saw in his Brother and therefore he freely restored to him the whole Estate This is so great an instance of a Generous and just Disposition that I hope the Reader will easily pardon this Digression and that the rather since that Worthy Serjeant was so Instrumental in the happy Change that followed in the course of Mr. Hale's Life Yet he did not at first break off from keeping too much Company with some vain People till a sad Accident drove him from it for he with some other young Students being invited to be merry out of Town one of the Company called for so much Wine that notwithstanding all that Mr. Hale could do to prevent it he went on in his Excess till he fell down as dead before them so that all that were present were not a little affrighted at it who did what they could to bring him to himself again This did particularly affect Mr. Hale who thereupon went into another Room and shutting the door fell on his Knees and prayed earnestly to God both for his Friend that he might be restored to Life again and that himself might be forgiven for giving such Countenance to so much Excess and he vowed to God that he would never again keep Company in that manner nor drink a health while he lived His Friend recovered and he most Religiously observed his Vow till his Dying day And though he was afterwards prest to drink Healths particularly the Kings which was set up by too many as a distinguishing mark of Loyalty and drew many into great Excess after his Majesties happy Restoration but he would never dispense with his Vow though he was sometimes roughly treated for this which some hot and indiscreet led Obstinacy This wrought an entire change on him now he forsook all vain Company and divided himself between the Duties of Religion and the Studies of his Profession in the former he was so regular that for Six and thirty years time he never once failed going to Church on the Lords day this observation he made when an Ague first interrupted that constant Course and he reflected on it as an Acknowlegement of God's great Goodness to him in so long a Continuance of his health He took a strict account of his time of which the Reader will best Judge by the Scheme he drew for a Diary which I shall insert Copied from the Original but I am not certain when he made it it is set down in the same Simplicity in which he writ it for his own private use MORNING I. To lift up the heart to God in thankfulness for renewing my Life II. To renew my Covenant with God in Christ. 1. By renewed Acts of Faith receiving Christ and rejoyceing in the height of that Relation 2 Resolution of being one of his People doing him Allegiance III. Adoration and Prayer IV. Setting a Watch over my own Infirmities and Passions over the Snares laid in our way Perimus licitis Day Imployment There must be an Imployment two kinds I. Our ordinary calling to serve God in it It is a Service to Christ though never so mean Colos. 3. Here Faithfulness Diligence Chearfulness Not to overlay my self with more Business than I can bear II. Our Spiritual Imployments Mingle somewhat of Gods Immediate Service in this day Refreshments I. Meat and Drink Moderation seasoned with somewhat of God II. Recreations 1. Not our Business 2. Sutable No Games if given to Covetousness or Passion If alone I. Beware of wandring vain lustful thoughts fly from thy self rather than entertain these II. Let thy Solitary thoughts be profitable view the Evidences of thy Salvation the state of thy Soul the coming of Christ thy own Mortality it will make thee humble and Watchful Company Do good to them Use God's name reverently Beware of leaving an ill Impression of ill Example Receive good from them if more knowing EVENING Cast up the Accompts of the Day If ought amiss Beg pardon Gather resolution of more Vigilance If well Bless the Mercy and Grace of God that hath Supported thee These Notes have an Imperfection in the Wording of them which shews they were only intended for his Privacies No wonder a Man who set such rules to himself became quickly very Eminent and remarkable Noy the Attorny General being then one of the greatest Men of the Profession took early notice of him and called often for him and directed him in his Study and grew to have such friendship for him that he came to be called young Noy He passing from the extream of Vanity in his Apparel to that of neglecting himself too much was once taken when there was a Press for the Kings-Service as a fit Person for it for he was a strong and well built Man But some that knew him coming by and giving notice who he was the Press-Men let him go This made him return to more decency in his Clothes but never to any Superfluity or Vanity in them Once as he was Buying some Cloath for a new Suit the Draper with whom he differed about the Price told him he should have it for nothing if he would promise him an Hundred pound when he came to be Lord Chief Justice of England to which he answered That he could not with a good Conscience wear any Man's Cloath unless he payed for it so he satisfied