the Nation which contrary to the Expectations of the most Sanguine setled in so serene and quiet a manner that those who had formerly built so much on their Success calling it an Answer from Heaven to their solemn Appeals to the providence of God were now not a little Confounded to see all this turned against themselves in an instance much more extraordinary than any of those were upon which they had built so much His great Prudence and Excellent temper led him to think that the sooner an Act of Indemnity were passed and the fuller it were of Graces and Favours it would sooner settle the Nation and quiet the minds of the People and therefore he applied himself with a particular care to the framing and carrying it on In which it was visible he had no concern of his own but merely his love of the Publick that set him on to it Soon after this when the Courts in Westminster-Hall came to be setled he was made Lord Cheif Baron and when the Earl of Clarendon then Lord Chancellor delivered him his Commission in the Speech he made according to the Custome on such Occasions he expressed his Esteem of him in a very singular manner telling him among other things that if the King could have found out an honester and fitter Man for that Imployment he would not have advanced him to it and that he had therefore preferred him because he knew none that deserved it so well It is ordinary for Persons so promoted to be Knighted but he desired to avoid having that Honour done him and therefore for a Considerable time declined all opportunities of waiting on the King which the Lord Chancellor observing sent for him upon Business one day when the King was at his House and told his Majesty there was his modest Chief Baron upon which he was unexpectedly Knighted He continued Eleven Years in that place Managing the Court and all Proceedings in it with singular Justice It was observed by the whole Nation how much he raised the Reputation and Practice of it And those who held Places and Offices in it can all declare not only the Impartiality of his Justice for that is but a common Virtue but his Generosity his vast Diligence and his great Exactness in Tryals This gave occasion to the only Complaint that ever was made of him That he did not dispatch Matters quick enough but the great care he used to put Suits to a final End as it made him slower in deciding them so it had this good Effect that Causes tryed before him were seldom if ever tryed again Nor did his Administration of Justice lie only in that Court He was one of the principal Iudges that sate in Cliffords-Inn about setling the difference between Landlord and Tenant after the Dreadful Fire of London He being the first that offered his Service to the City for accommodating all the differences that might have arisen about the Rebuilding it in which he behaved himself to the satisfaction of all Persons concerned So that the suddain and quiet Building of the City which is justly to be Reckoned one of the Wonders of the Age is in no small Measure due to the great care which he and Sir Orlando Bridge-man then Lord Cheif Iustice of the Common-Plea's afterwards Lord Keeper of the great Seal of England used and to the Judgment they shewed in that Affair since without the Rules then laid down there might have otherwise followed such an endless train of vexatious Suits as might have been little less chargeable than the Fire it self had been But without detracting from the Labours of the other Iudges it must be acknowledged that he was the most instrumental in that great work for he first by way of Scheme contrived the Rules upon which he and the rest proceeded afterwards in which his readiness at Arithmetick and his skill in Architecture were of great use to him But it will not seem strange that a Iudge behaved himself as he did who at the Entry into his Imployment set such excellent Rules to himself which will appear in the following Paper Copied from the Original under his own hand Things Necessary to be Continually had in Remembrance I. That in the Administration of Iustice I am intrusted for God the King and Country and therefore II. That it be done 1. Uprightly 2. Deliberately 3. Resolutely III. That I rest not upon my own Understanding or Strength but Implore and rest upon the Direction and Strength of God IV. That in the Execution of Iustice I carefully lay aside my own Passions and not give way to them however provoked V. That I be wholly intent upon the Business I am about remitting all other Cares and Thoughts as unseasonable and Interruptions VI. That I suffer not my self to be prepossessed with any Iudgment at all till the whole Business and both Parties be heard VII That I never engage my self in the beginning of any Cause but reserve my self unprejudiced till the whole be heard VIII That in Business Capital though my Nature prompt me to Pity yet to consider that there is also a Pity due to the Country IX That I be not too Riged in