THE LIFE.

IT is not to be doubted but that Richard Hooker was born within the Precincts, or in the City, of Exeter; a City that may justly boast that it was the Birth-place of him and Sir Tho­mas Bodley; as indeed the County may in which it stands, that it hath furnished this Nation with [Page 7] Bishop Iewell, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and many others memorable for their Va­lour and Learning. He was born about the year of our Re­demption 1553, and of Parents that were not so remarkable for their Extraction or Riches, as for their Virtue and Industry, and Gods blessing upon both; by which they were enabled to edu­cate their Children in some de­gree of Learning, of which our Richard Hooker may appear to be one fair testimony; and that Na­ture is not so partial, as always to give the great blessings of Wis­dom and Learning, and with them the greater blessings of Vir­tue and Government, to those onely that are of a more high and honourable Birth.

[Page 8]His Complexion (if we may guess by him at the age of Forty) was Sanguine, with a mixture of Choler; and yet his Motion was slow even in his Youth, and so was his Speech, never expressing an Earnestness in either of them, but a Gravity suitable to the Aged. And 'tis observed (so far as In­quiry is able to look back at this distance of Time) that at his be­ing a School-boy he was an early Questionist, quietly inquisitive Why this was, and that was not, to be remembred? Why this was granted, and that denied? This being mixt with a remarkable Modesty, and a sweet serene Quietness of Na­ture, and with them a quick Ap­prehension of many perplext parts of Learning imposed then upon him as a Scholar, made his Ma­ster [Page 9] and others to believe him to have an inward blessed Divine Light, and therefore to consider him to a little wonder. For in that, Children were less preg­nant, less consident, and more malleable, than in this wiser, but not better, Age.

This Meekness and conjun­cture of Knowledge, with Mo­desty in his Conversation, being observed by his Schoolmaster, caused him to persuade his Pa­rents (who intended him for an Apprentice) to continue him at School till he could find out some means, by persuading his rich Uncle, or some other charitable person, to ease them of a part of their care and charge; assuring them that their Son was so en­riched with the blessings of Na­ture [Page 10] and Grace, that God seemed to single him out as a special In­strument of his Glory. And the Good man told them also, that he would double his diligence in instructing him, and would nei­ther expect nor receive any other Reward, than the content of so happy an imployment.

This was not unwelcom news, and especially to his Mother, to whom he was a dutiful and dear Child; and all Parties were so pleased with this proposal, that it was resolved so it should be. And in the mean time his Parents and Master laid a foundation for his future happiness, by instilling in­to his Soul the seeds of piety, those consciencious principles of Loving and fearing God; of A belief that he knows the very secrets of our Souls; [Page 11] That he punisheth our vices, and re­wards our innocence; That we should be free from hypocrisie, and appear to Man what we are to God, because first or last the crafty man is catcht in his own snare. These seeds of Piety were so seasonably planted, and so continually watered with the daily dew of Gods blessed Spirit, as hath made Richard Hooker ho­nour'd in this, and will continue him to be so to succeeding Gene­rations.

This good Schoolmaster, whose Name I am not able to recover, (and am sorry, for that I would have given him a better Memo­rial in this humble Monument, dedicated to the memory of his Scholar) was very sollicitous with Iohn Hooker, then Chamberlain of Exeter, and Uncle to our Richard, [Page 12] to take his Nephew into his care, and to maintain him for one year in the University, and in the mean time to use his endeavours to procure an admission for him into some College, still urging and assuring him that his Charge would not continue long, for the Lads Learning and Manners were both so remarkable, that they must of necessity be taken notice of; and that God would provide him some second Patron, that would free him and his Parents from their future care and charge.

These Reasons, with the affe­ctionate Rhetorick of his good Master, and Gods blessing upon both, procured from his Uncle a faithful promise that he would take him into his care and charge [Page 13] before the expiration of the year following, which was perfor­med.

This promise was made about the fourth year of the Reign of Queen Mary: and the learned Iohn Iewell (after Bishop of Salis­bury) having been in the first of this Queens Reign expelled out of Corpus-Christi College in Oxford, (of which he was a Fellow) for adhering to the Truth of those Principles of Religion, to which he had assented in the days of her Brother and Predecessour Edward the Sixth; and he having now a just cause to fear a more heavy pu­nishment than Expulsion, was forced by forsaking this, to seek safety in another Nation, and with that safety the enjoyment of that Doctrine and Worship for which he suffer'd.

[Page 14]But the Cloud of that Persecu­tion and Fear ending with the Life of Queen Mary, the Affairs of the Church and State looked more clear and comfortable; so that he, and many others of the same Judgment, made a happy return into England about the first of Queen Elizabeth; in which year this Iohn Iewell was sent a Com­missioner or Visitor of the Chur­ches of the Western parts of this Kingdom, and especially of those in Devon-shire, in which County he was born, and then and there he contracted a friendship with Iohn Hooker the Uncle of our Ri­chard.

In the third year of her Reign this Iohn Iewell was made Bishop of Salisbury, and there being al­ways observed in him a willing­ness [Page 15] to oblige his Friends, and now a power added to it, Iohn Hooker gave him a Visit in Salis­bury, and besought him for Charity's sake to look favourably upon a poor Ne­phew of his, whom Nature had fitted for a Scholar, but the Estate of his Pa­rents was so narrow, that they were unable to give him the advantage of Learning; and that the Bishop would therefore become his Patron, and pre­vent him from being a Tradesman; for he was a boy of remarkable hopes. And though the Bishop knew men do not look with an indifferent eye upon their own Children and Re­lations, yet he assented so far to Iohn Hooker, that he appointed the Boy and his Schoolmaster should attend him about Easter next fol­lowing at that place, which was done accordingly; and then after [Page 16] some Questions and Observations of the Boys gravity and behaviour, the Bishop gave his Schoolmaster a reward, and took order for an annual Pension for the Boy's Pa­rents, promising also to take him into his care for a future prefer­ment, which was performed; for about the fourteenth year of his age, which was Anno 1567, he was by the Bishop appointed to remove to Oxford, and there to attend Dr. Cole, then President of Corpus-Christi College. Which he did; and Dr. Cole had (according to a promise made to the Bishop) provided for him both a Tutor (which was said to be Dr. Iohn Reynolds) and a Clarks Place in that College: which Place, though it were not a full maintenance, yet with the Contribution of his [Page 17] Uncle, and the continued Pension of his Patron the good Bishop, it gave him a comfortable Subsist­ence. And in this condition he continued unto the Eighteenth year of his age, still increasing in Learning and Prudence, and so much in Humility and Piety, that he seemed to be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his Mo­thers womb, who did often bless the Day in which she bare him.

About this time of his age he fell into a dangerous Sickness, which lasted two moneths; all which time his Mother, having notice of it, did in her hourly prayers as earnestly beg his Life of God, as the Mother of S. Augustine did that he might become a true Christian; and their prayers were both so heard as to be granted. [Page 18] Which Mr. Hooker would often mention with much joy, and as often pray that he might never live to oc­casion any sorrow to his good Mother, whom he loved so dearly, that he would endeavour to be good even as much for hers as for his own sake.

As soon as he was perfectly re­covered from this Sickness, he took a journey from Oxford to Exe­ter, to satisfie and see his good Mother, being accompanied with a Countreyman and Companion of his own College, and both on foot; which was then either more in fashion, or want of Money, or their Humility made it so: But on foot they went, and took Salis­bury in their way, purposely to see the good Bishop, who made Mr. Hooker and his Companion dine with him at his own Table; [Page 19] which Mr. Hooker boasted of with much joy and gratitude when he saw his Mother and Friends: And at the Bishops parting with him, the Bishop gave him good counsel and his Benediction, but forgot to give him Money; which when the Bishop had considered, he sent a Servant in all haste to call Richard back to him, and at Richards return the Bishop said, Richard, I sent for you back to lend you a Horse, which hath car­ried me many a mile, and I thank God with much ease; and pre­sently delivered into his hand a Walking-staff, with which he pro­fessed he had travelled through many parts of Germany; and he said, Richard, I do not give, but lend, you my Horse; be sure you be honest, and bring my Horse back to me at your [Page 20] return this way to Oxford. And I do now give you ten Groats to bear your charges to Exeter; and here is ten Groats more, which I charge you to deli­ver to your Mother, and tell her, I send her a Bishops blessing with it, and beg the continuance of her prayers for me. And if you bring my Horse back to me, I will give you ten Groats more to carry you on foot to the College; and so God bless you, good Richard.

And this, you may believe, was performed by both Parties. But, alas! the next news that fol­lowed Mr. Hooker to Oxford was, that his learned and charitable Patron had changed this for a bet­ter Life. Which may be belie­ved, for that as he lived, so he died, in devout meditation and prayer; and in both so zelously, that it became a religious questi­on, [Page 21] Whether his last Ejaculations, or his Soul, did first enter into Heaven?

And now Mr. Hooker became a Man of Sorrow and Fear; of Sor­row, for the loss of so dear and comfortable a Patron; and of Fear, for his future Subsistence. But Dr. Cole raised his spirits from this dejection, by bidding him go cheerfully to his Studies, and assu­ring him he should neither want Food nor Raiment, (which was the utmost of his hopes) for he would become his Patron.

And so he was for about nine moneths, and not longer; for about that time this following ac­cident did befall Mr. Hooker.

Edwin Sandys (then Bishop of London, and after Archbishop of York) had also been in the days of [Page 22] Queen Mary forced, by forsaking this, to seek safety in another Na­tion; where for many years Bi­shop Iewell and he were Compa­nions at Bed and Board in Germa­ny, and where in this their Exile they did often eat the bread of sor­row, and by that means they there began such a friendship, as lasted till the death of Bishop Iewell, which was 1571. A little before which time the two Bishops meet­ing, Iewell began a story of his Ri­chard Hooker, and in it gave such a Character of his Learning and Manners, that though Bishop Sandys was educated in Cambridge, where he had obliged and had many Friends; yet his resolution was, that his Son Edwin should be sent to Corpus-Christi College in Ox­ford, and by all means be Pupil to [Page 23] Mr. Hooker, though his Son Edwin was then almost of the same Age; for the Bishop said, I will have a Tutor for my Son that shall teach him Learning by Instruction, and Virtue by Example; and my greatest care shall be of the last, and (God willing) this Richard Hooker shall be the Man into whose hands I will commit my Edwin. And the Bishop did so about twelve moneths after this reso­lution.

