had the gift of prophecy though their eye sight failen them as did with Jacob yet they were called Seers because they foresaw future things they were so old that for their Age and gravity they were sometimes upbraided so Elisha by the Children was mocked who undoubtedly were so taught by their ungodly Fathers to say of him go up thou baldhead Neither doth a melancholy constitution as some have imagined make men prophetical either in sleeping or waking but on the contrary renders them uncapable as is evident by the examples of Jacob and Elisha the first of whom being in deep sadness which is the inseparable Companion of melancholy for the loss of his Son Joseph was at the same disabled from prophecy or otherwise he could have told what Fortune had befallen his Son who was not dead but sold by his Brethren Hence Mercer tells us it was an ordinary saying among the Rabbines Maeror prophetiam impedit In like manner the Prophet Elisha for the sorrow of Elijah his Master taken away from him and the anger he had conceived against Jehoram that wicked Prince whilst these two passions were predominant over him he could not prophesie till the Minstrel played with her Musical Instrument to drive away his melancholy sadness and then the hand of the Lord its said came upon him and he prophesied saying Thus saith the Lord c. By all which I hope it is evident that hypocondriacal persons who are grievously afflicted with melancholy are not thereby disposed to prophesie and then by necessary consequence it followeth that Dreams arising from the same natural cause cannot be said prophetical no more then that of Albertus magnus who dream'd that hot Scalding Pitch was poured upon his Brest aâ—…d so soon as he awakned from his sleep he vomited up abundance of adust Chollar Such Dreams certainly arise from the ill habitude of the Body through fullness of bad humors But there is another sort of Dreams which may be called divine or supernatural which are imprinted on the mind of man either by God himself or his holy Angels from which necessarily follows prophecy because such extraordinary impressions are usual for those ends And this I take to be the Reverend Doctors Dream who was a man of so great Piety as well as Study that I cannot think otherwise but that he was able to discern the different motions of his Soul whether they were natural or supernatural of which last he was so firmly assured by his own reason and great Learning that no arguments could disswade him to the contrary St. Austiine saith Animam habere quandam vim divinationis in seipsa That the Soul of man hath a certain power of Divination in it self when it is abstracted from bodily actions I confess then it must needs be drawn up to higher Communion with God than ordinary but more immediately I rather think with Tertullian a little before death about the time of its separation from the Body because many dying persons have wonderfully foretold things which afterward came to pass the reason of which that good Father giveth and therein I judge he was no Montanist when he saith Quia Anima in ipso divertio penitus agitari enunciet quae vidit quae audit quae incipit nosseâ—… Because the Soul then acts most vigorously at the last Broath declares what things it seeth it heareth and what it begins to know now entring into Eternity So the heavenly and pious Doctor according to the prenotions of his Death forseeing his time was short gave his Wife strict charge again that very night as he was going to Bed and in appearance well that she should bury him according to his Dream she affrighted with this dreadful charge sate by him while he fell into a Sleep out of which he soon awaked in a Feverish distemper and violent Hick-up which she taking notice of said I fear Mr. Heylyn you have got cold with going abroad to day but he answered very readily no it was Deathâ—… Hick-up and so it proved for he grew worse and worse till he dyed Now some I hear impute the cause of his sickness to the eating of a Tansey but this is false for I heard the contrary relation from her own mouth his Dream was on the Saturday night his Surplice happened to be burnt on Sunday morning all which day he pass'd in private mediatation in his Study and on the Monday what time he had to spare he spent in providing a Settlement for his Wife as aforesaid But to return again to his good mans sickness of which the true cause as his Physician said was the reliques of his long quartane Ague not purged out by Physick to which he was alwaies averse threw him into a malignant Feverâ—… in which â—…he remained insensible till some few hours before he dyed but when it pleased God to restore unto him his Senses again he most zealously glorified his Name with praises and thanksgivings for his mercies towards himself and Family earnestly praying for them and often commending them to Gods Heaveuly care and protection at the same time he left â—… little Book of Prayers