<^>

\ij''..:..^S\U

%*i^

.>*;t J- ^ .-."Wi^

(l; ■.,:.%.. ::.:#■:

..>«*■■■'' -■■•

I'd*

rSTOE. .-J.

■p'^-pr-::;iPi-r,.

"%--fei,^---#";

r*v^-t*,z/-

■:'^^c*"'- ^

_fii^-'V^-- 'jm.

^M^-0 f:0-L ■* >^>* ^ w'^ ; t*-

fe^-^^-'^'^.--

■-^-i^^-v:^,^'

^^:.^¥^-w^'^-:^.

r '«■.'•^^:■

■ mur'r'-m

HANDBOLND AT THE

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

THE

LIVES

O F

Sir MATTHEW HALE, Knt.

Lord Chief Juilice of England;

WILMOT, Earl of Rochefter;

AND

Queen MARY.

Written by Bifhop BirRNETTa

To this Edition are a<«Jed,

Richard Baxter's Additional Notes to . the Life of Sir MATTHEW HALE.

A N O

A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of the Earl of Rochefter, by the Rev. Mr. Parsons,

O N D O Ns ^^^'■^, ^ '

Printed for T. DA VIES, in RufTel -Str-et, Covenl: -Giiden

M.DCC.LXXIY,

H - 1 "S B 2

THE

PREFACE

"hT 0 part of hljiory is more injiru5five and ■^ delighting, than the lives of great ajtd worthy men : the fhortnefs of them invites many readers, and there are fuch little and yet remark- able paffages in them, too inconfiderahle to be put in a general hijtory of the age in which they lived, that all people are very dejirous to knoio them. This makes PlutarcJfs lives to be more generally read than any of all the books vohich the ancient Greeks or Romans zvrit.

Bui the lives of heroes and princes are com- monly filled with the account of the great things done by them, which do rather belong to a gene- ral, than a particular hifiory ; and do rather amufe the readers fancy with a fplendid floew of greatnefs, than offer him tvhat is really fo ufeful to himfelf : and indeed the lives of princes are

either

The PREFACE.

tither writ with fo much flattery^ by thofe who intended to merit by it at their own hands, or others concerned in them •, or with fo much fpite^ by thofe who being ill ufed by them have re- venged themfelves on their memory, that there is not much to be built on them j and though the ill nature of many makes what is fatyrically writ to be generally more read and believed, than when the flattery is viftble and coarfe, yet cer- tainly refentment may make the writer corrupt the truth of hifiory, as much as intereft -, and fince all men have their blind fides, and commit errors, he that will indiiftrioufly lay thefe together, leaving out, or but Jlightly touching, what fhould be fet againfi them to balance than, may make a very good man appear in very bad colours : fo upon the whole matter, there is not that reafon to expeiJ either much truth, or great infiru5iion, from what is written concerning heroes or princes -, for few have been able tQ imitate the patterns Suetonius fet the world in writing the lives of the Roman emperors, with the fame freedom that they had led them : but the lives of private men, though they feldom entertain the reader with fuch a variety of paf- fagcs as the other do -, yet certainly they offer bim things that are more imitable, and do pre-

fent

rhe PREFACE.

fent wifdcm and 'virtue to hm^ not only in a fair idea^ which is often look'd on as a piece of the invention or fancy of the 'writer^ but in fuch plain and familiar injlances, as do both direct hirit better, and perfuade him more ; and there are not fuch temptations to hiafs thofe who writ them, fo that we may generally depend more on the truth of fuch relations as are given in them. In the age in which we live, religion and virtue have been propofed and defended with fuch advantages, with that great force of rea- fon, and thofe perfuaftons, that they can hardly be matched in former times ; yet after all this, there are but fezv much wrought on by them, which perhaps flows from this, among other reafons, that there are not fo many excellent patterns fet out, as might both in a fhorter and more effectual manner recommend that to the world, which difcourfes do but coldly -, the wit and file of the writer being more conjidered than the argument which they handle, and therefore the propofing virtue and religion in fuch a model, may perhaps operate more than the perfpecfive of it can do ; and for the hijlory of learning, nothing does fo preferve and im- prove it, as the writing the lives of thofe who have been eminent in it.

There

"The PREFACE.

^hen is no hook the ancients have left tis^ which might have informed us more than Dio- genes Laertius his lives of the philofophers, if he had had the art of writing equal to that great fuhje^ which he under tooky for if he had given the world fuch account of them^ as Gaf- fendus has done of Peirejky how great a flock of knowledge might we have had, which l>y his unjkilfulnefs is in a great meafure lofi \ fince we mufi now depend only on him, becaufe we have -no other ^ or better author, that has written on that argument.

For many ages there were no lives writ hut hy monks, through whofe writings there runs fuch an incureahle humour of telling incredible and inimitable pa[fages, that little in them can he believed or propofed as a pattern. Sulpitius Severus and Jerom fhewed too much credulity in the lives they writ, and raifed Martin and Hilarion beyond what can be reafonable believed: after them, Socrates, Theodoret, Sozomen, and Palladius, took a pleafure to tell uncouth flories ef the monks of Thebais, and Nitra •, and ihofe who came after them, fccrned to fall fljcrt of them, but raifed their faints above thofe of for- mer ages, fo that one would have thought that tmdecent way of writing could raife no higher -,

and

rhe P R E F A C E.

£nd this humour infeuied even thofe who had otherwife a good fenfe of things, and a juji apprehenjion of mankind, as may appear in Matthew Paris, who though he was a writer vf great judgment and fidelity, yet he has cor- rupted his hiflory with much of that alloy : hut when emulation and envy rofe among the fever at orders or houfes, then they improved in that art of making romances, infiead of writing lives, to that pitch, that the world became ge- nerally much fcandalized with them. The Fran- cifcans and Dominicans tried who could fay the mofl extravagant things of the founders, or other faints of their orders, and the Benedic- tines, who thought thcmf elves po[fefi of the belief of the world, as well as of its wealth, endeavoured all that was poffible fill to keep up the dignity of their order, by out -lying the ethers all they could; and whereas here or there, a miracle, a vifion, or trance, might have occured in the lives of former faints, now every page was full of thofe wonderful things.

J^or has the humour of writing in fuch a manner, been quite laid down in this age, though more awakened and better enlightened, as ap- pears in the life of Philip Nerius, and a great many more : and the jcfuits at Antwerp, are

nozv

<The PREFACE.

now taking care to load the world with a vaji and voluminous colle5fion of all thofe lives that has already /welled to eleven volumes in folio^ in a fmall prints and yet being digejled accord- ing to the calender, they have yet hut ended the month of April. The life of mo^/lear Renty is writ in another manner, where there are fo many excellent pajfages, that he is jtijlly to be reckoned amongfl the greated patterns that France has afforded in this age.

But while fome have nourifhed infidelity, and a f corn of all f acred things, by writing of thofe good men in fuch a ftrain, as makes not only what is fo related to be difhelieved, but creates a diftrujl of the authentical writings of our moji holy faith ; others have fallen into another extream, in writing lives too jejunely, fwelling ihem up with trifling accounts of the childhood and education, and the domeftick and private affairs of thofe perfons of whom they writ, in which the world is little concerned; by thefe they become fo flat ^ that few care to read them-, for certainly thofe tranfa^ions are only fit to be delivered to poflerity, that may carry with them fome ufeful piece of knowledge to after-times.

I have

■<I%e PREFACE.

/ have now an argument before me^ which will afford indeed only a Jhort hiftory^ hut will xontain in it as great a character as perhaps can he given of any in this age ; ftnce there are few injiances of more knowledge and greater virtues meeting is one perfon. I am upon one account (bejidts many more) unfit to undertake it^ he- caufe I was not at all known to him, fo I can fay nothing from my vvm ohfervation ; hut upon fecond thoughts I do not know whether this may not qualify me to write more impartially, though perhaps more defe5lively, for the knowledge of extraordinary perfons does mojl commonly biafs thofe who were much wrought on by the ten- dernefs of their friendfhip for them, to raife their flile a little too high when they write concerning them : I confefs I knew him as much as the looking often upon hifn could amount to. The lafi year ■of his heing in London, he came always on Sundays (when he could go abroad) to the chapel of the Rolls, where I then preached: in my life I never f aw fo 7nuch gravity^ tempered -with that fweetnefs, and fet off with fo much vivacity, as appeared in his looks and behaviour, which difpofed me to a veneration for him, which I never had for any, with whom I was not acquainted: I was feeking an opportunity

of

ne PREFACE.

cf being admitted to bis converfation\ hut I underfiood that between a great want of healthy and a multiplicity of bufinefs^ which his employ- went brought upon him^ he was majler of fo little of his time, that IJf.ood in doubt whether I might prefume to rob him of any of it, and fo he left the town before I could refolve on dejir- ing to be known to him.

My ignorance of the law of England, made me alfo unfit to write of a man, a great part of whofe character, as to his learning, is to be taken from his /kill in the Common Law, and his performance in that. But Ifhall leave that to thofe of the fame robe \Jince if I engaged much in it, I mufi needs commit many errors, writing cf a fubje^ that is foreign to m^^

1'he occafion of my undertaking this, was given me fir ft by the earneji defires of fame that have great power over me, who having been much obliged by him, and holding his memory in high eflimation, thought I might do it fome right by writing his life ; I was then engaged in the hifiory of the reformation, fo I promifed that as foon as that was over, I Jhculd make the hefl ufe I could of fuch informations and memorials as (Ijould be brought me.

This

ne P R E F A C E.

^his I have nczu fcrfonred in the bejl mtin- ner I could, and have brought into method alt the parcels of his life, or the branches of his character, ivhich I could either gather fro7n the informations that were brought me, or from thofe that were familiarly acquainted with him^ or from his writings. I have not applied any of the falfe colours with which art, or foms forced eloquence, might furniflj me in writing concerning him -, but have endeavoured to fet him out in the fame fimpli city in which he lived. I have faid little of his dome/lick concerns, fince though in thefe he was a great example, yet it Jignifies nothing to the world, to know any par^ ticular exercifes, that might be given to his patience ; and therefore I fhall draw a veil over all thefe, and fhall avoid faying any thing of him, but what may offord the reader feme pro- fitable inflruolion. I am under no tempt atic?is of faying any thing, but what I am perfuaded i$^ exactly true, for where there is fo much excellent truth to be told, it were an inexcufable fault to corrupt that, or prejudice the reader againji it, by the mixture of falfhoods with it.

In fhort, as he was a great example while he; lived,, fo I wijh the fet ting him thus out to pcjle-

riiy^

'J'he P R E F A C E.

r//y, in his own true and native colours^ may have its due influence on all perfonSy but more particularly on thofe of that profeffion, whom it more immediately concerns, whether on the hetich or at the bar.

THE

^' w*'0. -^-^^ x^x -^'""^ ;<^:*M 9 o; ;^;*M ^°-'$« x^>- ^««.:^ .jg:;*)s< .^:

THE

LIFE AND DEATH

O F

Sir MATTHEW HALE, Knt.

LATE

Lord Chief Juftice of England.

MATTHEW HALE, was born at Alderly in Glocefterftiire, Nov. i, 1609. His grandfather was Robert Hale, an eminent clothier in VVotton-under-edge, in that county, where he and his anceftors had lived for many defcents ; and they had given feveral parcels of land for the ufe of the poor, which were enjoyed by them to this day. This Robert acquired an eftate of ten thoufand pounds, which he divided almoft equally amongft his five fons ; befides the portions he gave his daughters, from whom a nu- merous pofterity has fprung. His fecond fon was Robert Hale, a Barrifter of Lincoln's-Inn ; he married Joan, the daughter of Matthew Poyntz, of

B Alderly,

2 The Life and Death of

AUerly, Efquire, who was defcended from thfag noble family of the Poyntz's of Afton : of this mar- riage there was no other iflue but this one fon. His- Grandfather by his mother was his godfather, and gave him his own name at his baptifm. His father was a man of that ftri£tnefs of confcience, that he gave over the pra6llce of the law, becaufe he could not underftand the rcafon of giving colour in plead-* ings, which as he thought was to tell a lye, and that, with fome other things commonly pra^llfed,, feemed to him contrary to that exadtnefs of truth and juftiee which became a chriftian, fo that he withdrew himfelf from thelnnaof Court to live on his eftate in the country. Of this I was informed by an ancient gentleman, that lived in a friendftiip with his fon for fifty years, and he heard Judge Jones, that was Mr. Hale's contemporary, declare this in the King's-bench. But as the care he had to fave his foul, made him abandon a profefEon in which he might have laifed his family much higher^, fo his charity to his poor neighbours made him not only deal his alms largely among them while he lived, but at his death he left (out of his fmall eftate which was but lool. a year) 20 1. a year to the poor of Wotton, which his fon confirmed to them, with fome addition, and with this regu-^ lation, that it fliould be diftributed among fucb poor houfe-keepers, as did not receive the alms of the parifh ; for to give it to thofe, was only, as he iifed to fay, to fave fo much money to the rich, who by law were bound to relieve the poor of the parifti.

Thus

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 3

' Thus he was defcended rather from a good, than a noble family, and yet what was wanting in the infignificant titles of high birth, and noble blood, was more than made up in the true worth of his anceflors. But he was foon deprived of the hap- pinefs of his father's care and inftrudion, for as he loft his mother before he was three years old, fo his father died before he was five ; fo early was he caft on the providence of God. But that un- happinefs was in a great meafure made up to him : for after fome oppofition made by Mr. Thomas Poyntz, his uncle by his mother, he was com- mitted to the care of Anthony Kingfcot, of King- fcot, Efquire, who was his next ktnfman, after his uncles, by his mother.

Great care was taken of his education, and his guardian intended to breed him to be a divine, and being inclined to the way of thofe then called Puritans, put him to fome fchools that were taught by thofe of that party, and in the feventeenth year of his age, fent him to Magdalen-Hall in Oxford, where Obadiah Sedgwick was his tutor. He was an extraordinary proficient at fchool, and for fome time at Oxford. But the Stage-players coming thither, he was fo much corrupted by feeing many plays, that he almoft wholly forfook his ftudies. By this he not only loft much time, but found that his head came to be thereby filled with fuch vain images of things, that they were at beft un- profitable, if not hurtful to him ; and being after- wards fejifible of the mifchief of this, he refolved

B 2 upon

4 1"he Life and Death of

upon his coming to London, (where he knew the opportunities of fuch fights would be more fre- quent and inviting) never to fee a play again, to which he conftantly adhered.

The corruption of a young man's mind, in one particular, generally draws on a great many more after it, fo he being now taken off from following his ftudies, and from the gravity of his deportment> that was formerly eminent in him, far beyond his years, fet himfelf to many of the vanities incident to youth, but ftill preferved his purity, and a great probity of mind. He loved fine clothes, and de- lighted much in company : and being of a ftrong robuft body, he was a great mafter of all thofe exercifes that required much ftrength. He alfo learned to fence, and handle his weapons, in which he became fo expert, that he worfted many of the mafters of thofe arts : but as he was exercifmg him- felf in them, an inftance appeared, that fhewed a good judgment, and gave fome hopes of better things. One of his mafters told hrm, he could teach him no more, for he was now better at his own trade than himfelf was. This Mr. Hale look'd on as flattery ; fo to make the mafter difcover himfelf, he promifed him the houfe he lived in, for he was his tenant, if he could hit him a blow on the head : and bad him do his beft, for he would be as good as his word. So after a little engagement, his mafter being really fuperiour to him, hit him on the head, and he performed his promife \ for he gave him the houfe freely : and

was

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 5

was not unwilling at that rate to learn fo early, to diftinguifh flattery from plain and fimple truth.

He was now fo taken up with martial matters, that inftead of going on in his defign of being a fcholar, or a divine, he refolved to be a foldier : and his tutor Sedgwick going into the Low-coun- tries, chaplain to the renowned Lord Vere, he refolved to go along with him, and to trail a pike in the prince of Orange's army ; but a happy ftop was put to this refolution, which might have proved fo fatal to himfelf, and have deprived the age of the great example he gave, and the ufeful fervices he afterwards did his country. He was engaged in a fuit of law with Sir William Whitmore, who laid claim to fome part of his eftate, and his guar- dian being a man of a retired temper, and not made for bufmefs, he was forced to leave the uni- verfity, after he had been three years in it, and go to London to follicit his own bufmefs. Being recommended to ferjeant Glanvill for his councel- lor, and he obferving in him a clear apprehenfion of things, and a folid judgment, and a great fitnefs for the ftudy of the law, took pains upon him to perfuade him to forfake his thoughts of being a foldier, and to apply himfelf to the ftudy of the law : and this had fo good an effefi on him, that on the 8th of November, 1629, when he was paft the twentieth year of his age, he was admitted into Lincoln's-Inn : and being then deeply fenfible how much time he had loft, and that idle and vain things had over -run and almoft corrupted his mind,

^ Z he

6 1'he Life and Death of

he refolved to redeem the time he had loft, and followed his ftudies with a diligence that could fcarce be believed, if the fignal effects of it did not gain it credit. He ftudied for many years at the rate of fixteen hours a day : he threw afide all fine clothes, and betook himfelf to a plain fa- ihion, which he continued to ufe in many points to his dying day.

But, fmce the honour of reclaiming him from the idlenefs of his former courfe of life, is due to the memory of that eminent lawer, ferjeant Glan- vill, and fince my defign in writing is to propofe a pattern of heroic virtue to the world, I fliall men- tion one paflage of the ferjeant which ought never to be forgotten. His father had a fair eftate, which he intented to fettle on his elder brother, but he heing a vicious young man, and there appearing no hopes of his recovery, he fettled it on him, that was his fecond fon. Upon his death, his cldeft fon finding that what he had before looked on, as the threatnings of an angry father, was now but too certain, became melancholy, and that by degrees wrought fo great a change on him, that what his father could not prevail in while he lived, was now effc6led by the feverity of )iis lafl: ivill, fo that it was now too late for him to change in hopes of an eftate that was gone from him. But his brother obferving the reality of the change, refolved within himfelf what to do : fo he called him, with many of his friends together to a feaft, ^nd after other difhes had been ferved up to the

* dinner^

Str MATTHEW HALE. 7

tlinner, he ordered one that was covered to be fet before his brother, and defired him to uncover it ; which he doing, the company vv^as furprized to find it full of writings. So he to3<i them, that he was now to do what he was fare his father would have done, if he had lived to fee that happy change, which they now all faw in his brother : and therefore he freely reftored to him the whole eftate. This is fo great an inftance of a generous and juft difpofition, that I hope the reader will eafily pardon this digreffion, and that the rather, fmce that worthy ferjeant was fo inftrumental in the happy change that followed in the courfe of Mr. Hale's life.

Yet he did not at firft break off from keeping too much company with fome vain people, till a fad accident drove him from it, for he, with fome ^ther young ftudents, being invited to be merry Ottt of town, one of the company called for fd anuch wine, that, notwithftanding all that Mr. •Hale could do to prevent it, he wenj on in his ex- "cefs till he fell down as dead before them, fo that all that were prefent, were not a little affrighted at it, who did what they could to bring him to himfelf again. This did particularly affedl Mr. Hale, who thereupon went into another room, and fhutting the door, fell on his knees, and prayed earneftly to God, both for his friend, that he might be reftored to life again ; and that him- felf might be forgiven for giving fuch countenance to fo much excefs ; and he vowed to God, that

B 4 he

•;S ^he Life and Death of

he would never again keep company in that man- ner, nor drink a health while he lived. His friend recovered, and he moft religioufly obferved his vow, till his dying day. And though he was afterwards preft to drink healths, particularly the king's, which was fet up by too many as a diftin- guifliing mark of loyalty, and drew many into great excefs after his Majefty's happy reftoration ; but he would never difpenfe with his vow, though he was fometimes roughly treated for this, which fome hot and indifcreet men called obftinacy.

This wrought an entire change on him : now he forfook all vain company, and divided" himfelf between the duties of religion, and the ftudies of his profeflion. In the former he was fo regular, that for fix and thirty years time he never once failed going to church on the Lord's day j this obfervation he made when an ague firft interrupted that conftant courfe, and he reflefted on it as an acknowledgment of God's great goodnefs to him, in fo long a continuance of his health.

He took a ftri6l account of his time, of which the reader will beft judge, by the fcheme he drew for a diary, which I fhall infert copied from the original, but I am not certain when he made it ; it is fet down in the fame fimplicity in which he writ it for his own private ufe.

Morning. I. To lift up the heart to God in thankfulnefs

for renewing my life.

II. To

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 9

5'"II.To renew my covenant with God in Chrift.

I. By renewed a£ts of faith receiving Chrift, and

rejoycing in the height of that relation. 2. Re-

folution of being one of his people, doing him

allegiance.

• III. Adoration and prayer.

IV. Setting a watch over my own infirmities and paflions, over the fnares laid in our way. Perimus Jicitis.

Day Employment.

There muft be an employment, two kinds.

I. Our ordinary calling, to ferve God in it. It -is a fervice to Chrift though never fo mean. Colof.

3. Here faithfulnefs, diligence, chearfulnefs. Not to overlay myfelf with more bufinefs than I can bear.

II. Our fpiritual employments : mingle fonie- ^hat of God's immediate fervice in this day.

Refrefliments.

