i^Jffi*'.- ^MOfPftJJf^ i'/ THE <^ SEP PO 1931 "^ LIVES K :/i.s tVA\^ OF DONNE, WOTTON, HOOKER, HERBERT, AND SANDERSON. — ty \.y BY IZAAK WALTON. WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS WRITINGS. VOL. n. BOSTON: II I L L I A R D, GRAY, AND COMPANY. CAMBRIDGE: BROWN, SHATTUCK, AND CO. M DCCC XXXll. — "Dr. Johnson talked of Izaak Walton's Lives, which was one of his favorite books." BOSWELL. \ THE LIFE OF MR. GEORGE HERBERT. 1 TO HIS VERY WORTHY AND MUCH HONORED FRIEND, MR. IZAAK WALTON, UPON HIS EXCELLENT LIFE OF MR. GEORGE HERBERT. I. Heaven's youngest son, its Benjamin^ Divinity's next brother, sacred Poesy, No longer shall a virgin reckoned be (Whate'er with others 't is) by me, \ A female muse, as were the Nine ; But (full of vigor masculine) An essence male, with angels his companions, shine. With angels first the heavenly youth was bred. And, when a child, instructed them to sing The praises of th' Immortal King Who Lucifer in triumph led : For, as in chains the monster sank to hell, And tumbling headlong down the precipice fell By him first taught, " How art thou fallen, thou morning star ? " they said, Vol. II. 9 130 VERSES TO Too fondly then, we have fancied him a maid : We, the vain brethren of the rhyming trade ; A female angel less would Urbin's* skill upbraid. 11. Thus 't was in heaven : this, Poesy's sex and age ; And, when he thence to our lower world came down. He chose a form more like his own. And Jesse's youngest son inspired with holy rage ; The sprightly shepherd felt unusual fire, And up he took his tuneful lyre ; He took it up, and struck 't, and his own soft touches did admire. Thou, Poesy, on him didst bestow Thy choicest gift, an honor showed before to none ; And to prepare his way to th' Hebrew throne, Gav'st him tiiy empire and dominion ; The happy land of verse, where flow Rivers of milk, and woods of laurel grow ; Wherewith thou didst adorn his brow, And mad'st his first, more flourisliing, and triumph- ant crown. Assist me thy great prophet's praise to sing, David, the poet's and blessed Israel's king : And with the dancing echo, let the mountains ring: ! Then, on the wings of some auspicious wind, Let his great name from earth be raised on high, And in the starry volume of the sky ' Raphael Urbin, the famous painter. MR. IZAAK WALTON. 131 A lasting record find : Be with his mighty psaltery joined ; Which, taken long since up into the air, And called the Harp, makes a bright constellation there. III. Worthy it was to be translated hence, And there, in view of all, exalted hang : To which so oft the princely prophet sang, And mystic oracles did dispense. Though, had it still remained below, More wonders of it we had seen, How great the mighty Herbert's skill had been : Herbert, who could so much without it do ; Herbert, who did its chords distinctly know ; More perfectly than any child of verse below. O ! had we known him half so well ! But then, my friend, there had been left for you Nothing so fair, and worthy praise to do ; Who so exactly all his story tell. That, though he did not want his bays. Nor all the monuments virtue can raise, Your hand he did, to eternize his praise. Herbert and Donne again are joined. Now here below, as they 're above ; These friends are in their old embraces twined; And since by you the interview 's designed. Too weak to part them death does prove ; For in this book they meet again, as in one heaven they love. SAM. WOODFORDE, D. D. Benstead, April 3. 132 VERSES TO IN VITAM GEORGII HERBERTI, AB ISAACO WALTONO SCRIPTAM O QUAM erubesco cum tuam vitam lego, Herberte sancte, quamque me pudet mese ? Ego talpa csecus hie humi fodiens miser, Aquila volatu tu petens nubes tuo ; Ego Choicum vas terreas faeces olens, Tu (sola namque Urania tibi ex Musis placet) Nil tale spiras ; sed sapis coelum et Deum, Omnique vitse, libri et omni, linea ; Templumque tecum ubique circumfers tuum: Domi-porta cooli, cui domus propria, optima: Ubi Rex, ibi Roma, Imperii sedes ; ubi Tu, sancte vates, templum ibi, et caelum, et Deus. Tu quale nobis intuendum clcricis Speculum sacerdotale, tu qualem piis Pastoris ideam et libro et vita tua, Tu quale sanctitatis elementis bonse, Morumque nobis tradis exemplum ac typum I Typum,* Magistro ncmpe proximum tuo. Exemplar illud grande qui solus fuit. Canonizct ergo quos velit Dominus Papa; * Sic Christum solens vocavit quoties ejus nientionem fecit. MR. IZAAK WALTON. 133 Sibique sanctos, quos facit, servet suos Colatque ; sancte Herberte, tu Sanctus meus ; " Oraque pro me," dicerem, si fas, tibi. Sed hos honores par nee est Sanctis dari ; Velis nee ipse ; recolo te, sed non colo. Talis legenda est vita Sancti, concio Ad promovendum quam potens et efficax ! Per talia exempla est breve ad coelos iter. Waltone, macte, perge vitas scribere, Et penicillo, quo vales, insigni adhuc Sanctorum imagines coloribus suis Plures reprsesentare ; quod tu dum facis, Vitamque et illis et tibi das posthumam, Lectoris seternseque vitse consulis. Urge ergo pensum ; et interim scias velim, Plutarchus alter sis licet Biographus, Herberto, amice, vix Parallelum dabis. Liceat libro addere banc coronidem tuo ; Vir, an Poeta, Orator an melior fuit, Meliorne amicus, sponsus, an pastor gregis, Herbertus, incertum ; et quis hoc facile sciat, Melior ubi ille, qui fuit ubique optiraus ? JACOB. DUPORT, S. T. P. Decanus Petr. THE INTRODUCTION In a late retreat from the business of this world, and those many little cares with which I have too often cumbered myself, I fell into a contem- plation of some of those historical passages that are recorded in sacred story, and more particular- ly of what had passed betwixt our Blessed Saviour, and that wonder of women, and sinners, and mourners. Saint Mary Magdalen. I call her Saint, because I did not then, nor do now consid- er her, as when she was possessed with seven devils ; not as when her wanton eyes and dishev- elled hair were designed and managed to charm and insnare amorous beholders : but, I did then, and do now consider her, as after she had express- ed a visible and sacred sorrow for her sensualities ; as after those eyes had wept such a flood of peni- tential tears as did wash, and that hair had wiped, and she most passionately kissed the feet of hers and our blessed Jesus. And I do now consider, 136 THE INTRODUCTION. that because she loved much, not only much was forgiven her ; but that, beside that blessed bless- ing of having her sins pardoned, and the joy of knowing her happy condition, she also had from him a testimony, that her alabaster box of pre- cious ointment poured on his head and feet, and that spikenard, and those spices that were by her dedicated to embalm and preserve his sacred body from putrefaction, should so far preserve her own memory, that these demonstrations of her sancti- fied love, and of her officious and generous grati- tude, should be recorded and mentioned whereso- ever his gospel should be read ; intending there- by, that, as his, so her name should also live to succeeding generations, even till time itself shall be no more. Upon occasion of which fair example, I did lately look back, and not without some content (at least to myself ) that I have endeavoured to deserve the love, and preserve the memory of my two deceased friends, Dr. Donne and Sir Henry Wotton, by declaring the several employments and various accidents of their lives : and though Mr. George Herbert (whose Life I now intend to write) were to mc a stranger as to his person, for I have only seen him ; yet since he was, and was worthy to be, their friend, and very many of his have been mine, I judge it may not be unac- ceptable to those that knew any of them in their THE INTRODUCTION. 137 lives, or do now know them by mine or their own writings, to see this conjunction of them after their deaths, without which many things that concerned them, and some things that concerned the age in which they lived, would be less perfect, and lost to posterity. For these reasons I have undertaken it ; and if I have prevented any abler person, I beg pardon of him and my reader. THE LIFE or MR. GEORGE HERBERT. George Herbert was born the third day of April, in the year of our redemption 1593. The place of his birth was near to the town of Mont- gomery, and in that castle that did then bear the name of that town and county. That castle was then a place of state and strength, and had been successively happy in the family of the Herberts, who had long possessed it, and, with it, a plenti- ful estate, and hearts as liberal to their poor neigh- bours ; a family, that hath been blessed with men of remarkable wisdom, and a willingness to serve their country, and, indeed, to do good to all man- kind ; for which they are eminent. But alas ! this family did in the late rebellion suffer extreme- ly in their estates ; and the heirs of that castle saw it laid level with that earth that was too good to bury those wretches that were the cause of it. 140 THE LIFE OF The father of our George was Richard Her- bert, the son of Edward Herbert, Knight, the son of Richard Herbert, Knight, the son of the fa- mous Sir Richard Herbert of Colebrook, in the county of Monmouth, Banneret, wlio was the youngest brother of that memorable WiUiam Her- bert, Earl of Pembroke, that lived in the reign of our King Edward the Fourth. His mother was Magdalen Newport, the young- est daughter of Sir Richard, and sister to Sir Francis Newport, of High Arkall, in the county of Salop, Knight, and grandfather of Francis Lord Newport, now Comptroller of his Majesty's House- hold ; a family that for their loyalty have suffer- ed much in their estates, and seen the ruin of that excellent structure, where their ancestors have long lived, and been memorable for their hospi- tality. This mother of George Herbert (of whose per- son, and wisdom, and virtue, I intend to give a true account in a seasonable place) was the hap- py mother of seven sons, and three daughters, which, she would often say, was Job's number, and Job's distribution ; and as often bless God, that they were neither defective in their shapes or in their reason ; and very often r(^j)rove them that did not praise God for so great a blessing. I shall give the reader a short account of their names, and not say much of their fortunes. GEORGE HERBERT. 