that the church is in danger, is an enemy to the queen, the church, and the kingdom." This resolution was come to in consequence of the publication of a malicious pamphlet, entitled, 'The Memorial of the Church of England,' said to have been written by Counsellor Pooley and Dr Drake, and the strenuous efforts of Rochester and others to get up the well-known high church tocsin against the whigs.

The archbishop did not long survive the coronation of George I.,his death occurring on the 14th of December, 1715. Calamy says of the archbishop: -"He was a very steady man: had he died in the reign of Queen Anne, (as many expected,) it was generally thought that Dr Atterbury, bishop of Rochester, would have succeeded him: but this was what God in mercy prevented." Baxter too regarded him with warm admiration. After the praise of such men it is hardly worth while to notice the flippant calumnies of Swift, who calls Tenison "the most good-for-nothing prelate, and the dullest man he ever knew."

Matthew Henry.

BORN A. D. 1662.-died a. D. 1714.

MATTHEW, the second son of Philip Henry, was born on the 18th of October, 1662, at Broad Oak, a farm-house in the township of Iscoyd in Flintshire, about three miles from Whitchurch in Salop, whither his father had retired on the passing of the act of uniformity.

During infancy and childhood Matthew's health was delicate, but he gave early indications of much mental activity and a studious disposition. It is affirmed, that at the infantile age of three, he not only read the Bible distinctly, but even with a knowledge and observation which few children of twice his years display. His early proficiency in the rudiments of education, and his great and rapid advancement in his subsequent studies, were doubtless in a great measure due to the extraordinary attention which his father's seclusion from the duties of a public station enabled him to give to the studies and mental discipline of his family. Our young nonconformist was also greatly indebted to the affectionate and skilful tutoring of a young gentleman, who happened to reside for a time at Broad Oak, previous to his going to the university, and who took Matthew under his special charge. The efforts and advancement of the scholar kept pace with his privileges, and some little attention was necessary on the part of his parents to prevent him injuring his health by too close application to the studies prescribed him.

When about ten years of age, the expectations which his fond parents had begun to form of him were nearly fatally blasted. He was reduced by a slow fever to the very brink of the grave; but a kind providence again restored him to their arms, and under circumstances which made a deep impression, not only upon the hearts of the parents, but on that of the young sufferer himself. From this time his deportment, which had always been grave and orderly, became marked by an uncommon

3 Memoirs of Dr Tenison.-Calamy.-Baxter.

seriousness of disposition in one so young, and he now began to spend much of his time in retirement within his own closet.

It is believed, that, from his childhood, Matthew Henry had a strong and decided inclination to the ministry. It was evinced in many of those little innocent practices by which children often give indication of a predilection for some particular profession or employment. But it was not till his eighteenth year that, with an ultimate view towards devoting his life to the ministry of the gospel, he was placed under the tuition of that faithful minister,' Mr Thomas Doolittle, who kept a private academy at Islington. On the breaking up of Mr Doolittle's establishment, young Henry was sent for a short time to Gray's Inn, where he bestowed a good deal of attention upon "the noble science of the law;" but without once flinching in heart and purpose from the nobler science and office which he had early coveted-the science of the gospel, and, "office of a bishop." It must be noticed, that at this early period in their history, the nonconformists of England had no regular seminaries for the education of their youth for the ministerial office. It was doubtless, therefore, more with a view to the advantages to be derived from conversation with men of education, and to avail himself of the facilities of learning which the metropolis afforded, than with any serious wish or intention to explore the profundities of jurisprudence, that young Henry entered of Gray's Inn. Accordingly, we find him paying considerable attention to the modern languages while in London, and availing himself of all the opportunities which he possessed of extending his acquaintance amongst divines, and other learned men. He frequently heard sermon from Dr Stillingfleet, or Dr Tillotson, and he attended a weekly divinity disputation kept up by some young men under the presidency of Mr Glascock, a very worthy and ingenious young minister.

In the month of June, 1686, Mr Henry returned to Broad Oak, and soon after commenced preaching. In 1687, he accepted the invitation of a church at Chester, to undertake the pastoral office amongst them. The same year he married, but lost his wife soon after by small-pox. His next lady was a member of the family of the Warburtons of Grange, in Chester, with whom he lived more than twenty years, and by whom God gave him a numerous progeny. After Mr Henry had been settled about seven years at Chester, he lost his father, an event which he deeply felt. To the memory of this beloved parent he has dedicated one of the most beautiful and interesting, because most simple and unaffected, pieces of biography in the English language.