T. Meat and drink, moderation feafoned witTi fomewhat of God.

II. Recreations, i. Not our bufinefs. 2. Suit- able. No games, if given to covetoufnefs or paffion.

If alone.

I. Beware of wandering vain luftful thoughts ; fly from thyfelf rather than entertain thefe.

II. Let thy folitary thoughts be profitable, view the evidences of thy falvation, the llace of thy foul,

the

lo The Life and Death of

the coming of Chrift, thy own mortality, it will make thee humble and watchful.

Company,

Do good to them, Ufe God's name reverently. Beware of leaving an ill impreffion of ill example. Receive good from them, if more knowings

Evening.

Caft up the accompts of the day. If ought amifs, beg pardon. Gather refolution of more vigilance. If well, blefs the mercy and grace of God that hath fupported thee.

Thefe notes have an imperfeilion in the word- ing of them, which fhews they were only intended for his privacies. No wonder, a man who fet fuch rules to himfelf, became quickly very emi- nent and remarkable.

Noy, the attorney-general, being then one of the greateft men of the profeffion, took early notice of him, and called often for him, and dire61:e4 him in his ftudy, and grew to have fuch friend- ship for him, that he came to be called Young J^oy. He paffing from the extreme of vanity in his apparel, to that of negle6ling himfelf too much, was once taken when there was a prefs for the king's fervicc, as a fit perfon for it ; for he was a ftrong and well-built man : but fome that knew him coming by, and giving notice who he was, the prefs-men let him go. This made him return to more decency in his clothes, but never to any fuperfluity or vanity in them. Once

Sir MATTHEW HALE. n

Once as he was buying fome cloth for a new -fuit, the draper, with whom he difFered about the price, told him he fhould have it for nothing, if he would promife him an hundred pounds when he came to be Lord Chief Juftice of England ; to which he anfwered, that he could not with a good confcience wear any man's cloth, unlefs he payed for it j fo he fatisfied the draper, and carried away the cloth. Yet that fame d.aper lived to fee him advanced to that fame dignity.

While he was thus improving himfelf In the ftudy of the law, he not only kept the hours of the hall constantly in term-time, but feldom put himfelf out of commons in vacation time, and continued then to follow his ftudjes with an un- wearied diligence ; and not being fatisfied with the books wrote about it, or to take things upon truft, was very diligent in fearching all records. Then did he make divers colle6tions out of the books he had read, and mixing them with his own obfervations, digefted them into a common- place book ; which he did with fo much induftry and judgment, that an eminent judge of the King's-bench borrowed it of him when he was Lord Chief Baron: He unwillingly lent it, becaufe it had been writ by him before he was called to the bar, and had never been thoroughly revifed by him fmce that time, only what alterations had been made in the law by fubfequent ftatutes, and judgments, were added by him as they had hap- pened : but the judge, having perufed it, faid, that

though

12 ^he Life and Death of

though it was compofed by him fo early, he did not think any lawyer in England could do it bet- ter, except he himfelf would again fet about It.

He was foon found out by that great and learned antiquary, Mr. Selden, who though much fupe- rlour to him in years, yet came to have fuch a liking of him, and of Mr. Vaughan, who was afterwards Lord Chief Juftice of the Common- pleas, that as he continued in a clofe friendfhip with them while he lived, fo he left them at his death two of his four executors.

It was this acquaintance that firft fet Mr. Hale on a more enlarged purfult of learning, which he had before confined to his own profeflion, but becoming as great a mafter In it, as ever any was, very foon, he who could never let any of his time go away unprofitably, found leifure to attain to as great a variety of knowledge, in as comprehenfive a manner as moft men have done in any age.

He fet himfelf much to the ftudy of the Roman law, and though he liked the way of judicature in England by juries much better than that of the civil law, where fo much was trufted to the judge; yet he often fald, that the true grounds and reafons of law were fo well delivered In the Digefts, that a man could never underftand law as a fcience fo well as by feeking it there, and theiefore lamented much that it was fo little ftudied in England.

He looked on readinefs in arithmetick as a thing which might be ufeful to him in his own employ- ment.

5fr MATTHEW HALE. 13

merit, and acquired it to fuch a degree, that he would often on the fudden, and afterwards on the bench, refolve very hard queftions, which had puzled the beft accomptants about town. He reftcil not here, but ftudied the algebra, both fpedoja and nwncrofa^ and went through all the other ma- thematical fciences, and made a great colledlion of very excellent inftruments, fparing no coft to have them as exadt as art could make them. He was alfo very converfant in philofoi>hical learning, and. in all the curious experiments, and rare difcoveries of this age ; and had the new books, written on ihofe fubje6ls, fent him from all parts, which he both read and examined fo critically, that if tlie principles and hypothefes, which he took firft up^ did any way prepoflefs him, vet thofe, who have dift'ered mod from him, have acknowledged, thai in what he has writ concerning the Torricellian experiment, and of the rarefadtion and conden- fation of the air, he ftiews as. great an exatSlneli, and as much fubtilty in the reafoning he builds on them, as thefe principles to which he adhered could bear. But indeed, it will feem fcarce cre- dible, that a man fo much employed, and of {o fevere a temper of mind, could find leikire to read, obferve, and wiite fo much of thefe fiibje<?l3 as he did. He called them his diverfions, for he often faid when he was weary with the ftudy of the law, or divinity, he ufed to recreate himfelf with philo- fophy, or the mathematicks ; to thele he added great fkill in phyfick, anatomy, and chyrurgerv :

and

*14 ^^^ Life and Death of

and he ufed to fay^ " No man could be abfolutely *' a mafter in any profeiHon, without having fome '* fkill in other faiences : " for, befides the fatis- fa6tion he had in the knov/Iedge of thefe things, he made ufe of them often in his employments. In fome examinations he would put fuch queftions to phyficians, or furgeons, that they have profefled the college of phyficians could not do it more ex- a6lly ; by which he difcovered great judgment, as well as much knowledge, in thefe things : and in his ficknefs he ufed to argue with his doclors about his diftempers, and the methods they took with them, like one of their own profeffion ; which one of them told me, he underftood as far as fpe- culation without practice could carry him.

To this he added great fearches into ancient hiftory, and particularly into the rougheft and leaft delightful part of it, chronology. He was well ac- quainted with the ancient Greek philofophers, but want of occafion to ufe it, wore out his knowledge of the Greek tongue j and though he never ftudied the Hebrew tongue, yet by his great converfation with Selden, he underftood the moft curious things in the Rabinical learning.

But above all thefe, he feemed to have made the ftudy of divinity the chief of all others, to which he not only diredled every thing elfe, but alfo arrived at that pitch in it, that thofe, who have read what he has written on thefe fubjedts, will think, they muft have had moft of his time and thoughts. It may feem extravagant, and al-

moft

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 15

inoft incredible, that one man, in no great compafs of years, fhould have acquired fuch a variety of knov^^ledge, and that in fciences that require much leifure and application. But as his parts were quick, and his apprehenfions lively, his memory great, and his judgment flrong ; fo his induftry was almoft indefatigable. He rofe always betimei in the morning, was never idle, fcarce ever held any difcourfe about news, except with fome fev»^ in whom be confided entirely. He entered into no eorrefpondence by letters, except about necefTary bufinefs, or matters of learning, and fpent very little time in eating or drinking ; for as h« never went to public feafts, fo he gave no entertainments but to the poor j for he followed our Saviour's direction (of feafting none but thefe) literally : and in eating and drinking he obl'erved not only great plainnefs and moderation, but lived fo philofophi- cally, that he always ended his meal with an ap- petite : fo that he loft little time at it, (that being the only portion which he grudged himfelf ) and was difpofed to any exercife of his mind, to which he thought fit to apply himfelf immediately after he had dined ; by thefe means he gained much time, that is otherwife unprofitably wafted.

He had alfo an admirable equality in the temper of his mind, which difpofed him for what ever ftudies he thought fit to turn himfelf to j and fome very uneafy things, which he lay under for many years, did rather engage him to, than diftradt him

from» his ftudies,

When

i6 *The Life and Death of

When he was called to the bar, and began to make a figure in the world, the late unhappy wars broke out, in which it was no eafy thing for a man to preferve his integrity, and to live fecurely, free from great danger and trouble. He had read the life of Pomponius Atticus, wrote by Nepos, and having obferved, that he had pafled through a time of as much diftradtion, as ever was in any age or ftate, from the wars of Marius and Scilla, to the beginnings of Auguftus his reign, without the leaft blemifh on his reputation, and free from any confiderable danger, being held in great efteem by all parties, and courted and favoured by them ; he fet him as a pattern to himfelf, and obferving that befides thofe virtues which are neceflary to all men, and at all times, there were two things that chiefly preferved Atticus, the one was his engaging in no faction, and medling in no 'public bufi- nefs ; the other was his conftant favouring and relieving thofe that were lowefl, which was afcrib- ed by fuch as prevailed to the generofity of his temper, and procured him much kindnefs from thofe on whom he had exercifed his bounty, when it came to their turn to govern : He refolv- ed to guide himfelf by thofe rules as much as was pofiible for him to do.

He not only avoided all public employment, but the very talking of news; and was always both favourable and charitable to thofe who were de- prefied, and was fure never to provoke any in particular, by cenfuring or reflecting on their adi-

onsi

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 17

ons } for many that have converfed much with him, have told me, they never heard him once fpeak ill of any perfon.

He WZLS employed in his praclice by all the Icing's party. He was afligned council to the earl of Strafford, and archbifiiop Laud, and afterwards to the blefl'ed king himfelf, when brought to the infamous pageantry of a mock-trial, and offered to plead for him with all the courage, that fo glorious 3 caufe ought to have infpired him with, but was not fuffered to appear, becaufe the king refufing, as he had good reafon, to fubmit to the court, it was pretended, none could be admitted to fpeak for him. He was alfo council for the duke of Ha- milton, the earl of Holland, and the lord Cape! : his plea for the former of thefe I have publifhed in the memoirs of that duke's life. Afterwards alfo, being council for the lord Craven, he pleaded with that force of argument, that the then attor- ney-general threatened him for appearing againft the governnient; to whom heanfwered, " he was " pleading in defence of thofe laws, wliich they *' declared they would maintain and prcferve ; *' and he was doing his duty to his clienc, fo that ** he was not to be daunted with threatciiings."

Upon all thefe occafions he had difcharged him-" felf with fo much learning, fidelity, and courage, that he came to be generally employed for all that party j nor was he fatisfied to appear for their juft defence ia the way of his profeffion, but he alfo Relieved them often in their neceffities ; which he

C did

iS ^he Life and Death of

did in a Way that was no lefs prudent than cha- ritable, confldering the dangers of that time : for he did often depofit confiderable fums in the hands- of a worthy gentleman of the king's party, who knew their neceflitics well, and was to diftri- bute his charity according to his own difcretion,^ without either letting them know from whence it came, or giving hinifelf any account to whom, he had given it.

Cromwell, feeing him pofieffed of fo much prac- tice, and he being one of the eminenteft men of the law, who was not at all afraid of doing his duty in thofe critical times, refolved to take him off from it, and raife him to the bench,

Mr. Hale faw well enough the fnare laid for him, and though he did not much confider the prejudice it v/ould be to himfelf, to exchange the eafy and fafer profits he had by his pra6ti.ce, for a judge's place in the Common-pleas, which he was required to accept of, yet he did deliberate more on the lavvfulnefs of taking a commiffion from ufurpers j but having confidered well of this, he came to be of opinion, " that It being abfolutely *' necefiary, to have juftice and property kept up " at all times, it was no fin tg take a commiflioa " from ufurpers, if he made no declaration of his "• acknowledging their authority," which he never did. He was much urged to accept of it by fome eminent men of his own profeffion, who were of the king's party, as fir O lando Bridgemanj. and fir Geoftery Palmer i and was. alfo fati§fied

coa-

sir MATTHEW HALE. 19

concerning the lawful nefs^ of it, by the refolution of fome famous divines, irt particular Dr. Sheldon, and Dr. Henchman, who were afterwards promoted to the fees of Canterbury and London.

To thefe were added the importunities of all his friends, who thought that in a time of fo much danger and oppreffion, it might be no fmall fecurity to the nation, to have a man of his inte- grity and abilities on the bench : and the ufurpers themfelves held him in that eftimation, that they were glad to have him give a countenance to their courts, and by promoting one that was known to have different principles from them, affedted the reputation of honouring and trufting men of eminent virtues, of what perfuafion foever they might be, in relation to public matters.

But he had greater fcruples concerning the pro- ceeding againft felons, and putting offenders to death by that commiffion, fmce he thought the fword of juftice belonging only by right to the lawful prince, it feemed not warrantable to proceed to a capital fentence by an authority derived from lifurpers ; yet at firft he made diftinclion between common and ordinary felonies, and offences againft the ftate ; for the laft he would never meddle in them, for he thought thefe might be often legal and warrantable anions, and that the putting men to death on that account was murder j but for the ordinary felonies, he at firff was of opinion, that it was as neceffary, even in times of ufurnation, r© execute juftice in thofe cafes, as in matters

C 2 of

20 'The Life and Death of

of property j but after the king was murdered, h? laid by all his colletStionsipf the pleas of the crown, and that they might not fall into ill hands, he hid them behind the wainfcotting of his ftudy, for he faid, *' there was no more occafion to vjfe " them, tin the king fliould be again reftored to '* his right," and fo upon his Majelly's reftora- tion he took them out, and went on in his defiga to perfe6c that great work.

Yet, for fomc time after he was made a juJge, when he went the circuit, he did fit on the crown- fide, and judged criminals : but, having confi- dered farther of it, he came to think, that it was at leaft better not to do it ; and fo after the fecond or third circuit, he refufed to fit any more on the crown- fide, and told plainly the reafon, for in matters of blood, he was always to choofe the fafer fide. And indeed he had fo carried him- fe'if in fome trial?, that they v^ere not unv/illing he fhould withdraw from medling farther in them, of which I ihall give fome inftances,

Npt long after he was made a judge, which was in the year 1653, when he went the circuit, a trial was brought before him at Lincoln, con- cerning the murder of one of the townfmen, who had been of the king's party, and was killed by a foldier of the garrlfon there. He was in the fields with a fowling piece on his Ihoulder, which the foldier feeing, he came to him and faid, it was contrary to an order which the Protestor had mgde, " Tk^t none who had been of the

" king'*

sir MATTHEW HALE. 21

''= king's party fhould carry arms;" and fo he would have forced it from him ; but as the other did not regard the order, fo being ftronger than the foldier, he threw him down, and having beat him, he left him. The foldier went into the town, and told one of his fellow-foldicrs how he had been ufed, and got him to go with him, and lie in wait for the man that he might be revenged on him. They both watched his coming to town, and one of them went to him to demand his gun, which he refufmg, the foldier ftruck at him, and as they were ftruggling, the other came behind, and ran his fvvord into his body, of which he prefcntly died. It was in the time of the affizes, fo they were both tried : againft the one there was no evidence of forethought felony, fo he was only found guilty cf man-flaughter, and burnt on the hand ; but the other was found guilty of murder : and though colonel Whiley, that commanded the garrifon, came into the court and urged, that the man was killed only for difobeying the Protedlor's orders, and that the foldier was but doing his duty; yet the judge regarded both his reafons and threatenings very little, ?.nd therefore he not only save fentence a<?;ainft him, but ordered the execu- tion to be fo fuddenly done, that it might not be, poflible to procure a reprieve, which he believed would have been obtained, if there had been time enough granted for it.

Another occafion was given him o-f (hewing llQtb his juftice and coirage, when he was in an-

C 3 other

22 *ithe Life and Death of

other circuit. He underftood that the Protestor had ordered a jury to be returned for a trial in which he was more than ordinarily concerned : upon this information, he examined the fherifF about it, who knew nothing of it, for he faid he referred all fuch things to the undcr-flierifF ; and having next a(ked the under-fhcriff concerning it, he found the jury had been returned by order from Cromwell ; upon which he fhewed the flatute, that all juries ought to be returned by the flierifl:', or his lawful officer; and this not being done ac- cording to law, he difmillcd the jury, and would not try the caufe : upon which the Prote6lor was highly difpleafed with him, and at his return from the circuit, he told him in anger, hfe was not fit to be a judge ; to which all the anfwer he made was, that it was very true.

Another thing met him in the circuit, upon which he refolved to have proceeded feverely. Some Anabaptifts had rufhed into a church, and had difturbed a congregation, while they were receiv- ing the facrament, not without fome violence ; at this he was higldy offended, for he faid, it was intolerable for men, v/ho pretended fo highly to liberty of confcience, to go and difturb others ; lefpecially thofe who had the encouragement of the law on their fide : but thcfe were fo fupported by fome great magiftrates and officers, that a flop was put to his proceedings; upon which he declared, he would meddle no more with the trials on the crown-fide.

When

»5'/r MATTHEW HALE. 23

When Penruddock's trial was brought on, there was a fpecial nieiTenger fent to him, requiring him to affift at it. It was in vacation time, and he was at his country-houfe at ^Iderly : he plainly 4:efufed to go, and faid, the four terms, and two circuits, were enough, and the little interval til at was between, was Httle enough for his private affairs, and fo he excufed himfelf : he thought it ■was not neccffary to fpeak more clearly, but if he had been urged to it, he would not have been afraid of doing it.

He was at that lime chofcn n parliament-man, (for there being then no houfc of lords, judges might have been chofen to fit in the houfe of commons) and he went to il, on defign to obfiru61: the ma<i and wicked projects then on foot, by two parties, that had very different principles and ends.

On the one hand, fome that were perhaps more -fmcere, yet were really brain-fick, defigned they knew not what, being rcfolvcd to pull down a ilanding miniftry, the law, and property of Eng- land, and all the antient rules of this government, and fet ud in its room an indi^-efted cnthufiatlical

1 O

fchcme, which they called the kingdom of Chrifl, or of his faints; many of them being really in ex- pectation, that one day or other Chrifl would come down, and fit among them, and at leaft they thought to begin the glorious thoufand years mentioned in the Revelation.

Others at the fame timcy taking advantages from -the fears and apprehcnfions, that all the fober men

C 4 of

24 The Life and Death of

of the nation were in, leaft they fhould fall under the tyranny oi a difl-ra6i:ed fort of people, who, to all their other ill principles, added great cruelty, which they had copied from thofe at Munfter in the former age, intended to improve that opportu- nity to raife their own fortunes and families. A- midft thefe, judge Hale fleered a middle courfe ; for as he would engage for neither fide, fo he, with a great many more worthy men, came to parlia- ment, more out of a defign to hinder mifchief, than to do much good ; wifely forefeeing, that the inclinations for the royal family were daily grow- ing fo much, that in time the diforders, then in agitation, would ferment to that happy refolution in which they determined in May 1660. And therefore all that could be then done, was to op- pofe the ill defigns of both parties, the enthufiafts as well as the ufurpers. Among the other extra- vagant motions made in this parliament, one was, to deflroy all the records in the Tower, and to fettle the nation on a new foundation ; fo he took this province to himfelf, to flicw the madnefs of this propofition, the injullice of it, and the mifchiefs that would follow on it ; and did it with fuch clearnefs, and ftrength of reafon, as not only fatisficd all fober peifons, (for it may be fuppofed that was foon done) but Hopt even the mouths of the frantic people thcmfelves.

Thus he continued adminiftering juftice till the Proteilor died, but then he both refufed the mournings that were fent to him and his fervants

for

5"/V MATTHEW HALE. J 25

for the funeral, and likcwife to accept of the new commiiTion that was oftcred him by Richard, and when the reft of thfe judges urged it upon hiirj, and employed others to prcfs him to accept of it, he rejeded all their importunities, and faid, he could ad: no longer under fuch authority.

He lived a private man till the parliament met that called home the king, to which he was i-c- turned knight of the fl^ire from the county of Gloucefter. It appeared at that time how much he was beloved and efteemed in his neighbourhood, for though another, who ftood in competition with him, had fpent near a thoufand pounds to procure voices, (a great fum to be employed that way in thofe days) and he had been at no coft, and was fo far from foliciting it, that he had ftood out long againft thofe whoprefs'd him to appear, and he did not promiie to appear till three days before the eledion, yet he was preferred. He was brought thi- ther almoft by violence, by the lord (now earl of) Berkeley, v^ho bore all the charge of the enten- tainments on the day- of his election, which was confiderable, and had engaged all his friends and intereft for him : and whereas by the writ, the knight of the fnire muft be miles ghidlo c'lntha^ and he had no fword, that noble lord girt him with his own fword during the eIc<Stion ; b>:t he was foon weary of it, for the embroidery of the belt did not fuit well v/Ith the plainnefs of his cloaths: and indeed the election did not hold long, for us foon as ever he came into the field, he was

ckofen

5.6 The Lite and D£ath of

chofen by much the greater number, though the poll continued for three or four days.

