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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 MORAL CONTRASTS: 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE POWER OF RELIGION 
 
 EXEMPLIFIED ,-JJNDER. 
 
 DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. 
 
 BY WILLIAM GILPIX, 
 
 PREBENDARY OF SALISBURY. AND VICA!* 
 OF BOLD RE, IN NEW FOXKST. 
 
 ^ LYMIXGTON : 
 
 .PRINTED BY J. B. RUTTER ; AND SOLD BY 
 
 .MESSRS. CADELL AND DAVIF.S, IN 
 
 THE STRAND, LONDON.
 
 s 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 OME time ago I drew up a little 
 contrail between a virtuous and a vi- 
 cious character adapted to the lower 
 people ; and intended at firft merely 
 for the ufe of my own pariih. It was 
 afterwards printed for fale, at the de- 
 fire of my bookfeller;* and as it was 
 better received than I imagined fuch 
 a trifle could have been, I was in- 
 duced to complete the plan by ano- 
 
 * Under the title of John Trueman and Rich- 
 ard Atkins, printed for R. Blamire, and now fold 
 fcy Mcffrs. Cadell and Davies. 
 
 thei
 
 ther little work of the fame Idnd, a- 
 clapted to the higher ranks of people ; 
 to whom I now offer it. 
 
 To the two firft characters, which 
 are both Jiditious^ I have added two 
 others, with a view to improve the, 
 coniraji) and to throw a ftill ilronger 
 light on the power of religion. Thefe 
 .two latter characters are taken from 
 real life. 
 
 The former of them is extracted 
 chiefly from a book entitled " Some 
 " paffages of the life, and death of 
 " John, Earl of Rochefler, written by 
 u his own direction, on his death-bed, 
 ** by Gilbert Burnet. bilhop of Salif- 
 
 " bury."
 
 f t. ) 
 
 " bury." The w/k>/ of the bifh- 
 
 op's trcatife, which records many 
 things net mentioned here, is well 
 worth the attentive perufal of every 
 one, who would fee in a flrong light 
 the afcendancy of religion over wick- 
 ednefs. With the bifhop's narrative 
 is commonly printed a fermon preach- 
 ed at Lord Rochefter's funeral, which 
 contains many other remarkable par- 
 t'culars. I have extracted fome of 
 the moft interefting from both. 
 
 The laft of thefe little memoirs' 
 is the hi (lory of a child of Nature a 
 young African prince, of the name 
 f Naimbanna, who was fent into- 
 
 England.
 
 ( vi. ) 
 
 England by the Sierra Leone com- 
 pany, to be inftrufted in the chriftian 
 religion. The materials of this me- 
 moir confift partly of extracts from the 
 reports of that company and partly 
 of particulars received from thofe, 
 who kindly took on them the in- 
 ftruQion of this young African. 
 
 An apology is perhaps due for thus 
 mixing fittion and reality in the fame 
 work. But in real characters we can- 
 jiot always procure the feveral circum- 
 ftances, and pofitions in life we wifli 
 to exhibit. And as to the impropri- 
 ety of mixing them, in faft, I am in- 
 clined
 
 ( vii. ) 
 
 clir.ed to confider them all of the fame 
 fpecies. The two firft of thefe me- 
 moirs rlo not mean to recommend 
 themfelves under the idea of Jiclion ; 
 hut as figures drawn from the life,. 
 If indeed they had been embelliflied 
 with romantic, or unnatural circum- 
 ilances, they could not certainly have 
 united with real life. In that cafe, 
 
 Ncc pcs, nee caput uni 
 
 Reddatur 
 
 But I fuppofe there is not a Jingle 
 incident in thefe ficlions which hath 
 not been exemplified at different 
 times in a thoufand inftances in real 
 life ; tho perhaps they never all met 
 
 toge-
 
 f viii. ) 
 
 together in any two perfons. They 
 differ therefore, I conceive, from real 
 life no otherwife, than as a landfcape 
 compofed from feletted parts of va- 
 rious countries differs from the por- 
 trait of fome real fcene. Both are 
 equally copies from nature. Nay 
 perhaps the fictitious character is the 
 more natural one. The deep repent- 
 ance of Lord Ro.chefi;er, and the in- 
 genuous mind of Naimbanna, which 
 thefe pages prefcnt, are circumftances 
 full as much, 1 fear, out of the com- 
 mon road of nature, as any, which 
 occur in .the two former of thefe me- 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 MR. WILLOUGHBY 
 
 AND 
 
 SIR JAMES LEIGH.
 
 - ERRATA. 
 
 FACIE 
 
 For had turning read and turning - - - - -37 
 Ft>r room, read the room ; and for thofe 
 
 perfons read /Af/t 1 perfons -------- 51 
 
 For good-tempered man, read goo<f tempered 
 
 a man ---------------- 75 
 
 F-or ?w very Jlwrt. read a very Jkort . - - - 101
 
 A CATALOGUE of Mr. GIL PIN'S Works, 
 fold by Meflrs. CAD ELL and DAVIES, in 
 the Strand. 
 
 An Expofition of the New Teftament, intended as an 
 introduction to the fh;dy '! the holy fcriptures, by 
 pointing out the leading ienfe, and conneclion of the 
 facred writers. Third Edition, 2 vois. 8vo. 
 
 Lectures on the Catechifm of the Church of England 
 Foiuth Edition, 121110. m , ~\ 
 
 Lives of ieveral Pcformers, of different Editions, and 
 prices, the whole together 125. 6d. 
 
 EfTay on Prints. Fourth Edition, price 4*. 
 
 Pifturefqi e Remarks on the River Wye. Third Edi- 
 tion, 8vo. price 175. 
 
 _ on the Lakes of Cumberland and Weflmore- 
 
 land, 2 vols. Third Edition, price il. us. 6d. 
 
 . on the Highlands of Scotland, 2 vols. Se- 
 cond Edition, price il. i6s. 
 
 on Forcit Scenery, 2 vols. Second Edition, 
 
 price il. i6s. 
 
 Three Efiays on Pifturefque JJeauty on Pifturefque 
 Travel and on the art ol flu'tchiug Landfcape. Se- 
 cond Edition, price ics. 6d. 
 
 Life of John Trueman and Richard Atkins, for the tife 
 of fe'rvant's-balls farm-houfes and cottages ; price 
 lod. or 108 for 4!. 
 
 Account of William Baker, price 3d.
 
 .R. WILLOUGHBY was the 
 ion of a very worthy father, and 
 of an excellent mother ; both of 
 whom took great pains in impreffing 
 his mind with an early fcnfe of 
 religion. As he grew up, his father 
 refolved to educate him in a manner 
 very different from the fafhionable 
 mode cf educating youth. He was 
 afraid of a public fchool. He was 
 afraid alfo of a univerfity either at 
 home, or abroad : and ftill more he 
 B was
 
 was afraid of foreign travel ; which, 
 in his opinion, afforded little advan- 
 tage to an Englifh gentleman. 
 
 He placed his fon therefore at an 
 early age under the care of a neigh- 
 bouring clergyman who had no other 
 charge; and of whofe piety and learn- 
 ing he was well affured. With this 
 worthy gentleman, young Mr. Wil- 
 loughby pa (Ted feveral years with 
 great advantage ; making at different 
 times, as his education advanced, ex- 
 curfions for amufement, into different 
 parts of the kingdom, fometimcs with 
 his father, and fometimes with his 
 tutor. 
 
 Mr.
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 Mr. Wil'loughby in the mean time, 
 was often taxed with bringing up his 
 fon in fo reclufe a manner. His 
 reply was ; he did not think our pub- 
 lic fchools, and univerfities, made 
 religion fo much the grand point of 
 education, as he cauld wifh. They 
 made human learning he thought, take 
 the lead too much. Beiides, the dil- 
 fipation of youth in this licentious 
 age made him dread a conneclion with 
 them. In foberer times he mould 
 have been kfs afraid. " I chu'fe ra- 
 " ther, faid he, to purfue my own 
 " method. My firit bufmefs is to 
 ** make my fon a good chriftian, 
 J3 2
 
 (- 4 ) 
 
 " which is the foundation of every 
 " thing that is ufeful, and beneficial. 
 " 1 fhail then endeavour to qualify 
 " him for that ftation, in which Pro- 
 " vidence hath placed him." 
 
 Accordingly, when he was about 
 the age of eighteen, the old gentleman 
 brought him home ; and carrying him 
 one day into his ftudy, he feated him 
 near his own elbow-chair ; and taking 
 him by the hand, " My dear Frank, 
 64 faid he, I am now growing into years, 
 " and wifli to difmcumber myfeif from 
 "the management of my affairs. You 
 " are now of an age to afM me: and 
 " there is no afTiftance, which a fa- 
 
 " ther
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 * ; tlier can have, fo deftrable as that 
 " of a \\-cll difpofcd Ton. Their inte- 
 " refts are the lame. Befides, added 
 u he, as you arc to be bred to your fa- 
 " ther's profeffion that of a country 
 " gentleman while you ferve me, 
 " you will alfo be learning, if I may 
 4i fo fpeak, your own trade." 
 
 Nothing could be more agreeable 
 to young Mr. Wiiloughby, than the 
 idea of being of ufe to his father, 
 lie only feared his own inability. 
 With the affillance however of an old 
 fie ward, he hoped every thing \\ould 
 go on well. With him therefore at 
 h;s elbow, he fettled accounts -re- 
 B 3 newed
 
 f 6 ) 
 
 newed Icafcs and eafed his father of 
 all trouble, except that of now and 
 then figning his name. And yet he 
 had fufficient time for his hooks, and 
 the indulgence of his tafte in the po- 
 lite arts, of which he was extremely 
 fond, and in which his father greatly 
 encouraged him as a rational amufe- 
 n-.ent. 
 
 One thing, in which his father 
 employed him, was to pay regularly 
 all his little penfions to poor widows, 
 Superannuated labourers, and old fer- 
 vants, of whom he had feveral on his 
 lift. 
 
 Among his own labourers, and 
 B 4 thofe
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 thofe of his tenants, it was his cuftom 
 alfo, \vhen the parents were deferring 
 people, to allow four guineas a year 
 for every child above three. But 
 when the elded went out, the fourth 
 was confidered as a third. In paying 
 all thefe little penfions, which were 
 fcattered about the country, Mr-Wil- 
 loughby found no inconvenience, as 
 he made them confident with his ufual 
 exercife on horfeback. It was an 
 employment too, in which he found 
 much pleafure, as he was every where 
 joyfully received on fo kind an er- 
 rand; and found his own happinefs 
 more and more increafed, the more 
 
 he
 
 iTe 'became the in-ftrumcnt of happi- 
 rcefs to others. 
 
 In the mean time his father carried 
 him always \vith him to the feffions - 
 the afiizes and county-meetings, to 
 mkiiiLe him by degrees into the know- 
 ledge of fuch affairs, as might after- 
 wards engage him. Thus by training 
 him up in the bufincfs of a country 
 gentleman, and the various offices of 
 a ufeful life, he thought he had done 
 'more for him, than if he had lent him 
 to the heft univerfity in Europe. 
 When they came home from any 
 public meeting, the old gentleman 
 always afliiled his fon in making ob- 
 ferva lions
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 fervations on men, and things. Pf 
 he had obferved any gentleman, who 
 had behaved with propriety, and was 
 liftened to with attention or any, 
 who had been loud, overbearing, and 
 treated with neglecl, he would re- 
 mark to his fon the propriety, or the 
 impropriety of every thing he had 
 i'ecn. 
 
 While Mr. Willoughby was thus 
 training up an affeclionate fon in the 
 ufeful offices of life; and was about 
 to give him more confequence by 
 fettling an independence upon him, 
 he was fuddenly carried ofi' by a fit 
 
 of
 
 of apoplexy, before his fon had yet 
 attained his twenty-feeond year. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Mr. Wil- 
 loughby lived Sir Thomas Leigh, 
 \vhofe eldeft fon was nearly about the 
 age of Mr. Willoughby. Sir Tho- 
 mas was one of thofe prudent parents, 
 who blamed exceedingly the reclufe 
 manner, in which his neighbour Mr. 
 Wiiloughby brought up his fon; and 
 gave a very different education to his 
 own. He thought a knowledge of 
 the world at large was indifpenfably 
 neceffary to a gentleman of fortune. 
 To fee the tricks, and obliquity of
 
 mankind with his own eyes, was tfoc 
 only way, he faid, by which a young 
 man could be taught to guard againit 
 them. Sir Thomas was what the 
 world called a decent man. He was 
 fcldom guilty of any open breach of 
 duty; but he had no great folicitude 
 about religion ; and thought accom- 
 plimments flood higher in the fcale of 
 life, than chriltian virtues. Under 
 the impreflion of thefe ideas he fent 
 his fon to a public fchool, with plenty 
 of money in his pocket to teach him 
 the early ufe of it. And by tke time 
 the young man had gained a very 
 le knowledge in the art of 
 fpending,
 
 fpending it, in which few made a 
 greater proficiency, he was fent to the 
 univerfity, where he found himfelf in 
 a more enlarged field for difplaying 
 his abilities. Here he foon became 
 fo well verfed in every polite mode 
 of expence, that his father's pocket, 
 tho it had never been a clofc one to 
 him, began ferioufly to complain. Sir 
 Thomas apprehending therefore, what 
 indeed he might have apprehended 
 without much fagacity, that Jemmy 
 had gotten into bad company, re- 
 lolved prudently to break his con- 
 nections, before it was too late. 
 He hurried him away therefore im- 
 mediately
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 mediately with a genteel young man, 
 vho attended him as a fort of fome- 
 thing between a tutor and companion, 
 to a foreign univerfity. 
 
