but my Dear Wife's Pains and Trouble I told her we had now continued this Custom a great while and that I thought it too burthensome to her a Dinner signified not much to the Rich and for the Poor I would take Care they should be no losers She at present seem'd well pleased with what I said and acquiesced in it But upon second Thoughts she said My Dear I thank thee for thy Tenderness to me to prevent my Trouble but I am rather willing to undergo it were it greater than to discontinue a Practice so long used constantly and thereby occasion any mis-interpretation as if it proceeded from Parsimony or abatement of Kindness therefore I intreat thee let us continue to doe as we have hitherto done Yearly only let us try to have all in two Days we used to have in three and if our House will not contain them all at twice to some of the poorest I will send double as much as they could have eaten here And so it was agreed and performed and so her last Christmass was as kind and Charitable as those of former Years SECT XXII Of the Marriage of our onely Daughter and her Death in Childbirth the same Year yet leaving a Son IT is not to be wondred at that she should write so many Pages of this Come-Tragedy as I called another Providence mentioned before a Trage-Comedy whose Pious Kindness was so mindful in Holy Prayers and Praises not of her self alone but of her Honoured Friends I shall touch but one or two for Instance and I cannot single out any more suitable than of those Right Honourable Ladies whose sweet Condescension not only vouchsafed to give this our Dear Daughter frequently their kindest and familiar Conversation but borrowed and desired hers almost whole Summers divers Years Concerning these young Ladies thus her Pen speaks The Lady Ann the Lady Mary and the Lady Essex Rich had a Pious Education under â—he tender Care of the Right Honourable the Countess of Warwick their Aunt whose great Care of them and Kindness and Love to them supplied and over-shot the measures of what could be expressed to them by the tenderest Mother Of two of their Marriages she writes thus December the 11th 1673. The Vertuous and Right Honourable the Lady Mary Rich was Married to Mr. Henry St. John the Eldest Son of Sir Walter St. John a Pious good Family and an ancient Barronet and great Estate Blessed Lord thou hast abundantly enriched them with the Blessings of the Nether Springs full streams in the good things of this Life let it not be their all but turn these Waters into Wine give them the Blessings of the Vpper Springs the plentifull Effusions of thy Spirit flowing into their Hearts and Souls that they may build up each other in their most Holy Faith as Heirs together of the Grace of Life June 16. 1674. The Honourable Lady Essex Rich was Married to Mr. Daniel Finch Eldest Son to his Father then Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England Good Lord give them the Blessings of thy Right-hand and continue to them the Blessings of thy Left-hand also But let not their Portion be only in this Life let thine own Prerogative have the Supremacy in their Hearts and accelerate and quicken them to thy Service that Glorifying thee on Earth they may be in Everlasting Glory with thee in Heaven Amen Amen I will mention no more like Instances and humbly beg Pardon if I have been too bold in touching these I now come to the Title of this Section and shall add nothing of my own only transcribe and that with Abbreviation what her Pious Pen hath left me not that one Word need to be retrenched upon other accounts but only to avoid Prolixity January 17. 1675. My Dear Husband and my Dear Child Margaret Walker went to London in reference to our great Concern her Marriage our onely one so dear to us She was Married February the 1st 1675. to Mr. John Cox Barrister of Grays-Inn His Father lived at Coggshall his Relations very honest good People and very well to live in the World God hath graciously provided for her a loving Husband a sober Person and I hope a good Man God consummated their Choice by Mr. Gifford a worthy good Man Minister of St. Dunstan's in the East in London whither she was accompanied by the Right Honourable the Countess of Warwick with the chief of the Family from Warwick-House and with many other manifestations of Kindness God shined upon her and in all respects gave her a comfortable Day I draw the Curtain of a modest c. over the rest lest the Thankfulness of her who was so truly humble should incurr the unkind censure or suspicion of Vanity and concluding what I have omitted with these Words And with many other Favours God hath honoured them She proceeds Lord I desire to own thy Goodness as the Fountain Head from whence flows all Good to be enjoyed in the things of this Life and concerns of a better and more endurable Estate for their Souls advantage For which I beseech thee give them a capacious Heart to know love serve and enjoy thy self and vouchsafe them of the good things of this World what thou seest convenient for them and help them to be contented to be without what in mercy thou deniest them Good Lord keep both them and theirs inoffensive in this World and when they shall go hence and be no more in this Life Lord grant that where thou art they may be also in Eternal Glory Amen Amen Thus far the pleasant and more lightsome part Now follows what 's more dark and dolefull I have now a very smarty afflictive Dispensation from God to record very pressing by his afflictive Hand on us I acknowledge very deservedly for my Sins the Lord hath taken from us out of this Life our onely One the most dearly Beloved Daughter and Child of my choice Aâ—fections Mrs. Margaret Cox she was mâ—â—ried February the first 1675. The 19th 〈◊〉 November following she was Delivered of a Son Lord's Day seven a Clock in the Morning She continued pretty well two or three Days Tuesday following sickned of a Fever and dyed December the 5th 1675. But God in the midst of his just Judgments remembred his Mercy to us hath spared the little one to us Blessed be God for it and received the Motherless Babe into Covenant with himself by Baptism I Bless God he is the Son of good Parents his Father a very sober and a good Man his dear deceased Mother was a fine lovely handsome well accomplished Woman both in Nature and Grace to God's Praise I do make my Acknowledgments let it have no other Censure She was of a quick Apprehension modest humble discreet and of a good Judgment and well fitted for Family-Government and Imployment She had a sweet amicable Deportment and gracefull Behaviour these Endowments through God's Kindness to her rendred her very desirable to all that knew