In that parliament he bore his fhare in the happy period then put to the confufions that threatened the utter ruin of the nation, which, con- trary to the expedations of the moft fanguine, fettled in fo ferene and quiet a manner, that thofe ■who had formerly built fo much on their fuccefs, calling it an anfwer from heaven to their folemn appeals to the providence of God, were now not a little confounded, to fee all this turned a^ainft themfelves, in an inftancemuch more extraordinary than any of thofe were, upon which they had built fo much. His great prudence and excellent temper led him to think, that the fooner an adt of indemnity were paffed, and the fuller it were of graces and favours, it would fooner fettle the na- tion, and quiet the minds of the people ; and therefore he applied himfelf with a particular care to the framing and carrying it on, in which it was vifible he had no concern of his own, but ■merely his love of the public that fet him on to it.

Soon after this, when the courts in Weftmin- fter-hall came to be fettled, he was made lord chief baron ; and when the earl of Clarendon (then lord chancellor) delivered him his commiffion, in the fpeech he made according to the cuftom on fuch occafions, he exprefled his efteem of him in a very fmgular manner, telling him among other things, *' that if the king could have found out " an honefler and fitter man for that employment,

*' he

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 27

.<« he would not have advanced him to It; and

■«' that he had theiefore preferred him, becaufe he

*« knew none that deferved it (o well." It is or-

<iinary for pcrfons fo promoted to be knighted, but

he defired to avoid having that honour done him,

and therefore for a confiderable time declined all

.opportunities of waiting on the king, which the

lord chancellor obferving, fent for him upon bufi-

jnefs one day, when the king was at his houfe, and

told his I\'iajefty there was his modelt chief baron,

upon which he v/as unexpe2:edly knighted.

He continued eleven years in that place, ma- naging the court, and all proceedings in it, with fingular juftice. It was obferved by the whole nation, how much he raifed the reputation and pra^lice of it : and thofe who held places and of- . ficcs in it, can all declare, not only the impartia- lity of his juftice, for that is but a common virtue, but his generofity, his vaft diligence, and his great- exadlnefs in trials. This gave occafion to the only complaint that ever was made of him, that he did not difpatch matters quick enough; but the great care he ufed, to put fuits to a final end, as it mad^ him flower in deciding them ; fo it had this good efledt, that caufes, tried before him, were feldom, if ever, tried again.

Nor did his adminiflration of juftice lie only m that court: he was one of the principal judges that fat in Cliffbrd's-Inn, about fettling the diffe- rence between landlord and tenant, after the d^rcadful fire of London. He being the firft that

offered

^S' Th'i Life and D£ATif of

offered his fervice to the city, for accommodating all the differences that might have arifen about the rebuilding it, in which he behaved himfeJf to the fatisfaclion of all perfons concerned : fo that the fudden and quiet building of the city, which is juftJy to be reckoned one of the v^onders of the age, is in no fmall meafure due to the great care, which he and fir Orland Bridgernan, (then lord chief juftice of the Ccmmon-pleas, afterwards lord keeper of the great feal of England) ufed, and to the judgment they iliewcd in that affair : fince without the rules then laid down, there might have otherwife fol- lowed fuch an endlefs train of vexatious fuits, as might have been little lefs chargeable than the fire itfelf had been. But, v/ithout detraining from the labours of the other judges, it muft be acknow- ledged, that he was the moft inffrumental in that great work ; for he firll, by way of fchcme, contri- ved the rules upon which he and the reft proceeded afterwards, in which his readinefs at arithmetic, and his fkili in architecSture, were of great ufe to him.

But It will not feem ftrange that a judge behav- ed himfelf as he did, who, at the enti-y into his employment, fet fuch excellent rules to himfelf, which will appear in the following paper copied from the original under hk own hand.

Things

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 29

Things necelTary to be continually had in remembrance.

I. That in the adminiftration of juftice, I am intrufted for God, the king and country ; and therefore,

II. That it be done, i. uprightly; 2. delibe- rately; 3. refolutely.

IIL That I reft not upon my own underftand- ing or ftrength, but implore and reft upon the diredlion and ftrength of God.

IV. That in the execution of juftice I care^- fully lay afide my own paiTions, and not give way to them, however provoked.

V. That I be wholly intent upon the bufmefs I am about, remitting all other cares and thoughts, as unfeafonable and interruptions.

VI. That I fuffer not myfelf to be prepoffefied with any judgment at all, till the whole bufiriefs and both parties be heard.

VII. That I- never engage myfelf in the begin- ning of any caufe, but referve myfelf unprejudiced till the whole be heard.

VIII. That in bufinefs capital, though my na- ture prompt me to pity ; yet to confxder, that there is alfo a pity dye to the country.

IX. That I be not too rigid in matters purely confcientious, where all the harm is diveifity oi judgment.

X. Thit

^o The Life and Death of

X. That I be not biafled with compalBon to the poor, or favour to the rich, in point of juftice.

XI. That popular, or court applaufe, or dif- tafte, have no influence in any thing I do in point of diftribution of juftice.

XII. Not to be folJcitous what men will fay or tbinic, fo long as I keep myfelf exactly according to the rule of juftice.

XHI. If in criminals it be a meafuring caft, to incline to mercy and acquittal,

XIV. lii criminals that confift merely in words* •when no more harm enfues, moderation is no Injuftice.

XV. In criminals of blood, if the fatSl be evw dent, fever ity is juftice.

XVI. To abhor all private falicittations, of what kind foever, and by whom foever, in matters depending.

XVII. To charge my fervants, i, not to in- terpofe in any bufinefs whatfoever j 2. not to take more than their known fees ; 3. not to give any undue precedence to caufes j 4. not to recom- mend councir.

XVIII. To be fhort and fparing at meals, that; I may be the fitter for bufmefs.

He v^ould never receive private addrefles or re- commendations from the greateft perfons in any matter, in which juftice was concerned. One of the firft peers of England yy'Piit vncQ to his cham- ber

Sir MATTHEW HALE. ji

ber and told him, '' that having a fuit In law to '* be tried before him, he was then to acquaint ** him with it, that he might the better underftand '* it, when it fhould come to be heard in court.'* Upon which the lord chief baron interrupted him, and faid, ** he did not deal fairly to come to " his chamber about fuch affairs, for he never *' received any information of caufes but in open " -court, where both parties were tp be heard " alike j" fo he would not fuffer him to go on : whereupon his grace (for he was a duke) went away not a little diflatisfied, and complained of it to the kins, as a rudenefs that w^s not to be en- dured. But his Majefly bid him content himfelf that he was no worfe ufed, and faid, " he verily " believed he would have ufed himfelf no better, *' if he had gone to folicit him in any 0/ his ow» <' caufes,"

Another pafTage fell out in one of his circuits, which was fomewhat cenfurcd as an affetftation of an unreafonablc ftridncfs, but it flowed from his exadlnefs to the rules he had kt himfplf. A genr tleman had fent him a buck fo;- his table, that had a trial at the aflizes j fo when he heard his name, he aiked, " if he was not the fame perfon that, " had fent him venifon," and finding he was the fame, he told him, ** he could not (uS'qx the trial " to go on, till he had paid him for his buck i*' to which the gentleman anfwered, " that he never *' fold his venifon, and that he had done nothing *' to him, which be did not dp to every judge that

" hal

3 2 The Life and Dhath of

'' had gone that circuit," which was confirmed by feveral gentlemen then prefent : but all would not do, for the lord chief baron had learned from So- lomon, that a gift pervcrteth the ways of judg- ment, and therefore he would not fuffer the trial to go on, till he had paid for the prefent ; upon which the gentleman withdrew the record : and at Salif- bury the dean and chapter having, according to the cullom, prefentcd him with fi?c fugar loaves. in his circuit, he m;ide his fervants pay for the fugar be- fore he would try their caufe.

\t was not fo eafy for him to throw off the im- portunities of the poor, for whom his comnaflion •wrought more powerfully than his regard to wealth and greatnefs ; yet when juftice was con- cemed, even that did not turn him out of the way. There was one that had been put out of a place for fome ill behaviour, who urged the lord chief baron to fet his hand to a certificate, to reftore him to it, or provide him with another ; but he told him plainly, his fault was fuch that he could not do it ; the other prefTed him vehemently, and fell down on his knees, and begged it of him with many tears ; but finding that could not pro- vail, he faid he fhould be utterly ruined if he did it not ; and he fhould curfe him for it every day. But that having no effeci, he then fell out in all the reproachful words, that paflion and defpair could infpire him with, to which all the anfwer the lord chief baron made, was, " that he could '* very well bear all his reproaches, but he could

"• npt

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 33

'' not for all that fet his hand to his certificate." He faw he was poor, fo he gave him a large cha- rity and fent him away.

But now he was to go on after his pattern, Pomponius Atticus, ftill to favour and relieve them that were loweft ; fo befides great charities to the ncnconformifts, who were then as he thought too hardly ufed, he took great care to cover them all he could, from the feveritics fome defigned againft them, and difcouraged thofe who were inclined to ftretch the laws too much againft them. He la- mented the differences that were raifed in this church very much, and according to the impartia- litv of his juftice, he blamed fome things on both fides, which! fhall fet down with the fame free- dom that he fpake them. He thought many of the nonconformirts, had merited highly in the bufmefs of the king's reftoration, and at leaft de- ferved that the terms of conformity fhould not have been made fl;ri(3:er, than they were before the war. There was not then that dreadful profpe£l of popery, that has appeared fmce: but that which affli'iled him moft was, that he faw the heats and contentions which followed upon thofe different parties and interefts, did take people off from the indifpenfable things of religion, and flackened the zeal of cihcrways good men for the fubftance of it, fo much being fpent about external and indifferent things. It alfo gave advantages to atheifts, to treat the moft facred points of our hgly faith as ridiculous, when they faw the pro- • D ftffors

54 ^'^^ Life md Death of

fefibrs of it contend, fo fiercely, and "with fuch bitternefs, about lefler matters. He was much ofi-ended at all thofe books that were written to expofe the contrary feft to the fcorn and contempt of the age in a wanton and petulant ftile ; he thought fuch writers wounded the chriftian reli- gion, through the fides of thofe who differed fron> them : while a fort of lewd people, who having affumed to tbemfelves the title of wits (though but very hw of them have a right to it) took, up from both hands, what they bad faid, to make one an- other fliew ridiculous, and from thence perfuaded the world to laugh at both, and at all religion for their fakes. And therefore he often wiftied there might be fome law, to make all fcurrillty or bitternefs in difputes about religion punifhable,. But as he lamented the proceedings too rigouroufly againft the nonv.onformifts, fo he declared himfelf always of the fide of the church of England, and faid thofe of the feparation were good men, but they had narrow fouls, who would break the peace of the church, about fuch inconfiderable matters, as the points in difference were.

He fcarce ever medled in flate intrigues, yet upon a propofition that was fet on foot by the lord keeper Bridgeman, for a comprehenfion of the more moderate diffenters, and a limited indulgence towards fuch as could not be brought within the comprehenfion, he difpenfed with his maxim, of avoiding to engage in matters of ftate. There were feveral ui^eiings upon that occalioij. The

diviiie

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 35

divine of the church of Engknd that a; pearcd moft confiderable for it, was uo£lor Wllkrns, af- terwards promoted to the bifliopricl; of C'leHcM", a man of as great a mind, as true z judgment, as eminent virtues, and of as gooJ .: fou', as »;ny I ever knew. He being cetermined, r.3 weH by his excellent temper, as by his forefight and ^,iu:'exice, by which he early perceived tlie great p^cjivJic^s that religion received, and (he vaft dangers ihe re- formation was like to fall under by thofe d'^v-ifions, fet about that project with the magnanimhy that was indeed peculiar to himfelf j for though he was much cenfured by many of his own fide, and fe- conded by very few, yet he puflied it' as far as he could. After feveral conferences with two of the eminenteft of the prefbyterian divines, heads were agreed on, fome abatements were to be made, and explanations were to be accepted of. The par- ticulars of that projedl being thus concerted, they were brought to the lord chief baron, who put them in form of a bill, to be prefented to the next fefllons of parliament.

But two parties appeared vigoroufly agamft this defign, the one was of fome zealous clergymen, who thought it below the dignity of the church to alter laws, and change fettlements for the fake of fome whom they efteemed fchifmaiics ; they alfo believed, it was better to keep them out of the church, than bring them into it, fince a fa£licn upon that would arife in the church, which they thought might be more dani^crous than the fchifm • D i itrelf

3^ The Life and Death of

itfelf was. Befides they faid, if fome things were now to be changed in compliance with the humour of a party, as foon as that was done, another party might demand other conceflions, and there might be as good reafons invented for thefe as for thofe : many fuch conceflions might alfo fhake thofe of our own communion, and tempt them to forfiike us, and go over to the church of Rome, pretending that we changed fo often, that they were thereby iiKlined to be of a church that was conflant and true to herfelf. Thefe were the rea- fons brought, and chiefly inflfted on, againfl: all comprehenfion ; and they wrought upon the greater part of the houle of conunons, fo that they pafled a vote againft the receiving of any bill for that efFecSf.

There were others that oppofed it upon diffe- rent ends : they defigned to fhelter the papifl:s from the execution of the law, and faw clearly that no- thing could bring in popery fo well as a toleration. But to tolerate popery bare- faced, would have ftartlcd the nation too much ; fo it was neceflary to hinder all the proportions for union, fmce the keeping up the differences was the beft colour they could find, for getting the toleration to pafs only as a flackening the laws againft dilTenters, whofQ numbers and wealth made it advifeable to have fome "regard to thf m ; and under this pretence po- pery might have crept in more covered, and lefs legarded : fo thefe councils being more acceptable to fome concealed papiils then in gieat power, as

has

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 37

lias fince appeared but too evidently, the whole projeft for comprehenfion was let fall, and thofe who had fet it on foot, came to be looked on with an ill eye, as fecret favourers of the diilenters, underminers of the church, and every thing elfe that jealoufy and drftafte could call on them.

But upon this occafion the lord chief baron, and Dr. Wilkins, came to contratSl: a firm and familiar frlendfliip ; and the lord chief baron having much bufinefs, and little time to fpare, did, to enjoy the other the more, what he had fcarce ever done "before, he went fometimes to dine with him. And though he lived in great friendfliip with fome other eminent clergymen, as Dr. Ward, bifhop of Salif- bury ; Dr. Barlow, bifhop of Lincoln ; Dr. Barrow, late mafler of Trinity college ; Dr. Tillotfon, dean of Canterbury ; and Dr. Stil- lingflect, dean of St. Paul's, (men fo well known and fo much ef^emed, that as it was rto wonder the lord chief baron valued their converfation highly, fo thofe of them that are yet alive will think it no leffening of the character they arc fo defervedly in, that they are reckoned among judge Hale's friends) yet there was jIn intimacy and free- dom in his converfe with bifliop Wilkins, that w-as fmgular to him alone. He had durinG: the late wars lived in a long and intire frieiidfhip with the .apoftolical primate of Ireland bifliop Uflitr : their curious fearchcs into antiquity, and the Sym- pathy of both their tempers, led them to a great agreement almofl in every thing. He held alfo

D 3 great

38 The Life and Death cf

great converfatlon wUIi Mr. L-axter, who was his neighbour at Afli-'n, on whom he looked as a perfon of great devotion and [nety, and of a very fubtile i:nd quid: rpprehenilon : their converfatlon lay mofl in metaphyfical and abftra<3:ed ideas and fchcmes.

He looked with great forrow on the Impiety and atheifm of the age, and fo he fet himfelf to oppofe it, not only by the fhining example of his own life, but by engaging in a caufe, that indeed could hardly fall into better hands : and as he could not find a fubjeil more worthy of himfelf, fo there were few in the age that underftood it fo well, and could manage it more fkilfully. The occafion that firll led him to write about it was this. He was a ftriiSl cbferver of the Lord's day, in which, befides his conftancy in the public wor/hip of God, he ufcd to call all his family together, and repeat to them the heads of the fermons, with fome ad- ditions of his own, which he fitted for their capa- cities and circumftances, and that being done, he had a cuftom of fliutting himfelf up for two or three hours, which he either fpent in his fecret devoiions, or on fuch profitable meditations as did then occur to his thoughts* He writ them with the fame fimplicity that he formed them in his mind, without any art, or fo much as a thought to let them be publiflie:! ; he never corrected them, but laid di.em by, when he had finifhed them, having intended only to fix and prefervc his own reflections ia them j fo that he ufed no fort of care

to

^/V MATTHEW HALE. 59

£0 polifh them, or make the firft draught perfe£ler than when they fell from his pen. Thefe fell into the hands of a worthy perfon, and he judging, as well he might, that the communicating them to the world, might be a public fervice, printed two volumes of them in oftavo a little before th-^ au- thor's death, containing his

CONTEMPLATIONS,

I. Of our latter en:1.

II. Of wifdom, and the fear of God.

III. or the knowledge of Chrift crucifisd.

IV. The vidory of faiih over the world, y. Of humility.

VI. Jacob's vow.

VII. Of contentation.

VIII. Of affliaions.

IX. A good method to entertain unliable and troublefome times,

X. Changes and troubles, a poem. XL Of the redemption of time.

XII. The great audit.

XIII. Diredions touching keeping the Lord's ^ay, in a letter to his children.

XIV- ?oems written u;ion Chriftmas-day.

In the 2d Volume.

I. An enquiry touching happinefs.

II. Of the chief end of man.

D 4 ni.

40 T'he Life and Death of

III. Upon Eclef. xii. I. Remember thy Creator .*.

IV. Upon thePfal.li. lo. Create a clean heart in me j with a poem.

V. The folly and mifchlef of fni.

VI. Of felf-clenial.

VII. Motives to watchful nefs, in reference to the good and evil angels.

VIII. Of Moderation of the affe<5lions.

IX. Of worldly hope and expettarion.

X. Upon Heb. xiii. 14. We have here no con- tinuing city.

XI. Of contentednefs and patience,

XII. Of moderation of anger.

XIII. A preparative againft affliiSlion.

XIV. Of fubmiflion, prayer, and thankfgiving. -

XV. Of prayer and thankfgiving on Pf. cxvi. 12.

XVI. Meditations on the Lord's prayer, with a paraphrafe upon it.

In them there appears a generous and true fpi- rit of religion, mix'd with a moft fcrious and fervent devotion, and perhaps with the more ad- vantage, that the ftile wants fome corre6lion, which fhews they were the genuine produdlions of an excellent mind, entertaining itfelf in fecret with fuch contemplations. The ftile is clear and mafcu- line, in a due temper between flatnefs and affec- tation, in which he exprefTes his thoughts both eafily and decently. In writing thefc difcourfes, having run over moft of the fubjeds that his own circumftances led him chiefiv to confider, he began

to

.^Vr MATTI-IEW HALE. 41

to be ia fome pain to chuic nevv arguments, and therefore refolved to fix on a tbcme that llioulil hold him loirger.

He was foon determuied ia his choice, by the immoral and irreligious principles and pra(2:ic^, that had fo long vexed his righteous foul : and therefore betraa a o;reat deri2,n againft atheifm ; the Jirft part of which is only printed, of the origi- nation of mankind, dcfigned to prove the creation of the world, and the truth of the Mofaical hif- tory.

The fecond part was of the nature of the foul, and of a future Hate.

The third part was concerning the attributes of God, both from the abflrraded ideas of him, and the light of nature ; the evidence of providence, the notions of morality, and the voice of con- fcience.

And the fourth part was conceining the truth and . authority of the fcriptures, with anfwers to the objCvSlions againft them. On wiiting thefe he fpent kven years. He wrote them with fo much confidcration, that one vi'ho perufed the original under his own hand, which was the firft draught of it, told me, he did not remember any confider- able alteration, perhaps not of twenty words in the whole work.

The way of his writing them (only on the evenings of the Lord's day, when he v/as in town, and not much oftener when he was in the coun- try) made, that they are not fo contracted, as it is

very

42 The Life afid Death of

very likely he would have writ them, if he had been more at leifure to have brought his thoughts into a narrower compafs, anJ fewer words.

But making fome allov^ance for the largenefs of the flile, that volume that is printed, is generally acknowledged to be one of the perfecleft pieces both of learning and reafoning that has been writ on that fubje£t j and he who read a great part of the other volumes told me, they were all of i piece with the firft.

When he had jRnlfhed this work, he fent it b;^ an unknown hand to biftiop Wilklns, to deiir6 his judgment of it ; but he that brought it, would give no other account of the author, but that he was not a clergyman. The bifliop and his worthy friend Dr. Tillotfon, read a great deal of it with inuch pleafure, but could not imagine who could be the author, and how a man that was mafter of fo much reafon, and fo great a variety of know- ledge, fhould be fo unknown to them, that they could not find him out, by thofe charadters which are fo little common. At laft Dr. Tillotfon guef- fed it muft be the lord chief baron, to which the other prefently agreed, wondering he had been fc? long in finding it out. So they went immediately to him, and the bl/hop thanking him for the en- tertainment he had received from his works, h6 blulhed extremely, not without fome c'ifpleafure, apprehending thit the perfon he had trufted had difcovered him. But the bifliop foon cleared that, and told him, " he had difcovered himfelf, for the

*' learning

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 4^

•* learning of that book was fo various, that *< none but he coulJ be the author of it." And that bifbop having a freedom in dcH/ering his opi- nion of thiniis and perfons, which perhaps few ever managed both with fo much plainnefs and prudence, told him, " there was nothing could *' be better faid on thefe arguments, if he could '* bring it intr) a lefs compafs, but if he had not *' leifure for that, he thought it much better to hav6 ** it come out, though a little too l^irge, than that *' the world fliould be deprived of the good which *' it muft needs do." IJut our judge had never the opportunity of revifmg it, fo a little before his death he fent the firft part of it to the prcfs.