the Draper and carried away the Cloath Yet that same Draper lived to see him advanced to that same dignity While he was thus improving himself in the Study of the Law he not only kept the Hours of the Hall constantly in Term-time but seldom put himself out of Commons in Vacation-time and continued then to follow his Studies with an unwearied diligence and not being satisfied with the Books writ about it or to take things upon trust was very diligentin searching all Records Then did he make divers Collections out of the Books he had Read and mixing them with his own Observations digested them into a Common-place Book which he did with so much Industry and Judgment that an Eminent Iudge of the Kings-Bench borrowed it of him when he was Lord Chief Baron He unwillingly lent it because it had been Writ by him before he was called to the Barr and had never been throughly revised by him since that Time only what Alterations had been made in the Law by subsequent Statutes and Judgments were added by him as they had happened but the Iudge having perused it said that though it was Composed by him so early he did not think any Lawyer in England could do it better except he himself would again set about it He was soon found out by that great and learned Antiquary Mr. Selden who though much superiour to him in Years yet came to have such a liking of him and of Mr. Vaughan who was afterwards Lord Chief Justice of the common-Common-Pleas that as he continued in a close friendship with them while he lived so he left them at his Death two of his
was before it as has not been offered by any Philosopher before him While the Iudge was thus imploying his time the Lord Ch. Iust. Keyling dying he was on the 18 th of May 1671 promoted to be Lord Cheif Iustice of England He had made the Pleas of the Crown one of his Cheif Studies and by much search and long Observation had Composed that great Work concerning them formerly mentioned He that holds the high Office of Iusticiary in that Court being the Cheif Trustee and Assertor of the Liberties of his Countrey all People applauded this Choice and thought their Liberties could not be better deposited than in the hands of one that as he understood them well so he had all the Justice and Courage that so Sacred a Trust required One thing was much observed and commended in him that when there was a great Inequality in the Ability and Learning of the Councellors that were to Plead one against another He thought it became him as the Iudge to Supply that so he would enforce what the weaker Council managed but indifferently and not suffer the more Learned to carry the Business by the Advantage they had over the others in their quickness and skill in Law and readiness in Pleading till all things were cleared in which the Merits and Strength of the ill defended Cause lay He was not satisfied barely to give his Judgment in Causes but did especially in all Intricate ones give such an Account of the Reasons that prevailed with him that the Council did not only acquiesce in his Authority but were so convinced by his Reasons that I have heard many profess that he brought them often to change their opinions so that his giving of judgment was really a learned Lecture upon that point of Law and which was yet more the Parties themselves though Interest does too commonly corrupt the Judgment were generally satisfied with the Justice of his decisions even when they were made against them His Impartial Justice and great Diligence drew the Cheif Practice after him into whatsoever Court he came since though the Courts of the Common Pleas the Exchequer and the Kings-Bench are appointed for the Tryal of Causes of different Natures yet it is easie to bring most Causes into any of them as the Council or Attornies please so as he had drawn the business much after him both into the Common Pleas and the Exchequer it now followed him into the Kings-Bench and many Causes that were depending in the Exchequer and not determined were let fall there and brought again before him in the Court to which he was now removed And here did he spend the rest of his publick Life and Imployment But about Four years and a half after this Advancement he who had hitherto enjoyed a firm and vigorous Health to which his great Temperance and the Equality of his Mind did not a little conduce was on a sudden brought very low by an Inflammation in his Midriff which in two days time broke the Constitution of his Health to such a degree that he never recovered it He became so Asthmatical that with great difficulty he could fetch his Breath that determined in a Dropsie of which he afterwards Died. He understood Physick so well that considering his Age he concluded his Distemper must carry him off in a little time and therefore he resolved to have some of the last Months of his Life reserved to himself that being freed of all Worldly Cares he might be preparing for his Change He was also so much disabled in his Body that he could hardly though supported by his Servants walk through Westminster-Hall