it not for my interest in nature) I durst say, that neither Aleth, the mother of that just honour of Clareval; nor Monica, nor any other of those pious matrons, anciently famous for devotion, need to disdain her admittance to comparison; she was continually exercised with the af fliction of a weak body, and oft of a wounded spirit, the agonies whereof she would oft recount with much passion; professing that the greatest bodily sicknesses were but flea-bites to those scorpions, so from them all, at last she found an happy and comfortable deliverance, and that not without a more than ordinary hand of God; for on a time being in great distress of conscience, she thought in her dream, there stood by her a grave personage, in the gown and other habits of a physician, who inquiring of her state, and receiving a sad and querulous answer from her, took her by the hand, and bade her be of good comfort, for this should be the last fit that ever she should feel of this kind, whereto she seemed to answer, that upon that condition, she could well be content for the time, with that, or any other torment: Reply was made to her, as she thought, with a redoubled assurance of that happy issue of this her last trial; whereat she began to conceive an unspeakable joy; which yet upon her waking left her more disconsolate, as then conceiting her happiness imaginary, her misery real; when the very same day, she was visited by the reverend, and (in his time) famous divine, Mr. Anthony Gilby, under whose ministry she lived; who, upon the relation of this her pleasing vision, and the contrary effects it had in her, began to persuade her, that dream was no other than divine, and that she had good reason to think that gracious premonition was sent her from GoD himself, who, though ordinarily he keeps the common road of his proceedings, yet sometimes in the distresses of his servants, he goes unusual ways to their relief: Hereupon she began to take heart, and by good counsel and her fervent prayers, found that happy prediction verified to her, and upon all occasions in the remainder of her life, was ready to magnify the mercy of her GoD in so sensible a deliverance. "What with the trial of both these hands of God, so had she profited in the school of Christ, that it was hard for any friend to come from her discourse no whit holier. How often have I blessed the memory of those divine passages of experimental divinity, which I have heard from her mouth! What day did she pass without a large a large task of private devotion, whence she would still come forth with a countenance of undissembled mortification. Never any lips have read to me such feeling lectures of piety; neither have I known any soul that more accurately practised them, than her own: Temptations, desertions, and spiritual comforts were her usual theme. Shortly, for I can hardly take off my pen from so exemplary a subject, her life and death were saint-like." Having from his infancy been devoted by his parents to the ministry, he was, for that purpose, educated in the public school of his native place; and, at the age of fifteen, was admitted into Emmanuel college, in Cambridge, of which he was chosen scholar; and took the degree of bachelor of arts in the year 1592. He distinguished himself as a wit and poet in this early season of his life; for he published, in 1597, "Virgidemiarum : Satires in six Books." See his Works subjoined. Our Author informs us, in his "SPECIALITIES," that instead of his being sent to the university, he was very near being placed, for education, under one Mr. Pelset, who was lately come from Cambridge, to be the public preacher of Leicester. But his elder brother having occasion to go to Cambridge, and waiting upon Mr. Nathaniel Gilby, fellow of Emmanuel college, the latter, on hearing of the diversion of his father's purposes from the university, importunately dissuaded him from that new course, professing to pity the loss of so good hopes. The elder brother, moved with these words, at his return home, fell upon his knees to his father, and besought him to alter so prejudicial a resolution, and not suffer the young man's hopes to be drowned in a shallow country channel, but that he would revive his first purposes for Cambridge; adding, in the zeal of his love, that, if the chargeableness of that course were the hindrance, he would be rather pleased to sell part of that land, which, in course of nature, he was to inherit, than to abridge his brother of that happy means to finish his education. A very uncommon instance of generosity! After our Author had been two years at the university, he had like to have been called away from thence in an untimely and disagreeable manner; of which we shall give the account in his own words: "My two first years were necessarily chargeable above the proportion of my father's power, whose not very large cistern was to feed many pipes besides mine, for he had twelve children; his weariness of expence was wrought upon by the counsel of some Montague. But, on the thirtieth of December following, having joined with the Archbishop of York and some other bishops, in the protestation against the validity of all laws made during their forced absence from parliament, he was voted among the rest to the Tower, and committed thither the thirtieth of January, in all the extremity of a dark frosty evening, at eight o'clock. This their protestation is printed in Rushworth and Nalson's collections, and in Lord Clarendon's and Rapin's histories, and other places, which will excuse us from inserting it here; and to which we refer. But Bishop Hall having mentioned some curious particulars relating thereto, it will be proper to lay them before our readers. "Upon our resolved forbearance from the parliament, says he, the Archbishop of York [Williams] sent for us to his lodgings, laid before us the dangerous condition we were in, and advised us for remedy (except we meant utterly to abandon our right, and to desert our station in parliament) to petition both his majesty and the parliament, that, since we were legally called by his majesty's writ to give our attendance in parliament, we might be secured in the performance of our duty and service against those dangers which threatened us, and also to protest against any such acts as should be made during the time of our forced absence, for which he assured us there were many precedents in former parliaments, and which, if we did not, we should betray the trust committed to us by his majesty, and shamefully abdicate the due right both of ourselves and successors. To this purpose, in our presence, he drew up the said petition and protestation, avowing it to be legal, just, and agreeable to all former proceedings; and being fairly written, sent it to our several lodgings for our hands, which we accordingly subscribed, intending yet to have some farther consultation concerning the delivery and whole conduct of it. But ere we could suppose it to be in any hand but his own, the first news we heard was, that messengers were provided to fetch us into the parliament, upon an accusation of high-treason. For, whereas this paper was to have been delivered first to his majesty's secretary, and, after perusal by him, to his majesty, after which, from his majesty to the parliament; and, for that purpose, to the Lord Keeper, Littleton, who was the Speaker of the House of Peers ;-all these professed not to have perused it at all: But the Lord Keeper, willing enough to take this advantage of ingratiating himself with the House of Commons and the faction, to which he knew himself |