away then Good Madam in endless Joy you shall meet again dear Lady Essex never to part but shall be for ever with her the rest of the blessed Saints and Angels and all in an indissolvable union with God and Christ in eternal Glory Amen Amen Good Madam It is the Prayer of your singular good Ladiship 's Obedient Servant Elizabeth Walker I beseech you Good Madam excuse the trouble of a long Letter Another Consolatory Letter written to a good Christian Friend under Trouble Good Friend I Have had troublesome solicitous thoughts of what I did not well understand at parting when I last saw you therefore I desire to be farther informed how it is like to be with you But however it may be in this present Life when it concludes it shall be well your comfort is It will be well with the Righteous of which number you are assuredly One of those exercised with God's discriminating Character of Adoption and Sonship Affliction 's his preparatory work upon his People to fit them for a better Estate that should encourage because it will compensate and reward God's Faithfull Ones for all their sufferings for his sake with an eternal weight of Glory which if their Enemies well understood they would in pure Enmity be less injurious to them As to this World if the Death of God's Saints be pretious to him so are their Sufferings considerable though he bear with his and their Enemies for a time Fellow-Creatures through Fear or Cowardise may forsake and desert but God will not You know whose Case it was but he had the strongest Party on his side the Lord stood by him he will not forsake his own Inheritance but his Truth shall be their Shield and Buckler so tender is he of them he would not have their Thoughts disturbed with anxious Sollicitousness And that his People should be continually dependant on himself he sets no Period but promises a continual supply of Grace giving in that Hour that which will make them Justifiable before their Adversaries which they shall not be able to gain-say with the verdict of Truth The Lord fortifie his People for any Tryal he sees fit to call them to that I may be one of those found Faithfull Dear Sir I beg your Prayers for me who am your truly Loving and Affectionate Friend Elizabeth Walker Sept. 24. 83. Part of two Letters written to a young Minister who had lived several Years in my House and was well preferred from thence to stir him up to Faithfulness in his Ministry and may be usefull to other such It may not be unseasonable or unusefull here to take notice what singular Care she would take of the young Scholars which came to live in my Family who though when they were first received bringing more Learning than Religion from the University for sometime would seem a little uneasie and be rather shy of her and undervalue her pious and strict Example and weighty serious Counsels for their Morals and God's Service yet after a while had a very great Respect for her and loved and honoured her as if she had been their Mother I own it as a great Mercy it was so with them all who staid any time with us but shall instance only in the last who though at first seemed to be possessed with a greater prejudice yea averseness than his Predecessors yet before one Year was out was more than convinced of his Errour and daily increased in his value of her and deference he paid her and when towards the end of the third Year his Consumption prevailed so as to threaten his Life and she declaring her concern for him and how much she was troubled he should come to die with us He with a very Pathetick Gratitude cried out O blessed be God that I ever knew this Family I know I must die somewhere and if God would give me my Choice I had rather die here than in any place in all the World I will not presume to commend her Conduct towards such young men from any thing but the good Success and for the sake of that I 'll briefly touch it Her Method was not to be always harping on the same String not to be constantly pressing them with an affected tyring Importunity which like the falls of Nilus rather makes Men Deaf than open their Ears to Discipline her Rules were short but her Example long her Advices few but Wise and Home her Reproofs fewer but Seasonable and Grave but the Copy of an holy diligent serious Conversation was never wanting A small number of wholesome Counsels well exemplified prevails more than a long Series of starched and studied Aphorisms confuted by his Life whose Head conceived them and Mouth dictated them She rarely spake to them directly and in the second Person and never but when the occasion was fair and the necessity urgent frequently what concerns them as of a third Person and it is observable that many times a glancing Blow and a Side-Wind cuts deeper and fills the Sails better than a downright Stroke or a Wind directly in the Stern I remember some of her Prudent Rules but because there are so very few to be assisted by them and it is possible none into whose Hands these Papers may fall they would but vanish into idle Speculations with which I will not trouble my unconcerned Reader And she was not only kind and carefull of their good whilst in our House but continued her Prayers for them and good Counsel to them when removed from us witness the following Letters Good Mr. Ph. I Do assure you my Affections have not been froze though my Ink hath this cold Season which may help make an Apology for a bad Scribe but I now return you my acknowledgments for your kind Letter I have received Good Mr. Ph. I heartily desire to approve my self your true Friend and would not be wanting in any thing you may expect from me whenever opportunity may afford the Tryal Especially I shall endeavour you may not meet with disappointment in that you set so great an estimate and value on my poor Prayers Oh that they were more worth that not only you but with my self the Church and People of God might have some Benefit by God's Assistance and Acceptance of my small Mite which I would as my All cast into that great Stock and Bank committed to the sure Hand and Improvement of our Great Factor and Mediator Jesus Christ who affords great Returns to which Intercourse is given more than his People can ask or think therefore my good Friend afford me your Remembrance at the Throne of Grace at which be frequent and fervent but I need not excite you to so advantageous a Duty by which you may obtain so much for your self and others The pressing Necessities of the Church of God at home and abroad cry aloud for Intercessors to prevent the Judgments we have cause to fear and may justly feel Oh! be one of those who meet
Lady Essex Specot pag. 234 to pag. 246 Another Consolatory Letter written to a good Christian Friend under Trouble pag. 246 An account of the Care she took of young Scholars which came to live in my Family pag. 247. As it should be though mis-printed pag. 227. Two Letters in part which she wrote to one of them to stir him up to Faithfulness in his Ministry pag. 250 A good Letter to a Country Farmer who Married her Kinswoman which I hope may be usefull to all my plain Parishioners pag. 258 A very large but excellent Letter writ to her dear Grand-Child about two Months before she died which I hope may be very usefull to young Gentlemen of the like Age. pag. 270 The Conclusion pag. 296 It is not needfull to run over the whole to amend the Mis-printings which are not many nor great Prayers for Praises Amnestry for Amnesty revenerable for venerable Glassock for Glascock pag. 258. and a few like are all I remember and some Mis-pointings THE HOLY LIFE OF Mrs Elizabeth Walker The INTRODUCTION I Am not so short sighted as not to foresee the Censures I may expose my self to by this Undertaking especially if it fall into the Hands of such as are prone to make sinister Interpretations of other Mens Actions and receive with the left hand what is most innocently offered with the right Yet considering it would be very ill becoming that endeared Affection I always bore to her living and owe to her precious memory now God hath bereaved me of her to baulk a Duty and neglect an Office which may be as usefull to others as kind to her upon such fears I shall freely run that hazard to perpetuate her Memory with just Honour