or endure the Toile of Business he had been a long time wearied with the distractions that his Imployment had brought on him and his Profession was become ungrateful to him he loved to apply himself wholly to better Purposes as will appear by a Paper that he writ on this Subject which I shall here Insert First If I consider the Business of my Profession whether as an Advocate or as a Iudge it is true I do acknowledge by the Institution of Almighty God and the Dispensation of his Providence I am bound to Industry and Fidelity in it And as it is an act of Obedience unto his Will it carries with it some things of Religious Duty and I may and do take Comfort in it and expect a Reward of my Obedience to him and the good that I do to Mankind therein from the bounty and beneficence and promise of Almighty God and it is true also that without such Imployments civil Societies cannot be supported and great good redounds to Mankind from them and in these respects the Conscience of my own Industry Fidelity and Integrity in them is a great comfort and satisfaction to me But yet this I must say concerning these Imployments considered simply in themselves that they are very full of Cares Anxieties and Perturbations Secondly That though they are beneficial to others yet they are of the least benefit to him that is imployed in them Thirdly That they do necessarily involve the party whose office it is in great Dangers Difficulties and Calumnies Fourthly That they only serve for the Meridian of this Life which is short and uncertain Fifthly That though it be my Duty faithfully to serve in them while I am called to them and till I am duly called from them yet they are great consumers of that little time we have here which as it seems to me might be better spent in a pious contemplative Life and a due provision for Eternity I do not know a better temporal Imployment than Martha had in testifying her Love and Duty to our Saviour by making provision for him yet our Lord tells her That though she was troubled about many things there was only one thing necessary and Mary had chosen the better part By this the Reader will see that he continued in his Station upon no other Consideration but that being set in it by the providence of God he judged he could not abandon that Post which was assigned him without preferring his own private Inclination to the Choice God had made for him but now that same Providence having by this great Distemper disengaged him from the Obligation of holding a Place which he was no longer able to discharge he resolved to resign it This was no sooner surmised abroad than it drew upon him the Importunities of all his Friends and the clamour of the whole Town to divert him from it but all was to no purpose there was but one Argument that could move him which was that he was obliged to continue in the Imployment God had put him in for the good of the publick but to this he had such an Answer that even those who were most concerned in his withdrawing could not but see that the reasons inducing him to it were but too strong so he made Applications to his Majesty for his Writ of Ease which the King was very
domestick or private affairs of those persons of whom they Write in which the World is little concerned by these they become so flat that few care to read them for certainly those Transactions are onely fit to be delivered to Posterity that may carry with them some useful peece of knowledge to after-times I have now an Argument before me which will afford indeed only a short History but will contain in it as great a Character as perhaps can be given of any in this age since there are few instances of more knowledge and greater virtues meeting in one person I am upon one account beside many more unfit to undertake it because I was not at all known to him so I can say nothing from my own Observation but upon second thoughts I do not know whether this may not qualify me to write more impartially though perhaps more defectively for the knowledge of extraordinary persons does most commenly biass those who were much wrought on by the tenderness of their friendship for them to raise their Stile a little too high when they write concerning them I confess I knew him as much as the looking often upon him could amount to The last year of his being in London he came always on Sundays when he could go abroad to the Chappel of the Rolls where I then Preached In my life I never saw so much Gravity tempered with that sweetness and set off with so much vivacity as appeared in his looks and behaviour which disposed me to a veneration for him which I never had for any with whom I was not acquainted I was seeking an opportunity of being admitted to his Conversation but I understood that between a great want of health and a multiplicity of business which his Imployment brought upon him he was Master of so little of his time that I stood in doubt whether I might presume to rob him of any of it and so he left the Town before I could resolve on desiring to be known to him My