No More Learning

Laurence his
eldest son died young; Henry his second son lived
till he was twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age ;
Edward his third son was he who came afterwards
to be earl of Clarendon, and lord high chancellor of
England; Nicholas died young; Henry and Ed-
ward were both in the university of Oxford toge-
ther ; Henry being master of arts the act before his
younger brother Edward came to the university,
who was designed b by his father to the clergy.
Time of the Ed ward Hyde, being the third son of his father,

author's J

birth, was born at Dinton upon the eighteenth day of
February in the year 1608, being the fifth year of
king James ; and was always bred in his father's
house under the care of a schoolmaster, to whom his
father had given the vicarage of that parish, who,
having been always a schoolmaster, had bred many
good scholars, and this person of whom we now
speak, principally by the care and conversation of
his father, (who was an excellent scholar, and took
pleasure in conferring with him, and contributed
much more to his education than the school did,)
was thought fit to be sent to the university soon

ft l> who was designed] who schoolmaster,] MS. adds :
was then but thirteen years of (though but of very indifferent
age, and designed parts)



His educa-
tion.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 7

after he was thirteen years of age; and being a I'ART

younger son of a younger brother, was to expect a '

small patrimony from his father, but to make his
own fortune by his own industry ; and in order to
that, was sent by his father to Oxford at that time, He is sent

, . . . . . to Oxford.

being about Magdalen election time, in expectation 1022.
that he should have been chosen demy of Magdalen
college, the election being to be at that time, for
which he was recommended by a special letter from
king James to Dr. Langton then president of that
college ; but upon pretence that the letter came too
late, though the election was not then begun, he
was not chosen, and so remained in Magdalen hall
(where he was before admitted) under the tuition
of Mr. John Oliver, a fellow of that college, who
had been junior of the act a month before, and a
scholar of eminency d .

The year following, the president of the college 1623.
having received reprehension from the lord Conway
then secretary of state, for giving no more respect
to the king's letter, he was chosen the next election
in the first place, but that whole year passed with-
out any avoidance of a demy's place, which was
never known before in any man's memory, and that
year king James died, and shortly after, Henry his
elder brother, and thereupon his father having now
no other son, changed his former inclination, and
resolved to send his son Edward to the inns of
court : he was then entered in the Middle Temple Mr. Hyde

i i i TVT t i TT -i entered of

by his uncle Nicholas Hyde, who was then treasurer the Middle
of that society, and afterwards lord chief justice of
the king's bench ; but by reason of the great plague

d eminency. ] MS. adds : who was his tutor.
B 4



8 THE LIFE OF

PART then at London in the first year of king Charles,
. and the parliament being then adjourned to Oxford,



1625. wm 'ther the plague was likewise then brought by
sir James Hussy, one of the masters of the chan-
cery, who died in New college the first night after
his arrival at Oxford, and shortly after Dr. Chaloner,
principal of Alban hall, who had supped that night
with sir James Hussy, he did not go to the Middle
Temple till the Michaelmas term after the term at
Reading, but remained partly at his father's house,
and partly at the university, where he took the de-
gree of bachelor of arts, and then left it, rather with
the opinion of a young man of parts and pregnancy
of wit, than that he had improved it much by in-
dustry, the discipline of that time being not so strict
as it hath been since, and as it ought to be; and
the custom of drinking being too much introduced
and practised, his elder brother having been too much
corrupted in that kind, and so having at his first
coming given him some liberty, at least some ex-
ample towards that license, insomuch as he was
often heard to say, " that it was a very good for-
" tune to him that his father so soon removed him
" from the university," though he always reserved a
high esteem of it.

Before the beginning of Michaelmas term (which
was in the year 1625) the city being then clear
from the plague, he went from Marlborough after
the quarter sessions with his uncle Nicholas Hyde e
to London, and arrived there f the eve of the term &,

c Hyde] MS. adds : who was morning

afterwards chief justice f term] MS. adds: and dined

f arrived there] MS. adds : that day in the Middle Temple

about ten of the clock in the hall



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 9

being then between sixteen and seventeen years of PART
age. In the evening he went to prayers to the -
Temple church, and was there seized upon by a fit 1625>
of an ague very violently, which proved a quartan,
and brought him in a short time so weak, that his
friends much feared a consumption, so that his uncle
thought fit shortly after Alhollandtide to send him
into the country to Pirton in North Wiltshire, whi- llem vedto

Pirton.

ther his father had removed himself from Dinton ;
choosing rather to live upon his own land, the
which he had purchased many years before, and to
rent Dinton, which was but a lease for lives, to a
tenant. He came home to his father's house very
weak, his ague continuing so violently upon him
(though it sometimes changed its course from a
quartan to a tertian, and then to a quotidian, and
on new year's day he had two hot fits and two
cold fits) until Whitsunday following, that all men
thought him to be in a consumption ; it then left
him, and he grew quickly strong again. In this
time of his sickness his uncle was made chief jus-
tice : it was Michaelmas following before he returned Returns to
to the Middle Temple, having by his want of health Tempi*. *
lost a full year of study; and when he returned, it
was without great application to the study of the
law for some years, it being then a time when the
town was full of soldiers, the king having then a
war both with Spain and France, and the business
of the Isle of Ree shortly followed ; and he had got-
ten into the acquaintance of many of those officers,
which took up too much of his time for one year :
but as the war was quickly ended, so he had the
good fortune quickly to make a full retreat from
that company, and from any conversation with any



10 THE LIFE OF

PART of them, and without any hurt or prejudice 11 ; inso-

' much as he used often to say, " that since it pleased

1626. Q Q( J to p reserve him whilst he did keep that com-
" pany, (in which he wonderfully escaped from be-
" ing involved in many inconveniences,) and to
" withdraw him so soon from it, he was not sorry
" that he had some experience in the conversation
*' of such men, and of the license of those times,"
which was very exorbitant : yet when he did in-
dulge himself that liberty, it was without any signal
debauchery, arid not without some hours every day,
at least every night, spent amongst his books ; yet
he would not deny that more than to be able to an-
swer his uncle, who almost every night put a case
to him in law, he could not bring himself to an in-
dustrious pursuit of the law study, but rather loved
polite learning and history, in which, especially in
the Roman, he had been always conversant.
sets out on In the year 1628 his father gave him leave to

the Norfolk . . . . . . . . . . . , . ,

circuit. ride the circuit in the summer with his uncle the
1 628. c hj e f justice, who then rode the Norfolk circuit ;
and indeed desired it, both that he might see those
counties, and especially that he might be out of
London in that season when the small pox raged
very furiously, and many persons, some whereof
were much acquainted 1 with him, died of that dis-
ease in the Middle Temple itself. It was about the
middle of July when that circuit began, and Cam-
bridge was the first place the judges begun at ; Mr.
justice Harvey (one of the judges of the common
pleas) was in commission with the chief justice :
they both came into Cambridge on the Saturday

h prejudice] prejudice from ' much acquainted] very fa-

their conversation miliar



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 11

night, and the next day Mr. Edward Hyde fell sick, PART
which was imputed only to his journey the day be-.



fore in very hot weather; but he continued so ill
the day or two following, that it was apprehended of the small
that he might have the small pox ; whereupon he Ege. "
was removed out of Trinity college, where the
judges were lodged k , to the Sun inn, over against
the college gate, the judges being to go out of town
the next day ; but before they went, the small pox
appeared; whereupon his uncle put him under the
care of Mr. Crane an eminent apothecary, who had
been bred up under Dr. Butler, and was in much
greater practice than any physician in the univer-
sity ; and left with him Laurence St. Loe one of his
servants, who was likewise his nephew, to assist
and comfort him. It pleased God to preserve him
from that devouring disease, which was spread all
over him very furiously, and had so far prevailed
over him, that for some hours both his friends and
physician consulted of nothing but of the place and
manner of his burial ; but as I said, by God's good-
ness he escaped that sickness, and within few days
more than a month after his first indisposition, he
passed in moderate journeys to his father's house at Returns

again to

Firton, where he arrived a day or two before Bar- pirton after

. , i , bis reco-

tholomew day. very .

He was often wont to say, that he was reading
to his father in Camden's Annals, and that particu-
lar place, in which it is said, " Johannes Feltonus,
" qui bullam pontificiam valvis palatii episcopi
" Londinensis affixerat jam deprehensus, cumfu-
" gere nollet,Jhctum confessus quod tamen crimen

k lodged] MS. adds: and where he had a chamber



12 THE LIFE OF

PART " agnoscere noluit"&ic. when a person of the neigh-
. bourhood knocked at the door, and being called in,



1628> told his father that a post was then passed through
the village to Charleton, the house of the earl of
Berkshire, to inform the earl of Berkshire that the
duke of Buckingham was killed the day before (be-
ing the 24th of August, Bartholomew day, in the
year 1628) by one John Felton*, which dismal ac-
cident happening in the court, made a great change
in the state, produced a sudden disbanding of all
armies, and a due observation of, and obedience to
the laws ; so that there being no more mutations in
view (which usually affect the spirits of young men,
And from at least hold them some time at gaze) Mr. Hyde re-
the Middle turned again to his studies at the Middle Temple,
Temple. nav j n g ft s ^{\\ j n n j s resolution to dedicate him-
self to the profession of the law, without declin-
ing the politer learning, to which his humour and
his conversation kept him always very indulgent ;
and to lay some obligation upon himself to be fixed
to that course of life, he inclined to a proposition of
marriage, which, having no other passion in it than
an appetite to a convenient estate, succeeded not, yet
produced new acquaintance, and continued the same
inclinations.