and deserved Praise but principally to glorifie God for that abundant Grace vouchsafed to her and to carry on that Work her Heart was so intensly set upon that is the promoting God's Interest in the World and the good of Souls That the Bushel of unkind silence and sudden forgetfulness may not be whelmed over so burning and shining a Light whose Heat and Lustre may warm and enlighten others though set upon so low a Candlestick as my hasty Pen must place it on I willingly wave an obvious Preface of the usefulness and efficacy of good Examples to enlarge on which it may elsewhere appear I am not wholly unfurnished because I design the concisest brevity and for the same reason I shall pass by what concerned her in all other regards but those the Title Page suggests or touch them no farther than seems necessary for decency and order's sake to introduce what I mainly and indeed solely design in this Essay that those who read it may more fully know of whom these things are spoken To effect which I shall begin with an Account of her Parentage and Birth left under her own hand SECT I. Of her Birth and Parentage BEfore the Transcribing of which I shall premise thus much concerning her Papers from which I am chiefly furnished for this work I sometimes coming into her Chamber when she was Writing she would slide her Book or Papers into the Drawer of the Table on which she wrote and this having happened several times she one day on the like occasion bespake me thus My Dear let me beg one promise from thee Which when I had assented to having demanded what it was she replied That I would never look into the Books and Papers in that Drawer so long as she lived So tender was she rather to improve her time well than to have it known even to my self how well she spent it Which promise as she fully acquiesced in was on my part most faithfully made good Since her Death amongst her many most usefull excellent and pious Writings I found a large Book in Octavo of the best Paper she could buy neatly bound gilded and ruled with red provided for the use to which she so well imployed it On the second Page of which I find thus written Elizabeth Walker her Book all writ with my own hand though the Character doth vary I striving to write a little deeper my sight growing weaker I say there is not one Syllable which I have not writ with my own hand In this Book from the beginning at one end in about two third parts of it are written many excellent Instructions and religious Directions for the use of her two Daughters who were then living to teach them how to serve God acceptably and promote the Salvation of their Souls Which I shall have occasion oft to refer to and to transcribe many Passages out of it in the sequel The other End bears this Title Some Memorials of God's Providences to my Husband Self and Children Then she begins thus My Husband was born c. and so gives a very exact Account of my Parentage Family Education and many signal Mercies and Diliverances vouchsafed me before she knew me of which she had informed her self at several times by enquiries of me and Discourses with me I suppose to inform our Children after us That the Generation to come might know them even the Children which should be born who should arise and declare them to their Children That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his Commandments As the Psalmist speaks Psal lxxviij 6 7. And after every one of them testifies the sense of a very pious gratefull Mind in such Expressions as these Blessed be God for his Mercy to him then and in his farther goodness to me therein for which mercifull Providence I bless God Blessed be God that upheld him in it and delivered him from it c. I can scarce obtain of my self to add more on this Head yet begging the Candour of the Christian Reader I will venture to subjoin the last Passage which in this Paragraph concerns my self because it savours no less of pious Gratitude to God than most endearing kindness toward me When he was ready to commence Master of Arts good Bishop Brownrigg commended him to worthy Doctor Gauden to teach Mrs. Mary Lukenor Dr. Gauden's Wife's Daughter who was afterward the Wife of my Lord Townsend and died Childless After Three Years spent in that Imployment and assisting Dr. Gauden in the Ministry at Bocken my Dear came to be Houshold Chaplain to the good and noble Right Honourable Robert Earl of Warwick at Leez where he received many Mercies the chief to be esteemed the Crown God was pleased to give to his Ministry in the Conversion of the then Lady Mary Rich since the Right Honourable Countess of Warwick A most incomparable Woman in all Ornaments of Nature and Grace and his most sincere and entire Friend whom I beseech God in his infinite Goodness to preserve and crown with all his Mercies Excuse the pathos of a gratefull Mind which cannot refrain crying out concerning these two holy Women Never Man had better Friend than the one or better Wife than the
which unavoidably attend the increased numbers in an House yet was chearfully content when Charity opened the Door made the Fire and the Bed As in the Case of Dr. Tongue whom we entertained so many Months and Monsieur Barnaby Gennays who was sent to me but for four Weeks and left to my sole Charge five Pounds only allowed towards his admitting into St. John's Colledge in Cambridge for six whole Years two in my Family to be Cloathed Fed and Taught till fitted for the University and four there till he had his Degree of Batchellor and yet she never repined or grudged the Cost yea took daily Pains to hear him read English and teach him to pronounce it right I 'll touch no more Instances lest I be suspected to borrow my own Praise under the disguise of paying hers only adding the last which is not liable to that suspition because it rather tends as much to my own Reproach as to her Honour My Curate dying in my Family of a Consumption and other Infirmities September last which had occasioned to us both much Charge and Trouble and who had been attended with as kind Diligence and Care as if he had been our own Child After some little time I told her that I would forbear taking a young Man at least for the present into the Family because the publick Charges were so great and I thanked God I was able to perform my Work my self to whch she presently replied Nay My Dear whatever thou sparest in spare it not in that Thou never keptest them for thy own Ease but for their Benefit to train them up to be fit for God's Service and usefull in the Church and seeing they have all proved so well and been so well preferred and provided for and so approved of in their Ministry continue to do as thou hast done so successfully so many Years there is as much need still as ever of so assisting Young-Men and let not that Practice cease the reason of which is not ceased I yielded took her wise and honest Advice and wrote immediately to a worthy Friend in Cambridge who provided me one whose Character answered my Desires But his Mind altered since my Wife's Death by prospect of Preferment in the Colledge and I wish he may never have cause to repent it by being worse disposed of And if so mean and so obscure a Person as my self may have leave to speak out and declare my Sentiments in this Affair without imputation of Vanity or Offence to my Betters if every Minister of my Ability not to say of double to mine would please to take a poor Schollar into his House as soon