studied more to profit than please; and yet an honest heart will be then best pleased when most profited. He chose rather to speak appositely than elegantly, and yet the judicious account propriety the greatest elegance. He laboured more industriously to conceal his learning than others to ostentate theirs; and yet, when he would most veil it, the discerning reader cannot but discover it, and rejoice to find such a mass and treasure of useful learning couched under a well-studied and artificial plainness. I have admired, and must recommend to the observation of the reader, the fruitfulness of the author's holy invention, accompanied with solid judgment, in that whereas the coincidence of the matter in this Psalm might have superseded his labours in very many verses; yet, without force, or offering violence to the sacred text, he has, either from the connexion of one verse with its predecessor, or the harmony between the parts of the same verse, found out new matter to entertain his own meditations, and the reader's expectations."

The second volume was published in 1684; and contains Sermons on the whole of the 25th of Matthew, and 17th of John; and the 6th and 8th of the Romans, and the 5th of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Dr. Collings, who seems to have written the preface to this volume, says, "In all his writings one finds a quick and fertile invention, governed with a solid judgment; and the issue of both expressed in a grave and decent style. He had a heart full of love and zeal for God and his glory; and out of the abundance of his heart his mouth continually spake. So frequent, and yet so learned and solid, preaching, by the same person, was little less than miraculous. He was a good and learned, a grave and judicious, person; and his auditory never failed, though he laboured more than most Preachers, to hear from him a pious, learned, and judicious discourse. He is one of those authors, upon the credit of whose name, not only private, and less intelligent people, but even scholars, may venture to buy any book which was his." The third volume was published in 1689, and contains Sermons upon the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews; with a Treatise of the Life of Faith, and another of Self-denial; and some preparatory Sermons for the Lord's Supper, and Sermons before the Parliament. It was dedicated to King William, soon after the Revolution, by Mr.Howe, in as noble and masterly a preface as is, perhaps, any where to be met with. The fourth volume was published in 1693, and contains Sermons upon several texts of Scripture. It is directed to the Lord Philip Wharton, by Mr. William Taylor, who was many years my Lord's Chaplain, and transcribed a great part of the Doctor's notes for the press, and was himself a person of great integrity and wisdom. He tells my Lord, "Though his preaching was so constant, yet in all his sermons may be observed a solidity of judgment, exactness of method, fulness of matter, strength of argument, persuasive elegance, together with a serious vein of piety running through the whole, as few have come near him, but none have exceeded him." Mr. Alsop says of this volume, "Acquired learning humbly waits upon divine revelation; great ministerial gifts were managed by greater grace. A warm zeal, guided by solid judgment; a fervent love to saints and sinners, kindled by a burning zeal for the interest of a Saviour; and a plain elegance of style adapted to the meanest capacity, and yet far above the contempt of the highest pretender." The fifth volume was published in 1701; and contains Sermons on the 5th chapter to the Ephesians, on the 3d of the Philippians, on the 1st chapter of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, and on the 3d chapter of the Second Epistle

of John; with one hundred and forty Sermons on particular texts. This volume, though it appeared last, and after so many others, is so far from running dregs, that, in my opinion, it contains some of his ripest and most digested thoughts; and is preferable, both for the subject and management, to any one of the former. This was directed to the excellent Sir Thomas Abney, then Lord Mayor of London, and to the Lady Abney, by Mr. Howe; in which he expresses his sense of Dr. Manton, in this remarkable paragraph: “And that an eminent servant of Christ, who, through a track of so many years, hath been so great and public a teacher and example of the ancient seriousness, piety, righteousness, sobriety, strictness of manners, with most diffusive "charity, (for which London has been renowned, for some ages, beyond most cities in the world,) should have his memory revived by such a testimony from persons under your character, and who hold so public a station as you do in it, can never be thought unbecoming, as long as clearly explained and exemplified religion, solid useful learning, and good sense, are in any credit in the world."