 It foon however appeared, that 
 bad company may be found abroad, 
 as well as at home, and that young 
 Mr. Leigh had always the addrefs to 
 get acquainted with the -\vorft. 
 
 But the moft confu.mmate effort of 
 his genius, was, to corrupt his tutor ; 
 which was a matter of great import- 
 ance to him : for while he himfelf was 
 inceffant in drawing bills, his trufty 
 friend was equally affiduous in fornv- 
 nig plaufible excufes. Sometimes 
 
 finding
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 finding gentle fault fometimes palli- 
 ating and fometimes hinting at the 
 young gentleman's better resolutions, 
 he managed with fuch dexterity, that 
 he kept himfelf free from all fuf- 
 picion ; and by that means was cfFecl- 
 ually enabled to affift his young friend 
 in completely duping his father. 
 
 Sir Thomas however had now 
 found by his banker's accounts, that 
 he had gotten wrong a fecond time in 
 his ideas of education. He called to 
 mind therefore the old proverb, of a 
 rolling ftone which gathers no mofs, and 
 determined, that Jemmy mould never 
 reiide long at any one place ; but 
 
 Ihould
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 ftiould travel from country to coun- 
 try; and fo get an enlarged infight 
 into the manners of men. 
 
 With this view he difpatched a 
 trufty old Swifs fervant to accompany 
 him in his travels, with his pocket- 
 book ftuffed with recommendatory 
 letters to all the Englifli minifters at 
 the feveral courts of Europe. 
 
 In confequence of thefe orders the 
 two friends, who were then at Rouen, 
 fet out immediately for Paris. From 
 thence they hurried away to Lyons. 
 Turin received them next. There 
 eroding the Alps, they found them- 
 felves in Italy, which they traverfed 
 
 from
 
 from the Po to the bay of Naples. 
 During all thefe journeys, they in- 
 Veftigated the manners of different 
 countries in hotels brothels gam- 
 ing-houfes, and theatres. At Naples 
 their career was flopped. Mr. Leigh 
 there received an account of his 
 father's death ; which was a joyful 
 note to him, not only as he fucceeded 
 to his title and eftate ; but as nobody 
 now could call him to account. 
 
 Thus thefe two young gentlemen* 
 Mr. Willoughby, and Sir James 
 Leigh inherited their paternal eftates 
 nearly at the fame time. Mr. Wil- 
 loughby
 
 ( '7 ) 
 
 loughby could fpend an income, 
 clear of all incumbrances, of five 
 thoufand a year. Sir James Leigh's 
 eftate, independent of his mother's 
 fettlement, brought him in more than 
 double that fum. The two young 
 gentlemen had been acquainted from 
 their infancy ; and now lived within 
 half a dozen miles of each other; 
 but being men of very different difpo- 
 fitions and purfuits, their intimacy, 
 \vhich had never been great, dwindled 
 into a few ceremonious vifits. 
 
 Their different difpofitions began 
 
 foon to appear. Mr. Willotighby 
 
 C fol-
 
 f 18 ) 
 
 following the fteps of a judicious fa- 
 ther, was in no hafte to make any 
 alteration in his houfe, grounds, or 
 manner of living. What fchemes of 
 improvement he had, he prudently 
 confidered, before he put them in 
 execution. He thought it prudent 
 alfo to lay by a little money for thefe 
 purpofes, left they might involve him 
 in difficulties, from which he could 
 not eafily free himfelf. 
 
 In the mean time, none of his fa- 
 ther's penfions, or charities, which 
 were very confiderable, were difcon- 
 tinued. But he paid nothing with fo . 
 much pleafure as a hundred a year, 
 
 which
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 which his father had fettled far life up- 
 on his old tutor. He would gladly 
 have doubled it; but the old gentle- 
 man would not fuffer him. " Be con- 
 " tent, faid he, my dear Franky, (which 
 was his common mode of accofling 
 him) " be content with what your 
 " father has done. He was a very 
 " generous man ; and if you go be- 
 " yond him, I fear you will exceed." 
 
 While Mr, Willoughby afted this 
 prudent part, his neighbour, Sir 
 ]ames, fet off in full career. He had 
 fcarce taken poffeflion of his eftate, 
 when he had half the workmen of the 
 C 2 coun
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 country about him on different pro- 
 jefts. But his favorite fcheme was a 
 fuperb pile of {tabling, which he 
 built at a vaft expence ; and then 
 furnifhcd it with a great variety of 
 the belt horfes, for the road the 
 field the race and the carriage. 
 By the time his {"tables were com- 
 pletely filled, he had not only con- 
 fumed all the ready money his father 
 had left him, which was no inconfider- 
 able fum ; but was obliged to make 
 up deficiencies by borrowing fcven 
 thoufand pounds. The yearly expence 
 of this vaft eftablifhment of grooms, 
 3iid horfesj to which he added a ken- 
 
 ad
 
 nel of hounds, was not fo little as 
 eighteen hundred pounds. 
 
 In the mean time, as he detefted all 
 thoughts of marriage, he feduced from 
 her friends, a beautiful young woman, 
 the fitter of a lieutenant of a man of 
 war, whofe dependent ftate as a mif- 
 trefs would free him, he hoped, from 
 all the inconveniences, which he 
 dreaded in a wife. But he had made 
 a few fmall intakes, as mod people 
 do, who amufe themfelves with 
 thefe licentious calculations- In fat, 
 he knew nothing of her, beyond 
 her perfonal charms > nor had made 
 any obfervatkms on her manners 
 C 3 and
 
 and behaviour. Under a meek and 
 modeft demeanor (he concealed a 
 very violent temper ; and under an 
 apparent fimplicity of manners, 
 \vhich indicated a du&ile fpirit, me 
 poffeffed a vry obftinate and re- 
 fraftory one. Her infolence foon 
 began to appear ; and -was fuch, that 
 he was daily more or lefs difconcerted 
 by it. From the firft, it was her ob- 
 ject to make herfelf the entire miftrefs 
 of his family: and from lefs proceed- 
 ing to more, me ordered coaches, 
 and horfes, when (lie pleafed (lie 
 dire&ed his motions to different 
 places ihe turned away his fervants
 
 f *3 ) 
 
 -and even foinetimes affronted his 
 company. She had the art however, 
 \vhen (he faw fhe had carried matters 
 too far, to throw in a little foothing 
 fubmifiion : and as he was fafcinated 
 with her charms, his wrath, tho 
 daily raifed, was as often affwaged. 
 Every aclion of her life Ihewed fhe 
 defpifed him : but fhe knew her pow- 
 er ; and tho fhe delighted in teizing, 
 and making him miferable, fhe ftill 
 held him in the bonds of inchant- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Willoughby's ideas of domef- 
 tic happinefs were very different. 
 
 He
 
 4 
 
 He thought a marriage founded in 
 virtue, mutual alfe&ion, and mutual 
 intereft, gave him a better chance for 
 happinefs, than the loofe indulgence 
 of a diflblute pafTion. 
 
 About a mile from his houfe flood 
 a good old manfion, which had often 
 been ufed as a jointure -houfe by the 
 widows of the family. Here Mr. 
 Willoughby's mother chofe rather to 
 reiide, with an only daughter, than to 
 live with her fon. The company he 
 was unavoidably obliged to keep, me 
 thought might be fome little intrufion 
 on the quiet of her morning and even- 
 ing hours, which fhe generally fpcnt 
 
 alone
 
 alone in her chamber, over her bible. 
 But tho the families lived feparately, 
 the diftance was fo fmall, that they 
 were generally together. 
 
 Mifs Willoughby had an intimate- 
 friend, a young lady of her own age, 
 of the name of Henneage, who gene- 
 rally fpent a part of every fuinmer 
 with her. Here Mr. Willoughby, of 
 courfc, frequently faw her, and as 
 often admired her. But his behavi- 
 our was fo very diftant, that it was im- 
 pofiible (he could take the lead notice 
 of it. At length, when he was fuller 
 afTured of her good qualities, and his 
 own retaliation, he ventured to open 
 
 his
 
 his mind to his mother, and filler. 
 He foon found he could do nothing 
 more agreeable to them, than to pay 
 his addreffes to Mifs Henneage. His 
 fifter indeed told him, (he always fuf- 
 pecled he had an affection for her; 
 " Not, faid (lie, from any thing I 
 " ever obferved in your behaviour ; 
 *' but becaufe I thought it was im- 
 44 poffible you could look with indif- 
 " ference on fuch excellence." 
 
 Matters being in this train, Mr. 
 Willoughby left it to his mother to 
 open the affair to Mifs Henneage ; 
 which (he did one evening as the 
 young lady came into her chamber to 
 
 afk
 
 afk, if me had any objection to her 
 taking a walk with Nancy to the 
 dairy-farm ? " I have no objection at 
 *' all, my dear Lucy, {aid Mrs. Wil- 
 * ; loughby ; and now you muft tell 
 14 me, whether you have any objecl- 
 44 on to what I am going to afk you" 
 On mentioning the affair, Mr. Wil- 
 loughby's pleafing form, and manly 
 addrefs, and virtues, that were the 
 theme of every tongue, came fuddenly 
 rifing at once to her imagination : a 
 fort of palpitating confulion ovcr- 
 fpead her whole frame ; and flie could 
 anfvver only with a blufh. Sl^e was 
 
 above any coquetiili airs : and the old 
 
 lady
 
 lady needed no other language to con- 
 vince her, fhc had feen her fon with 
 as favourable eyes, as he had fecn her. 
 " Well, my dear, faid Mrs. Wil- 
 " loughby, go, and take your walk 
 " with your friend ; only don't ftay 
 " out fo late, as you did lad wed- 
 " ncfday." 
 
 Among other things, which pafTcd 
 between the two friends, in their even- 
 ing walk, on this important occafion, 
 Mifs Henneage faid, it had been her 
 fecret intention, as flic was fo well 
 provided for by her father, to lead a 
 fingle life, and fpend her time, and for- 
 tune, like her good aunt, in being of 
 
 fervice
 
 fervicc to her neighbours. " And I 
 " believe faid fhe, nothing but fuch a 
 f temptation as your brother has 
 " thrown in my way, could have 
 " altered my intention." 
 
 Matters being now fettled, and Mr. 
 Willoughby prefling for an early day, 
 flic faid, as me was not yet nineteen, 
 fhe could not think of changing her 
 ftate of life, till at leaft two years 
 more had pafled over her. To this 
 Mr. Willoughby reluctantly confent- 
 ed, upon condition fhe would fpend 
 that time with his mother, and filter. 
 Mils Henneage laughed, and faicf, fhe 
 -did not alk Lis con fen t ; nor thought
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 herfelf tyed by any of his conditions. 
 She was yet her own miftrefs ; and 
 intended to fpend the next two years 
 with her good aunt, as (he had always 
 done. 
 
 As her aunt lived at the diftance of 
 thirty miles, this interdict was a fevere 
 trial to Mr. Willoughby. But he 
 was obliged to fubmit ; and had only 
 the fatisfaclion of calling her a cruel, 
 hard-hearted girl. She had the plea- 
 fure however to find, that her judici- 
 ous young friend indrely approved 
 her rcfolution. 
 
 But tho the two years went heavily 
 on, Mr. Willoughby had the happi- 
 
 nefs
 
 f 31 ) 
 
 nefs at length to find, they had an 
 end. His happinefs was the happinefs 
 of the country. When he brought 
 his lady home from her aunt's, the 
 whole neighbourhood was in a tumult 
 of joy. Among other compliments 
 paid him on the occafion, a very ele- 
 gant copy of verfes was laid, by an 
 unknown hand, upon his hall-table, 
 intitled Francis and Lucy, or the happy 
 marriage. 
 
 In the mean time, Sir James Leigh 
 -was carrying on his improvements, as he 
 called them, with a profufioa of ex- 
 pence, that aftoniflied every body. 
 
 Jf
 
 If vou walked near his houfc, you faw 
 groups of labourers, here, and there, 
 and every where removing ground 
 widening rivers building bridges 
 or employed in other expenfive ope- 
 rations ; none of which had been well 
 confidered, or was conduced with the 
 leaft taftc, or judgment} for he had 
 too high an opinion of himfelf to fol- 
 low the .advice of any one. His pro- 
 jecls were all in opposition to nature. 
 He fcemed to delight in difficulties. 
 If a piece of riling ground flood in 
 his way, inftead of calling about, how 
 to turn it into a beauty, he would 
 immediately order it, tho of conder- 
 
 able
 
 ' 33 ) 
 
 able dimenficns, to be removed. 
 Such violence is generally efteemed 
 by all judicious improvers, as abfurd, 
 as it is expenfive. 
 
 Within doors he had a large family 
 of ill-governed fervants; who being 
 haughtily treated, and ill-paid, had no 
 regard for their mafter ; and made no 
 fcruple of paying themfelves by 
 every little fraudulent exaclion ; and 
 by purloining whatever they could 
 lay their hands upon. :Every thing 
 without doors was in the fame ftile of 
 profufion. The wafte and pilfering 
 in his ftables, and other out-houfes, 
 was enormous. 
 