as they have commenced Batchellors in Arts and then are forced to leave the Colledge very raw because they can no longer have subsistence as Sizers and would lend or give them Books direct them in the reading them and assist and inspect their Studies to say no more there would not so many young Students be at loss for Maintenance and be forced so Callow and Pin-feather'd I borrow that Expression from my Dear which she was often heard by others as well as by my self to use and like young Partridges to run with the Shell upon their Heads and to get Bread be constrained to undertake the teaching others what themselves have so imperfectly learned But to return to what was properly and purely her own the acts of her Charity were more than the kinds and both as many as she met with Objects that wanted it both in giving and forgiving and both proportioned to the Necessities of those who needed that before her Rent-day came she was often near or quite exhausted and would pleasantly tell me Thou must expect no hoard of Money when I am Dead for I am almost Bankrupt Then I would tell her I would supply or if she would advance some part before-hand which I never remember she accepted more than once three Pounds She used as soon as she had taken her Allowance to separate nine Shillings six pence out of it into her poor Man's Box to be ready for smaller common Charities But though this was her first Quota this was far from being all for I find twenty six Pound three Shillings Four-pence set down in two Years given away besides what she might forget or omit though some small part I confess was rather Courtesie than strictly Charity as given to Friends Servants or the like And she would give liberal Summs I find twice five Pounds ten Shillings given to the French Protestants for whom she had a great Compassion one year after another and I have been informed by an Honourable Lady that she left five Guineys at a time with her for their Relief but it may be these might be the same and I would not make it more than it was in Truth She also gave twenty Shillings a time to the Briefs for both French and Irish Sufferers and other Guineys at a time I find set down in her Paper and know of by other means Also ten Shillings five Shillings and very oft Half-Crowns I find also twenty Shillings in a Year given at Tunbridge-Wells which she distributed to the Poor in smaller Pieces Shillings Six-pences and Farthings besides the Books she gave But besides what she gave in Money she both bought good Cloth to cloath poor Women and Children the day but one before she sickned she enquired of the Taylor what poor Children he had made the last Cloaths for that she might order the rest which then remained in the House to some other And a little before she bought that whole Piece of Cloth from London she caused Wool to be spun and strong Linsy-Woolsy to be made to supply many poor Childrens wants and she was as carefull of their Bellies as their Backs to feed the one as warm the other as wants no Proof nor Instance She used also to buy Primmers Psalters Testaments Bibles to give away and other good Books Crook's Guide especially to give to poor Children and Families She much delighted and abounded in that kind of Charity giving usefull Books and before she was prevented by settling a School to teach all the Poor that not a Boy or Girl in all the Parish but may be taught to read perfectly unless it be their own or Parents fault she used to pay for the Schooling of poor Children And being put together it amounted to a pretty considerable Summ what she yearly gave to poor Women when with-Child not only old Linnen but a good new Blanket every Lying-in which was so customary and constant that it was almost claimable as a due Debt and not only the Parish poor Women but some Borderers have been Partakers of it And I have been told already by one in that condition Now her Mistress is dead she must come to me so unwilling they are to let so known a Custom dye with her with which freedom as I was not offended so I discourage not others from making
THE Vertuous Wife OR THE HOLY LIFE OF Mrs. ELIZABTH WALKER Late Wife of A. Walker D. D. sometime Rector of Fyfield in Essex Giving a modest and short Account of her Exemplary PIETY and CHARITY Published for the Glory of God and provoking others to the like Graces and Vertues With some useful PAPERS and LETTERS writ by her on several Occasions London Printed for N. R. and sold by J. Robinson A. and J. Churchill J. Taylor and J. Wyat. 1694. To the Honoured Friends of my late Dear Wife for whose sake chiefly these things are Written Much honoured Christian Friends THough when I first set upon this Work I design'd to thrust it forth into the World without any Address farther than the short Introduction with which I began it yet when I had finished it I judged it not amiss to premise these few things following partly by way of Advertisement partly by way of Apology First by way of Advertisement 1. That all I relate as hers as written or spoken or done by her were exactly hers not feigned or pretended to be so I have not writ her Life as the Roman Historians did the Lives of their Great Men and Heroes made Speeches for them and put Words into their Mouths rather fit to be spoken by Men of their Figure and Character than really spoken by them But all that 's Comma'd in the Margin is transcribed verbatim from her Writings which I have shew'd to many Witnesses and am ready to shew to any Friend who shall desire it And what is related as spoken is her Words as near as my Memory could retain them at so many Years distance always the true sense and substance of what she spake and which was oft heard by many besides my self 2. The things she wrote she could not have the least prospect they should ever see the publick light and therefore did not dress them up to appear with the best advantage she could have given them 3. That she was a plain private Woman and conversed only with obscure Persons of low Degree not to say as contemptible as our selves unless it were now and then a day or two in a Year some Persons of Honour might vouchsafe her their Conversation and therefore just Allowances are to be made and too raised an Expectation ought not to be brought to the Perusal of what is offered if it be usefull to Persons of her Level it may suffice and others ought to exceed her as much in their Improvements as they do in their Advantages to be improved and their Opinions of themselves above her 4. Though some Phrases occur in her Papers or Letters more than once and may seem Tautologies now they are put so close together into one piece yet had not the least shaddow of being so being written at so many Years distance upon such different Occasions and to divers Persons 5. Lastly I pretend not to satisfie those who relish nothing but the flashes of frothy Wit elegansie of Elaborate Periods and a Chime of fine Words and modish new Notions but for solid experienced Christians who desire to exercise themselves unto Godliness and expect what may encourage and assist them thereto I humbly hope they may meet an Entertainment which will not make repeated Perusal dis-agreeable to them or think their Labour lost For Apology I know it is better not to need any than to be able to make the best Yet two Apologies seem needfull for my self one for attempting the Work the other for performing it no better For the first some know though I forbear