matters purely Conscientious where all the harm is Diversity of Iudgment X. That I be not biassed with Compassion to the Poor or favour to the Rich in point of Iustice. XI That Popular or Court Applause or Distaste have no Influence into any thing I do in point of Distribution of Iustice. XII Not to be sollicitous what Men will say or think so long as I keep my self exactly according to the Rule of Iustice. XIII If in Criminals it be a measuring Cast to incline to Mercy and Acquittal XIV In Criminals that consist merely in words when no more harm ensues Moderation is no Injustice XV. In Criminals of Blood if the Fact be Evident Severity is Iustice. XVI To abhor all private Sollicitations of what kind soever and by whom soever in matters Depending XVII To charge my Servants 1. Not to interpose in any Business whatsoever 2. Not to take more than their known Fees 3. Not to give any undue precedence to Causes 4. Not to recommend Councill XVIII To be short and sparing at Meals that I may be the fitter for Business He would never receive private Addresses or Recommendations from the greatest Persons in any matter in which Iustice was Concerned One of the first Peers of England went once to his Chamber and told him that having a Suite in Law to be tryed before him he was then to acquaint him with it that he might the better understand it when it should come to be heard in Court Upon which the Lord Cheif Baron interupted him and said he did not deal fairly to come to his Chamber about such Affairs for he never received any Information of Causes but in open Court where both Parties were to be heard alike so he would not suffer him to go on Whereupon his Grace for he was a
unwilling to grant him and offered to let him hold his Place still he doing what Business he could in his Chamber but he said he could not with a good Conscience continue in it since he was no longer able to discharge the Duty belonging to it But yet such was the General Satisfaction which all the Kingdom received by his Excellent Administration of Justice that the King though he could not well deny his Request yet he deferred the Granting of it as long as was possible Nor could the Lord Chancellor be prevailed with to move the King to hasten his Discharge though the Cheif Iustice often pressed him to it At last having wearied himself and all his Friends with his importunate desires and growing sensibly weaker in Body he did upon the 21 th day of February 28. Car. 2. Anno Dom. 1675 6. go before a Master of the Chancery with a little Parchment Deed drawn by Himself and Written all with his own hand and there Sealed and delivered it and acknowledged it to be Enrolled and afterwards he brought the Original Deed to the Lord Chancellor and did formally surrender his Office in these words Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos praesens Scriptura pervenerit Matheus Hale miles Capitalis Iusticiarius Domini Regis ad placita-coram ipso Rege tenenda assignatas Saluâ—em in Domino Sempiternam Noveritis me praefatum Matheum Hale militem jam senem factum Variis Corporis mei Senilis morbis infirmitatibus dire Laborantem adhuc Detentum Hâc Chartâ mea Resignare sursum reddere Serenissimo Domino Nostro Carolo Secundo Dei Gratià Angliae Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Regi Fidei Defensori c. Predictum Officium Capitalis Iusticiarii ad placâ—ta coram ipso Rege tenenda humillime petens quod hoc Scriptum irrotaletur de Recordo In cujus rei Testimonium huic chartae meae Resignationis Sigillum meum apposui Dat vicesimo primo Die Februarii Anno Regnidict Dom. Regis nunc Vicesimo Octavo He made this Instrument as he told the L. Chancellor for two Endâ— the one was to shew the World his own free Concurrence to his Removal Another was to obviate an Objection heretofore made that a Cheif Iustice being placed by Writ was not removable at pleasure as Iudges by Patent were Which opinion as he said was once held by his Predecessor the Lord Cheif Iustice Keyling and though he himself were always of another opinion yet he thought it reasonable to prevent such a Scruple He had the day before surrendered to the King in Person who parted from him with great Grace wishing him most heartily the return of his Health and assuring him that he would still look upon him as one of his Iudges and have recourse to his Advice when his Health would permit and in the mean time would continue his Pension during his Life The Good man thought this Bounty too great and an ill Precedent for the King and therefore Writ a Letter to the Lord Treasurer earnestly desiring that his Pension might be only during Pleasure but the King would grant it for Life and make it payable Quarterly And yet for a whole Month together he would not suffer his Servant to Sue out his Patent for his Pension and when the first Payment was received he ordered a great part of it to Charitable Uses and said he intended most of it should be so Employed as