Death and About this time his uncle sir Nicholas Hyde, lord
his^nde chief justice of the king's bench, died of a malig-
Hyde. cb ' las nan t fever, gotten from the infection of some gaol
in his summer circuit. He was a man of excellent
learning for that province he was to govern, of un-
suspected and unblemished integrity, of an exemplar

* For the particulars of the duced at court and in public
duke of Buckingham's death, affairs, vid. Hist, of the Rebel-
and of the alterations it pro- lion, vol. i. p. 47, &c.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 13

gravity and austerity, which was necessary for the PART
manners of that time, corrupted by the marching of



armies, and by the license after the disbanding
them ; and though upon his promotion some years
before, from a private practiser of the law to the
supreme judicatory in it, by the power and recom-
mendation of the great favourite, of whose council
he had been, he was exposed to much envy and
some prejudice ; yet his behaviour was so grateful to
all the judges, who had an entire confidence in him,
his service so useful to the king in his government,
his justice and sincerity so conspicuous throughout
the kingdom, that the death of no judge had in any
time been more lamented.

The loss of so beneficial an encouragement and
support in that profession did not at all discourage
his nephew in his purpose ; rather added new reso-
lution to him ; and to call home all straggling and
wandering appetites, which naturally produce irre-
solution and inconstancy in the mind, with his fa-
ther's consent and approbation he married a young Mr. Hyde's
lady very fair and beautiful, the daughter of sir 1529.
George Ayliffe, a gentleman of a good name and
fortune in the county of Wilts, where his own ex-
pectations lay, and by her mother (a St. John) nearly
allied to many noble families in England. He en-
joyed this comfort and composure of mind a very
short time, for within less than six months after he
was married, being upon the way from London to-
wards his father's house, she fell sick at Reading,
and being removed to a friend's house near that
town, the small pox discovered themselves, and (she
being with child) forced her to miscarry ; and she D . eatl | of
died within two days. He bore her loss with so



14 THE LIFE OF

PART great passion and confusion of spirit, that it shook
. all the frame of his resolutions, and nothing but his



1629. en tire duty and reverence to his father kept him
from giving over all thoughts of books, and trans-
porting himself beyond the seas to enjoy his own
melancholy ; nor could any persuasion or importu-
nity from his friends prevail with him in some years
to think of another marriage. There was an ill ac-
cident in the court befell a lady of a family nearly
allied to his wife, whose memory was very dear to
him, and there always continued a firm friendship
in him to all her alliance, which likewise ever ma-
nifested an equal affection to him ; amongst those
was William viscount Grandison, a young man of
extraordinary hope, between whom and the other
there was an entire confidence. The injury was of
that nature, that the young lord thought of nothing
but repairing it his own way; but those imagina-
tions were quickly at an end, by the king's rigor-
ous and just proceeding against the persons offend-
ing, in committing them both to the Tower, and
declaring that " since he was satisfied that there
" was a promise of marriage in the case, the gentle-
" man should make good his promise by marrying
" the lady ; or be kept in prison, and for ever ba-
" nished from all pretence or relation to the court,"
where he had a very great credit and interest. This
declaration by the king made the nearest friends of
the lady pursue the design of this reparation more
solicitously, in which they had all access to the
king, who continued still in his declared judgment
in the matter. In this pursuit Mr. Hyde's passion-
ate affection to the family embarked him, and they
were all as willing to be guided by his conduct;



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 15

the business was to be followed by frequent in- PART
stances at court, and conferences with those who '



had most power and opportunity to confirm the 1629<
king in the sense he had entertained ; and those con-
ferences were wholly managed by him, who thereby
had all admission to the persons of alliance to the
lady, and so concerned in the dishonour, which was
a great body of lords and ladies of principal rela- The occa-
tions in court, with whom in a short time he was of Hide's fn-
great credit and esteem ; of which the marquis of [0^".
Hamilton was one, who having married an excellent c ' uis of Ha -

t * milton.

lady, cousin-german to the injured person, seemed
the most concerned and most zealous for her vindi-
cation, and who had at that time the most credit of
any man about the court, and 1 upon that occasion
entered into a familiarity with him, and made as
great professions of kindness to him as could pass to
a person at that distance from him, which continued
till the end and conclusion of that affair, when the
marquis believed that Mr. Hyde had discovered
some want of sincerity in him in that prosecution,
which he pretended so much to assert.

The mention of this particular little story, in it-
self of no seeming consequence, is not inserted here
only as it made some alterations, and accidentally
introduced him into another way of conversation
than he had formerly been accustomed to, and
which in truth by the acquaintance, by the friends
and enemies he then made, had an influence upon
the whole course of his life afterwards ; but as m it
made such impressions upon the whole court, by di-
viding the lords and ladies both in their wishes and

1 and] and who ra as] that



16 THE LIFE OF

PART appearances, that much of that faction grew out of
it, which survived the memory of the original ; and



from this occasion (to shew us from how small
springs great rivers may arise) the women, who till
then had not appeared concerned in public affairs,
began to have some part in all business ; and hav-
ing shewn themselves warm upon this amour, as
their passions or affections carried them, and there-
by entered into new affections, and formed new in-
terests ; the activity in their spirits remained still
vigorous when the object which first inspired it was
vanished and put in oblivion. Nor were the very
ministers of state vacant upon this occasion ; they
who for their own sakes, or, as they pretended, for
the king's dignity, and honour of the court, desired
the ruin of the gentleman, pressed the magnitude
of the crime, in bringing so great a scandal upon
the king's family, which would hinder persons of
honour from sending their children to the court ;
and that there could be no reparation without the
marriage, which they therefore only insisted upon,
because they believed he would prefer banishment
before it; others who had friendship for him and
believed that he had an interest in the court, which
might accommodate himself and them if this breach
were closed any way, therefore if the king's severity
could not be prevailed upon, wished it concluded by
the marriage ; which neither himself nor they upon
whom he most depended would ever be brought to
consent to ; so that all the jealousies and animo-
sities in the court or state came to play their own
prizes in the widening or accommodating this con-
tention. In the conclusion, on a sudden, contrary
to the expectation of any man of either party, the



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 17

gentleman was immediately sent out of the king- PART
dom, under the formality of a temporary and short



banishment, and the lady commended to her friends, ! 629 -
to be taken care of till her delivery ; and from that
time never word more spoken of the business, nor
shall their names ever come upon the stage by any
record of mine. It was only observed, that at this
time there was a great change in the friendships of
the court, and in those of the marquis of Hamilton,
who came now into the queen's confidence, towards
whom he had always been in great jealousy ; and
another lady more appeared in view, who had for
the most part before continued behind the curtain ;
and who in few years after came to a very unhappy 1632.
and untimely end.

Now after a widowhood of near three years, Mr.
Hyde inclined" again to marry, which he knew
would be the most grateful thing to his father (for
whom he had always a profound reverence) he
could do ; and though he needed no other motive
to it, he would often say, that though he was now
called to the bar, and entered into the profession of
the law, he was not so confident of himself that he
should not start aside if his father should die, who
was then near seventy years of age, having long en-
tertained thoughts of travels, but that he thought
it necessary to lay some obligation upon himself,
which would suppress and restrain all those appe-
tites ; and thereupon resolved to marry, and so, be-
ing about the age of twenty-four years, in the year
of our Lord 1632, he married the daughter of sir His second

marriage.

Thomas Aylesbury, baronet, master of requests to

" inclined] was inclined a profound] an infinite

VOL. I. C



18 THE LIFE OF

PART the king; by whom he had many children of both
sexes, with whom he lived very comfortably in the



1632. mos t uncomfortable times, and very joyfully in those
times when matter of joy was administered, for the
space of five or six and thirty years ; what befell
him after her death will be recounted in its place.
From the time of his marriage he laid aside all
other thoughts but of his profession, to the which
he betook himself very seriously; but in the very
entrance into it, he met with a great mortification :
some months after he was married, he went with
his wife to wait upon his father and mother at his
house at Pirton, to make them sharers in that satis-
faction which they had so long desired to see, and
in which they took great delight.

His father had long suffered under an indisposi-
tion (even before the time his son could remember)
which gave him rather frequent pains than sick-
ness; and gave him cause to be terrified with the
expectation of the stone, without being exercised
with the present sense of it : but from the time he
was sixty years of age it increased very much, and
four or five years before his death, with circum-
stances scarce heard of before, and the causes where-
of are not yet understood by any physician : he was
very often, both in the day and the night, forced to
make water, seldom in any quantity, because he
could not retain it long enough ; and in the close of
that work, without any sharp pain in those parts,
he was still and constantly seized on by so sharp a
pain in the left arm for half a quarter of an hour, or
near so much, that the torment made him as pale
(whereas he was otherwise of a very sanguine com-
plexion) as if he were dead; and he used to say,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 19

" that he had passed the pangs of death, and he PART
" should die in one of those fits. " As soon as it was -__! __



over, which was quickly, he was the cheerfullest 1632 -
man living ; eat well such things as he could fancy,
walked, slept, digested, conversed with such a
promptness and vivacity upon all arguments (for
he was omnifariam doctus) as hath been seldom
known in a man of his age : but he had the image
of death so constantly before him in those continual
torments, that for many years before his death he
always parted with his son as to see him no more ;
and at parting still shewed him his will, discoursing
very particularly and very cheerfully of all things he
would have performed after his death.