In the beginning of it, he gives an efiay of his excellent way of methodizing things, in which he was fo great a mafter, that whatever he under- took, he would prefent^y Caft into fo perfect a fcheme, that he could never afterwards corredl it. He runs out copioufly upon the argument of the impoflibility of an eternal fucceilion of time, td (hew that time and eternity are inconfiitent one with another; and that therefore all duration that was paft, and defined by time, could not be from eternity j and he fhews the difference between fucceflive eternity already paft, and one to come: fo that though the latter is poiTible, the former is not fo ; for all the parts of the former have a£lually been, and therefore being defined by time, cannot be eternal ; whereas the other are ftill future to all eternity, fo that this reafoning cannot be turned

to

44 *^^^ Life and Death Gf

to prove the poffibility of eternal fuccefiions, that have been, as well as eternal fucceffions that fhall be. This he follows with a ftrength I never jnet with in any that managed it before him.

He brings next all thofe moral arguments, to prove that the wocld had a beginning ; agreeing to the account Mofes gives of it, as that no hiflory rifes higher, than near the time of the de- luge ; and that the firft foundation of kingdoms, the invention of arts, the beginnings of all reli- gions, the gradual plantation of the world, and in- creafc of mankind, and the confent of nations d6 Jigree with it. In managing thefe, as he (hews profound fkill both in hiftorical and philofophical learning, fo he gives a noble difcovery of his great candour and probity, that he would not impofe on the reader with a falfe fhew of reafoning by argu- ments that he knew had flaws in them ; and, therefore, upon every one of thefe he adds fuch si lays, as in a great meafure leflened and took off their force, with as much exa6tnefs of judgment, dnd ftriilnefs of cenfure, as if he had been fet to plead for the other fide : and indeed fums up the wliole evidence for religion, as impartially as ever be did in a trial for life or death to the jury, which, how equally and judiciouHy he always did, the whole nation well know%.

After that, he examines the ancient opinions of the philofophers, and enlarges with a great varie- ty of curious reflections in anfwering that only argument, that has any appearance of ftrength for

the

Str MATTHEW HALE. 45

the cafual produdlion of man, from the origination of infe<5ls out of putrified matter, as is commonly fuppofed ; and he concluded the book, fhewing how rational and philofophical the account which Mofes gives of it is. There is in it all a fagacity and quicknefs of thought, mixed with great and curious learning, that t confefs I never met to- gether in any other book on that fubjedl. AmoJi other conjedlures, one he gives concerning the de- luge is, " that he did not think the face of the " earth and the waters were altogether the fam^ " before the univerfal deluge, and after j but pof- " fibly the face of the earth was more even thaa *' now it is ; the feas poffibly more dilated and' " extended, and not fo deep as now." And a little after, " poffibly the feas have undermined much' ** of the appearing continent of earth." This I the rather take notice pf, becaufe it hath been, fmce his death made out in a moll ingenious and moft elegantly written book by Mr. Burnet, of Chrifl's college in Cambridge, who has given fuch an eflay towards the proving the poiTibility of an univerfal deluge, ajnd from thence has col- lefted with great fagacity what patadife was be- fore it, as has not been oft'ered by any philofopher before him.

While the judge was thus employing his time, the lord chief juftiqe Keyling dying, he vy^as on the J 8th of May 1671, promoted to be lord chief juftice of England. He had made the pleas of the «rown cn.e of his cl\ief Itudie?, ancl by much . " ' fearch.

H/S ^he Life and Death cf

fearch, and long obfervatlon, had compofed that great work concerning them, foimerly mentioned. He that holds the high office of jufticiary in that court, being the chief truftee, and aflertor of the liberties of his country, all people a; plauded thij choice, and thought their liberties could not be better depofited than in the hands of one, that as be underftood them well, fo he had all the juftice and courage that fo facred a traft required. One thing was much obferved and commended in him, that when there was a great inequality in th$ ability and learning of the councellors that were to plead one againft another, he thought it became him, as the judge, to fupply that ; fo he wouFd enforce what the weaker council managed but in- differently, and not fufter the more learned to carry the bufinefs by the advantage they had over th« others in their quicknefs and (kill in law, and readinefs in pleading, till all things were cleared in which the merits and ftrengthof the ill-defended caufe lay. He was not fatisfied barely to give his judgment in caufes, but did, efpecially in all intri- cate ones, give fuch an account of the reafons that prevailed with him, that the council did not only acquiefce in his authority, but were fo con-s tinced by his reafons, that I have heard many profcfs that he brought them often to change their opinions 5 fp that his giving of judgment was really a learned le(5ture upon that point of law ; and which was yet more, the parties themfelves, though Intereft does too commonly corrupt the judgment,

were

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 47

were generally fatisfied with the juftice of his de- cifions, even when they were made againft them. His impartial juftice, and great diligence, drew the chief practice after him, into whatfoever court he came : fince, though the courts of the Com- mon pleas, the Exchequer ami the King's-bench, are appointed for the trial of caufes of diiTerenC natures, yet it is eafy to bring moft caufes intQ any of them, as the council or attornies pleafej fo as he had drawn the bufinefs much after him, both into the Common-pleas, and the Exchequer, it now followed him into the king's-bench, and many caufes that were depending in the Exchequer and not determined, were let faU there, and brought again before him in the court to whicU he was now removed. And here did he fpend the reft pf his publLck lift and employment i but about four years and a half after this advance- ment, he, who bad hitherto enjoyed a firm and vigorous health, to which his great temperance^ and the equality of his mind, did not a little con- duce, was on ^ fudden brought very low by an inflammation in his roidrift", which In two, days time broke the cpaftitution of Lis health to fuch, a degree that he never recovered it ; he becyame fo ;ifthmatical, that with great difficulty he could fetch his breath ; ^hat determineu in a dropfy, of which he afterwards disd. He uuderftood phyfick fo well, that; confidering his age, he concluded bis diftemper muft carry him ofF in a little time ; and therefore he r^folved ty b3,ve fome of the lull

snonths

4^ '^he Life and Death of

months of his life referved to himfelf, that, being freed of all worldly cares, he might be preparing for his change. Ke was alfo fo much difablcd in his body, that he could hardly, though fupported. by his fervants, walk through Weftminfter-hall, or endure the toil of hufmefs. He had been a long time wearied with the diflraclions that his em- ployment had brought on him, and his profeflion' was become ungrateful to him ; he loved to apply himfelf wholly to better purpofes, as will appear hy a paper that he wrote on this fubjed:, which I fball here infert : -

" Firft, if I confider the bufinefs of my pro- *' feffion, whether as an advocate or as a judge, it is true I do acknowledge by the inftitution of Almighty God, and the difpenfatlon of his pro- •' vidence, I ain bound to induftry and fidelity in ** i-t : and as it is an a£l of obedience unto his " will, it carries with it fome things of religious *' duty, and I may and do take comfort in it, and " expedt a reward of my obedience to him, and *' the good that I do to mankind therein, from the '* bounty and beneficence and promife of Almighty " God : and it is true alfo that without fuch em- ployments civil focictics cannot be fupported, and great good redounds to mankind from them, and in thefe refpefts the confcience of my own induftry, fidelity and integrity in th^m, is a great comfort and faLisfa6lion to me. But yet this I muft fay concerning thefe employments, confidered fimply in themjelyes, that they are

"• very

(C

Sir MATTHEW HALE. ^g

** very full of care^, and anxieties and perturba- " tions.

*' Secondly, That though they are beneficial to " others, yet they are of the leaft benefit to the " perfon employed in them.

*' Thirdly, That they do neceflarily involve the *' party, whofe office it is, in great dangers, dif- *' ficulties, and calumnies.

•* Fourthly, That they only ferve for the meri- " dian of this life, which is fhort and uncertain. " Fifthly, That tho' it be my duty faithfully to " (e.\-\'t in them, while I am called to them, and " till I am duly called from them, yet they are great " confumers of that little time we have here, which, ** as it feems to me, might be better fpent in a ** pious contemplative life, and a due provifion for '•* eternity. I do not know a better temporal em- ployment than Martha had, in teftifying her love and duty to our Sayiour, by making pro- villon for him ; yet our Lord tells her, that though fhe was troubled about many things, there was only one thing necefTary, and Mary

«( <c

'* had chofen the better part."

By this the reader will fee that he continued ;n bis ftation upon no other confideration, but that being fet in it by the providence of God, he judged he could not abandon that poll which was aifigned him, without preferring his own pri- vate inclination to the choice God had made for him ; but now that fame providence having by this great diftcmper difsJigaged hjm from the obli-"

i. gationk

^o 'The Life and Death of

gatlon of holding a place, which he was no longei? able to difcharge, he refolved to refign it. This was no fooner furmifed abroad, than it drew upon him the importunities of all his friends, and the clamour of the whole town to divert him from ir, but all was to no purpofe j there was but one ar- gument that could move him, which was, that he was obliged to continue in the employment God had put him in for the good of the public ; but to this he had fuch an anfwer, that ev«n thcvfe who were moft concerned in his withdrawing^ could not but fee, that the reafons inducing him to it, were but too ftrong ; fo he made application to his majefty for his writ of eafe, which the king was very unwilling to grant him, and offered to let him hold his place ftill, he doing what bufmefs he could in his chamber ; but he faid, " he could *' not with a good confeience continue in it, *' fmce he was no longer able to diftharge the " duty belonging to it."

But yet fuch was the general fati^fa^Slion which all the kingdom received by his excellent adraini- flration of juftice, that the king, though he could x\pt well deny his rexjueft, yet he deferred the granting of it as long as wa^ poflible : nor could the lord chancellor be prevailed with to move the king to haften his difcharge^, though the chiaf juftice often prefled him to it.

At lafi: having wearied himfelf, aixd all his friends, with his importunate defires, and growiiig ienfibly weaker iti b^dy, he did upeii tlie twerity-

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 51

firft day of February, 28. Car. An. Dom. 167-I, go before a mafter of chancery, with a little parch- rhcnt deed, drawn by himfelf, and written all with his own hand, and there fealed and delivered it, and acknowledged it to be enrolled, and afterwards he brought the original deed to the lord chancel- Tor, and did formally furreuder his office in thefe words

*' Omnibus Chrifti fidelibus ad quos praefens ** fcriptura pervenerit, Matheus Hale, miles ca- *' pitalis jufticiarius domini regis ad placita-coram " ipfo rege tenenda affignatus falutem in domino *' fempiternam, noveritis me prsefatum Matheum ** Hale, militcm jam fenem fadtum & variis cor- " poris mei fenilis morbis & infirmitatibus dire ^* iaborantem & adliuc detentum. Hac chart* " mea refignare & furfum reddere fereniffimo do- " mino noftro Carolo fecundo, Dei gratia Angliae " Scotiae Franciae & Hibernire, regi, fidei defen- ** fori, &c. Prediilum officium capital is jufticiarii " ad placita coram ipfo reg& tenenda, humillime " petens quod hoc fcriptum irrotaletur de recordo. ** In cujus rei teftlmonium huic chartai me« '* refignationis figillum meura oppofui, dat vicefi- *' mo primo die Februarii anno regni di£l. d<jm* '* regis nunc vicefimo odavo.'^

He made this inftrument, ^s he told the lord chancellor, for two ends j the one was to fhew the wptld his own Uz^ cojicurrenfc tp his removal :

E 2 s^nother

52 T^ Life and IDeath of

another was to obviate an objeclloa heretofore made, that a chief juflice being placed by writ, was not rcmoveable at pleafure, as judges by pa- tent were ; which opinion, as he faid, was once held by his predeceflbr the lord chief juftice Key- ling, and though he himfelf was always of an- other opinion, yet he thought it reafonable to prevent fuch a fcruple.

He had the day before furrendered to the king, in perfon, who parted from him with great grace, wilhing him moft heartily the return of his health,, and aflluing him, *' that he would Hill look upon " him as one of his judges, and have recourfe '' to his- advice when his health would permit^,. " and in the mean time would continue his pen- *' fion during his life."

The good man thought this bounty too great, and an ill precedent for the king, and therefore writ a letter to the lord treafurer, earneftly dcfiring that his penfion might be only during pleafure j. but the king would grant it for life, and make it payable quarterb^.

And yet for a whole month together, he would not fuft'er his fervant to fue out his patent for his penfionj and when the firft payment was received, he ordered a great part of it to charitable ufes, and iaid, he intended moft of it fhould be fo employed as long as it was paid him.

At laft he happened to die upon the quarter day^ which was Chriftmas day ; and though this might have jJiven fome Qccafton t« a dilpute whether the

^enfion

Sir MATTHEW HALE, 5^ pendon for that quarter were recoverable, yet the king was pleafed to decide that matter againft himfelf, and ordered the penfion to be paid ;:o his executors.

As foon as he was difchargcd from his great place, he returned home with as much chearful- tiefs as his want of health would admit of, being now eafed of a burthen he had been of late groan- ing under, and fo made more capable of enjoyincj that which he had much wifhed for, accordins to his elegant tranflation of, or rather paraphrafe upon, thofe excellent lines In Senega's Thyeftes,

Aa. 2.

Sh't qulciinque vclet potens, AuliS ciihnlne lubrico : Me dulc'ts faturet qnies, Obfcuro pofitus loco, Leni perfruar otro : Uullis nota quiritibuSy /Etas per iacitum Jluat. Sic cum tranfierint meiy KiiUo cumjircpitu dies, Ph'hciiis mortar fcriex. Illi mors grams hicubat, ^ui mtus nij?}is amriibmy Jgmtiis morhur fibi.

" Let him, that will afcend the tottering feat " .Of courtly grandeur, and become as great " As are his mounting wiflies : as for me, *' Let fweet repofe and reft my portion be ;

E 3 '" Giif

54 '^^^ Life and Death of

*' Give me fome mean obfcure recefs, a fphere ** Out of the road of bufinefs, or the fear *' Of falling lower j where I fweetly may " Myfelf and dear retirement ftill enjoy. *' Let not my life or name be known unto *' The grandees of the time, tofl to and fro *' By cenfures or applaufc ; but let my age *' Slide gently by, not overthwart the ftage " Of public adlion ; unheard, unfeen, " And unconcern'd, as if I ne'er had been. f And thus, while I ftiall pafs my filent day^ *' In fhady privacy, free from the noife ** And buftles of the mad world, then fhall I " A good old innocent plebeian die. *' Death is a mere furprife, a very fnare

To him, that makes it his life's greateft care To be a public pagent, known to all. But unacquainted with himfelf, doth fall.

((

<(

Having noiw attained to that privacy, which he had no lefs fcrioufly than pioufly wiflied for, he called all his fervants that had belonged to his office together, and told them, he had now laid down his place, and fo their employments were determined ; upon that, he advifed them to fee for themfelves, and gave to fome of them very con- fiderable prefents, and to every one of them a token, and fo difmifled all thofe that were not his domefticks. He was difchargcd the 15th of Fe- bruary 1675-6, and lived till the Chriftmas foU lowing, but all the while was in fo ill a ftate of

health.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 55

health, that there was no hopes of his recovery. He continued ftill to retire often, both for his dcvo- , tions and ftudies, and as long as he could go, went conftantly to his clofet j and when his infirmities encreafed on him, fo that he was not able to go thither himfelf, he made his fervants carry him thither in a chair. At laft, as the winter came on, he faw Mnth great joy his deliverance approaching, for befides his being weary of the world, and his longings for the blefTednefs of another ftate, his pains encreafed fo on him, that ko patience infe- rior to his ,could have borne them without a great liijeafinefs of mind ; yet he exprefled to the Jail: .4uch fubmifHon to the will of God, and fo equal a temper under them, that it was vifible then what jnighty effefls his philofophy and chrillianity had on him, in fupporting him under fuch a heavy Joad.

He could not lie down in bed above a year be- fore his death, by reafon oi the afthma, but fat. rather than lay in it.

He was attented on in his ficknefs by a pious and worthy divine, Mr. Evan Griffith, minifter oi thg parifli ; and it was obferved, that in all the jCXtremities of his pain, whenever he prayed by him, he forbore all complaints or groans, but with his hands and eyes lifted up, was fixed in his de- votions. Not long before his death, the minifter told him, " There was to be a facrament next ." Sunday »t church, but he believed he could not '5 come an^i partake with the reft, therefore he

E 4 '' would

56 Ithe Life and Death of

*' would give it him in his own houfe : " But he anfwered, *' No ; his heavenly father had pre- *' pared a feaft for him, and he would go to his " father's houfe to partake of it : " So he made himfelf be carried thither in his chair, where he received the facrament on his knees, with great devotion, which, it may be fuppofed, was the greater, becaufe he apprehended it was to be his laft, and fo took it as his viaticum and provifion for his journey. He had fome fecret unaccountable prefages of his death, for he faid, " that, if he *' did not die on fuch a day," (which fell to be the 25th of November) *' he b«licved he fliould ** Jive a month longer," and he died that very day month. He continued to enjoy the free ufe of his reafon and fenfe to the laft moment, which he had often and earneftly prayed for during his ficknefs. And when his voice was fo funk that he could rot be heard, they perceived by the almoft conftant lifting up of his eyes and hands, that he was ffcill afpiring towards that blcfled ftate, of which he wag now fpeedily to be poffeffed.

He had for many }«ears a particular devotion for Chriftmas-day, and after he had received the facra- ment, and been in the performance of the publick worfhip of that day, he commonly wrote a copy of verfes on the honour of his Saviour, as a fit cxpreflion of the joy he felt in his foul, at the re- turn of that glorious anniverfary. There are fe- venteen of thofc copies printed, which he wrote op feventeen feveral Chriftmas days, by which the

world

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 57

world has a tafle of his poetical genius, in which, if he "had thought it worth his time to have ex- celled, he might have been eminent as well as in other things ; but he wrote them rather to enter- tain himlelf, than to merit the laurel.

I ftiall here add one which has not been yet printed, and it is nor unlikely it was the laft he writ J it is a paraphral'e on Simeon's fong ; I take it from his blotted copy not at all finiflied, fo the reader is to make allowance for any imperfection he may find in it.

*' Blefled Creator, who before the birth *' Of time, or e'er the pillars of the earth *' Woe fix't or form'd, did'ft lay that great delign ** Of man's redemption, and did'fl define *' In thine eternal councils all the fccne ** Of that ftupcndious bufincfs, and when

It fliould appear, and though the very day

Of its epiphany, concealed lay

Within thy mind, yet thou wert pleas'd to fhow

Some gllmpfes of it, unto men below, " In vifions, types, and prophcfies, as we " Things at a diilance in perfpe<Slive fee : *' But thou wert pleas'd to let thy fervant knowr " That thatbleft hour, that feem'd to move foflow " Through former ag-es, fhould at laft attain " Its time, e'er my few fands, that yet remain, " Are fpent j and that thefe aged eyes " Should fee the day, when Jacob's ftar (liould rife.

" And

it

u

5? ^he Life andt Death of

« And now thou haft fulfill'd it, blelTed Lord^

*' Difmifs me now, according to thy word i

** And let my aged body now return

** To reft, and duft, and drop into an urn ;

*' For I have liv'd enough, mine eyes have i^tn

*^ l^y much defired falvation, that hath been

*< So long, fo dearly wifh'd, the joy, the hope

** Of all the ancient patriarchs, the (cope

" Of all the prophefies, and myfteries,

** Of all the types unveil'd, the hiftories

*' Of Jewifh church unriddl'd, and the bright

*' And orient ^an arifen to give light

*' To Gentiles, and the joy of Ifrael,

" The worlds redeemer, bleft Emanuel.

** Let this fight clofe mine eyes, 'tis lofs to fee,

*' After this vifion, any fight but thee.

Thus he ufed to fing on the former Chriftmas- days, but now he was to be admitted to bear his part in the new fon^gs above ; fo that day which tie had fpent in fo much fpiritual joy, proved to be indeed the day of his jubilee and deliverance; for between two and three in the afternoon, he breathed out his righteous and pious foul. His ^nd was peace, he had no ftrugglings, nor feemed ■to be in any pangs in his laft moments. He was buried on the 4th of January, Mr. Griffith preachr ing the funeral fermon, his text was Ifa. Iv^i. r« ^' The righteous periflieth, and no man layeth it *' to heart ; and merciful men are taken away, ^* none confidering that the righteous is taken

" away

Sir MATTHEW HALE. g^

** away from the evil to come." Which how fitly it was applicable upon this occafion, all that con- fider the courfe of his life, will eafily conclud.e. He was interred in the church-yard of Alderly, a- mong his anceftors ; he did not much approve of burying in churches, and ufed to fay, " tlie " churches wei^e far the living, and the church- *' yards for the dead." His monument was like bimfelf, decent and plain ; the tomb-ilone was black marble, and the fides were black and white marble, upon which he himfelf had ordered this bare and humble infcription to be made,

HTC INHUMATUR CORPUS

MATTHEl HALE, MILITIS;

ROBERTI HALE, ET JOANNA,

UXORIS EJUS, FILII UNICL

NATI IN HAC PAROCHIA DE AL-

DERLY, PRIMO DIE NOVEMBRIS,

ANNO DOM. 1609.