And doubtless as to these two a better choice could not be made; for Mr. Hooker was now in the nineteenth year of his age, had spent five in the University, and had by a constant unwearied dili­gence attained unto a perfection in all the learned Languages; and by the help of them, an excellent Tutor, and an unintermitted [Page 24] Study, had made the subtilty of all the Arts easie and familiar to him, and useful for the discovery of such Learning as lay hid from common Searchers; so that by these added to his great Reason, and his Industry added to both, He did not onely know more, but what he knew he knew better than other men. And with this Knowledge he had a most blessed and clear Method of Demonstrating what he knew, to the great advantage of all his Pupils, (which in time were ma­ny) but especially to his two first, his dear Edwin Sandys, and his as dear George Cranmer, of which there will be a fair Testimony in the ensuing Relation.

This for his Learning. And for his Behaviour, amongst other Testimonies this still remains of [Page 25] him, That in four years he was but twice absent from the Chapel prayers; and that his Behaviour there was such as shewed an awful reverence of that God which he then worshipped and prayed to; giving all outward testimonies that his Affections were set on heavenly things. This was his Behaviour towards God; and for that to Man, it is observable that he was never known to be angry, or passionate, or extreme in any of his Desires; never heard to re­pine or dispute with Providence, but by a quiet gentle submission bore the burthen of the day with patience; never heard to utter an uncomly word: and by this and a grave Bahaviour, which is a Di­vine Charm, he begot an early Reverence unto his Person, even [Page 26] from those that at other times, and in other companies, took a liberty to cast off that strictness of Behaviour and Discourse that is required in a Collegiate Life. And when he took any liberty to be pleasant, his Wit was never blemisht with Scoffing, or the ut­terance of any Conceit that bor­der'd upon, or might beget a thought of Loosness in his hear­ers. Thus innocent and exem­plary was his Behaviour in his College, and thus this Good man continued till his death, still in­creasing in Learning, in Patience, and Piety.

In this nineteenth year of his age he was chosen, December 24. 1573, to be one of the twenty Scholars of the Foundation, being elected and admitted as born in [Page 27] Devon-shire, out of which Country a certain number are to be elected in Vacancies by the Founders Sta­tutes. And now he was much en­couraged, for now he was perfect­ly incorporated into this beloved College, which was then noted for an eminent Library, strict Stu­dents, and remarkable Scholars. And indeed it may glory, that it had Bishop Iewel, Doctor Iohn Reynolds, and Doctor Tho. Iackson of that Foundation; The First, famous by his Learned Apologie for the Church of England, and his Defence of it against Harding. The Second, for the learned and wise Menage of a publique Dispute with Iohn Hart about the Head and Faith of the Church, and now printed. And the Third, for his most excellent Exposition of the [Page 28] Creed, and other Treatises: All such as have given greatest satisfa­ction to men of the greatest Lear­ning. Nor was this man more Note-worthy for his Learning, than for his strict and pious Life, testified by his abundant love and charity to all men.

And in the year 1576. Febr. 23. his Grace was given him for In­ceptor of Arts, Doctor Herbert West­phaling, a man of note for Learn­ing, being then Vice-chancellour. The Act following he was com­pleated Master, which was Anno 1577. his Patron Doctor Cole be­ing Vice-chancellour that year, and his dear friend Henry Savill of Merton College being then one of the Proctors. 'Twas that Henry Savill, that was after Sir Hen: Savill, Warden of Merton College, and Pro­vost [Page 29] of Eaton: He which founded in Oxford two famous Lectures, and endowed them with liberal maintenance.

'Twas that Sir Henry Savill, that translated and enlightned the An­nals of Cornelius Tacitus, with a most excellent Comment; and enrich­ed the world by his laborious and chargeable collecting the scatter'd pieces of S. Chrysostome, and the publication of them in one entire Body in Greek; in which Lan­guage he was a most judicious Critick. 'Twas this Sir Hen: Savill, that had the happinesse to be a Contemporary, and familiar friend to Mr. Hooker, and let Po­sterity know it.

And in this year of 1577. he was chosen Fellow of the College; Happy also in being the Contem­porary [Page 30] and Friend of Dr. Iohn Rey­nolds, of whom I have lately spo­ken; and of Dr. Spencer: both which were after, and successively, made Presidents of Corpus-Christi College; men of great Learning and Merit, and famous in their Generations.

Nor was Mr. Hooker more hap­py in his Contemporaries of his Time and College, than in the Pupillage and Friendship of his Edwin Sandys and George Cranmer; of whom my Reader may note, that this Edwin Sandys was after Sir Edwin Sandys, and as famous for his Speculum Europae, as his bro­ther George for making Posterity beholden to his Pen by a learned Relation and Comment on his remarkable Travels; and for his harmonious Translation of the [Page 31] Psalms of David, the Book of Iob, and other Poetical parts of Holy Writ, into most high and elegant Verse. And for Cranmer, his other Pupil, I shall refer my Rea­der to the Testimonies of our learned Mr. Cambden, the Lord Tottenes, Fines, Morison, and others.

Betwixt Mr. Hooker and these his two Pupils there was a sacred Friendship, a Friendship made up of Religious Principles, which increased daily by a similitude of Inclinations to the same Recrea­tions [Page 33] and Studies; a Friendship elemented in Youth, and in an University, free from self-ends, which usually the Friendships of Age are not: and in this sweet, this blessed, this spiritual Amity they went on for many years; and, as the holy Prophet saith, so they took sweet counsel together, and walked in the House of God as Friends. By which means they improved it to such a degree of Amity as bordered upon Heaven; a Frienship so sacred, that when it ended in this world, it began in the next, where it shall have no end.

And, though this World can­not give any degree of Pleasure equal to such a Friendship, yet Obedience to Parents, and a desire to know the Affairs, and Manners, [Page 34] and Learning of other Nations, that they might thereby become the more serviceable unto their own, made them put off their Gowns, and leave Mr. Hooker to his College. Where he was daily more assiduous in his Studies, still enriching his quiet and capacious Soul with the precious Learning of the Philosophers, Casuists and Schoolmen; and with them the Foundation and Reason of all Laws, both Sacred and Civil: and with such other Learning as lay most remote from the track of common Studies. And as he was diligent in these, so he seemed restless in searching the scope and intention of Gods Spirit revealed to Mankind in the sacred Scrip­ture: for the understanding of which he seemed to be assisted by [Page 35] the same Spirit with which they were written; and he would of­ten say, The Scripture was not writ to beget Pride and Disputations, and Op­position to Government; but Humility, and Obedience, and Peace, and Piety in Mankind. And that this was really his Judgment, did appear in his future Writings, and in all the Actions of his Life. Nor was this excellent man a stranger to the more light and aëry parts of Learning, as Musick and Poëtry; all which he had digested and made uselful, and of all which the Reader will have a fair testimony in what follows.

Thus he continued his Studies in all quietness for the space of three or more years; about which time he entered into Sacred Or­ders, and was made Deacon and [Page 36] Priest; and not long after, in obedience to the College Statutes, he was to preach either at S. Peters Oxford, or at S. Pauls Cross London, and the last fell to his allotment.

In order to which Sermon, to London he came, and immediately to the Shunamites house; which is a House so called, for that, besides the Stipend paid the Preacher, there is provision made also for his Lodging and Diet two days before and one day after his Ser­mon; this House was then kept by Iohn Churchman, sometimes a Draper of good note in Watling-street, upon whom Poverty had at last come like an armed man, and brought him into a Necessitous condition; which, though it be a punishment, is not always an argument of Gods disfavour, for [Page 37] he was a good man: I shall not yet give the like testimony of his Wife, but leave the Reader to judge by what follows. But to this House Mr. Hooker came so wet, so weary, and weather-beaten, that he was never known to express more passion, than against a Friend that dissuaded him from Footing it to London, and for finding him no easier an Horse, supposing the Horse trot­ted when he did not; and at this time also such a Faintness and Fear possest him, that he would not be persuaded two days Quietness, or any other means could be used to make him able to preach his Sun­days Sermon: but a warm Bed, and Rest, and Drink proper for a Cold given him by Mrs. Church­man, and her diligent Attendance [Page 38] added unto it, enabled him to per­form the office of the day; which was in or about the year 1581.

And in this first publick appea­rance to the World, he was not so happy as to be free from Excepti­ons against a point of Doctrine delivered in his Sermon, which was, That in God there were two Wills, an Antecedent, and a Consequent Will; his first Will that all mankind should be saved; but his second Will was, that those onely should be saved that did live answerable to that degree of Grace which he had offered or afforded them. This seemed to cross a late Opinion of Mr. Calvins, and then taken for granted by many that had not a Capacity to examine it, as it had been by him, and hath been since by Dr. Iackson and Dr. Hammond, who believe that a contrary Opi­nion [Page 39] trenches upon the Honour and Justice of God. How he justified this, I will not undertake to declare; but it was not excepted against (as Mr. Hooker declares in his Answer to Mr. Travers) by Iohn Elmer, then Bishop of London, at this time one of his Auditors, and at last one of his Advocates too, when Mr. Hooker was accused for it.

But the Justifying of this Do­ctrine did not prove of so bad con­sequence, as the Kindness of Mrs. Churchmans curing him of his late Distemper and Cold; for that was so gratefully apprehended by Mr. Hooker, that he thought him­self bound in conscience to believe all that she said; so that the Good man came to be persuaded by her, that he was a man of a tender constitu­tion, [Page 40] and that it was best for him to have a Wife, that might prove a Nurse to him, such an one as might both prolong his life, and make it more com­fortable; and such a one she could and would provide for him, if he though fit to marry. And he not considering that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light, but, like a true Nathanael, fearing no guile, because he meant none, did give her such a power as Eleazar was trusted with when he was sent to chuse a Wife for Isaac; for he trusted her to chuse for him, promising upon a fair summors to return to London, and accept of her choice. And he did so. Now the Wife provided for him was her Daughter Ioan, who brought him neither Beauty nor Portion; and for her Conditions, they were [Page 41] too like that Wife's which is by Solomon compar'd to a dripping house; so that he had no reason to rejoyce in the Wife of his youth, but too just cause to say with the holy Prophet, Wo is me that I am constrain­ed to have my habitation in the tents of Kedar.

