his sickness and death: if great grief had not forced silence, you, his dearest and most worthy friend, had perpetuated the remarkables of that sad scene, in a funeral sermon.

Our passions, which have hitherto been kept within the banks, should now be permitted to overflow, and they even expect to be moved by a breath of eloquence; but that is not my talent. In short, his death was suitable to his life; not this imperfect, slight life, as I relate it, but that admirable, heroic life which he lived.

He died the fourth of May, 1677; and had it not been too inconvenient to carry him to Cambridge", then wit and eloquence had paid their tribute for the honour he has done them".

Now he is laid in Westminster-abbey, with a monument erected by the contribution of his friends, a piece of gratitude not usual in this age, and a respect peculiar to him among all the glories of that church. I wish they would bring in their symbols toward the history of his life. There are many which long before me had the advantage of his conversation, and could offer more judicious observations, and in a style fit to speak of Dr. Barrow.

In the epitaph, Dr. Mapletoft, his much esteemed friend, doth truly describe him. His picture was never made from the life", and the effigies on his tomb doth little resemble him. He was in person of the lesser size, and lean; of extraordinary strength, of a fair and calm complexion, a thin skin, very sensible of the cold; his eyes grey, clear, and somewhat short-sighted; his hair of a light auburn, very fine and curling. He is well represented by the figure of Marcus Brutus on his denarii; and I will transfer hither what is said of that great man.

The estate he left was books*; those he bought, so well chosen as to be sold for more than they cost; and those he made, whereof a catalogue is annexed. It were not improper to give a further account of his works than to

He had come to London on account of the election of scholars from Westminster school; and died "in mean lodgings, at a saddler's near Charing Cross, an old, low, illbuilt house, which he had used for several years." Pope.

Dr. Pope adds, that "my lord keeper, the earl of Nottingham, sent a message of condolence to his father, who had then some place under him, importing that he had but too great reason to grieve; for never father lost so good a son."

It is stated in the Biographia Britannica, that some of his friends contrived to have it taken without his knowledge, while they diverted him with such discourse as engaged his attention. The picture was painted by Mrs. Beale, and in 1747 was in the possession of James West, esq. There is another in the master's lodge, which was given by Dr. Samuel Knight in 1791.

"He left his manuscripts, I mean his written works, to Dr. Tillotson and Mr. Abraham Hill, committing it to their discretion to publish which of them they should think fit." Pope.

name them. Beside their number, variety, method, style, fulness, and usefulness, I might thence draw many proofs to confirm what I have before endeavoured to say to his advantage, and many more important reflections will be obvious. I will only say, that for his little piece, The Unity of the Church, he has better deserved of the church and religion, than many who make a greater figure in ecclesiastic history and politics.

There are beside other particulars, which are grateful to talk over among friends, not so proper perhaps to appear in a public writing. For instance, one morning going out of a friend's house before a huge and fierce mastiff was chained up, as he used to be all day, the dog flew at him; and he had that present courage to take the dog by the throat, and after much struggling bore him to the ground, and held him there, till the people could rise and part them, without any other hurt than the straining of his hands, which he felt some days after.

He seemed intemperate in the love of fruit; but it was to him physic, as well as food; and he thought, that if fruit kill hundreds in autumn, it preserves thousands. He was very free in the use of tobacco, believing it did help to regulate his thinking.

I did at first mention the uniformity and constant tenor of his life, and proceeding on, have noted several particulars of very different nature. I therefore explain myself thus; that he was always one, by his exact conformity to the rule in a virtuous and prudent conversation. He steered by the same compass to the same port, when the storms forced him to shift his sails. His fortune did in some occasions partake of the unsettledness of the times wherein he lived; and to fit himself for the several works he was to do, he enter ed upon studies of several kinds, whereby he could not totally devote himself to one which would have been more for the public benefit, according to his own opinion, that general scholars did more please themselves, but they who prosecuted particular subjects did more service to others.

Being thus engaged with variety of men and studies, his mind became stored with a wonderful plenty of words wherewith to express himself; and it happened that sometime he let slip a word not commonly used, which upon reflection he would doubtless have altered, for it was not out of affectation.