DENATl VERO IBIDEM VICESIMO

QUINTO DIE DECEMBRIS, AN- NO DOM. 1676.

./ETATIS SU^, LXVIL

Haying thus given an account of the moft rc- inarkable things of his life, i am now to prefent the reader with fuch a character of him, as the la)ing his fcveral virtues together will amount to : in which I know how dilHcuk a talk I undertake; for to write defe£lively of him, were to injui-e him,

and

€o The Life and Death of

and leffeii the memory of one to whom I intend to do all the right that is in my power. On the other hand, there is fo much here to be commen- ded, and propofed for the imitation of others, that I am afraid fome may imagine, I am rather making a pi£lure of him, from an abflra6led idea of great virtues and perfe£lions, than fetting him out, as he truly was: but there is great encouragement in this, that I write concerning a man fo frefh in all peoples rememberance, that is fo lately dead, and was fo much and fo well known, that I Ihall have many vouchers, who will be ready to juflify me tn all that I am to relate, and to add a great ^eal to what I can fay.

It has appeared in the account of his various learning, how great his capacities were, and how much they were improved by conftant ftudy. He Tofe always early in the morning, he loved to walk much abroad, not only for his health, but he thought it Opened his mind, and enlarged his thoughts to have the creation of God before his eyes. When he fet himfelf to any ftudy, he ufed to caft his defign into a fcheme, which he did with a great exa£lnefs of method ; he took nothing on truft, but perfued his enquires as far as they could «:o, and as he was humble enough to confefs his ignorance, and fubmit to myfteries which he could not comprehend, fo he was not eafily impofed on, by any fliews of reafon, or the bugbears of vulgar opinions. He brought all his knowledge as much to fcientifical principles, as he poflibly could,

which

5/r MATTHEW HALE. 6i

■which made him neglecSl the ftudy Of tongues, for the "bent of his mind lay another w^y. Difcour- fing once of this to fome, they faid, " they looked *' on th^ common law, as a ftudy that could not " be brought into a icheme, nor formed into a " rational fcience, by reafon of the indigeftednefs " of it, and the multiplicity of the cafes in it, " which rendered it very hard to be underftood, *' or reduced into a method ;" hut he faid, " he *' was not of their mind," and fo quickly after," he drew with his own hand, a fcheme of the whole order and parts of it, in a large ftieet of paper, to the great fatisfadtion of thofe to whom he fent it. Upon this hint, fome preffed him to compile a body of the Engliih law. It cou]4 hardly ever be done by a man who knew it better, and would with more judgment and induftry have put it into method j but he faid, " as it was a great *' and noble defign, whicli would be of vaft ad- " vantage to the nation ; fo it was too much for ** a private man to undertake : it was not to b^ '' entered upon, but by the commarid of aprmce, ** and with the communicated endeavours of fooit '* of the moft eminent of the profefllon.''

He had great vivacity in his fancy, as may ap- pe?ir by his inclination to poetry, and the lively illuftratious, and many tender drains in his con- templations ; but he look'd on eloquence and wit, -as. things to be ufed very ghaftly, in ferious mat- ters, which Ihould come under a feverer enquiry ; therefore he was both, when at the bar, and on

the

62 Tke Life mid Death cf

the bench, a great enemy to all eloqneiice or rhe- toric in pleading : he faid, " If the judge or jury" •' had a right underftanding, it fignificd nothing, ** but a wafte of time, and lofs of words ; and if *' they were weak, and eafily wrought on, it was •• a more decerit way of corrupting them, by *' bribing their fancies, and byafuig their afFe£li- " ons i" and wojidered much at that afFctStation' of the Fiench lawyers in imitating the RortnaiV orators in their pleadings. For the oratory of the' Romans, was occafioned by their popular govern- ment, and the factions of the city, fo that thofe ■who intended to excel! in the pleading of caufes, were trained up in the fchools of the Rhetors, till chey became ready and expert in that lufcious w^y of drfcourfe. It is true, the compofures of fuch a man as Tully was, who mixed an extraordinary quicknefs, an exa6t judgment, and a juft decorum with his (kill in rhetoric, do (till entertain the rea- ders of them with great pleafure : but at the fame time it mvift be acknowledged, that there is not that chaftity of flile, that clofenefs of reafoning, jior that juitnefs of figures in his orations, that i« in his other writings j fo that a great deal was faid by him, rather becaufe he knew it would be acceptable to his auditors, than that it' was ap- proved of by himfelf ; and all who read them, will acknowledge, they are better pleafcd with them as eflays of v/it and ftile, than as pleadings, by which fuch a judge as ours was, would not be i*iuch wrouglit on. A.iul it there are fuch gcounds

w

^/> MATTHEW HALE. ^^

to cenfure the performances of the greatcft mafter in eloquence^ we may eafily infer what naufcous diicourfes the other orators made, fince in oratory^ as well as in poetry, none can do indifferently. So our judge wondered to find the French, that livd under a monarchy, fo fond of imitating that which was an ill efFe6t of the popular government of Rome. He therefore pleaded himfelf always in few words^ and home to the point: and when he was a judge, he held thofe that pleaded before him, to be the main hinge of the bufmefs, and cut them ihon; when they made excurfions about circumftances of no moment, by which he faved much time, andl made the chief difficulties be well ftated and,- icl eared.

There was another cufl:on% among the R.omans„ which he as much admired, as he defpifed their rhetoric, which was, that the juiis-confults were the men of the highcft quality, who were bred to be capable of the chief cmplo)ment in the ilate^ and became the great mailers of their law ; thefs' gave their opinions o-f all cafes that were put to them freely, judging it below them to tak.e ciny prefcnt for it j and indeed they were the ordy true,. lawyers among them, whofe refoluUQn.s were of that authority, that they mad^J one claflis of tiiofe;) materials out of which TrchQnian compiled the digefts under JulKnian; for the or'atqrs or caulidiv.i that pleaded caufes, knew littU of the law, and only employed thejr mercenary tangues, to wo.ik Qii the aS'edlions- of the people, ^n4 f'^fJ'i't- <^'' ^^^^

yretvrb,:

64 5"^^ Life and Death of

^retars : even in moft of Tully's orations there is little of law, and that little which they might iprinkle in their declamations, they had not from their own knowledge, but the refolution of fome- juris-confult : according to that famous ftory of Servius Sulpitius, who was a celebrated orator, and beino; to receive the refolution of one of thofe that were learned in the law, was fo ignorant, tibat he could not underhand it ; upon which the juris-confult reproached him, and faid, " it was *' a fliame for him that was a nobleman, a fena- *' tor, and a pleader of caufes, to be thus ignorant ** of law :" this touched him fo fenfibiy, that he fet about the fludy of it, and became one of the, moft eminent juris-confults that ever were at Rome. Our judge thought it might become the greatnefs of a prince, to encourage fuch fort of men, and of fludies ; in which, none in the age he lived in was equal to the great Selden, who was truly in our Englifh lav.', what the old Roman juris-confults were in theirs.

But where a decent eloquence was allowable, judge Hale knew how to have excelled as much as any, either in illuftrating his reafonings, by proper and well purfued fimilies, or by fuch tender- expreffions, as might work mofl on the affeilions, fo that the prefent lord chancellor, has often faid of him fuice his death, that he was the greateft orator he had knov/n ; for though his words came not fluently Irom him, yet when they were out, they were the mo-ll fignificajit, and expreilive,

that

Sir MATTFIEW HALE. 65

that the matter could bear ; of this fort there are many in his contemphitions made to quicken his own devotion, which have a life in them becom- ing him that ufed them, and a foftnefs fit to melt even the harfheft tempers, accommodated to the gravity of the fubje^t, and apt to excite warm thoughts in the readers, that as they fhew his ex- cellent temper that brought them out, and applied them to himfelf, fo they are of great ufe to all, who would both inform and quicken their minds. Of his illuftrations of things by proper fimilies, I fhall give a large inftance out of his book of the origination of mankind, defigned to expofe the feveral different hypothefes the philofophers fell on, concerning the eternity and original of the univerfe, and to prefer the account given by Mofes, to all their conjedlures ; in which, if my tafte does not mifguide me, the reader will find a rare and very agreeable mixture, both of fine wit, and folid learning and judgment.

[ " That which may illuftrate my meaning, in this preference of the revealed light of the holy fcriptures, touching this matter, above the efTays of a philofophical imagination, may be this. Sup- pofe that Greece being unacquainted with the curiofity of mechanical engines, though known in fome remote region of the world, and that an excellent artifl; had fecretly brought and depofited in fome field or foreft, fome excellent watch or clock, which had been fo formed, that the origi- jial of its motion were hidden, and involved in

F fome

66 The Life and Death of

ibme clofe contrived piece of mechanifm, that this watch v/as (o franiei, that the motion thereot might have laflred a year, or fome fucli time as- Kiight give a reafonable period* far their pbilofophi- cal difcanting concerning it, and that in the plaiiv table there had been not only the defcription and indication of hours, but the configurations and indications of the various phafes of the moon, the motion and place of the fun in* the ecliptic, and divers other curious indications of celeftial mo- tions, and that the fcholars of the feveral fchools of Epicurus, of Ariftotle, of Plato, and the rcfi of thofe philofophical fedls,, had cafually in their walk, found this admirable automaton ; what kind of work would there have been made by every feft, in giving an account of this phenomenon ^ We lliould have had the Ej.icureaa feci have told the byftanders,, according to their prcconcei\'ed hypothcfis,, that this was nothing elfe but an acci- dental concretion of atoms,, that happily falling, together had made up the index, the wheels, and: the ballancey and that being happiJy fallen into this pofture, they were put into motion. Theru the Cartefian falls in with him, as to the main of their fuppofition, bat tells him, that he doth not fufficiently explicate how the engine is put into Miotion, and therefore to furnifh this motion, there 13 a certain, materia fubtilis that pervades this en- gine, and the moveable parts, confilling of certaia plobular atoms apt for motion, they are thereby^, and by the mobility of the globular atoms put into-

raotioii.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 67

motion. A third finding fault with the two for- mer, becaufe thofe motions are fo regular, and do exprefs the vai ious phenomena of the diftribution of time, and of the heavenly motions ; therefore it feems to him, that this engine and motion alfo, fo analogical to the motions of the heavens, was wrought by fome admirable conjun6lion of the heavenly bodies, which formed this inftrument and its motions, in fuch an admirable correfpondency to its own exiftence. A fourth, difliking the fup- pofitions of the three former, tells the reft, that he hath a more plain and evident folution of the phenomenon, namely, the univerfal foul of the world, or fpirit of nature, that formed fo many- forts of infetfls with fo many organs, faculties, and fuch congruity of their whole compofition, and fuch curious and various motions as we may obferve in them, hath formed and fet into motion this admirable automaton, and regulated and or- dered it, with all thefe congruities we fee in it. Then fteps in an Ariftotelian, and being diiTa- tisfied with all the former folutions, tells them, gentlemen, you are all miftaken, your folutions are inexplicable and unfatisfadlory, you have taken up certain precarious hypothefes, and being pre- poftefled with thefe creatures of your own fancies, and in love with them, right or wrong, you form all your conceptions of things according to thofe fancied and preconceived imaginations. The fhort of the bufinefs-is, this machina is eternal, and fo are all the motions of it, and in as much as a

Y 2 circular

63 ^he Life and Death of

circular motion hath no beginning or end, thi'3 motion that you fee both in the wheels and index, and the lucceffive indications of the celeflial mo-' tions, is eternal, and without beginning. And this is a ready and expedite way of folving the phenomena, without fo much ado as you have made about it.

And whilft all the mafters were thus contrivirig the folution of the phenomenon, in the hearing of the artift that made it, and when they had all fpent their philofophizing upon it, the artift that made this engine, and all this while liftened to their admirable fancies, tells them, gentlemen, you have difcovered very much excellency of invention touching this piece of work that is before you, but you are all miferably miftaken : for it was I that made this watch, and brought it hither, and I will fhew you how I made it. Firft, I wrought the fpring, and the fufee, and the wheels, and the ballance, and the cafe, aJid table ; I fitted them one to another, and placed thefe feveral axes that are to direct the motions of the index to difcover the hour of the day, of the figure that difcovers the phafes of the moon, and the other various motions that ypu fee j and then I put it together, and wound up the fpring, which hath given all thefe motions, that you fee in this curious piece of work, and that you may be fure I tell you true, I will tell you the whole order and progrefs of my making, difpofing, and ordering of this piece of work i the feveral materials of it, the manner of

the

^;> MATTHEW HALE. 69

the forming of every ind!\'idual part of it, and how long I was about it. This plain and evident difcovery renders all thefe excogitated hypothefes of thofe philofophical enthufiafts vain and ridicu- lous, without any great help of rhetorical flourifties, or logical confutations. And much of the fame nature is that difparity of the hypothefes of the •learned philofophers in relation to the origination of the world and man, after a great deal of duft raifed, and fanciful explications and unintelligible hypothefes. The plain, but divine narrative, by the hand of Mofes, full of fenfe, and congruity, and clearnefs, and rcafonablenefs in itfelf, does at the fame moment give us a true and clear difco- very of this great miftery, and renders all the efTays of the generality of the heathen philofophers to be vain, inevident, and indeed inexplicable theories, the creatures of phantafy, and imagina-f tion, and nothing elf?." ]

As for his virtues, they have appeared fo con-r fpicuous in all the feveral tranfadions and turns of his life, that it may fcem needlefs to add any more of them, than has been already related; but there are many particular inftances which I knew not how to fit to the feveral years of his life, which will give us a clearer and better view of hirn.

He was a devout chriftian, a finccrc proteflant, and a true fon of the church of England ; mode- rate towards diffenters, and juft even to thofe from whom he differed moft j which appeared figually in the care he took of preferving the quakcrs

F 3 from

70 ^he Life and Death of

from that mifchief that was like to fall on theirt, by declaring their marriages void, and fo baflard- ing their children) but he confidered marriage and fucceffion as a right of nature, from which none ought to be barred, what miflake foever they might be under, in the points of revealed reli- gion.

And therefore in a trial that was before him, when a quaker was fued for fome debts owing by his wife before he married her, and the quaker's council pretended, that it was no marriage that had pail between them, fince it was not folemnized according to the rules of the church of England ; he declared, that he was not willing on his own opinion to make their children baflards, and gave diredions to the jury to find it fpecial. It was a refleilion on the whole party, that one of them to avoid an inconvenience he had fallen in, thought to have preferved himfelf by a defence, that if it had been allowed in law, muft have made their whole iflue baftards, and incapable of fucceffion, and for all their pretended friendfhip to one an- other, if this judge had not been more their friend, than one of thofe they fo called, their pofterity had been little beholding to them. But he go- verned himfelf indeed by the law of the gofpel, of doing to others, what he would have others do to him ; and therefore becaufe he would have thought it a hardfhip not without cruelty, if amongft papifts all marriages were nulled which had not been made with all the ceremonies in the roman

rituiil,

J/r MATTHEW HALE. ^i

ritual, fo he applying this to the cafe of ihe fec- taries, he thought all marriages made according to the feveral perfuafions of men, ought to have tlieir effeils in law.

He ufed conftantly to worfhlp God in his fa- mily, performing it always himfelf, if there was rso clergymen prefent : but as to his private exer- cifes in devotion, he took that extraordinary care to keep what he did fccret, that this part of his character muft be defective, except it be acknow- ledged that his humility in covering it, commends him much more than the higheft expreflions of xlevotion could have cone.

From the foft time that the imprcflions of reli- gion fettled deeply in his mind, he ufcd great caution to conceal it : not only in obedience to the rules given by our Sav-iour, of fading, praying, ^and giving alms in fecret ; but from a particular <lillrufl: he had of himfclf, for he faid he v/a^; afraid, he fliould at fome time or other^ do fonie enormous thing, which if he were look'd oa as a very religious man, might cafi a reproach oi; the profefiio!! of ir, and give great advantages to im- pious men to blaf[)heme the -name of God : but a tree Is known by its fruits, and he lived not only free of hlemiflies, or fcandal, but fliined in all the parts of his convcrfation : and perhaps the difirufl: he was in of himfelf, contributed not a little to the purity of his life, for he being thereby obliged to be more watchful over himfelf, and to depend jnore on the aids of the Spirit of God, no won-

F 4 dsr

72 ^he Life and Death of

der if that humble temper produced thofe excellent effects in him.

He had a foul enlarged and raifed above that mean appetite of loving money, which is generally the root of all evil. He did not take the profits that he might have had by his pradlice : for in common cafes, when thofe who came to afk his council gave him a piece, he ufed to give back the half, and fo made ten (hillings his fee,, in ordinary matters that did not require much time or ftudy. If he faw a caufe was unjuft, he for a great while would not meddle farther in it, but to give his advice that it was fo i if the parties after that, would go on, they were to feejc another councel- lor, for he would aflift none in a6ls of injuftice. If he found the caufe doubtful or weak in point of law, he always advifed his clients to agree their bufmefs : yet afterwards he abated much of the jfcrupulofity he had about caufes that appeared at firfl view unjuft, upon this occafion. There were two caufes brought to him, which by the igno- lance of the party or their attorney, were fo ill reprefented to him, that they feemed to be very bad, but he enquiring more narrowly into them, found they were really very good and juft: fo after this he flackened rnuch of his former ftriclnefs, of refufing to meddle in caufes upon the ill circuin- flances that appeared in them at firft.

In his pleading he abhorred thofe too common faults of mif-reciting evidences, quoting precedents, or books falfly, or aflerting things confidently ;

by

sir MATTHEW IIAI.E. 73

by which ignorant juries, or weak judges, are'too Oiteix wrought on. He pleaded with the fame finccrity that he ufed in the other parts of his life^ and ufed to fay, " it was as great a difhonour as *' a man was capable of, that for a little money " he was to be hired to fay or do othervvife than ** as he thousfht :" all this he afcribed to the un- meafurable defire of heaping up wealth, which corrupted the fouls of fome that feenied otherwifc jborn and made for great things,

When he was a pra61;itioner, differences were often referred to him, which he fettled, but would accept of no reward for his pains, though oftered by both parties together, after the agreement was made ; for he faid, *' in thofc cafes he was made *' a judge, and a juc'ge ought to take no money." If they told him, he loll: much of his time in con- fidering their bufinefs, and fo ought to be acknow- ledged for it ; his anfwer was, (as one that heard It told me,) " can I fpend my time better, than " to make people friends ? mull I have no time ^* allowed me to do good in ? "

He was naturally a quick man, yet by much prailice on himfelf, he fubdued that to fuch a de- gree, that he would never run fuddenly into any conclufion concerning any matter of importance. Feftina lente was his beloved motto, which he ordered to be engraven on the head of his ftaff, and was often heard to fay, " that he had obferved *' many witty men run into great errors, becaufe '* they did not give themfclves lime to think, but

" the

^4 ^^^ Life and Death of

** the heat of ii"nag;inadon makino; fome notions *' appear in good colours to them, they without *' ftaying till that cooled, were violently led by *' the impulfes it made on them ; v/hereas calm and •' flow men, who pa'*s for dull in the common *' eftimation, could fearch after truth and find it *' out, as with more deliberation, fo with greater *' certainty."

He laid afide the tenth penny of all he got for the poor, and took gicat care to be well informed of proper obje(3;s for his charities ; and after he %vas a judge, many of the perquefites of his place, as his dividend of the rule and box money, were fcnt by him to the jails to difcharge poor prifoners, who never knew from whofe hands their relief came. It is alfo a cuftom for the marfhall of the king's-bench, to"prefent the judges of that court with a piece of plate for a new-year's gift, that for chief juftice being larger than the reft : this he intended to have refufcd, but the other judges told hlfti it belonged to his office, and the refufing it would be a prejudice to his fuccefibrs, fo he was perfuaded to take it, but he fent word to the marflial, that inftead of plate, he fhould bring him the value of it in money, and when he re- ceived it, he immediately fent it to the prifons, for the relief and difcharge of the poor there. He ufually invited his poor neighbours to dine with him, and made them fet at table with himfelf j and if any of them were fick, fo that they could not come, he would fend meat warm to them

Sir MATTHEW HALE. -j^

.!frbm h;is table : and he did not only relieve the

poioT in his own parifh, but fent rupplies to the

.iicighbouring pariflies, as there was occafioft for

it : and he treated them all with the tendernefs

ahd familiarity that became one, who oonfidered

■ihey were of the fame nature with himfelf, and

!were reduced to no other nccefficies but fuch as he

himfelf might be brought to : but for common

bccjorars, if any of thefe came to him, as he was

■in his walks, when he lived in the country, he

would a(k fuch as were capable of working, why

they went about fo idly ; if they anfwered, it was

becaufe they could find no work, he often fent

them to fome field, to gather all the ftones in it,

and lay them on fi heap, and then would pay them

liberally for their pains : this being done, he ufed

to fend his carts, and caufed them to be carried to

fuch places of the highway as needed mending.