He had for some time before resolved to leave the Hi* father'*
country, and to spend the remainder of his time
Salisbury, where he had caused a house to be pro-
vided for him, both for the neighbourhood of the
cathedral church, where he could perform his devo-
tions every day, and for the conversation of many
of his family who lived there, and not far from it ;
and especially that he might be buried there, where
many of his family and friends lay ; and he obliged
his son to accompany him thither before his return
to London ; and he came to Salisbury on the Friday
before Michaelmas day in the year 1632, and lodged
in his own house that night. The next day he was
so wholly taken up in receiving visits from his many
friends, being a person wonderfully reverenced in
those parts, that he walked very little out of his
house. The next morning, being Sunday, lie rose
very early, and went to two or three churches ; and
when he returned, which was by eight of the clock,
he told his wife and his son, " that he had been to

c 2



20 THE LIFE OF

PART i 00 k out a place to be buried in, but found none

" against which he had not some exception, the ca-

* " thedral only excepted : where he had made a choice
" of a place near a kinsman of his own name, and had
" shewed it to the sexton, whom he had sent for to
" that purpose; and wished them to see him buried
" there ;" and this with as much composedness of
mind as if it had made no impression on him P ; then
went to the cathedral to sermon, and spent the
whole day in as cheerful conversation with his
friends, (saving only the frequent interruptions his
infirmity gave him once in two or three hours,
sometimes more, sometimes less,) as the man in the
most confirmed health could do. Monday was Mi-
chaelmas day, when in the morning he went to visit
his brother sir Laurence Hyde, who was then mak-
ing a journey in the service of the king, and from
him went to the church to a sermon, where he
found himself a little pressed as he used to be, and
therefore thought fit to make what haste he could
to his house, and was no sooner come thither into a
lower room, than having made water, and the pain
And death, in his arm seizing upon him, he fell down dead,
without the least motion of any limb. The sudden-
ness of it made it apprehended to be an apoplexy ;
but there being nothing like convulsions, or the
least distortion or alteration in the visage, it is not
like to be from that cause ; nor could the physicians
make any reasonable guess from whence that mor-
tal blow proceeded. He wanted about six weeks of
attaining the age of seventy, and was the greatest
instance of the felicity of a country life that was

p impression on him] impression of mind



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 21

seen in that age; having enjoyed a competent, and PART

to him a plentiful fortune, a very great reputation L_

of piety and virtue, and his death being attended 1632 -
with universal lamentation. It cannot be expressed
with what agony his son bore this loss, having, as
he was used to say, " not only lost the best father,
" but the best friend and the best companion he
" ever had or could have ;" and he was never so
well pleased, as when he had fit occasions given him
to mention his father, whom he did in truth believe '
to be the wisest man he had ever known ; and he
was often heard to say, in the time when his condi-
tion was at highest, " that though God Almighty
" had been very propitious to him, in raising him to
" great honours and preferments, he did not value
" any honour he had so much as the being the son
" of such a father and mother, for whose sakes prin-
" cipally he thought God had conferred those bless-
" ings upon him. "

There fell out at this time, or thereabouts, a great 1635.
alteration in the court and state, by the death of
the earl of Portland, lord high treasurer of Eng-
land 1. The king from the death of the duke of
Buckingham had not only been very reserved in his
bounty, but so frugal in his own expense, that he
had retrenched much of what had formerly issued
out for his household, in so much as every year
somewhat had been paid of his debts. He resolved
now to govern his treasury by commission, and to
take a constant account of it ; and thereby to dis-
cover what had been of late done amiss. The com-

i lord high treasurer of Eng- to the character of the earl
land] MS. adds. -of whom enough inserted in the History, vol. i.
hath been said before ; alluding p. 84.

c 3



32 THE LIFE OF

PART missioners he appointed were, the lord archbishop

! of Canterbury, Dr. Laud, (formerly bishop of Lon-

Thl nla* don ') tne lord kee P er Coventry, and other principal
urer's of- officers of state, who, together with the lord Cot-
to comniis- tington, (who was chancellor of the exchequer, and
ofwhom by his office of the quorum in that commission,)
La C d ifone. were to su ppty tne ffi ce of treasurer in all particu-
lars. The archbishop of Canterbury, who till now
had only intended the good government of the
church, without intermeddling in secular affairs,
otherwise than when the discipline of the church
was coricerned, in which he was very strict, both in
the high commission, and in all other places, where
he sat as a privy counsellor, well foreseeing, as he
made manifest upon several occasions, the growth
of the schismatics, and that if they were not w r ith
rigour suppressed, they would put the whole king-
dom into a flame, which shortly after fell out to be
{ too confessed a truth ; though for the present his
providence only served to increase the number of
his enemies, who had from that his zeal contracted
all the malice against him that can be imagined,
and which he, out of the conscience of his duty,
and the purity of his intentions, and his knowledge
of the king's full approbation of his vigilance and
ardour, too much undervalued ; I say, as soon as
he was made commissioner of the treasury, he
thought himself obliged to take all the pains he
could to understand that employment, and the na-
ture of the revenue, and to find out all possible ways
for the improvement thereof, and for the present
managery of the expense. Many were of opinion
that he was the more solicitous in that disquisition,
and the more inquisitive into what had been done,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 23

that he might make some discovery of past actions, PART
which might reflect upon the memory of the late,



treasurer, the earl of Portland, and call his wisdom 1635 -
and integrity in question, who had been so far from
being his friend, that he had always laboured to do
him all the mischief he could ; and it was no small
grief of heart to him, and much occasion of his ill
humour, to find that the archbishop had too much
credit with the king, to be shaken by him : and the
archbishop was not in his affections behindhand '
with him, looking always upon him as a Roman ca-
tholic, though he dissembled it by going to church ;
and as the great countenancer and support of that
religion ; all his family being of that profession, and
very few resorting to it, or having any credit with
him but such. It is very true, the archbishop had
no great regard for his memory, or for his friends,
and was willing enough to make any discovery of
his miscarriages, and to inform his majesty of them,
who he believed had too good an opinion of him
and his integrity.

The truth is, the archbishop had laid down one
principle to himself, which he believed would much
advance the king's service, and was without doubt
very prudent ; that the king's duties being provided
for, and cheerfully paid, the merchants should re-
ceive all the countenance and protection from the
king that they could expect, and not be liable to
the vexation particular men gave them for their
private advantage ; being forward enough to re-
ceive propositions which tended to the king's profit,
but careful that what accrued of burden to the sub-
ject should redound entirely to the benefit of the

c 4



24 THE LIFE OF

PART crown, and not enrich projectors at the charge of

'. the people : and there is reason to believe that if

J635> this measure had been well observed, much of that
murmur had been prevented, which contributed to
that jealousy and discontent which soon after brake
out. This vigilance and inclination in the arch-
bishop opened a door to the admission of any mer-
chants or others to him, who gave him information
of this kind ; and who being ready to pay any thing
to the king, desired only to be protected from pri-
vate oppressions. The archbishop used to spend as
much time as he could get at Ms country house at
Croydon ; and then his mind being unbent from bu-
siness, he delighted in the conversation of his neigh-
bours, and treated them with great urbanity.

There was a merchant of the greatest reputa-
tion, (Daniel Harvey,) who, having a country house
within the distance of a few miles r from Croydon,
and understanding the whole business of trade
more exactly than most men, was always very wel-
come to the archbishop, who used to ask him many
questions upon such matters as he desired to be in-
formed in ; and received much satisfaction from
him. Upon an accidental discourse between them,
what encouragement merchants ought to receive,
who brought a great trade into the kingdom, and
paid thereupon great sums of money to the king,
Mr. Har. Mr. Harvey mentioned the discouragements they

vey'g cdm- . *

plaint to had received in the late times, by the rigour of
bishop of the earl of Portland, in matters that related nothing
P e rt e i*nd! f to the king's service, but to the profit of private

' the distance of a few miles] a few miles



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 25

men ; and thereupon remembered a particular, that, PART

after the dissolution of the parliament s in the fourth '.

year of the king, and the combination amongst l635 '
many merchants to pay no more customs or impo-
sitions to the king, because they had not been
granted in parliament, which produced those suits
and decrees in the exchequer, which are generally
understood, and a general distraction in trade;
many merchants of the greatest wealth and reputa-
tion resolved to continue the trade ; and in a short
time reduced it into so good order, and by, their ad-
vice and example disposed others to make a punc-
tual entry of their goods, and to pay their duties to
the king, that the trade seemed to be restored to
the nation, and the customs to rise above the value
they had ever yielded to the crown : which was no
sooner brought to pass, than the earl of Portland
(who endeavoured to ^ persuade the king that this
great work was entirely compassed by his wisdom,
interest, and dexterity) disobliged the merchants in
a very sensible degree, in requiring them to unlade
their ships at the custom-house quay, and at no
other quay or wharf, upon pretence that thereby
the king would have his customs well paid, of which
otherwise he would be in danger to be cozened ;
and alleged an order that had been formerly made
in the court of the exchequer, that fine goods which
were portable, (as silks and fine linens,) and might
easily be stolen, should always be landed at the
custom-house quay. The merchants looked upon
this constraint and restraint as a great oppression,
and applied themselves to him for reparation and

8 parliament] Originally in viour of the house of eom-
MS. upon the mutinous beha- mons.



26 THE LIFE OF

PART redress: they undertook to make it evident to him,
. that it was merely a matter which concerned the



1635. private benefit of the particular wharfingers, and
not l in the least degree the king's profit ; that the
custom-house quay was of great value to the owner
of it, who had a very great rent for it, but that it
yielded the king nothing, nor would in fifty years
or thereabouts, there being a lease yet to come for
that term ; that the mention of fine goods, and the
order of the exchequer, was not applicable to the
question ; that they disputed not the landing of fine
goods, but that the pretence was to compel them to
bring their grossest, and their merchandise of the
greatest bulk to that quay, whereas they had been
always free to ship or unship such goods at what
wharf they would choose for their conveniences ;
there being the sworn waiters of the custom-house
attending in the one, as well as the other ; that the
restraining them to one wharf, and obliging all the
ships to be brought thither, must prove much to
their prejudice, and make them depend upon the
good-will of the wharfinger for their despatch ; who
in truth, let his desire be never so good, could not
be able to perform the service, without obliging
them to wait very long, and thereby to lose their
markets. All this discourse, how reasonable soever,
made no impression upon the treasurer, but he dis-
missed them with his usual roughness, and re-
proached them that they desired all occasions to
cozen the king of his customs ; which they looked
upon as an ill reward for the service they had done,
and a great discouragement to trade. The archbi-
shop heard this discourse with great trouble and in-

' not] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 27

dignation, and being then interrupted by the com- PART
ing of persons of quality, told him, he would some



other time run over all these particulars again, and 1635>
that he -should recollect himself for other instances
of that strange nature.