 B Money
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 Money however now, as it may 
 be fuppofed, began to grow 
 fcarce. Borrowing was his firlt re- 
 foarce. But as he had different 
 modes of fpending money, it became 
 necefiary to have different modes of 
 procuring it. As one of the eafieft, 
 a. friend fuggcfted to him the method 
 of borrowing money on annuities; and 
 introduced him to a grave gentleman, 
 \vho had always money ready to affift 
 unfortunate young men. From this 
 friend of his neceffity he could obtain, 
 whenever the hour of diflrefs came 
 upon him, three, or four thoufand 
 pounds with no more trouble than 
 
 that
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 that of figning his name. Poor Sir 
 James, who never looked beyond the 
 prefling exigence, had neither the 
 arithmetic, nor the forefight to cal- 
 culate how much his eftate diminifhed, 
 as his wants were relieved. The 
 courfe of things however ran on, not- 
 withftanding his fupinenefs ; and at 
 the end often years, he found he could 
 not fpend annually, out of his large 
 eftate above four thoufand pounds. 
 All this however did not open his 
 eyes. He (till went blindly on. 
 
 His prudent neighbour, in the 
 
 mean time, had carryed on his im- 
 
 D 2 prove-
 
 f 36 ) 
 
 provements in a different manner- 
 He went on (lowly ; but at the end of 
 feven years much was to be feen. His 
 father had never fhewn any infb.nces 
 of tafte ; nor had he ever pretended 
 to it. The fon had more refined 
 ideas ; but indulged them with great 
 propriety. He not only kept within 
 his abilities; but by coileQing la- 
 fa oilers -at thofe times, when other 
 work was not eafily to be had, he 
 made his improvements anfwer the 
 double end of advantage to himfelf; 
 and of convenience to his neighbours. 
 
 Then again by laying out his plans 
 judicioufiy at firfl, he had never occa- 
 
 * 
 
 I
 
 f 37 ) 
 
 Son to alter them afterwards- Many 
 people fpend as much in altering, and 
 undoing, as in their original \vork^ 
 which was poor Sir James's cafe.: He- 
 had three times altered the courier of a 
 rivulet, that ran through his past -and 
 had as often changed the fituation of 
 a bridge. And what w-as fmgular, his 
 fecond thought was generally worfc 
 than the firft ;, and his third, than the 
 fecond. The bare alterations, had 
 turning the front, of a Temple of fame, 
 eoft him nearly five hundred pounds. 
 The country people gave it afterwards 
 the name of the Temple of Folly. 
 Mr. Vvilloughby's improvements were 
 D 3 charge
 
 . f 38 ) 
 
 chargeable with none of thefe ill-di- 
 gefted abfurdities. What he did, \vaj> 
 done. 
 
 It was one of his great rules alfo, 
 never to fight with nature. Her clue 
 guided all his operations. Where fhe 
 led, he followed : and thus, at the 
 fame time he formed the mod beauti- 
 ful fcenes, and faved more than three 
 fourths of the expence, which his pre- 
 cipitate neighbour would have incur- 
 red by attempting the fame thing. 
 Every autumn he made a little addi- 
 tion to his plan ; but he meant the 
 full completion of his defign to be the 
 amufement of his life. He judici- 
 
 oufly
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 oufly confidered, that when a plan is 
 fmifhed, it often becomes infipid : 
 but a growing work feldom fails to be 
 a confiant fource of pleafure. 
 
 That great error of fuffering any 
 fingle part to fwallow up the reft, he 
 avoided. Sir James Leigh had con- 
 feffedly the grandeft ftables in the 
 country ; but they were the (tables of 
 a prince, not of a country gentleman : 
 they were far beyond the fcale of 
 his houfe, or any of its appendages. 
 In Mr. Willoughby's improvements, 
 and whole economy, you faw nothing 
 but propriety, arid proportion. No 
 gentleman made a more elegant ap- 
 pear-
 
 ( 40- ) 
 
 pearance rode a better horfe or 
 had a more genteel equipage. If 
 you entered his houfe, you faw every 
 thing in the fame ftile of elegance, 
 and economy: and if you looked into 
 his Rabies, you faw a fufficient number 
 of good, ufeful horfes; but no fuper- 
 fluous expence. You faw neither 
 ras.e-horfe, nor hunter. Racing he 
 confidercd as gambling: and as to 
 hunting,, he thought its many difa- 
 greeable accompaniments took away 
 from it every idea of an amu foment. 
 
 As to his fervants, many of them 
 were a kind of heir-looms. They 
 fcad lived with his father had known 
 
 him
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 him from a boy and -were at- 
 tached to his intereft : while every 
 new fervant readily adopted the ways 
 of fo orderly a fociety. Indeed his 
 fervants were generally the children of 
 his tenants, and labourers, whom he 
 took early into his houfe ; and ad- 
 vanced as they dcferved. From this 
 way of making up his family, he faid y 
 he found great advantage. He had 
 not only his own eye upon his fer- 
 vants; but the eye alfo of their pa- 
 rents. In the mean time, his fervice, 
 which was indeed an inheritance, was 
 ilway* anxioufly fought after.* Such 
 ef his fervants v;ho had lived iong with 
 
 him
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 him had behaved well, as they gen- 
 erally did and were defirous of fet- 
 tling in the world, he always provided 
 for; procuring for one a place, and 
 giving another a farm. For their re- 
 ception he had feveral little tenements 
 fctittered about his eftate fome of 
 them within the precinfts of his 
 park, which he ufed to call his out- 
 pofts. " It would be a difficult thing, 
 he would fay, for a trefpaffer to attack 
 me on any fide with fo many faithful 
 eyes about me." 
 
 Many of thefe tenements were in 
 f;ght of his houfe his garden, or his 
 park : and they were built and con- 
 trived
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 trived in fuch a manner, as to adorn 
 feveral little fcenes within his view. 
 Some of his neighbours thought thefe 
 ^tenements would have had a better 
 effect, if they had been built in the 
 form of churches and abbeys, and 
 cailles. But Mr, Willou^hby's tafte 
 was more Jimple. He had a great 
 diflike to affectation in every fhape ; 
 and thought the plain ornaments of 
 nature the moil pleating decorations 
 of a cottage. A tufted grove a 
 winding road the margin of a lake 
 the banks of a river, or fome other 
 natural circum!iance,were much more 
 pleating
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 pleafing to him, than thofe pompous 
 trifles, which many people admire. 
 
 Among fervants brought up, and 
 confidered in the aileclionate manner, 
 in which Mr. Willoughby confidered 
 his fervants, there was nothing of that 
 riot, wade, and prof u lion,- which 
 were endlefs among the fervants at 
 the other houfe. A careful, old 
 houfekeeper, a butler, and a groom, 
 \vho had long managed his kitchen, 
 his cellar, and his (tables, faw to the 
 end of every thing. Thus altho Mr. 
 Willoughby lived as hofpitably, as 
 generoufly, and as refpeftably as any 
 gentleman in the country, and had 
 
 made-
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 *nade many improvements around 
 him yet by cutting off all needlefs 
 expence, ar?d by introducing ftricl: 
 economy into fuch expences, as he 
 thought needful, Ire not only lived 
 within his income ; but he had laid by 
 two, or three thoufand pounds, as a 
 little fund againft emergencies; to 
 which every year he added fomcthing. 
 And if any one mentioned to him his 
 acls of bounty, or generofity, he 
 would fay, " Do not tell me of thefe 
 things. I get fcandaloufly rich, what- 
 ever you may fuppofe." Indeed he 
 ailed always to alfert that what he gave, 
 
 made
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 made him richer, in a literal fenfe, 
 in (lead of poorer. 
 
 The great difference between Sir 
 James Leigh's ideas of expence, and 
 Mr. Willoughby's, was this. Sir 
 James denied himfelf in nothing. 
 Whatever fooliui fcheme came into 
 his head, let the price be what it 
 might, he confidered only the imme- 
 diate gratification. Mr. Wiiloughby, 
 on the other hand, denyed himfelf 
 many things, not becaufe he mould 
 not have taken pleafure in them, but 
 becaufe he thought them inadequate 
 to the price he was to pay : that is, 
 in fhort, he confidered himfelf as the 
 
 Reward
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 ileward of heaven's bounty ; and 
 thought he fhould have a&ed as un- 
 juftly towards his great mafler, if he 
 had laviflied that bounty improperly, 
 as his own fleward would have done, 
 if he had embezzled his rents. Give 
 an account of thy Jltwardjttip, was a 
 regulating principle with him in all 
 his expences. 
 
 If in any amufement Mr. Wil- 
 loughby exceeded, it was in the pur- 
 chafe of pictures : and yet in this, he 
 acled with great judgment. If a col- 
 lector rcfolve -to purchafe fuch pic- 
 tures only as are curious, and capital, 
 he may be led into any expence. But 
 
 pi&ures
 
 ( 48 ) 
 
 piclures of this kind are often lefs 
 prized for their excellence, than for 
 the matter's name, or fome other cir- 
 cumflance; which has little corrneftion 
 with their real value. Much better 
 pictures may be frequently bought at 
 a lower price, tho the connoifeur 
 hath not fct his ftamp upon them. 
 Among pictures of this fecond clafs 
 Mr. Willoughby made his collection. 
 He had a good eye; and furnifhed 
 his whole houfe for a fum of money, 
 which the curious collector fometimes 
 gives for a fmgle piece. And yet he 
 was not quite fatisfied -with his ex- 
 pences on this head; tho it was the 
 
 only
 
 * 49 ) 
 
 Only expenfive amufement, in which 
 he indulged himfelf. " I have been 
 " looking (faid he, one day to a friend) 
 * s into my picture-accounts; and I 
 " find the pictures in this houfe have 
 t; coft me the Ihamefiil Aim of one 
 " thoufand, five hundred, and thirty- 
 " two pounds. But my father, good 
 " man, ufed to encourage me in thefe 
 "expences; and perhaps his encou- 
 " ragement may have carried me too 
 
 i; far." This felf-conviftion did 
 
 not arife in any degree from his in- 
 curring an expence that was incon- 
 venient to him ; but merely from the 
 fear of having fpent on an amufement 
 E what
 
 ( 5= ) 
 
 'what might have been fpent on a 
 more proper occafion. 
 
 Several of his apartments had been 
 adorned in hi* father's time, with 
 family-piclures. But they were fuch 
 rniferable representatives cf fome very 
 refpeclable people, that Mr. Wil- 
 loughby ufed to fay, when he looked 
 at them, they belied every anecdote 
 he had ever heard in their favour. 
 . He did not however fend his family- 
 piclures, as many do, into a garret ; 
 but hung them up in a large room, 
 which he dedicated to the Manes of his 
 Anchors. This room he contrived 
 to make one of the molt intercfting 
 
 apart-
 
 ( 5' ) 
 
 apartments of his houfe. Tho the 
 pictures were bad, the frames were 
 rich ; and made a fplendid appearance. 
 Each portrait was numbered; and 
 thefe numbers referred to a book, 
 which lay on a table covered with 
 green cloth, in the middle of a room. 
 In this book he gave a modeft account 
 of all the perfons, men, and women, 
 who were affembled on the walls ; 
 which accounts he prefaced by faying, 
 that " as many of thofe perfons had 
 " deferved better treatment, than they 
 " had found from the hands of the 
 " artifts, who had pourtrayed them, 
 " he had endeavoured with filial piety 
 2 " to
 
 ( 5* ) 
 
 " to his ancefiors, to make up the 
 
 " deficiency." The following in- 
 
 flance will fliew the manner in which 
 he drew up thefe Ihort accounts. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 " This gentleman, who from the 
 " whimfical manner, in which the 
 " painter has furrounded him with 
 " birds, might be taken for a bird- 
 t; catcher, is Mr. Willoughby, the 
 ** ornithologift, fon of Sir Francis 
 " Willoughby, (No. VIII.) who hath 
 "juft been mentioned. At the age 
 t; of thirty feven, at which he died, 
 " ije had attained more learning, and 
 
 * ; know-
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 " knowledge in various branches, 
 " efpecially in natural hiftory, than 
 " almoft any man of his time. And 
 " what is dill more, he hath ever been 
 " looked up to by his grateful pofte- 
 44 rity, as a pattern of virtue. Sec 
 " his works in the library, (S. 15. 7.) 
 " and an account of him by his friend 
 " Mr. Ray, the celebrated naturalift, 
 " who revifed, and publifhed them. 
 " Mr. Ray in his preface to his Orni- 
 " thology, fays, What rendered Mr. 
 * ; Willoughby mojl commendable^ was 
 4t his eminent virtue, and goodnefs. I 
 " cannot fay, that I ever cbfervcd fuch 
 M a confluence of excellent qualities in 
 3 ' " out
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 " one p erf on. Mr. Ray then cnume- 
 " rates the feveral excellent qualities, 
 " which he had obfcrved in him. 
 
 Thus Mr. Willoughby had the 
 ingenuity to turn a number of bad 
 piclures into a fet of very entertaining 
 companions. For as the perfons they 
 reprefent.ed, had figured in , various 
 profeffions of life, and many of them 
 very reputably, he had collected from 
 tradition, letters, and family-records, 
 many amufing anecdotes of moil of 
 them. 
 
 , With three of thefe pictures he was 
 a little perplexed. Two of them were 
 by Vandyck, and the third by Sir 
 
 Peter
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 Peter Lely : and as all the three were 
 good, he would have been glad to 
 have hung them up in one of his befl 
 rooms. But on confideration, he 
 hung all together, and graced the bad 
 with the good. 
 