In Mr Henry's zealous ministrations, the villages and towns around Chester also largely participated. At some of them, particularly Moldsworth, Grange, Bromborough, Elton, and Saighton, he preached a monthly lecture. At Beesdon, Mickledale, Peckferton, Wrexham, Stockbridge, Burton, and Darnal, he preached still more frequently. His labour every Sabbath-day, in his own congregation, consisted of two double services, as they are called, comprising first a lecture or exposition, and then a sermon. On Saturdays he catechised the young people; and besides this, he had one week-day lecture, with other religious meetings, in addition to visiting the sick, preaching to the prisoners in the castle, and the various other occasional services which will impose themselves, whether solicited or not, upon a faithful and

ardent minister in a populous locality. For several years, the care of all the neighbouring churches may be said, "daily to have come upon" Mr Henry, especially such as he could visit beween the Sabbaths. The engagements to which he was thus frequently called, included a circuit of about thirty miles, and embraced frequent public addresses, ordinations, and funeral sermons. And yet Mr Henry was by no means one of those restless spirits who delight in publicity and bustle. He was naturally fond of retirement, and courted privacy and quiet as far as it was possible for him to do so in consistency with his obligations to God and his neighbour. Hence the delight he felt in those calm and unostentatious hours of private study and meditation, which produced his ever-memorable commentary on the Scriptures; and the gratitude he was known to express that that part of his work, at least, was cut out in retirement, and not in noise and hurry." It is marvellous, how, with so much work upon his hands, he contrived to dedicate such a large proportion of his time to the devotions of the closet, and the preparations of the study. His sermons were elaborated with more than ordinary care, and often written out at full length; his expositions were also the fruit of very considerable research and mental

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exertion.

In the year 1699, Mr Henry was thought of as a suitable person to succeed Dr Bates, then lately deceased at Hackney. To the first and the second invitation sent him from the church assembling at that place, he gave a decided negative, believing that Chester presented to him a sphere of greater usefulness, and therefore, that it was his duty to remain there. Ten years after this, however, when the congregation at Hackney, by the death of Mr Billio, were again left destitute, and had renewed their application to Mr Henry, he saw it his duty to comply, and, accordingly, he removed from Chester to London in May, 1712. One motive which greatly influenced Mr Henry in at last acceding to the wishes of the church at Hackney, might be traced to the wish which he must have felt to superintend the publication of his great work, the Commentary, then in the press,- -a duty which it was hardly possible for him to perform with any efficiency while resident in Chester.

Our author's pastoral engagements at Hackney commenced on the 18th of May, 1712. In the new sphere of labour which now lay around him, he found ample opportunity for constant and laborious exertion; and, though his strength was somewhat impaired, and disease began to make its inroads upon his frame, he entered upon his new duties with undiminished alacrity and zeal. His biographer has remarked of him, that sometimes while at Hackney he preached his early lecture at Little-St-Helen's; then returned to Hackney to fulfil his regular morning and afternoon services, consisting, as at Chester, of two expositions and two sermons; then he has gone to Wapping to preach at Mr Lloyd's meeting-house, or to Shakspeare's Walk charity school, or sometimes to the evening lecture at Redriff; and finally, having returned home, has gone through all the parts of family worship without giving evidence of either mental or bodily fatigue.

By such labours Mr Henry's health soon became visibly impaired. His friends would have persuaded him to suspend, or at least abate, some portion of his incessant circle of engagements; but he would not

listen to such a proposal. In the month of May, 1714, he paid a visit to his old friends in Cheshire, and was returning home in the month of June, when he was suddenly taken ill at Nantwich. The struggle was short. The next day, after his first illness, he was seized with apoplexy. He lay speechless three hours, and then fell asleep.' His remains were buried in Trinity church, Chester.

Mr Henry was, in private life, an amiable and highly domestic man. Though necessarily much and frequently from home, he still preferred the comforts of his own household to those of any other. Recording a journey to a distance to preach, he says, "In the evening I came to Chester late, and through much rain, but it was home." As a husband, his whole deportment was marked by prudence, fidelity, and affection; as a parent, his conduct was marked by kindness, firmness, and the most earnest anxiety for the spiritual interests of his children. Into the circle of his friends he admitted none who did not profess themselves the friends of his Divine Master. Yet he knew how to honour all men, as well as to love "the brotherhood." A gentleman by birth, education, and habits, he conducted himself to all with courtesy. "The very churchmen," says the famous John Dunton," the very churchmen love him; and even malice is angry she can find no cause to be angry with him."