The next time the archbishop returned to Croy-
don, which he usually did once in the week during
the summer, and stayed a day or two, impatient to
understand more of the matter, he sent for Mr.
Harvey, and told him, " that his last discourse had
" given him much cause of sorrow, in finding how
" the king had been used, and that he knew his na-
" ture so well, that he could confidently say, that he
" never knew of that kind of proceeding, and that
" he wondered that the merchants had not then pe-
" titioned the king to hear the matter himself. " He
answered, " that they had left no way unattempted
" for their ease, having no fear of displeasing the
" treasurer ; that they had caused a petition to be
" drawn by their council, which was signed by all
" the principal merchants in the city, wherein (to
" obviate the calumny concerning refusing to pay,
" or stealing customs) they declared, that they were
" all very willing to pay all duties to his majesty,
" and would never refuse the same, (which was
*' a declaration would have been much valued a
" year or two before, and ought to have been so
" then,) only desired to be left at liberty to ship
^* and land their goods as they had been accustomed
" to ; that they had given this petition to a secre-
" tary of state to present it to the king, who re-
" ferred it to the consideration of the treasurer ; and
" thereupon they pursued it no further, knowing
" how he stood resolved, and the cause of it, which



28 THE LIFE OF

PART " troubled them most, viz. that that custom-house
_ " quay did, though not in his own name, in truth



1635. belong to sir Abraham Dawes, one of the farmers
" of the customs, and the only favourite u of the lord
" treasurer, all the other farmers being offended
" with the order, which they saw would offend the
" merchants. " The archbishop asked " where that
" petition was ; that he thought it still of that mo-
" ment, that he would be glad to see it. " He an-
swered, " he knew not where it was ; but he be-
" lieved it to remain in the hands of Mr. Hyde,
" who had drawn it, and was of council with the
" merchants throughout the whole proceedings ;
" and was so warm in it, that he had exceedingly
" provoked the lord treasurer, who would have
Mr. Harvey " ruined him if he could. " He asked who that Mr.
Mr. Hyde Hyde was, and where he was : the other said, " he
bishop , anh " was a y un g lawyer of the Middle Temple, who
" was not afraid of being of council with them,
" when all men of name durst not appear for them ;
" and that he was confident that he, having been
" always present at all debates, remembered many
" circumstances in the business which the other had
" forgotten ; that he was generally known ; and had
" lately married the daughter of sir Thomas Ayles-
" bury. "

Within a few days after, the archbishop meeting
sir Thomas Aylesbury at court, asked him whether
he had married his daughter to one Mr. Hyde, a
lawyer, and where he was : he answered, he had
done so, and that he lived in his house, when he
was not at his chamber in the Middle Temple. The

11 favourite] minion



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 29

archbishop desired him to send him to him, for he PART
heard well of him; and the next morning he at-.



tended x him, and found him walking alone in his 1635 '

garden at Lambeth : he received him civilly accord- attend? the

ing to his manner, without much ceremony ; and archblsh P <

presently asked him, whether he had not been of

council with some merchants in such a business, and

where that petition now was : he answered him,

not knowing why he asked, " that he had been

" about two years past of council with some mer-

" chants about such an aifair, in which the earl of

"Portland had been much incensed against him;

" that he remembered he had drawn such a peti-

" tipn, which was signed by all the considerable

" merchants of London, but that there was little

" progress made thereupon, by reason of the as-

" perity of the treasurer. " He asked still for the

petition that was so signed ; he told him, he thought

he had it himself, if he had it not, he was confident

he could find who had it : he desired him, that he

would find it out, and bring it to him, and any

other papers concerning that affair, or the business

of the customs. He said, " the king had, contrary

" to his desire, made him one of the commis-

" sioners of the treasury ; that he understood no-

" thing of that province, but was willing to take

" any pains which might enable him to do his mas-

" ter service, which made him inquisitive into the

" customs, the principal branch of the revenue ;

" that his neighbour Daniel Harvey had spoken

" much good of him to him ; and informed him of

" that complaint of the merchants, which he thought

1 he attended] I attended, as far as relates to Mr. Hyde, is
The whole of this conversation, given in the first person.



SO THE LIFE OF

PART " had much reason in it, but it was like other acts
" of the earl of Portland ; that he would be willing



1635. to receive any information from him, and that he
" should be welcome when he came to him. " He
told him, in short, (which he heard would please
him best,) two or three passages that happened in
that transaction ; and some haughty >' expressions
which fell from the treasurer, when upon his urging
that the farmers would not hold their farm, if he
did not strictly hold the merchants to custom-house
quay, he told him, " that if the farmers were weary
" of their bargain, he would help the king to forty
" thousand pounds a year above the rent they paid,
" and that they should be paid all the money they
" had advanced within one week ;" upon which the
earl indeed had let himself out into an indecent rage,
using many threats to him : which he found was
not ingrateful to the archbishop, upon whom he at-
tended within a day or two again, and delivered him
the petition and many other useful papers, which
pleased him abundantly; and he required him to
see him often.

By this accident Mr. Hyde came first to be
known to the archbishop, who ever afterwards used
him very kindly, and spoke well of him upon all oc-
casions, and took particular notice of him when he
came of council in any causes depending at the
council board, as he did frequently ; and desired his
service in many occasions, and particularly in the
raising monies for the building St. Paul's church, in
which he made a journey or two into Wiltshire with
good success ; which the archbishop still acknow-

>' haughty] huffing



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 31

ledged in a more obliging way than he was accus- PART
tomed to ; insomuch as it was so much taken notice .



of, that Mr. Hyde (who well knew how to cultivate. . 1 ^-

* ^ Mr. Hyde

those advantages) was used with more countenance receives en-
by all the judges in Westminster hall, and the emi- ment in hu

. . 1 11 f profession.

nent practisers, than was usually given to men of
his years; so that he grew every day in practice,
of which he had as much as he desired ; and hav-
ing a competent estate of his own, he enjoyed a
very pleasant and a plentiful life, living much
above the rank 7 of those lawyers whose business
was only to be rich ; and was generally beloved
and esteemed by most persons of condition and
great reputation. Though he pursued his profession
with great diligence and intentness of mind, and
upon the matter wholly betook himself to business,
yet he made not himself a slave to it, but kept both
his friends at court and about the town, by his fre-
quent application and constant conversation : in or- His method
der to which, he always gave himself at dinner to
those who used to meet together at that hour, and
in such places as was mutually agreed between
them ; where they enjoyed themselves with great a
delight and public reputation, for the innocence,
and sharpness, and learning of their conversation.
For he would never suffer himself to be deprived of
some hours (which commonly he borrowed from
the night) to refresh himself with polite learning,
in which he still made some. progress. The after-
noons he entirely dedicated to the business of his
profession, taking instructions and the like; and
very rarely supped, except he was called out by

z living much above the rank] above the rank
living very generously, and much "great] wonderful



32 THE LIFE OF

PART some of his friends, who spared him the more, be-
cause he always complied with those summons ;



1635.
otherwise he never supped for many years, (before
the troubles brought in that custom,) both for the
gaining that time for himself, and that he might rise
early in the morning according to his custom, and
which he would say, he could never do when he
supped. The vacations he gave wholly to his study
and conversation, never going out of London in those
seasons, except for two months in the summer,
which he spent at his own house in the country,
with great cheerfulness amongst his friends, who
then resorted to him in good numbers.

He never did ride any country circuits with the
judges, which he often repented afterwards, saying,
that besides the knowing the gentry, and people, and
manners of England, (which is best attained that
way,) there is a very good and necessary part of the
learning in the law, which is not so easily got any
other way, as in riding those circuits ; which as it
seems to have much of drudgery, so is accompa-
nied with much pleasure and profit b ; and it may be,
the long lives of men of that profession (for the law-
yers usually live to more years than any other pro-
fession) may very reasonably be imputed to the ex-
ercise they give themselves by their circuits, as well
as to their other acts of temperance and sobriety.
And as he had denied himself that satisfaction,
purely to have that time to himself for other delight,
so he did resolve, if the confusion of the time had
not surprised him, for three or four years (longer he
did not intend) to have improved himself by the ex-
perience of those journeys.

b and profit] as well as profit



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 33

He was often heard to say, that, " next the imme- PART
" diate blessing and providence of God Almighty, '
" which had preserved him throughout the whole
" course of his life, (less strict than it ought to have
" been) from many dangers and disadvantages, in
" which many other young men were lost ; he owed
" all the little he knew, and the little good that was
" in him, to the friendships and conversation he had
" still been used to, of the most excellent men in
" their several kinds that lived in that age ; by
" whose learning, and information, and instruction,
" he formed his studies, and mended his understand-
" ing ; and by whose gentleness and sweetness of
" behaviour, and justice, and virtue, and example, he
" formed his manners, subdued that pride, and sup-
'* pressed that heat and passion he was naturally in-
" clined to be transported with. " And he never took
more pleasure in any thing, than in frequently men-
tioning and naming those persons, who were then his
friends, or of his most familiar conversation, and in
remembering their particular virtues and faculties ;
and used often to say, " that he never was so proud,
" or thought himself so good a man, as when he was
" the worst man in the company ;" all his friends
and companions being in their quality, in their for-
tunes, at least in their faculties and endowments of
mind, very much his superiors: and he always
charged his children to follow his example in that
point, in making their friendships and conversation ;
protesting, that in the whole course of his life he
never knew one man, of what condition soever, ar-
rive to any degree of reputation in the world, who
made choice or delighted in the company or conver-
VOL. i. D



34 THE LIFE OF

PART sation of those, who in their qualities were inferior,
or in their parts not much superior to himself.