ignorance of the Law of England made me also unfit to Write of a Man a great part of whose Character as to his Learning is to be taken from his skill in the Common Law and his performance in that But I shall leave that to those of the same Robe Since if I engaged much in it I must needs commit many errors Writing of a Subject that is foreign to me The occasion of my undertaking this vvas given me first by the earnest desires of some that have great power over me vvho having been much obliged by him and holding his Memory in high estimation thought I might do it some right by Writing his Life I was then engaged in the History of the Reformation so I promised that as soon as that was over I should make the best use I could of such Informations and Memorials as should be brought me This I have now performed in the best manner I could and have brought into method all the parcels of his Life or the branches of his Character which I could either gather from the Informations that were brought me or from those that were familiarly acquainted with him or from his Writings I have not applied any of the false Colours with which Art or some forced Eloquence might furnish me in Writing concerning him but have endeavoured to set him out in the same simplicity in which he lived I have said little of his Domestick Concerns since though in these he was a great Example yet it signifies nothing to the World to know any particular exercises that might be given to his Patience and therefore I shall draw a Vail over all these and shall avoid saying any thing of him but what may afford the Reader some profitable Instruction I am under no temptations of saying any thing but what I am perswaded is exactly true for where there is so much excellent truth to be told it were an inexcusable fault to corrupt that or prejudice the Reader against it by the mixture of falsehoods with it In short as he was a great example while he lived so I wish the setting him thus out to Posterity in his own true and native Colours may have its due influence on all persons but more particularly on those of that profession whom it more immediately Concerns whether on the Bench or at the Barr. The Reader is desired to correct the Book by the following Errata before he reads it over especially the first fault pag. 15. l. 9. that being the most considerable PAg. 15. l. 9. read indiscreet Men called Obstinacy pag. 39. l. 8. for r. but. pag. 44. l. ult to highly so r. so highly to pag. 50. l. 3. after County r. of pag. 101. l. 8. assignat as salurem r. assignatus salutem pag. 147. l. 10. was r. were pag. 168. l. 20. eternal r. external pag. 172. l. 17. dearlier r. earlier pag. 200. l. 15. foresta r. forestae THE LIFE DEATH OF Sir MATTHEW HALE Kt. LATE Lord Chief Justice of England MATTHEW HALE was Born at Alderly in Glocestershire the first of November 1609. His Grandfather was Robert Hale an Eminent Clothier in Wotton-under-edge in that County where he and his Ancestors had lived for many Descents and they had given several parcels of Land for the use of the Poor which are enjoyed by them to this day This Robert acquired an Estate of ten Thousand Pound which he divided almost equally amongst his five Sons besides the Portions he gave his Daughters from whom a numerous Posterity has sprung His Second Son was Robert Hale a Barrister of Lincolns-Inn he Married Ioan the Daughter of Matthew Poyntz of Alderly Esquire who was descended from that Noble Family of the Poyntz's of Action Of this Marrage there was no other Issue but this one Son His Grandfather by his Mother was his Godfather and gave him his own Name at his Baptism His Father was a Man of that strictness of Conscience that he gave over the practise of the Law because he could not understand the reason of giving Colour in Pleadings which as he thought was to tell a Lye and that with some other things commonly practised seemed to him contrary to that exactness of Truth and Justice which became a Christian so that he withdrew himself from the Inns of Court to live on his Estate in the Country Of this I was informed by an Ancient Gentleman that lived in a friendship with his Son for fifty Years and he heard Judge Iones that was Mr. Hales Contemporary declare this in the Kings-Bench But as the care he had to save his Soul made him abandon a Profession in which he might have raised his Family much higher so his Charity to his poor Neighbours made him not only deal his Alms largely among them while he lived but at his Death he left out of his small Estate which was but 100 l a Year 20 l. a Year to the Poor of Wotton which his Son confirmed to them
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