141 Edward, the eldest, was first made Knight of the Bath, at that glorious time of our late Prince Henry's being installed Knight of the Garter ; and after many years' useful travel, and the attain- ment of many languages, he was hy king James sent ambassador resident to the then French king, Lewis the Thirteenth. There he continued about two years ; but he could not subject him- self to a compliance with the humors of the Duke de Luines, who was then the great and powerful favorite at court ; so that, upon a complaint to our king, he was called back into England in some displeasure ; but at his return he gave such an honorable account of his employment, and so jus- tified his comportment to the duke and all the court, that he was suddenly sent back upon the same embassy, from which he returned in the be- ginning of the reign of our good King Charles the First, who made him first Baron of Castle- Island, and not long after of Cherbury, in the county of Salop. He was a man of great learning and reason, as appears by his printed book " De Veritate," and by his " History of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth," and by several other tracts. The second and third brothers were Richard and William, who ventured their lives to purchase honor in the wars of the Low Countries, and died officers in that employment. Charles was 142 THE LIFE OF the fourth, and died fellow of New College in Oxford. Henry was the sixth, who became a menial servant to the Crown in the days of King James, and hath continued to be so for fifty years; during all which time he hath been Master of the Revels ; a place that requires a diligent wisdom, with which God hath blessed him. The seventh son was Thomas, who, being made captain of a ship in that fleet with which Sir Robert Mansell was sent against Algiers, did there show a fortu- nate and true English valor. Of the three sisters I need not say more, than that they were all mar- ried to persons of worth and plentiful fortunes ; and lived to be examples of virtue, and to do good in their orenerations. I now come to give my intended account of George, who was the fifth of those seven brothers. George Herbert spent much of his childhood in a sweet content under the eye and care of his pru- dent mother, and the tuition of a chaplain or tutor to him and two of his brothers, in her own family (for she was then a widow), where he continued till about tlie age of twelve years ; and being at that time well instructed in the rules of grammar, he was not long after commended to the care of Dr. Neale, who was then Dean of Westminster, and by him to the care of Mr. Ireland, wlio was tlien chief master of tliat school ; where the beauties of his pretty behaviour and wit shined and became GEORGE HERBERT. 143 SO eminent and lovely in this his innocent age, that he seemed to be marked out for piety, and to become the care of Heaven, and of a particular good angel to guard and guide him. And thus he continued in that school, till he came to be perfect in the learned languages, and especially in the Greek tongue, in which he after proved an excel- lent critic. About the age of fifteen (he being then a king's scholar) he was elected out of that school for Trinity College in Cambridge, to which place he was transplanted about the year 1608 ; and his prudent mother, well knowing that he might easily lose or lessen that virtue and innocence, which her advice and example had planted in his mind, did therefore procure the generous and liberal Dr. Nevil, who was then Dean of Canterbury, and Master of that College, to take him into his par- ticular care, and provide him a tutor ; which he did most gladly undertake ; for he knew the ex- cellences of his mother, and how to value such a friendship. This was the method of his education, till he was settled in Cambridge, where we will leave him in his study, till I have paid my promised ac- count of his excellent mother, and I will endeav- our to make it short. I have told her birth, her marriage, and the number of her children, and have given some 144 THE LIFE OF short account of them ; I shall next tell the read- er, that her husband died when our George was about the age of four years : I am next to tell that she continued twelve years a widow ; that she then married happily to a noble gentleman, the brother and heir of the Lord Danvers, Earl of Danby, who did highly value both her person and the most excellent endowments of her mind. In this time of her widowhood, she being desir- ous to give Edward, her eldest son, such advan- tages of learning and other education as might suit his birth and fortune, and thereby make him the more fit for the service of his country, did at his being of a fit age remove from Montgomery Castle with him, and some of her younger sons, to Oxford ; and having entered Edward into Queen's College, and provided him a fit tutor, she com- mended him to his care ; yet she continued there with him, and still kept him in a moderate awe of herself, and so much under her own eye, as to see and converse with him daily : but she managed this power over him without any such rigid sour- ness, as might make her company a torment to her child, but with such a sweetness and compliance with the recreations and pleasures of youth, as did incline him willingly to spend much of his time in the coin])any of his dear and careful moth- er ; which was to her great content : for she would often say, " that, as our bodies take a nourish' GEORGE HERBERT. 145 ment suitable to the meat on which we feed, so our souls do as insensibly take in vice by the ex- ample or conversation with wicked company : " and would therefore as often say, " that igno- rance of vice was the best preservation of virtue ; and that the very knowledge of wickedness was as tinder to inflame and kindle sin, and to keep it burning." For these reasons she endeared him to her own company, and continued with him in Oxford four years ; in which time her great and harmless wit, her cheerful gravity, and her oblig- ing behaviour, gained her an acquaintance and friendship with most of any eminent worth or learning that were at that time in or near that uni- versity ; and particularly with Mr. John Donne, who then came accidentally to that place in this time of her being there. It was that John Donne who was after Dr. Donne, and Dean of St. Paul's, London ; and he, at his leaving Oxford, writ and left there, in verse, a character of the beauties of her body and mind. Of the first he says, "No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, As I have seen in an autumnal face." Of the latter he says, " In all her words to every hearer fit, You may at revels, or at council sit." Vol. II. 10 146 THE LIFE OF The rest of her character may be read in his printed poems, in that elegy wliich bears the name of " The Autumnal Beauty." For both he and she were then past the meridian of man's life. This amity, begun at this time and place, was not an amity that polluted their souls ; but an amity made up of a chain of suitable inclinations and virtues ; an amity like that of St. Chrysos- tom's to his dear and virtuous Olympias, whom, in his letters, he calls his Saint ; or an amity, in- deed, more like that of St. Hierom to his Paula, whose affection to her was such, that he turned poet in his old age, and then made her epitaph ; wishing all his body were turned into tongues^ that he might declare her just praises to posterity. And this amity betwixt her and Mr. Donne was begun in a happy time for him, he being then near to the fortieth year of his age (which was some years before he entered into sacred orders) ; a time when his necessities needed a daily sup- ply for the support of his wife, seven children^ and a family. And in this time she proved one of his most bountiful benefactors ; and he as grateful an acknowledger of it. You may take one testimony for what I have said of these two worthy persons, from this following letter and son- net. george herbert. 