God, both for his friend, that hemight
be restored to life again, and for him-
self, that he might be forgiven, for
giving countenance to such excesses.
He made a vow at the same time,
that he would never again keep.
dissolute company, nor even drink
a toast while he lived. His friend
recovered, and he most religiously
observed his vow till his dying day.
His views concerning the importance
of attending to the concerns of his
soul now became more serious. He

gave up his gay companions, and
divided his time between the duties
of religion and the studies of his
profession. The following extract
from his own diary will shew what
excellent use he made of his time.

fitable. View the evidences of thy sal vation, the state of thy soul, the coming of Christ, thine own moriality; it will make thee humble and watchful.

COMPANY.

Do good to them. Use God's name reverently. Beware of leaving an ill impression or ill example. Receive good from them if more knowing.

Thus did this great and good man spend his time in the service of God, at the same time that he was making great progress in the study of other sciences, but particularly that of the law, in which he became a greater proficient than any of his cotemporaries. "It may seem almost incredible, that one man in no great compass of years, should have acquired such a variety of knowledge; and that, in sciences which require much leisure and application. But as his parts were quick and his apprehension lively, his memory great and his judgment strong; so his industry was almost indefatigable. He rose always betimes in the morning, was neveridle, and scarcely ever held any discourse about news, except with some few in whom he confided entirely. He entered into no cor respondence by letters, except about necessary business or matters of learning; and spent very little time in eating and drinking: for as he never went to public feasts, so he gave no entertainments but to the poor: for he followed our Saviour's direction (of feasting none but these) literally and in eating and drinking he observed not only great plainness and moderation, but lived so philosophically, that he always ended his meal with an appetite: so that he lost little time at it (that being the only portion which he grudged himself), and was disposed to any exercise of his mind to which

he thought fit to apply himself, immediately after he had dined. By these means he gained much time that is otherwise unprofitably wasted."

He was remarkable for his strict observance of the Sabbath; so that for thirty years together, neither illness nor any other cause prevented him from attending divine service twice on the Lord's day. After the public service of the day was over, he did not conceive (as too many do) that the duties of the day were completed, but used to call his servants and family together, and question them concerning the sermons they had heard after which he would rehearse to them the principal heads of the discourse, and make his own improvement of them. He then would shut himself up in his study for two or three hours, which time he spent in private devotions or in profitable meditations.

what men think or say, so long as keep myself exactly according to the rule of justice."

When he had to pronounce sentence of death upon any criminals, his speeches to them to prepare for their change were so weighty, and were spoken in such an impressive manner, that many used to attend the trials merely for the sake of hearing his address to the condemned.

In the 66th year of age, he found himself so unfit for the discharge of his office of Justice of the King's Bench, that he was obliged to resign it. Till within a little time of his resignation he had enjoyed such an uninterrupted continuance of good health, as has been experienced by few who have lived to the same age: but his constitution was broken in two days by an inflammation in his midriff; and concluding that his distemper must carry him off in a short time, he was determined to have nothing more to do with the affairs of this life, "that being freed of all worldly cares, he might be preparing for his change.'

Nor was he less eminent for his public and professional than for his private character. He conducted himself with the greatest integrity in the duties of his judicial capacity, and the motives which in- "He continued still (says Bishop fluenced him to the faithful dis- Burnet) to retire often for his devocharge of his duties were founded tions and studies, and as long as be upon the only firm basis,-that of could go, went constantly to his religion. This will appear by a closet; and when his infirmities inshort extract from one of his papers, creased on him so that he was not entitled, "Things to be had in con- able to go thither himself, he made tinual remembrance." Among a his servants carry him thither in a numerous list of these are the fol-chair. At last, as the winter came lowing. "That in the administration of justice I am entrusted for God, the king, and country; and therefore that it be done, 1. Uprightly. 2. Deliberately. 3. Resolutely.-That I rest not upon my own direction and strength, but implore and rest upon the direction and strength of God.-That in the execution of justice, I carefully lay aside my own passions, and give not way to them, however provoked. That I be not biassed with compassion to the poor, or favour to the rich, in point of justice. That popular or court applause, or distaste, have no influence in any thing I do in point of distribution of justice.-Not to be solicitous about

on, he saw with great joy his deliverance approaching; for besides his being weary of the world, and his lougings for the blessedness of another state, his pains increased so on him, that no patience inferior to his could have borne them without an uneasiness of mind. Yet he expressed to the last, such submission to the will of God, and so equal a temper under them, that it was visible then what mighty effects Christianity had on him in supporting him under such a heavy load. He was attended in his sickness by Mr. Evan Griffith, minister of the parish; and it was observed, that in all the

extremities of his pain, whenever he prayed by him, he forebore all complaints or groans, and with his hands and eyes lifted up was fixed in his devotions. Not long before his death, the minister told him, there was to be a sacrament next Sunday at church, but he supposed he would not come and partake with the rest; therefore he would give it to him at his own house. But he answered, No; his heavenly Father had provided a feast for him, and he would go to his Father's house to partake of it. So he was carried thither in his chair, where he received the sacrament on his knees with great devotion."

"He continued to enjoy the free use of his reason and senses to the last moment, which he had often and earnestly prayed for during his last sickness; and when his voice was so sunk that he could not be heard, they perceived, by the almost constant lifting up of his eyes and hands, that he was still aspiring towards that blessed state of which he was now to be speedily possessed. On the 25th of December, 1676, between two and three in the afternoon, he breathed out his righteous and pious soul. His end was peace; he had no strugglings; nor seemed to be in any pangs in his last mo

ments."

