ment, and received their order, in course, for printing his sermons; though, I think, he never published but two of them himself. Some of them are printed among his posthumous works. In all of them the wisdom and judgment of Dr. Manton, in the suitableness of the subject to the circumstances of the times, and the prudent management of it to the best advantage, are very visible; particularly after he had given his testimony, among the London Ministers, against the death of the King, he was appointed to preach before the Parliament. His text was, Deut. xxxiii. 4, 5, "Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob; and he was King in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together." When they were highly offended at this sermon, some of his friends advised him to withdraw, for some in the House talked of sending him to the Tower; but he never flinched, and their heat abated.

His removal from Newington to Covent-Garden was occasioned by the great age of Mr. Obadiah Sedgwick, who was now disabled for his work. The people growing uneasy, several worthy persons were proposed for the place; but Mr. Sedgwick would not be prevailed with to resign, till Mr. Manton was mentioned; and to that he readily yielded. He was presented to the living, with great respect and satisfaction, by his noble and generous patron, the Earl, afterwards Duke, of Bedford, who greatly esteemed him to his dying day; and sent him, as a mark of his respect, a key of the garden, which then belonged to Bedford House, either to walk in at his leisure, or as a convenient passage to the Strand. He had in this place a numerous congregation of persons of great note and rank; of which number was oftentimes the excellent Archbishop Usher, who used to say of him, that he was one of the "best preachers in England," and that he was a "voluminous preacher;" not that he was ever long and tedious, but because he had the art of reducing the substance of whole volumes into a narrow compass, and representing it to great advantage. Mr. Charnock used to say of him, that he was the "best collector of sense of the age."

Dr. Manton had a great respect for Mr. Christopher Love, who was beheaded in the year 1651, by the then Parliament, for being concerned, with some others, in sending remittances abroad to support the royal family in their distress. I am informed, that he attended him on the scaffold at Tower-hill, and that Mr. Love, as a token of his respect, gave him his cloak. The Doctor was resolved to preach his funeral sermon, which the Government understanding, signified their displeasure, and the soldiers threatened to shoot him; but that did not daunt him, for he preached at St. Lawrence-Jury, where Mr. Love had been minister to a numerous congregation, though not graced with the pulpit cloth, or having the convenience of a cushion. He was too wise to lay himself open to the rage of his enemies; but the sermon was printed afterwards, under the title of "The Saint's Triumph over Death." Lord Clarendon* speaks of Mr. Love in terms of great disrespect, upon the report of a sermon he preached when he was a young man, at Uxbridge, at the time of the treaty. How far he might fail in his prudence in so nice a circumstance I am not able to say; but it appears, from the accounts of them who well knew him, and by the resentment his death generally met with at that time, as well as by several volumes of sermons printed after his death, that he was a person of worth and esteem. It was certainly a rash and ungenerous censure History, in folio, vol. ii., pp. 445, 446; vol. iii., pp. 337, 338.

in the noble author, of one he knew so little at that time, and who afterwards lost his life for serving the royal family.

The Government afterwards, for what reason it was best known to themselves, seemed at least to have an esteem for him, though he was far from courting their favour. When Cromwell took on him the Protectorship, in the year 1653, the very morning the ceremony was to be performed, a messenger came to Dr. Manton, to acquaint him that he must immediately come to Whitehall. The Doctor asked him the occasion he told him he should know that when he came there. The Protector himself, without any previous notice, told him what he was to do, that is, to pray upon that occasion. The Doctor laboured all he could to be excused, and told him it was a work of that nature which required some time to consider and prepare for it. The Protector replied, that he knew he was not at a loss to perform the service he expected from him; and opening his study-door, he put him in with his hand, and bid him consider there, which was not above half an hour. The Doctor employed that time in looking over his books, which, he said, was a noble collection. It was at this time, as I am informed, that the worthy Judge Rookesby had the misfortune, by the fall of a scaffold, to break his thigh, by which he always went lame, and was obliged to have one constantly to lead him. He was an upright Judge, and a wise and religious person; he was constant to his principles, and always attended the preaching of good old Mr. Stretton to his dying day.

About this time the Doctor was made one of the Chaplains to the Protector; and appointed one of the committee to examine persons who were to be admitted to the ministry, or inducted into livings; as he was afterwards appointed one in 1659, by an Act of that Parliament, in which the secluded members were restored. And though this proved troublesome to him, considering his constant employment in preaching, yet he has been heard to say, that he very seldom absented himself from that service, that he might, to his power, keep matters from running into extremes; for there were many in those days, as well as in these, who were forward to run into the ministry, and had more zeal than knowledge; and perhaps sometimes persons of worth liable to be discouraged. There is a pretty remarkable instance of his kind respect to a grave and sober person, who appeared before them, (cap in hand, no doubt,) and was little taken notice of, but by himself: he, seeing him stand, called for a chair, in respect to his years and appearance; at which some of the Commissioners were displeased. This person appeared to be of a Christian and ingenuous temper; for, after the restoration, he was preferred to an Irish bishopric, perhaps an archbishopric; for he used to give in charge to Bishop Worth, whose occasions often called him over to England, that on his first coming to London he should visit Dr. Manton, and give his service to him, and let him know, that if he was molested in his preaching in England, he should be welcome in Ireland, and have liberty to preach in any part of his diocese undisturbed. What interest he had in the Protector he never employed for any sordid ends of his own, who might have had any thing from him, but purely to do what service he could to others: he never refused to apply to him for any thing in which he could serve another, though it was not always with success. He was once desired by some of the principal