This Choice of Mr. Hookers (if it were his Choice) may be wondered at; but let us consider that the Prophet Ezekiel says, There is a wheel within a wheel, a secret sacred Wheel of Providence (espe­cially in Marriages) guided by his hand that allows not the race to the swift, nor bread to the wise, nor good Wives to good Men: and he that can bring good out of evil, (for Mortals are blind to this Reason) onely knows why this blessing was denied to patient Iob, and (as [Page 42] some think) to meek Moses, and to our as meek and patient Mr. Hooker. But so it was; and let the Reader cease to wonder, for Affliction is a Divine diet, which though it be not pleasing to Man­kind, yet Almighty God hath of­ten imposed it as Physick to those children whose Souls are dearest to him.

And by this means the Good man was drawn from the tran­quillity of his College; from that Garden of Piety, of Pleasure, of Peace, and a sweet Conversation, into the thorny Wilderness of a busie World; into those corroding cares that attend a married Priest, and a Countrey Parsonage, which was Draiton Beauchamp in Bucking­ham-shire, not far from Alesbury, and in the Diocese of Lincoln; to [Page 43] which he was presented by Iohn Cheny Esquire, then Patron of it, the 9. of December, 1594. where he behaved himself so as to give no occasion of Evil, but (as S. Paul adviseth a Minister of God) in much patience, in afflictions, in anguishes, in necessities, in poverty, and no doubt in long-suffering: yet troubling no man with his discontents and wants.

And in this condition he conti­nued about a year, in which time his two Pupils, Edwin Sandys and George Craumer, were returned from Travel, and took a journey to see their Tutor, where they found him with a Book in his hand, (it was the Odes of Horace) he being then tending his small allotment of Sheep in a common Field, which he told his Pupils he [Page 44] was forced to do, for that his Ser­vant was gone home to dine, and assist his Wife to do some necessa­ry houshold business. When his Servant returned and released him, his two Pupils attended him unto his House, where their best Entertainment was his Company, which was presently denied them, for Richard was call'd to rock the Cradle; and the rest of their Wel­com was so like this, that they staid but till next morning, which was time enough to discover and pitty their Tutors condition; and having given him as much present comfort as they were able, they were forced to leave him to the company of his Wife Ioan, and seek themselves a quieter Lodging.

At their returns to London, Edwin Sandys acquaints his Father, then [Page 45] Archbishop of York, with his Tu­tors sad condition, and sollicits for his removal to some Benefice that might give him a more com­fortable subsistence; which his Father did most willingly grant him, when it should next fall into his power. And not long after this time, which was in the year 1585, Mr. Alvie (Master of the Temple) died, who was a man of a strict Life, of great Learning, and of so venerable Behaviour, as to gain such a degree of love and reverence from all men, that he was generally known by the name of FATHER ALVIE. At the Temple Reading, next after the death of this Father Alvie, the Archbishop of York being then at Dinner with the Judges, the Rea­der, and Benchers of that So­ciety, met with a Condolement [Page 46] for the Death of Father Alvie, an high commendation of his Saint-like Life, and of his great Merit both to God and Man: and as they bewail'd his Death, so they wisht for a like Patern of Virtue and Learning to succeed him. And here came in a fair occasion for the Bishop to commend Mr. Hooker to Father Alvies Place, which he did with so effectual an earnestness, and that seconded with so many other Testimonies of his worth, that Mr. Hooker was sent for from Draiton Beauchamp to London, and there the Mastership of the Temple proposed unto him by the Bishop, as a greater free­dom from Cares, and the advan­tage of a better Society, and a more liberal Pension than his Countrey Parsonage did afford [Page 47] him. But these Reasons were not powerful enough to incline him to a willing acceptance of it: his wish was rather to gain a better Countrey Living, where he might see Gods blessings spring out of the Earth, and be free from Noise, (so he exprest the desire of his Heart) and eat that bread which he might more properly call his own in pri­vacy and quietness. But, not­withstanding this aversness, he was at last persuaded to accept of the Bishops Proposal; and was by^* Patent for Life made Master of the Temple the 17. of March, 1585.

[Page 48]And here I shall make a stop; and, that the Reader may the bet­ter judge of what follows, give him a Character of the Times, and Temper of the people of this Na­tion, when Mr. Hooker had his Admission into this Place. A Place which he accepted, rather than desired; and yet here he pro­mised himself a virtuous quiet­ness, that blessed Tranquillity which he always prayed and la­bour'd for; that so he might in peace bring forth the fruits of peace, and glorifie God by unin­terrupted prayers and praises: for this he always thirsted, and yet this was denied him. For his Admission into this Place was the very beginning of those Oppositi­ons and Anxieties, which till then this Good man was a stranger to, [Page 49] and of which the Reader may guess by what follows.

In this Character of the Times, I shall, by the Readers favour and for his information, look so far back as to the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth; a time in which the many pretended Titles to the Crown, the frequent Treasons, the Doubts of her Successour, the late Civil War, and the sharp Persecution that raged to the effusion of so much Bloud in the Reign of Queen Mary, were fresh in the memory of all men, and be­got fears in the most Pious and Wisest of this Nation, left the like days should return again to them or their present Posterity. And the apprehension of these Dangers begot a hearty desire of a Settle­ment in the Church and State; believing there was no other pro­bable [Page 50] way left to make them fit quietly under their own Vines and Fig-trees, and enjoy the desired fruit of their Labours. But Time, and Peace, and Plenty, begot Self-ends; and these begot Animosities, Envy, Opposition, and Unthankfulness for those very blessings for which they lately thirsted, being then the utmost of their Desires, and even beyond their Hopes.

This was the temper of the Times in the beginning of her Reign; and thus it continued too long: For those very people that had enjoyed the desires of their hearts in a Reformation from Rome, became at last so like the Grave, as never to be satisfied; but were still thirsting for more and more, neglecting to pay that Obedience, and perform those [Page 51] Vows which they made in their days of Adversities and Fear: so that in short time there appeared three several Interests, each of them fearless and restless in the prosecution of their Designs; they may for distinction be called The active Romanists, The restless Non-conformists (of which there were many sorts) and The passive peaceable Protestant. The Coun­sels of the first considered and re­solved on in Rome: the second in Scotland, in Geneva, and in diver; selected, secret, dangerous Con­venticles, both there, and within the bosom of our own Nation: the third pleaded and defended their Cause by Establisht Laws, both Ecclesiastical and Civil; and if they were active, it was to pre­vent the other two from destroy­ing [Page 52] what was by those known Laws happily establisht to them and their Posterity.

I shall forbear to mention the many and dangerous Plots of the Romanists against the Church and State, because what is princi­pally intended in this Digression, is an account of the Opinions and Activity of the Non-conformists; against whose judgment and pra­ctice, Mr. Hooker became at last, but most unwillingly, to be inga­ged in a Book-war; a war which he maintained not as against an Enemy, but with the spirit of Meekness and Reason.

In which number of Non-con­formists, though some might be sincere and well-meaning men, yet of this Party there were many that were possest with an high de­gree [Page 53] of Spiritual wickedness; I mean with an innate radical Pride and Malice; I mean not those lesser sins that are more visible and more properly carnal, as Glut­tony, & Drunkenness, and the like, (from which good Lord deliver us;) but sins of an higher nature, more unlike to the nature of God, which is Love, and Mercy, and Peace; and more like the Devil, (who cannot be drunk, and yet is a Devil) those wickednesses of Malice, and Revenge, and Oppo­sition, and a Complacence in working and beholding Confusi­on, which are more properly his work, and greater sins, though many will not believe it; Men whom a furious Zele and Preju­dice had blinded, and made inca­pable of hearing Reason, or adhe­ring [Page 54] to the ways of Peace; Men whom Pride and a Self-conceit had made to overvalue their own Wisdom, and become pertinaci­ous, and dispute against those Laws which they ought to obey; Men that labour'd and joyed to speak evil of Government, and then to be the Authors of Confu­sion; whom Company, and Con­versation, and Custom had blind­ed, and made insensible that these were Errours; and at last became so hardened, that they died with­out repenting these spiritual wic­kednesses.

And in these times which tend­ed thus to Confusion, there were also many others that pretended a Tenderness of Conscience, refu­sing to take an Oath before a law­ful Magistrate; and yet in their [Page 55] secret Conventicles did covenant and swear to each other, to be faithful in using their best endea­vours to set up the Presbyterian Discipline. To which end there were many that wandered up and down, and were active in sowing Discontents and Sedition, by ve­nemous and secret Murmurings, and a Dispersion of scurrilous Pamphlets and Libels against the Church and State, but especially against the Bishops: by which means, together with indiscreet Sermons, the Common people became so Phanatick, as to believe the Bishops to be Antichrist, and the onely Obstructers of Gods Disci­pline; and then given over to such a desperate delusion, as to find out a Text in the Revelation of S. Iohn, that Antichrist was to be overcome by [Page 56] the sword. So that those very men, that began with tender and meek Petitions, proceeded to Admonitions, then to Satyrical Remonstrances, and at last, having numbered who was not, and who was, for their Cause, they got a supposed Cer­tainty of so great a Party, that they durst threaten first the Bishops, then the Queen and Parliament; to all which they were secretly encoura­ged by the Earl of Leicester, then in great favour with her, and the reputed Cherisher and Patron ge­neral of these pretenders to Ten­derness of Conscience; his Design being by their means to bring such an odium upon the Bishops, as to procure an Alienation of their Lands, and a large proportion of them for himself: which Avari­tious desire had so blinded his [Page 57] Reason, that his ambitious and greedy Hopes had almost put him into present possession of Lambeth-house.

And to these Undertakings the Non-conformists of this Nation were much encouraged and heightened by a Correspondence and Confederacy with that Bro­therhood in Scotland; so that here they became so bold, that^* one told the Queen openly in a Ser­mon, She was like an untamed Hey­fer, that would not be ruled by Gods people, but obstructed his Discipline. And in Scotland they were more confident, for there^† they decla­red her an Atheist, and grew to such an height, as not to be ac­countable for any thing spoken [Page 58] against her, nor for Treason against their own King, if spoken in the Pul­pit; shewing at last such a disobe­dience to him, that his Mother being in England, and then in di­stress, and in prison, and in dan­ger of Death, the Church denied the King their prayers for her: and at another time, when he had appointed a Day of Feasting, the Church declared for a general Fast, in opposition to his Autho­rity.

To this height they were grown in both Nations, and by these means there was distill'd in­to the minds of the Common people such other venemous and turbulent Principles, as were in­consistent with the safety of the Church and State: and these vented' so daringly, that, beside [Page 59] the loss of Life and Limbs, they were forced to use such other Se­verities as will not admit of an Excuse, if it had not been to pre­vent Confusion, and the conse­quence of it, which without such prevention would have been Ru­ine and Misery to this numerous Nation.

