the Court of Aldermen, he was as an Oracle, very subservient by his Grave and Prudent Counsels to the City's Government. He was so far from self seeking, that when he was Lord Mayor, he did not make those advantages (which usually are) by selling the vacant places. Whilst a private Tradesman, he was exact (so far as I ever heard) in Commutative Justice, in his Bargains and Contracts of buying and selling; and when a Public Magistrate; he was no less Conscientious of Distributive Justice between Man and Man. 9 At the Town, where he received his first Breath, he Built a Free-School, endowing it with a considerable maintenance, for the Education of Children. In the University of Cambridge, he erected an Arabic Lecture, and settled upon the Lecturer Forty Pounds per annum, for his pains in Reading it. Nor were these munificent works to bear the date of their beginning from his Death, but the one began Twenty, and the other Thirty Years ago; nor is their maintenance only settled for some term of Years, but (as we usually express it) for ever. He was at the charge also (at the desire of the Reverend Mr. Wheelook, now with God) of Printing the Persian Gospels, and transmitting them into the Eastern parts of the World. By these ways he endeavoured to promote the Christian Religion, throwing a Stone (to use his own Language) at the Forehead of Mahomet that grand Impostor. 10. His Hands were frequently open, whilst he lived, upon all occasions, and notwithstanding many late great damages to his Estate, he hath given considerable Legacies to the Poor of several Parishes, to Hospitals, to Ministers Widows, and such like at his Death. 11. To the rest of his Graces and Virtues I add his Patience, whereby he served God in Suffering. The truth is, this good Goat (like Joseph's) was particolored; his Wine mixed with Water, nay with Gall and Wormwood; such Crosses as he could not have born, were it not (said he) for this Book, pointing to the Bible which lay before him; frequently (among others) making use of that passage of Job; Shall we receive good at the Hands of God, and shall we not receive Evil? 12. He Died of the Stone; a Stone so weighty, that it exceeded Twenty Five Ounces; so grievous, that a little before his Death it made him roar, but yet not murmur, God Graciously sustaining him under the Pain of it. And had there not been a Channel (by a remarkable Providence) cut through the Stone for his Water to pass, the stoppage of it must of necessity have very much added to his smart and lessened his days. But now he hath taken his leave of this World; and I may well say with St. Ambnose, In illo uno etc. In this one Person there is a manifold loss. The King hath lost a loyal Subject, the Church a Faithful Son, the City a Prudent Senator. He is departed from the Inn of this World to the home of his Grave, of which he was before mindful, frequently saying, Solum mihi superest sepulchrum, where he shall sleep in the dust, till he awake and arise to Glory. FINIS.