with his dear Wife for her devotion which she shewed afterward to me being a Collection of many Collects out of the Common Prayer to every one of which he had added a most fervent Prayer of his own composure that little Book she said should be the Prayer-Book of her Devotion while she lived Finally as his time grew shorter and shorter he prayed with more vehemency of Spirit sometimes to God sometimes to his Saviour and to the blessed Comforter of his Soul rejoycing exceedingly that he should live to Ascension day uttering forth most heavenly expressions to the sweet Comfoâ—…t of others aud principally of his own Soul with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or full assurance of his Salvation through Christ Jesus which last unspeakable joy and consolation above all other God is pleased to be bestow upon the faithful and seal it to them with the earnest of his Spirit at the hour of Death At which time his Soul now ready to depart and be with Christ his Saviour one Mr. Merrol a Verger of the Church coming into his Chamber to see him he presently called him to his Bed side saying to him I know it is Church time with you and I know this is Ascenfion day I am ascending to the Church Triumphant I go to my God and Saviour unto joyes Caeleftial and to Halleluja's eternal with which and other like expressions he dyed upon Holy Thursday An. Dom. 1663. in the Climacterial year of his Life threescore and three in 〈◊〉 number the Sevenths and ninths do often fatally concurre He was afterward buried under his Sub-Deans Seat according to his Dream and desire His Death lamented by all good men because there was a Pillar though not a Bishop falln in the Church of whom I may say in the Poets words Quando ullum invenient parem
the regular Clergy In the year 1639. when his Majesty began his Journy against the Scots upon the liberal contribution of the Clergy he gave fifty Pounds out of his Parsonage in Alresford and for Southwarn-borough thirteen pounds thirteen shillings and four pence at the same time when he had not payed of his first Fruits for this Living He was the first of all the Clergy that subscribed in Hampshire being a leading man his good Example so moved others that the Clergy of that County exceeded their other Brethren they raised for the Kings use the sum of 1348l 2s 4d After his Majesty King Charles the Second most happy Restauration towards the Royal Benevolence he gave fifty Pounds for his Parsonage of Alresford besides his share of a thousand Pound as he was Prebendary of Westminster I should have added also which I had almost forgotten in the beginning of the War he gave to the Old King Mony and Plate to the value of an hundred Pounds by all which freely parted out of his Purse and more than his Estate could well bear having many Children to provide for he sufficiently confuted the Calumny of L' Strange who said according to his gentile and new mode of writing hard words the Doctor was Philargurous when poor man what he parted with and what he was plundred of he had scarce enough left to insconse his Person from frigidity according to the good squires Language For his Charity to the Poor he had always a liberal Heart to cast his Bread upon the Waters when he had Bread to cast that is when he was in a condition to relieve others at which time he gave Alms to his Enemies as well as to the honest Poor of the Kings Party for being asked the question when he lived in Abingdon whether he would serve St. Ellens poor being of the adverse Party against the Royalists He answered no exception ought to be made in the Case of Charity Wherein he followed the Example of our blessed Lord who had compassion on the poor Samaritans as well as upon the Jews to whom he shewed many acts of piety and goodness besides the Cure of their bodily infirmities its probable he gave them an Alms-peny for which reason Judas carried the Bag that had a common stock in it for the Poor to be used as occasion served The good Doctor hath sent Meat from his own Table to the Prisoners in Goal and at Abington such as were condemned to dye he took pains to instruct and prepare them for Death and to administer the holy Sacrament unto them before their Execution particularly to one Captain Francis and his Company condemned with him at Abingdon Assizes the Captain being a known Royalist for which reason it was thought the Judge was so severe against him upon his Tryal and plainly partial in the Examination of Witnesses of both sides The Doctor after the Sentence of Condemnation went to Prison to pray with him and administred the Sacrament to him and the other Prisoners who were penitent provivided Bread and Wine for them at his own Charge all which certainly was the most Christian Act of Piety and Charity that could be shewed to those miserable Souls I could instance many other particulars which manifested his goodness wherein he ought to be followed as a worthy Example but that