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Show 43° r668. v-v--v Chap. XX!. No CROSS, No CROWN. ;::__ Whiljlthir bard Trutb I Teach, mttbinkr I .fre The Monjler, London, Laugh at me ; I fhould at thee too, foolifb City, If it were fit to Laugh at Mifery ; Butthy E/latel pity. . Ln but thy \Vicked Men from out thee go, .ilnd nil the Foolt that crowd thte fo ; Even thou, who do/ltby Ml~lions boafl, A Village kfr tban lfiington wilt grow; -A Sohtude almojl. I !hall conclude him with this Prayer of hi• own. -For the few Hours of Life aUotted me, Give me (Great GOD) but Bread and Liberty ; I'll beg no more, if more tbou'rt pleat'd to givr, I'll thankfully that Overplus receive. If heyomlThis no more be freely fent, 1'11 thank for This, •nd go away content. "Voi.. I Here ends the Wit, the Praife, the Learning, the City, the Court, wit~ 4brabam Cow!ry, that once knew and bad them all. §. XXXll. The late Earl of Jlotl)elfn was lnferiour to no Body in Tf!it and hardly any Body ever ufed it worte; if we believe him againft himfetl, i~ his Dymg RefieOions. An Account of which I have had from fame tllat viiited him in his SicR.nefs, betides thilt larger one made publick by the prC~ fcnt Bi!hop of Salijbury. It was then that he came to think there was :t G 0 D, for he felr his L::~!hes on his Confcience, and that there was fuch a Thing as Virtue, and a Reward for it. Chriftianity was no lo~ger :1 worldly or abfurd Defign; but CHRIST a Saviour, and a moft Merciful One: And His Doarines Plain, Juft and Reafonable, and the True Way to Felicity here and hereafter. Admiring and Adoring that Mercy to him, which he had treated with fo much Infidelity and ObftiAate Contempt ;. Wilhing on· ly for more Life to Confute his paft One, and in fame Meafure to rep:1ir the Injuries he had done to Religion by it: Begging Forgivenefs for Cbrijt'1 Sake, rho' he thought himfelf the moft unwo·rthy of it for his own. Thus dyed that Witty Lord Rochefler, and this Retreat he made from the World he had fo great a Name in. May the Loofe Win of the Times, as he defired, take Warning by him, and not leave their Repentance to a Dying-Bed. §. XXXIII. A Noble Young Man of rhe Family of I)OII18tb, having too much yielded to the Temptations of Youth, when upon his Sick-Bed, (which proved his Dying-Bed) fell under the Power and Agony of grea t Conviaions, mightily bewailing himfelf in the Remembrance of his former Extravagancies; cryi_ng ftrongly to God to forgive him, abhorring his former Courfe, and ptomlfing Amendment, if God renew'd Life to him. However, was willing to Dye, .fJ:aviQg tafied of the Love and ForgiVenefs of God ; warn~ ing his Acquaintance and Kindred that came to fee him, to fear God, and forfake rhc ~leafures and Vanity of this World: And fo willingly yillded hts Soul from theTrouhles of Time. and Frailties of Mortality. §. XXXIV. The !are Prince.fr lf!f]allei!J of the Rbine, of Right claim• eth a Memorial in this Difcourfe: Her Virtue giving greater Lufire to her J\.rt,me than ber ~uality, which yet was of the Greateit in the German Em· piTt. She chafe a Single Life, as frceft of Care, :1nd befi fuited ro the Study and A1editation fhe was always inclined to: And rhe chiefefi Divcrjion ihe ,;:oak, .ne.xt the .Air, was in feme fuch 11lain and HoufC::·wifely Entertainmeor, as Knmmg, &c. She had a fmall Territory, which fhe Govern'd fo well, that fhe :hew'd herfelf fir for a Greater. She would conftantly every Lafr Day in the \Veck, fit in Judgment, and Hear and Determine Caufes herfelf; where No CROSS, No CROWN: where her Patience, Jufiice and Mercy, were admirable~ frequently remit- I66a. ting her Forfeitures, where the Pany was Poor, or otherwife Meritorious. ~ ~nd which was excellent, tho' unufwal, fhe would temper her Difcourfe1 Chap.X:Xlb with Religion, and ftrangely draw concern'd Patties to Sur.miflion and Agreemem ; exercifing not fo much the Rigor of her Power, as the Power of her Perfwafion. Her Meeknefs and Humility appear'd to