long as it was paid him At last he happened to Die upon the Quarter day which was Christmas day and though this might have given some occasion to a dispute whither the Pension for that Quarter were recoverable yet the King was pleased to decide that Matter against himself and ordered the Pension to be paid to his Executors As soon as he was discharged from his great Place he returned home with as much Chearfulness as his want of Health could admit of being now eased of a Burthen he had been of late groaning under and so made more capable of Enjoying that which he had much wished for according to his Elegant Translation of or rather Paraphrase upon those excellent Lines in Seneca's Thyestes Act. 2. Stet quicunque volet potens Aulae culmine lubrico Me dulcis Saturet quies Obscuro positus loco Leni perfruar otio Nullis nota Quiritibus Aetas per tacitum fluat Sic cum Transierint mei Nullo cum Strepitu dies Plebeius moriar Senex Illi mors gravis incubat Qui notus nimis omnibus Ignotus moritur sibi Let him that will ascend the tâ—ttering Seat Of courtly Grandeur and become as great As are his mounting Wishes As for me Let sweet repose and rest my Portion be Give me some mean obscure Recess a Sphere Out of the Road of Business or the fear Of falling lower where I sweetly may My self and dear retirement still enjoy Let not my Life or Name be known unto The Grandees of the Time to'st too and fro By Censures or Applause but let my Age Slide gently by not overthwart the Stage Of publick Action unheard unseen And unconcern'd as if I near had been And thus while I shall pass my silent days In shady privacy free from the Noise And bustles of the mad World then shall I A good old Innocent Plebeian Die. Death is a mere Surprise a very Snare To him that makes it his Lifes greatest Care To be a publick Pageant known to all But unacquainted with himself doth fall Having now attained to that Privacy which he had no less seriously than piously wished for he called all his Servants that had belonged to his Office together and told them he had now laid down his Place and so their Imployments were determined upon that he advised them to see for themselves and gave to some of them very considerable Presents and to every one of them a Token and so dismissed all those that were not his Domesticks He was discharged the fifteenth of February 1675 6 And lived till the Christmas following but all the while was in so ill a State of Health that there was no hopes of his Recovery he continued still to retire often both for his Devotions and Studies and as long as he could go went constantly to his Closseâ— and when his Infirmities encreased on him so that he was not able to go thither himself he made his Servants carry him thither in a Chair At last as the Winter came on he saw with great Joy his deliverance approaching for besides his being weary of the World and his longings for the Blessedness of another State his Pains encreased so on him that no Patience inferiour to his could have born them without a great uneasiness of mind yet he expressed to the last such submission to the will of God and so equal a Temper under them that it was visible then what mighty Effects his Philosophy and Christianity had on him in supporting him under such a heavy Load He could not
Duke went away not a little dissatisfied and complained of it to the King as a Rudeness that was not to be endured But his Majesty bid him content himself that he was no worse used and said he verily believed he would have used himself no better if he had gone to sollicite him in any of his own Causes Another passage fell out in one of his Circuits which was somewhat censured as an affectation of an unreasonable strictness but it flowed from his Exactness to the Rules he had set him self A Gentleman had sent him a Buck for his Table that had a Trial at the Assizes So when he heard his Name he asked if he was not the same Person that had sent him Venison and finding he was the same he told him he could not suffer the Trial to go on till he had paid him for his Buck to which the Gentleman answered that he never sold his Venison and that he had done nothing to him which he did not do to every Iudge that had gone that Circuit which was confirmed by several Gentlemen then present but all would not do for the Lord Cheif Baron had learned from Solomon that a gift perverteth the ways of Iudgment and therefore he would not suffer the Trial to go on till he had paid for the present upon which the Gentleman withdrew the Record and at Salisbury the Dean and Chapter having according to the Custom presented him with six Sugar Loaves in his Circuit he made his Servants pay for the Sugar before he would try their Cause It was not so easie for him to throw off the importunities of the Poor for whom his Compassion wrought more powerfully than his regard to Wealth and Greatness yet when Justice was concerned even that did not turn him out of the way There