But when he was in town, he dealt his charities very liberally, even among the ftreet beggars, and when fome told him, that he thereby encouraged idlenefs, and that moft of thefe were notorious cheats, he ufed to anfwer, " that he believed moft " of them were fuch, but among them there were " fome that were great objc6ls of charity, and *' prefled with grievous neceiHties : and that he had " rather give his alms to twenty who m.ight be *' perhaps rogues, than that one of the other fort fliould perifh for want of that fmall relief

a

•' which he gave them."

He

:fS 'The Life and Death of

He loved building much, which he affe(^ed chiefly becaufe it employed many poor people : but one thing was obferved in all his buildings, that the changes he made in his houfes, was al- ways from magnificence to ufefulnefs, for be avoided every thing that looked like pomp or vanity, even in the walls of his houfes : he had good judgment in archite6lure, and an excellent faculty in contriving well.

He was a gentle landlord to all his tenants, and was ever ready upon any reafonable complaints, to make abatements, for he was merciful as well as righteous. One inftance of this was, of a wi- dow that lived in London, and had a fmall eftate near his houfe in the country ; from which her rents were ill returned to her, and at a coft which Ihe could not well bear : fo fhe bemoaned herfelf to him, and he according to his readinefs to affilt all poor people, told her, he would order his ilpward to take up her rents, and the returning them Ihould coft her nothing. But after that, when there was a falling of rents in that country, fo that it was neceflary to make abatements to the tenant ; yet he would have it lie on himfelf, and made the widow be paid her rent as formerly.

Another remarkable inftance of his juftice an^ goodnefs v/as, that when he found ill money had been put into his hands, he would never fuffer it to be vented again ; for he thought it was no excufe for him to put falfe money in other peoples hands, becaufe fome had put it in his : a great

heap^

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 77

heap of this he had gathered together, for many had fo far abufed his goodnefs, as to mix bafe money among the fees that were given him : it is like he intended to have deftroyed it, but fome thieves who had obferved it, broke into his cham- ber and Hole it, thinking they had got a prize ; which he ufed to tell with fome pleafure, imagi- ning how they found themfelves deceived, when they perceived what fort of booty they had fallen on.

After he was made a judge, he would needs pay more for every purchafe he made than it was worth ; if it had been a horfe he was to buy, he would have out-bid the price : and when fome re- prefented to him, that he made ill bargains, he faid, " it became judges to pay more for what ** they bought, than the true value ; that fo thofe *' with whom they dealt, might not think thev ** had any right to their favour, by having fold *' fuch things to them at an eafy rate ;" and faid it was fui table to the reputation, which a judge ought to preferve, to make fuch bargains, that the world might fee they were not too well ufed upon fome fecret account.

In fum, his eftate did fhevv how little he had minded the raifmg a great fortune, for from a hun- dred pounds a year, he raifed it not quite to nine hundred, and of this a very confiderable part came in by his Ihare of Mr. Selden's eftate ; yet this, confidering his great pradice while a coun- fellor, and his conftant, frugal, and modeft

W.'.V

7^ The Life and Death of

VfAy of living, was but a fmall fortune. In the ihare that fell to him by Mr. Selden's will, one memorable thing was done by him, with the other executors, by which they both fhewed their regard to their dead friend, and their love of the public. His library was valued at fome thoufands of pounds> and was believed to be one of the curioufeft col- lections in Europe ; fo they refolved to keep this intire, for the honour of Selden's memory, and gave it to the univerfity of Oxford, where a nobI« room was added to the former library for its re- ception, and all di-e refpeds have been fmce (hew- ed by that great and learned body, to thofe their worthy benefa(Sfors, who not only parted fo generoufly with this great treafure, but were a little put to it how to oblige them, without crof- ling the will of their dead friend. Mr. Selden had once intended to give his library to that univerfity, and had left it fo by his will ; but hav- ing occafion for a manufcript, which belonged to their library, they afked of him a bond of a thou- sand pounds for its reftitution ; this he took fo ill at their hands, that he ftruck out that part of his will by which h-e had given them his library, and with fome paffion declared they fhould never have it. The executors ftuck at this a little, but hav- ing confidered better of it, came to this refolution, that they were to be the executors cf Mr. Selden's will, and not of his paffion ; fo they m.ide good what he had intended in cold blood, and paft over what his paffioo had fuegefled to him.

The

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 79

The parting with fo many excellent books, would have been as uneafy to our judge, as any thing of that nature could be, if a pious regard to his friend's memory had not prevailed over him j for he valued books and manufcripts above al. tilings in the v/orld. He himfelf had made a great and rare collection of manufcripts belonging to the lav7 of England j he was forty years in ga- thering it : he himfelf faid it coft him- above fifteen hundred pounds, and calls it in his will, a treafure worth having and keeping, and not fit for every man's view; thefe all he left toLincoln's« Inn, and for the information of thofe who are curious to fearch into fuch things, there fliall be a catalogue of them added at the end of this book.

By all thefe inftances it does appear, how much he was raifed above the world, or the love of it. But having thus maftered things with- out him, his next ftudy was to overcome his own inclinations. Ke was as he faid himfelf na- turally pafiionate ; I add, as he faid himfelf, for that appeared by no other evidence, lave that fbmetimes his colour v;ouid life a little; but he fo governed himfelf, that thofe who lived long about him, have told me they never faw him dif- ordered with anper, though he met with fome trials, that the nature of man is as little able to bear, as any whatfoever. There was one who did him a great injury, which it is not neceflary to pxentionj who coming afterwaids to him for his

advice

8o ^he Life and Death of

advice In the fettlement of his eftate, he gave it very frankly to him, but would accept of no fee for it, and therefore fhewed both that he could forgive as a chiiftian, and that he had the foul of a gentleman in him, not to take money of one that had wronged him fo hcinoufly. And when he was afked by one, how he could ufe a man fo kindly, that had wro2iged him fo much, his an- fwer was, *' he thanked God he had learned to *' forget injuries." And befides the great temper he expreffed in all his public employments, in his family he was a gentle mailer : he was tender of all his fervants, he never turned any away, ex- cept they were fo faulty, that there was no hope of reclaiming them : when any of them had been long out of the way, or had neglected any part of their duty ; he would not fee them at their llrft: coming home, and fometimes not till the next day, leaft when his difpleafure was quick upon him, he might have chid them indecently ; and when he did reprove them, he did it with that fweetnefs and gravity, that it appeared he was more concerned for their having done a fault, than for the offence given by it to himfelf : but if they became immoral or unruly, then he turned them away, for he faid, '' he that by his place ought " to punifli diforders in other people, mult by no " means fufFer them in his own houfe." He ad- vanced his fervants according to the time they had been about him, and would never give occafion to envy among them, by railing the younger

clerks

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 8r

clerks above thofe who had been longer with him. He treated them all with great affection, rather as a friend, than a mafler, giving them often good advice and inftruclion. He made thofe who had good- places under him, give fome of their profits to the other fervants who had nothing but their wa2;es. When he made his will, he left legacies to every one of them ; but he exprefled a more particular kindnefs for one of them Robert Gibbon, of t|ie Middle Temple, Efq; in whom he had that confidence, that he left him one of his executors, I the rather mention him, becaufe of his noble gratitude to his worthy benefactor and mafter, for he has been fo careful to preferve his memory, that as he fet thofe on me, at whofe defire I undertook to write his life ; fo he has procured for me a great part of thofe memorials, and informations, out of which I have compofed it.

The judge was of a moft tender and compafli- onate nature. This did eminently appear in his trying and giving fentence upon criminals, in which he was ftridly careful, that not a circum- ftance ftiould be neglecSled, which might any way clear the fa£t. He behaved himfelf with that re- gard to the prifoners, which became both the gravity of a judge, and the piety that was due to men, whofe lives lay at flake, fo that nothing of jeering or unreafonable feverity ever fell from hira. He alio examined the witnefles in the fofteft manner, taking care that they fhould be put under no cofi- fufion, which might diforder their memory : and

Q he

Si ^'he Life and' "Death of

he fummed all the evidence fo equally when he charged the jury, that the criminals themfelves never complained of him. When it came to him to give fentence, he did it with that com- pofednefs and decency, and his fpeeches to the prifoners, directing them to prepare for death, were fo Vv'eighty, lb free of all afFe6lation, and fo- ferious and devout, that many loved to go to the trials, when he fat judge, to be edified by his- fpeeches, and behaviour in them, and ufed to fay,, they heard very few fuch fermons.

But though the pronouncing the fentence of death was a piece of his employment, that went moft againft the grain with him ; yet in that, he could never be mollified to any tendernefs which hindered juftice. When he was once prefled to recommend fome (whom he had condemned) to his majefty's mercy and pardon j he anfwered, he could not think they deferved a pardon, whom he himfelf had adjudged to die : fo that all he would do in that kind, was to give the king a true ac- count of the circumftances of the fa6l, after which,, his majcfty was to confider whether he would interpofe his mercy, or let juftice take place.

His mercifulnefs extended even to his beafts,, for when the horfes that he had kept long, grew old, he would not fuffer them to be fold, or much •wrought, but ordered his men to turn them loofe on his grounds, and put them only to eafy work, fuch as going to market and the like ; he ufed old dogs alfo with the fame care : his fliepherd having one

that

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 83

' that was become blind with age, he intended to have killed or loft him, but the judge coming to hear of it, made one of his lervants bring him home and feed him till he died : and he was fcarce ever feen more angry than with one of his fervants for ncgle£ling a bird, that he kept, fo that it died

for want of food.

He was a great encourager of all young perfons, that he faw followed their books diligently, to whom he ufed to give dire6lions concerning the method of their ftudy, with a humanity and fweet- ncfs, that wrought much on all that came near him ; and in a fmiling pleafant way, he would admonifh them, if he faw any thing amifs in them: particularly if they went too fine in their clothes, he would tell them, it did not become their pro- fefllon. He was not pleafed to fee ftudents wear long perriwigs, or attomies go with fwords ; fo that fuch young men as would not be perfuaded to part with thofe vanities, when they went to him laid them afide, and went as plain as they could, to avoid the reproof which they knew they might otherwife expert. ^'" ^''

He was very free and communicative in his dif- courfe, which he moft commonly fixed on fome good and ufeful fubje£i:, and loved for an hour or two at night, to be vifited by fome of his friends. He neither faid nor did any thing with affe6lation, but ufed a fimplicity that was both natural to himfclf, and very eafy to others : and though he jpever fludied the modes of civility pr court breed-

G 2 ing,

$4- 5"^^ Life and Death of

ing, yet he knew not what it was to be rude or harfli with any^ except he were impertinenilv ad- dreffed to in mattery of juftice, then he woiJ.l i:\lCe his voice a little, and fo (hake off thofe importunities.

In bis furniture, and the fervice of his table, and way of living, he liked the old plainnefs fo well, that as he would fet up none of the new fafhions, fo he rather affe6led' a coarfenefs in the ufe of the old ones ; which was more the effedl of his philofophy than difpcfition, for he loved fiue things too much at fir ft. He v/as always of an equal temper, rather ch earful than merry ^ many wondered to fee the evennefs of his deportment, in fome very fad paflages of his life.

Having loft one of his fons, the manner of whofe death had grievous circumftances in it; one coming to fee him and condole, he faid to bim, " thofe were the effects of living long, fuch muft " look to fee many fad and unacceptable things ;" and having faid that, he went to other difcourfes, with his ordinary freedom of mind ; for though he had a temper fo tender, that fad things were apt enough to make deep impreffion upon him, yet the regard he bad to the wifdom and providence oi God, and the juft eftimate he made of external things, did to admiration maintain the tranquility pf his mind, and he gave no occafion by idlenefs to melancholly to corrupt bis fpiiit, but by the perpetual bent of bis thoughts, be knew well bow to divert them from being opprefied with the ex- cclles of forrowi

He

^'/r MATTHEW HALE. 85

He had a generous and noble idea of God in his mind, and this he found did above all other confi- derations preferve his quiet : and indeed that was fo well eftablifhed in him, that no accidents, how fudden foever, were obferved to difcompofe him. Of which an eminent man of that profeffion, gave me this inftance : in the year 16&6, an opinion tlic) run through the nation, that the end of the world wojild come that year. This, whether fet on by aftrologers, or advanced by thofe who thought it inight have fome relation to the number of the beaft' In the Revelation, or promoted by men of ill defigns, to difturb the public peace, had fpread mightily among the people ; and judge Hale going that year the weftern circuit, it hap- pened, that as he was on the bench at the aflizes, a moft terrible florm fell out very unexpectedly, accompanied with fuch fiaflies of lightning, and claps of thunder, that the like will hardly fall out •in an age; upon which a whifpor or rumour run through the croud, that now the world was to end, and the day of judgment to begin ; and at this there followed a general conflernation m the whole aflembly, and all men forgot the bufinefs they were met about, and betook themfelves to their prayers : this added to the horror raifed by the florm looked very difmally ; in fo much that mv author, a man of no ordinary refolution, and fumnefs of mind, confefTed it made a great impref- fion on himfelf. But he told mc, that he did obfervc the judge was not a whit afFeded, and was going

G z on

S6 The Lite and Death of

on with the bufinefs of the court in his ordinary manner J from which he made this conclufion, that his thoughts were fo well fixed, that he believed if the world had been really to end, it would have given him no confidcrable difturbance. But I fiiall now conclude all that I fhall fay concerning him, with what one of the greateft men of the profeffion of the law, fent me as an abftra<Sl of the character he had made of him, upon long obfervation, and much convcrfe wiih him : it was fent me, that from thence, with the other materials, I might make fuch a reprefentation of him to the world, as he indeed deferved ; but I jefolved not to fhred it out in parcels, but to fel it down intirely as it was fent me, hoping that as the reader will be much delighted with it, fo the noble perfon that fent it, will not be offended with me for keeping it intire, and fetting it in the beft light I could. It begins abruptly, being defigned to fupply the defe£is of others, from whom I had earlier and more copious informations.

" He would never be brought to difcouife of public matters in private converfation, but in queftions of law, when any young lav/yer put a cafe to him he was very communicative, efpecially while he was at the bar : but when he came to the bench, he grew more rcferv'd, and would never fuffer his opinion in any cafe to be knou^n, till he w'as obliged to declare it judicially : and he concealed his opinion in great cafes fo carefully, that the refl of the judges in the fame court could

never

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 87

never perceive it j his reafon was, becaufe every judge ought to give fentence according to his own perfuafion and confcience, and not to be fwayed by any refped: or difference to another man's opi- 4iion : and by this means it hath happened iome times, that when all the barons of the exchequer had delivered their opinions, and agreed in their reafons and arguments ; yet he coming to fpeak lafl, and differing in judgment from them, hath .«xpreffed himfelf with (o much weight and folidity, that the barons have immediately retraciied their votes and concurred with him; He hath fet as a judge in all the courts of law, and in two of them as chief; but ftill wherever he fat, all bufmefs oi confequence followed him, and no man was con- tent to fit down by the judgment of any other ■court, till the cafe were brought before him, to fee whether he were of the fame mind : and his opi- nion being once known, men did readily acquiefce in it; and it was very rarely feen, that any man attempted to bring it about again, and he that did So, did it upon great difadvantages, and was always looked upon as a very t:ontentious perfon : fo that what Cicero fays of Brutus, did very often happen to him, ctiam quos contra Jiatti'it aquos phcatofque

dinnfit.

" Nor did men reverence his judgment and

opinion in courts of law only, but his authority

.was as great in courts of equity, and the fame

jefpecl and fubmiflion was paid to him tliere too ; '

and this appeared not only in his own court of

G 4 equity

88 The Life and Death of

equity In the exchequer chamber, but in the chan-? eery too, for thither he was often called to advife and affift the lord chancellor, or lord keeper for the time being ; and if the caufe were of difficult examination, or intricated arid entangled with variety of fettlements, no m^n ever fhewed a more clear and difcerning judgment : if it were of great . value,, and great perfons interefted in it, no man ever fhewed greater courage and integrity in laying afide all refpe^t of perfons : when he came to de- liver his opinion, he always put his difcourfc into fuch a method, that one part ga,ve light to the other, and where the proceedings of (^hancery might prove inconvenient to the fubjeil, he never fpared to obferve and reprove them, and from his obfervations and difcourfes, the chancery hath taken occafion to eftablifh many of thofe rules by which it governs itfelf at this day.

*' He did look upon equity as a part of the common law? imd one of the grounds of it ; and therefore as near as he could, he did always reduce it to certain rules and principles, tiiat men might ftudy it as a fcience, and not think the adminiftra- tion of it had any thing arbitrary in it. Thus eminent was this man in every ftation, and into •what court foever he was called, he quickly made it appear, that he deferved the chief feat there.

*' As great a lawyer as he was, he would never fuffer the ftricStnefs of law to prevail againft con- fcience; as great a chancellor as he was, he would make ufe of all the niceties and fubtilties in law,

when

.^/r MATTHEW HALE. 89

when it tended to fupport right and equity. But nothing was more admirable in him, than his pa- tience: he did not afFe<5l the reputation of quicknefs and difpatch, by a hafty and captious hearing of the councel : he would bear with the meaneft, and gave every man his full fcope, thinking it much better to loofe time than patience. In fumming up of an evidence to a jury, he would always re-r quire the bar to interrupt him if he did miftake, and to put him in mind of it, if he did forget the leaft circumftance ; fome judges have been difturbed at this as a rudenefs, which he always looked upon as a fervice and refpe(2 done to him.

*' His whole life was nothing elfe but a conti- nual courfe of labour and induiby, and when he could borrow any time from the public fervice, it was wholly employed either in philofophical or di- vine meditations, and even that was a public fervice too as it hath proved; for they have occafioned his writing of fuch treatifes, as are become the choiceft entertainments of wife and good men, and the world hath reafon to wifh that more of them were printed. He that confiders the a6live part of his life, and with v/hat unwearied diligence and appli- cation of mind, he difpatched all mens bufmefs which came under his care, will wonder how he could find any time for contemplation ; he that confiders again the various ftudies he pail through, and the many colledtions and obfervations he hath made, may as juftly wonder how he could find axiy time for .adion ; but no man can wonder at

ihe

90 ^he Life and Death of

the exemplary piety and innocence of fuch a life {o fpent as this was, wherein as he was careful to avoid every idle word, fo 'tis manifeft he never fpent an idle day. They who come far fliort of this great man, will be apt enough to think that this is a panegyric, which indeed is a hiftory, and but a little part of that hiftory which was with great truth to be related of him : men who defpair of attaining fuch perfeition, are not willing to believe that any man elfe did ever arrive at fuch a height.

" He was the greateft lawyer of the age, and might have had what pra6lice he plcafed ; but though he did moft confcientioudy affe6l the la- bours of his profeffion, yet at the fame time he dcfpifed the gain of itj and of thofe profits which he would allow himfelf to receive, he always fet apart a tenth penny for the poor, which he ever difpenfed with that fecrecy, that they who were relieved, feldom or never knew their benefactor. He took more pains to avoid the honours and pre- ferments of the gown, than others do to compafd them. His modefty was beyond all example, for "where fome men, who never attained to half his. knowledge, have been puffed up with a high con- ceit of themfelves, and have affetSled all occafions of raihng their own efteem by depreciating other men, he on the contrary was the moft obliging man that ever pra6lifed : if a young gentleman happened to be retained to argue a point in law, where he was «n the contrary fide, he would very often mend

the

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 91

the obje6lIons when he came to repeat them, and always commend the gentleman if there were any room fcr it, and one good word of his was of more advantage to a young man, than all the fa- vour of a court could be."

Having thus far perfuedhis hiflory and charafler, in the public and exemplary parts of his life, ivithout interrupting, the thread of the relation, with what was private and domeftic, I fhall con- clude with a fhort account of thefe.

He was twice married, his firft wife was Ana daughter of fir Henry Moore of Faly in Berkfhire, grandchild to fir Francis Moore, ferjeant at law ; by her he had ten children, the four firft died }'oung, the other fix lived to be all married ; and he out- lived them all, except his eldefl daughter, and his youngeft fon, who are yet alive.

His eldeft fon Robert married Frances the daughter of fir Francis Chock, of Avington in Berkfhire, and they both dying in a little time one after another left five children, two fons Matthew and Gabriel, and three daughters, Ann, Mary, and Frances, and by the judge's advice, they both made him their executor, fo he took his grand- children into his own care, and among them fae left his eftate.

His fecond fon Matthew, married Ann the daughter qf Mr. Matthew Simmonds, of Hilfley, in Glouceflcifliire, who died foon after, and left one fon behind him named Matthew.

Hii

92 The Life afid Death of

His third fon Thomas, married Rebekah the daughter of Chriftian Le Brune, a Dutch mer- chant, and died v/ithout ifiue.

His fourth fon Edward, married Mary the daughter of Edmond Goodyere, Efqj of Heythorp, in Oxfordfliire, and Rill lives ] he has two fons, and three daughters.

. His eldeft daughter Mary, was married to Ed- ward Alderly, fon of Edward Alderly, of Inni- fliannon, in the- county of Cork in Ireland, who dying, left her with two fons and three daughters ; flie is fmce married to Edward Stephens, fon to Edward Stephens, Efq; of Cherington in Glou- cefterfliire. Kis youngeft daughter Elizabeth, was married to Edward Webb, Efqj barrifter at law, {he died, leaving two children, a fon and a daughter.