But his life were a subject requiring other kind of discourses; and as he that acts another man, doth also act himself; so he that would give an account of the excellent qualities in Dr. Barrow, would have a fair field wherein to display his own. Another Camerarius or Gassendus would make

Dr. Pope, who knew him well, describes his habits thus: "He was of a healthy constitution, used no exercise or physic, besides smoaking tobacco, in which he was not sparing, saying, it was an instar omnium, or panpharmacon. He was unmercifully cruel to a lean carcass, not allowing it sufficient meat or sleep. During the winter months, and some part of the rest, he rose always before it was light, being never without a tinder-box and other proper utensils for that purpose. I have frequently known him, after his first sleep, rise, light, and after burning out his candle, return to bed before day."

another Life of Melancthon, or Piereskius. What I am doing will not prevent them; I shall be well satisfied with my unskillfulness, if I provoke them to take the argument into better hands.*

All I have said, or can say, is far short of the idea which Dr. Barrow's friends have formed of him, and that character under which he ought to appear to them who knew him not. Beside all the defects on my part, he had in himself this disadvantage of wanting foils to augment his lustre, and low places to give eminence to his heights; such virtues as his, contentment in all conditions, candour in doubtful cases, moderation among differing parties, knowledge without ostentation, are subjects fitter for praise than narrative.

If I could hear of an accusation, that I might vindicate our friend's fame, it would take off from the flatness of my expression; or a well-managed faction, under the name of zeal, for or against the church, would show well in story; but I have no shadows to set off my piece. I have laid together a few sticks for the funeral-fire, dry bones which can make but a skeleton, till some other hand lay on the flesh and sinews, and cause them to live and move. You will encourage others by pardoning me, which I promise myself from that goodness wherewith Dr. Barrow and you have used to accept the small service with the great devotion of,

Your obedient humble servant,
ABRAHAM HILL.

London, April 10, 1683.

The ensuing anecdote of Barrow's examination preparatory to his being ordained is too instructive to be omitted; and claims admission in a Note, according to Mr. Hill's expressed desire.-"When Barrow presented himself with others for examination as a candidate for the ministry according to the established church in England-the old Prelate, whose eye had become somewhat dim, and whose natural strength, by reason of advancing years, had abated, proceeded to satisfy himself in a summary way, of candidates' qualifications, by addressing in turn to each one three test questions Commencing with the first, he asked, "Quid est fides?" to which each answered in turn. Barrow stood last, and when the Bishop addressed to him the question, "Quid est fides," he received the immediate and prompt reply-" Quod non vides." The Bishop was a scholar, although age had somewhat benumbed his energy. On receiving this answer, he raised himself in his chair, and looking whence the answer proceeded, gave vent to his satisfaction in the exclamation, "Excellente!" He then commenced his second round, interrogating each in turn, as before-" Quid est spes ?" to which Barrow as promptly replied, "Non dum res !"—" Bene, Bene, excellentius!" rejoined the gratified Bishop, and proceeded to his last question, "Quid est caritas?" From the others he received various replies, but when Barrow was addressed, he answered, "Ah magister, id est paucitas." "Excellentissime!” shouted the good old man, unable to suppress his delight, “aut Erasmus est aut diabolus!"

MEMOIR

OF

DR. BARROW.

BY JAMES HAMILTON.

Ir has been so often remarked that the life of a scholar affords no materials for biography, that the saying has at last made itself true. We have few materials for the lives of most of our philosophers, and poets, and divines. Their names and their works survive, but their history is gone. It was allowed to perish, and the world has been defrauded of instruction, in some cases superior to that which their writings convey, because it was assumed that their history could not be told, or rather that theirs was no history at all. Taking it for granted, that noisy exploits and strange adventures are the only proper materials for the biographer, no one has told us of the difficulties which the scholar encountered in his unobserved career, the means by which he overcame them, and those efforts of genius and industry, and methods of study, by which he gained his eminence of literary renown. The result is before us, and we are welcome to admire it; but the means by which that result was attained, and which to many would have been more instructive, are for ever forgotten. The office of a biographer is not to tell the same sort of things about at all sorts of men, but to record those distinctive qualities and peculiar labours which made them what they were. It is to tell, in the case of such a man as Barrow, in virtue of what powers of mind-by what process of intellectual culture-from what advantages of study and training, he was enabled to write his Sermons, and his Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy; and in consequence of what mental bias or predisposing incidents he was led to write such books, rather than a New Herbal, or a Commentary on the Laws of England. It is to tell what made. him great, and why he was a great theologian rather than a great physician or lawyer. But this is just the thing which it is very difficult for any one at this day to discover exactly, because his contemporaries considered themselves dispensed from the obligation. The notices in the Letter of Abraham Hill contain the principal facts of his external history-the schools at which he was educated, and the stations in the Church or University to which he was successively promoted. Some incidents of minuter and more characteristic significance are preserved in Dr. Pope's Life of the Bishop of SalisVOL. I.

D