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A47332
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The life of the Reverend Anthony Horneck, D.D., late preacher at the Savoy by Richard Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells.
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Kidder, Richard, 1633-1703.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing K407; ESTC R31552
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23,210
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63
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many were his constant Auditors some of the highest Rank and Quality and a very great number of very devout and pious Persons A vast Crowd there was that followed him and such a collection of most devout and conformable Persons as were hardly to be found elsewhere it was no easie matter to get through the Crowd to the Pulpit He administred the Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every Month and preached a Preparation Sermon on the Friday preceding He did it also on the great Festivals He administred it twice on a day in the Morning at eight a Clock and at the usual time after the Morning Sermon The number of the Communicants held a great proportion to that of his Auditors and their Devotion was very exemplary The number was so great at both times that it will hardly be believed by those Clergymen who have been confined to the Country and have seen the small number of those who attend upon this holy Service So great was the number that there was need of great help of Clergymen to assist in the delivering of the Bread and Wine and with such assistance it was very late before the Congregation could be dismissed I will add that I do not remember that I did ever behold so great numbers and so great signs of Devotion and a due sense and profound reverence becoming this great act of divine Worship in my whole life The Doctor took indefatigable pains on those occasions but he was encouraged to do so from the great success his Labours met withal He was not only very diligent in Preaching and Administring the Holy Sacrament but in all other parts of his Duty He took great pains in Catechising and instructing the Youth in visiting the sick and directing and satisfying the doubtfull and scrupulous and encouraging all good beginnings and promoting worthy designs and provoking those he conversed with to love and good works He took great pains also in his own Family He spent very much time with his Family in constant Prayers Morning and Night in Reading the Holy Scriptures Singing of Psalms in holy Conferences and all the Duties incumbent upon him as the Master of a Family No Weariness no weighty Business abroad excused him from the discharge of these Duties Nor did he perform them slightly and perfunctorily but spent very much time in them he was very assiduous very earnest and vehement and shewed a very great concern and ardor therein He would rise early in a Morning to these Exercises and not spare his pains even after the very great and wearisom labours of the day Nor did he forbear his Studies and Closet-Devotions He spent much time there It appears by a Diary found since his Death and which he kept for a long time that he called himself to an account every Night for the Words and Actions and Conversation of the Day past and perhaps few men living were more strict and severe than he was in this matter It he had done any good that day he gave God the praise of it before he slept And few men that lived passed sewer days if he passed any such without doing good But when any Words or Thoughts escaped which he judged to have wanted due care he animadverted upon himself in a severe manner before he went to rest He was one of the kindest men to others that ever lived and one of the severest to himself He needed no Confessor to call him to account or to enjoyn him any Penance He did not spare revenge upon himself who could most easily forgive his Enemies and wanted no compassion for the greatest Criminals He kept a continual watch over his own Soul and strictly watched over its actings and tendencies and was therefore very sit to watch over those who were committed to his Charge Besides the constant care that was upon him from his Parish his Family his Closet and Studies he imployed himself in doing good to those who were more remote He encouraged Piety where-ever he came and particularly in the younger sort He had the care of several Societies of Young Men whom he directed and encouraged And because this matter hath been mis-understood and that to my certain knowledge there was an attempt since this Revolution to blacken the Doctor on this account I shall represent the matter just as it was Certain it is that there were some Societies of religious and devour Young Men under the Doctor 's Government and Inspection But whether the Doctor did move these Young Men at first to enter into such Societies or whether they first applied to him and he only gave them Rules to govern themselves by I am not able to determine Thus much is certain that he gave them Rules and they were these that follow 1. That all that entered into such a Society should resolve upon an holy and serious Life II. That no person shall be admitted into this Society till he arrive at the age of Sixteen and hath been first confirmed by the Bishop and solemnly taken on himself his Baptismal Vow III. That they chuse a Minister of the Church of England to direct them IV. That they shall not be allowed in their meetings to discourse of any controverted point of Divinity V. Neither shall they discourse of the Government of Church or State VI. That in their meetings they use no Prayers but those of the Church such as the Litany and Collects and other prescribed Prayers but still they shall not use any that peculiarly belongs to the Minister as the Absolution VII That the Minister whom they chuse shall direct what practical Divinity shall be read at these meetings VIII That they may have liberty after Prayer and Reading to sing a Psalm IX That after all is done if there be time left they may discourse each other about their spiritual concerns but this shall not be a standing Exercise which any shall be obliged to attend unto X. That one day in the Week be appointed for this meeting for such as cannot come on the Lords Day and that he that absents himself without cause shall pay three Pence to the Box. XI Every time they meet every one shall give six Pence to the Box. XII That on a certain day in the year viz. Whitsun-Tuesday two Stewards shall be chosen and a moderate Dinner provided and a Sermon preached and the Money distributed necessary Charges deducted to the Poor XIII A Book shall be bought in which these Orders shall be written XIV None shall be admitted into this Society without the consent of the Minister who presides over it and no Apprentice shall be capable of being chosen XV. That if any Case of Conscience arise it shall be brought before the Minister XVI If any Member think fit to leave the Society he shall pay five Skillings to the Stock XVII The major part of the Society to conclude the rest XVIII The following Rules are more especially to be commended to the Members of this Society