There are some sermons of his in the several volumes of the "Morning Exercises;" for Dr. Manton was too considerable to be missed in any design which was set on foot for the public good. There is one in that at St. Giles's, on Man's Impotency to help Himself out of the Misery he is in by Nature." Another in that at Cripplegate, about "Strictness in holy Duties;" a third in the Supplement, concerning "The Improvement of our Baptism ;" and a fourth in that against Popery, upon "The Sufficiency of the Scripture." There is also a Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Jane Blackwel, upon "The Blessed Estate of them who die in the Lord," in the year 1656. These sermons, with the two before the House of Commons, and one on the Death of Mr. Love, including the Exposition on James and Jude, were all he published himself; and are written with a correct judgment and beautiful simplicity. His other works were all printed from his sermon-notes, prepared for the pulpit; and whosoever shall consider the greatness of the number, and variety of the subjects, the natural order in which they are disposed, and the skilful management, the constant frequency of his preaching, and the affairs of business in which he was often engaged, will easily be able to make a judgment of his great abilities and vast application, and to make the requisite allowances for posthumous works; especially when he tells us that he was "humbled with the constant burden of four times a week preaching ;" and to the last, three times; and that where "the style seems too curt and abrupt, know that I sometimes reserved myself for sudden inculcations and enlargement." And though as they now appear they have been well received, and very useful to younger Ministers, and Christian families; yet I believe I might safely venture to say, that if he had had the same leisure to compose and polish, he was capable of equalling any performances of that kind of the celebrated writers of the age; and that hardly any, under his disadvantage, and so constantly employed, would have exceeded his. As no man of the age had a greater number of his sermons published after his death, perhaps it

One is "Meat for the Eater; or, Hopes of Unity in and by divided and distracted Times," on Zech. xiv. 10. The other is "England's Spiritual Languishing, with the Causes and Cure," on Rev. ii. 3.

† Anthony Wood mentions "Smectymnuus Redivivus," in answer to "The humble Remonstrance," Lond. 1653, which I have never seen.

See Preface to the Exposition on James.

will not displease the reader to see his own judgment of posthumous writings. "Let it not stumble thee," says he, "that the piece is posthumous, and comes out so long after the author's death; it were to be wished that they who excel in public gifts, would, during life, publish their own works, to prevent spurious obtrusions upon the world; and to give them their last hand and polishing, as the Apostle Peter was careful to write before his decease. (2 Peter i. 12.) But usually the church's treasure is most increased by legacies. As Elijah let fall his mantle when he was taken up into heaven, so God's eminent servants, when their persons could no longer remain in this world, have left behind them some worthy pieces, as monuments of their graces, and zeal for the public welfare. Whether it be out of a modest sense of their own endeavours, as being loth, upon choice, and of their own accord, to venture abroad into the world; or whether it be, that being occupied and taken up with other labours; or whether it be in conformity to Christ, who would not leave his Spirit till his departure; or whether it be out of hope that their works would find a more kindly reception after their death, the living being more liable to envy and reproach, but when the author is in heaven, the work is more esteemed upon earth; whether for this or that cause, usual it is, that not only the life, but the death of God's servants have been profitable to the church. By that means many useful treatises have been freed from that privacy and obscurity to which, by the modesty of their authors, they had formerly been confined."*

He was a person of general learning, and had a fine collection of books, which sold for a considerable sum after his death; among which was the noble "Paris edition of the Councils," in thirty volumes, in folio, which the bookseller offered him for sixty pounds, or his Sermons on the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm. He began to transcribe them fair; but finding it too great an interruption in the frequent returns of his stated work, he chose rather to pay him in money. His great delight was in his study, and he was scarce ever seen without a book in his hand, if he was not engaged in company. He had diligently read the Fathers, and the principal schoolmen; which was a fashionable piece of learning in those times. And though he greatly preferred the plainness and simplicity of the former, to the art and subtilty of the latter; yet he thought that we were more properly the Fathers, who stood on their shoulders, and have the advantage of seeing farther, in several respects, than they did. Perhaps scarce any man of the age had more diligently studied the Scripture, or was a greater master of it. He had digested the best critics and commentators, and made a vast collection of judicious observations of his own; which appears in the pertinent and surprising use of the Scripture upon all occasions, and the excellent glosses which are every where to be found in his writings. As he had a great reverence for the Scripture himself, so he was observed to show a great zeal against using Scripture phrases lightly in common conversation, or without a due regard to the sense and meaning of them, as a profanation of the Scripture and a great dishonour to God. Dr. Bates used to say, "that he had heard the greatest men of those times sometimes preach a mean sermon, but never heard Dr. Manton do so upon any occasion. This will appear the less surprising, if we consider the great care he took about them. He generally writ the heads Epistle to Dr. Sibb's Comment on the first chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