These Errours and Animosities were so remarkable, that they begot wonder in an ingenious Ita­lian, who being about this time come newly into this Nation, writ pleasantly to a Friend in his own Countrey, ‘That the Com­mon people of England were wi­ser than the wisest of his wiser Nation; for here the very Wo­men and Shopkeepers were able to judge of Predestination, and determine what Laws were fit [Page 60] to be made concerning Church-government, then what were fit to be obeyed or abolisht. That they were more able (or at least thought so) to raise and determine perplext Cases of Conscience, than the wisest of the most learned Colleges in Italy. That men of the slightest Lear­ning, and the most Ignorant of the Common people, were mad for a Super or Re-reformation of Religion; and that in this they appeared like that man, who would never cease to whet and whet his knife, till there was no Steel left to make it useful.’ And he concluded his Letter with this Observation, ‘That those very men that were most busie in Opposition, and Disputations, and Controver­sies, had usually the least of Hu­mility [Page 61] and Mortification, or of the power of Godliness.’

And to heighten all these Dis­contents and Dangers, there was also sprung up a Generation of Godless men; men that had so often and so long opposed the blessed motions of his Spirit, and the inward light of their own Consciences, that they had there­by sinned themselves into a Belief which they would, but could not believe; into a Belief which is not in Nature, (for the Heathens be­lieve that there are many Gods) into a Belief that there is no God. Into this Reprobate condition many had then sinned them­selves.

And now when the Church was pestered with them, and with all these other Irregularities, when [Page 62] her Lands were in danger of Alie­nation, her Power at least neg­lected, and her Peace torn to pie­ces by several Schisms, and such Heresies as do usually attend that sin; When the Common people seemed ambitious of doing those very things that were attended with most dangers, that thereby they might be applauded and pit­tied, when they called the Spirit of Opposition a Tender Consci­ence, and complained of Persecu­tion because they wanted power to persecute others: When the giddy Multitude raged, and be­came restless to find out Misery for themselves and others; and the Rabble would herd themselves together, and would govern and act in spight of Authority. In this Extremity, Fear, and Danger [Page 63] of the Church and State, when to suppress the growing Evils of both they needed a man of Prudence & Piety, and of an high and fearless Fortitude, they were blest in all by Iohn Whitgift his being made Archbishop of Canterbury; of whom Sir Hen. Wotton (that knew him well) gives this true Character, That he was a man of Reverend and Sacred memory, and of the Primitive temper; such a temper, as when the Church by lowliness of Spirit did flourish in high examples of Virtue.

And though I dare not under­take to adde to his Character, yet I shall neither do right to this Dis­course, nor to my Reader, if I forbear to give him a further and short account of the Life and Manners of this Excellent Man: and it shall be short, for I long to [Page 64] end this Digression, that I may lead my Reader back to Mr. Hoo­ker, where we left him at the Temple.

Iohn Whitgift was born in the County of Lincoln, of a Family that was ancient, and noted to be both Affable and Gentile by nature: he was educated in Cambridge, much of his Learning was acquired in Pembroke-hall, (where Mr. Bradford the Martyr was his Tutor) from thence he was remov'd to Peter-house, from thence to be Master of Pembroke-hall, and from thence to the Mastership of Trinity College. About which time the Queen made him her Chaplain, and not long after Prebend of Ely, and then Dean of Lincoln; and having for many years past lookt upon him with much Reverence and [Page 65] Favour, gave him a fair testimo­ny of both, by giving him the Bi­shoprick of Worcester, and forgi­ving him his First-fruits; then by constituting him Vice-President of the Principality of Wales. And having experimented his Wis­dom, his Justice, and Moderation in the menage of her Affaires, in both these places; She in the 26. of her Reign made him Archbi­shop of Canterbury, and not long after of her Privy Council, and trusted him to manage all her Ecclesiastical Affairs and Prefer­ments. In all which Removes he was like the Ark, which left a blessing upon the place where it rested; and in all his Imployments was like Iehoida, that did good unto Israel.

These were the steps of this [Page 66] Bishops Ascension to this place of Dignity and Cares; in which place (to speak Mr. Cambdens very words) he devoutly consecrated both his whole Life to God, and his painful Labours to the good of his Church. And yet in this place he met with many Oppositions in the Regulation of Church-affairs, which were much disordered at his entrance, by rea­son of the age and remisness of Bishop Grindall, his immediate Predecessour, the Activity of the Non-conformists, and their chief Assistant the Earl of Leicester, and by others of the like Sacrilegi­ous Principles. With these he was to encounter; and though he wanted neither Courage nor a Good Cause, yet he foresaw that without a great measure of the Queens Favour, it was impossible [Page 67] to stand in the Breach that was made into the Lands and Immuni­ties of the Church, or to maintain the remaining Rights of it. And therefore by justifiable sacred In­sinuations, such as S. Paul to Agrippa; (Agrippa, believest thou? I know thou believest) he wrought himself into so great a degree of Favour with her, as by his pious use of it hath got both of them a greater degree of Fame in this world, and of Glory in that into which they are now entred.

His Merits to the Queen, and her Favours to him were such, that she called him her little black Hus­band, and called his Servants her Ser­vants: and she saw so visible and blessed a Sincerity shine in all his Cares and Endeavours for the Churches and for her good, that [Page 68] she was supposed to trust him with the very secrets of her Soul, and to make him her Confessour: Of which she gave many fair testi­monies; and of which one was, that she would never eat Flesh in Lent without obtaining a Licence from her little black Husband: and would often say, She pittied him because she trusted him, and had eased herself by laying all her Clergie-cares upon his shoulders, which he managed with pru­dence and piety.

I shall not keep my self within the promised Rules of Brevity in this account of his Interest with Her Majesty, and his Care of the Churches Rights, if in this Di­gression I should enlarge to parti­culars; and therefore my desire is, that one Example may serve for a Testimony of both. And that [Page 69] the Reader may the better under­stand it, he may take notice, that not many years before his being made Archbishop, there passed an Act or Acts of Parliament intend­ing the better Preservation of Church Lands, by recalling a Power which was in others to sell or Lease them, by lodging and trusting the future Care and Pro­tection of them in the Crown: And amongst many that made a bad use of this Power or Trust of the Queens, the Earl of Lei­cester was one; and the Bishop having by his Interest with Her Majesty put a stop to the Earls Sa­crilegious designs, they two fell to an open Opposition before her; after which they both quitted the Room, not Friends in appearance. But the Bishop made a sudden and [Page 70] a seasonable return to Her Ma­jesty, (for he found her alone) and spake to her with great humility and reverence, and to this purpose.

[Page 78]The Queens patient hearing this affectionate Speech, and her future care to preserve the Chur­ches Rights, which till then had been neglected, may appear a fair Testimony, that he made hers and the Churches Good the chief­est of his cares, and that she also thought so. And of this there were such daily testimonies given, as begot betwixt them so mutual a joy and confidence, that they seemed born to believe and do good to each other; she not doubting his Piety to be more than all his Opposers, which were many; nor his Prudence equal to the chiefest of her Council, who were then as remarkable for Wis­dom, as those dangerous Times did require, or this Nation did ever enjoy. And in this condition [Page 79] he continued twenty years; in which time he saw some Flow­ings, but many more Ebbings of her Favour towards all men that opposed him, especially the Earl of Leicester: so that God seemed still to keep him in her Favour, that he might preserve the remain­ing Church Lands and Immuni­ties from Sacrilegious Alienations. And this Good man deserved all the Honour and Power with which she trusted him; for he was a Pious man, and naturally of Noble and Grateful Principles: he eased her of all her Church-cares by his wife Menage of them; he gave her faithful and prudent Counsels in all the Extremities and Dangers of her Temporal Affairs, which were many; he lived to be the chief Comfort of [Page 80] her Life in her Declining age, to be then most frequently with her, and her Assistant at her private Devotions, to be the greatest Comfort of her Soul upon her Death-bed, to be present at the Expiration of her last Breath, and to behold the closing of those Eyes that had long looked upon him with Reverence and Affection. And let this also be added, that he was the Chief Mourner at her sad Funeral; nor let this be forgot­ten, that within a few hours af­ter her death, he was the happy Proclaimer, that King Iames (her peaceful Successour) was Heir to the Crown.

Let me beg of my Reader to allow me to say a little, and but a little, more of this good Bishop, and I shall then presently lead him [Page 81] back to Mr. Hooker; and, because I would hasten, I will mention but one part of the Bishops Cha­rity and Humility, but this of both: He built a large Almes-house near to his own House at Croydon in Surrey, and endowed it with Maintenance for a Master and twenty eight poor Men and Women; which he visited so of­ten, that he knew their Names and Dispositions, and was so truly humble, that he called them Bro­thers and Sisters: and whensoever the Queen descended to that low­liness to dine with him at his Pa­lace in Lambeth, (which was very often) he would usually the next day shew the like lowliness to his poor Brothers and Sisters at Croydon, and dine with them at his Hospital; at which time, you [Page 82] may believe, there was Joy at the Table. And at this place he built also a fair Free-school, with a good Accommodation and Mainte­nance for the Master and Scholars. Which gave just occasion for Boyse Sisi, then Embassadour for the French King, and Resident here, at the Bishops death to say, The Bishop had published many learned Books, but a Free-school to train up Youth, and an Hospital to lodge and maintain aged and poor People, were the best Evidences of Christian Learning that a Bishop could leave to Posterity. This good Bishop lived to see King Iames settled in peace, and then fell sick at Lambeth; of which the King having notice, went to visit him, and found him in his Bed in a declining condition and very weak, and after some short [Page 83] discourse, the King assured him, He had a great Affection for him, and high value for his Prudence and Virtues, and would beg his Life of God. To which he replied, Pro Ecclesiâ Dei, Pro Ecclesiâ Dei: which were the last words he ever spake, therein testifying, that as in his Life, so at his Death, his chiefest care was of Gods Church.

This Iohn Whitgift was made Archbishop in the year 1583. In which busy place, he continued twenty years and some moneths; and in which time you may be­lieve he had many Tryals of his Courage and Patience; But his Motto was, Vincit, qui patitur.