147 " Madam, 'J " Your favors to me are every where ; I use them, and have them. I enjoy them at London, and leave them there ; and yet find them at Mi- cham. Such riddles as these become things in- expressible ; and such is your goodness. I was almost sorry to find your servant here this day, because I was loth to have any witness of my not coming home last night, and indeed of my com- ing this morning. But my not coming was ex- cusable, because earnest business detained me ; and my coming this day is by the example of your St. Mary Magdalen, who rose early upon Sunday, to seek that which she loved most ; and so did I. And, from her and myself, I return such thanks as are due to one to whom we owe all the good opinion, that they whom we need most have of us. By this messenger, and on this good day, I commit the inclosed holy hymns and sonnets (which for the matter, not the workmanship, have yet escaped the fire) to your judgment, and to your protection too, if you think them worthy of it ; and I have appointed this inclosed sonnet to usher them to your happy hand. "Your un worthiest servant, " Unless your accepting him to be so " Have mended him, <'MicHAM, July 11, 1607. JO. DONNE." 148 THE LIFE OF (( TO THE LADY MAGDALEN HERBERT J OF ST. MARY MAGDALEN. " Her of your name, whose fair inheritance Bethina was, and jointure Magdalo ; An active faith so highly did advance, That she once knew more than the Church did know. The resurrection ; so much good there is Delivered of her, that some Fathers be Loth to believe one woman could do this, But think these Magdalens were two or three. Increase tlieir number, Lady, and their fame ; To their devotion, add your innocence ! Take so much of th' example as of the name ; The latter half; and in some recompense That they did harbour Christ himself a guest. Harbour these hymns, to his dear name addrest. J. D.» These hymns are now lost to us ; but doubt- less they were such, as they two now sing in heaven. There might be more demonstrations of the friendship and the many sacred endearments be- twixt these two excellent persons (for 1 have many of their letters in my hand), and nuich more might be said of her great prudence and piety ; but my design was not to write hers, but the life of her son ; and therefore I shall only tell my reader, that about that very day twenty years that this letter was dated, and sent her, I saw and GEORGE HERBERT. 149 heard this Mr. John Donne (who was then Dean of St. Paul's) weep, and preach her funeral ser- mon, in the parish church of Chelsea, near Lon- don, where she now rests in her quiet grave ; and where we must now leave her, and return to her son George, whom we left in his study in Cambridge. And in Cambridge we may find our George Herbert's behaviour to be such, that we may con- clude, he consecrated the first-fruits of his early age to virtue, and a serious study of learning. And that he did so, this following letter and sonnet, which were in the first year of his going to Cam- bridge sent his dear mother for a new-year's gift, may appear to be some testimony. " But I fear the heat of my late ague hath dried up those springs, by which scholars say the Muses used to take up their habitations. However I need not their help, to reprove the vanity of those many love-poems that are daily writ and consecrated to Venus ; nor to bewail that so few are writ, that look towards God and heaven. For my own part, my meaning (dear mother) is in these sonnets, to declare my resolution to be, that my poor abilities in poetry shall be all and ever consecrated to God's glory ; and I beg you to re- ceive this as one testimony." 150 THE LIFE OF " My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee, Wherewith whole shoals of martyrs once did burn, Besides their other flames ? Doth poetry Wear Venus' livery ? only serve her turn? Why are not sonnets made of thee ? and lays Upon thine altar burnt ? Cannot thy love Heighten a spirit to sound out thy praise As well as any she ? Cannot tliy dove Outstrip their Cupid easily in flight? Or, since thy ways are deep, and still the same, Will not a verse run smooth that bears thy name ! Why doth that fire, which by thy power and might Each breast does feel, no braver fuel choose Than that, which one day worms may chance re- fuse ? Sure, Lord, there is enough in thee to dry Oceans of ink ; for, as the deluge did Cover the earth, so doth thy majesty : Each cloud distils thy praise, and doth forbid Poets to turn it to another use. Roses and lilies speak thee ; and to make A pair of cheeks of them is thy abuse. Why should I women's eyes for crystal take ? Such poor invention burns in their low mind Whose fire is wild, and dotli not upward go To praise and on thee, Lord, some ink bestow. Open the bones, and you shall nothing find In the best face but filth ; when. Lord, in tliee The beauty lies, in tlie discovery. G. H." ^ GEORGE HERBERT. 151 This was his resolution at the sending this let- ter to his dear mother ; about which time, he was in the seventeenth year of his age ; and as he grew older, so he grew in learning, and more and more in favor both with God and man ; insomuch, that in this morning of that short day of his life, he seemed to be marked out for virtue, and to be- come the care of heaven ; for God still kept his soul in so holy a frame, that he may, and ought to be a pattern of virtue to all posterity, and espe- cially to his brethren of the clergy, of which the reader may expect a more exact account in what will follow. I need not declare that he was a strict student, because, that he was so, there will be many testi- monies in the future part of his life. I shall there- fore only tell, that he was made Bachelor of Arts in the year 1611 ; Major Fellow of the College, March 15, 1615 : and that in that year he was also made Master of Arts, he being then in the twenty-second year of his age ; during all which time, all, or the greatest diversion from his study, was the practice of music, in which he became a great master ; and of which he would say, " that it did relieve his drooping spirits, compose his distracted thoughts, and raised his weary soul so far above the earth, that it gave him an earnest of the joys of heaven before he possessed them." And it may be noted, that from his first entrance into the col- 152 THE LIFE OF lege, the generous Dr. Nevil was a cherisher of his studies, and such a lover of his person, his behaviour, and the excellent endowments of his mind, that he took him often into his own compa- ny, by which he confirmed his native gentleness ; and, if during this time he expressed any error, it was that he kept himself too much retired, and at too great a distance with all his inferiors ; and his clothes seemed to prove, that he put too great a value on his parts and parentage. This may be some account of his disposition and of the employment of his time, till he was Master of Arts, which was Anno 1G15 ; and in the year 1619 he was chosen Orator for the uni- versity. His two precedent Orators were Sir Rob- ert Nanton and Sir Francis Nethersole : the first was not long after made Secretary of State ; and Sir Francis, not very long after his being Orator, was made Secretary to the Lady Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. In this place of Orator, our George Herbert continued eight years, and man- aged it with as becoming and grave a gayety as any had ever before or since his time. For, *' he had ac(iuired great learning, and was blessed with a high fancy, a civil and sharp wit, and with a natural elegance, both in his behaviour, liis tongue, and his pen." Of all wliich, there might be very many particular evidences, but I will limit myself to the mention of but three. GEORGE HERBERT. 153 And the first notable occasion of showing his fitness for this employment of Orator was mani- fested in a letter to King James, upon the occa- sion of his sending that university his book, called " Basilicon Doron " ; and their Orator was to ac- knowledge this great honor, and return their grati- tude to his Majesty for such a condescension, at the close of which letter he writ, " Quid Vaticanam Bodleianamque objicis. hospes ! Unicus est nobis bibliotheca liber." This letter was writ in such excellent Latin, was so full of conceits, and all the expressions so suited to the genius of the King, that he inquired the Orator's name, and then asked William Earl of Pembroke, if he knew him ; whose answer was, " that he knew him very well, and that he was his kinsman ; but he loved him more for his learn- ing and virtue, than for that he was of his name and family." At which answer, the King smiled, and asked the Earl leave, " that he might love him too ; for he took him to be the jewel of that university." The next occasion he had and took to show his great abilities was with them, to show also his great affection to that church in which he receiv- ed his baptism, and of which he professed himself a member ; and the occasion was this. There was one Andrew Melvin. a minister of the Scotch 154 THE LIFE OF Church, and rector of St. Andrews, who, by a long and constant converse with a discontented part of that clergy which opposed Episcopacy, became at last to be a chief leader of that faction ; and had proudly appeared to be so to King James, when he was but king of that nation, who the second year after his coronation in England, convened a part of the bishops and other learned divines of his church, to attend him at Hampton Court, in order to a friendly conference with some dissent- ing brethren, both of this, and the Church of Scotland : of which Scotch party, Andrew Mel- vin was one ; and he beincj a man of learninor, and inclined to satirical poetry, had scattered many malicious bitter verses against our liturgy, our ceremonies, and our church government ; which were by some of that party so magnihed for the wit, that they were therefore brought into Westminster School, where Mr. George Herbert then, and often after, made such answers to them, and such reflection on him and his kirk, as might unbeguile any man that was not too deeply pre- engaged in such a (juarrel. But to return to Mr. Melvin at Hampton Court Conference, he there aj)j)eared to be a man of an unruly wit, of a strange confidence, of so furious a zeal, and of so ungoverned passions, that his insolence to the King, and others at this confer- ence, lost him both his rectorship of St. Andrews, GEORGE HERBERT. 