the time he enjoy'd the Astronomy Professors Place he never miss'd one reading Day Besides this he taught the Mathematics gratis to as many of the University or Foreigners as desired that Favour of him I remember he told me that a certain German Nobleman made application to him upon that account and that when Mr. Ward was in the middle of a hard Demonstration which required the utmost Intention of Mind to understand for if by Inadvertency one Link of it is lost all the rest is to no purpose and unintelligible this Person interrupted him and said Sir you have a fine Key his Key by chance lying then upon the Table 't is so reply'd the Professor and put an End to his Lecture and would read no more to that Pupil Besides this he preach'd frequently tho' he was not obliged to it for Sir Henry Savile had exempted his Professors from all University Exercises that they might have the more leisure to mind the Employment he designed them for His Sermons were strong methodical and clear and when Occasion required pathetical and eloquent for besides his Skill in the Mathematics he was a great Lover of Tully and understood him very well In his Disputations his Arguments were always to the purpose and managed with great Art his Answers clear and full I remember I heard him oppose in the Act time a Head of a House who then did his Exercise for Doctor in Divinity the Question was concerning the Morality of the Fourth Commandment against which he urged That the same time might be Saturday Sunday and Monday or Sunday and any two other days equally distant from it for supposing two Ships to set sail from the same Port one westward according to the Motion of the Sun it will make every day longer than four and twenty Hours and consequently there must be fewer days in that Year and the other which we suppose holds its course Eastward must have the contrary Effect and consequently make more days in the same space of time Let us then suppose that these two Ships sail'd at the same time from the same place and return thither that day twelve-month it shall be to one of them Monday and to the other Saturday Or supposing two Swallows with greater Celerity to make the same Voyage both of them starting upon the same Sunday from the same place and granting one of them to gain and the other lose about half a quarter of an hour or eight minutes in four and twenty hours which they may do at their Return to the place from whence they set forth tho 't will be Sunday to those who remained there it shall be to one of these Swallows Tuesday and to the other Friday Again if the Sabbath is to be accounted from Sun-set to Sun-set as some observe it then to those who inhabit under the Poles it must be a year long for the Sun under the Northern Pole sets only in September at the Autumnal Equinox and to those under the Southern Pole it sets only in March or the Vernal Equinox To those who lie more Northward than the Arctic Circle or more Southward than the Anctartic the Sunday shall not only be several Days but Weeks and Months long And several other Arguments of this Nature To all which the Respondent vouchsafed no other Answer than this Omnia hujusmodi Argumenta sunt mere Astronomica As much as if he should have said These are all but Demonstrations and therefore I think them not worthy of an Answer Whilst he continued in that Chair besides his Public Lectures he wrote several Books one De Astronomia Eliptica one against Bullialdus one about Proportion one of Trigonometry one against Mr. Hobbs who never pardoned him for it to his dying Day as we shall have occasion to shew hereafter and one in English and a jocose stile against one Webster asserting the Usefulness of the Universities He also preach'd often at St. Maries to the Admiration of all the Auditory some of which Sermons are published in the Collection printed for Iames Collins At his first coming to Oxford he made choice of Wadham Col. to reside in invited thereto by the Fame of Dr. Wilkins Warden thereof with whom he soon contracted an intimate Acquaintance and Friendship their Humours and Studies lying the same way but Dr. Wilkins was so well known that I need not dilate in his Praise for if I should my near Relation to him might make my Character of him suspected therefore I shall say no more of him at present but that he was a Learned Man and a Lover of such he was of a Comely Aspect and Gentleman-like Behaviour he had been bred in the Court and was also a piece of a Traveller having twice seen the Prince of Auranges Court at the Hague in his Journey to and Return from Heydelburgh whither he went to wait upon the Prince Elector Palatine whose Chaplain he was in England He had nothing of Bigottry Unmannerliness or Censoriousness which then were in the Zenith amongst some of the Heads and Fellows of Colleges in Oxford For which Reason many Country Gentlemen of all Persuasions but especially those then stiled Cavaliers and Malignants for adhering to the King and the Church sent their Sons to that College