1635. Whilst he was only a student of the law, and

Some ac- '

count of his stood at gaze, and irresolute what course of life to

- *

take, his chief acquaintance were Ben Johnson,
emof John Selden, Charles Cotton, John Vaughan, sir Ke-

the law. ne i m Digby, Thomas May, and Thomas Carew, and
some others of eminent faculties in their several
ways. Ben Johnson's name can never be forgotten,
having by his very good learning, and the severity
of his nature and manners, very much reformed the

character stage ; and indeed the English poetry itself. His na-
tural advantages were, judgment to order and govern
fancy, rather than excess of fancy, his productions
being slow and upon deliberation, yet then abound-
ing with great wit and fancy, and will live accord-
ingly ; and surely as he did exceedingly exalt the
English language in eloquence, propriety, and mas-
culine expressions, so he was the best judge of, and
fittest to prescribe rules to poetry and poets, of any
man, who had lived with, or before him, or since :
if Mr. Cowley had not made a flight beyond all men,
with that modesty yet, to ascribe much of this to
the example and learning of Ben Johnson. His
conversation was very good, and with the men of
most note ; and he had for many years an extraor-
dinary kindness for Mr. Hyde, till he found he be-
took himself to business, which he believed ought
never to be preferred before his company. He lived
to be very old, and till the palsy made a deep im-
pression upon his body and his mind.

c to himself. ] to them.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 35

Mr. Selden was a person whom no character can PART
flatter, or transmit in any expressions equal to his l '



merit and virtue. He was of so stupendous learn- 1635.
ing in all kinds and in all languages, (as may appear den.
in his excellent and transcendent writings,) that a
man would have thought he had been entirely con-
versant amongst books, and had never spent an hour
but in reading and writing ; yet his humanity, court-
esy, and- affability was such, that he would have
been thought to have been bred in the best courts,
but that his good nature, charity, and delight in
doing good, and in communicating all he knew, ex-
ceeded that breeding. His style in all his writings
seems harsh and sometimes obscure ; which is not
wholly to be imputed to the abstruse subjects of
which he commonly treated, out of the paths trod by
other men ; but to a little undervaluing the beauty of
a style, and too much propensity to the language of
antiquity : but in his conversation he was the most
clear discourser, and had the best faculty of making
hard things easy, and presenting them to the under-
standing, of any man that hath been known. Mr.
Hyde was wont to say, that he valued himself upon
nothing more than upon having had Mr. Selden's
acquaintance from the time he was very young ; and
held it with great delight as long as they were suf-
fered to continue together in London ; and he was
very much troubled always when he heard him
blamed, censured, and reproached, for staying in
London, and in the parliament, after they were in
rebellion, and in the worst times, which his age
obliged him to do ; and how wicked soever the ac-
tions were which were every day done, he was confi-
dent he had not given his consent to them; but

D 2



36 THE LIFE OF

FART would have hindered them if he could with his own
safety, to which he was always enough indulgent. If



ton.



1635. j^ jjad some infirmities with other men, they were
weighed down with wonderful and prodigious abili-
ties and excellencies in the other scale,
or Mr. cot- Charles Cotton was a gentleman born to a com-
petent fortune, and so qualified in his person and
education, that for many years he continued the
greatest ornament of the town, in the esteem of those
who had been best bred. His natural parts were
very great, his wit flowing in all the parts of con-
versation ; the superstructure of learning not raised
to a considerable height; but having passed some
years in Cambridge, and then in France, and con-
versing always with learned men, his expressions
were ever proper and significant, and gave great
lustre to his discourse upon any argument ; so that
he was thought by those who were not intimate with
him, to have been much better acquainted with books
than he was. He had all those qualities which in youth
raise men to the reputation of being fine gentlemen ;
such a pleasantness and gayety of humour, such a
sweetness and gentleness of nature, and such a civi-
lity and delightfulness in conversation, that no man
in the court, or out of it, appeared a more accom-
plished person ; all these extraordinary qualifications
being supported by as extraordinary a clearness of
courage and fearlessness of spirit, of which he gave
too often manifestation. Some unhappy suits in law,
and waste of his fortune in those suits, made some
impression upon his mind; which being improved by
domestic afflictions, and those indulgences to him-
self which naturally attend those afflictions, rendered
his age less reverenced than his youth had been ; and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 37

gave his best friends cause to have wished that he PART
had not lived so long.



1 fiQ

John Vaughan was then a student of the law in
the Inner Temple, but at that time indulged more
the politer learning ; and was in truth a man of
great parts of nature, and very well adorned by arts
and books, and so much cherished by Mr. Selden,
that he grew to be of entire trust and friendship
with him, and to that owed the best part of his repu-
tation : for he was of so magisterial and supercilious a
humour, so proud and insolent a behaviour, that all
Mr. Selden's instructions, and authority, and exam-
ple, could not file off that roughness of his nature, so
as to make him very grateful. He looked most into
those parts of the law which disposed him to least re-
verence to the crown, and most to popular authority ;
yet without inclination to any change in government;
and therefore, before the beginning of the civil war,
and when he clearly discerned the approaches to it
in parliament, (of which he was a member,) he with-
drew himself into the fastnesses of his own country,
North Wales, where he enjoyed a secure, and as
near an innocent life, as the iniquity of that time
would permit ; and upon the return of king Charles
the Second d , he appeared under the character of a
man who had preserved his loyalty entire, and was
esteemed accordingly by all that party.

His friend Mr. Hyde, who was then become lord
high chancellor of England, renewed his old kind-
ness and friendship towards him, and was desirous
to gratify him all the ways he could, and earnestly
pressed him to put on his gown again, and take upon

d upon the return of king king returned
Charles the Second^ when the

D 3



38 THE LIFE OF

PART him the office of a judge; but he excused himself
. upon his long discontinuance, (having not worn his



1635. gown, and wholly discontinued the profession from
the year 1640, full twenty years,) and upon his age,
and expressly refused to receive any promotion ; but
continued all the professions of respect and gratitude
imaginable to the chancellor, till it was in his power
to manifest the contrary, to his prejudice, which he
did with circumstances very uncommendable.
of sir Ke- Sir Kenelm Digby was a person very eminent and
b y . m notorious throughout the whole course of his life,
from his cradle to his grave ; of an ancient family
and noble extraction ; and inherited a fair and plen-
tiful fortune, notwithstanding the attainder of his
father. He was a man of a very extraordinary per-
son and presence, which drew the eyes of all men
upon him, which were more fixed by a wonderful
graceful behaviour, a flowing courtesy and civility,
and such a volubility of language, as surprised and
delighted ; and though in another man it might have
appeared to have somewhat of affectation, it was
marvellous graceful in him, and seemed natural to
his size, and mould of his person, to the gravity of
his motion, and the tune of his voice and delivery.
He had a fair reputation in arms, of which he gave
an early testimony in his youth, in some encounters
in Spain and Italy, and afterwards in an action in
the Mediterranean sea, where he had the command
of a squadron of ships of war, set out at his own
charge under the king's commission ; with which,
upon an injury received, or apprehended from the
Venetians, he encountered their whole fleet, killed
many of their men, and sunk one of their galleasses ;
which in that drowsy and unactive time, was looked



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 39

upon with a general estimation, though the crown PART
disavowed it. In a word, he had all the advantages



that nature, and art, and an excellent education could 1635 -
give him ; which, with a great confidence and pre-
sentness of mind, buoyed him up against all those
prejudices and disadvantages, (as e the attainder and
execution of his father, for a crime of the highest
nature ; his own marriage with a lady, though of an
extraordinary beauty, of as extraordinary a fame ;
his changing and rechanging his religion ; and some
personal vices and licenses in his life,) which would
have suppressed and sunk any other man, but never
clouded or eclipsed him, from appearing in the best
places, and the best company, and with the best esti-
mation and satisfaction.

Thomas May was the eldest son of his father, aofMr.
knight, and born to a fortune, if his father had not ay>
spent it ; so that he had only an annuity left him,
not proportionable to a liberal education : yet since
his fortune could not raise his mind, he brought his
mind down to his fortune, by a great modesty and '
humility in his nature, which was not affected, but
very well became an imperfection in his speech,
which was a great mortification to him, and kept
him from entering upon any discourse but in the
company of his very friends. His parts of nature
and art were very good, as appears by his transla-
tion of Lucan, (none of the easiest work of that
kind,) and more by his supplement to Lucan, which
being entirely his own, for the learning, the wit, and
the language, may be well looked upon as one of the
best epic f poems in the English language. He writ

' as] which f epic] dramatic

D 4



40 THE LIFE OF

PART some other commendable pieces, of the reign of some
. of our kings. He was cherished by many persons of



1 635. nonour) and very acceptable in all places ; yet, (to
shew that pride and envy have their influences upon
the narrowest minds, and which have the greatest
semblance of humility,) though he had received much
countenance, and a very considerable donative from
the king, upon his majesty's refusing to give him a
small pension, which he had designed and promised
to another very ingenious person, whose qualities
he thought inferior to his own, he fell from his duty,
and all his former friends, and prostituted himself
to the vile office of celebrating the infamous acts of
those who were in rebellion against the king ; which
he did so meanly, that he seemed to all men to have
lost his wits, when he left his honesty ; and so
shortly after died miserable and neglected, and de-
serves to be forgotten,
of Mr. ca- Thomas Carew was a younger brother of a good

rew. J

family, and of excellent parts, and had spent many
years of his youth in France and Italy ; and return-
ing from travel, followed the court ; which the mo-
desty of that time disposed men to do some time,
before they pretended to be of it ; and he was very
much esteemed by the most eminent persons in the
court, and well looked upon by the king himself,
some years before he could obtain to be sewer to the
king ; and when the king conferred that place? upon
him, it was not without the regret even of the whole
Scotch nation, which united themselves in recom-
mending another gentleman to it h : of so great value
were those relations held in that age, when majesty

8 place] honour h to it] to the place



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 41

was beheld with the reverence it ought to be. He PART
was a person of a pleasant and facetious wit, and



made many poems, (especially in the amorous way,)
which for the sharpness of the fancy, and the ele-
gancy of the language in which that fancy was
spread, were at least equal, if not superior to any
of that time : but his glory was, that after fifty
years of his life, spent with less severity or exact-
ness than it ought to have been, he died with the
greatest remorse for that license, and with the great-
est manifestation of Christianity, that his best friends
could desire.