155 and his liberty too : for his former verses, and his present reproaches there used against the church and state, caused him to be committed prisoner to the Tower of London, where he remained very angry for three years. At which time of his com- mitment, he found the Lady Arabella, an inno- cent prisoner, there ; and he pleased himself much in sending the next day after his commitment, these two verses to the good lady ; which I will underwrite, because they may give the reader a taste of his others, which were like these : ** Causa tibi mecum est communis, carceris, Ara- Bella, tibi causa est, Araque sacra mihi." I shall not trouble my reader with an account of his enlargement from that prison, or his death; but tell him Mr. Herbert's verses were thought so worthy to be preserved, that Dr. Duport, the learned Dean of Peterborough, hath lately col- lected and caused many of them to be printed, as an honorable memorial of his friend Mr. George Herbert, and the cause he undertook. And, in order to my third and last observation of his great abilities, it will be needful to declare, that about this time King James came very often to hunt at Newmarket and Royston, and was al- most as often invited to Cambridge, where his en- tertainment was comedies suited to his pleasant humor ; and where Mr. George Herbert was to 156 THE LIFE OF welcome him with gratulations and the applauses of au Orator, which he always performed so well, that he still grew more into the King's favor, in- somuch that he had a particular appointment to attend his Majesty at Royston ; where, after a discourse with him, his Majesty declared to his kinsman, the Earl of Pembroke, " that he found the orator's learnincr and wisdom much above his age or wit." The year following, the King ap- pointed to end his progress at Cambridge, and to stay there certain days ; at which time he was at- tended by the great secretary of nature and all learning. Sir Francis Bacon (Lord Verulam), and by the ever memorable and learned Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, both -which did at that time begin a desired friendship with our orator. Upon whom, the first put such a value on his judgment, that he usually desired his approbation before he would expose any of his books to be printed, and thought him so worthy of his friend- ship, that having translated many of the })ropliet David's Psalms into English verse, he made George Herbert his patron, by a public dedication of them to him, as the best judge of divine poetry. And for the learned bishoj), it is observable, that at that time there fell to be a modest debate be- twixt them two al)out prede.-^tination and sanctity of life; of botii which the orator did, not lung af- ter, send the Bishop souje safe and useful apho- GEORGE HERBERT. 157 risms, in a long letter, written in Greek ; which letter was so remarkable for the language and rea- son of it, that after the reading it, the Bishop put it into his bosom, and did often show it to many scholars, both of this and foreign nations; but did always return it back to the place where he first lodged it, and continued it so near his heart till the last day of his life. To these, I might add the long and entire friendship betwixt him and Sir Henry Wotton, and Dr. Donne, but I have promised to contract myself," and shall therefore only add one testimo- ny to what is also mentioned in the Life of Dr. Donne ; namely, that a little before his death, he caused many seals to be made, and in them to be engraven the figure of Christ crucified on an an- chor (the emblem of hope), and of which Dr. Donne would often say, "Crux mihi anchora." These seals he gave or sent to most of those friends on which he put a value ; and, at Mr. Herbert's death, these verses were found wrapt up with that seal which was by the Doctor given to him : " When my dear friend could write no more, He gave this seal, and so gave o'er. When winds and waves rise highest, I am sure, T^is anchor keeps my faith, that me secure." 158 THE LIFE OF At this time of being Orator, he had learnt to understand the Italian, Spanish, and French tongues very perfectly ; hoping, that as his pre- decessors, so he might in time attain the place of a secretary of state, he being at tliat time very high in the King's favor ; and not meanly valued and loved by the most eminent and most powerful of the court nobility. This, and the love of a court conversation, mixed with a laudable ambition to be something more than he then was, drew him often from Cambridire to attend the Kincr, where- soever the court was, who then gave him a sine- cure, which fell into his Majesty's disposal, I think, by the death of the Bishop of St. Asapli. It was the same, that Queen Elizabetli had formerly given to her favorite Sir Philip Sidney ; and val- ued to be worth a hundred and twenty pounds per annum. With this, and his annuity, and the ad- vantage of his college, and of his oratorship, he enjoyed his genteel humor for clothes and court- like comj)any, and seldom looked towards Cam- bridge, unless the King were there, but then he never failed; and, at other times, left the manage of his Orator's place to his learned friend JNIr. Her- bert Thorndike, who is now prebendary of West- minster. I may not omit to tell, that he had often de- signed to leave the university, and decline all study, which, he thought, did impair his health GEORGE HERBERT. 159 for he had a body apt to a consumption, and to fevers, and other infirmities, which he judged were increased by his studies ; for he would often say, " he had too thoughtful a wit : a wit, like a penknife in too narrow a sheath, too sharp for his body." But his mother would by no means allow him to leave the university, or to travel ; and though he inclined very much to both, yet he would by no means satisfy his own desires at so dear a rate, as to prove an undutiful son to so af- fectionate a mother ; but did always submit to her wisdom. And what I have now said may partly appear in a copy of verses in his printed poems ; it is one of those that bear the title of " Affliction " ; and it appears to be a pious reflection on God's providence, and some passages of his life, in which he says : "Whereas my birth and spirit rather took The way that takes the town : Thou didst betray me to a lingering book, And wrap me in a gown : I was entangled in a world of strife, Before I had the power to change my life. " Yet, for I threatened oft the siege to raise. Not simpering all mine age ; Thou often didst with academic praise Melt and dissolve my rage : I took the sweetened pill, till I came where I could not go away, nor persevere. 160 THE LIFE OF " Yet lest perchance I should too happy be In my unhappiness, Turning my purge to food, thou tbrowest me Into more sicknesses. Thus doth thy power cross-bias me, not making Thine own gifts good, yet me from my ways tak- ing. " Now I am here, what thou wilt do with me None of my books will show : I read, and sigh, and wish I were a tree, For then sure I should grow To fruit or shade, at least, some bird would trust Her household with me, and 1 would be just. " Yet thougii thou troublest me, I must be meek. In weakness must be stout : Well, I will change my service and go seek Some other master out : Ah ! my dear God, though I am clean forgot, Let me not love thee, if I love tliee not. G. H." In this time of Mr. Herbert's attendance and expectation of some good occasion to remove from Cambridge to court, God, in whom there is an unseen chain of causes, did, in a short time, pnt an end to the lives of two of his most obliging and most powerful friends, Lodowick Duke of Richmond, and .Tames Marcjuis of Hamilton ; and not long after him, King .lames died also, and with them, all Mr. Herbert's court hopes : so that GEORGE HERBERT. 