And he made it good. Many of his many Trials were occasion­ed by the then powerful Earl of Leicester, who did still (but se­cretly) [Page 84] raise and cherish a Faction of Non conformists to oppose him; especially one Thomas Cart­wright, a man of noted Learning, sometime Contemporary with the Bishop in Cambridge, and of the same College, of which the Bishop had been Master; in which place there began some Emulati­ons, (the particulars I forbear) and at last open and high Opposi­tions betwixt them; and in which you may believe Mr. Cartwright was most faulty, if his Expulsion out of the University can incline you to it.

And in this discontent after the Earls death (which was 1588) Mr. Cartwright appeared a chief Cherisher of a Party that were for the Geneva Church-government; and to effect it, he ran himself into [Page 85] many dangers both of Liberty and Life; appearing at the last to justifie himself and his Party in many Remonstrances, which he caused to be printed, and to which the Bishop made a first Answer, and Cartwright replied upon him; and then the Bishop having re­joyned to his Reply, Mr. Cart­wright either was, or was persuaded to be, satisfied; for he wrote no more, but left the Reader to be judge which had maintained their Cause with most Charity and Reason. After some silence, Mr. Cartwright received from the Bishop many personal Favours, and retired himself to a more pri­vate Living, which was at War­wich, where he lived quietly, and grew rich, and where the Bishop gave him a Licence to Preach, [Page 86] upon promise not to meddle with Controversies, but incline his Hearers to Piety and Moderation; and this Promise he kept during his Life, which ended 1602, the Bishop surviving him but one year, each ending his days in per­fect Charity with the other.

And now after this long Di­gression made for the Information of my Reader concerning what follows, I bring him back to ve­nerable Mr. Hooker, where we left him in the Temple, and where we shall find him as deeply engaged in a Controversie with Walter Tre­vers, a Friend and Favorite of Mr. Cartwrights, as the Bishop had ever been with Mr. Cartwright himself; and of which I shall proceed to give this following ac­count.

[Page 87]And first this; That though the Pens of Mr. Cartwright and the Bishop were now at rest, yet there was sprung up a new Generation of restless men, that by Company and Clamours became possest of a Faith which they ought to have kept to themselves, but could not; men that were become positive in asserting That a Papist cannot be sa­ved: insomuch that about this time at the Execution of the Queen of Scots, the Bishop that preached her Funeral Sermon (which was Dr. Dove, then Bi­shop of Peterborough) was reviled for not being positive for her Damnation. And beside this Boldness of their becoming Gods, so far as to set limits to his Mer­cies; there was not onely Martin Mar-prelate, but other venemous [Page 88] Books daily printed and disper­sed; Books that were so absurd and scurrilous, that the graver Divines disdained them an An­swer. And yet these were grown into high esteem with the Common people, till Tom Nash appeared against them all, who was a man of a sharp wit, and the master of a scoffing Satyrical mer­ry Pen, which he imployed to dis­cover the Absurdities of those blind malitious sensless Pam­phlets, and Sermons as senssess as they; Nash his Answers being like his Books, which bore these Ti­tles, An Almond for Parrot. A Fig for my God-son. Come crack me this Nut, and the like: so that his merry Wit made such a discovery of their Absurdities, as (which is strange) he put a greater stop to [Page 89] these malitious Pamphlets, than a much wiser man had been able.

And now the Reader is to take notice, That at the Death of Father Alvie, who was Master of the Tem­ple, this Walter Trevers was Lectu­rer there for the Evening Sermons, which he preacht with great ap­probation, especially of the youn­ger Gentlemen of that Society; and for the most part approved by Mr. Hooker himself, in the midst of their oppositions. For he conti­nued Lecturer a part of his time, Mr. Trevers being indeed a man of competent Learning, of a win­ning Behaviour, and of a blame­lesse Life. But he had taken Or­ders by the Presbyterie in Antwerp, and if in any thing he was trans­ported, it was in an extreme desire [Page 90] to set up that Government in this Nation: For the promoting of which, he had a correspondence with Theodore Beza at Geneva, and others in Scotland; and was one of the chiefest assistants to Mr. Cart­wright in that Design.

Mr. Trevers had also a particu­lar hope to set up this Govern­ment in the Temple, and to that end used his endeavours to be Master of it, and his being disappointed by Mr. Hookers admittance, pro­ved some occasion of opposition betwixt them, in their Sermons. Many of which were concerning the Doctrine, Discipline, and Cere­monies of this Church: Insomuch that, as one hath pleasantly exprest it, The Forenoon Sermon spake Canter­bury, and the Afternoons, Geneva.

[Page 91]In these Sermons there was lit­tle of bitternesse, but each party brought all the Reasons he was able to prove his Adversaries Opi­nion, Erroneous. And thus it con­tinued a long time, till the Oppo­sitions became so visible, and the Consequences so dangerous, espe­cially in that place, that the pru­dent Archbishop put a stop to Mr. Trevers his Preaching, by a po­sitive Prohibition: And Mr. Trevers Appeal'd and Petition'd Her Ma­jesty and Her Privy Council to have it recalled, where he met with many assisting Friends; but they were not able to prevail with or against the Archbishop, whom the Queen had intrusted with all Church-power; and he had re­ceived so fair a Testimony of Mr. Hookers Principles, and of his [Page 92] Learning and Moderation, that he withstood all Sollicitations. But the denying this Petition of Mr. Trevers was unpleasant to di­vers of his Party, and the Reason­ableness of it became at last to be so magnified by them and many others, as never to be answered; so that intending the Bishops and Mr. Hookers disgrace, they procu­red it to be privately printed, and scattered abroad: and then Mr. Hooker was forced to appear publickly, and print an Answer to it, which he did, and Dedica­ted it to the Archbishop; and it proved so full an Answer, to have in it so much of clear Reason, and writ with so much Meekness and Majesty of Style, that the Bishop began to wonder at the Man, to rejoyce that he had appeared in [Page 93] his Cause, and disdained not ear­nestly to beg his Friendship, even a familiar Friendship with a man of so much quiet Learning and Humility.

To enumerate the many parti­cular points, in which Mr. Hooker and Mr. Trevers dissented, would prove at least tedious; and there­fore I shall impose upon my Rea­der no more than two, which shall immediately follow.

Mr. Trevers excepted against Mr. Hooker, for that in one of his Sermons he declared, That the assu­rance of what we believe by the Word of God, is not to us so certain as that which we perceive by sense. And Mr. Hooker confesseth he said so; and endea­vours to justifie it by the Reasons following.

The Sermon that gave him the cause of this his Justification makes the Case more plain, by de­claring that there is besides this Cer­tainty of Evidence, a Certainty of Ad­herence: in which having most ex­cellently demostrated what the Certainty of Adherence is, he makes this comfortable use of it, ‘Com­fortable (he says) as to weak Believers, who suppose them­selves to be faithless, not to be­lieve, when notwithstanding they have their Adherence; the [Page 96] Holy Spirit hath his private opera­tions, and worketh secretly in them, and effectually too, though they want the inward Testimony of it.’

Tell this to a man that hath a mind too much dejected by a sad sense of his sin; to one that by a too severe judging of himself, concludes that he wants Faith, be­cause he wants the comfortable Assurance of it; and his Answer will be, Do not persuade me against my knowledge, against what I find and feel in my self; I do not, I know I do not believe. (Mr. Hookers own words follow) ‘Well then, to fa­vour such men a little in their weakness, let that be granted which they do imagine; be it that they adhere not to Gods Promises, but are faithless and [Page 97] without belief; but are they not grieved for their unbelief? they confess they are; doe they not wish it might, and also strive that it may be otherways? we know they do; whence cometh this but from a secret Love and Liking that they have of those things believed? For, no man can Love those things which in his own opinion are not; and, if they think those things to be, which they shew they Love when they de­sire to believe them; then must it be that by desiring to believe, they prove themselves true be­lievers; for, without faith no man thinketh that things believed are: which argument all the Subtil­ties of infernal powers will ne­ver be able to dissolve.’ This is an abridgement of part of the [Page 98] reasons he gives for his Justifica­tion of this his Opinion for which he was excepted against by Mr. Trevers.

Mr. Hooker was also accused by Mr. Trevers, for that he in one of his Sermons had declared, that he doubted not but that God was merciful to many of our fore-fathers living in Popish Superstition, for as much as they Sinned ignorantly: and Mr. Hooker in his answer professeth it to be his Judgement, and de­clares his Reasons for this Chari­table opinion to be as follow­eth.

But first he states the question about Iustification and works, and how the Foundation of Faith is over­thrown; and then he proceeds to discover that way which Natural men and some others have mista­ken [Page 99] to be the way by which they hope to attain true happiness; and having discovered the Mista­ken, he proceeds to direct to that True way, by which and no other, everlasting life and blessedness is attainable; and, these two ways he demonstrates thus: (they be his own words that follow) ‘That the way of Nature, This the way of Grace; the end of that way Salvati­on merited, presupposing the righte­ousness of mens works; their righte­ousness, a Natural ability to do them; that ability, the goodness of God which Created them in such perfection. But the end of this way Salvation bestowed upon men as a gift: presupposing not their righteousness, but, the forgive­ness of their Unrighteousness, Iustifi­cation; their Iustification, not their Natural ability to do good, but their [Page 100] hearty Sorrow for not doing, and un­feigned belief in him for whose sake not doers are accepted, which is their Vocation; their Vocation, the Election of God taking them out of the number of lost Children; their Election a Mediator in whom to be elect; this mediation inexplicable mercy; this mercy, supposing their misery for whom he vouchsafed to dye, and make himself a Mediator.’

And he also declareth, there is no meritorious cause for our Iustifica­tion but Christ, no effectual but his Mercy; and says also, we deny the Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ, we a­buse, disanul, and anihilate the benefit of his Passion, if by a proud imagina­tion we believe we can merit everlast­ing life, or can be worthy of it. This belief (he declareth) is to destroy the very essence of our Justifica­tion, [Page 101] and he makes all opinions that border upon this to be very dangerous. Yet nevertheless, (and for this he was accused) ‘Consider­ing how many vertuous and just men, how many Saints and Martyrs have had their dangerous opinions, amongst which this was one, that they hoped to make God some part of amends by voluntary punishments which they laid upon themselves; because by this or the like erroneous opini­ons which do by consequent overthrow the merits of Christ, shall man be so bold as to write on their Graves such men are dam­ned, there is for them no Salvation? St. Austin says, errare possum, Hae­reticus esse nolo. And except we put a difference betwixt them that err Ignorantly, and them that Obstinately persist in it, [Page 102] how is it possible that any man should hope to be saved? give me a Pope or a Cardinal, whom great afflictions have made to know himself, whose heart God hath touched with true sor­row for all his Sins, and filled with a Love of Christ and His Gospel, whose eyes are willing­ly open to see the truth, and his mouth ready to renounce all er­ror, this one opinion of merit ex­cepted, which he thinketh God will require at his hands, and because he wanteth, trembleth, and is discouraged, and yet can say, Lord cleanse me from all my secret sins, shall I think because of this or a like error such men touch not so much as the Hem of Christs Garment? if they do, wherefore should I doubt but that vertue [Page 103] may proceed from Christ to save them? no, I will not be afraid to say to such a one, you err in your opinion, but be of good comfort, you have to do with a merciful God who will make the best of that little which you hold well, and not with a captious Sophister, who gathereth the worst out of every thing in which you are mista­ken.’