Among these persons Mr. Hyde's usual time of
conversation was spent, till he grew more retired to
his more serious studies, and never discontinued his
acquaintance with any of them, though he spent less
time in their company ; only upon Mr. Selden he
looked with so much affection and reverence, that
he always thought himself best when he was with
him : but he had then another conjunction and com-
munication that he took so much delight in, that he
embraced it in the time of his greatest business and
practice, and would suffer no other pretence or obli-
gation to withdraw him from that familiarity and
friendship ; and took frequent occasions to mention characters
their names with great pleasure; being often heard Hyde's



to say, " that if he had any thing good in him, in
" his humour, or in his manners, he owed it to the friends<
" example, and the information he had received in,
" and from that company, with most of whom he
" had an entire friendship. " And they were in truth,
in their several qualifications, men of more than or-
dinary eminence, before they attained the great pre-
ferments many of them lived to enjoy. The persons



42 THE LIFE OF

PART were, sir Lucius Carey, eldest son to the lord vis-
. count Falkland, lord deputy of Ireland; sir Francis



I63o. "VVenman of Oxfordshire ; Sidney Godolphin of Go-
dolphin in Cornwall ; Edmund Waller of Beacons-
field ; Dr. Gilbert Sheldon ; Dr. George Morley ;
Dr. John Earles ; Mr. John Hales of Eton ; and
Mr. William Chilling worth,
of sir LU- With sir Lucius Carey he had a most entire

cius Carey. _ . . . ,,

friendship without reserve, from his age of twenty
years to the hour of his death, near twenty years
after : upon which there will be occasion to enlarge
when we come to speak of that time, and often be-
fore, and therefore we shall say no more of him in
this place, than to shew his condition and qualifica-
tions, which were the first ingredients into that
friendship, which was afterwards cultivated and im-
proved by a constant conversation and familiarity,
and by many accidents which contributed thereto.
He had the advantage of a noble extraction, and of
being born his father's eldest son, when there was a
greater fortune in prospect to be inherited, (besides
what he might reasonably expect by his mother,)
than came afterwards to his possession. His edu-
cation was equal to his birth, at least in the care, if
not in the climate; for his father being deputy of
Ireland, before he was of age fit to be sent abroad,
his breeding was in the court, and in the university
of Dublin ; but under the care, vigilance, and direc-
tion of such governors and tutors, that he learned
all those exercises and languages, better than most
men do in more celebrated places; insomuch as
when he came into England, which was when he
was about the age of eighteen years, he was not
only master of the Latin tongue, and s had read all



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 43

the poets, and other of the best authors with notable PART

judgment for that age, but he understood, and spake, !

and writ French, as if he had spent many years in
France.

s He had another advantage, which was a great
ornament to the rest, that was, a good, a plentiful
estate, gf which he had the early possession. His
mother was the sole daughter and heir of the lord
chief baron Tanfield, who having given a fair por-
tion with his daughter in marriage, had kept him-
self free to dispose of his land, and his other estate,
in such manner as he should think fit ; and he set-
tled it in such manner upon his grandson sir Lucius
Carey, without taking notice of his father, or mo-
ther, that upon his grandmother's death, which fell
out about the time that he was nineteen years of
age, all the land, with two very good 1 houses very
well k furnished, (worth above 2000/. per annum,)
in a most pleasant country, and the two most plea-
sant places in that country, with a very plentiful
personal estate, fell into his hands and possession,
and to his entire disposal.

With these advantages, he had one great disad-
vantage (which in the first entrance into the world
is attended with too much prejudice) in his person
and presence, which was in no degree attractive or
promising. His stature was low, and smaller than
most men ; his motion not graceful ; and his aspect
so far from inviting, that it had somewhat in it of
simplicity ; and his voice the worst of the three,
and so untuned, that instead of reconciling, it of-
fended the ear, so that nobody would have expected
music from that tongue ; and sure no man was less
' very good] excellent k very well] excellently



44 THE LIFE OF

PART beholden to nature for its recommendation into the
world : but then no man sooner or more disappointed



I /Q C

this general and customary prejudice ; that little per-
son and small stature was quickly found to contain
a great heart, a courage so keen, and a nature so
fearless, that no composition of the strongest limbs,
and most harmonious and proportioned presence and
strength, ever more disposed any man to the greatest
enterprise ; it being his greatest weakness to be too
solicitous for such adventures : and that untuned
tongue and voice easily discovered itself to be sup-
plied and governed by a mind and understanding so
excellent, that the wit and weight of all he said car-
ried another kind of lustre and admiration in it, and
even another kind of acceptation from the persons
present, than any ornament of delivery could rea-
sonably promise itself, or is usually attended with ;
and his disposition and nature was so gentle and
obliging, so much delighted in courtesy, kindness,
and generosity, that all mankind could not but ad-
mire and love him.

In a short time after he had possession of the
estate his grandfather had left him, and before he
was of age, he committed a fault against his father,
in marrying a 'young lady, whom he passionately
loved, without any considerable portion, which ex-
ceedingly offended him ; and disappointed all his
reasonable hopes and expectation of redeeming and
repairing his own broken fortune, and desperate
hopes in court, by some advantageous marriage of
his son ; about which he had then some probable
treaty. Sir Lucius Carey was very conscious to
himself of his offence and transgression, and the
consequence of it, which though he could not re-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 45

pent, having married a lady of a most extraordinary PART
wit and judgment, and of the most signal virtue '
and exemplary life, that the age produced, and who 1635 -
brought him many hopeful children, in which he
took great delight ; yet he confessed it, with the
most sincere and dutiful applications to his father
for his pardon that could be made ; and for the pre-
judice l he had brought upon his fortune, by bring-
ing no portion to him, he offered to repair it, by re-
signing his whole estate to his disposal, and to rely
wholly upon his kindness for his own maintenance
and support; and to that purpose, he had caused
conveyances to be drawn by council, which he
brought ready engrossed to his father, and was will-
ing to seal and execute them, that they might be
valid : but his father's passion and indignation so
far transported him, (though he was a gentleman of
excellent parts,) that he refused any reconciliation,
and rejected all the offers that were made him of
the estate ; so that his son remained still in the pos-
session of his estate against his will ; for which he
found great reason afterwards to rejoice : but he
was for the present so much afflicted with his fa-
ther's displeasure, that he transported himself and
his wife into Holland, resolving to buy some mili-
tary command, and to spend the remainder of his
life in that profession : but being disappointed in
the treaty he expected, and finding no opportunity
to accommodate himself with such a command, he
returned again into England ; resolving to retire to
a country life, and to his books ; that since he was
not like to improve himself in arms, he might ad-
vance in letters.

1 and for the prejudice] and in order to the prejudice



46 THE LIFE OF

PART In this resolution he was so severe, (as he was
always naturally very intent upon what he was in-

1635. clined to,) that he declared, he would not see Lon-
don in many years, which was the place he loved
of all the world ; and that in his studies, he would
first apply himself to the Greek, and pursue it with-
out intermission, till he should attain to the full un-
derstanding of that tongue : and it is hardly to be
credited, what industry he used, and what success
attended that industry : for though his father's
death, by an unhappy accident, made his repair to
London absolutely necessary, in fewer years, than
he had proposed for his absence ; yet he had first
made himself master of the Greek tongue, (in the
Latin he was very well versed before,) and had read
not only the Greek m historians, but Homer likewise,
and such of the poets as were worthy to be perused.
Though his father's death brought no other con-
venience to him, but a title to redeem an estate,
mortgaged for as much as it w r as worth, and for
which he was compelled to sell a finer seat of his
own ; yet it imposed a burden upon him, of the title
of a viscount, and an increase of expense, in which
he was not in his nature too provident or restrained ;
having naturally such a generosity and bounty in
him, that he seemed to have his estate in trust, for
all worthy persons, who stood in want of supplies
and encouragement, as Ben Johnson, and many
others of that time, whose fortunes required, and
whose spirits made them superior to, ordinary obli-
gations ; which yet they were contented to receive
from him, because his bounties were so generously

m the Greek] all the Greek



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 47

distributed, and so much without vanity and osten- PART

tation, that, except from those few persons from '

whom he sometimes received the characters of fit 1635>
objects for his benefits, or whom he intrusted, for
the more secret deriving them to them, he did all
he could, that the persons themselves who received
them should not know from what fountain they
flowed ; and when that could not be concealed, he
sustained any acknowledgment from the persons
obliged with so much trouble and bashfulness, that
they might well perceive, that he was even ashamed
of the little he had given, and to receive so large a
recompense for it.