and principal branches first, and often writ them over twice afterwards; some copies of which are now in being. When his sermon did not please him, nor the matter open kindly, he would lay it aside for that time, though it were Saturday night; and sit up all night to prepare a sermon upon an easier subject, and more to his satisfaction. If a good thought came into his mind in the night, he would light his candle, and put on his gown, and write sometimes for an hour together at a table by his bedside, though the weather was ever so cold. He was well read in all the ancient and modern history, which he made his diversion, and in which he took a particular pleasure. This, by the advantage of an excellent judgment and strong memory, made his conversation very instructing and entertaining, and recommended him particularly to young gentlemen who used to visit him after their travels. He would discourse with them as if he had been with them upon the spot, and bring things to their remembrance which they had forgot; and sometimes, to their great surprise, show a greater acquaintance with things abroad, attained by reading, than they had got by all the labour and expense of travelling. The celebrated Mr. Edmund Waller, who first refined the English poetry, and brought it to the ease and correctness in which it now appears, used to say of him, upon this account, that "he never discoursed with such a man as Dr. Manton in all his life." By this means he became a great judge of men and things; and was often resorted to by persons of the greatest note and figure in the world. He took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in the year 1639, and was created Bachelor of Divinity in 1654, and by virtue of his Majesty's letters was created Doctor of Divinity, at the same time with Dr. Bates, and several of the royalists in 1660.* It was pleasantly said upon this latter occasion, that none could say of him that Creatio fit ex nihilo, having both learning and a degree before.

He was a strict observer of family religion. His method was this: he began morning and evening with a short prayer, then read a chapter, his children and servants were obliged to remember some part of it, which he made easy and pleasant to them by a familiar exposition; then he concluded with a longer prayer. Notwithstanding the labours of the Lord's-day, he never omitted, after an hour's respite, to repeat the heads of both his sermons to his family, usually walking, and then concluded the day with prayer and singing a psalm. His great acquaintance with the Scriptures, and deep seriousness of mind, furnished him with great pertinency and variety of expression upon all occasions; and preserved a great solemnity and reverence in all his addresses to God. His prayer after sermon usually contained the heads of his sermon. He was noted for a lively and affectionate manner of administering the Lord's supper. He consecrated the elements of bread and wine apart; and whilst they were delivering, he was always full of heavenly discourse. He would often utter, with great fervour, those words; "Who is a God like unto thee, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin?" and illustrate, in an affecting manner, the glory of the divine mercy to the lost world, in the death of Christ; and pathetically represent the danger of those who neglect and slight their baptismal covenant, and how terrible a witness it would be against them at the day of judgment.

Monday was his chief day of rest, in which he used to attend his visiters. On his Wednesday lecture several persons of considerable

Anthony Wood's Fasti Oxon.

quality and distinction, who went to the established church on the Lord's day, would come to hear him. One observing to him that there were many coaches at his doors on those days, he answered, smiling, "I have coach hearers, but foot payers;" and yet he was far from the love of filthy lucre; for when it was proposed to him to bring his hearers to a subscription, he would not yield to it, but said his house should be free for all, as long as he could pay the rent of it. Some of his parishioners, and others who attended his ministry, used to present him, about Christmas, with what they collected among themselves, which was seldom above twelve or thirteen pounds. He had several persons of the first rank who belonged to his congregation, as the Countesses of Bedford, Manchester, Clare; the Ladies Baker, Trevor; the present Lord Trevor's mother; the Lord and Lady Wharton, and most of their children, &c. By this means he had always a considerable collection for the poor at the sacrament, which was a great pleasure to him. He used to say sometimes, pleasantly, that he had money in the poor's bag when he had little in his own. This he sometimes distributed among poor Ministers, who were, many of them, at that time, in strait circumstances, as well as the poor of the congregation. Though he was a man of great gravity, and of a regular unaffected piety, yet he was extremely cheerful and pleasant among his friends, and upon every proper occasion. His religion sat easy, and well became him, and appeared amiable and lovely to others. He greatly disliked the forbidding rigours of some good people, and the rapturous pretensions of others; and used to say he had found it by long observation, that they who would be over-godly at one time would be under-godly at another.

*

I shall conclude with this summary account of his person and character. He was of a middle stature, and of a fair and fresh complexion, with a great mixture of majesty and sweetness in his countenance. In his younger years he was very slender; but grew corpulent in his advanced age; not by idleness or excess, for he was remarkably temperate and unweariedly diligent; he had naturally a little appetite, and generally declined all manner of feasts; but by a sedentary life, and the long confinement of the five-mile-act, which he used to complain, first broke his constitution. In short, perhaps few men of the age in which he lived, had more virtues, and fewer failings; or were more remarkable for general knowledge, fearless integrity, great candour and wisdom, sound judgment, and natural eloquence, copious invention, and incredible industry, zeal for the glory of God, and good-will to men; for acceptance and usefulness in the world, and a clear and unspotted reputation, through a course of many years, among all parties of men.

Anthony Wood (Athenæ Oxon., p. 600) says, "When he took his degree at Oxford, he looked like a person rather fatted for the slaughter, than an apostle; being a round, plump, jolly man; but the royalists resembled apostles by their macerated bodies and countenances. Which, besides the injurious falsehood of the insinuation, is a coarse and butcherly comparison. I doubt it would not be safe to make that the standing measure of apostolical men.