But it will be said, The admit­tance of Merit in any degree, overthrow­eth the foundation, excludeth from the hope of mercy, from all possibility of sal­vation. (And now M. Hookers own words follow.)

‘What though they hold the truth sincerely in all other parts of Christian Faith? although they have in some measure all the Vertues and Graces of the Spirit? although they have all [Page 104] other tokens of Gods Children in them? although they be far from having any proud opinion that they shall be saved by the wor­thinesse of their deeds? although the onely thing that troubleth and molesteth them be a little too much dejection, somewhat too great a fire arising from an er­ronious conceit, that God will require a worthinesse in them, which they are grieved to find wanting in themselves? although they be not obstinate in this opi­nion? although they be willing, and would be glad to forsake it, if any one reason were brought sufficient to disprove it? although the onely cause why they do not forsake it ere they dye, be their Ignorance of that means by which it might be disproved? al­though [Page 109] the cause why the Igno­rance in this point is not remo­ved, be the want of knowledge in such as should be able, and are not, to remove it?’ Let me die (sayes Mr. Hooker) if it be ever pro­ved, that simply an Error doth exclude a Pope or Cardinal in such a case utterly from hope of life. Surely I must con­fesse, that if it be an Error to think that God may be mercifull to save men even when they err; my greatest comfort is my error: were it not for the love I bear to this error, I would never wish to speak or to live.

I was willing to take notice of these two points, as supposing them to be very material; and that as they are thus contracted, they may prove useful to my Reader; as also for that the an­swers [Page 106] be arguments of Mr. Hook­ers great and clear reason, and equal Charity. Other exceptions were also made against him, as that he prayed before and not after his Sermons; that in his Prayers be na­med Bishops; that he kneeled both when he prayed and when he received the Sacrament, and (says Mr. Hook­er in his defence) other exceptions so like these, as but to name, I should have thought a greater than fault to commit them.

And 'tis not unworthy the no­ting, that in the manage of great controversie, a sharper reproof than this and one like it did never fail from the happy pen of this Humble man. That like it was upon a like occasion of excepti­ons, to which his answer was, Your next argument consists of railing [Page 107] and of reasons; to your Railing I say no­thing, to your Reasons I say what fol­lows. And I am glad of this fair occassion, to testifie the Dove-like temper of this meek, this match­lesse man; and doubtlesse if Al­mighty God had blest the Dissen­ters from the Ceremonies and Di­scipline of this Church, with a like measure of Wisdome and Hu­mility, instead of their pertinaci­ous zele, then Obedience & Truth had kissed each other; then Peace and Piety and flourished in our Nation, and this Church and State had been blest like Ierusalem that is at unity with it self; which can never be expected, till God shall blesse the common people with a belief, That there may be of­fences taken which are not given, and That Lawes are not made for pri­vate [Page 108] men to Dispute, but to Obey.

And this also may be worthy of noting, That these Exceptions of Mr. Trevers against Mr. Hooker, were the cause of his transcribing severall of his Sermons, which we now see printed with this Books; of his Answer to Mr. Trevers, his Sup­plication, and of his most learn­ed and useful discourse of Iustifica­tion of Faith and Works; and by their Transcription they fell in­to the hands of others, and have been thereby preserved from be­ing lost, as too many of his other matchless wrirings were and from these I have gathered my observa­tions in this Discourse of his Life.

After the publication of his an­swer to the Petition of Mr. Tre­vers, Mr. Hooker grew dayly into [Page 109] repute with the most learned and wise of the Nation; but it had a contrary effect in every many of the Temple that were zealous for Mr. Trevers and for his Church Discipline; insomuch that though Mr. Trevers left the place, yet the seeds of Discontent could not be rooted out of that Society, by the great Reason, and as great Meekness of this humble man: for though the chief Benchers gave him much Reverence and Incouragement, yet he there met with many neglects and opposi­tions by those of Mr. Trevers Judgement; insomuch that it turned to his extreme grief and that he might unbeguile and win them, he designed to write a deli­berate sober Treatise of the Chur­ches power to make Canons [Page 110] for the use of Ceremonies, and by Law to impose an obedience to them, as upon her Chil­dren; and this he proposed to do in eight Books of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity; intending therein to shew such Arguments as should force an assent from all men, if Reason, delivered in sweet Language, and voyd of any pro­vocation, were able to doe it; And that he might prevent all prejudice, he wrote a large Pre­face or Epistle to the Dissenting Brethren, wherein there were such Bowels of Love, and such a Com­mixture of that Love with Reason, as was never exceeded but in Holy Writ, and particularly by that of St. Paul to his dear Brother and fellow Labourer Philemon, than which none ever was more like [Page 111] this Epistle of Mr. Hookers; so that his dear friend and compani­on in his Studies might after his death justly say, What admirable height of Learning and depth of Iudg­ment dwelt in the lowly mind of this truly humble man, great in all wise mens eyes except his own with what gravity and Majesty of speech his Tongue and Pen uttered Heavenly Mysteries; whose eyes in the Humility of his Heart were always cast down to the ground; how all things that proceeded from him were breathed as from the Spirit of Love, as if he, like the Bird of the Ho­ly Ghost, the Dove, had wanted gall, let those that knew him not in his Person, judge by these living Images of his soul, his Writings.

The foundation of these Books were laid in the Temple; but he sound it no fit place to finish what [Page 112] he had there designed; and there­fore solicited the Arch Bishop for a remove, saying, When I lost the freedom of my Cell, which was my Col­lege, yet I found some degree of it in my quiet Country Parsonage: but I am weary of the noise and oppositions of this place; And indeed God and Nature did not intend me for Contentions, but for Study and quietness: I have begun a work in which I intend the Iustification of our Laws of Church-Government, and I shall never be able to finish it, but where I may Study, and pray for Gods blessing upon my indeavours, and keep my self in Peace and Privacy, and be­hold Gods blessing spring out of my Mo­ther Earth, and eat my own bread with­out oppositions; and therefore if your Grace can Iudge me worthy such a fa­vour, let me beg it, that I may perfect what I have begun.

[Page 113]About this time the Parsonage or Rectory of Boscum, in the Dio­cess of Sarum, and six miles from that City, became void. The Bi­shop of Sarum is Patron of it, but in the vacancy of that Sea (which was three years betwixt the death of Bishop Peirce and Bishop Cald­wells admission into it) the dis­posal of that and all Benefices be­longing to that Sea, during this said vacancy, came to be disposed of by the Archbishop of Canterbu­ry, and he presented Richard Hook­er to it in the year 1591. And Ri­chard Hooker was also in this said year Instituted, Iuly 17. to be a mi­nor Prebend of Salisbury, the Corps to it being nether-Havin, about ten miles from that City, which Pre­bend was of no great value, but intended chiefly to make him ca­pable [Page 114] of a better preferment in that Church. In this Boscum he continued till he had finished four of his eight proposed Books of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, and these were enter'd into the re­gister Book in Stationers Hall the 9. of March 1592. but not publisht till the year 1594. and then with the before mentioned large and af­fectionate Preface to them that seek (as they termit) the Reformation of the laws and orders Ecclesiastical in the Church of England; of which Books I shall yet say nothing more, but that he continued his laborious diligence to finish the remaining four during his life (of all which more properly hereafter) but at Boscum he finisht and publisht but only the first four.

He left Boscum in the year 1595. [Page 115] by a surrender of it into the hands of Bishop Caldwell, and he presen­ted Benjamin Russel, who was In­stituted into it 23. of Iune in the same year.

The Parsonage of Bishops Borne in Kent, three miles from Canterbu­ry, is in that Archbishops gift, but in the latter end of the year 1594. Doctor William Redman the Rector of it was made Bishop of Norwich, by which means the power of pre­senting to it was pro ea vice in the Queen; and she presented Richard Hooker, whom she loved well, to this good living of Borne the 7. of Iuly 1595. in which Living he continued till his Death, with­out any addition of Dignity or Profit.

And now having brought our Richard Hooker from his Birth­place [Page 116] Place, to this where he found a Grave, I shall only give some ac­count of his Books, and of his behaviour in this Parsonage of Borne, and then give a rest both to my self and my Reader.

His first four Books and large Epistle have been declared to be printed at his being at Boscum, Anno 1594. Next I am to tell that at the end of these four Books there is printed this Advertise­ment to the Reader. ‘I have for some causes thought it at this time more fit to let go these first four Books by themselves, than to stay both them and the rest, till the whole might together be published. Such generalities of the cause in question as are here handled, it will be perhaps not amiss to consider apart, by [Page 117] way of Introduction unto the Books that are to follow con­cerning particulars, in the mean time the Reader is requested to mend the Printers errors, as no­ted underneath.’

And I am next to declare that his fifth Book (which is larger than his first four) was first also printed by itself Anno 1597. and dedicated to his Patron the Arch­bishop. These Books were read with an admiration of their ex­cellency in This, and their just fame spread it self into forain Na­tions. And I have been told more than fourty years past, that Cardi­nal Alen, or learned Doctor Staple­ton (both English men, and in Ita­ly when Mr. Hookers four Books were first printed) meeting with this general fame of them, were [Page 118] desirous to read an Author that both the Rerformed and the Learn­ed of their own Church did so much magnifie, and therefore caused them to be sent for; and, after reading them, boasted to the Pope (which then was Clement the eight) that though he had lately said he never met with an English Book whose Writer deserved the name of an Author; yet there now appear'd a wonder to them, and it would be so to his Holiness, if it were in Latin, for a poor obscure English Priest had writ four such Books of Laws, and Church Polity, and in a Style that exprest so Grave and such Humble Majesty with clear demonstra­tion of Reason, that in all their read­ings they had not met with any that ex­ceeded him; and this begot in the Pope an earnest desire that Do­ctor [Page 119] Stapleton should bring the said four Books, and looking on the English read a part of them to him in Latin, which Doctor Stapleton did, to the end of the first Book; at the conclusion of which, the Pope spake to this purpose; there is no Learning that this man hath not searcht into, nothing too hard for his un­derstanding: This man indeed deserves the name of an Author; his books will get reverence by Age, for there is in them such seeds of Eternity, that if the rest be like this, they shall last till the last Fire shall consume all Learn­ing.