As soon as he had finished all those transactions,
which the death of his father had made necessary to
be done, he retired again to his country life, and to
his severe course of study, which was very delight-
ful to him, as soon as he was engaged in it : but he
was wont to say, that he never found reluctancy in
any thing he resolved to do, but in his quitting
London, and departing from the conversation of
those he enjoyed there ; which was in some degree
preserved and continued by frequent letters, and
often visits, which were made by his friends from
thence, whilst he continued wedded to the country ;
and which were so grateful to him, that during their
stay with him, he looked upon no book, except their
very conversation made an appeal to some book ;
and truly his whole conversation was one continued
convivium philosophicum, or convivium tkeologicum,
enlivened and refreshed with all the facetiousness of
wit, and good humour, and pleasantness of discourse,
which made the gravity of the argument itself (what-
ever it was) very delectable. His house where he



48 THE LIFE OF



PART usually resided, (Tew, or Burford, in Oxfordshire,)
being within ten or twelve miles of the university,



J635. i 00 ij e( j iik e t ne university itself, by the company
that was always found there. There were Dr. Shel-
don, Dr. Morley, Dr. Hammond, Dr. Earles, Mr.
Chillingworth, and indeed all men of eminent parts
and faculties in Oxford, besides those who resorted
thither from London ; who all found their lodgings
there, as ready as in the colleges ; nor did the lord
of the house know of their coming or going, nor
who were in his house, till he came to dinner, or
supper, where all still met ; otherwise, there was no
troublesome ceremony or constraint, to forbid men
to come to the house, or to make them weary of
staying there ; so that many came thither to study
in a better air, finding all the books they could de-
sire in his library, and all the persons together,
whose company they could wish, and not find in
any other society. Here Mr. Chillingworth wrote,
and formed, and modelled, his excellent book against
the learned Jesuit Mr. Nott, after frequent debates
upon the most important particulars; in many of
which, he suffered himself to be overruled by the
judgment of his friends, though in others he still
adhered to his own fancy, which was sceptical
enough, even in the highest points.

In this happy and delightful conversation and re-
straint, he remained in the country many years;
and until he had made so prodigious a progress in
learning, that there were very few classic authors
in the Greek or Latin tongue, that he had not read
with great exactness. He had read all the Greek
and Latin fathers ; all the most allowed and au-
thentic ecclesiastical writers ; and all the councils,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 49

with wonderful care and observation ; for in religion PART
he thought too careful and too curious an inquiry
could not be made, amongst those, whose purity was
not questioned, and whose authority was constantly
and confidently urged, by men who were furthest
from being of one mind amongst themselves ; and
for the mutual support of their several opinions, in
which they most contradicted each other ; and in
all those controversies, he had so dispassioned a con-
sideration, such a candour in his nature, and so pro-
found a charity in his conscience, that in those
points, in which he was in his own judgment most
clear, he never thought the worse, or in any degree
declined the familiarity, of those who were of an-
other mind ; which, without question, is an excel-
lent temper for the propagation and advancement of
Christianity. With these great advantages of indus-
try, he had a memory retentive of all that he had
ever read, and an understanding and judgment to
apply it seasonably and appositely, with the most
dexterity and address, and the least pedantry and
affectation, that ever man, who knew so much, was
possessed with, of what quality soever. It is not a
trivial evidence of his learning, his wit, and his can-
dour, that may be found in that discourse of his,
against the infallibility of the church of Rome, pub-
lished since his death, and from a copy under his
own hand, though not prepared and digested by
him for the press, and to which he would have given
some castigations.

But all his parts, abilities, and faculties, by art
and industry, were not to be valued, or mentioned,
in comparison of his most accomplished mind and
manners : his gentleness and affability was so trans-

VOL. i. E



50 THE LIFE OF

PART cendent and obliging, that it drew reverence, and
some kind of compliance, from the roughest, and



163o. most un p iighed, and stubborn constitutions; and
made them of another temper in debate, in his pre-
sence, than they were in other places. He was in
his nature so severe a lover of justice, and so pre-
cise a lover of truth, that he was superior to all
possible temptations for the violation of either ; in-
deed so rigid an exacter of perfection, in all those
things which seemed but to border upon either of
them, and by the common practice of men were not
thought to border upon either, that many who knew
him very well, and loved and admired his virtue,
(as all who did know him must love and admire it,)
did believe, that he was of a temper and composi-
tion fitter to live in republica Platonis. , than in
JtBce Romuli: but this rigidness was only exercised
towards himself; towards his friend's infirmities no
man was more indulgent. In his conversation, which
was the most cheerful and pleasant that can be ima-
gined, though he was young, (for all I have yet
spoken of him doth not exceed his age of twenty-
five or twenty-six years, 11 ) and of great gayety in his
humour, with a flowing delightfulness of language,
he had so chaste a tongue and ear, that there was
never known a profane or loose word to fall from
him, nor in truth in his company; the integrity,
and cleanliness of the wit of that time, not exercis-
ing itself in that license, before persons for whom
they had any esteem.
ofsirFran- Sir Francis Wenman would not look upon himself

cis Wen-
man. under any other character, than that of a country

" years,] MS. adds: what will be mentioned in its proper
progress he made afterwards season in this discourse,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 51

gentleman ; though no man of his quality in Eng- PART

land was more esteemed in court. He was of a

noble extraction, and of an ancient family in Ox-
fordshire, where he was possessed of a competent
estate ; but his reputation of wisdom and integrity
gave him an interest and credit in that country
much above his fortune; and no man had more
esteem in it, or power over it. He was a neighbour
to the lord Falkland, and in so entire friendship and
confidence with him, that he had great authority in
the society of all his friends and acquaintance. He
was a man of great sharpness of understanding, and
of a piercing judgment ; no man better understood
the affections and temper of the kingdom, or indeed
the nature of the nation, or discerned further the
consequence of counsels, and with what success they
were like to be attended. He was a very good La-
tin scholar, but his ratiocination was above his learn-
ing ; and the sharpness of his wit incomparable. He
was equal to the greatest trust and employment, if
he had been ambitious of it, or solicitous for it ; but
his want of health produced a kind of laziness of
mind, which disinclined him to business, and he died
a little before the general troubles of the kingdom,
which he foresaw with wonderful concern , and
when many wise men were weary of living so long.

Sidney Godolphin was a younger brother of Go- or Mr. Sid
dolphin, but by the provision left by his father, andphfn.
by the death of a younger brother, liberally supplied
for a very good education, and for a cheerful sub-
sistence, in any course of life he proposed to himself.
There was never so great a mind and spirit con-

" concern] reluctancy
E 2



52 THE LIFE OF

PART tained in so little room; so large an understanding
and so unrestrained a fancy in so very small a body ;

1635< so that the lord Falkland used to say merrily, that
he thought it was a great ingredient into his friend-
ship for Mr. Godolphin, that he was pleased to be
found in his company, where he was the properer
man ; and it may be, the very remark ableness of
his little person made the sharpness of his wit, and
the composed quickness of his judgment and under-
standing, the more notable P. He had spent some
years in France, and in the Low Countries ; and
accompanied the earl of Leicester in his ambassage
' into Denmark, before he resolved to be quiet, and
attend some promotion in the court ; where his ex-
cellent disposition and manners, and extraordinary
qualifications, made him very acceptable. Though
every body loved his company very well, yet he
loved very much to be alone, being in his constitu-
tion inclined somewhat to melancholy, and to retire-
ment amongst his books ; and was so far from being
active, that he was contented to be reproached by
his friends with laziness ; and was of so nice and
tender a composition, that a little rain or wind
would disorder him, and divert him from any short
journey he had most willingly proposed to himself;
insomuch as, when he rid abroad with those in
whose company he most delighted, if the wind
chanced to be in his face, he would (after a little
pleasant murmuring) suddenly turn his horse, and
go home. Yet the civil war no sooner began,
(the first approaches towards which he discovered
as soon as any man, by the proceedings in parlia-

P notable] notorious and notable



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 53

ment, where he was a member, and opposed with PART
great indignation,) than he put himself into the first.



troops which were raised in the west for the king; 1635>
and bore the uneasiness and fatigue of winter
marches, with an exemplar courage and alacrity ;
until by too brave a pursuit of the enemy, into an
obscure village in Devonshire, he was shot with a
musket ; with which (without saying any word
more, than, Oh God ! I am hurt) he fell dead from
his horse ; to the excessive grief of his friends, who
were all that knew him ; and the irreparable da-
mage of the public.

Edmund Waller was born to a very fair estate, of Mr. Ed-
by the parsimony or frugality of a wise father and""
mother ; and he thought it so commendable an ad-
vantage, that he resolved to improve it with his ut-
most care, upon which in his nature he was too
much intent ; and in order to that, he was so much
reserved and retired, that he was scarce ever heard
of, till by his address and dexterity he had gotten a
very rich wife in the city, against all the recom-
mendation, and countenance, and authority of the
court, which was thoroughly engaged on the behalf of
Mr. Crofts ; and which used to be successful, in that
age, against any opposition. He had the good for-
tune to have an alliance and friendship with Dr.
Morley, who had assisted and instructed him in the
reading many good books, to which his natural parts
and promptitude inclined him ; especially the poets :
and at the age when other men used to give over
writing verses, (for he was near thirty years of age
when he first engaged himself in that exercise, at
least that he was known to do so,) he surprised the
town with two or three pieces of that kind ; as if a

E 3



54 THE LIFE OF

PART tenth muse had been newly born, to cherish droop-
. ing poetry. The doctor at that time brought him



1635. m j. Q th^ company which was most celebrated for
good conversation ; where he was received, and
esteemed, with great applause and respect. He was
a very pleasant discourser, in earnest and in jest,
and therefore very grateful to all kind of company,
where he was not the less esteemed for being very
rich.