to mention what put me upon the Resolution and I think might be allowed as a fair Excuse Admitting it usefull it must be done by my self or the World have lost the Benefit of it And for the avoiding an Envidious Suspition that I design my own Honour behind the Curtain and would slily steal a Reputation under Pretence of paying her Name a just Tribute of deserved Praise I know the best way to break the dint of a Blow is to latch it and meet it half-way and I could more than almost spoil such Objections by preventing them and making them as piquant and stinging as any would screw them up to be but when all is done there is no Fence against Ill-will but obligingly to declare I hope I shall meet with none or unconcernedly that I pity and despise its feeble impotency and if any will say not so rudely as the Captain concerning the young Prophet sent to annoint Jehu Wherefore came this mad Fellow 2 Kings 9.11 Yet what means this vain Man to write the Life of his own Wife and thereby insinuate c. Jehu's Answer for him shall suffice me for my self to you for and to whom I write You know the Man and his Communication 2. Why I have performed it no better To which I reply first if I have done it as well as I could it is my Infelicity more than my Fault that it is performed no better 3. That if I could have adorned it better yet some Circumstances may excuse its appearing as it doth The truth is I begun it in haste and with some precipitancy not foreseeing it would grow up into so great a Bulk or Length and that I might dispatch it quickly began the Impression as soon as a Sheet was ready and so was forced to keep pace with the Press that I could not alter or correct a Line nor lick the rudest Features into a better Shape either for Method or Language nor transcribe a Page or add to the first flowings of my Thoughts or Pen. 'T is said indeed That Honey is the purest which flows of its own accord without pressing of the Combs yet even that needs clarifying but that Ink is the palest and most faint which swims at the Top and is poured out without much shaking of the Bottle If what I have written this hasty Treatise with be censured as such I cannot help it now I writ most of it at London or Chelsy and the whole in the midst of many Diversions that it is in a great measure an heap not only of first Thoughts but of sudden ones And had I had opportunity of a strict review of the whole some things I would have retrenched that are Minute more I would have added very weighty most might have been expressed more politely yet take it with all its disadvantages though it may be defective in the Ornamental part of its Dress it is not so in the Substantial part of its Truth which is more than the Ornament the Life and Soul of History and with the ordinary measure of Candour which I reckon my self bound to allow to others when I read their Labours this may pass in the Crowd and prove neither despicable nor useless which is all that is begged or expected and I promise my self shall not be denied by you my much honoured Friends to Your very Humble Servant Anthony Walker May 10. 1690. THE CONTENTS THE
Introduction pag. 3 SECT I. Of her Birth and Parentage pag. 5 An Account of her Book out of which most is transcribed concerning our selves and Children Time and Place of her Birth pag. 9 Her Parents Her Father 's early Prudence and a strange over-ruling Providence which brought him to be a Citizen which was the spring and occasion of many consequent Mercies to her and others pag. 10 The tenderness of her Spirit when a Child pag. 13 A great fault she was guilty of when young which was turned to her benefit in future Caution pag. 14 Her Father 's great Care of her and Confidence in her pag. 15 SECT II. How she was first awakened to a deep Sense of Religion by Temptation pag. 17 The first Onset by a blasphemous suggestion pag. 18 How she overcame the Temptation to Atheism pag. 19 Her long struggling with Temptation and the first glimpse of Comfort pag. 20 Kept half a Year by it without sleep or very little pag. 22 Means of her Recovery and some gradual Relief of which she hath an excellent Passage pag. 24 Yet she suffered renewed Onsets pag. 25 SECT III. Of our Marriage remarkable Passages concerning it pag. 27 SECT IV. Her Life in concise Epitome pag. 30 SECT V. How she spent a Day pag. 32 Rose constantly at Four of the Clock Spent two hours with God in secret An account of the rest till bed-time pag. 41 SECT VII For the number Six is omitted by the Printer How she spent a Week ibid. Her exact circumspection in sanctifying the Lord's Day Her whole method in it to Page 44 Monday Mornings Prayers for the Church of God which she constantly observed with great Zeal and Charity both for all the Foreign Churches and our own for many years ever after she had been informed of that commendable Custom set up in so many Families quite through the Nation ibid. Constantly spent Friday the Passion-day in Fasting and Prayer or if she foresaw Diversion unavoidable on that day chose one before it pag. 48 SECT VIII How she spent a Year Where are set down the Heads of the following Sections pag. 49 SECT IX Her Character as a Wife pag. 51 In time of Health to Page 55 In times of being Sick to Page 61 SECT X. Of her Lyings-in in Child-bearing ibid. SECT XI Of the Baptising our Children Her very commendable Practice on that occasion pag. 64 SECT XII Her Care of the Education of her Children pag. 66 to pag. 82 I give no touch at the Particulars of this long Section because I arnestly recommend the reading of the whole often over as being very Exemplary and usefull SECT XIII Of monthly Sacraments Her constant Communicating and serious Preparation pag. 82 SECT XIV Of her Writings pag. 84 SECT XV. Discreet management of her Family pag. 86 SECT XVI Visitations by Sickness on our selves or some of our Children pag. 92 to pag. 115 This is so large and hath so many exemplary passages of indefatigable Watchings fervent Prayers gratious Answers humble Submission to God that I leave them to the Reader 's own Observation SECT XVII Renewed Assaults of her Enemy by Temptation pag. 115 The usual Seasons of which were Indispositions of Mind by Sorrow or of Body by Sickness pag. 116 Her Methods of Resisting 1. Conference with Experienced Christians 2. Reading suitable Books 3. Entring her solemn protest against them under her hand in appeal to God which you find Page 119. with this Title In time of Temptation writ by me Elizabeth Walker followed with a most devout pathetick Prayer SECT XVIII Friends she used to pray for by name and the form of Prayer in which pag. 123 I name those in the Body of the Prayer but omit to name them in the Margin above Thirty Heads of Families not being set down in order according to their Qualities SECT XIX Some trying Calamities on the Nation on Friends or Family and signal Deliverance from Dangers pag. 126 The great Plague and the number that died ibid. The Fire the number of Churches and Houses burnt pag. 127 Other Afflictions on particular Friends pag. 12â— On our selves pag. 129 to pag. 13â— SECT XX. Of our going to Tunbridge-Wells ibid My reasons of writing on it How she made that placâ— of Divertisment and Hurry a place of Retirement anâ— Vacancy to Devotion to pag. 14â— SECT XXI Of keeping our Wedding-day and Enteâ—tainment of our Friends ibid SECT XXII Of the Marriage of our only Daughter and her Death in Child-birth the same Year yet leaving a Son pag. 148. 