161 he presently betook himself to a retreat from London, to a friend in Kent, where he lived very privately, and was such a lover of solitariness, as was judged to impair his health more than his study had done. In this time of retirement, he had many conflicts with himself, whether he should return to the painted pleasures of a court- life, or betake himself to a study of divinity, and enter into sacred orders ? (to which his dear moth- er had often persuaded him.) — These were such conflicts, as they only can know, that have endur- ed them ; for ambitious desires, and the outward glory of this world, are not easily laid aside; but, at last, God inclined him to put on a resolution to serve at his altar. He did, at his return to London, acquaint a court friend with his resolution to enter into sa- cred orders, who persuaded him to alter it, as too mean an employment, and too much below his birth, and the excellent abilities and endowments of his mind. To whom he replied, " It hath been formerlv judcred that the domestic servants of the Kinff of heaven should be of the noblest families on earth : and though the iniquity of the late times have made clergymen meanly valued, and the sacred name of priest contemptible ; yet I will labor to make it honorable, by consecrating all my learning, and all my poor abilities, to ad- vance the glory of that God that gave them : Vol. II. 11 162 THE LIFE OF knowing that I can never do too much for Him that hath done so much for me, as to make me a Christian. And I will labor to be like my Sa- viour, by making humility lovely in the eyes of all men, and by following the merciful and meek example of my dear Jesus." This was then his resolution, and the God of constancy, who intended him for a great example of virtue, continued him in it ; for within that year he was made deacon, but the day when, or by whom, I cannot learn : but that he was about that time made deacon is most certain ; for I find by the records of Lincoln, that he was made Pre- bendary of Layton Ecclesia, in the diocese of Lin- coln, July 15, 1G2G ; and that this prebend was given him by John, then Lord Bishop of that see. And now he had a fit occasion to show that piety and bounty that was derived from his generous mother, and his other memorable ancestors, and the occasion was this. This Layton Ecclesia is a village near to Spal- den, in the county of Huntingdon, and the great- est part of the parish church was fallen down, and that of it which stood was so decayed, so little, and so useless, that the parishioners could not meet to perform their duty to God in public prayer and praises ; and thus it had been for al- most twenty years, in which time there had been some faint endeavours for a public collection, to GEORGE HERBERT. 163 enable the parishioners to rebuild it, but with no success, till Mr. Herbert undertook it ; and he by his own and the contribution of many of his kin- dred, and other noble friends, undertook the re- edification of it, and made it so much his whole business, that he became restless till he saw it finished as it now stands : being for the workman- ship a costly Mosaic ; for the form an exact cross ; and for the decency and beauty, I am assured, it is the most remarkable parish church that this na- tion affords. He lived to see it so wainscotted, as to be exceeded by none ; and, by his order, the reading pew and pulpit were a little distant firom each other, and both of an equal height : for he would often say, " They should neither have a precedency or priority of the other ; but that prayer and preaching, being equally useful, might agree like brethren, and have an equal honor and estimation." Before I proceed farther, I must look back to the time of Mr, Herbert's being made prebendary, and tell the reader, that not long after, his moth- er being informed of his intentions to rebuild that church, and apprehending the great trouble and charge that he was likely to draw upon himself, his relations and friends, before it could be finish- ed, sent for him from London to Chelsea (where she then dwelt), and at his coming said, " George, I sent for you to persuade you to commit Simony, 164 THE LIFE OF by giving your patron as good a gift as he has giv- en to you ; namely, that you give him back his prebend: for, George, it is not for your \veak body and empty purse to undertake to build churches." Of which he desired he might have a day to consider, and then make her an answer. And at his return to her the next day, when he had first desired her blessing, and she given it to him, his next request was, " that she would at the age of thirty-three years allow him to become an undutiful son ; for he had made a vow to God, that if he were able, he would rebuild that church : " and then showed her such reasons for his resolu- tion, that she presently subscribed to be one of his benefactors ; and undertook to solicit William Earl of Pembroke to become another, who sub- scribed for fifty pounds ; and not long after, by a witty and persuasive letter from Mr. Herbert, made it fifty pounds more. And in this nomina- tion of some of his benefactors, James Duke of Lenox, and his brother Sir Henry Herbert, ought to be remembered ; as, also, the bounty of Mr. Nicholas Farrer and Mr. Artlmr Woodnot, the one a gentleman in the neiglibourhood of Layton, and the other a goldsmith in Foster-lane, Lon- don, ought not to be forgotten ; for the memory of such men outjht to outlive their lives. Of Mr. Farrer I shall hereafter give an account in a more seasonable place ; but before 1 proceed farther I GEORGE HERBERT. 165 will give this short account of Mr. Arthur Wood- not : He was a man that had considered overgrown estates do often require more care and watchful- ness to preserve than get them ; and consider- ed that there be many discontents that riches cure not ; and did therefore set limits to himself as to desire of wealth : and having attained so much as to be able to show some mercy to the poor, and preserve a competence for himself, he dedicated the remaining part of his life to the service of God, and to be useful for his friends : and he proved to be so to Mr. Herbert ; for, beside his own bounty, he collected and returned most of the money that was paid for the rebuilding of that church ; he kept all the account of the charges, and would often go down to state them, and see all the work- men paid. When I have said, that this good man was a useful friend to Mr. Herbert's father, and to his mother, and continued to be so to him, till he closed his eyes on his death-bed, I will forbear to say more, till I have the next fair occa- sion to mention the holy friendship that was be- twixt him and Mr. Herbert ; from whom Mr. Woodnot carried to his mother this following let- ter, and delivered it to her in a sickness, which was not long before that which proved to be her last 166 THE LIFE OF A LETTER OF MR- GEORGE HERBERT TO HIS MOTHER, IN HER SICKNESS. " MADAM, " At my last parting from you, I was the better content because I was in hope I should myself carry all sickness out of your family ; but since I know I did not, and that your share continues, or rather increaseth, I wish earnestly that I were again with you ; and would quickly make good my wish, but that my employment does fix me here, it being now but a" month to our commence- ment : wherein my absence, by how much it nat- urally augmenteth suspicion, by so much shall it make my prayers the more constant and the more earnest for you to the God of all consolation. In the mean time, I beseech you to be cheerful, and comfort yourself in the God of all comfort, who is not willing to behold any sorrow but for sin. What hatli affliction grievous in it more than for a moment ? or why should our afflictions here have so much power or boldness as to oppose the hope of our joys hereafter ? — Madam, as the earth is but a point in respect of the heavens, so are earthly troubles compared to heavenly joys : therefore, if either age or sickness lead you to those joys, con- sider what advantage you have over youth and health, who are now so near those true comforts. Your last letter gave me eartlily ])referment, and, I hope, kept heavenly for yourself But would GEORGE HERBERT. 16/ you divide and choose too ? our college customs allow not that ; and I should account myself most happy if I might change with you : for I have al- ways observed the thread of life to be like other threads or skeins of silk, full of snarls and in- cumbrances : happy is he, whose bottom is wound up and laid ready for work in the New Jerusalem. For myself, dear mother, I always feared sickness more than death ; because sickness hath made me unable to perform those offices for which I came into the world, and must yet be kept in it ; but you are freed from that fear, who have already abundantly discharged that part, having both or- dered your family, and so brought up your chil- dren that they have attained to the years of dis- cretion, and competent maintenance. So that now, if they do not well, the fault cannot be charg- ed on you, whose example and care of them will justify you both to the world and your own con- science : insomuch, that whether you turn your thoughts on the life past, or on the joys that are to come, you have strong preservatives against all disquiet. And for temporal afflictions, I beseech you consider, all that can happen to you are eith- er afflictions of estate, or body, or mind. For those of estate, of what poor regard ought they to be, since, if we had riches, we are commanded to give them away ? so that the best use of them is, having, not to have them. But, perhaps, be- 168 THE LIFE OP ing above the common people, our credit and es- timation calls on us to live in a more splendid fashion. But, O God ! how easily is that answer- ed, when we consider that the blessings in the holy Scripture are never given to the rich, but to the poor. I never find ' Blessed be the rich,' or ' Blessed be the noble ' ; but ' Blessed be the meek,' and ' Blessed be the poor,' and ' Blessed be the mourners, for they shall be comforted.' And yet, O God ! most carry themselves so, as if they not only not desired, but even feared to be blessed. And for afflictions of the body, dear Madam, re- member the holy martyrs of God, how they have been burnt by thousands, and have endured such other tortures, as the very mention of them might beget amazement ; but their fiery trials have had an end : and yours (which, praised be God, are less) are not like to continue long. I beseech you, let such thoughts as these moderate your present fear and sorrow ; and know, that if any of yours should prove a Goliah-like trouble, yet you may say with David, ' That God, who delivered me out of the paws of the lion and bear, will also deliver me out of the hands of this uncircumcised Philistine.' Lastly, for those afflictions of the soul, consider that God intends that to be as a sacred temple for himself to dwell in, and will not allow any room there for such an inmate as grief, or al- low that any sadness shall be his competitor. And , GEORGE HERBERT. 