of the Leiger-Books of Battell Evesham Winton c. one vol. Seldeni Copies of the principal Records in the Red-Book in the Exchequer one vol. Extracts of Records and Treaties relating to Sea-affairs one vol. Records touching Customs Ports Partition of the Lands of Gil. De Clare c. Extract of Pleas in the time of R. 1. King Iohn E. 1. c. one vol. Cartae Antiquae in the Tower Transcribed in 2 vol. Chronological Remembrances extracted out of the Notes of Bishop Usher one volume stitched Inquisitiones de Legibus Walliae one vol. Collections or Records touching Knighthood Titles of Honour Seldeni 1 vol. Mathematicks and Fortifications one vol. Processus Curiae Militaris one vol. A Book of Honour stitched one vol. Extracts out of the Registry of Canterbury Copies of several Records touching proceedings in the Military Court one vol. Abstracts of Summons and Rolls of Parliament out of the Book Dunelm and some Records Alphabetically digested one vol. Abstracts of divers Records in the Office of first Fruits one vol. stitched Mathematical and Astrological Calculations 1 vol. A Book of Divinity Two large Repositories of Records marked A. and B. All those above are in Folio THe proceedings of the Forrests of Windsor Dean and Essex in Quarto one vol. Those that follow are most of them in Velome or Parchment TWo Books of old Statutes one ending H. 7. The other 2 H. 5. with the Sums two vol. Five last years of E. 2. one vol. Reports tempore E. 2. one vol. The Year Book of R. 2. and some others one vol. An old Chronicle from the Creation to E 3. one vol. A Mathematical Book especially of Optiques one vol. A Dutch Book of Geometry and Fortification Murti Benevenlani Geometrica one vol. Reports tempore E. 1. under Titles one vol. An old Register and some Pleas 1 vol. Bernardi Bratrack Peregrinatio one vol. Iter Cantii and London and some Reports tempore E. 2. one vol. Reports tempore E. 1. E. 2. one vol. Leiger Book Abbatiae De Bello Isidori opera Liber altercationis Christianae Philosophiae contra Paganos Historia Petri Manducatorii Hornii Astronomica Historia Ecclesiae Dunelmensis Holandi Chymica De Alchymiae Scriptoribus The black-Book of the New-Law Collected by me and digested into alphabetical Titles Written with my own hand which is the Original Coppy MATTHEW HALE The Conclusion THus lived and died Sir Matthew Hale the renouned Lord Cheif Justice of England He had one of the blessings of Virtue in the highest measure of any of the Age that does not always follow it which was that he was universally much valued and admired by Men of all sides and perswasions For as none could hate him but for his Iustice and Virtues so the great estimation he was generally in made that few durst undertake to defend so ingrateful a Paradox as any thing said to lessen him would have appeared to be His Name is scarce ever mentioned since his Death without particular accents of singular respect His opinion in points of Law generally passes as an uncontroulable authority and is often pleaded in all the Courts of Justice And all that knew him well do still speak of him as one of the perfectest patterns of Religion and Virtue they ever saw The Commendations given him by all sorts of people are such that I can hardly come under the Censures of this Age for any thing I have said concerning him yet if this Book lives to after-times it will be looked on perhaps as a Picture drawn more according to fancy and invention than after the Life if it were not that those who knew him well establishing its Credit in the present Age will make it pass down to the next with a clearer authority I shall pursue his praise no further in my own words but shall add what the present Lord Chancellor of England said concerning him when he delivered the Commission to the Lord Chief Iustice Rainsford who succeeded him in that Office which he began in this manner The Vacancy of the Seat of the Chief Iustice of this Court and that by a way and means so unusual as the Resignation of him that lately held it and this too proceeding from so deploreable a cause as the infirmity of that Body which began to forsake the ablest Mind that ever presided here hath filled the Kingdom with Lamentations and given the King many and pensive thoughts how to supply that Vacancy again And a little after speaking to his Successor He said The very Labours of the place and that weight and fatigue of Business which attends it are no small discouragements For what Shoulders may not justly fear that Burthen which made him stoop that went before you Yet I confess you have a greater discouragement than the meer Burthen of your Place and that is the unimitable Example of your last Predecessor Onerosum est succedere bono Principi was the saying of him in the Panegyrick And you will find it so too that are to succeed such a Chief Iustice of so indefatigable an Industry so invincible a Patience so exemplary an Integrity and so magnanimous a contempt of worldly things without which no Man can be truly great and to all this a Man that was so absolute a Master of the Science of the Law and even of the most abstruce and hidden parts of it that one may truly say of his knowledge in the Law what St. Austin said of St. Hieroms knowledge in Divinity Quod Hieronimus nescivit nullus mortalium unquam scivit And therefore the King would not suffer himself to part with so great a Man till he had placed upon him all