 Of tafte, in any fliape, except the 
 mod grofs and fenfual, Sir James 
 Leigh had no idea. Of books he 
 knew nothing. He was totally illite- 
 rate ; and in every branch of fcience 
 intirely ignorant. On his intimacy 
 with the polite arts indeed he valued 
 himfelf greatly : but his knowledge of 
 them went no further, than that kind of 
 
 infipid
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 infipid, infignificant prattle, which dif- 
 tinguifnes a coxcomb. Few people 
 therefore who had the leaft pretenfion, 
 either to tafte, or reading, or virtue, 
 or any thing commendable, ever came 
 near him. The company that fre- 
 quented his houfe, were the fpend- 
 thrifts -the horfe-racers the game- 
 fters, and other profligate young fel- 
 lows of the country. Their lable- 
 eonverfation was commonly made up 
 of the occurrences of the laft horfe- 
 race the laft cock-fight or the laft 
 hunting-match perhaps at what ta- 
 vern fuch a difli was beft drefTed or 
 where the beft wine of fuch a kind 
 
 was
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 was fold. The brothel too was a 
 common theme among them. And 
 all this converfation was larded with 
 oaths prophanenefs and obfcenity. 
 Loud debates too on thefe important 
 fubjefts would often enfue many 
 clamouring at once while others 
 were Tinging filthy ibngs and catches 
 till, as the hour grew late, and bottle 
 after bottle, had been called for all 
 this horrid din funk by degrees into 
 the beaftly ftupidity of intoxication. 
 
 All fuch intemperance and irregu- 
 larity, tho not immediately felt in a 
 young conftitution, yet will fap it by 
 degrees : and Sir James found, before 
 
 he
 
 he was forty, that his vicious pleafures, 
 and common modes of life, had even 
 then begun to call him to a fevere 
 account. 
 
 In the mean time all thofe difguft- 
 ing fcenes, which were a6led in the 
 parlour, were acled over again in the 
 fervant's hall ; where they were 
 heightened, if poffible, with (till more 
 abominable brutality. 
 
 To all this, Mr. Willoughby's fa- 
 mily was a direct contrail. He was 
 rather a retired man himfclf, and not 
 fond of company. But his Ration in- 
 life brought many people about him ;, 
 
 tho
 
 ( 59 ) 
 
 tho he mixed freely with thofe onh> 
 who were men of approved charac- 
 ter. With thefe he was always on 
 the bed terms. The clergyman of 
 the parifh, who was a religious and 
 fenfible man, and about his own agej 
 was much his companion. Befides 
 him, there were a few more men of 
 letters in the country; with whofe. 
 elegant and imlru&ive converfation he 
 always mixed with great pleafure. 
 But when the difcourfe did not turn- 
 on literary fubjecls, nothing was ever 
 heard at his table, that was not at 
 leaft innocent, chearful, and good-hu- 
 moured. Often it turned on modes, 
 
 o
 
 ( 60 ) 
 
 of eafmg the diftreffes of the poor, 
 and of adding to their comforts. 
 Moft of the benevolent fchemes, car- 
 ried on in the parifh, of which there 
 were many, took their rife at Mr. 
 Willoughby's table. 
 
 At fuch a board, it may eafily be 
 imagined, no irregularity could be 
 admitted. Mr. Willoughby himfelf 
 lived with that temperance, and fo- 
 briety, -which all wife men would 
 praclife even on worldly motives, tho 
 they did not confider thofe virtues in 
 the light of chriilian duties. And in 
 his company no man, if he were even 
 inclined; durft exceed, Saints are 
 
 com-
 
 ( 6! ) 
 
 commonly painted with a glory round 
 their heads. A fort of fplendid at- 
 mofphere fomewhat of this kind fur- 
 rounds good men, within the influ- 
 ence of which nothing indecent dare 
 approach. 
 
 The amufements of the family 
 were as rational as their converfation. 
 Mr Willoughby's library was a room 
 for ufe, not for flrew. It was adorned 
 with globes, maps, and other fuitable 
 appendages. He fpent much of his 
 time among his books. Cards were 
 never feen in his houfe; an averfion 
 to which he inherited from his father, 
 always thought them the moft in- 
 
 fipid
 
 Fipid of all amufements. A game at 
 chefs he would fometimes play with 
 the vicar ; which was commonly a 
 fharp contention between them ; and 
 often drew on more eagernefs, than 
 Mr. Willoughby liked ; each having 
 the vanity to think he was the better 
 player. 
 
 In fummer alfo bowls were much 
 in fafhion; in which Mr. Willoughby 
 was fuperior to all his antagonifts. 
 The gentlemen who commonly fre- 
 quented his green, ufed to laugh, and 
 fay, they would vote him out of all 
 their matches ; for they were fure he 
 exercifed him felf .with his bowls alone. 
 
 And
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 And this indeed was true enough i 
 for it was his ufual practice, when he 
 found himfelflanguid at-his book, to 
 flep out at a back-door in his ftudy, 
 which opened near the bowling-green, 
 and refrefh himfelf there with a little 
 exercife. 
 
 But his amufements of every kind 
 were moderate, and rational ; and his 
 fervants having no examples before 
 them, but what tended to their im- 
 provement, fell naturally into all thofe 
 modes of quietnefs, regularity and ci- 
 vility, which appeared fo amiable in 
 their matter; whofe endeavour they 
 plainly faw, was to make them happy, 
 
 and 

 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 and gratify them in every thing that 
 was proper for them. 
 
 The employment, and amufements 
 of the neighbouring family were very 
 different. Sir James Leigh acted 
 like a man, -who thought a large for- 
 tune had been given him merely to 
 fpend in different modes of diffipation. 
 Darning was his predominant paffion. 
 Nothing ingrofled his thoughts fo 
 much : nor was any one welcome at 
 his houfe, who was not addicted to 
 cards, and dice. 
 
 Cards, and dice likewife defcended 
 into the fervant's-hall, \vhere the fpirit 
 
 of
 
 'of gaming, only in a lower flile, 
 reigned with all its afibciate paffions, 
 as much as in the parlour. 
 
 But his gaming in the country was 
 -comparatively mere amufement. In 
 town, it was a bitfinefs. A-t home he 
 played generally with his equals ; and 
 tho the practice was vile, it v, r as feldom 
 ruinous. But when he went to Lon- 
 don, and became a -cully (as all young 
 adventurers are) in the hands of prc- 
 fejftd majlers in the -art -of gaming, it 
 was dreadful indeed. And tho it 
 would be as difficult to perfuade 
 thefe profejfbrs to relinquifh an art 
 by which they live, as it would be to 
 F per-
 
 ( 6S ) 
 
 perfuade their brethren of the road to 
 lay afide their crape and piftols ; yet 
 one fhould fuppofe fo many fatal ex- 
 amples might have fome weight with 
 the poor cullies, who are drawn into 
 their mares. They fhould recoiled 
 the cautious anfwer once given to 
 another plunderer; 
 
 tfrrtiit 
 
 Cmnia ie advtrfum Jpdlantia, nulla retrorfum. 
 
 Poor Sir James was a cully of the 
 firft order. His fervants ufed to give 
 out, they had rare doings at their 
 houfe in London. Their mailer was 
 generally all day in bed : and their 
 
 miftrcfs
 
 ( 6? ) 
 
 miilrefs was feldom at home. In- 
 deed Sir James commonly (pent his 
 nights in a gaming-houfe ; and retired 
 to bed about flmrife. 
 
 The fame happinefs which reigned 
 among Mr. Willoughby's fcrvants, 
 was diffufed among his tenants. With 
 them he lived upon the eaficft terms. 
 When an old tenant renewed his leafe, 
 hi* rent was never raifed, unlcfs fome 
 improvement in the land made the 
 rcafon evident, and the tenant himfelf 
 faw the propriety of it. It was Mr. 
 Willoughby's great pleafure to fee 
 all his tenants thrive under him ; and 
 F 2 to
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 to be of fervice to fuch, as had largf 
 families, by aflifting the parents in pro- 
 viding for them. In cafes of unavoid- 
 able misfortunes, he would often for- 
 give rents : and in cafes of lefs urgency 
 he had provided a fund, from which he 
 lent fmall fums without intereft, ei- 
 ther to repair fume little lofs or to 
 purchafe with advantage at a good 
 market. When a tenant, or a la- 
 bourer died, he had efpecial regard 
 to the widow, and family, which he 
 confidered as a trufl devolved upon 
 himfclf, if their circum fiances required 
 it. If the widow chofc to keep the 
 faira, his fteward, or himfelf, was al- 
 ways
 
 ( 69 J 
 
 ways ready to give his advice, or af 
 fiftance. Be fides thefe open inftances 
 of kindnefs, he was continually doing 
 als of unknown generofity : and in 
 fhort was considered, wherever his 
 connexions extended, as a kind of 
 centre, which drew to it the difficul- 
 ties, and diftrefles of the whole neigh- 
 bourhood around him. 
 
 One indulgence he gave his tenants, 
 which was of no folid advantage in- 
 deed, but very gratifying. He allow- 
 ed them all to kill game upon their 
 own farms but he allowed this 
 liberty only to the tenant himfelf, not 
 to his fen-ants. And he ui'ed to fay, 
 F 3 he
 
 ( 70 )' 
 
 he believed he was a gainer by it : 
 for the tenant thus interefled, kept oiF 
 poachers, and was careful to preferve 
 the game. Wheveas, among Sir 
 James's tenants, it was not an uncom- 
 mon things when any of them found 
 a neft of eggs in their fields, to cruih 
 them. " We have no advantage, 
 " they would fay, from the birds our- 
 " felves, why mould we feed them for 
 " others efpecially for fuch a land- 
 li lord as ours ?" In the mean time, 
 Mr. Willoughby's table was plenti- 
 fully fupplied. One or other of the 
 tenants was continually fending him 
 in the feafon, a hare, or a pheafant, 
 
 or
 
 or a coople of partridges : and when 
 he wanted game, on any emergence, 
 his gamekeeper could eafily get intel- 
 ligence where to find it. 
 
 It was his great pleafure, when he 
 rode out, to call on one, or other of 
 his tenants ; to whom he had always 
 fomething to fay, that was pleafing ; 
 or fomething to propofe that was ufe- 
 ful. In fhort, he confidered them a& 
 a part of his family ; and was be- 
 loved and popular among them, be- 
 yond what can be imagined. 
 
 Very different was the intercourfe 
 between Sir James Leigh and his ten- 
 ants
 
 ants. Nothing pleafmg ever paffed 
 between them. The fteward, and the 
 attorney were the only agents. Rents. 
 were raifed. Inftant payments were 
 :.inded. Misfortunes were never 
 ccniidered. Seizures were made. 
 Guns,; and dogs were taken away 
 Every thing was managed with harih- 
 nefs. He never wiflied to conciliate 
 people by ats of kindncfs ; but to 
 draw them to his purpofes by als of 
 opprefiion. An honeft farmer, who 
 lived in my neighbourhood, gave me 
 the following relation. 
 
 " A few r years ago, faid he, I rented 
 a little farm under Sir James Leigh. 
 
 He
 
 ( 73 ) 
 
 He was then very bufy with his 
 hounds : tho I believe now, poor 
 man ! that matter, as well as others, 
 are pretty \vcil over with him. 
 However he then kept two packs of 
 different kinds ; and ufed to put out 
 the young hounds among his farmers, 
 and tenants. Two of his fox-hounds 
 were appointed for me. But as 1 had 
 young children, and did not much 
 like fuch company among them, I 
 fent them back to his huntfman with a 
 civil excufe. I was told I mould 
 fuifer for it : and indeed I did. He 
 let his fences go down in fome 
 grounds, which bordered on a large 
 
 meadow
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 meadow of mine the only one,, 
 which I intended for hay. I com- 
 plained over and over, that his cattle 
 were continually trcfpaflmg in my 
 meadow : but I could get no redrefs. 
 I am fure he let his fences go down 
 on purpofe : and I loit more than 
 ten pounds that year by the mifchief, 
 that was done me. After this, I 
 believe, nobody dudt refufe his 
 
 hounds. He ferved another of his 
 
 tenants, John Ellis, continued the 
 farmer, the fame kind of ill-natured 
 trick. What Ellis had done to dif- 
 oblige him, I forget : but I am fure 
 it muft have been fome trilling thingj 
 
 for
 
 ( 75 ) 
 
 for Ellis was as good tempered man 
 as any in England. Whatever it was 
 however Sir James took high offence, 
 and (hewed his revenge by locking up 
 a gate (over which unhappily the 
 leafe had left him a power) that led to 
 the farmer's yard. By this piece of 
 tyranny he obliged poor Ellis to car- 
 ry his loaden waggons a mile and a 
 half about." 
 
 Thus, in fhort, the landlord and 
 tenants were always in fuch a {late of 
 war, and difagreeable fermentation, 
 that while Mr. Willoughby's farms 
 were all well let ; and half a dozen can- 
 didates appeared for every one that 
 
 was
 
 f 76 ) 
 
 was vacant, Sir James had the mortifi- 
 cation to hear, that feveral of his beft 
 farms were untenanted. They were 
 of courfe managed by his Reward and 
 attorney, who being ill-paid, took 
 good care to pay thcmfelves ; fo that 
 after the farms had pafied through 
 their hands, they produced little or 
 nothing to the landlord. The only 
 folace he had, on thefe occafions, was 
 to curfe his people all round; and 
 iwear he was befet on all hands by a 
 pack of rogues, and rafcals ; and that 
 he did not believe there was a grain 
 of honefty on the face of the earth. 
 