that they might be under his Government I shall instance but in two eminent Sufferers for that Cause Colonel Penruddoc who was murder'd at Exeter and Judge Ienkyns who was kept a close Prisoner till the Kings Return for not owning the Parliaments usurp'd Authority these two had their Sons there I could name many more who for Dr. Wards sake left Cambridge and brought their Pupils with them and settled themselves in Wadham College as Dr. Gaspar Needham and Mr. Lawrence Rooke of whom I have much to say in its due place The Affluence of Gentlemen was so great that I may truly say of Wadham College it never since or before was in so flourishing a Condition I mean it never had so many Fellow Commoners as at that time tho it cannot be denied but that it has always had more than its proportion may it for ever flourish and encrease in Riches and Reputation this I heartily wish for the Kindness I have received from it At this time there were several Learned Men of the University and in the City who met often at the Wardens Lodgings in Wadham College and sometimes elsewhere to improve themselves by making Filosofical Experiments Some of these for I will not undertake to reckon them all up were Mr. Robert Boyle then well known but since more famous in all parts of Europe for his great Piety and Skill in Experimental Filosofy and other good Literature Mr. Matthew Wren afterwards Secretary to the Duke of York Dr. Willis Dr Goddard Warden of Merton and Professor of Fysic at Gresham College in London Dr. Wallis Dr. Bathurst Mr. Rooke c. About this time that Learned and Reverend Person Dr. Brownrig the ejected Bishop of Exeter
at Cambridge he revers'd his Censure The Reader may imagine his Fault was not great when so severe a Judge as Bishop Cousins should impose no greater Punishment upon him and take it off in so short a time I had not mention'd this his Suspension neither ought I had it not many years after made a great noise at Oxford which we shall mention in its proper place Both Dr. Cousins and Mr. Ward were not long after Fellow Sufferers in another and far greater Cause and he certainly suffer'd without any Fault then whatever he did before The Civil Wars breaking out the Effects of them were first felt by the Bishops and afterwards by the Universities Cambridge suffer'd first lying in the associated Counties and subject to the Parliaments Power Oxford which was then a Garrison and the Kings Head-quarters drank of the same bitter Cup some years after At Cambridge several Heads and Fellows of Colleges and Halls were imprisoned for refusing the Covenant some in the Town and some in St. Iohns College made a Gaol by the Parliament Forces commanded by the Earl of Manchester and amongst the rest Dr. Samuel Ward Master of Sidney College was imprisoned whither Mr. Ward accompanied him voluntarily and submitted to that Confinement that he might assist so good a Man and so great a Friend in that Extremity I have heard him say that Imprisonment seem'd at first to him very uneasie but after he had been a little time used to it he liked it well enouf and could have been contented not to have stir'd out all the days of his Life The great Inconvenience of so close a Confinement in the heighth of a hot Summer caused some of Doctor Wards Friends to mediate for his Removal at least for some Weeks which was granted and in the beginning of August the Doctor was permitted to go to his own House to which also Mr. Ward accompanied him and carefully ministred unto him Within a Months time after his Inlargement the good old Man fell into a dangerous Distemper caused by his Imprisonment whereof he died the seventh of September following in the year of our Lord 1643. Mr. Ward who never left him was with him in the last moments of his Life and closed his Eyes after having received his last Words which were these God bless the King and my Lord Hopton who then commanded a great Army in the West What befel him afterwards during his stay at Cambridge shall be the Subject of the next Chapter CHAP. IV. A Continuation of the Precedent Matter UPON the Death of Dr. Ward the Fellows assembled to chuse a new Master Mr. Ward with nine of them gave their Suffrages for Mr. Thorndike of Trinity College for Mr. Minshull there were eight Votes including his own but while they were at the Election a Band of Soldiers rusht in upon them and forcibly carried away Mr. Parsons one of those Fellows who voted for Mr. Thorndike so that the number of Suffrages for Mr. Mynshull his own being accounted for one was equal to those Mr Thorndike had Upon which Mr. Mynshull was admitted Master the other eight only protesting against it being ill advised for they should have adherd to their Votes Two of them whereof Mr. Ward was one went to Oxford and brought thence a Mandamus from the King commanding Mr. Mynshull and the Fellows of Sidney College to repair thither and give an account of their Proceedings as to that Election this Mandamus or peremtory Summons was fix'd upon the Chapel door