the marks of bâ—unty and esteem which his retired and weak Condition was capable of To this high Character in which the expressions as they well become the Eloquence of him who pronounced them so they do agree exactly to the Subject without the abatements that are often to be made for Rhetorick I shall add that part of the Lord Chief Justices answer in which he speaks of his Predecessor A person in whom his eminent Virtues and deep Learning have long managed a contest for the Superiority which is not decided to this day nor will it ever be determined I suppose which shall get the upper hand A person that has sat in this Court these many Years of whose actions there I have been an eye and ear witness that by the greatness of his learning always charmed his Auditors to reverence and attention A person of whom I think I may boldly say that as former times cannot shew any Superiour to him so I am confident succeeding and future time will never shew any equal These considerations heightned by what I have heard from your Lordship concerning him made me anxious and doubtful and put me to a stand how I should succeed so able so good and so great a Man It doth very much trouble me that I who in comparison of him am but like a Candle lighted in the Sun-shine or like a Glow-worm at mid-day should succeed so great a Person that is and will be so eminently famous to all Posterity and I must ever wear this Motto in my breast to comfort me and in my actions to excuse me Sequitur quamvis non passibus aequis Thus were Panegyricks made upon him while yet alive in that same Court of Justice which he had so worthily governed As he was honoured while he lived so he was much lamented when he died And this will still be acknowledged as a just inscription for his Memory though his modesty forbid any such to be put on his Tomb-stone THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST PATTERNS THIS AGE HAS AFFORDED WHETHER IN HIS PRIVATE DEPORTMENT AS A CHRISTIAN OR IN HIS PUBLICK EMPLOYMENTS EITHER AT THE BAR OR ON THE BENCH FINIS
sure never to provoke any in particular by censuring or reflecting on their Actions for many that have Conversed much with him have told me they never heard him once speak ill of any Person He was imployed in his practice by all the Kings party He was assigned Council to the Earl of Strafford and Arch Bishop Laud and afterwards to the Blessed King himself when brought to the infamous Pageantry of a Monk Tryal and offered to plead for him with all the Courage that so Glorious a Cause ought to have inspired him with but was not suffered to appear because the King refusing as he had good reason to submit to the Court it was pretended none could be admitted to speak for him He was also Council for the Duke of Hamilton the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel His Plea for the former of these I have published in the Memoires of that Dukes life Afterwards also being Council for the Lord Craven he pleaded with that force of Argument that the then Attorney General threatned him for appearing against the Government to whom he answered he was Pleading in defence of those Laws which they declared they would maintain and preserve and he was doing his duty to his Client so that he was not to be daunted with Threatnings Upon all these occasions he had discharged himself with so much Learning Fidelity and Courage that he came to be generally imployed for all that Party Nor was he satisfied to appear for their just Defence in the way of his Profession but he also relieved them often in their Necessities which he did in a way that was no less Prudent than Charitable considering the dangers of that time for he did often deposite considerable Sums in the hands of a Worthy Gentleman of the Kings Party who knew their Necessities well and was to Distribute his Charity according to his own Discretion without either letting them know from whence it came or giving himself any Account to whom he had given it Cromwell seeing him possest of so much Practice and he being one of the Eminentest Men of the Law who was not at all affraid of doing his duty in those Critical times resolved to take him off from it and raise him to the Bench. Mr. Hale saw well enough the Snare laid for him and though he did not much consider the prejudice it would be to himself to Exchange the easie and safer profits he had by his Practice for a Iudges place in the Common-Pleas which he was required to accept of yet he did deliberate more on the Lawfulness of taking a Commission from Usurpers but having considered well of this he came to be of opinion that it being absolutely necessary to have Iustice and Property kept up at all times It was no Sin to take a Commission from Usurpers if he made no Declaration of his acknowledging their Authority which he never did He was much urged to Accept of it by some Eminent Men of his own Profession who were of the Kings Party as Sir Orlando Bridgeman and Sir Geoffery Palmer and was also satisfied concerning the lawfulness of it by the resolution