 The
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 The intercourfe alfo of thefe two 
 gentlemen with their tradefmen, was 
 as different as every other part of 
 their conduct. Nothing could be 
 more unpunSual than Sir James 
 Leigh. He never fent for a bill; and 
 when it was fent to him, no notice 
 was taken of it. When the tradef- 
 man complained, he was told, the bill 
 had been miflaid ; and was ordered 
 to fend another or he was told, that 
 feveral articles were charged in fo 
 extraordinary a manner, that it 
 would take fome time to look them 
 over. The truth was, no money 
 could be found efpecially for fuch 
 
 pur-
 
 purpofes. Sometimes indeed, when 
 he had had a run of ill-luck at play, 
 he was put to all his fhifts even to 
 procure a few guineas. In the mean 
 time, fome of his tradefmen would 
 haftcn payment by attorney's letters ; 
 and others would refufe to ferve him 
 longer. 
 
 All this gave him little diftrefc. 
 He had no regard for any thing, in 
 which honour, or honefty, or even bare 
 decency was concerned. He had as 
 little for his own intered, which fuf- 
 fcred at all points by thus putting 
 himfelf intirely into the hands of 
 others, and difabling himfelf from 
 
 cither
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 either rcclifyinq a miftake, or guarding 
 againft a fraud. In {hort, if he could 
 dexteroufly evade the prefling mo- 
 ment, it was all he defired. 
 
 In the mean time, Mr. Willough- 
 by's affairs were managed with the ut- 
 moft regularity. He knew the con- 
 tents of each bill, and could eafily 
 check an improper charge. Very- 
 exact people are often felicitous to 
 pay all their bills at the end of every 
 week, or fome other fhort period. 
 But fuch rigid punctuality is fome- 
 times inconvenient to tradefmen; 
 who rather wifh, when their money 
 
 is
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 is fafe, to let it lie, till they have occa- 
 fion to ufe it. Of this Mr. Wil- 
 loughby was aware : and wifhing al- 
 ways to accomodate himfelf as much 
 as poflible, to the convenience of 
 others, he defired all his tradefmen to 
 fend in their accounts, when it was 
 moil agreeable to themfelves. They 
 fhould be anfwered immediately. 
 Only for his own convenience he de- 
 fired, that none of them might Hand 
 out longer than half a year. 
 
 But the moft effential difference 
 
 between thefe two gentlemen, was in 
 
 tlie article of religion. In Mr. WiU 
 
 loughby's
 
 ( 8' ) 
 
 Icughby's family you immediately 
 faw you were in a chriftian country. 
 That beautiful fimplicity, and deco- 
 rum of manners, which may be called 
 the garb of religion, might be feen 
 in ever) 7 part of it : and the more you 
 were converfant in it, the more you 
 faw of its religious deportment.. Eve- 
 ry morning and evening,, the bell rang 
 for prayers.. Whether company was 
 in the houfe,. or not, it made no diffe- 
 rence.. Ceremony to man was never 
 fuffesed to interfere with a duty to 
 God. Religious books were often 
 read. Bibles, and other good books 
 were feen lying on parlour-windows, 
 G and
 
 f 82 ) 
 
 and tables; and it \vas thought no 
 impropriety to converfe on religious 
 fubjecls. Sunday was ftriftly ob- 
 ferved. Mr. Willoughby and his fa- 
 mily, with as many of the fervants, as 
 could be fpared, went regularly to 
 church -the facrament was frequented 
 and great care was taken to keep up 
 a religious impreffion among the fer- 
 vants. Sunday was never a day of 
 invitation, and company. The fer- 
 vants therefore had as much refpite as 
 poffible from the bufmefs of the par- 
 lour, the kitchen, and the ftable. 
 
 As
 
 As to chriftianity, in Sir James 
 Leigh's family, it was out of the 
 queftion. There was not even the 
 lead fign of religious decorum. You. 
 could not diftinguifh Sunday from 
 any other day. Cards, and gaming, 
 and drinking, were indifcriminafely 
 praclifed. The fervants followed the 
 example of their mailer; and if any 
 of them was better difpofed, and 
 Ihewed the leaft degree of ferioufnefs, 
 he was immediately laughed out of it. 
 Sir James's houfe indeed lay under 
 fo bad a name, that no young perfons, 
 either men, or women, who had any 
 regard for their characters, would live 
 G 2 there:
 
 ( 84 ) 
 
 there : fo that in faft, it was filled with 
 fuch fervants only, as nobody elfe 
 would hire : nor indeed would any 
 decent perfon hire a fervant that had 
 lived in fo difreputable a family. 
 
 While Mr. Willoughby led the re- 
 fpeBable life we have feen in his own 
 neighbourhood, and was beloved, 
 wherever he was known, an event came 
 on, which fhewcd, he was equally re- 
 fpecled throughout the county. At 
 the general election a candidate offered 
 himfelf, by no means acceptable to 
 the general fenfe of the freeholders. 
 But as nobody oppofed him, he muft 
 
 of
 
 of courfe be elefted. In this dilemma 
 the gentlemen of the county, threw 
 their eyes on Mr Willoughby, as a 
 popular man of good fortune- of 
 an eftablifhed character of an ancient 
 family, long feated in the county, and 
 every way the moft likely to draw the 
 efleem of all parties. Mr. Willough- 
 by told them he was not ambitious of 
 ferving in parliament ; but at all 
 times attentive to the interefts of the 
 county. As he thought it imprudent 
 however to rifk his fortune in a con- 
 tefted eleftion, he hoped they would 
 excufe his Populating for fupport. 
 On this head he was made perfectly 
 G 3 eafy;
 
 ( 86 ) 
 
 eafy ; but at the fame time affured, 
 that if he would only declare himfelf, 
 all oppofition would ceafe. This 
 afiurance was well founded. It was 
 no fooner known, that Mr. Wil- 
 loughby offered himfelf, than the 
 unanimous voice of the county ap- 
 peared in his favour the offensive 
 candidate declined; and Mr. Wil- 
 loughby was elected at the trifling 
 expence of two hundred pounds 
 even which, the gentlemen of the 
 county were defirous to pay, if he 
 \vould have fuffered them. 
 
 When he was in the houfe, he was 
 refpecled by the minifter, and often 
 
 voted
 
 voted with him: but he was not oF 
 his phalanx, and as often voted againft. 
 him. From all favours he kept 
 aloof; confidering them as bribes, 
 which were in fome fliape to be 
 repaid. This difmterefted conduct 
 gave him fo much credit in the houfe, 
 that all the young members who had 
 not addicted themfelves to party; but 
 meant honeftly to their country, 
 thought they could not do better, than 
 look up to Mr. Willoughby ; and in 
 all queftions to follow his lead. 
 
 At the time when Mr. Willoughby 
 was thus complimented by the gen-
 
 f 88 ) 
 
 tlemen of his county with a feat in par- 
 liament (which by the way they would 
 never allow him afterwards to relin- 
 quifh, till age made it a burden to 
 him) Sir James Leigh in the neigh- 
 bouring county, received as great an 
 affront. He was exaclly in the cafe 
 of the offenfive candidate, who had 
 been antagonift to Mr. Willoughby, 
 having obtruded himfelf againft the 
 inclination of all the leading gentle- 
 men of the county, by whom he was 
 thoroughly dcfpifed. A warm oppo- 
 fition was immediately fet on foot. 
 With his ufual folly and difregard to 
 tcnfequences, he obftinatcly per- 
 
 fevered j
 
 fevered ; and was at length difgrace- 
 fully thrown out, after he had fpent, 
 at the loweft calculation, twenty-five 
 thoufand pounds. This was a heavy 
 ftroke upon his affairs, already greatly 
 in the wane. He fought parliament 
 indeed only as an afylum; or, if pof- 
 fible, to better his fortune : but by 
 this unfuccefsful attempt, he found 
 his difficulties doubly increafed. 
 Some of his befl tenements, and 
 farms had already been difpofed of, 
 to filence his creditors, rather than to 
 pay them. The bed part of his 
 eftate was deeply mortgaged : and all 
 fcis timber was cut down and fold. 
 
 Many
 
 Many thoufand trees were felled, 
 which were flill in a growing flate. 
 In fhort, his extravagancies of various 
 kinds had run him quite aground; 
 and this laft elelion-affair had almoft 
 compleated his ruin. 
 
 Another difagreeable bufinefs alfo 
 happened foon after the election. Sir 
 James's mother had a fettlement upon 
 his eftate of two thoufand pounds a 
 year, which had never been regularly 
 paid. But at this time, the arrears 
 were very large. Having made many 
 ineffectual demands, fhe called upon 
 him one morning ; and after much 
 
 heat and paffion on both fides, fhe 
 
 left
 
 left him with a threat to put the affair 
 into her lawyer's hands ; which fhe 
 did foon afterwards, and obliged him 
 to pay in one fum near eleven thou- 
 fand pounds, which he now found it 
 very difficult to procure. 
 
 More than twenty years had now 
 elapfed, fmce thefe two gentlemen had 
 taken pofiefiion of their eftates. Du- 
 ring the firft fix, or feven years, we 
 have feen Sir James carrying on fuch 
 immenfe works, as aftonifhed every 
 body. But they had all long fmcc 
 been discontinued. One foolifh pro- 
 ject after another ; had fubfided. No- 
 thing
 
 ( 92 ) 
 
 thing was (inifhed. The whole com- 
 pafs of his intended improvements 
 was now a fcene of wild, expenfive 
 defolation. What he had done, and 
 what he had undone what he had 
 begun, and what he had yet only plan- 
 ned, were all blended together in one 
 mafs of confufion. 
 
 In the mean time Mr. Willoughby's. 
 improvements, which had gone on 
 leifurely, had now attained great per- 
 feclion. His trees were well-grown ; 
 and he had the fatisfaftion to fee the 
 plan, which he had originally formed 
 with fo much judgment, now opening 
 
 more
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 more and more into fcenes of beaut}'. 
 Every thing was in excellent order : 
 his trees, and his fhrubs were healthy i 
 his lawns and his walks perfectly neat. 
 It was eafy to lee, the hand, which 
 had executed all this elegance, was 
 {till extended over it. 
 
 His farms too, and all the profitable 
 parts of his eftate, were in the fame 
 excellent order. While poor Sir 
 James had not a farm houfe, that was 
 not almoftin ruins, Mr. Willoughby's 
 eftate was a model of regularity, and 
 good management. It was one of his 
 great pleafures to fee his tenants under 
 good roofs; and he thought nothing 
 
 was
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
 was loft by making every thing con- 
 venient about them. What timber 
 he cut down, was only fuch as called 
 for the axe ; and in its room he planted 
 thoufands of trees all over his domains, 
 \vherever wood could poffibly grow 
 with ad vantage in the corners of fields 
 particularly ; which mode of planting, 
 if it be managed properly, turns a 
 field into a lawn. By judicious per- 
 fons it was calculated, that by plant- 
 ing, draining, and other improve- 
 ments, he had increafed the value of 
 his eftate, fmce lie took polfeffion of 
 it, at leaft fifty thoufand pounds. 
 And tho he feldom raifed his old ten- 
 ants,
 
 ( 95 ) 
 
 ants, yet in his new leafes, tho they 
 were always moderate, he added feve- 
 ral hundred pounds to his yearly 
 rental. 
 
 The laft event of Sir James's ca- 
 reer was the moft miferable of all. 
 The woman, with whom he lived, was 
 now become intolerable to him. In- 
 deed (he had been one caufe, and no 
 inconfiderable one, of the ruin of his 
 affairs. Her debts, which he had 
 twice paid, amounted to fums of con- 
 fequence. Her very drcfs required 
 the rental of a good farm to fupport. 
 Nothing was too expenfive for her. 
 
 Jn
 
 ( 96 ) 
 
 In fhort, (lie was the very genius of 
 prodigality. Her girls alfo, (for (he 
 had five) vyed in finery with the firft- 
 rate miffes in the country : tho in the 
 article of education, it muft be allow- 
 ed, an intire faving had been made. 
 
 While her youth, and beauty lafted, 
 fhe knew how to affuage any tumult 
 fhe might have railed ; and long 
 therefore continued to reign the intire 
 miftrefs of his family. But five, and 
 twenty years, joined to an irregular 
 life, had now effaced her charms. 
 Her elegant form was become heavy 
 and bloated. Her fine complexion 
 was grown red and pimpled. She 
 
 had
 
 r 97 ) 
 
 had loft Feveral of her teeth : and the 
 natural violence of her temper, hav- 
 ing chaced away all the rofy fmilcs, 
 and dimples of youth, had taken (tern 
 poficffion of all her features. As the 
 means of foothing, therefore were 
 gone, a continued fcene of quarrel, ani- 
 mofity, and bitternefs enfued. What 
 was at firft only diflike on one fide, 
 had now changed into a thorough dif- 
 gud on both. 
 
 Sir James had long wiflied to rid 
 himfelf of this incumbrance : but flie 
 had fuch an afcendancy over him, at 
 firft by her beauty, and afterwards by 
 the violence of her temper, that he 
 H never
 
 ( 98 ) 
 
 never could, indeed he never durft, 
 propofe it. Wearied at length how- 
 ever by her extravagance, and pro- 
 voking infolence, he determined, at 
 all events, to roufe himfelf, and 
 throw off an evil, which was now be- 
 yond all fufferance. He told her 
 therefore plainly, that he could keep 
 her in his houfe no longer; and that 
 fhe might repair to fuch a place (a 
 houfe of his own in a diftant village) 
 where fhe fhould find he had not left 
 her deftitute. 
 