Of his diligence and improvement of time we have already spoken. He was commonly in his study at five, and sometimes at four o'clock; there he remained till seven or eight. After family worship, and some slight refreshment, he returned to his study till noon; and oftentimes again after dinner till four in the afternoon. He then visited the sick, or his friends, and attended to any piece of business which he might have to manage. His rule, without defining proportions either of time or exertion, was the following:-" Be diligent in your particular callings. Bestow the bulk of your time upon them. Understand your employment; and mind it with all seriousness."

Mr Henry had a respectable acquaintance with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. His reading in early life had been extensive, and he was particularly well-acquainted with the writings of the puritan and nonconformist divines, amongst whom his favourite author seems to have been Baxter. He commenced author in the year 1689, or rather 1690, with an anonymous duodecimo of 34 pages, entitled, 'A Brief Inquiry into the true nature of Schism.' It called forth an answer of rather an illiberal character from a writer who styled himself 'A Citizen of Chester.' Mr Henry left the task of reply to his friend Mr Tong. His great work, the Exposition of the Old and New Testament, was commenced in November, 1704. Mr Henry lived to finish only the Acts of the Apostles. The rest was completed by various ministers, whose names are announced in some of the editions.

Robert South, D. D.

BORN A. D. 1633. DIED A. D. 1716.

ROBERT SOUTH, D. D., was an eminent divine of the 17th century. He was the son of a London merchant, and was born at Hackney in

In

1633. In 1647 he was admitted a king's scholar at Westminster. 1649, while reading the Latin prayers on the day of Charles's death, he made himself remarkable by praying for the king by name. Being chosen a student of Christ-church college, Oxford, he applied himself vigorously to his studies: of the proficiency he made, his sermons are a noble and lasting memorial. While he was at the university he wrote a copy of Latin verses congratulating Cromwell on the peace he had made with the Dutch. Probably the subject was not his own choice, certainly it was the last compliment he paid either to the protector or his party. In 1657 he took the degree of A. M., and in 1658 he was ordained by one of the deprived bishops, and immediately commenced his ministry by a furious attack on the Independents, to the great joy of the Presbyterians. But the restoration of Charles in 1660 made it no longer necessary for him to temporise, and from that moment the Presbyterians themselves, as well as the Independents, were the constant butt of his inexhaustible wit and satire. "When his majesty's restoration," says Wood, "could not be withstood, then did he from the pulpit exercise his gifts against the Presbyterians, as a little before he had done against the Independents, telling his auditory of their wry face, ill looks, puning tones, &c., all which was to obtain the applause (and its consequences) of the prelatical and loyal party; but as it fell out he missed his ends; for by his too much concernment and eagerness to trample upon them, the graver sort of the said party would put their hats before their eyes, or turn aside, as being much ashamed at what the young man did utter." He was made, in rapid succession, public orator of the university, chaplain to the chancellor Clarendon, and prebendary of Westminster. After Clarendon's banishment in 1667, he was appointed chaplain to the duke of York. The Doctor's sermons, if James ever heard them, might perhaps confirm that weak prince's political creed; they certainly never taught him popery. In 1676 he went to Poland as chaplain to the English ambassador, Laurence Hyde. In 1693 he published Animadversions on Sherlock's Vindication of the Trinity.' London, 4to.; and in 1695, a 'Reply to Sherlock's Defence.' London, 4to.

During the reign of James he spent most of his time in privacy: he could not tolerate the encroachments that were made on the rights of the national church, and yet his creed taught him "to abide by his allegiance, and use no other weapons but prayers and tears for the recovery of his sovereign from the wicked and unadvised counsels wherewith he was entangled." Agreeably to these principles, he could not be induced to put his name to the invitation to the prince of Orange, which was signed by the archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops. He refused to subscribe the Oxford association paper to stand by that prince. He took, however, the oaths to the new government, declaring" he saw nothing contrary to the laws of God and the common practice of all nations to submit to princes in possession of the throne." During the reign of William and his successor, he firmly rejected all offers of preferment; sincere and immoveable in his principles, he opposed all union with the dissenting protestants, as a measure likely to prove fatal to the mother church. One of his last public exertions, we are not surprised to find, was in favour of Sacheverell, who found in him an able and willing advocate. He closed a long and laborious life on