of some famous Divines in particular Dr. Sheldon and Dr. Henchman who were afterwards promoted to the Sees of Canterbury and London To these were added the importunities of all his Friends who thought that in a time of so much Danger and Oppression it might be no small Security to the Nation to have a Man of his Integrity and Abilities on the Bench and the Usurpers themselves held him in that Estimation that they were glad to have him give a Countenance to their Courts and by promoting one that was known to have different Principles from them Affected the Reputation of Honouring and trusting men of Eminent Virtues of what perswasion soever they might be in relation to publick Matters But he had greater Scruples concerning the proceeding against Felons and putting offenders to Death by that Commission since he thought the Sword of Justice belonging only by right to the lawful Prince it seemed not warrantable to proceed to a Capital Sentence by an Authority derived from Usurpers yet at first he made distinction between common and ordinary Felonies and offences against the State for the last he would never meddle in them for he thought these might be often legal and warrantable Actions and that the putting Men to Death on that account was Murder but for the ordinary Felonies he at first was of opinion that it was as necessary even in times of Usurpation to Execute Justice in those cases as in the matters of property For after the King was Murthered he laid by all his Collections of the Pleas of the Crown and that they might not fall into ill hands he hid them behind the Wainscotting of his Study for he said there was no more occasion to use them till the King should be again restored to his Right and so upon his Majesties Restoration he took them out and went on in his design to perfect that great Work Yet for some time after he was made a Iudge when he went the Circuit he did sit on the Crown Side and Judged Criminals But having considered farther of it he came to think that it was at least better not to do it and so after the Second or Third Circuit he refused to sit any more on the Crown Side and told plainly the reason for in matters of Blood he was always to choose the safer Side And indeed he had so carried himself in some Tryals that they were not unwilling he should withdraw from medling farther in them of which I shall give some instances Not long after he was made a Iudge which was in the year 1653 when he went the Circuit a Tryal was brought before him at Lincoln concerning the Murther of one of the Townsmen who had been of the Kings Party and was Killed by a Souldier of the Garrison there He was in the Fields with a Fowling piece on his Shoulder which the Souldier seeing he came to him and said it was contrary to an Order which the Protector had made That none who had been of the Kings Party should carry Armes and so he would have forced it from him But as the other did not regard the Order so being stronger than the Souldier he threw him down and having beat him he left him The Souldier went into the Town and told one of his fellow Souldiers how he had been used and got him to go with him and lie in wait for the Man that he might be revenged on him They both watched his coming to Town and one of them went to him to demand his Gun which he refusing the Soldier struck at him and as they were strugling the other came behind and ran his Sword into his Body of which he presently died It was in the time of the Assizes so they were both Tried Against the one there was no Evidence of forethought Felony so he was only found
found they were really very good and just So after this he slackned much of his former Strictness of refusing to meddle in Causes upon the ill Circumstances that appear'd in them at first In his pleading he abhorred those too common faults of misreciting Evidences quoting Presidents or Books falsly or asserting things Confidently by which ignorant Juries or weak Judges are too often wrought on He Pleaded with the same sincerity that he used in the other parts of his Life and used to say it was as great a dishonour as a Man was capable of that for a little Money he was to be hired to say or do otherwise than as he thought All this he ascribed to the unmeasurable desire of heaping up Wealth which corrupted the Souls of some that seem'd to be otherwise born and made for great things When he was a Practitioner differences were often referr'd to him which he setled but would accept of no reward for his Pains though offered by both Parties together after the agreement was made for he said in those cases he was made a Iudge and a Iudge ought to take no Money If they told him he lost much of his time in considering their Business and so ought to be acknowledged for it his answer was as one that heard it told me Can I spend my Time better than to make People friends must I have no time allowed me to do good in He was naturally a quick man yet by much Practise on himself he subdued that to such a degree that he would never run suddenly