169 above all, if any care of future things molest you, remember those admirable words of the Psalmist: * Cast thy care on the Lord, and he shall nourish thee,' Psal. Iv. To which join that of St. Peter, ' Casting all your care on the Lord, for he careth for you,' 1 Pet. v. 7. What an admirable thing is this, that God puts his shoulder to our burden, and entertains our care for us, that we may the more quietly intend his service. To conclude, let me commend only one place more to you, (Philip, iv. 4.) ; St. Paul saith there, 'Rejoice in the Lord always : and again I say. Rejoice.' He doubles it to take away the scruple of those that might say. What, shall we rejoice in afflictions ? Yes, I say again. Rejoice ; so that it is not left to us to rejoice or not rejoice ; but, whatsoever befalls us, we must always, at all times, rejoice in the Lord, who taketh care for us. And it follows in the next verse : ' Let your moderation appear to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing.' What can be said more comfortably ? Trouble not yourselves, God is at hand to deliver us from all, or in all. Dear Madam, pardon my boldness, and accept the good meaning of Your most obedient son, GEORGE HERBERT. Trinity College, May 25, 1622." 170 THE LIFE OF About the year 1()29, and the 34th of his age, Mr. Herbert was seized with a sharp quotidian ague, and thought to remove it by the change of air ; to which end, he went to Woodford in Essex, but thither more chiefly to enjoy the com- pany of his beloved brother Sir Henry Herbert, and other friends then of that family. In his house he remained about twelve months, and there became his own physician, and cured him- self of his ague, by forbearing drink, and not eat- ing any meat, no not mutton, nor a hen, or pigeon, unless they were salted ; and by such a constant diet he removed his ague, but with inconveniences that were worse ; for he brought upon himself a disposition to rheums and other weaknesses, and a supposed consumption. And it is to be noted, that in the sharpest of his extreme fits he would often say, " Lord, abate my great affliction, or in- crease my patience ; but, Lord, I repine not ; I am dumb, Lord, before thee, because thou doest it." By whicii, and a sanctified submission to the will of God, he showed he was inclinable to bear the sweet yoke of Christian discipline, both then and in the latter part of his life, of which there will be many true testimonies. And now his care was to recover from his con- sumj)ti<)n ])y a change from Woodford into such an air as was most ])rop(>r to that end. And his remove was to Dauiitsey in Wiltsiiire, a noble GEORGE HERBERT. 171 house, which stands in a choice air ; the owner of it then was the Lord Danvers Earl of Danby, who loved Mr. Herbert so very much, that he al- lowed him such an apartment in it as might best suit with his accommodation and liking. And in this place, by a spare diet, declining all perplex- ing studies, moderate exercise, and a cheerful conversation, his health was apparently improved to a good degree of strength and cheerfulness : and then he declared his resolution, both to mar- ry, and to enter into the sacred orders of priest- hood. These had long been the desires of his mother and his other relations ; but she lived not to see either, for she died in the year 1627. And though he was disobedient to her about Layton Church, yet, in conformity to her will, he kept his Orator's place till after her death, and then pres- ently declined it ; and the more willingly, that he might be succeeded by his friend Robert Creigh- ton, who now is Dr. Creighton, and the worthy Bishop of Wells. I shall now proceed to his marriage ; in order to which, it will be convenient that I first give the reader a short view of his person, and then an ac- count of his wife, and of some circumstances con- cerning both. He was, for his person, of a stature inclining to- wards tallness ; his body was very straight ; and so far from being cumbered with too much flesh, 172 THE LIFE OF that he was lean to an extremity. His aspect was cheerful, and his speech and motion did both de- clare him a gentleman ; for they were all so meek and obliging, that they purchased love and respect from all that knew him. These, and his other visible virtues, begot him much love from a gentleman, of a noble fortune, and a near kinsman to his friend the Earl of Dan- by ; namely, from Mr. Charles Danvers of Bain- ton, in the county of Wilts, Esq. ; this Mr. Dan- vers, having known him long and familiarly, did so much affect him, that he often and publicly de- clared a desire that Mr. Herbert would marry any of his nine daughters (for he had so many) ; but rather his daughter Jane than any other, be- cause Jane was his beloved daugliter. And he had often said the same to Mr. Herbert himself; and that if he could like her for a wife, and she him for a husband, Jane should have a double blessing ; and Mr. Danvers had so often said the like to Jane, and so much commended Mr. Her- bert to her, that Jane became so much a Pla- tonic, as to fall in love with Mr. Herbert unseen. This was a fair ])roparation for a marriage ; but alas, her father died before Mr. Herbert's re- tirement to Dauntsey ; yet some friends to both parties procured their meeting ; at wliich time a nuitual affection entered into both their hearts, as a comjueror enters into a surprised city, and love GEORGE HERBERT. 173 having got such possession governed, and made there such laws and resolutions as neither party was able to resist ; insomuch that she changed her name to Herbert the third day after this first interview. This haste might in others be thought a love- phrenzy, or worse ; but it was not, for they had wooed so like princes, as to have select proxies ; such as were true friends to both parties ; such as well understood Mr. Herbert's and her temper of mind, and also their estates, so well before this interview, that the suddenness was justifiable by the strictest rules of prudence ; and the more be- cause it proved so happy to both parties : for the Eternal Lover of mankind made them happy in each other's mutual and equal affections and com- pliance; indeed so happy, that there never was any opposition betwixt them, unless it were a con- test which should most incline to a compliance with the other's desires. And though this begot, and continued in them, such a mutual love, and joy, and content, as was no way defective ; yet this mutual content, and love, and joy did receive a daily augmentation, by such daily obligingness to each other, as still added such new affluences to the former fullness of these divine souls, as was only improvable in heaven, where they now en- joy it. 174 THE LIFE OF About three months after his marriage, Dr. Curie, who was then Rector of Bemerton in Wilt- shire, was made Bishop of Bath and Wells, and not long after translated to Winchester ; and by that means the presentation of a clerk to Bemer- ton did not fall to the Earl of Pembroke (who was the undoubted patron of it) but to the King, by reason of Dr. Curie's advancement. But Philip, then Earl of Pembroke (for William was lately dead), requested the King to bestow it upon his kinsman George Herbert ; and the King said, " Most willingly to Mr. Herbert, if it be worth his acceptance." And the Earl as willingly and sud- denly sent it him without seeking. But though Mr. Herbert had formerly put on a resolution for the clergy ; yet, at receiving this presentation, the apprehension of the last great account, that he was to make for the cure of so many souls, made him fast and pray often, and consider for not less than a month ; in which time he had some resolutions to decline both the priesthood and that living. And in this time of considering, " he endured," as he would often say, "such spir- itual conflicts as none can think, but only those that have endured them." In the midst of those conflicts, his old and dear friend Mr. Arthur Woodnot took a journey to sa- lute him at Bainton (where he then was with his wife's friends and relations), and was joyful to bo GEORGE HERBERT. 