Nor was this high, the only testi­mony and commendations given to his Books; for at the first coming of King Iames into this Kingdom, he inquired of the Archbishop Whitegift for his friend Mr. Hooker [Page 120] that writ the Books of Church Polity; to which the answer was, that he dyed a year before Queen Elizabeth, who received the sad news of his Death with very much Sorow; to which the King re­plyed, and I receive it with no less, that I shall want the desired happinesse of seeing and discoursing with that man from whose Books I have received such satisfaction: Indeed my Lord I have received more satisfaction in reading a Leaf, or Paragraph in Mr. Hooker, though it were but about the fa­shion of Churches, or Church Musick, or the like, but especially of the Sa­craments, than I have had in the reading particular large Treatises written but of one of those subjects by others, though very Learned men; and, I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected Language, but a comprehensive, deer [Page 121] manifestation of Reason, and that back't with the Authority of the Scripture, the Fathers and Schoolmen, and with all Law both Sacred and Civil. And, though many others write well, yet in the next age they will be forgotten; but doubtless there is in every page of Mr. Hookers Book the picture of a Di­vine Soul, such Pictures of Truth and Reason, and drawn in so sacred co­lours, that they shall never fade, but give an immortal memory to the Author. And it is so truly true, that he thought what he spake, that as the most Learned of the Nation have and still do mention Mr. Hooker with reverence, so he also did never mention him but with the Epi­thite of Learned, or Iudicious, or Reverend, or Venerable Mr. Hook­er.

Nor did his Son our late King [Page 122] Charles the first, ever mention him but with the same reverence, en­joyning his Son our now gracious King, to be studious in Mr. Hook­ers Books. And our learned An­tiquary Mr. Cambden ^* mentioning the Death, the modesty, and o­ther vertues of Mr. Hooker, and magnifying his Books, wisht, that for the honour of this, and benefit of o­ther Nations, they were turn'd into the Universal Language. Which work though undertaken by many, yet they have been weary and forsaken it; but the Reader may now ex­pect it, having been long since be­gun, and lately finisht, by the hap­py pen of Doctor Earl, now Lord Bishop of Salisbury, of whom I may justly say (and let it not of­fend him, because it is such a truth [Page 123] as ought not to be conceal'd from Posterity, or those that now live and yet know him not) that since Mr. Hooker died, none have liv'd whom God hath blest with more innocent Wisdom; more san­ctified Learning, or a more pious, peaceable, primitive Temper: so that this excellent person seems to be only like himself & our venera­ble R. Hooker; & only fit to make the learned of all Nations happy in knowing what hath been too long confin'd to the language of our little I stand.

There might be many more and just occasions taken to speak of his Books, which none ever did or can commend too much, but I decline them, and hasten to an account of his Christian behavi­our and Death at Borne; in which [Page 124] place he continued his customary rules of Mortification and Self-de­nyal; was much in Fasting, frequent in Meditation and Prayers, injoy­ing those blessed Returns, which only men of strict lives feel and know, and to which men of loose and Godless lives are Strangers.

At his entrance into this place, his Friendship was much sought for by Doctor Hadrian Saravia, then one of the Prebends of Canter­bury, a German by birth, and some­times a Pastor both in Flanders and Holland, where he had studi­ed and well considered the con­troverted points concerning Epis­copacy and Sacrilege, and in Eng­land had a just occasion to declare his Judgement concerning both, unto his Brethren Ministers of the Low Countrys, which was ex­cepted [Page 125] against by Theodor Beza and others; against whose exceptions he rejoyned, and thereby became the happy Author of many Learn­ed Tracts, writ in Latin, especial­ly of three; one of the Degrees of Ministers, and of the Bishops Superio­rity above the Presbytery; a second against Sacrilege; and a third of Christian Obedience to Princes; the last being occasioned by Gretzerus the Jesuit. And it is observable, that when Beza gave his reasons to the Chancellor of Scotland for the abrogation of Episcopacy in that Nation, partly by Letters, and more fully in a Treatise of a three-fold Episcopacy (which he calls Divine, Humane, and Satanical) this Doctor Saravia had by the help of Bishop Whitgift made such an early discovery of their intenti­ons, [Page 136] that he had almost as soon an­swered that Treatise as it became Publique; and therein discove­red how Beza's opinion did con­tradict that of Calvins, and their adherents, leaving them to inter­fere with themselves in point of Episcopacy; but these Tracts it will not concern me to say more, than that they were most of them dedicated to his and the Church of Englands watchful Patron Iohn Whitgift the Archbishop, and printed about the year in which Mr. Hooker also appeared first to the world in the Publication of his first four Books of Ecclesiastical Polity.

This Friendship being sought for by this Learned Doctor, you may believe was not denied by M. Hooker, who was fortune so like [Page 127] him as to be ingaged against Mr. Trevers, Mr. Cartwright and others in a controversie too like Doctor Saravia's; So that in this year of 1595. and in this place of Borne, these two excellent persons began a Holy Friendship, increasing dayly to so high and mutual af­fections, that their two wills seemed to be but one, still assist­ing and improving each others vertues, and the desired comforts of a peaceable Piety, which I have willingly mentioned, because it gives a foundation to some things that follow.

This Parsonage of Borne is from Canterbury three miles, and near to the common Road that leads from that City to Dover, in which Parsonage Mr. Hooker had not been twelve moneths, but his [Page 128] Books, and Innocency and Sanctity of his Life became so remarkable, that many turn'd out of the road, and others (Scho­lars especially) went purposely to see the man whose Life & Learn­ing were so much admired; and alas, as our Saviour said of St. Iohn Baptist, what went they out to see, a man Clothed in Purple and fine Linen? no indeed, but an obscure harmless man, a man in poor Clothes, his Loynes usually girt in a corse Gown or Canonical Coat, of a mean Stature, and stooping, and yet more lowly in the thoughts of his Soul; his body worn out, not with Age, but Study and Holy Mortifications; his face full of Heat-Pimples, begot by his unactivity and se­dentary life. And to this true Character of his Person, let me add this of his Disposition and beha­viour, [Page 129] that as in his younger days his Pupils might easily look him out of countenance; so neither then, nor in his age, did he ever willingly look any man in the face: and was of so mild and humble a Nature, that his poor Parish Clark and he did never talk but with both their Hats on, or both off at the same time; and to this may be added, that though he was not purblind, yet he was short or weak sighted, and where he fixt his eyes at the beginning of his Sermon, there they continued till it was ended; and the Reader has a Liberty to believe that his Modesty and Dim sight were the reasons why he trusted Mi­stris Churchman to choose his Wife.

This Parish Clark lived till the third or fourth year of the long [Page 130] Parliament, betwixt which time and Mr. Hookers Death there had come many to see the place of his Burial, and the Monument dedi­cated to his memory by Sir Willi­am Cooper (who still lives) and the poor Clark had many rewards for shewing Mr. Hookers Grave-place, and his said Monument, and did always hear Mr. Hooker mentioned with Commendati­ons and Reverence, to all which he added his own knowledge and observations of his Humility and Holiness, and in all which Dis­courses, the poor man was still more confirm'd in his opinion of Mr. Hookers Vertues and Learn­ing; but it so fell out that about the said third or fourth year of the long Parliament, the present Par­son of Borne was Sequestered (you [Page 131] may guess why) and a Genevian Minister put into his good li­ving; this and other like Seque­strations made the Clark express himself in a wonder, and say, they had sequestered so many good men that he doubted if his good Master Mr. Hooker had lived till now they would have Sequestred him too.

It was not long before this in­truding Minister had made a par­ty in and about the said parish, that were desirous to receive the Sacrament as in Geneva; to which end, the day was appointed for a Select Company, and Forms and Stools set about the Altar or Com­munion Table for them to sit and eat and drink, but when they went about this work there was a want of some Joynd-stools, which the Minister sent the Clark [Page 132] to fetch, and then to fetch Cu­shions; when the Clark saw them begin to sit down, he began to wonder, but the Minister bad him cease wondering, and lock the Church door; to whom he replied, pray take you the Keys and lock me out, I will never come more into this Church, for all men will say my Master Hooker was a good Man and a good Scholar, and I man sure it was not used to be thus in his days; and report says, the old man went presently home, and died; I do not not say died immediately, but within a few days after.

But let us leave this grateful Clark in his quiet Grave, and re­turn to Mr. Hooker himself, con­tinuing our observations of his Christian behaviour in this place, where he gave a holy Valediction [Page 133] to all the pleasures and alurements of Earth, possessing his Soul in a vertuous quietness, which he maintained by constant Study, Prayers, and Meditations; his use was to Preach once every Sunday, and he or his Curate to Catechise after the second Lesson in the Evening Prayer; his Ser­mons were neither long nor ear­nest, but uttered with a Grave zeal, and an humble voyce; his eyes always fixt on one place to prevent his Imagination from wandring, in so much, that he seem'd to Study as he spake; the design of his Sermons (as indeed of all his discourses) was to shew Reasons for what he spake; and with these Reasons such a kind of Rhetorick as did rather convince and perswade, than frighten men [Page 134] into Piety; Studying not so much for matter (which he never wanted) as for apt Illustrations to inform and teach his unlearn­ed hearers by familiar Examples, and then make them better by Convincing Applications; never laboring by hard words, and then by needless Distinctions and sub­distinctions to amuse his hearers, and get glory to himself: But glory only to God. Which in­tention he would say was as discernable in a Preacher as an Artificial from a Natural Beauty.

He never failed the Sunday be­fore every Ember week to give no­tice of it to his Parishioners, per­swading them both to fast, & then to double their Devotions for a Learned & Pious Clergy, but espe­cially the last; saying often, that the [Page 135] Life of a pious Clergy man was visible Rhetorick, and so Convincing, that the most Godliess men (though they would not deny themselves the enjoyment of their present lusts) did yet secretly wish themselves like those of the strictest lives: And to what he perswaded others he added his own example of Fasting and Prayer; and did usually every Ember week take from the Parish Clark the Key of the Church dore; into which place he retir'd every day and lockt himself up for many houres; and did the like most Frydays and other days of Fasting.