He had been even nursed in parliaments, where
he sat when he was very young ^ ; and so when
they were resumed again, (after a long intermis-
sion r ,) he appeared in those assemblies with great
advantage, having a graceful way of speaking ; and
by thinking much upon several arguments, (which
his temper and complexion, that had much of me-
lancholic, inclined him to,) he seemed often to speak
upon the sudden, when the occasion had only ad-
ministered the opportunity of saying what he had
thoroughly considered, which gave a great lustre to
all he said ; which yet was rather of delight than
weight. There needs no more be said to extol the
excellence and power of his wit, and pleasantness of
his conversation, than that it was of magnitude
enough to cover a world of very great faults ; that
is, so to cover them, that they were not taken no-
tice of to his reproach ; viz. a narrowness in his na-
ture to the lowest degree ; an abjectness, and want
of courage to support him in any virtuous under-
taking; an insinuation and servile flattery to the
height the vainest and most imperious nature could
be contented with ; that it preserved and won his

( i when he was very youngi] r intermission] intermission
in his infancy and interdiction



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 55

life from those who were most resolved to take it, PART

and in an occasion in which he ought to have been '

ambitious to have lost it; and then preserved him 1635-
again, from the reproach and contempt that was
due to him for so preserving it, and for vindicating
it at such a price; that it had power to reconcile
him to those whom he had most offended and pro-
voked ; and continued to his age with that rare fe-
licity, that his company was acceptable, where his
spirit was odious ; and he was at least pitied, where
he was most detested.

Of Doctor Sheldon there needs no more be said or Dr. shei-
in this place, 8 than that his learning, and gravity,
and prudence, had in that time raised him to such
a reputation, when he was chaplain in the house to
the lord keeper Coventry, (who exceedingly esteemed
him, and used his service not only in all matters re-
lating to the church, but in many other businesses
of importance, and in which that great and good
lord was nearly concerned,) and when he was after-
wards warden of All Souls' college in Oxford, that
he then was looked upon as very equal to any pre-
ferment the church could yield f , or hath since
yielded unto him ; and sir Francis Wenman would
often say, when the doctor resorted to the conver-
sation at the lord Falkland's house, as he frequently
did, that " Dr. Sheldon was born and bred to be
" archbishop of Canterbury. "

Doctor Morley " was a gentleman of very eminent or Dr. Mor-
parts in all polite learning ; of great wit, and readi- le:

in this place,] MS. adds : * yield] Not in MS.

there being frequent occasions u Doctor Morley] MS. adds:

to mention him hereafter in the of whom more must likewise

prosecution of this discourse, be said in its place,

E 4



56 THE LIFE OF

PART ness, and subtilty in disputation ; and of remarkable
. temper and prudence in conversation, which ren-



1635. dered hj m mos t grateful in all the best company.
He was then chaplain in the house, and to the fa-
mily, of the lord and lady Carnarvon, which needed
a wise and a wary director. From some academic
contests he had been engaged in, during his living
in Christ Church in Oxford, where he was always
of the first eminency, he had, by the natural faction
and animosity of those disputes, fallen under the re-
proach of holding some opinions, which were not
then grateful to those churchmen who had the
greatest power in ecclesiastical promotions ; and
some sharp answers and replies he used to make in
accidental discourses, and which in truth were made
for mirth and pleasantness sake, (as he was of the
highest facetiousness,) were reported, and spread
abroad to his prejudice : as being once asked by a
grave country gentleman, (who was desirous to be
instructed what their tenets and opinions were,)
" what the Arminians held," he pleasantly an-
swered, that they held all the best bishoprics and
deaneries in England; which was quickly re-
ported abroad, as Mr. Morley's definition of the Ar-
minian tenets.

Such and the like harmless and jocular sayings,
upon many accidental occasions, had wrought upon
the archbishop of Canterbury, Laud, (who lived to
change his mind, and to have a just esteem of him,)
to entertain some prejudice towards him ; and the
respect which was paid him by many eminent per-
sons, as John Hampden, Arthur Goodwin, and
others, who were not thought friends to the pros-
perity the church was in, made others apprehend



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 57

that he was not enough zealous for it. But that PART

disaffection and virulency (which few men had then '.

owned and discovered) no sooner appeared, in those
and other men, but Dr. Morley made haste as pub-
licly to oppose them, both in private and in public ;
which had the more effect to the benefit of the
church, by his being a person above all possible re-
proach, and known and valued by more persons of
honour than most of the clergy were, and being not
only without the envy of any preferment, but under
the advantage of a discountenanced person. And as
he was afterwards the late king's chaplain, and
much regarded by him, and as long about him as
any of his chaplains were permitted to attend him ;
so presently after his murder he left the kingdom,
and remained in banishment till king Charles the
Second's x happy return.

Doctor Earles was at that time chaplain in the or Dr.
house to the earl of Pembroke, lord chamberlain of
his majesty's household, and had a lodging in the
court under that relation. He was a person very
notable for his elegance in the Greek and Latin
tongues ; and being Fellow of Merton college in
Oxford, and having been proctor of the university,
and some very witty and sharp discourses being pub-
lished in print without his consent, though known
to be his, he grew suddenly into a very general
esteem with all men ; being a man of great piety and
devotion ; a most eloquent and powerful preacher ;
and of a conversation so pleasant and delightful, so
very innocent, and so very facetious, that no man's
company was more desired and more loved. No

* king Charles the Second's] his majesty's



58 THE LIFE OF

PART man was more negligent in his dress, and habit, and
. mien; no man more wary and cultivated in his be-



1635. h av i our and discourse; insomuch as he had the
greater advantage when he was known, by pro-
mising so little before he was known. He was an
excellent poet, both in Latin, Greek, and English,
as appears by many pieces yet abroad ; though he
suppressed many more himself, especially of Eng-
lish, incomparably good, out of an austerity to those
sallies of his youth. He was very dear to the lord
Falkland, with whom he spent as much time as he
could make his own ; and as that lord would impute
the speedy progress he made in the Greek tongue,
to the information and assistance he had from Mr.
Earles, so Mr. Earles would frequently profess, that
he had got more useful learning by his conversation
at Tew, (the lord Falkland's house,) than he had at
Oxford. In the first settling of the prince's family,
he was made one of his chaplains ; and attended on
him when he was forced to leave the kingdom ? .
He was amongst the few excellent men who never
had, nor ever could have an enemy, but such a one
who was an enemy to all learning and virtue, and
therefore would never make himself known.

of Mr. M r j on n Hales had been Greek professor in the

Hales.

university of Oxford; and had borne the greatest
part of the labour 7 of that excellent edition and im-
pression of St. Chrysostom's Works, set out by sir
Harry Savile ; who was then warden of Merton col-
lege, when the other was fellow of that house. He
was chaplain in the house with sir Dudley Carleton,

y kingdom] MS. adds : and after.

therefore we shall often have 7> the greatest part of the la-
occasion to mention him here- hour] all the labour



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 59

ambassador at the Hague in Holland, at the time PART

when the synod of Dort was held, and so had liberty !

to be present at the consultations in that assembly; 1635-
and hath left the best memorial behind him, of
the ignorance, and passion, and animosity, and in-
justice of that convention ; of which he often made
very pleasant relations ; though at that time it re-
ceived too much countenance from England. Being
a person of the greatest eminency for learning, and
other abilities, from which he might have promised
himself any preferment in the church, he withdrew
himself from all pursuits of that kind into a private
fellowship in the college of Eton, where his friend sir
Harry Savile was provost ; where he lived amongst
his books, and the most separated from the world of
any man then living : though he was not in the
least degree inclined to melancholy, but, on the con-
trary, of a very open and pleasant conversation ;
and therefore was very well pleased with the resort
of his friends to him, who were such as he had
chosen, and in whose company he delighted, and for
whose sake he would sometimes, once in a year, re-
sort to London, only to enjoy their cheerful conver-
sation.

He would never take any cure of souls ; and was
so great a contemner of money, that he was wont to
say, that his fellowship, and the bursar's place,
(which, for the good of the college, he held many
years,) was worth him fifty pounds a year more
than he could spend ; and yet, besides his being
very charitable to all poor people, even to liberality,
he had made a greater and better collection of
books, than were to be found in any other private
library that J have seen ; as he had sure read more,



60 THE LIFE OF

PART and carried more about him in his excellent me-
mory, than any man I ever knew, my lord Falk-



1635. j an( j on iy excepted, who I think sided him. He
had, whether from his natural temper and constitu-
tion, or from his long retirement from all crowds, or
from his profound judgment and discerning spirit,
contracted some opinions which were not received,
nor by him published, except in private discourses ;
and then rather upon occasion of dispute, than of
positive opinion : and he would often say, his opin-
ions he was sure did him no harm, but he was far
from being confident that they might not do others
harm who entertained them, and might entertain
other results from them than he did ; and therefore
he was very reserved in communicating what he
thought himself in those points, in which he differed
from what was received.

Nothing troubled him more than the brawls which
were grown from religion ; and he therefore exceed-
ingly detested the tyranny of the church of Rome ;
more for their imposing uncharitably upon the con-
sciences of other men, than for the errors in their
own opinions : and would often say, that he would
renounce the religion of the church of England to-
morrow, if it obliged him to believe that any other
Christians should be damned; and that nobody
would conclude another man to be damned, who did
not wish him so. No man more strict and severe
to himself; to other men so charitable as to their
opinions, that he thought that other men were more
in fault for their carriage towards them, than the
men themselves were who erred ; and he thought
that pride, and passion, more than conscience, were
the cause of all separation from each other's com-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.