175 an eye-witness of his health and happy marriage. And after they had rejoiced together some few days, they took a journey to Wilton, the famous seat of the Earls of Pembroke ; at which time the King, the Earl, and the whole Court were there, or at Salisbury, which is near to it. And at this time Mr. Herbert presented his thanks to the Earl, for his presentation to Bemerton, but had not yet resolved to accept it, and told him the rea- son why ; but that night the Earl acquainted Dr. Laud, then Bishop of London, and after Arch- bishop of Canterbury, with his kinsman's irreso- lution. And the Bishop did the next day so con- vince Mr. Herbert, that the refusal of it was a sin, that a tailor was sent for to come speedily from Salisbury to Wilton, to take measure, and make him canonical clothes against next day ; which the tailor did. And Mr. Herbert, being so habited, went with his presentation to the learned Dr. Davenant, who was then Bishop of Salisbury, and he gave him institution immediately (for Mr. Herbert had been made deacon some years be- fore) ; and he was also the same day (which was April 26, 1630) inducted into the good, and more pleasant than healthful, parsonage of Bemerton ; which is a mile from Salisbury. I have now brought them to the parsonage of Bemerton, and to the thirty-sixth year of his age, and must stop here, and bespeak the reader to 176 THE LIFE OF prepare for an almost incredible story of the great sanctity of the short remainder of his holy life ; a life so full of charity, humility, and all Christian virtues, that it deserves the eloquence of St. Chrys- ostom to commend and declare it ! A life, that if it were related by a pen like his, there would then be no need for this as^e to look back into times past for the examples of primitive piety ; for they might be all found in the life of George Her- bert. But now, alas ! who is fit to undertake it ? I confess I am not ; and am not pleased with myself that I must; and profess myself amazed, when I consider how few of the clergy lived like him then, and how many live so unlike him now. But it becomes not me to censure : my design is rather to assure the reader, that I have used very great diligence to inform myself, that I might in- form him of the truth of what follows ; and though I cannot adorn it with eloquence, yet I will do it with sincerity. When at his induction ho was shut into Bemer- ton church, being left tiiere alone to toll the bell (as the law requires him), he stayed so much longer than an ordinary time before he returned to those friends that stayed expecting him at the church door, that his friend Mr. Woodnot looked in at the church window, and saw him lie pros- trate on the crround before the altar : at which time and place (as he after told Mr. Woodnot) he GEORGE HERBERT. 177 set some rules to himself, for the future manage of his life ; and then and there made a vow to la- bor to keep them. And the same night that he had his induction, he said to Mr. Woodnot ; " I now look back up- on my aspiring thoughts, and think myself more happy than if I had attained what then I so ambi- tiously thirsted for : and I can now behold the court with an impartial eye, and see plainly that it is made up of fraud, and titles, and flattery, and many other such empty, imaginary, painted pleasures ; pleasures that are so empty, as not to satisfy when they are enjoyed. But in God and his service is a fullness of all joy and pleasure, and no satiety. And I will now use all my en- deavours to bring my relations and dependents to a love and reliance on him, who never fails those that trust him. But above all, I will be sure to live well, because the virtuous life of a clergyman is the most powerful eloquence to persuade all that see it to reverence and love, and at least to desire to live like him. And this I will do, because I know we live in an age that hath more need of good examples than precepts. And I beseech that God, who hath honored me so much as to call me to serve him at his altar, that as by his special grace he hath put into my heart these good de- sires and resolutions ; so he will, by his assisting grace, give me ghostly strength to bring the same Vol. II. 12 178 THE LIFE OF to good effect. And I beseech him that my hum- ble and charitable life may so win upon others, as to bring glory to my Jesus, whom I have this day taken to be my master and governor : and I am so proud of his service, that I will always observe, and obey, and do his will, and always call him ' Jesus, my master ' ; and I will always contemn my birth, or any title or dignity that can be conferred upon me, when I shall compare them with my title of being a priest, and serving at the altar of Jesus, my master." And that he did so may appear in many parts of his " Book of Sacred Poems;" especially in that which he calls •' The Odour." In which he seems to rejoice in the thoughts of that word, Je- sus, and say, tliat tlie adding these words, my master, to it, and the often repetition of them seemed to perfume his mind, and leave an orient- al fragrancy in his very breath. And for his un- forced choice to serve at God's altar, he seems in another place in his poems (" The Pearl," Mat. xiii.) to rejoice and say, — " ITo know the ways of learning; knew what nature does willingly; and wiiat, when it is forced by fire ; knew the ways of honor, and when glory inclines the soul to noble expressions ; knew the court ; knew the ways of pleasure, of love, of wit, of nuisic, and upon what terms he declined all these for the ser- vice of his master Jesus ; " and then conchules, saying, GEORGE HERBERT. 197 " That through these labyrinths, not my grovelling" wit, But thy silk- twist, let down from heaven to me. Did both conduct, and teach me, how by it To climb to thee." The third day after he was made Rector of Bemerton, and had changed his sword and silk clothes into a canonical coat, he returned so habited with his friend Mr. Woodnot to Bainton, and immediately after he had seen and saluted his wife, he said to her, — " You are now a minister's wife, and must now so far forget your father's house, as not to claim a precedence of any of your parishioners ; for you are to know, that a priest's wife can challenge no precedence of place, but that which she purchases by her oblig- ing humility ; and I am sure places so purchased do best become them. And let me tell you, that I am so good a herald as to assure you that this is truth." And she was so meek a wife as to as- sure him it was no vexing news to her, and that he should see her observe it with a cheerful wil- lingness. And, indeed, her unforced humility, that humility that was in her so original as to be born with her, made her so happy as to do so ; and her doing so begot her an unfeigned love and a serviceable respect from all that conversed with her ; and this love followed her in all places as inseparably as shadows follow substances in sunshine. 180 THE LIFE OF It was not many days before he returned back to Bemerton, to view the church, and repair the chancel ; and indeed to rebuild almost three parts of his house, which was fallen down, or decayed, by reason of his predecessor's living at a better parsonage-house, namely, at Minal, sixteen or twenty miles from this place. At which time of Mr. Herbert's coming alone to Bemerton, there came to him a poor old woman, with an intent to acquaint him with her necessitous condition, as also with some troubles of her mind ; but after she had spoken some few words to him, she was surprised with a fear, and that begot a shortness of breath, so that her spirits and speech failed her ; which he perceiving, did so compassionate her, and was so humble, that he took her by the hand, and said, " Speak, good mother, be not afraid to speak to me ; for I am a man that will hear you with patience ; and will relieve your necessi- ties too, if I be able ; and this I will do willingly ; and therefore, mother, be not afraid to acquaint me with what you desire." After which comfort- able speech, he again took her by the hand, made her sit down by him, and understanding she was of his parish, he told her " he would be acquaint- ed with her, and take her into his care : " and having with patience heard and understood her wants (and it is some relief for a ])oor body to be but heard with patience), he, like a Christian GEORGE HERBERT. 