frequently did if he were not in great pain all the answer that I could get from him was that the pain he felt was tolerable There was nothing wanting that could be thought of towards giving him ease The ablest Physicians were consulted and they consulted and advised upon his case and attended him with great diligence and tenderness but without success On Sunday Morning January 31st he was worse than ever he had been insomuch that those about him thought him dying about eleven in the Morning I was then at Westminster-Abbey and was sent for out of the Church to pray with him I found him very sensible I asked him if he were sensible that he was dying he replied that he was I asked him if he were also resigned and willing to die he replied very readily that he was willing to die I asked him if he had considered the words Heb. II. 14 15 and whether or not he found himself delivered from all the slavish fear of death he replied very quick looking up to Heaven that he was delivered from that fear He was in an excellent frame and joyned with the Prayers which the Church appoints on such occasions with great expressions of Devotion Sometime after this I found him delirous and not long after speechless After some few hours Groans he expired viz. at Eight a Clock that Evening being then about the 56th year of his Age * Before this last Iâ—huss of which he died he fell in the year 1678 into along and languishing Sickness occasâ—â—ed through his indefatigable Application to the Duties and Funllions of his Ministry It brought him well nigh to his Grave The good Man ascribed his Recovery under God to the tender Care of his veritutus Wife with whom he always liv'd in great Cournâ—ed and Union and to the Prayers of pious People put up to Heaven on his behalf as appears from some devent Meditations which the compos'd on that Subject and which have been found since his De. case among his Papers In Thanksgiving to God for his Preservation at that time which he himself look'd on as next to miratulous he kept a Day Monthly in his Family ever after and preach'd yearly a Commemoration Sermon to his beloved Congregation at the Savoy wherein he rehearsed God's Mercies to him and excited others to â—epâ— and trust in him in the like Extremities He also distribute a laâ—gâ—ly to the Peer upon that Day This was his constant Method to treasure up God's Previdences to him and to sanctifie and improve them 〈◊〉 only to his own Use but to the Use and Benefit of others His Body was opened and it appeared quickly what was the cause of his Death Both his Ureters were stopped One of them was stopped as a Bottle with a Cork with a Stone that entered the top of the Ureter with a sharp end the upper part of which was thick and much too big to enter any farther The other was stopped also with Stones of much less firmness and consistence than the other His Body was interred on Feb. 4. in the Abbey Church of Westminster with great Solemnity and a vast number of Attendants Several of the Lords the Bishops very many of the most eminent Clergy about the City and an incredible number of other Persons were present on that occasion And it must be said that the Church of Westminster shewed the great kindness they had for him by the great care they took of his very decent and solemn Interment Before I proceed any farther I shall reflect upon his undaunted Courage when Death look'd him in the face 'T is certain that there were a great many considerations that might have disposed him to desire a longer life at that time I well knew his circumstances and those of his Family and how desirable his life was upon many accounts But yet this pious man was not only willing to die but was entirely delivered from the fear of it and did with great chearfulness and alacrity receive the tidings and sentence of Death St. Hierom * Hieron vit Hilarion tells that Hilarion just when he was expiring spake these words Egredere quid times Egredere anima mea quid dubitas Septuaginta propè annis servisti Christo mortem times i. e. Go out O my Soul why dost thou fear Why dost thou doubt Thou hast served Christ near seventy years and art thou afraid to dye There was it seems some fear and some doubt in Hilarion This Servant of God was by his Grace delivered intirely from all such fear or doubt I say by the Grace of God he was delivered and special Grace it was Very good Persons when they come to die have their doubts and their great sears too It is an easie thing to discourse wisely and Philosophically of the Contempt of Death but they which do so have not the same Presence of Mind when Death looks them in the face We have a famous story to this purpose concerning the Father of Clinias who was wont to despise Death in his Health and was in great dread of it when it drew near to him as Plato relates it * Platon Axiochus It must be confessed that this good Man had taken the right course to be freed from the fear of Death by leading a very painfull and laborious a very usefull and charitable a very devout and pious Life His Life was very painfull and laborious Few men ever took the Pains which he did He was mortified to all worldly Pleasures and sensual Satisfactions and used himself to great Labours and most exemplary Diligence There is nothing renders us more afraid to die than a soft and voluptuous Life Oh Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth in rest in his possessions Ecclus XLI 1. We have an example of this in Agag He came delicately and was pinguissimus tremens * Vulg. lat in locum i.e. very fat and trembling and no wonder then that he should complain of the bitterness of death For so certainly he does however our Interpreters come to render his words Death must be bitter where voluptuousness makes life sweet His Life was also very usefull and very charitable Multitudes they were that received relief and advantage by him And there is a particular promise to such men that God will strengthen them upon the bed of languishing and make their bed in their sickness Psal XLI 3. Our Saviour wou'd have his followers pray that their flight might not be in the Winter or on the Sabbath One of the Fathers †Theophylact on Matth. 84. accommodates the words to my present purpose Happy is that man that does not when he leaves this World lead an unfruitfull life nor yet an idle one The Winter is the barren time of the year and the Sabbath was a time not of Labour but of Rest His Life was also very devour and pious of which more afterward I mention only in this place