His fccond wife was Ann, the daughter of Mr. Jofeph Bifhop, of Faly in Berkfliire, by whom he had no children ; he gives her a great chara6ler in his will, as a mofl dutiful, faithful, and loving wife, and therefore truftcd the breeding of his grand-children to her care, and left her one of his executors, to whom he joined fir Robert Jenr kinfon, and Mr. Gibbon. .So much may fuffice of thofe defcended frorii him.

In after times, it is not be dotrbtcd, but it will be reckoned no fmall honour to derive from him ; and this has made me more particular in reckon- ing up his ifl'ue. I fhall next give an account of the iflues of his mind, his books, that are either

printed.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 93

printed, or remain in manufcript ; for the laft ot thefe by his will, he has forbid the printing ot any of them after his death, except fuch as he fliould give order for in his life : but he feems to have changed his mind afterwards, and to have left it to the difcretion of his executors, which of them might be printctl : for though he does not exprefs that, yet he ordered by a codicil, " that if *' any book of his writing, as well touching the *' common law, as other fubje£ls, (hould be prin-- " ted, than what ihould be given for the confi- " deration of the copy, fhould be divided into " ten fhares, of which he appointed fevcn to go *' among his fcrvants, and three to thofe who had " copied them out, and were to look after the ** impreflion." The rcafcn, as 1 have underflood it, that made him fo unwilling to have any of his works printed after his death, was, that he apprehended in the liccnfing them, (which was necefTary before any book could be lawfully prin- ted, by a law then in force, but fince his death determined) fome things might have been ftruck out or altered j which he had obferved not without fome indignation, had been done to a part of the reports, of one whom he had much eftcemed.

This in matters of law, he faid, might prove to be of fuch mifchievous confequences, that he thereupon refolved none of his writings fhould be at the mercy of licenfers j and therefore, bccaufe he was not fure, that they fhould be pub- iiiited without expurgations or interpolatiuns, he

forbade

54 ^^^ Life and Death of

forbade the printing any of them ; in which he afterwards made fome alteration, at leaft he gave occafion by his codicil, to infer that he had altered bis mind.

This I have the more fully explained, that his laft will may be no way mifunderftood, and that his worthy executors, and his hopeful grand-child- len, may not conclude themfelves to be under an indifpenfible obligation of depriving the public of his excellent writings. "

A Catalogue of all his Printed Books.

I. fT^HE primitive origination of mankind^ A. confidered and examined according to the liaht of nature. Folio

2. Contemplations moral and divine, part i. 8vo,

3. Contemplations moral and divine, part 2. 8vo.

4. Difficiles Nugse, or obfervations touching the Torricellian experiment, and the various fotutions of the fame, efpecially touching the weight and elafticity of the air. 8vo*

5. An ellay touching the gravitation, or non- gravitation of fluid bodies, and the reafons thereof, Hvo.

6.' Obfervations touching the principles of na- tural m.otions, and efpecially touching rarefaction, and condenfation ; together with a reply to certain remarks, touching the gravitation of fluids. 8vo.

7. The life and death of Pomponius Atticus, written by his contemporary and acquaintance

Cor-

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 95

Cornelius Nepos, tranflated out of his fragments ; together with obf3rvations, political and moral, thereupon. 8vo.

8. Pleas of the crown, or a methodical fummary <?f the principal matters relating to that fubjed. 8vo»

Manuscripts not yet publifhed.

I, /CONCERNING the fecondary origination V->l of mankind. Fol.

2. Concerning religion, 5 vol. in Fol. viz. r. De deo. Vox metaphyficaj. pars i & 2. 2. Pars 3. Vox naturse, providentix, ethicae, con- fcientiae. 3. Liber fextus, feptimus, o£lavus. 4. Pars 9. Concerning the holy fcriptures, their evidence and authority. 5. Concerning the truth of the holy fcriptures, and the evidences thereof.

3. Of policy in matters of religion. Fol.

4. De anima, to Mr. B. Fol.

5. De anima, tranfadions between him and Mtt

B. Fol.

6. Tentamina, de ortu, natufa & imniortalltate

animae. Fol.

7. Magnetifmus magneticus. Fol. ■ 8. Magnetifmus phyficus. Fol.

9. Magnetifmus divinus.

10. De generatione animalium Sc vegctabilium. Fol. lat.

11. Of the law of nature. Fol.

12. A letter of advice to his grand-children. 4to,

13. Placita coron^e, 7 vol. Fol.

13. Pre-

gS i'he Life and Death of

14. Preparatory notes concerning the right of the crown. Fol.

15. Incepta de juribus coronae. Fol. ■

16. De prerogativa regis. Fol.

17. Preparatory notes touching parliarnentary proceedings, 2 vol. 4to.

J 8. Of the jurifdi6tion of the houfe of lords, 4to.

19. Of the jurifdidiion of the admiralty.

20. Touching ports and cufloms. Fol.

21. Of the right of the fea and the arms thereof, and cuftoms. Fol.

22. Concerning the advancement of trade. 4to«

23. Of fiierifFs account. Foi.

24. Copies of evidences. Fol.

25. Mr. Selden's difcourfes. 8vo,

26. Excerpta ex fchedis Seldenianis.

27. Journal of the 18 and 21 Jacobi regis. 4to,

28. Great common place book of reports or cafes in the law, in law French. Fol.

In Bundles.

ON quod tlbi fier'i^ &c. Matth. vii. 12. Touching punifliments, in relation to tke Socinian controverfy.

Policies of the church of Rome. Concerning the laws of England. Of the amendment of the laws of England, Touching provifion for the poor. Upon Mr. Hobbs's manufcript. Concerning the time of the abolition of the Jewifh laws.

In

Sir MATTHEW HALE. ^j In Quarto.

^md fit deus.

Of the ftate and condition of the foul and body after death.

Notes concernino; matters of law.

o

To thefe I Ihall add the Catalogue of the Manuscripts which he left to the Hon. Society of LincolnVInn, with that part of his Will that concerns them.

ITEM, 00 a tcffimoncp of mj) Ijonouj: ano rcfpcrt CO t!)e _focietp of JLincoln'^^SInit, Mjzu 3. Ija5 tlje grcatett part of mp education, 35 gti)^ ano ijftiucatlj to t!;at Ijouourable foci^: ^tj) tljc federal manufcrtpt IjooHs coutaineD \\x a fclj^mttc aiiue]cen to mp toiil : tljep arc a trcafure tport^ ijabiug; aim kccpiuo;, toijic!) 3| i;avie hzzw near fortp j)ear0 in gatljcring;, tuitlj ucrp great iuiiuarp ann erpence. ^p uefire i>, ti)at tljep Ije kept fafe, auD all togetljer, in remembrance of me ; tbep Uuere fit to be botinn ill leatijer ann djainen, anu kept in arcljiije^" : 31 Defire tljcp map not be lent out, or nifpofeo of t bnlp if 31 Ijappen Ijereafter to l;abe anp of mp poflcritp of tljat foeietp, tbat oeCreg to tranfccibe anp book, ann giije tjerp pon cau^ tion to reftore it again ixi a prefireD time, fuel; a? t{;e beucl;eri3 of tljat locietv \\\ coun^

H ^ til

98 The Life and Death of

t\\ (Ijall appvoUe of 5 tljeu, anu not otljci'twlifc-, onlp one l)ook at one tintc map lie lent out to tfjem tip tlje focictp; To tijat tljeue lie no more l)ut one l)oah of tljcfe I'ccks abroau out of ti;e librarp atone time. SCljep are a ti-eafure tijat are not fit for everp man'0 Uielu x nor is cberp man capable of making ufe of tljem : onlp 31 iMoulD lja\je notljiuo; of tljefe ibochs pcintcn* hut intirelp preferlicD togetljcr, for tlje ufe of tlje innu^iiou^ Icarneo memiierss of tljat Metp,

A Catalogue of die Books given by him to Lincoln's-Inn, according to the fchedula. annexed to his wilJ.

PLacita de teiTJ-pore regis Johannis, i vol. ftitcht,. Placita coram regeE. i. 2 vol,

Placita coram rege E. 2. 3 vol.

Placita coram rege E. 3, 3 vol.

Placita coram rege R. 2. i vol.

Placita coram rege H. 4. H 5. i vol;

^acita de banco, E. i. ab amio i, ad annum* 21.. I vol.

ITranfcripts of many pleas, coram rege 5c dc banco E. i. i vol.

The pleas in the exchequer, ftiled communia, from 1 E. 3. to 46 E. 3. 5 vol.

Glofe rolls of king John, verbatim, of the moll material things, i vol.

The principal matters in the clofc and patent

rolls,.

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 99

rolls, of fJ. 3. tranfcribed verbatim, from 9 H. 3. to 56 H. 3. 5 vol. velum, marked K. L.

The principal matters in the clofe and patent rolls, E. I. with feveral copies and abftrads of records, i vol. marked F.

A long book of abftradls of records, by me.

Clofe and patent rolls, from i to 10 E, 3, and other records of the time of H. 3. i vol. marked W.

Clofe rolls of 15 E. 3. v^^ith other records, i ▼ol. marked N.

Clofe rolls from 17 to 38 E. 3. 2 vol.

Clofe and patent rolls from 40 E. 3 to 50 E. 3. I vol. marked B.

Clofe rolls of E. 2. with other records, i vol. R.

Clofe and patent rolls, and charter rolls in the lime of king John for the clergy, i vol.

A great volume of records of feveral natures, G.

The leagues of the kings of England, tempore E. I. E. 2. E. 3. I vol.

A book of ancient leagues and military provifi- ons, I vol.

The reports of Iters of Derby, Nottingham, and Bedford, tranfcribed, i vol.

Itinera foreft de Pickering & Lancafter, tran- fcrlpt ex original!, i vol.

An ancient reading, very large, upon charta de forcftae, and of the foreft laws.

The tranfcript of the iter forefta de Dean, i vol.

Quo warranto and liberties of the county of Gloixefter, with the pleas of the chace of Kingf- wood, I vol,

H 2 Tran^

loo ^hs Life and Death of

Tranfcript of the black book of the admiralty, laws of the arniy, impofitions and feveral honours, I volv

Records of patents, inquifitions, &c. of the county of Leicefter, i vol.

Mufter and military provifions of all forts, ex- tracted from the records, i vol.

Gervafius Tilburienfis, or the black book of the exchequer, i vol.

The king's title to the pre-emption of tin, a ihin vol.

Calender of the records in the tov^^er, a fmall vol.

A mifccllany of divers records, orders, and other things of various natures, marked E. i vol.

Another of the like nature in leather cover, i vol,

A book of divers records and things relating to the chancery, r vol.

Titles of honour and pedigrees, efpecially touching Clifford, i vol.

Hiftory of the marches of Wales colleded by me, I vol.

Certain collections touching titles of honour, i vol.

Copies of feveral records touching premunire, 1 vol.

Extradl of commifHons tempore H. 7. H. 8. R, and the proceedings in the court military, be- tween Ray and Ramfey, i vol.

Petitions in parliament tempore E. i. E. 2, E. 3. H. 4. 3 vols.

Summons of parliament, fr»?m 49 H. 3. to 22 E, 4. 3 vol.

The

Sir MATTHEW HALE. loi

The parliament rolls from the beginning of E!, I. to the end of R. 3. in 19 volumes, viz. i of E. I. I of E. 2. vi'ith the ordinations. 2 of E. 3. 3 of R. 2. 2 of H. 4. 2 of H. 5. 4 of H. 6. 3 of E. 4. I of R. 3. all tranfcribcd at large.

Mr. Elfing's book touching proceedings in par- liament, I vol.

Noye's collection touching the king's fupplies, I vol. ftitcht.

A book of various coIleiSllons out of records and regifter of Canterbury, and claims at the coro- nation of R. 2. I vol.

Tranfcript of bifliop Ufher's notes, principally concerning chronology, 3 large vol.

A tranfcript out of dooms-day book of Glou- cefterfliire and Heiefordfhire, and of fome pipe-rolls, and old accompts of the cuftoms, i vol.

Extrads and colledlions out of records touchin-:; titles of honour, i vol.

Extracts of pleas, patents and clofe- rolls, tem- pore H. 3. E. 1, E. 2. E. 3. and Ibme old antiquities of England, i vol.

ColleClions and memorials of many records and antiquities, i vol. Seldeni.

Calender of charters, and records in the tower, touching Gloucefterfhire.

ColleiStion of notes and records of various na- tures, marked M. i vol. Seldeni.

Tranfcript of the iters of London, Kent, Cornvyall, i vol.

H 3 Ex^.

102 The Life and Death of

Extracts out of the leiger-books of Battell, Eve- fham, Winton, &c. i vol. Seldeni.

Copies of the principal records in the red book, in the exchequer, i vol.

Extracts of records and treaties, relating to fea affairs, i vol.

Records touching cuftoms, ports, partition of the lands of Gi. de Clare, &c.

Extra61: of pleas in the time of R. i. king John, E. 1. he. i vol.

Cartae antiquae in the tower, tranfcribed, in 2 vol.

Chronological remembrances, extra(£led out of the notes of bifliop Ulher, i vol. Hitched. Inquifitiones de legibus Walliae, i vol. Colle61:ions or records touching knighthood. Titles of honour. Seldeni. i vol, Mathematicks arid fortifications, i vol, ProceiTus curia militaris, i vol. A book of honour ftitched, i vol. Extrafls out of the regiftry of Canterbury. Copies of ftveral records touching proceedings in the military court, i vol.

AblhacSls of fummons and rolls of parliament, out of the book Dunelm, and fome records alpha- betically digefted, I vol.

Abftrails of divers records in tlie office of firft fruits, I vol. flitched.

Mathematical and aftrological calculations, i vol. A book of divinity.

Two

>3

Sir MATTHEW HALE. lo: Two large repofitories of records, marked A.

and B.

[ All thofe above arc in folio. ]

The proceedings of the forefts of Windfor, Dean, and Eflex, in 4to. I vol. [ Thofe that follow are nioft of thern in vellum or parchment. ]

Two books of old ftatutes, one ending H. j. .the other 2 H. 5. with the fums, 2 vol.

Five laft years of E. 2. i vol.

Reports tempore E. 2. I vol.

The year book of R. 2. and fome others, i vol.

An old chronicle from the creation to E. 3, i vol.

A mathematical book, efpccially of optiouesj I vol.

A Dutch book of .geometry and fortification.

Murti Benevenlani geometrica, i vol.

Reports tempore E. i. under titles, i vol.

An old regifter and fome pleas, 1 vol.

Bernardi Bratrack peregrinatio, I vol.

Iter Cantii and London, and fome reports, ■^tempore E. 2. i vol.

Reports tempore E. i. and E. 2. I vol,

Leicer book, Abbatiae dc bello.

Ifidori opera.

Liber altercaticnis, & chriftiani:^ philofophae, ,Contra paganos.

Hiftoria Petri manducatorii.

Hornii aftronomica,

Hiftoria ecclefice Dunelmenfis,

Holandi chymica.

H 4. D€

104 ^he Life and Death of

De alchymije fcriptoribus.

The black book of the new law, collefSlcd by me, and digefted into alphabetical titles, written with my own hand, which is the original copy,

MATTHEW HALE. The Conclusion.

THUS lived and died fir Matthew Hale, the renowned lord chief juftice of England. He had one of the blellings of virtue in the higheft i-neafure of any of the age, that does not always follow it, which was, that he was univerfally much valued and admired by men of all fides and perfuafions. For as none could hate him but for his juftice and virtues, fo the rrreat eftimation he was generally in, made, that few durft undertake to defend fo ungrateful a paradox, as any thing faid to leflen him would have appeared to be. His name is fcarce ever mentioned fince his death, without particular accents of fingular refue6l. His opinion in points of law generally pafles as ^n uncontroulable authority, and is often pleaded in all the courts of juftice : and all that knew him well, do ftiil fpeak of him as one of the peifcdleft patterns of religion and virtue they ever faw.

The comm.endations given him by all forts of people are fuch, that I can hardly come under the cenfures of this age, for any thing I have faid con-: cerning him ; yet if this book lives to after times, }t will be looked on perhaps as a picture, drawn

more

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 105

rtiore according to fancy and invention, than after the life ; if it were not that thofe who knew him well, pftablifhing its credit in the prefent age, will make it pafs down to the next with a clearer authority. I fhall perfue his praife no further in my own words, but fhall add what the prefent lord chan- cellor of England faid concerning him, when he flelivered the commiflion to the lord chief juftlce Rainsford, who fucceeded him in that office, which he began in this manner.

" The vacancy of the feat of the chief juftice

** of this court, and that by a way and means fo

*' unufual, as the refignation of him, that lately

*' held it, and this too proceeding from fo deplorable

" a caufe, as the infirmities of that body., which

" began to forfake the ableft mind that ever pre-

*'. fided here, hath filled the kino-dom with lamen-

*' tations, and given the king many and penfivc

*' thoughts, how to fupply that vacancy again."

And a little after fpeaking to his fuccefibr, he faid,

*' The very labours of the place, and that weight

" and fatigue of bufinefs which attends it, are no

*' fmall difcouragements ; for what fhoulders may

.*' not juftly fear the burthen which made him.

•" ftoop that went before you ? Yet I confefs you

" have a greater difcouragement than the meer

*' burthen of your place, ajid that is the unimitablii

' example of your laft predeceflbr : onerofum ejl

" fuccedere bom principle v/as the faying of him

*' in the panegyrick ; and you will find it fo too

*' that are to fucceed fuch a chief juflice, of fo

" inde-

<.

so6 The LiFj; and Death of

*' indefatigable an induftiy, fo invincible a pati- " ence, fo exemplary an integrity, and fo magna- " nimous a contempt of worldly things, without " which no man can be truly great ; and to all *' this a man that was fo abfolute a mafter of the *' fcience of the law, and evert of the moft ab- ■'' ftrufe and hidden parts of it, that one may *' truly fay of his k.nov.'ledge in the law, what St. '^^ Aufiin faid of St. Hierom's knowledge in divi- *' nity, quod H:erom?mis nefcivit, nullus inortoUian *' unqiiam fcivit. And therefore the king would '* not fuffer himfelf to part with fo great a man, *' till he had placed upon him all the marks o.f ** bounty and eilieem, which his retired and weak "'^ condition was capable of."

To this high character, in which the expreflions, as they well become the eloquence of him who pronounced them, fo they do agree exadlly to the fubject, without the abatements that are often to "be made for rhetoric ; I fhall add that part of the lord chief juftice's jinfwer, in which he fpeaks of his predeceffor.

" — — A perfon in whom his eminent virtues^ *' and deep learning, have long managed a conteft *' for the fuperiority, which is not decided to this ** day, nor will it ever be determined, I fuppofe, " which fhall get the upper hand. A perfon that " has fat in this court thefe many years, of whofe *' adlions there I have been an eye and an ear ** witnefs, that by the greatnefs of his learning *' always charmed his auditors to reverence and

" atten-

((

(C

.9/r MATTHEW HALE. 107

f' attention : a perfon, of whom I think I may '« boldly fay, that as former times cannot fliew *' any fuperiour to him, fo I am confident fuc- *' ceeding and future time will never fliew any '*■ equal : thefe confiderations hightened by what I ^' liave heard from your lordfliip concerning him, " made me anxious and doubtful, and put me to ,*' a ftand, how I fhould fucceed fo able, fo good, *' and fo great a man : it doth very much trouble *' me, that I who in comparifon of liim am but like a candle lighted in the fun-fiiine, or like a glow-worm at mid-day, fliould fucceed fo great .*' a perfon, that is and will be fo eminently fa- *' mous to all pofterity, and I muft ever wear this " motto in my breaft to comfort me, and in my *' actions to excnfe me,

'' Si^quhur.^ quamvh non pq/Jlous isqius."" Thus were panegyricks made upon him while yet alive, in that fame court of juftice which he had fo worthily governed. As he was honoured while he lived, fo he was much lamented when he died : and this will ftil! be acknowledged as ajuft infciiption for his memory, though his modciiy forbid any fuch to be put on his tomb-ftone.

THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST PATTERNS THIS AGE HAS AFFOPvDED, WHETHER IN HIS PRIVATE DEPORT- MENT AS A CHRISTIAN, OR IN HIS PUBLIC EMPLOYMENTS, EITHER AT

THE BAR OR ON THE BENCH, ■ • , ADDI-

[ io8 ] ADDITIONAL NOTES

OF THE

LIFE AND DEATH

O F

Sir MATTHEW HALE, Knt.

Written by Richard Baxter,

At the Requeft of Edward Stephens, Efq; Publifher of his Contemplations, and his familial Friend^ ,

To the READER.

SINCE the hiflory of judge Hale's life is publifhed (written by Dr. Burnet very well) fome men have thought, that becaufe my familiari- ty with him was known, and the laft time of a man's life is fuppofed to contain his matureft judgment, time, ftudy, and experience correfling former over- fights; and this great man who was moft diligently and thijftily learning to the laft, was like to be flill wifcr, the ^notice that I had of him in the latter years of his life fhould not be omitted.