181 clergyman, comforted her by his meek behaviour and counsel ; but because that cost him nothing, he relieved her with money too, and so sent her home with a cheerful heart, praising God and praying for him. Thus worthy and (like David's blessed man) thus lowly was Mr. George Herbert in his own eyes, and thus lovely in the eyes of others. At his return that night to his wife at Sainton, he gave her an account of the passages betwixt him and the poor woman ; with which she was so affected that she went next day to Salisbury, and there bought a pair of blankets, and sent them as a token of her love to the poor woman ; and with them a message, " that she would see and be ac- quainted with her when her house was built at Bemerton." There be many such passages both of him and his wife, of which some few will be related ; but I shall first tell that he hasted to get the par- ish church repaired ; then to beautify the chapel (which stands near his house), and that at his own great charge. He then proceeded to rebuild the greatest part of the parsonage-house, which he did also very completely, and at his own charge ; and having done this good work, he caused these verses to be writ upon, or engraven in, the mantel of the chimney in his hall : 182 THE LIFE OF TO MT SUCCESSOR. "If thou chance for to find A new house to thy mind, And built without thy cost : Be good to the poor, As God gives thee store, And then my labor 's not lost." We will now, by the reader's favor, suppose him fixed at Bemerton, and srrant him to have seen the church repaired, and tlie chapel belong- ing to it very decently adorned, at his own great charge (which is a real truth) ; and having now fixed him there, I shall proceed to give an account of the rest of his behaviour both to his parishion- ers, and those many others that knew and convers- ed with him. Doubtless Mr. Herbert had considered and given rules to himself for his Christian carriage both to God and man, before he entered into holy orders. And it is not unlike, but that he renew- ed those resolutions at his proritration before the holy altar, at his induction into the church of Be- merton ; but as yet he was but a deacon, and therefore longed for the next Ember-week, that he might be ordained priest, and made capable of administerintr botii the sacraments. At which time the Rev. Dr. Humphrey Henchman, now Lord Bishop of London (who does not mention liim but witii some veneration for his life and ex- GEORGE HERBERT. 183 cellent learning), tells me, " he laid his hand on Mr. Herbert's head, and alas ! within less than three years, lent his shoulder to carry his dear friend to his grave." And that Mr. Herbert might the better preserve those holy rules which such a priest, as he intend- ed to be, oucrht to observe ; and that time might not insensibly blot them out of his memory, but that the next year might show him his variations from this year's resolutions ; he, therefore, did set down his rules, then resolved upon, in that order as the world now sees them printed in a little book called " The Country Parson " ; in which some of his rules are : " The Parson's knowledge. The Parson on Sundays. The Parson praying. The Parson preaching. The Parson's charity. The Parson comforting the sick. The Parson arguing. The Parson condescending. The Parson in his journey. The Parson in his mirth. The Parson with his churchwardens. The Parson blessing the people." And his behaviour toward God and man may be said to be a practical comment on these and the other holy rules set down in that useful book ; 184 THE LIFE OF a book so full of plain, prudent, and useful rules, that that country parson, that can spare twelve pence, and yet wants it, is scarce excusable ; be- cause it will both direct him what he ought to do, and convince him for not having done it. At the death of Mr. Herbert, this book fell into the hands of his friend Mr. Woodnot ; and he commended it into the trusty hands of Mr. Bar- nabas Oley, who published it with a most consci- entious and excellent Preface ; from which I have had some of those truths, that are related in this Life of Mr. Herbert. The text for his first ser- mon was taken out of Solomon's Proverbs, and the words were, " Keep thy heart with all dili- gence." In which first sermon he gave his par- ishioners many necessary, holy, safe rules for the discharge of a good conscience both to God and man ; and delivered his sermon after a most florid manner, both with great learning and elo- quence ; but, at the close of this sermon, told them, "that should not be his constant way of preaching ; for since Almighty God does not in- tend to lead men to heaven by hard questions, he would not therefore fill their heads with unneces- sary notions ; but that, for their sakes, his lan- guage and his expressions should be more plain and practical in his future sermons." And he then made it his humble request, ** that they would be constant to the afternoon's service and GEORGE HERBERT, 185 catechizing ; " and showed them convincing rea- sons why he desired it ; and his obliging exam- ple and persuasions brought them to a willing conformity to his desires. The texts for all his future sermons (which God knows were not many) were constantly taken out of the gospel for the day ; and he did as constant- ly declare why the Church did appoint that por- tion of Scripture to be that day read ; and in what manner the collect for every Sunday does refer to the gospel or to the epistle then read to them ; and, that they might pray with understanding, he did usually take occasion to explain, not only the collect for every particular Sunday, but the reasons of all the other collects and responses in our church-service ; and made it appear to them, that the whole service of the church was a reason- able, and therefore an acceptable sacrifice to God : as namely, that we begin with confession " of ourselves to be vile, miserable sinners ; " and that we begin so, because till we have confessed ourselves to be such, we are not capable of that mercy which we acknowledge we need and pray for : but having, in the prayer of our Lord, beg- ged pardon for those sins which we have confess- ed ; and hoping that, as the priest hath declared our absolution, so by our public confession, and real repentance, we have obtained that pardon ; then we dare and do proceed to beg of the Lord, 186 THE LIFE OF *' to open our lips, that our mouths may show forth liis praise : " for, till then, we are neither able nor worthy to praise him. But this being supposed, we are then fit to say, " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ; " and fit to proceed to a further service of our God, in the collects, and psalms, and lauds, that follow in the service. And as to these psalms and lauds, he proceed- ed to inform them, wliy they were so often, and some of them daily, repeated in our church-ser- vice ; namely, the psalms every month, because they be an historical and thankful repetition of mercies past ; and such a composition of prayers and praises as ought to be repeated often and publicly, for " with such sacrifices God is honor- ored and well pleased." This for the psalms. And for the livmns and lauds, appointed to be daily repeated or sung after the first and second lessons are read to the congregation ; he pro- ceeded to inform them, that it was most reasona- ble, afier they have heard the will and goodness of God declared or j)reache(l by the priest in his reading the two chapters, tliat it was then a sea- sonable duty to rise up and express their gratitude to Almighty God for those his mercies to them, and to all mankind ; and then to say with the blessed Virgin, that their " souls do magnify the Lord, and that their spirits do also rejoice in God GEORGE HERBERT. 187 their Saviour." And that it was their duty also to rejoice with Simeon in his song, and say with him, that their "eyes have" also *' seen their sal- vation ; " for they have seen that salvation which was but prophesied till his time : and he then broke out into those expressions of joy that he did see it ; but they lived to see it daily in the history of it, and, therefore, ought daily to rejoice, and daily to offer up their sacrifices of praise to their God for that particular mercy, — a service which is now the constant employment of that blessed Virgin and Simeon, and all those blessed saints that are possessed of heaven ; and where they are at this time interchangeably and constantly sing- ing, " Holy, holy, holy Lord God; glory be to God on high, and on earth peace." And he taught them, that to do this was an acceptable service to God ; because the prophet David says, in his Psalms, '' He that praiseth the Lord, honoreth him." He made them to understand how happy they be that are freed from the incumbrances of that law which our forefathers groaned under ; name- ly, from the legal sacrifices, and from the many ceremonies of the Levitical law ; freed from cir- cumcision, and from the strict observation of the Jewish Sabbath, and the like. And he made them know, that having received so many and so great blessings, by being born since the days of 188 THE LIFE OF our Saviour, it must be an acceptable sacrifice to Almighty God for them to acknowledge those blessings daily, and stand up and worship, and say as Zacharias did, '' Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath (in our days) visited and re- deemed his people ; and (he hath in our days) remembered and showed that mercy which, by the mouth of the prophets, he promised to our forefathers; and this he hath done according to his holy covenant made with them." And he made them to understand that we live to see and enjoy the benefit of it in his birth, in his life, his passion, his resurrection, and ascension into heav- en, where he now sits sensible of all our tempta- tions and infirmities ; and where he is at this present time making intercession for us, to his, and our Father ; and therefore they ought daily to express their public gratulations, and say daily with Zacharias, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that hath thus visited, and thus redeemed his people." These were some of the reasons by which Mr. Herbert instructed his con