'T is no wonder she wrote so much of heâ— own who used not to pass by what concerned others 〈◊〉 the Lady Mary Rich and the Lady Essex Rich theâ—â— Marriages with a devout Prayer for each pag. 149. Thâ—â— is a large Section most transcribed from her own Papers full of most excellent Devotion and humble Submission to God's smarty blow to pag. 161. And then 〈◊〉 most pathetick tenderness to the Dear Child pag. 16â— SECT XXIII Acts and Kinds of her great Charity ibid An account how it might be call'd her Charity though she were a Wife and great Charity by which shâ— gave though all she had to give were in truth but little I allowed her what my small Estate would afford all she gave of that was properly her own Charity and mine also in several respects might properly be called her's to pag. 171. She gave considerably more every Year out of her allowance than she spent upon herself She would buy Cloath from London by the whole piece to Clothe the Poor cause strong Linsey-woolsey to be made to give away imploy the Poor who wanted Work never buy any thing too cheap of the Poor People c. was bountifull to her poor Relations pag. 175 Yet never reproached her self or me by a sordid garb but secured her own decency with great Prudence while she relieved the Poor with great Charity pag. 176 Her Charity in Pains was next to that of her Purse in getting and using her skill in Physick and Chirurgery and Women labouring with Child pag. 180 Her forgiving Charity pag. 181 Her Moderation towards them who were not of the same Communion pag. 182 to pag. 185 SECT XXIV Of her care to promote God's Glory and the Salvation of Souls pag. 185 SECT XXV Several Graces in which she was most Eminent pag. 188. Knowledge Faith Charity Patience Sympathy with others pity to the Poor Repentance Reverential Fear of God Love Obedience Sincerity Modesty Courage Meekness Contentedness Thankfulness Tenderness of Conscience Improvement of Time Zeal Humility from pag. 188 to pag. 209 Her Sickness and Death pag. 210 The APPENDIX pag. 232 Directions to her Children concerning Prayer pag. 214 to pag. 223 Some Heads of Prayer formed according to those Directions pag. 224 Marks of a Regenerate Estate pag. 229 to pag. 233 A Consolatory Letter written to the Right Honourable Isabella Countess of Radnor upon the surprizing Death of her dearly-beloved Daughter the
Grace Good Lord grant me the Blessing of Prayer and requite them and theirs in Spiritual Blessings Good Lord remember in much Mercy the Relations of my dear Deceased Friends Be thou the God of the Widow and the Father of the Fatherless Children Also any that ever asked my poor Prayers Gracious God though these I name I stretch out my craving Hands over the World I beseech thee let thy most suitable Mercies reach them Good Lord be Merciful to this Town and People in a sound Conversion Bless our Family with Soul-Mercies and all our Servants In the Margin are named about thirty Heads of Families with their Relations of almost all Ranks and Degrees from Right-Honourable down to them of low Condition for whom she had a peculiar Esteem and endear'd Affection who so far suffer with me that they have lost a sincere Friend and humble earnest Intercessor at the Throne of Grace I will use an Expression of her own Pen touched above on the like occasion I humbly hope these Prayers remain upon the File of God's Mercy And I humbly and heartitly beseech him they may be answered with Blessed Returns upon my self and mine and upon all them and theirs for whom they were sent up with so devout and commendable Charity and Zeal Amen SECT XIX Some trying Calamities on the Nation on Friends and Family and signal Deliverances from Dangers AS she was none of those who regard not God's Works nor the Operation of his Hands but duly observed and humbly adored his Providential Dispensations so she cast them not behind her Back but constantly Recorded them with Awakening Pious Reflections upon them whether relating to the Nation Friends or Family I shall scarcely mention one of twenty only touch a few one or two of a kind as Instances and Examples to others to provoke to Imitation About four years after King Charles the Second's coming into England began the great Plague May the 5th 1665. of which died in and about London 68592. I think it should have been 98592 her Pen by an easie Mistake pointing the first Figure upward which should have been turned downward as hath been Computed besides great Multitudes in other Parts of the Kingdom In the Year following was the Dreadful Fire September the Second which Consum'd and Burnt down Eighty nine Churches and as Account hath been given 13200 Houses Lord how manifold are thy Judgments Give the Inhabitants of the Earth to learn Righteousness thereby If some might blame me yet I believe some would have thanked me had I added many more of these National Concerns as a very brief Chronicle especially with her usefull Reflections Whoso are Wise will consider these things and they shall understand the Loving Kindness of the Lord whoso doth his great and wonderfull Works that they ought to be had in Remembrance But for Brevity I refrain And as she took notice of publick Concerns so did she also of what touched particular Persons especially her Friends as for Instance January 13. 1672. God was pleased to suffer a sudden and lamentable Fire to Consume in a few hours a large House the Habitation of a good Gentleman our Friend and Neighbour Mr. Luther of Miles's three Miles distant from us upon which she wrote a most kind and Christian Letter to him of which I find the Copy She records the Deaths of many Friends and always with a short Character of them and useful Improvements As for Instance April 12. 1678. It pleased God to take to himself the Most Excellent Lady the Countess of Warwick She was Eminent in Religion a sound Christian in Knowledge and Practice exceeding Charitable did very much good a very sincere and obliging Friend very sweet in Disposition and in Condescention to all even to those much below her she did excell both in Religion and in all other commendable Vertues she lived very desirable and dyed much bewailed as a deep Loss to her Relations to the Neighbourhood to the Church and People of God to all that knew her amongst whom to my Dear Husband to him she was a most entire Friend and to my self Good Lord Sanctifie to us this heavy Deprivation the loss of our Honourable and most Endearing Friend Lord make up the Breach which for Extent is very wide yet not beyond the Bounds of thy Boundless Compassion Good Lord fill up to us and all that share in this smarty touch of thy Hand with full Supplies fetched beyond Creature-Enjoyments more immediate from thy self in thy immutable Friendship and never-dying Love and Favour in that unchangeable Rock of Ages Christ Jesus which Lord vouchsafe to grant Amen Amen And having named several Deaths of other Friends with true Characters of them she concludes Good Lord Sanctifie to me these frequent Warnings of Mortality and Death I beseech thee fit me for my Departure out of this World She mentions also three Eminent Deliverances from the Danger of Fire breaking out in our House in which we inhabited and one in another House of ours in the Parish which were prevented by signal Providences which she sets down and closes with most thankful Praises There 's not an Eminent Danger into which I fell and out of which God's Mercy