1 was

tx» the R E A D E Ro 109

I was never acquainted with him till 1667, and ttierefor€ have nothing to fay of the former part of his life j nor of the latter, as to any public affairs, but only of what our familiar converfe acquainted me : but the vifible effects made mc wonder at the induftry and unwearied labours of his former life. Befides the four volumes againft atheifm and infidelity, in folio, which I after mention, when I was dcfued to borrow a manu- fcript of his law colledions, he fhewed me, as I remember, about two and thirty folios, and told me, he had no other on that fubjecl, (colledions out of the tower records, &c.) and that the ama- nuenfis work that wrote them, coit him a thoufand pound. He was fo fet on iludy, that herefolvedly avoided all necefTary diverfions, and fo little valued eithergrandeur, wealth, or any worldly vanity, that he avoided them to that notable degree, which incom- petent judges took to be an excefs. His habit was lo coarfe and plain, that I, who am thought guilty of a culpable negle6l therein, have been bold to defire him to lay by fome things which feemed too homely. T'he houfe which I furrendered to him, and wherein he lived at A6lon, was indeed well fituate but very fmall, and fo far below the ordi- nary dwellings of men of his rank, as that divers farmers thereabout had better ; but it pleafed him. Many cenfurcd him for chufmg his laft wife be- low his quality : but the good man more regarded his own daily comfort, than men's thoughts and talk. As far as I could difgern, he choft one very

f'iitabis

no 'To the READER.

fuitable to his ends; one of his own judgrneiit and temper, prudent and loving and -fit to pleafe him ; and that would not draw on him the trouble of much acquaintance and relations. His houfckeeping ■was according to the refl:, like his cftate and mind, but not like his place and honour: for he refolved never to grafp at riches, nor take great fees, but would rcfufe what many others thought too little. 1 wondered when he told me how fmall his eftate was, after fuch ways of getting as were before him : but as he had little, and dcfired little, fo he- was content with little, and fuited his dwelling, table, and retinue thereto. He greatly fhunned the vifits of many, or gVeat perfons, that came not to him on ' neccli'ary bufmefs, becaufe all his hours were precious to him, and therefore he contrived the avoiding of them, and the free enjoyment of liis beloved privacy.

I muft with a glad remembrance acknowledge, that while wc were fo unfuitable in places and worth, yet feme fuitablenefs of judgn^ent and dil- pofuion made our frequent converfe pleafmg to us both. The laft time fave one, that I was at 'his houfe, he made me lodge there, and in the morn- ing inviting me to more frequent vifits faid, no man (hall be more welcome ; and he was no dif- iembler. To fignify his love, he put my name as a legatee in his will, bequeathing me forty fliil- lings. Mr. Stephens gave me two manufcripts, as appointed by him for me, declaring his judgment of our church contentions and their cure (after

men-

ro the READER. m

mentioned). Though they are imperfe£l as writ- ten on the fame queftion at feveral times, I had a great mhid to print them, to try whether the common reverence of the author would cool any of our contentious clergy : but hearing that there was a reftraint in his will, I took out part of a> copy in which I find thefe words, " I do exprefsly " declare, that I will have nothing of my writings " printed after my death, but only fuch as I fhall " in my life-time deliver out to be printed." And not having received this in his life-time, nor to be printed in exprefs terms, I am afraid of croffing the will of the dead, though he ordered them for me.

It {hewed his mean eflate as to riches, that in his will he is put to diftribute the profits of a book or two when printed, among his friends and fervants. Alas ! we that are great loofers by printing, know that it muft be a fmall gain that muft thus accrue to them. Doubtlefs, if the lord chief juflice Hale hs.d gathered money as other lawyers do that had lefs advantage, as he wanted not will, fo he would not have wanted power to have left them far greater legacies. But the fer- vants of a felf-dcnying mortified mafter, muft be content to fuffer by his virtues, which yet if they- imitate him, will turn to their final gain.

God made him a public good, whicli is more than to get riches. His great judgment and known, integrity, commanded refpedt from thofe that, knew him j fo tloat I verily think, that no qwq

tii To the READER.

fubje£l fince the days that hiftory hath notified the affairs of England to us, went off the flage with greater and more univerfal love and honour ; (and what honour without love is, I undeiffand riOt.) I remember when his fucceffor, the lord chief juftice Rainsford, falling into fome melan- cholly, came and fcnt to me for fome advice, he did it as he faid, becaufe judge Flale defired him fo to do; and expreffed fo great rcfpedl to his judg- ment and writings, as I percei\'ed much prevailed with him. And many have profited by his con- templations, who would never have read them^ Tiad they been written by fuch a one as I. Yet among all his books and difcourfes, I never knew of thefe until he was dead.

His refolution for juftice was fo great, that I am perfuaded, that no wealth nor honour would have hired him knowingly to do one unjuft a^ft.

And though he left us in forrow, I cannot but acknowledge it a great mercy to him, to be taken away when he was. Alas ! what would the good itian have done, if he had been put by plotters, and traitors, and fwearers, and forfwearers, upon, all that his fucceffors have been put to ? In like- lihood, even all his great wifdom and fincerity,- could never have got him through fuch a wilder- nefs of throns, and briars, and wild beafts, with- -out tearing in pieces his entire reputation, if he had never fo well fecured his confcicnce. O ! how fea- ibnably did he avoid the tempell and go to Chrifl.

And

To the READER. 113

And fo have fo many excellent perfons fince then, and efpecially within the fpace of one year, as may well make England tremble at the prog- noftick, that the righteous are taken as from the evil to come. And alas ! what an evil is it like to be ? We feel our lofs. We fear the common danger. But what believer can chufe but acknow- ledge God's mercy to them, in taking them up to the world of light, love, peace and otder, when confufion is coming upon this world, by darknefs, malignity, perfidioufnefs and cruelty. Some think that the lad conflagration fhall turn this earth into htll. If fo who would not firft be taken from it ? And when it is fo like to hell already, who would not rather be in heaven ?

Though fome miftook this man for a meer phi- lofopher or humanift, that knew him not within ; yet his moft feiious defcription of the fufferings of Chrift, and his copious volumes to prove the truth of the fcripture, chriftianity, our immortality, and the Deity, do prove fo much reality in his faith and devotion, as makes us paft doubt of the reali- ty of his reward and glory.

When he found his belly fwell, his breath and ftrenglh much abate, and his face and fiefh decay, he chearfully received the fentence of death : and though Dr. Gliflbn by meer oximel fquilliticum, feemed a while to cafe him, yet that alfo foon failed him ; and he told me, he was prepared and con- tented comfortably to receive his change. And accordingly he left us, and went into his native

X country

ir4 To the READER.

country of Gloucefterfliiie to die, as the hlftory tells yoir,

Mr* Edward Stephens being moft familiar with hiin, told me his purpofe to write his life : and cltifired me to draw up the meer narrative of my fhort familiarity with him ; which I did as follow- eth : by hearing no more of hira. caft it by ; but others dehring it, upon the fight of the publifhed hiftory of bis life by Dr. Burnet, I have left it to the difcretion of forae of them^ to do with it what they will.

And being half dead already In thofe deareft friends who were half myfelf, am much the more willing to leave this mole-hill and prifon of earth, to be with that wife and bleffed fociety, who being united to their head in glory, do not envy, hate, or perfecute each other, nor forfake God, nor Ihall ever be forfaken by him.

K.. 6^.

Note, That this narrative was written two years before Dr. Burnet's; and It's not to be doubt- ed, but that he had better information of his manufcripts^ and fome other circumftances, than I. But of thofe manufcripts direcSled to me, about the foul's immortality, of which I have the originals under his hand, and alfo of his thoughts of the fubjedls mentioned by me, from 167 1, till he went to die in Gloucefterfiiire, 1 had the fulleft notice.

ADDI-

[ 1^5 ] ADDITIONAL NOTES

On the Life and Death of

Sir MATTHEW HALE, Knt.

To my Worthy Friend Mr. Stephens, the Publilher of Judge Hale's Con- templations.

SIR,

YOU defired me to give you notice of what I knew in my perfonal convcrfe, of the great lord chief juftice of England, fir Mat- thew Hale. You have partly made any thing of mine unmeet for the fight of any but yourfelf and his private friends (to whom it is ufelefs) by your divulging thofe words of his extraordinary favour to me, which will make it thought, that I am par- tial in his praifes. And indeed that exceffive efteem of his, which you have told men of, is a divulgino- of his imperfeclion, who did over-value fo unwor- thy a perfon as I know myfelf to be.

I will promife you to fay nothing but the truth ; and judge gf it and ufe it as you pleafe.

I 2 My

ii6 Mditional Notes on the Life of

My acquaintance with him was not lono; : and I look'd on him as an excellent peifon ftudied in his own wa}r, which I hoped I fliould never have cccafion to make much ufe of; but I thouoht not fo verfed in our matters as ourfelves. I was con- firmed in this conceit by the firft report I had from him, which was his wifii, that Dr. Reignolds^ Mr. Calamy, and I, would have taken biflio|,ricks, when they were ofFered us by the lord chancellor, as from the king, in 1660, (as one did). I thought he underftood not our cafe, or the true ftate of Englifh prelacy. Many years after when I lived at A6ton, he being lord chief baron of the exche- quer, fuddenly took a houfe in the village. We fat next feats together at church for many weeks, but neither did he ever fpeak to me or 1 to him. At lafl-, my extraordinary friend (to whom I was more beholding than I muft here exprefs,) ferjeant Fountain, afked me, why I did not vifit the lord chief baron ? I told him, becaufe I had no reafon for it, being a ftranger to him ; and had fome againft it, viz. that a judge, whofe reputation was necefiary to the ends of his office, fhould not be brought under court fufpicron, or difgrace, by his familiarity with a petfon, whom the intereft and diligence of fome prelates had rendered fo odious, as I knev/ myfelf to be with fuch, I durft not be fo injurious to him. The ferjeant anfwered, it is not meet for him to come firft to you ; I know why I fpeak it : let me in treat you to go firft to him. In obedience to which requcft I did it j and

fa

^/> MATTHEW HALE, 117

^ we entered into neighbourly familrarSty. I lived then in a fmall houfe, but it had a pleafant gardeii and backfide, which the (honeft) landlord had a defire to fell. The judge had a mind to the houfe; but he would not meddle with it, till he got a flranger to me, to come and enquire of me whe- ther I was willing to leave it ? I told him, I vv'as not only willing but defirous, not for my owri ends, but for my landlord's fake, who muft needs fell it : and fo he bought it, and lived in that poor houfe, till his mortal ficknefs fent him to the place ©f his interment.

I will truly tell you the matter and the manner of our converfe. We were oft together, and al- moft all our difcourfe was philofophical, and efpe- cially about the nature of fpirits and fuperiour regions ; and the nature, operations, and immor- tality of man's foul. And our difpofition and courfe of thoughts, were in fuch things fo like, that I did not much crofs the bent of bis confe- fence. He firudied phyficks, and got all new or old books of philofophy that he could meet with, as eagerly as if he had been a boy at the univcrfitj-, Moufnerius, and Honoratus Faber, he defervedly much efleemed ; but yet took not the latter to be without fome miftakes. Mathematicks he ftudied more than I did, it being a knowledge which he much more efleemed than I did ; who valued all knowledge by the greatnefs of the benefit, and necciTity of the ufe; and my unfldlfulncfs in them.« 1 ackncvvledgc my great dekii, in which he much

I 3 excelled.

1 1 8 Additional Notes on the Life of

excelled. But we were both much addid^ed to know and read all the pretenders to more than ordinary in phyficks ; the Platonifts, the Peripa- teticks, the Epicureans (and efpecially their Gaf- fendus,) Teleius, Campanella, Patricius, Lullius, White, and every feet that made us any encourg- ing promife. We neither of us approved of all in Ariftotle ; but he valued him more than I did. We both greatly difliked the principles of Cartefius and Gaffendus (much more of the Bruitifls, Hobbs and Spinofa j ; efpecially their do6lorine de motu, and their obfcuring, or denying nature itfelf, even the principia motus, the virtutes form.ales, which are the caufes of operations^

Whenever we were together, he was the fpring of our difcourfe (as chufmg the fubjed) : and moil of it ftill was of the nature of fpirits, and the immortality, ftate, and operations of feparated fouls. We both were confcious of human darknefs, and how much of our underftandings, quiet in fuch matters, mull be fetcht from our implicit truft in the goodnefs and promifes of God, rather than from a clear and fatisfying conception of the mode of feparated fouls operations ; and how great ufe we have herein of our faith in Jefus Chrift, as he is the undertaker, mediator, the Lord and lover of fouls, and the actual poiTcffor of that glory. But yet we thought, that it greatly concerned us, to fearch as far as God allowed us, into a matter of fo great moment ; and that even little and obfcure profpe6ts into the heavenly ftate,

are

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 119

are more excellent than much and applauded knowledge of tranfitory things.

He was much in urging difficulties and objedti- ons j but you could not tell by them what was his own judgment : for when he was able to anfwer them himfelfj he v/ould draw out anothers anfwer.

He was but of a flow fpeech, and fometimes fo hefitating, that a ftranger would have thought bim a m-an of low parts, that kjiew not readily what to fay (though ready at ether times). But I never faw Cicero's dodlrine de Oratore, more verified in any man, that furnifhing the mind with all forts of knowledge, is the chief thing to make an excellent orator : for when there is abundance and clearnefs of knowledge in the mind, it will furnifh even a flow tongue to fpeak that which by its congruence and verity fhall prevail. Such a one never wants moving raatterj iiox an anfwer to vain objecflors.

The manner of our converfe was as fuitable to my inclination as the matter. For wliereas many bred in univerfitics, and called fcholars, have not the wit, manners, or patience, to hear thofe that they difcourfe with fpeak to the end, but through lift and impotency cannot hold, but cut off a man's fpeech when they hear any thing that urgeth them, before the latter fart make the former intel- ligible or ftrong (when oft the proof and ufe is referved to the end). Ulcer fcolds than fcholars; as if they commanded filence at the end of each ieutence to him that fpcakcih, or clfe would have

i- 4 two

120 Additional Notes on the Life 0/

two talk at once. I do not remember, that ever he and I did interrupt each other in any difcourfe. Plis wifdom and accuftomed patience caufed him ftili to ftay for the end. And though my difpofition have too much forw^ardnefs to fpeak, 1 had not fo little Vv'it or manners, as to interrupt him; whereby we far better underftood each other, than we could have done in chopping and maimed difcourfe.

He was muc^ for coming to philofophical knowledge by the help of experiments : but he thought, that our new philofophers, as fome call the Cartefians, had taken up many fallacies as experiments, and had made as unhappy a ufe of their trials, as many empericks and mounte- banks do in medicine : and that Ariftotle was a man of far greater experience, as well as fludy, than they. He was wont to Hiy, that lads at the univerfities had found it a way to be thought wifer than others, to join with boaflers that cried down the ancients before they underftood them : for he thought that few of thefe contemners of Ariftotle, had ever fo far ftudied him, as to know his doc- trine, but fpoke againft they knew not what ; even as fome fecular theologues take it to be the way to be thought wife men and orthodox, to cant againft fome party or fe6l which they have advantage to contemn. It muft coft a man many years ftudy to know what Ariftotle held. But to read over Ma~ girus (and perhaps the Conimbricenfes or Zaba- roll), and then prate againft Ariftotle, requireth but a little time and labgur. He could well be?,?

S:T MATTHEW HALE. 121

its when one that had thoroughly ftudied Arlftotle, difTcnted froni- him in any particular upon reafon ; but he loathed it in ignorant men, that were car- ried to it by fiiameful vanity of mind.

His many hard queftions, doubts and objections to me, occafioned me to draw up a fmail trail of the nature and immortality of man's foul, as pro- ved by natural light alone (by way of queftions and anfwers) : in which I had not baulked the hardeft objeilicns and difficulties that I could think of (conceiving that atheifts and fadduces are fo unhappily witty, and fatan fuch a tutor, that they are as like to think of them as I). But the good man, when I fent it to him, was wiferthan I, and fent me word in his return, that he would not have me publifli it in Englifti (nor without fome alterations of the method) ; bccaufe though he thought I had fufficiently anfwered all the objecti- ons, yet ordinary readers would take deeper into their minds fuch hard objections as they never heard before, than the anfwer (how full foever) would be able to overcome : whereupon, not having leifure to tranflate and alter it, I cafl it by.

He fcemed to reverence and believe the opinion of Dr. Willis, and fuch olhers, ck ammis hrutorwn^ as being not fpiritual fubftances. But v/hen I fent him a confutation of them, he feemcd to acquiefce, and as far as I could judge, did change his mind; and had higher thoughts of fenfitive natures, than they that take them to be fome evanid qualities,

proceed-

122 Additional Notes on the 'Lite of

proceeding from contexture, aLLemperation, and motion.

Yet he and I did think, that the notion of im- materiality, had little fatisfadory to acquaint us with the natuie of a fplrit (not telling us any thing what it is, but what it is not). And we thought, that the old Greek and Latin dodors (cited by Fauftus Rhegiculis, whom Mamertus anfwereth), did mean by a body or matter (of which they faid fpirits did confift), the fame thing as we now mean by the fubflance of fpirits, dlftin- guifliing them from meer accidents. And we thought it a matter of feme moment, and no fmall difficulty, to tell what men me:.n here by the word [fubllance], if it be but a relative notion, be- caufc it doth fubj?are accident'ibus ^ fnhfi/lere per fe^ relation is not proper fubftance. It is fubflance that doth fo fubfift : it is fcmeuhat, and not no- thing, nor ah accident. Therefore if more than relation mufl: be meant, it will prove hard to dif- tinguifli fubftance from fubftance by the notion of immateriality. Souls have no fhadows : they are not palpable and grofs ; but they are SUBSTAN- TIAL LIFE, as V^IRTUES. And it is hard to conceive, how a created vis vd virtus fhould be the adequate conceptus of a fpirit, and not rather an inadequate, fuppofmg the concepius oi fuhflantia fun- damentalis (as Dr. GliiTon calls it de vita natura)y feeing 07nnis virtus cjl rei alieni virtus.

Yet he yielded to mc, that virtus feu vis vitalisy is not annua accidens, but the conceptus forrnalis

fpiritus^

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 123

fpiritus^ fuppofing fuli/Iantia to be the conceptus fun- damentalis : and both together exprefs the eflence of a fpirit.

Every created being is pafilve ; for reciplt in Jluxum caufce prima. God tranfcendeth our defin- ing Ikill : but where there is receptivity, many ancients thought there vvere fome pure fort of materiality ; and we fay, there is receptive fub- ftantiality : and who can defcribe the difference (laying afide the formal virtues that difference things) between the higheft material fubftance, and the loweft fubftance, called immaterial.

We were neither of us fatisfied with the notions of penetrability and indivifibilityj as fufficient differences. But the virtutes Jpeaficcs plainly dif- ference.

What latfer thoughts, a year before he died, hs had of thcfe things, I know not: but fome fay, that a treatife of this fubje£l, the foul's immorta- lity, was his laft finifhed work (promifed in the end of his treatife of man's origination) ; and if we have the fight of that, it Vv'ill fuller tell us his judgment.

One thing I muft notify to you, and to thofc that have his manufcripts, that when I fent him a fcheme, with fome elucidations, he wrote me on that and my treatife of the foul, almoft a quire of paper of animadverfions \ by v/hich you muft rot conclude at all of his own judgment : for he profcffed to me, that he wrote them to me, not as his judgment, but (as his way was) as the hardeft

objeclioiis

124 Additional Notes on the "Lite of

objeillons which he would have fatlsfadlion in. And when I had written him a full anfwer to all, and have been oft fince with him, he feemed fatis- iied. You will wrong him therefore, if you fiiould print that written to me as his judgment.

As to his judgment about religion ; our difcourfe was very {jjaring about controverfies. He thought not fit to begin v/ith me about them, nor I with him : and as it was in me, fo It feemed to be in him, from a conceit, that we were not fit to pre- tend to add much to one another.

About matters of conformity, I could gladly have known his mind more fully : but I thought it unmeet to put fuch queftions to a judge, who muil not fpesk againft the laws ; and he never offered his judgment to me. And I knew, that as I was to revereiice him in his own profeflion, fo imnatters of my profeflion and concernment, he expelled not, that I fhould think as he, beyond the reafons which he gave.

I muft fay,- that he was of opinion, that the wealth and honour of the biiliops was convenient, to enable them the better to relieve the poor, and refcue the inferiour clergy from oppreflion, and to keep up the honour of religion in the world. But all this on fuppofition, that it would be in the hands of wife and good men, or elfc it would do as much harm. But when I afkcd him, whether great v/ealth nnd honour would not be moft earneilly defired and fought by the worf't of men, while good men would not feek them r And whether

he

Sir MATTHEW HALE. 125

he that was the only fervent feeker, was not likelieft to obtain (except under fome rare extra- ordinary prince) ? And fo whether it was not like to entail the office on the worft, and to arm Chiift's enemies againft him to the end of the world (which a provifion that had neither alluring nor much difcouraging temptation, might prevent), he gave me no anfv/er. I have heard fome fay, if the pope were a good man, what a deal of