 No mad heroine on a ftage, could 
 difplay more fury, than fhe did 
 on this occafion. " What ! after fe- 
 
 " ducing
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 u ducing her, and robbing her of her 
 " innocence, did he mean to turn 
 " her out of his houfe ? Was flic, 
 " and her poor girls to go begging 
 " about the country ? No : fhe 
 " vowed revenge. She did not fet 
 " her own life at a farthing in compa- 
 " rifon with her revenge : -and if he 
 *' dared to mention fuch an infuit to 
 u her again, fhe would {hew him, what 
 " an injured, and inraged woman 
 " could do." 
 
 Soon afterwards, her brother, the 
 
 lieutenant, appeared upon the ftage. 
 
 He entered the houfe rudely ; and 
 
 without any ceremony, told Sir 
 
 H 2 James
 
 f 100 ) 
 
 James in a furly tone, that he mould 
 find his poor injured filler had a 
 friend, who would revenge her 
 wrongs, if he attempted to ufe her ill. 
 And to imprefs his menace more 
 ftrongly, he was often feen, from the 
 parlour windows, fwaggering about 
 the park with his hat fiercely cocked, 
 and a long fword by his fide, as if he 
 was ready to be called in on the firft 
 fummons. 
 
 No poor wretch was ever fo mife- 
 rably harrafled, as Sir James. His 
 misfortunes, (or rather his dijlrejfes^ 
 for they were all of his own bringing 
 on) had now funk his fpirits, and 
 
 totally
 
 totally unmanned him. He needed 
 not fuch a fpedre always before 
 his windows to keep him within. 
 Duns, and writs, and jails, were 
 frightful ideas, and always in his 
 thoughts. If he went to the door, he 
 feared a bailiff in every bufh. - As to 
 the affair of the woman, he determined 
 to make up matters as well as he 
 could ; and fubmit again to that ty- 
 ranny, which he could not throw off; 
 tho he feared it would now be more 
 infufferable than ever. 
 
 In no very fhort time, however he 
 was relieved, as far as getting rid of 
 this nuifance could relieve him. 
 
 While
 
 ( '02 ) 
 
 While (he lived with him, tho totally 
 negligent of his affairs, {he had been 
 very intent on her own : and had fe- 
 cured a good purfe for herfelf; 
 which in the wreck of his fortune, fhe 
 found no very difficult matter. But 
 when flie now faw there was nothing 
 more to be had, fhe had no inclination 
 to flay longer ; and took an oppor- 
 tunity early one morning to difappear, 
 carrying the family-jewels with her, 
 (which fhe would never fuffer him to 
 difpofe of) and what elfe of value fhe 
 could eafily pack up. Her brother 
 "waited for her with a chaife at the 
 
 park-
 
 f 10 3 ) 
 
 park-gate ; and where they went, no- 
 body could tell. 
 
 The next day however Sir James 
 received a note from her, intimating, 
 that, " As (he found he had loft all af- 
 " feclion for her, me would no longer 
 " diftrefs him with her prcfence. 
 " Nor would fhe intrude farther on 
 " his bounty. The little things he 
 " had given her, would fufficiently 
 " maintain her : only (lie begged, he 
 " would, for her fake, take a fatherly 
 " care of the poor children me had 
 " left him." Three of them, now 
 young women, (poor uneducated 
 creatures) were growing up to be as 
 
 great
 
 ( '04 ) 
 
 great plagues, as their mother hacf 
 been. What to do with them ; and 
 what to do with hirnfelf, were matters 
 of diflraclion to him. 
 
 But the jewels were his firft con- 
 cern. As they were very valuable, 
 and what he had looked on as his la ft 
 flake, he determined to purfue her 
 with a warrant. But his attorney told 
 him, that confidering how things had 
 been circum (lanced between them, and 
 that fhe had often been feen with 
 thofe jewels about her in public, he 
 much doubted, whether he could re- 
 cover them, even if he fliould be able 
 
 to
 
 to find her. He was obi iged therefore 
 to defift. 
 
 At length, having fold his laft un- 
 fettled acre, and collected from the 
 wreck of his affairs, all he could, he 
 gave his poor girls little more thaa 
 was juft fufficient to keep them from 
 ftarving; and with the refi, he en- 
 deavoured to find a refuge abroad 
 from the diftreifes he fuffered at 
 home. 
 
 All thefe evils he had brought up- 
 on himfelf, together with the total 
 ruin of his comiitution, before he had 
 attained the age of forty- feven. 
 What became of him afterwards, was 
 
 never
 
 never certainly known : but it was 
 commonly fuppofed, he ended his 
 elays inr fome obfcure part of Italy, 
 or Switzerland. 
 
 During the feveral years, that Sir 
 James Leigh was thus harrafled with 
 an imperious woman, whom he dcteft- 
 ed, but could irot make off, Mr. 
 Willoughby was enjoying the full 
 happinefs of domeflic comfort. He 
 had married a lady every way deferr- 
 ing of him. They had but one mind 
 between them, which was centered in 
 making each other happy ; and in dif- 
 i'ufing happinefs, as far as they could, 
 
 around
 
 around them. The firft object of 
 their care was the education of their 
 little family ; and they had the fads- 
 faction to fee them grow up with 
 every hopeful appearance. 
 
 As their eldcft fon advanced to- 
 wards manhood, the old people of the 
 parifh ufed to fay, he put them much 
 in mind of what his father had been at 
 his age. He was the fame engaging 
 youth, with his auburn hair hanging 
 in curls about his fnoulders modeft, 
 civil, and obliging to every body ; 
 and mod pleafed, when he had the 
 power given him of plcafing ethers. 
 
 He
 
 Me married, as his father had done, 
 early in life; and equally to the fatis- 
 fnction of his parents. On this event 
 his father fettled an eftate of two 
 thoufand a year upon him ; and put 
 him in pofieflion of that houfe, which 
 his grandmother had formerly occu- 
 pied. 
 
 Mr. Willoughby was now happy 
 in his grandchildren. Seldom a day 
 pafied, in which two or three of them 
 did not come to play upon the lawn, 
 before his Rudy-windows ; and would 
 run in, one at a time, to deliver fome 
 meffage from mama ; or to a(k for 
 one of his flicks to ride upon. 
 
 Mr,
 
 Mr. Willoughby lived many years 
 after his Con's marriage, with a greater 
 fhare of felicity, than happens to mod 
 men. He \vas happy in himfelf in 
 his fame in his fortunes in his 
 children and above all, in his excel- 
 lent Lucy, who doubled all his plea- 
 fures divided all his cares and 
 lelfened all his pains. 
 
 THE END.
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN WILMOT, 
 
 Earl of Rochefter.
 
 J OHN WILMOT, Earl of Ro- 
 chefter, in Charles the fecond's reign, 
 polfelfed more the graces of an ele- 
 gant perfon was better bred and 
 vas more lively and agreeable in 
 converfation, than almofl any man of 
 his time. While his manners made 
 him univerfally -engaging; his parts 
 and knowledge introduced him to men 
 of genius, and letters. He was fond 
 of reading ; and found one of his 
 greateft pleafures to arife from in- 
 I creating
 
 creafing his knowledge. Plis difpo- 
 Jfition too was naturally good. He 
 was well natured, obliging to every 
 body, and never backward in ferving 
 a friend. 
 
 He fmifhed his education abroad, 
 under the conducl of a very worthy 
 tutor: and brought home with him a 
 greater variety of j uft obfervations on 
 men, and things, than moft young 
 men are able to colleft. 
 
 To his other efccompli foments he 
 added the fplendor of military glory; 
 having ferved twice with the Earl of 
 Sandwich, as a volunteer in the Dutch 
 war, with great reputation. And 
 
 what
 
 ( "5 ),, 
 
 what gave a polifh to all his accom- 
 plifliments and good qualities, was the 
 unaffuming modefty of his behaviour. 
 He himfelf was the only perfon who 
 appeared unconfcious of the fuperi- 
 ority of his parts and knowledge. 
 
 Thus qualified, he was fatally in- 
 troduced to the licentious court of 
 Charles the fecond, who made him 
 one of the gentlemen of his bedcham- 
 ber, and ranger of Woodliock park. 
 
 The life of a courtier gave a new turn 
 to his ideas. He became the idol of 
 all the gay, the profligate, and unprin- 
 cipled young people, with whom that 
 court abounded. His manners were 
 
 I 2 fo
 
 fo engaging, and his wit, and humour 
 fo entertaining, efpecially when a little 
 inlivened with wine, that he was conti- 
 nually befet by 'thofe, who watched 
 every opportunity of enjoying his 
 company. 
 
 Tho Lord Rochefter had a tafte for 
 literature, he foon alfo felt a tafle for 
 pleafure, which in the end deftroyed 
 every principle of virtue. In the 
 early part of his life he had a relifh only 
 for the company of men of genius, 
 fenfc, and learning. But court man- 
 ners rendered him lefs nice. He \vas 
 frequently obliged to mix with trifling, 
 illiterate, and vicious people : and 
 
 Ending
 
 ( n 7 y. 
 
 finding he could unbend himfelf 
 among them, and be perfectly at his 
 eafe ; he began to find a relifli in their 
 company ; and by degrees to like no 
 other company fo well. 
 
 Thus entered among profligate 
 people, he foon became eminent. 
 As he was fuperior to all his compa- 
 nions in wit and genius, he foon out- 
 did them all Hkewife in every kind of 
 depravity. He gave a loofe to his 
 appetites, and courted pleafure in 
 every form. During five years of his 
 life, he confcffed, he was hardly ever in 
 fuch a flate as could be called perfectly 
 fober; and in this time was guilty of a 
 I 3 thou-
 
 f ) 
 
 thoufand fcrange extravagancies. He 
 would go about the country in various 
 fhapes, feldom \vithout fome profli- 
 gate intention chiefly in purfuit of 
 fome low amour. But whatever cha- 
 racter he aflumed a farmer a failor 
 a razor-grinder a beggar or any 
 other lie atted his part in every dlf- 
 guife, fo incomparably well, that if he 
 had met even an intimate friend, as he 
 frequently did, he would pafs undif- 
 covered ; and would afterwards tell his 
 friend fome circumflances of his life, 
 vhich the other thought he only could 
 have known by witchcraft. Once 
 feeing obliged to keep out of the way, 
 
 he
 
 he became a mountebank on Tower- 
 hill ; and was enough acquainted with 
 phyfic, to delude the populace into an 
 opinion of his wonderful abilities. 
 In this profeffion, he ufed to fay, he 
 could have made a very comfortable 
 fubliftence, if he had wilhed it. 
 
 Nor was he more abandoned to the 
 indulgence of his appetites, than loofe 
 to every principle of common honel'ty. 
 Pleafure was his only purfuit. This 
 led him into expencc. Expence pro- 
 duced neceflity ; and neceffity, difho- 
 nefty. Profeffions of friendfhip to 
 thofe whom he mortally hated, and 
 intended, if he could, to ruin un- 
 meaning.
 
 meaning oaths and vows in his ad- 
 dreffes to women tricks put upon- 
 tradefmen, and creditors, to deceive, 
 and cheat them, with a variety of 
 other dilhoneft praBices, were com- 
 mon with him. In fhort, no man 
 ever gave himfelf up to pleafure with 
 more eagernefs was left reftrained 
 by principle i-n the purfuit of it was 
 better qualified to procure it or had 
 a higher reliflr for the enjoyment of it 
 %hen procured. 
 
 But one great obft'acle ftill obtruded 
 i-tfelf on thefe joyous purfuits. Tho 
 he had not principle enough to re- 
 itram his aQions ; he had enough to 
 
 alarm-
 
 alarm his confcience. M-jrc morality 
 he was able to manage pretty well - r 
 were i not for its inconvenient con- 
 neclion with religion. It was necef- 
 fary for him therefore to reafon dov;n 
 all the trouble fome reflections, which 
 arofe on this fubjecl ; and with this 
 view he had gotten together all the 
 common-place arguments he could 
 invent, or collect many of them ta- 
 ken up from thofe, whom on any 
 other fubjecl he would have defpifed. 
 It cannot be fuppofed, that a mind 
 fo full of intelligence as his was, could 
 eafily be diverted of every idea of re- 
 ligion. The being of a God he al- 
 lowed,
 
 12Z ) 
 
 lowed. He faid, he never could con- 
 ceive the world to be made by 
 chance ; the produftions and regula- 
 rity of nature, proclaimed beyond 
 contradiclion an infinite power. But 
 then he wilhed to infer from various 
 circumftanees, which he did not care 
 to examine deeply, that this power had 
 little concern with the affairs of men. 
 He could not, he faid, attribute hu- 
 man paffions hate, or love to a per- 
 fect being. That would be to form a 
 Deity on heathen ^heology : and 
 therefore, where there was neither 
 love nor hatred> he could not fuppofe 
 
 there
 
 ( 1*3 ) 
 
 there could be either reward, or per- 
 nifhment. 
 