rescued me which she remembers not with Expressions which testifie a most Dear Affection to my self and a most Pious and Devout Sense of God's Watchful Providence and Comfortable Instances of his Gratious Answers to her Prayers I shall touch but one or two out of very many August 1660. My Dear Husband coming from London fell into the Hands of four Robbers which prevented his coming Home that Day which much troubled me being Saturday Night and being very Tempestuous with great Rains Lightning and Thunder but after some time spent by my self the rest of my Family being in Bed I powr'd out my Request to God in his behalf my Heart being much quieted I went to my Rest where God gave me the Repose of the Night and in the Morning brought home my Dear Husband to our mutual Comfort and his performing the work of that Day in God's own Service Blessed be God He received no eminent Harm but attempting to escape one of the Thieves with a Club struck him on the side of his Head but his Hat broke the Blow that he had not much hurt I bless God They took his Money Watch and Rings but none of his Cloaths and though the tender Mercies of the Wicked are cruel God so over-ruled their usual harsh demeanour that one of them pulled off one of his own Coats and wrapt it about him for some time and set him under a Tree to shroud him from the Rain and Tempest Blessed be God for his Preservation in this Danger Some Passages in the preceding Paragraph run so parallel with what we read St. John 4.50 that I shall transcribe the Words and then make an unforced and appposite Application of them to the purpose for which I produce them and allude to them Then
the Saying be true a good Textuary is a good Divine she might have some pretence to that Character for though I will not say what is said of Apollos she was mighty in the Scriptures yet I may say truly the word of Christ dwelt richly in her and if David's delight in the Law of God made him Wiser than the Ancient yea than his Teachers she might be near as Wise as some of them considering that her Knowledge was not meerly Notional and Swimming in her Brain but Experimental and Practical She felt and tasted yea liv'd the Truths she knew and teaching her Children the grounds of Religion grounded herself more deeply in them Her Faith was strong by which she gave Glory to God not an Airy Fancy but a firm Perswasion built upon the Rock of Ages She knew whom she had Believed it may appear what Mettle that Shield was made of by the many Fiery Darts of the Devil so impetuously thrown at her and so incessantly for many Years and so successfully and so triumphantly quenched by it Her Charity that greatest of Graces the very Bond of Perfection the Crown of all the other and which covers a Multitude of Sins that Bud or Blossom of Glory which shall be full Blown and arrive at maturity in Heaven where it shall never fade or fail it was so fervent and fruitfull as may appear by what I have so truly written of it in a distinct Section that I dare appeal even to the most uncharitable and prejudiced Ill-will if it were not Eminent to Superlative Degree and Measure For her Patience which met with so many and so smarty Tryals both from God and Men yet had its perfect Work and by it she possessed her Soul in submiss and silent Acquiescence charging herself Humbly and Wisely but never charging God frowardly and foolishly meekly complaining to him never peevishly complaining of him Her Sympathy with others in their sufferings and sorrows was as signal as her Patience in her own And as she had very tender and strong Affections her usual saying was great Affection great Affliction And that they who had many Friends must needs have many Sorrows because they must share with them all in their Troubles and Crosses She had well learnt that Apostolical Lesson to Mourn with them that Mourn and bear others burthens and so fulfill the Law of Christ as I find her more than once express her self in Consolatory Letters many of which she wrote to her distressed Friends under calamitous Providences and would tell them she would willingly put under her Shoulder to ease the pressure of their loads they groaned under And would often from her own Experience declare That she judged the Griefs of others to be the biggest part of our uneasie disquietings in this Life But no Afflictions were so pungent and entered so deep into her pious tender heart as those of the Church of God and the tyranous Persecutions on those who suffered for the Gospel of Christ and for his sake were killed all the day long and counted as Sheep for the slaughter As the Hungarian French and Peidmount Protestants Her Pity to the Poor was very great not only in the cases touch'd before but in her care to rescue from present and eternal Ruine those who were desperately running into both To this end she ventured to take up several Beggar-boys and Girls at the Door and after cleansing them from their nastiness receiving them into the House of which some proved well and she obtain'd the end she aimed at but more untractable and deceived her Expectation and Desires yet this did not discourage her I shall give one Instance which will hardly meet with its paralell And as in many more like cases she exceeded most others so in this she out-did her self About three or four Years since there came a forlorn Creature begging to the Door a Girl of about Thirteen Years old in such a loathsome pickle as may stain my Ink to write and turn the stomachs of the Nice to read it almost eat up with Scabs and Vermine and as ignorant of God and Christ as if she had been born and bred in Lapland or Japan and scarce Rags to cover her yet this blunted neither the point nor edge of her Compassion but rather whetted and sharpned both When she had ask'd her many Questions both of her miserable Condition and Religion of the latter of which she knew not one syllable but that her Christian Name was Mary her Sir-name was Bun. The case seemed so desparate it almost posed and put her Pity to a Plunge what to do to rescue her from the very Brink and Precipice of Temporal and Eternal Ruine but while she was Eating what she sent her warm being well nigh starved she considered what might be done she feared if she dismissed her so her Ruine was next to inevitable and not to prevent that to her Power she judged inconsistent with the Love of God dwelling in her Heart She then resolved not on the shortest but the safest Course having engaged her to promise to be honest humble thankfull and a good Girl if she could be recovered She ordered clean Straw to be laid in an Out-House where she lodged and fed her until she procured a Charitable Neighbour to strip her cut off her Hair and wash her for it was not possible to cleanse her otherwise she also provided old Cloths to keep her sweet and warm then she used means to cure her Itch and when some Months had perfectly recruited her and made her like another Creature she cloathed her new took her into the House taught her the Catechism to read and do somewhat in the Family which might fit her for a Service and prevailed with a Rich Farmer who had Married one of our Maids to take her Apprentice promising to cloath her well She wrote a large and excellent Letter to perswade him besides discoursing with him He consented received her upon Trial but when she was to be legally bound that the latter Years of her Apprenticeship might compensate the unprofitableness of the first a new difficulty arose none could bind her validly but her Father or the Parish from whence she came many Messages and one or two special Messengers were sent but all in vain What should she do more she resolves to go herself orders the Coach to be ready to carry her the next Day intreated me to go with her as far as North-Hall twenty Miles distant a troublesome Journey cross the County We came to Sir William Lemmon's because the Girl told us her Father work'd constantly with him it was our unhappiness that Worthy Person was from Home and though we found the Girls Father no words could make the least Impression on him or extort other answer from him but That she was a naughty Girl He would neither meddle or make with her We might do what we would not so much as once I thank you for all your Cost and