into any Conclusion concerning any Matter of Importance Festina lente was his beloved Motto which he ordered to be Ingraven on the Head of his Staff and was often heard say that he had observed many witty Men run into great Errours because they did not give themselves time to think but the heat of Imagination making some Notions appear in good Coolours to them they without staying till that cooled were violently led by the Impulses it made on them whereas calm and slow Men who pass for dull in the common estimation could search after Truth and find it out as with more deliberation so with greater certainty He laid aside the tenth penny of all he got for the Poor and took great care to be well informed of proper Objects for his Charities And after he was a Judge many of the Perquisites of his Place as his Dividend of the Rule and Box-money was sent by him to the Jayls to discharge poor Prisoners who never knew from whose hands their Releif came It is also a Custom for the Marshall of the Kings-Bench to present the Judges of that Court with a piece of Plate for a New-years-gift that for the Cheif Justice being larger than the rest This he intended to have refused but the other Judges told him it belonged to his Office and the refusing it would be a prejudice to his Successors so he was perswaded to take it but he sent word to the Marshall that instead of Plate he should bring him the value of it in Money and when he received it he immediately sent it to the Prisons for the Releif and discharge of the poor there He usually invited his poor Neighbours to Dine with him and made them sit at Table with himself And if any of them were Sick so that they could not come he would send Meat warm to them from his Table and he did not only releive the Poor in his own Parish but sent Supplies to the Neighbouring Parishes as there was occasion for it And he treated them all with the tenderness and familiarity that became one who considered they were of the same Nature with himself and were reduced to no other Necessities but such as he himself might be brought to But for common Beggars if any of these came to him as he was in his Walks when he lived in the Country he would ask such as were Capable of Working why they went about so idly If they answered it was because they could find no Work he often sent them to some Field to gather all the Stones in it and lay them on a Heap and then would pay them liberally for their Pains This being done he used to send his Carts and caused them to be carried to such places of the High-way as needed mending But when he was in Town he dealt his Charities very liberally even among the Street-Beggars and when some told him that he thereby incouraged Idleness and that most of these were notorious Cheats he used to answer that he beleived most of them were such but among them there were some that were great Objects of Charity and prest with greivous Necessities and that he had rather give his Alms to twenty who might be perhaps Rogues than that one of the other sort should perish for want of that small Releif which he gave them He loved Building much which he affected cheifly because it imployed many poor People but one thing was observed in all his Buildings that the changes he made in his Houses was always from Magnificence to Usefulness for he avoided every thing that looked like Pomp or Vanity even in the Walls of his Houses he had good Judgement in Architecture and an excellent faculty in contriving well He was a Gentle Landlord to all his Tenants and was ever ready upon any reasonable Complaints to make Abatements for he was Merciful as well as Righteous One instance of this was of a Widow that lived in London and had a small Estate near his House in the Country from which her Rents were ill Returned to her and at a Cost which she could not well bear so she bemoaned her self to him and he according to his readiness to assist all poor People told her he would order his Steward to take up her Rents and the returning them should cost her nothing But after that when there was a falling of Rents in that Country so that it was necessary to make abatements to the Tenant yet he would have it to lie on himself and made the Widow be paid her Rent as formerly Another remarkable instance of his Iustice and goodness was that when he found ill Money had been put into his hands he would never suffer it to be vented again for he thought it was no excuse for him to put false Money in other Peoples hands because some had put it in his A great heap of this he had gathered together for many had so far abused his Goodness as to mix base Money among the Fees that were given him It is like he intended to have destroyed it but some Thieves who had observed it broke into his Chamber and stole it thinking they had got a Prize which he used to tell with some pleasure imagining how they found themselves deceived when they perceived what sort of Booty they had fall'n on After he was made a Iudge he would needs pay more for every Purchase he made than it was worth