 Then again he thought, that to- 
 love God, was prefumptuous to- 
 fear him, fuperftitious. Prayer he- 
 thought could be of no ufe, as it was- 
 not to be imagined the Deity was fo 
 weak, as to be wrought on by the im- 
 portunities of man. All religious 
 \vorihiptherefore, except, as he would 
 fay, in a gay humour, a few hymns in 
 celebration of the divine majefty, he 
 fuppofed to be ufelefs- 
 
 Two maxims in morality he con- 
 fcfled he could not but hold, however 
 little he had lived up to them. That 
 
 we
 
 ( "4 J 
 
 we fhould do nothing to injure ano- 
 ther; nor any thing to prejudice our- 
 fllves particularly our own health : 
 but that the gratification of our appe- 
 tites, when it did not interfere with 
 either of thefe points, he endeavoured 
 to perfuade himfelf was very lawful. 
 It was unreafonable he thought to fup- 
 pofe they were put into man, merely 
 to be reftrained. 
 
 It was his favourite doclrine, that 
 felf-intereft governed the world ; and 
 that it was right it fhould do fo. 
 What was general benevolence, he 
 would ad;, but putting one man's hap- 
 pinefs in the power of another ?' 
 Whereas,.
 
 ( "5 ) 
 
 Whereas, if every man took care of 
 liimfelf, the bufmefs was in fafer 
 hands, and the end would be better 
 anfvvered. 
 
 Still however the doclrine of a fu- 
 ture (late recurred, notwithftanding 
 all his endeavours to ftifle it ; and was 
 more in his way than any thing elfe ; 
 as he could not believe the foul would 
 be diflblved by death. What might 
 become of it, he could not pretend to 
 fay : but (till he perfuaded himfelf the 
 doctrine of rewards and punifhmerits 
 was not included in its immortality. 
 That doclrine, he wilhed to believe, 
 was big with abfurdity. Heaven ap- 
 peared
 
 p?ared to him too good for the bed; 
 ^nd hell too bad for the word. And 
 indeed he conceived, if God was the 
 good Being he was reprefented, he 
 could not, confidently with that good- 
 nefs, make any of his creatures mife- 
 rable. 
 
 Thus he had formed a fort of re- 
 ligion for himfelf which lie had con- 
 trived to anf\s*er an unprincipled life. 
 As for the religion of the bible, he 
 found it of too rigid a texture to mold 
 into any commodious form. He was 
 obliged therefore to ftrike the bible 
 entirely out of his ichcmc. In order 
 to tliis, like other infidels, he would 
 
 Men
 
 ( 1*7 ) 
 
 liflen to no evidence in its favour; but 
 thought every objection, tho he might 
 have found it anfwered over and over 3 
 highly worth his attention. 
 
 As for the infpiration of the fcrip- 
 tures, he ufed to fay, he knew not 
 what it meant. He could not conceive, 
 how God mould reveal his fecrets to 
 men. Nor indeed could he fee any 
 occafion for revealed religion at all, 
 as he had no idea of man's having 
 been ever placed in a better ftate than 
 he was in at prefent. And even if 
 a revelation had been necefifary, one 
 fhould have thought it would have 
 been more extenfive ; and have taken 
 
 place
 
 place long before the time of Auguftiis 
 Caefar. As to prophecies, and mi- 
 racles, the world had ever been full of 
 fuch wonderful (lories and he fup- 
 pofed they all depended intirely on 
 the credulity and folly of mankind. 
 The fcriptures, he thought, carried on 
 their very face the marks of impo- 
 fition : the flile and manner of writing 
 the various contradictions, which he 
 found in them the diforder in point 
 of time and many other things, he 
 owned, had fumcient weight with 
 him to deftroy their credibility. Be- 
 fides, he faid if a man could not believe^ 
 idiicb was his cafe, faith could neither 
 
 be
 
 be forced upon him, nor required-* 
 and the ir.yfierics of feripture, fuch 
 cs the trinity the incarnation the 
 atonement, and fome others, were to 
 him wholly incompreherifible. 
 
 But of aH things, he plumed his in- 
 fidelity mod upon the bad lives of the 
 profeffors of chriilianity. As the 
 clergyman, he faid, had {ludied reli- 
 gion, he mult of courfe be bed ac- 
 quainted with the evidences of it : 
 and if thefe evidences had no effeft on 
 him, it was ihrewdly to be fufpecled, 
 there was no weight in them. 
 When he faw clergymen therefore at 
 court, uilng fo many mean arts, as he 
 K oftea
 
 C *3 ) 
 
 often did, in obtaining preferment, he 
 could not fuppofe, they conceived 
 better of the chriftian religion, than 
 
 he himfelf did. 
 
 Thus we have taken a fhort view 
 of the abandoned life of this uncom- 
 monly wicked profligate. We have 
 feen the pleas he made ufe of to cover 
 his vices ; and the arguments he ufed 
 with himfelf, fuch as they were, to 
 ftrengthen his infidelity. His whole 
 life indeed was only a ftruggle againft 
 conviclion : for a man of his fenfe 
 could not avoid perceiving that when 
 he debafed religion, he put a force 
 
 upon
 
 upon nature. Let us now fee the 
 end of all this : and how it concluded 
 at length in the triumph of religion. 
 
 Whilft this noble profligate enjoyed 
 his health, and met with no checks 
 from nature in th purfuk of pleafure, 
 all was well. His mind was occupied 
 in a thoufand pleafureable engage- 
 ments reflection was turned afide 
 and his confcience in a great degree 
 
 fiienced. But vicious enjoyments 
 
 have feldom an extended date. Be- 
 fore he had attained his thirtieth year, 
 Lord Rochefler had out-run his con- 
 ftitution ; and found every accefs of 
 pleafure to be an accefs alfo of dif- 
 K a cafe.
 
 eafe. He was now worn down to a 
 ihadow ; and confumptive fymptoms 
 were increafmg daily upon him. But 
 what thieatened the mod immediate 
 danger, was an ulcer, which his phy- 
 ficians thought was forming in his 
 bladder. As it gave him however no 
 great uneafmefs, he hoped it mi^ht 
 difperfe without any fatal effects. 
 And indeed he found himfelf after- 
 wards fo well, that having occafion to 
 vifit hi-s eilate in Somerietfhire, he 
 undertook the journey with his ufual 
 impetuoGty, and rode pod. But the 
 heat, and violence of die exercifc fo in- 
 iknied the ulcer, which might proba- 
 bly
 
 f 133 ) 
 
 bly with care and quietnefs, have dif- 
 perfcd, that he \vas obliged to return 
 in his coach to Wood [lock-lodge, 
 very much out of order. 
 
 God affords all hnners o-pportun .". ; 
 ef reflection fome circiriailances in 
 each man's life, which, if they were as 
 properly accepted, as they are graci- 
 oufly intended, would lead him to 
 repentance. Some men* are drav;n by 
 cords of love. But fevere calamities 
 only can bring others to refle-jliop* 
 When they feel the world failing 
 wider them; and its bed promifes 
 ending in deceit, if they are not hard- 
 K
 
 f '34 > 
 
 ened beyond all reflection, they natu- 
 rally look round for fomething that 
 can adminrifter comfort. 
 
 This was the cafe of the Earl of 
 Rochefter.. He had lived a pleafure- 
 able, and a vicious life, The plea- 
 iiire was now gone, the remembrance 
 of the wickednefs aJorre was left. It 
 ihocked him to think he had given up 
 his health, his fortune, his friends, his 
 vharacier every thing in this world 
 that was valuable, for what he now 
 only remembered with horror. 
 ; But this was fo far mere worldly 
 compunction. It led however to 
 more ferious reflcQion. As this 
 
 world
 
 C '35 ) 
 
 tforld failed, the next drew nearer : 
 and as he always had fome conception 
 of a future (late, tho he wifhed not to 
 fuppofe it a (late of retribution* his 
 active mind could not help being 
 anxious for better information. He 
 knew he had never examined into 
 thefe matters with any attention him- 
 fclf; and therefore could not but 
 doubt his own crude reafonings, which 
 never could amount to more than 
 mere conjecture. His friends there- 
 fore, particularly his mother, the 
 Countefs Dowager of Rochefter, en- 
 deavoured to get ferious people about 
 him ; hoping they might put thoughts 
 
 into
 
 into his mind, which his own active- 
 fpirit would eafily purfuc. Among, 
 thefe, the chief were Mr. Parfons, her- 
 chaplain and Dr. Burnct, afterwards 
 biiliop of Salifbuvy. One or other 
 of thefe was frequently with him, and 
 by degrees he took plcafure in their 
 conversation. To Dr. Earnet he 
 ihewed a particular attachment ; and 
 clelircd him on his death-bed, to give 
 the world an account of the conver- 
 lations that palled between them. u I 
 have done much mifchief, faid he, in 
 my life-time ; I fhould wilh to make 
 amends for it at my death." 
 
 To
 
 f '37 ) 
 
 To thefc two gentlemen Lord Ro- 
 chefter laid open, without, fcruple, alP 
 the vile opinions he had held in the 
 early part of his life. He never, he 
 faid, was fatisfied with them. He al- 
 ways felt ftrong remorfe of conference; 
 tho too often, he feared it was found- 
 ed on his having ruined himielf'inr 
 this world. Yet iometimes he believ- 
 ed the difcquietude of his mind had a 
 better principle. " I remember oncej 
 " faid he, at the houie of a perfon of 
 " quality, where feveral of us pro- 
 66 phane young fellows had met toge- 
 " thcr, I undertook the caufe of 
 " atheiim : an-d I was thought to have 
 
 per-
 
 ( '38 ) 
 
 " performed my pan fo well, that I 
 " was overwhelmed with applaufe. 
 " But as I left the company, I felt 
 " my felf exceedingly (hocked at what 
 " had paffed; and could not help 
 " breaking out into fome fuch folilo- 
 " quy as this Good Heavens ! that 
 *' a man, who walks upright who 
 " fees around him the wonderful 
 *' works of God and has the ufe of 
 " his fenfes and reafon could ever 
 44 abufe them in fo horridly prophane 
 " a manner ! " Indeed, he would fay s 
 in the worft part of his life, he never 
 could$ with all his reafoning, perfuade 
 himfelf into atheifm, He was fome-
 
 ( '39 ) 
 
 thing like the devils : he believed and 
 trembled. 
 
 At other tkres he would confefs, 
 that notwithftanding his own licenti- 
 ous aftions, he always felt a fecret 
 value for an honed man ; and always 
 though: ir.ori.lity fat well on othevs. 
 Bu: he owned he had never felt any 
 reverence for the gofpel nor had 
 ever taken that pains in feeking into 
 its evidence, which a matter of 
 that apparent importance required. 
 The firii thin?, he told Dr. Burner, 
 which made him think ferioufly of 
 chriftianity, was a converfation he had 
 with Mr, Parfons; who fpeaking of 
 
 pro-
 
 prophecy, pointed out to him th'e 
 fifty-third chapter of Ifakh; and 
 fhevved him how exaftly the fufferiugs 
 of our Saviour defcribcd there, 
 agreed with the account given of them 
 by the evangciifts ; tho it is cert;, in 
 the book of Ifaiah was written many 
 ages before our Saviour lived, and is 
 efteemed by the Jews at this day to be 
 divinely infpired. This companion 
 fo intirely fatisfied his underftanding, 
 that the paffion of our Saviour he 
 faid, appeared as clear and plain to 
 to him, as any objeft. he ever faw re- 
 prefented in a glafs. The original, and 
 the image were exaBly alike. This 
 
 pafiage
 
 pafiage from Ifaiah he got by heart, 
 -and frequently foothed himfelf by re- 
 peating it. 
 
 And here let us paufe a moment. 
 As God affords all iinners opportuni- 
 ties of reflc&ion, fo does be Hkewife 
 afford them various means of conver- 
 fion, according to their various difpo- 
 fitions, and different modes of think- 
 ing. One man is ftruck with the 
 wonderful works of God. The 
 imagination of another faftens on 
 fome beautiful analogy of nature. A 
 third is awakened by fome pious life 
 he has read .qr fome fermon he has 
 
 heard
 
 heard orconverfation that has ftruck 
 him. A fourth is affefted by the fim- 
 plicity, and purity of fcriptural pre- 
 cepts, or examples. From one or 
 other of thefe fources, or fomething 
 elfe perhaps in the divine economy, 
 which forcibly ftrikes his mind, the fin- 
 ner will often through the grace of God 
 affifting his pious endeavours, take the 
 beginning of a new life. Lord Ro- 
 chefter we have feen, was firfl brought 
 to a fenfe of religion by the wonder- 
 ful coincidence between the prophe- 
 cies and the hiftory of Chrift. 
 
 Having thus gained as it were, a 
 glimpfc of chriiUanity } his intuitive 
 
 mind
 
 ( '43 ) 
 
 mind eafily proceeded. From {im- 
 ply contemplating the fufferings of 
 Chrift, he began to inquire into the 
 caufe of thofe fufferings. He faw in 
 a ftrong light his own wicked life, and 
 the heinoufnefs of fin ; and devoutly 
 acknowledged the neceffity of a 
 Redeemer. O .bleffed God! he 
 ** would cry, can fuch a creature as 
 *' I have been, gain acceptance from 
 " thee ! Can there be any mercy for 
 4t me ! Will God own fuch a wretch ! 
 u Never, never, he would add, but 
 44 through the infinite merits of a Re- 
 44 deerner never, but by the pur- 
 * 4 chafe of his blood." Then again, 
 
 a fenfe
 
 ( *41 ) 
 
 e fcnfe of his own guilt flowing in 
 ftrongly upon him, he would cry out, 
 (ftriking his hands together) he hac} 
 been the vileft dog, the fun ever fhone 
 upon : and thought the life of a 
 ftarving leper, crawling in a ditch, as 
 he expreffed himfelf, more enviable 
 than a life like his. 
 