"Thus lived and died the great and pious Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England; a character well deserving the imitation, not only of those of like profession with himself, but of all who wish to spend their lives to the glory of God and the good of mankind." O. M. R.

SKETCHES OF THE REFORMATION.

NO. XVI.

ARCHDEACON PHILPOT.

JOHN PHILPOT was the son of Sir P. Philpot, of Hampshire, and was educated in the New College of Oxford, where he spent six or seven years in the study of the learned lan

guages, the civil law, and other branches of knowledge. He was a man of singular courage, and great ardour of mind, open and artless in his manners, and an enemy to all dissimulation. In religion he was distin guished by his zeal, to which he united an intimate acquaintance with that supremely important subject. During the reign of king Edward VI. he was appointed Archdeacon of Winchester, and in that capacity attended the convocation which met on the accession of Mary to the throne. Here he opposed the measures which were adopted for the restoration of Popery; and for so doing, was called to account, and imprisoned for some time in the King's Bench, then in Bishop Bonner's coal-house, where his feet were fixed in stocks, and afterwards in Newgate. During his imprisonment, which continued for a considerable time, he underwent many examinations, but these principally respected the doctrine of transubstantiation and the mass; and though a detailed account of them is preserved by Fox, yet it contains little that falls in with the plan of these sketches. On one occasion Philpot observed, "As many as abide in the true faith of Christ have the spirit of God as well as 1." "How know you," he is asked," that you have the spirit of God?" By the faith of Christ which is in me." (Fox's Acts, &c. Vol. iii. p. 488.) At his last examination, the Bishop of Litchfield having observed; “your Church of Geneva, which ye call the Catholic Church, is that which Christ prophesied of, when he said, that in the latter days there should come false prophets and hypocrites," Philpot answered, "I allow the Church of Geneva, and the doctrine of the same, for it is una catholica, et apostolica, and doth follow the doctrine that the Apostle did preach: and the doctrine taught and preached in king Edward's days was also according to the same." (Ib. p. 494.)

On the 18th of December, 1555, Philpot, being then about forty-four years of age, was burnt in Smith

field, where he cheerfully encountered death for his Redeemer's sake. In the Christian Observer for April last, p. 205, will be found the sentiments which Philpot entertained on the subjects of the Catholic Church and Justification; and to that I refer the reader. These sentiments are confirmed, by the letters of this faithful martyr which have been preserved by Fox, and from which I shall now extract a few passages.

"It is not only given to us to believe, but also to confess and declare what we believe in our outward conversation, For, as St. Paul writeth to the Romans, "The belief of the heart justifieth, and to acknowledge with the mouth, maketh a man safe.' It is all one before God not to believe at all, and not to shew forth the lively works of our belief. For Christ saith, either make the tree good, and his fruits good, or else make the tree evil and the fruits evil; because a good tree bringeth forth good fruits, as an evil tree doth evil fruits.' So that the person which knoweth his master's will, and doth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. And not all they which say Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of God, but he that doth the will of his Father."

"God hath one Catholic Church dispersed throughout the world, which is grounded upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles, and upon none other, as St. Paul witnesseth to the Ephesians. Therefore wheresoever we perceive any people to worship God truly after his word, there we may be certain the Church of Christ to be, unto the which we ought to associate our selves, and to desire with David to praise God in the midst of his Church." (Fox's Acts, &c. Vol. iii. p. 499.)

"Some there be that for an extreme refuge in their evil doings do run to God's predestination and election, saying, that if I be elected of God to salvation, I shall be saved, whatsoever I do. But such be great

tempters of God, and abominable blasphemers of God's holy election, and cast themselves down from the pinnacle of the temple in presumption, that God may preserve them by his angels through predestination. Such verily may reckon themselves to be none of God's elect children, that will do evil that good may ensue, whose damnation is just, as St. Paul saith. God's predestination and election ought to be considered with a simple eye, to make us walk more warily in good and godly conversation, according to God's word, and not put all on God's back to do wickedly at large: for the elect children of God must walk in righteousness and holiness after they be once called to the true knowledge. For so saith St. Paul to the Ephesians, that God hath chosen us before the foundations of the world were laid, that we should be holy and blameless in his sight... There fore St. Peter willeth us through good works to make our vocation and election certain to ourselves ; which we know not, but by the working of God's spirit in us, according to the rule of the Gospel: and he that conformeth not himself to the same in godly conversation may justly tremble, and doubt that he is none of the elect children of God, but of the viperous generation, and a child of darkness." (Ib. p. 502.)

:

In a letter to Careless, he labours to comfort him by the following argument. "The spirit which is in you is mightier than all the adversary's power. Tempt he may, and lying await at your heels, give you a fall unawares : but overcome, he shall not: yea he cannot for you are sealed up already with a lively faith to be the child of God for ever: and whom God hath once sealed for his own him he never utterly forsaketh. The just falleth seven times, but he riseth again. It is man's frailty to fall, but it is the property of the Devil's child to lie still." (Ib. p. 502.)

The above extracts will suffici

To the Editor of the Christian Observer,

Is confirmation of what was as serted in your number for August (p. 461) by your correspondent M. R. (in discussing the meaning of 1 Cor. iv. 4. "I know nothing by myself,") respecting the use, in the northern counties, of the phrase "To know nothing by a person," I beg leave to remark that his statement is correct. Among the lower orders it is a very common mode of expression. Thus, "What sort of a man is such an one?" "I know nothing by him," that is, I know nothing against him, or to his discredit? That this meaning is the real one, I am enabled to state, from daily experience, during a constant residence in those parts.