me exrraordi.nary~ She never confider'd the Qpality, bflt the Merit of the People fhe enter4 tain'd. Did fhe hear of a Retir~d Man, bid from the World, and feeking afur the Knowledge of a beuer, fhe w:1s fure to fet him down in the Cata'" logue of her Charity, if he wanted it : I have cafually feen, I betleve, Fifty Tokens fealed aod fuperf~ribed to the feveral Poor Subjetls of her Bounty, whofe Difbnces would not fufFer them to know one another, tho' they knew her, whom yet fame of them had never feen. Thus, tho' the lt:ept No Sumptuom Table in hff own Court, jhe ./}read the Tabler of the Poor in their Solitary CeOr; breaking' Bread to Virtuom Pilgrims, acrording to tbeil' W~nt, an~ her .Ability. libftemiom in her felj, and in .d.ppard void of aU Vam Ornaments. I muft needs fay, her Mind had a NobleProfpeU: Het Eye was to a Bet· ter and more Lafting Inheritance, than can be found below; which made her often to defpife the Greatnifl of OJurtt, and Learni11g of tbe Schoo/;, of which {he was an extraordinary Judge. Being once at 1fambro11gh, a Religious Perfon, whom fbe went ro fee for Religion's SaR.r, £elling her, It t.Otll too gretit an llono11r for him, that be jhould btlVe a V"tjitont Of her 'lua/ity come under hU ,Boof, that r»tU alljlto fo many Great Kings and Princes of tbu World : She humbly anfwer'd, If tl;ey were Godly, a1 we II tU Great, it will be an Honour indeed; but if you /mew ubllt that Greatnrfl fJJIZI, ttl well ttl I, you would value lefJ that Honour. Being in fame Agony of Spirit, after a Religious Meeting we had in her own Chamber, !he faid, It if /Jn bard Thing to be Faithful to what ode kn'ow1 : Ob, tbe Way is flrait ! I am afraid lam n~t Weighty eno11gb in my Spirit to walk in it. After aqo ... ther Meeting, fhe uttered thefe Words; 1 have Records in my Library, that tbe Go.fpel wa1 fojl brought out of England bitber into Germany by the Englifh, and now it if come 11gain. She once with-drew, on Purpofe to give her Servants the Liberty of difcourfing us, that they might the more freely put what Qpeftions of Confcience they defired to be fatisfied in ; for they were Re!igiom : Suffering both them, and the PooreR of her Town, to fit by her in her own Bed-Chamber, where we bad Two Meetings. I cannot forger her Lajl Wordr, when I took my Leave of Her : " Let me deflie you " to remember me, tho' I live at this Diftance, and tHat you lbould never " fee me more : I thank you for thi9 Good Time; ilnd know and be affu.. * Sk'e d(ed ttl &I red, tho' my Condition fubjects me to divers Temptations, yet mr Soul J68o. A.ud " hath Strong Defires after the Beft Things. ;lhe liv'd he< Single Life till this Palfage about Sixty Years of A~e, and then departed at her own Haufe in llerwe~ was inferfed Jt,, Which was about Two Years Iince; as much Lamented, as fbe had in/ .se~is Liv"d Beloved of-the People: To whofe &a/Worth, I do, with a Rtligiom ~:~tir:· .Att4 Grt~titude, for her Kind Rec~ption, dedicate this Memorit~l. •682. ' §.XXXV. lSUlfltoblm!~lflods bas left his own Cbaratler in his Memorials of Eng lifo Affairs 1 a Book that {bows both his Employments and greater Abilities. He was almoftever a Commiffioner and Companiorr wirh thofe great Men, that the Lords and Commons of England, u feveral Times, appointed to trear with King Cbar!e1 I. for a Peace. He was Cummiffioner of the Great Seal, Ambaffador to the Crown of Sweedlnfld, and.. fometimes Prcfident of the Council: A Scholar, a La.w]tr, a Statu-Man; in Chon, he was one of the moft accompliCh'd Men of the Age. Being with him fometimes at his own Houfi: in Berkfoire, where h'e gave me that Ac~ount I have related of Chancellor Oxciftern, amonglt many fe_rioes Thmgs he fpoke, this was very obfervable. ' I ever !ia\'e thought, .fmd be,. : there ~a.s been one true Religion in the lV' orld, and that is, the W_ork of the Sptnt of God in the Hearts and Souls of Men. T-here hJs heen 1ndeed ~ divers Forms an~ Shapes of Thinas, through the many DifpenfationsC!f · ~~ ~~~ |