by Mr. Linnet who was afterwards a Fellow of Trinity College but at that time attended on Mr. Thorndike On the other side one Mr. Bertie a Kinsman of the Earl of Lindsey being one of those who voted for Mr. Mynshull was also sent to Oxford in his behalf this Gentleman by the Assistance and Mediation of my Lord of Lindsey procur'd an Order from the King to confirm Mr. Mynshulls Election but he not thinking this Title sufficient did corroborate it with the Broad Seal to which Mr. Thorndike consented Mr. Mynshull paying him and the rest of the Fellows the Charges they had been at in the Management of that Affair amounting to about an hundred pound The next Spring Mr. Ward and Mr. Gibson were summoned to appear before the Committee of Visitors then sitting at Trinity College and tender'd the Covenant and other Oaths which they refused declaring themselves unsatisfied as to the Lawfulness of them Then they desired to know if the Committee had any Crime to object against them they answered they had not they declared the reason why they ask'd was that they understood some were ejected for not taking the Covenant and others for Immoralities to which they received this Answer that those were words of course put into all their Orders of Ejection Such was the Carriage of those Commissioners not only to take away the Livelyhood of those they expell'd but also their good Name and Reputation and so render them unpitied and not worthy to be relieved In the Month of August following Mr. Ward who was then absent received the news that his Ejection was voted and put into Execution Being now exil'd from Cambridge he diverted himself with Dr. Wards Relations in and about London for a season and sometimes with the Reverend Divine and Learned Mathematician Mr. William Oughtred invited thereto by his Love to those Sciences in which Mr. Oughtred had shew'd his Ability and acquir'd a great Name by publishing his Clavis Mathematicae a little Book as to the bulk but a great one as to the Contents as the understanding Reader must acknowledge Mr. Ward was so well known and of so good a reputation at Cambridge that in his Exile he wanted not places of resort and refuge He was invited by the E. of Carlile and several other Persons of high Quality with proffers of large and honourable Pensions to come and reside in their Families Nay I have heard him say that even then when he was in those straights and might have truly said Silver or Gold or Preferment I have none he was proffer'd several rich Matches but he had no inclination to Matrimony whilst he labour'd under those Circumstances At last he chose to accept the Invitation or to speak more properly to yield to the importunity of his Friend and Country-man Ralf Freeman Esquire of Aspenden in Hertfordshire in the Parish wherein he suck'd his first Milk and imbib'd his first rudiments of Vertue about five and twenty mile distant from Ladon he instructed his Sons and continued there off and on till the Year 1649. Then he was earnestly invited by my Lord Wenman of Tame-Park in Oxfordshire about ten miles distant from that City thither he went and liv'd some time with him rather as a Companion than Chaplain it being more safe for him to be near Oxford than Cambridge and as it prov'd in the event much more advantageous for this was the first visible step to his preferment He was not in
the Church with him he having a private way as I have said before thro' his Garden and the Cloysters when we were enter'd Come said he to me which think you will be the most convenient place for me to be buried in Oh my Lord said I may that day be far off Come come said he tell me your opinion for I am in earnest Whereupon we view'd several places and at last agreed upon that wherein he now lies interr'd so that it is not true of him what Horace said of a Noble Roman in his time Struis domos Immemor Sepulchri i. e. You build Palaces and are unmindful of your Grave While he was Bishop of Exeter he had made as I may call it the Notitiae of that Bishopric with no small pains and industry which he bestow'd upon his removal to Salisbury upon Bishop Sparrow his Successor which prov'd not only an ease but a light and guide to him in the management of his Affairs After he settled at Salisbury he began and in a short time finish'd such another Book for that Diocese wherein were particulariz'd all the Rectories and Vicarages in that Bishopric all the Patrons Names with their undoubted and disputable Titles as also the Names of all the Incumbents with their several qualifications as to Conformity or Nonconformity Learning or Ignorance peaceable or contentious Conversation Orthodox or Heretical Opinion good or scandalous Lives for all which he had fram'd peculiar Marks which he shew'd and explain'd to me He found by daily experience that this stood him in great stead and did him eminent service For when any Clergy-man of his Diocese came to him as soon as he heard his Name he knew his Character and could give a shrewd guess at his business