its time now to draw near to his End For do the Prophets live for ever as the good Prophet himself said No 't is the deplored Condition of Mankind to live a while for to dye after the holy men of God had served God in their Generation they must fulfil the end of their Prophesie with their Lives as God said to Daniel Tu autem abi ad termiuum Go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in the Lot at the end of the days on which Geierus and Junius Comment thus Compara te ad mortem disposita domo â—…ua contentus hac revelatione non ultra labores requiesces a laboribus corpore in Sepulchro Anima vero in sinu Abrahae stabis in haereditate tua caelesti aeterna vel illa ejus parte quae tibi ex dècreto Dei continget Prepare thy self for Death set thy house in order be content with this Revelation thou shalt labour no more but rest from all thy labours and troubles with thy Body in the Grave but thy Soul in Abraâ—…ams Bosom thou shalt abide for ever in thy caelestial Inheritance and in that degree of Glory which God hath decreed for thee So all these things happened to this good man and I may call him prophetical because he strangely foresaw his own Death set his house in order and prepared himself accordingly and an end was soon put after to his Days and of making many Books because much study as Solomon â—…aith is a weariness of the flesh though the Mind or Spirit of a Man is never tired out or can be satisfied because Knowledge is no burden By the Almighties good pleasure and providence he was now removed from his House in Abingdon to his house in Westminster where he lived not long and from thence to the House of Darkness where all must take up their last Lodging The Grave is mine house saith Job I have made my Bed in the Darkness What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death Shall â—…e deliver his Soul from the hand of the Grave Is not this the House appointed for all Living According to the French Proverb three things carry away all with them L'Eglise la Court la Mort L'Eglise prend de vif mort La Court prend le droiet le tort La Mort prend le foible le fort The Church the Court and Death take all The Church both Living and the Dead install To Court all Causes come either right or wrong But Death destroys all Mortals weak or strong Therefore we shall speak of the Circumstances foregoing his Death and the memorable Accidents happning to him about the same time He had before been greivously afflicted with a Quartan Ague that deadly Enemy unto old Age and seldom cured by the Physician Febris quartana opprobrium medici The poor Doctor had wrastled with the Disease a long time and seemingly got the victory of it for the paroxysms or usual fits of this sore distemper had departed from him but withal so violently shaken him and left such a weakness behind them so exhausted his strength and vital Spirits that any one might perceive what strange alterations his sickness had wrought in him for he was before of a fresh lively complexion a man vigorous in action but now grown feeble and weak of a pale discoloured countenance the fore-runner of Death his Cheeks fallen his Eyes a little sunk within his Temples and leanness of Face and whole Body that shewed he was hastning on fast to the end of his Pilgrimage Yet I dare not say there is
for such as shine in a more eminent Sphere in the holy Hierarchy to have tendred these particulars to consideration which since they either have not done or that no visible effect hath appeared thereof I could not chuse but cast my poor Mite into the Treasury which if it may conduce to the Churches good I shall have my wish and howsoever shall be satisfied in point of Conscience that I have not failed in doing my duty to this Church according to the light of my understanding and then what happens to me shall not be material And thus again most humbly craving pardon for this great presumption I subscribe my self My Lord Your Lordships most humble Servant to be commanded PETER HEYLYN Soon after a Convocation was called by his Majesties Writ and during the time of their siting while he lived he seldom was without Visitors from them who constantly upon occasion came to him for his Advice and Direction in matters relating to the Church because he had been himself an ancient Clerk in the old Convocations Many Persons of Quality besides the Clergy for the reverence they had to his Learning and the delight they took in his Company payed him several Visits which he never repayed being still so devoted to his studies that except going to Church it was a rare thing to find him from home I happened to be there when the good Bishop of Durham Dr. Cousins came to see him who after a great deal of familiar discourse between them said I wonder Brother Heylyn thou art not a Bishop for we all know thou hast deserved it To which he answered much good may it do the new Bishops I do not envy them but wish they may do more than I