was one that had been put out of a place for some ill behaviour who urged the Lord Cheif Baron to set his hand to a Certificate to restore him to it or provide him with an other But he told him plainly his fault was such that he could not do it the other pressed him vehemently and fell down on his knees and begged it of him with many Tears but finding that could not prevail he said he should be utterly Ruined if he did it not and he should Curse him for it every day But that having no Effect then he fell out into all the reproachful words that Passion and Despair could inspire him with to which all the answer the Lord Cheif Baron made was that he could very well bear all his Reproaches but he could not for all that set his hand to his Certificate He saw he was Poor so he gave him a large Charity and sent him away But now he was to go on after his Pattern Pomponius Atticus still to favour and relieve them that were lowest So besides great Charities to the Nonconformists who were then as he thought too hardly used he took great care to cover them all he could from the Severities some designed against them and discouraged those who were inclined to stretch the Laws too much against them He lamented the differences that were raised in this Church very much and according to the Impartiality of his Justice he blamed some things on both sides which I shall set down with the same freedom that he spake them He thought many of the Nonconformists had merited highly in the Business of the Kings Restauration and at least deserved that the terms of Conformity should not have been made stricter than they were before the War There was not then that dreadful prospect of Popery that has appeared since But that which afflicted him most was that he saw the Heats and Contentions which followed upon those different Parties and Interests did take People off from the Indispensable things of Religion and slackned the Zeal of other ways Good men for the substance of it so much being spent about External and Indifferent things It also gave advantages to Atheists to treat the most Sacred Points of our holy Faith as Ridiculous when they saw the Professors of it contend so fiercely and with such bitterness about lesser Matters He was much offended at all those Books that were written to expose the contrary Sect to the scorn and contempt of the Age in a wanton and petulant Style He thought such Writers wounded the Christian Religion through the sides of those who differed from them while a sort of lewd People who having assumed to themselves the Title of the Witts though but a very few of them have a right to it took up from both hands what they had said to make one another shew Ridiculous and from thence perswaded the World to laugh at both and at all Religion for their sakes And therefore he often wished there might be some Law to make all Scurrility or Bitterness in Disputes about Religion punishable But as he lamented the proceedings too rigourously against the Nonconformists so he declared himself always of the side of the Church of England and said those of the Separation were good Men but they had narrow Soules who would break the Peace of the Church about such inconsiderable Matters as the points in difference were He scarce ever medled in State Intrigues yet upon a Proposition that was set on foot by the Lord Keeper Bridgeman for a Comprehension of the more moderate Dissenters and a limited Indulgence towards such as could not be brought within the Comprehension he dispensed with his Maxime of avoiding to engage in Matters of State There were several Meetings upon that occasion The Divine of the Church of England that appeared most considerably for it was Doctor Wilkins afterwards promoted to the Bishoprick of Chester a Man of as great a Mind as true a Judgment as eminent Virtues and of as good a Soul as any I ever knew He being determined as well by his excellent temper as by his Foresight and Prudence by which he early perceived the great Prejudices that Religion received and the vast Dangers the Reformation was like to fall under by those Divisions set about that project with the Magnanimity that was indeed peculiar to himself for though he was much Censured by many of his own side and seconded by very few yet he pushed it as far as he could After several Conferences with two of the Eminentest of the Presbiterian Divines Heads were agreed on some Abatements were to be made and Explanations were to be accepted of The particulars of that Project being thus concerted they were brought to the Lord Cheif Baron who put them in form of a Bill to be presented to the next Sessions of Parliament But two Parties appeared vigorously against this Design the one was of some zealous Clergy-men who thought it below the Dignity of the Church to alter Laws and change Setlements for the sake of some whom they Esteemed Schismaticks They also believed it was better to keep them out of the Church than bring