and so was out of danger of being surprizd He had not been long thus employd after his arrival at Salisbury when he was seizd with a violent Looseness and a Scorbutical Atrosie for which by Dr. Sydenhams advice he betook himself to riding upon Salisbury Plains which he continued the latter part of the Summer all the Autumn and as often as the Weather permitted in Winter That he might perform this Exercise with more convenience and not neglect the Affairs of his Bishipric he borrowed a House of the Earl of Abington at Bishops-Lavington situated in a pleasant and healthful Air near the End of the Plains Northward of Salisbury and the Center of Wiltshire and so more convenient for any of that County who had business with him than Salisbury it was also about four miles distant from the Devizes a good Market-Town Hence he set out every day except Sundays if the Weather permitted nay and sometimes when it was not seasonable for we have been often caught in Storms of Rain and Snow and forcd to seek shelter on the Lee-side of the next Hay-Rick we could gallop to We us'd to ride ten miles forwards or tantamount by our Watches before we returnd and after Dinner we repeated the same or the like Journey The Bishop continued this Exercise till upon account he had travelld more than three thousand miles The longer he rid the stronger he grew so that he did not only tire me but even the Grooms and Servants who usd to attend him that he has sometimes been forcd to content himself with the Company of one of his meanest Servants This Exercise set him right and I may truly say it was the only time that ever any Fysicians Recipe did him good yet he was a great lover of them and their Prescriptions and very Liberal I may say Prodigal in his Fees to them He also delighted much in Fysic Books which wrought the Effect upon him which they usually do upon Hypocondriacal Persons that is made him fancy that he had those Diseases which he there found describd and accordingly take Remedies for them He would take Pills and Potions when he had no need of them from which not only I endeavourd to divert him telling him 't was spending the Ammunition before the Town was besiegd but even Mr. Eyres his Apothecary a very honest and skilful Person who died Mayor of Salisbury has joynd with me in that request even against his own Interest To keep his Diocese in Conformity he took great care to settle able Ministers in the great Market and Borough Towns as Reading Abingdon Newbery the Devizes Warminster c. and because they are for the most part Vicarages of small value as Prebends in the Church fell void he bestowd them on the Ministers of these Towns He also us'd his endeavour to suppress Conventicles which so angerd that Party that in the Year 1669. they forgd a Petition against him under the Hands of some chief Clothiers pretending that they were Molested and their Trade ruind and that some of them imployd a Thousand Men others eight Hundred and that this Persecution took away the Livelihood of eight Thousand Men Women and Children But it was made appear at the Council-Table that this Petition was a notorious Libel and that none of those there mentiond to be Persecuted and Ruind were so much as Summond into the Ecclesiastical Court as also that many whose Names were subscribd to that Petition knew nothing of it So that instead of lessening the Bishops Favour with the King they augmented it Let this be said once for all he was no Violent Man nor of a Persecuting Spirit as these Petitioners represented him but if at any time he was more active than ordinary against the Dissenters it was by express Command from the Court sometimes by Letters and sometimes given in Charges by the Judges of the Assizes which Councils alterd frequently now in favour of the Dissenters and then again in opposition to them as it is well known to those who livd then and had the least insight into public Affairs 'T is true he was for the Act against Conventicles and labour'd much to get it pass not without the Order and Direction of the greatest Authority both Civil and Ecclesiastical not out of Enmity to the Dissenters Persons as they unjustly suggested but of Love to the repose and welfare of the Government for he believd if the growth of them were not timely suppressed it would either cause a necessity of a standing Army to preserve the Peace or a general Toleration which would end in Popery whether all things then had an apparent tendancy That Act had this Effect it shewd the Dissenters were not so numerous and considerable as they gave themselves out to be designing thereby to make the Government believe it was impracticable to quell them for where this Act was duely executed it put an end to their Meetings as it was evident in his Diocese for in Salisbury there was not one Conventicle left and but a few in the skirts of Wiltshire bordering upon Somerset-shire where for want of a settled Militia by reason of the non-age of the Duke of Somerset the Lord-Lieutenant of that County