have done Although he was but a Presbyter I believe their Lordships thought him worthy of their holy Order I am sure he was reverenc'd by some of them as St. Jerome was by St. Augustine Quamvis Episcopus major est Presbitero Augustinus tamen minor est Jeronimo The one of which was an old Presbyter the other a young Bishop but both of incomparable Learning and Vertues The old Presbyter writeth thus to St. Austin the great Bishop of his time In scripturarum campo juvenis non provoces senem Nos nostra habuimus tempora nunc te currente longa spatia transmeante nobis debitur otium For the good Doctors indefatigable pains and continued industry he was second to none For his Writings and Sufferings in the Cause of Monarâ—…by and Episcopacy he did spend himself and was spent For the sad Persecutions he suffered in the time of War his Enemies hunting â—…fter his Life as Ahaziahs Captains did for the man of God the woful shifts and straits he was put to to secure himself from violence how many times he narrowly escaped death from the hands of his Enemies as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler What fears and distractions were often upon him that he might say O si nescissem Literas I would to God I had not known a Letter of the Book for his Learning and Loyalty were the cause of all his Calamities yet notwithstanding he lived in an ungrateful Age that no respect was shewed to him or his But he returned only to his own in Peace which he enjoyed a little while before the War and less time after the Churches setlement It hath been the Lot many times of great Scholars to be neglected which made his Enemies rejoyce and not a little insult over him to see him only passed by and of all others remain in Statu quo in the same Condition he was in before which after the happy revolution of publick affairs neither Law nor Justice could hinder him of I will not say of him as the Cardinal did of Melancton that most Learned Divine of the Reformation O ingratam Germaniam quae tanti viri tantosque labores non pluris aestimet It fa redalso ill with Luthers Memory after his Death whose Widdow hoping some favours would be shewed to her for his merits was shamefully disappointed Praeter viduitatis incommoda quae mutiplicia experta est magnam ingratitudinem multorum pro quibus sperans benesicia ob ingentia mariti in Ecclesiam merita turpiter frustrata est So ordinary it is foâ—… men of admired worth who have done publick service either in Church or State to be soonest forgotten Now having run through the principal circumstances of this Reverend mans Life it behoves us to say something of his Person Conversation Qualities and the memorable Accidents hapning before the time of his Death and so leave his Memory among worthy men For his Person he was of a middle Stature a slender spare man his Face oval of fresh complexion looking rather young than old his Hair short and curl'd had few or no gray hairs his Eyes quick and sparkling before he had the ill fortune to loose his Sight His natural Constitution being hot and dry It was conceived by skilful Oculists his Brain heated with immoderate study burnt up the Christaline humor of his Eyes And this was most probable he being continually engaged in writing either for Church or State his Brain was like a Laboratory kept hot with study decayed his Eyes if there be any truth in the Naturalists Observation magna cogitatio obcaecat abducto intus visu And this he look'd upon as the saddest affliction that ever befel him in his whole Life Yet no doubt he was comforted with the words which he had often read in Socrates of Anthony the good Monk unto Dydimus that learned man of Alexandria Let it not grieve thee at all saith he O noble Dydimus that thou art bereaved of thy corporal Eyes and carnal sight for though you want such Eyes as commonly are given to Flyes and Gnats yet hast thou greatly to rejoyce that the Eyes wherewith the Angels do behold their Maker wherewith God is seen of Men are not taken from thee Our blessed Saviour said the light of the Body is the Eye for without these two Luminaries which God hath placed in the Microcosm of man None can be said in this World to live a true happy Day who are under such a continual Night of Darkness but that the intellectual Light of the Soul the Candle of the Lord within us supplies that miserable defect with a far greater felicity by extraordinary endowments of the mind which Seneca calls melior pars nostri and it is the best part of man indeed though all the Members and Parts of our Bodies are so excellently compacted together by the Wisdom of the Creator and have such a necessary depence upon one another for the exercise of their several Offices that the Compositum of Man cannot be complete without them and chiefly the Eye being the guide of the whole Body hath preheminence over the rest of the Members saith the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because by it we