Whitlock, who was present, says, "He recommended His Highness, the Parliament, the Council, and forces, and the whole government and people of the three nations, to the blessing and protection of God."-Memorials, p. 661.

Royalists, to use his interest in him for sparing Dr. Hewit's life, who was condemned for being in a plot against the then Government; which he did accordingly. The Protector told him, if Dr. Hewit had shown himself an ingenuous person, and would have owned what he knew was his share in the design against him, he would have spared his life; but he was, he said, of so obstinate a temper, that he resolved he should die. The Protector convinced Dr. Manton before he parted that he knew how far he was engaged in that plot.

While he was Minister at Covent-Garden, he was invited to preach before the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, and the Companies of the city, upon some public occasion, at St. Paul's. The Doctor chose some difficult subject, in which he had opportunity of displaying his judgment and learning, and appearing to the best advantage. He was heard with the admiration and applause of the more intelligent part of the audience; and was invited to dine with my Lord Mayor, and received public thanks for his performance. But upon his return in the evening to Covent-Garden, a poor man following him, gently plucked him by the sleeve of his gown, and asked him, if he were the gentleman who had preached that day before my Lord Mayor. He replied, he was. "Sir," says he, "I came with earnest desires after the word of God, and hopes of getting some good to my soul, but I was greatly disappointed; for I could not understand a great deal of what you said; you were quite above me." The Doctor replied, with tears in his eyes, "Friend, if I did not give you a sermon, you have given me one; and, by the grace of God, I will never play the fool to preach before my Lord Mayor in such a manner again." Upon a public fast at Covent-Garden church, for the persecuted Protestants in the valleys of Piedmont, Dr. Manton had got Mr. Baxter, who happened to be then in London, and Dr. Wilkins, who was afterwards Bishop of Chester, to assist him. Mr. Baxter opened the day, and preached upon the words of the Prophet Amos, c. vi. 6.; "But they are not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph." He, after his manner, took a great compass, and grasped the whole subject. Dr. Manton succeeded him, and had chosen the same text: he was obliged often to refer to the former discourse, and to say, every now and then, "As it has been observed by my reverend brother." Dr. Wilkins sat cruelly uneasy, and reckoned that between them both he should have nothing left to say; for he had got the same text too. He insisted upon being excused, but Dr. Manton obliged him to go up into the pulpit; and by an ingenious artifice, he succeeded admirably. Before he named his text, he prepared the audience by expressing the fears of their narrow-spiritedness, and little concern for the interest of God in the world: "For," says he "without any knowledge or design of our own, we have all three been directed to the same words.' Which, spoken with the majesty and authority peculiar to the presence and spirit of that excellent person, so awakened the attention, and disposed the minds of the people, that he was heard with more regard, and was thought to do more good than both the former, though he had scarce a single thought throughout the sermon distinct from the other two.

In the year 1660, he was very instrumental, with many other Presbyterian Divines, in the restoration of King Charles the Second. It must be owned, by impartial judges, that the Presbyterian party, who had the greatest influence in the nation at that time, had the greatest share in that change; nor could all the Episcopal party in the three kingdoms have once put it into motion, or brought it to any effect,

without them, though they had all the favour and preferment bestowed upon them afterwards; which, whether it were more just or politic, more agreeable to the laws of equity or the rules of prudence, I leave to the reader to determine.* Perhaps, if the King had been brought in upon the conditions the noble Earl of Southampton would have proposed, and which were approved by the Earl of Clarendon, when it was too late, it had prevented a great deal of the arbitrary and violent proceedings of that loose and luxurious reign, and contributed to the safety and happiness of the Prince, and people too. He was one of the Divines appointed to wait upon the King at Breda, where they were well received, and for some time after greatly caressed. The Doctor was sworn one of the King's Chaplains by the Earl of Manchester, Lord Chamberlain, who truly honoured him. He was one of the Commissioners at the Savoy Conference, and used his utmost endeavours in that unsuccessful affair. Dr. Reynolds, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, joined with those Divines who were for alterations in ecclesiastical affairs. He was the first who received the Commission from the Bishop of London, of which he immediately acquainted Dr. Manton. The original letter is now in my hands, and expresses the candour and goodness of that excellent person, and his great respect for Dr. Manton. It is in these words:

"SIR,

"THIS morning the Bishop of London sent me the Commission about revising the Liturgy under the great seal, to take notice of; with direction to give notice to the Commissioners who are not Bishops. I went to Mr. Calamy, and it is desired that we meet to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, at his house, in regard of his lameness, to advise together, and send a joint letter to those who are out of this town. He and I desire you not to fail; and withal to call upon Dr. Bates and Dr. Jacomb in your way, to desire their company. So, with my best respects, "I remain your most loving brother,

"London, April 1st, 1660."