and abhor the Company of those that doe so Evil Communication corrupts good Manners If thou commit an Errour do not hide it with that that is more base Truth is a generous thing and will better cover a mistake than that that is contrary to it Keep thy heart with all keepings out of the heart proceed evil thoughts the product of which are evil Words and Actions Dear Johnny fear to be one of that number which did not like to retain God in their Knowledge and God gave them up to their own Lusts to be filled with all Vnrighteousness Covenant-breakers Thieves Adulterers Drunkards Lyars Covetous Vnmercifull c. From these and all Soul-wasting Sins let thy Baptismal Engagement preserve thee for they that doe such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven Dear Johnny keep thy way and Life clean by taking heed thereto according to the Word of God and thy Promise in Baptism Be very humble better it is to be of an humble Spirit with the lowly than to divide the Spoil with the Proud Prov. 16.19 By Humility and the Fear of the Lord is Wisdom Do not intrude into unknown Company nor meddle with that thou needest not be concerned in it may be of ill consequence The Wise Man saith He that passeth by and meddleth with Strife not belonging to him is like one that taketh a Dog by the Ears Prov. 26. which he may sooner doe than extricate himself from the following Evil. Dear Johnny I do farther advise thee with remote Counsel which at present may not concern thee but hereafter may be usefull to thee I may quickly be incapacitated by Death and write no more nor advise thee Therefore be not thou one of them that strike Hands or of them that are Sureties for debts Prov. 11.15 If thou be surety for thy friend if thou hast striken thy hand with a stranger thou art snared with the words of thy mouth thou art taken with the words of thy mouth A man void of understanding striketh hands and becometh surety in the presence of his friend but he that hateth suretiship is sure And the wise Man farther adviseth therefore Deliver thy self as the bird from the fowler And my request is that thou never wilt be in Bonds for or to any but to me by promise that thou never wilt be bound to or for any Man on no account whatsoever Dear Johnny If God be pleas'd to continue thee sometime in this World and bestow on thee this World's goods use them wisely Do not abuse them by profuse expensive prodigality make not God's Bounty instrumental to his Dishonour nor Fuel to feed any Lusts lest what Divine Mercy gave thee for thy good become to thee a trap and occasion of falling On the other extream avoid sordid living and covetousness which God abhorreth and hath branded with the mark of all Evil. The brutish Prodigal came to eat Husks with Swine and the other may as bad There is that with-holdeth more than is meet but it tendeth only to penury as Self-murther is the least excusable because most unnatural so Self-robbers are the severeliest punished being daily their own Executioners Whatever Talent God may intrust thee with Health Riches Honour worldly Prosperity Wisdom Lâ—â—rning improve all for God thy own best Advantage and the good of others Dear Johnny Let all thy Deportment be with Wisdom flashy wit is the froth of somewhat called Wisdom In all things so far as may consist with thy best part and well-being in this World render thy self desirable to humane Society take notice of any Civility shew'd thee with suitable returns of Friendship be courteous kind affable of courteous and obliging behaviour a morose churlish Humour is like Nabal of no better esteem than a Son of Belial Dear Johnny Doe nothing that looks despicably childish foolish pidling with thy fingers picking thy buttons going with thy hands in thy pockets or the like I pray thee do none of these unbecoming actions I love to see thee Gentile keep thy Hands and Clothes clean think of what I have sometimes said to thee All cleanly people are not good but there are few good people but are cleanly I do not strictly place Religion in external accomplishments but that that is decent is not only allowable but commanded Our Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost therefore due honour is to be given to them without Pride or Excess In time of the Old Law all outward Impurity was to be avoided God commanded by Moses the Children of Israel not to touch any uncleanness nor suffer their Camps to be defiled therewith but to cleanse it away and not to have performed those Duties in externals would have brought them under greater defilements by Disobedience to God's Commands In the new-Testament St. Paul writes to the Philippians 4.8 of both external and internal Purity Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are of good report thou mayst read in the Margin or revenerable if there be any vertue if there be any praise think on these things I would have thee always wear Gloves but when it is not convenient gratifie my Desire I am willing to bestow them on thee they will not hinder thy Writing if the Fingers be short or cut Dear Johnny Thou shalt not want them or any thing else thy Dear Grandfather or my self can help thee to good for thee conditionally thou wilt not dis-oblige us Sit stand and go upright that thou mayest not grow a-wry or full Shouldred it will trouble me much to see thee Crooked Dear Johnny One thing more of concern I mind thee of in which I much desire thy Care Pronunciation in which a Deficiency may be injurious to thee when thou canst less help it than now thou mayest by thy seasonable Care Endeavour to speak plain clear and true pronounce the last Syllable distinctly and do not drown it of any Word English requires it and so may Latin and other Languages as much an Oratour to which thou art designed should speak good Sense Rhetorick and Intelligibly Get no ill affected tone in Speech and be not over talkative The Wise Man saith The talk of the Lips tends only to Penury and in the multitude of Words there wanteth not Sin but he that refraineth his Lips is Wise indeed Words with Wisdom fitly spoken are like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Dear Johnny I desire thy accomplishments as may render thee lovely to Men but more to God Let this latter part of my Letter be observed but especially the former and foregoing part of it and let not the length of either be tedious unto thee an idle Discourse though much longer may be pleasant to an ill Mind but I have better thoughts of thee I know nothing I have writ my Love to thee might have spared thou hast had several good Letters from thy Dear Grandfather therefore the less need of