He would by no means omit the customary time of Procession, persuading all both Rich and Poor, if they desired the preserva­tion of Love, and their Parish Rights and Liberties, to accom­pany [Page 136] him in his Perambulation, & most did so; in which Perambula­tion he would usually express more pleasant discourse than at other times, and would then always drop some loving and efficacions obser­vations to be remembered against the next year, especially by the boys and young people; still inclining them and all his present Pari­shioners to mutual kindnesses and Love; because Love thinks not evil, but covers a multitude of Infirmities.

He would often visit the Sick, unsent for; supposing that the fittest time to discover those er­rors to which health and prospe­rity had blinded them; and ha­ving by pious Reasons and Pray­ers, moulded them into holy Re­solutions for the time to come, he would incline them to Con­fession, [Page 137] and bewailing their sins, with purpose to forsake them, and then to receive the Communion, both as a strengthning of those ho­ly Resolutions, & as a seal betwixt God and them of his Mercies to their Souls in case that present sick­ness did put a period to their lives.

And as he was thus watchful & charitable to the sick, so he was as diligent to prevent Law-sutes, still urging his Parishioners & Neigh­bours, to bear with each others in­firmities, and live in love, because (as S. John says) he that lives in Love, lives in God, for God is Love. And to maintain this holy fire of Love constantly burning on the Altar, of a pure heart, his advice was to watch and pray, and alwayes keep themselves fit to receive the Communion; & then to receive it [Page 138] often, for it was both a Confir­ming and a Strengthning of their Graces; this was his advice; and at his entrance or departure out of any House, he would usually speak to the whole Family and bless them; insomuch that as he seem'd in his youth to be taught of God, so he seem'd in this place to teach his Precepts, as Enoch did by walking with him, in all Ho­liness and Humility, making each day a step towards a blessed Eter­nity. And though in this weak and declining Age of the World, such examples are become barren and almost incredible, yet let his Memory be blest with this true Recordation, because he that praises Richard Hooker, praises God, who hath given such gifts to men, and let this humble and [Page 139] affectionate relation of him be­come such a pattern as may in­vite posterity to imitate his ver­tues.

This was his constant beha­viour at Borne; thus did he tread in the footsteps of Primitive Pie­ty; and yet, as our blessed Iesus was not free from false accusati­ons, no more was this Disciple of his, this most humble, most in­nocent holy man; his was a slan­der parallel to that of chaste Su­sannaes by the wicked Elders, and which this age calls Trepaning; the particulars need not a repetion, and that it was false, needs no other Testimony than the pub­lick punishment of his Accusers, and their open Confession of his Innocency; 'twas said that the ac­cusation was contrived by a dis­senting [Page 140] Brother, one that indur'd not Church Ceremonies, hating him for his Books sake, which he was not able to answer; and his Name hath been told me, but I have not so much confidence in the relation as to make my Pen fix a scandal on him to posterity; I shall rather leave it doubtful till the great day of Revelation. But this is certain, that he lay un­der the great charge, and the An­ketiety of this Accusation, and kept it secret to himself for many moneths; and being a helplesse man had layn longer under this heavy burthen but that the Pro­tector of the innocent gave such an accidental occasion as forced him to make it known to his two dear Friends Edwin Sandys, and George Cranmer, who were so sen­sible [Page 141] of their Tutors sufferings, that they gave themselves no rest till by their disquisitions and diligence they had found out the Fraud, & brought him the welcom news hat his Accusers did confess they had wrong'd him, and begg'd his pardon; to which the good mans reply was to this purpose; the Lord forgive them, and the Lord bless you for this comfortable news. Now I have a just occasion to say with Solomon, Friends are born for the days of adversity, and such you have prov'd to me; and to my God I say, as did the mother of St. Iohn Baptist, thus hath the Lord dealt with me, in the day wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men: ‘And oh my God, neither my Life nor my Reputation are safe in mine own keeping, but [Page 142] in thine, who didst take care of me, when I yet hanged upon my Mothers brest; blessed are they that put their trust in thee O Lord; for when false witnesses were risen up against me, when shame was ready to cover my face, when I was bowed down with an horrible Dread, and went mourning all the day long, when my nights were restless, and my Sleeps broken with a fear worse than Death, when my Soul thirsted for a deliverance, as the Heart panteth after the rivers of waters, then thou Lord didst hear my Complaints, pitty my condition, and become my de­liverer; and as long as I live I will hold up my hands in this manner, and magnifie thy mer­cies, who didst not give me over [Page 143] as a prey to mine enemies. Oh blessed are they that put their trust in thee; and no prosperity shall make me forget to perform those vows that I have made to thee in the days of my affliction; for with such sacrifices thou O God art well pleased; and I will pay them.’

Thus did the Joy and Grati­tude of this Good mans heart break forth; and 'tis observable, that as the invitation to this Slan­der was his Meek behaviour and Dove-like simplicity, for which he was remarkable; so his Chri­stian Charity ought to be imita­ted: For, though the Spirit of Revenge is so pleasing to Man­kind, that it is never conquered but by a Supernatural Grace, be­ing indeed so deeply rooted in [Page 144] Humane Nature, that to prevent the Excesses of it (for men would not know Moderation) Almighty God allows not any Degree of it to any man, but says, Vengeance is mine. And, though this be said by God himself, yet this Revenge is so pleasing, that Man is hardly persuaded to submit the menage of it to the Time, and Justice, and Wisdom of his Creator, but would hasten to be his own Executioner of it. And yet nevertheless, if any man ever did wholly decline, and leave this pleasing Passion to the Time and Measure of God alone, it was this Richard Hooker of whom I write; for when his Slanderers were to suffer, he la­boured to procure their Pardon; and when that was denied him, his Reply was, That however he [Page 145] would fast and pray that God would give them repentance, and patience to under­go their punishment. And his Pray­ers were so far returned into his own bosom, that the first was granted, if we may believe a peni­tent Behavior, and an open Con­fession. And 'tis observable, that after this time he would often say to Dr. Saravia, Oh with what quiet­ness did I enjoy my Soul after I was free from the fears of my Slander! and how much more after a Conflict and Victory over my Desires of Revenge!

In the Year 1600, and of his Age 46, he fell into a long and sharp Sickness, occasioned by a Cold taken in his Passage betwixt London and Gravesend, from the Malignity of which he was never recovered, for till his death he was not free from thoughtful [Page 146] Days and restless Nights; but a submission to his Will that makes the Sick mans Bed easie by giving rest to his Soul, made his very Languishment comfortable: and yet all this time he was solicitous in his Study, and said often to Dr. Saravia, (who saw him daily, and was the chief Comfort of his Life) That he did not beg a Long life of God for any other reason, but to live to finish his three remaining Books of POLITY; and then, Lord, let thy Servant depart in peace, which was his usual Expression. And God heard his Prayers, though he de­nied the Church the Benefit of them as completed by himself; and 'tis thought he hastened his own Death, by hastening to give Life to his Books. But this is certain, that the nearer he was to [Page 147] his Death, the more he grew in Humility, in holy Thoughts and Re­solutions.

About a moneth before his death, this Good man, that never knew, or at least never consider'd, the pleasures of the Palate, became first to lose his Appetite, then to have an aversness to all Food; in­somuch that he seem'd to live some intermitted weeks by the smell of Meat onely; and yet still studied and writ. And now his Guardian Angel seem'd to foretell him, that the day of his Dissolu­tion drew near; for which his vi­gorous Soul appear'd to thirst. In this time of his Sickness, and not many days before his Death, his House was robb'd; of which he having notice, his Question was, Are my Books and written Papers [Page 148] safe? and being answered that they were; his Reply was, then it matters not, for no other loss can trouble me.

About one day before his death Dr. Saravia, who knew the very Secrets of his Soul, (for they were supposed to be Confessors to each other) came to him, and after a Conference of the Benefit, the Necessity, and Safety of the Chur­ches Absolution, it was resolved the Doctor should give him both that and the Sacrament the day following. To which end the Doctor came, and after a short Retirement and Privacy they re­turn'd to the Company, and then the Doctor gave him and some Friends with him the blessed Sa­crament of the Body and Bloud of our Jesus. Which being per­formed, the Doctor thought he [Page 149] saw a reverend Gaity and Joy in his Face; but it lasted not long, for his bodily Infirmities did re­turn suddenly, and became more visible, insomuch that the Doctor apprehended Death ready to seize him; yet, after some amendment, left him at night, with a promise to return early the day following, which he did, and then found him better in appearance, deep in Contemplation, and not incli­nable to Discourse; which gave the Doctor occasion to require his present Thoughts: to which he replied, that he was meditating the Number and Nature of Angels, and their blessed Obedience and Order, with­out which Peace could not be in Hea­ven; and oh that it might be so on Earth. After which words he said, ‘I have lived to see this [Page 150] World is made up of Perturba­tions, and I have been long pre­paring to leave it, and gathering Comfort for the dreadful hour of making my Account with God, which I now apprehend to be near; and though I have by his Grace lov'd him in my Youth, and fear'd him in mine Age, and labour'd to have a Conscience void of offence to him and to all men; yet, if thou, O Lord, be extreme to mark what I have done amiss, who can abide it? and therefore, where I have failed, Lord shew mercy to me; and since I owe thee a Death, Lord let it not be terrible, and then take thine own time, I submit to it: Let not mine, O Lord, but let thy Will be done; with which Expression he fell into a dangerous Slumber, dan­gerous [Page 151] as to his Recovery; yet recover he did, but it was to speak onely these few words, Good Doctor, God hath heard my daily Petitions, for I am at peace with all men, and he is at peace with me; and from that blessed assurance I feel that inward joy, which this World can neither give nor take from me. More he would have spoken, but his Spirits failed him; and, after a short Conflict betwixt Nature and Death, a quiet Sigh put a period to his last breath, and so he fell asleep.’

And here I draw his Curtain, till with the most blessed Martyrs and Confessours, this most Lear­ned, most Humble, Holy Man, shall also awake to receive an Eternal Tranquillity, and with [Page 152] it a greater Degree of Glory than common Christians shall be made Partakers of; till which blessed time,

Let Glory be to God on high, let Peace be upon Earth, and Good­will to Mankind.