"EDWARD REYNOLDS, B. N.

He was offered at this time the deanery of Rochester, which Dr. Harding was in great fear he would accept, and plied him with letters to come to some resolution; having reason to hope that, upon his refusal, he should obtain it, as he afterwards did. The Doctor kept it some time in suspense, being willing to see whether the King's declaration could be got to pass into a law, which they had great encouragements given them to expect, and which would have gone a great way towards uniting the principal parties in the nation, and laying the foundation of a lasting peace. Many persons who had, in the former times, purchased Bishops' and Deans' lands, earnestly pressed him to accept the deanery, with hopes they might find better usage from him in renewing their leases, and offered their money for new ones, which he might have taken with the deanery, and quitted again in 1662, there being then no assent and consent imposed: but he was above such underhand dealings, and scorned to enrich himself with the spoils of others. When he saw the most prudent and condescending endeavours, through the violence

See Bishop Burnet's History of his own Times, page 89.

The declaration was drawn up by Lord Chancellor Hyde, and contained, among other things, the following concessions:-That no Bishops should ordain or exercise any part of jurisdiction, which appertaineth to the censures of the church, without the

and ambition of some leading men, availed nothing to the peace of the church and the happiness of the nation, he sat down under the melancholy prospect of what he lived to see come to pass, namely, the decay of serious religion, with a flood of profaneness, and a violent spirit of persecution. The greatest worth and the best pretensions met with no regard where there were any scruples in point of ceremony and subscription.

In the interval between the Restoration and his ejectment, he was greatly esteemed by persons of the first quality at court. Sir John Baber used to tell him, that the King had a singular respect for him. Lord Chancellor Hyde was always highly civil and obliging to him. He had free access to him upon all occasions, which he always improved, not for himself, but for the service of others. I shall only give a single instance. Mr. James, of Berkshire, who was afterwards known by the name of Black James, an honest and worthy person, was at the point of being cast out of his living, which was a sequestration. He came to London to make friends to the Lord Chancellor, but could find none proper for his purpose. He was at length advised to go to Dr. Manton, to whom he was yet a stranger, as the most likely to serve him in this distress. He came to him late in the evening, and when he was in bed. He told his case to Mrs. Manton, who advised him to come again in the morning, and did not doubt but the Doctor would go with him. He answered, with great concern, that it would be too late; and that if he could not put a stop to it that night, he and his family must be ruined. On so pressing a case the Doctor rose, and, because it rained, went with him in a coach to the Lord Chancellor, at York-house; who spying the Doctor in the crowd, where many persons were attending, called to him to know what business he had there at that time of night. When he acquainted him with his errand, my Lord called to the person who stamped the orders upon such occasions, and asked him what he was doing? He answered, "that he was just going to put the stamp to an order for passing away such a living." Upon which he bid him stop; and upon hearing further of the matter, bid the Doctor not trouble himself, his friend should not be molested. He enjoyed it to the time of his ejectment, in 1662, which was a great support to a pretty numerous family. Upon his refusing the deanery, he fell under Lord Clarendon's displeasure, so fickle is the favour of the great; and he once accused him to the King for dropping some treasonable expressions in a sermon. The King was so just and kind as to send for him, and ordered him to bring his notes. When he read them, the King asked, whether upon his word this was all that was delivered; and upon the Doctor's assurance that it was so, without a syllable added to it, the King said, "Doctor, I am satisfied, and you may be assured of my favour; but look to yourself, or else Hyde will be too hard for you."

In whatsoever company he was, he had courage, as became a faithful Minister of Christ, to oppose sin; and upon proper occasions, to reprove sinners. Duke Lauderdale, who pretended to carry it with great respect to him, in some company where the Doctor was present, behaved advice and assistance of the presbyters: that Chancellors, Commissaries, and officials should be excluded from acts of jurisdiction; and the power of pastors in their several congregations restored; and that liberty should be granted to all Ministers to assemble monthly for the exercise of their pastoral persuasive power, and the promoting of knowledge and godliness in their flocks; that Ministers should be free from the subscription required by the canon, and from the oath of canonical obedience; and that the use of the ceremonies should be dispensed with, where they were scrupled.