 In fhort, his whole frame being 
 thus intirely changed, he carried into 
 religion ail thofe flrong feelings, and 
 warm paflions, which had led him fo 
 violently aftray in the paths of vice. 
 - In a calmer interval, he would 
 fpeak of the foolifa, and abfurd phi- 
 lofophy of the late Mr. Hobbes, and 
 
 others
 
 ( MS ) 
 
 others of that Ramp. "Aye, he would 
 cry, thefe were my ruin. Thefe phi- 
 lofophera helped to undo me." 
 
 Then laying his hand on the bible, 
 he would fay, " There is true philo- 
 fophy. This is ='the \vifdom that 
 fpeaks to the heart. A bad life, is 
 the only grand obje&ion to this book. 
 And it is furely a bad way in examin- 
 ing the truth of it, to begin with ca- 
 villing. Let us examine firft th 
 evidence and tendency of it, and try 
 whether that will not blunt the edge 
 of many objections." 
 
 In fhortr, chriftianity had taken 
 
 fuch full pofTeffion of his mind, that 
 
 L ah 1,0
 
 ( 146 ) 
 
 altho he had been at firft awakened 
 from his criminal life by dreadful ap~ 
 prehenfions, and horrors, his converfi- 
 on was now founded on a firm belief 
 of the gofpel ; his mind became daily 
 more calm ; and he prayed to God 
 with all earneflnefs for his grace and 
 holy fpirit to aiTift him in keeping 
 fleady to the refolutions he had form- 
 ed. In ,his devotions, he would 
 ibmetimes ufe his own prayers ; which 
 -Mr. Parfons, svho was often with him 
 *;t prayer, ufed to fay, were truly 
 excellent. 
 
 ,As his heart feemed thus changed, 
 
 .the
 
 C '47 ) 
 
 the habits of his life were changed 
 v, ith it, 
 
 He was very felicitous to have all 
 his debts paid ; many of which he had 
 contracted without any defign of pay- 
 ing them at all. 
 
 A els of reftitution alfo he ordered, 
 when reflitution was in his power. 
 When it was not, he prayed to God 
 earneftly to forgive him, and merci- 
 fully to accept a fmcere intention. 
 
 The thoughts of his corrupt wri- 
 tings gave him great diftrefs. They 
 could not be recalled : but he hoped, 
 that whoever heard of them, would 
 hear alfo of the diftrefs they had given 
 L 2 him,
 
 him. Such of his writings however, 
 as were unpublifhed allhislafcivious 
 piclures and every thing clfe that 
 had a bad tendency, he ftriclly order- 
 ed his executors to burn. 
 
 Injuries which he had received 
 himfelf, many of them great, and pro- 
 voking, he declared in the prefence of 
 God, he forgave from his heart ; and 
 v r as ready to do any acl of kindnefs in 
 his power, to thofe who had offended 
 him. 
 
 He "had formerly indulged fuch a 
 habit of fwearing, that oaths made a 
 part of his common converfation : 
 and when he was heated, they were 
 
 frightful*
 
 f *49 ) 
 
 frightful. But he had now fo wholly 
 mattered this vile habit, that bifhop 
 Burnet tells us, when fits of pain- 
 came upon him, which were frequent, 
 and violent, he never heard any thing: 
 like an oath efcape him.- On one oc- 
 cafion indeed, when he was fu fie ring 
 under an acute paroxyfm of his difor- 
 der, and had fent a fervant for fome- 
 thing, which he thought he might have 
 brought fooner, he cried out, " That 
 
 d d fellow I fuppofe is loft." 
 
 When the bifhop remarked it, he 
 faid, " Aye, you fee how this lan- 
 ** guage of fiends ftill hangs about me 
 
 'Who deferves d g fo much as 
 
 L 3 my-
 
 u myfelf ? God forgive me ! " Ex- 
 cept on this occafion, the bifhop ob^- 
 ferves, he never heard even a hafty 
 expreffion come from him. To his 
 iervants indeed, during his whole ill- 
 ncfs,. he was kind, confederate, and 
 even affectionate ;. giving them as little 
 trouble as he could help ; and apolo- 
 gizing for every extraordinary trouble 
 he- was obliged to put upon therm 
 
 His- regard for them he ftill 
 
 ihewed more effectually in his will. 
 
 Among his other faults, he had 
 fliewn much unkindnefs to his rela- 
 tions. He had paid little refpeft to 
 Siis niother he had neglected his Lady* 
 
 and
 
 f i5i ) 
 
 and been inattentive to his children. 
 His behaviour in ail thefe inftances, 
 \vas now wholly changed. To his 
 mother it was refpeclful in the greatefl 
 degree to his Lady, tender anct af- 
 feclionate. She was a very amiable 
 woman; and having been recovered 
 from the church of Rome, in which 
 flic had been brought up, it gave him, 
 he faid, unfpcakable fatkfaclion to re- 
 ceive the holy- facrament with her, 
 from the hands of a proteftant clergy- 
 man* Her gentle attention to him in 
 his illnefs, which was unwearied, filled 
 him with the tendered remorfe, and a 
 thoufand namelefs fenlibilities. For
 
 his children's happinefs he feemed 
 highly concerned. He had a fen, and 
 three daughters; and would often call 
 them to him, and fpeak to them in fo 
 affeclkig a manner, as no words but 
 His own, could exprefs. Once as the 
 bifhop was fitting by him, when his 
 children were with him, he cried out, 
 * 4 See how good, God has been to me 
 in giving me fo many bleffmgs 
 What an ungracious dog have I 
 been ! " 
 
 On another occafion, fpeaking of 
 the great concern he was under for 
 their pious education, he earnefily 
 feopcd his fon would never be a wit 
 
 that
 
 f '53 ) 
 
 that is, faidhe, one of thofe wretched 
 beings, who pride themfelves in feoff- 
 ing at God, and religion. An honeft 
 and religious man, he added, is a cha- 
 ratler, beyond any thing fortune, and 
 honours have to give. He then 
 bleffed them, and prayed for them ; 
 arid committed them to the protection 
 of God. 
 
 It was a favourite topic with him, 
 whenever he had opportunity, to fet 
 himfelf up as a .melancholy example 
 to deter others from a bad life. A 
 gentlemen of fome quality called, one 
 day to fee him. " Aye, look at me,, 
 * 4 faid Lord- Rechcfbr, and fee what 
 
 " a man
 
 ( 154 ) 
 
 K a man is reduced to, who has 
 " {pent his life in fcoffing at God, and 
 " religion. You and I, my good 
 " friend, have been old finners toge- 
 " ther ; and therefore I am die more 
 " free with you. I hope you will fee 
 * ; your wickednefs, as I have fecn 
 64 mine. Depend upon it, my friend, 
 ** we have been miftaken in our con- 
 " ceits. Our opinions are ill-found- 
 " ed. Therefore may God grant you 
 ** repentance!" 
 
 Bifhop Burnet alfo tells us, that 
 Lord Rochefter gave it to him in 
 charge, a little before his death, to tell 
 a certain perfon from him, for who fa
 
 ( 155 ) 
 
 welfare he was much concerned ; th;vC 
 akho there were nothing to come, 
 after this life ; yet all the pleafures he 
 had ever known in fin, would have 
 been ill bought with half the torture 
 he had felt on the recolle&ion of 
 them. 
 
 Thus this noble Lord had done 
 much in a littje- time. His fins had 
 been great : his repentance was fevere : 
 and, as his kours mortened, he became 
 perfectly compofed; and exprefled a 
 willingnefs, and even a wifh to die. 
 He hoped he mould never relapfe, if 
 God mould grant him a longer life : 
 but he thought he could never expeft 
 
 to
 
 to be in a better ftatc to die, than he 
 was in at that time. " And indeed, 
 " fays bifliop Burnet. I had every 
 " reafon to believe him perfectly fm- 
 *' cere. I remember, continues the 
 " bifhop, after his having had many 
 " fleeplefs nights, a dofe of laudanum 
 M was adminiftered to him without 
 his knowledge. The ciTed of it 
 " was a moft refrcfhing deep. In the 
 " morning he found himfelf fo per- 
 44 fe6lly well, that he thought his dif- 
 *< order was now come to a crifis ; and 
 ** that nothing ailed him, but \veak- 
 *' nefs, which he fuppofed would in a 
 5* little time go off. As he was fully 
 poffeffcd
 
 T 57 ) 
 
 u pofTefifed with this idea, he enter- 
 K tained me with the fcheme of his 
 " future life. He would retire from 
 " the \vorld, he faid, and fpend the 
 " remainder of his days, in ftudy, in- 
 " nocence, and piety." And the 
 bifliop had no doubt but he was fin- 
 cere ; and that if he had lived, he 
 would have put all this in execution. 
 The joys of religion Teemed to have 
 taken fo mux:h hold of him, that it 
 -was not likely he would ever again 
 
 have given them up for the pleafures 
 of fin. 
 
 But this relaxation from pain was 
 ifoon over, When the refrefhment of 
 
 the
 
 r '5 ) 
 
 the night went off, it left him in the 
 fame? (late in -which it found him' 
 Two days longer he languifhed. 
 But nature was now entirely exhaufled. 
 The dif charge from the ulcer was fo 
 great, that his whole body was in a 
 manner, confumed. He was frequent- 
 ly alfo in violent pain : and from lying 
 To long in one pofture, the depreflcd 
 parts began to mortify. Notwiths- 
 tanding however all this diftrefs, his 
 compofure, and refignation were won- 
 derful. He fpoke little was heard 
 to pray fervently; and on the 26th of 
 July, 1680, in the thirty-third year of 
 'his age, he died at Woodftock-park 
 
 in
 
 t '59 ) 
 
 in Oxford/hire. About a month be- 
 fore he died, he dictated the following 
 paper, which he figned with his own 
 hand; and had it regularly atteited. 
 
 " For the benefit of all thofe, whom 
 I may have drawn into Jin by my ex- 
 tim.ple, and encouragement, I leave t* 
 the world this my lajl declaration, 
 which I deliver in the prefence of the 
 great God, who knows the fecrets of all 
 'hearts.! and before whom I am now ap- 
 pearing to be judged rthatfrom the 
 
 bottom of my foul, I dctcjl and abhor the 
 whole courfe of my former wicked life ; 
 .find that I think I can never fiifficicntly 
 
 .admire
 
 admire the goodne.fs of God, who has 
 given me a true Jenfe of the pernici- 
 ous opinions, and v:.lc practices, in 
 which I have hitherto lived without 
 hope, and without God in the world 
 having been an open entjny to jfefus 
 Chrijl, and doing the uimcjl dejpight to 
 
 the holyfpirit of grace and that the 
 
 greatejl tcjlimony of my charity to fuch 
 is, to warn them in the name of GsJ, 
 and as they regard the welfare of their 
 immortal fouls, no more to deny his 
 leing, or his providence, or defpife his 
 goodnefs no more to make a mock of 
 Jin, or contemn the pure and 
 religion of my ever biffed
 
 through ivkcfc merits alone, I, one of 
 the greaiejl of firmer s^ do yet hope, for 
 mercy and forgivenefs. Amen. 
 
 Rochefter. 
 
 Declared, andjigned, June the ig//z, 
 1680, in the prcfctrce of 
 
 Anne Rochefter. 
 Robert Parfons. 
 
 * 
 
 Such was the life of this very ex- 
 traordinary man. It refolves itfelf 
 into three diftinft periods each, in 
 its way equally wonderful. In the 
 fuft, he appeared in the polite yorld, 
 as the moil a ccomplifned gentleman 
 M f
 
 f 162 )! 
 
 of his time. In the fecond, he be- 
 came the moft abandoned profligate : 
 and in the laft, the moft fmcere peni- 
 tent. 
 
 What a happy man might he have 
 been, if he could have kept his de- 
 fires within the bounds of virtue, and 
 have added religion to the bleffings he 
 enjoyed!' He had every thing that 
 the world could give: but grafping 
 at pleafure in excefs, he found it 
 mifery. A harrafTed mind, and a dif- 
 caled body were the fruits of his vici- 
 ous pleafures the lofs of every 
 worldly enjoyment and at a period,, 
 
 -when*
 
 f *6 3 J 
 
 when life is in its prime, the decrepi- 
 tude of age. 
 
 He had the wifdom however at !aft 
 to turn his fufTerings to account ; and 
 fee his errors, before it was too late. 
 But what remorfe, horror, and an- 
 guifh did it coft him, before he arriv- 
 ed at that peaceful ferenity, \vhich he 
 might with innocence have enjoyed 
 to a late period of life* 
 
 Some are inclined, through zeal for 
 the honour of Cod, to take from the 
 force of thefe extraordinary conver- 
 fions, by fuppofmg, that God arbitra- 
 rily vouchfafcs a peculiar influx of 
 M 2 his<
 
 ( i6 4 J 
 
 his grace to one man, which he denies 
 to another that we have nothing there- 
 fore to do in the work of fuch conver- 
 fions ourfelves : they are the entire 
 work of God ; and the greater the (in- 
 ner the more abundant often is the grace. 
 No doubt, it is a doclrine of fcrip- 
 ture, that all our goodnefs is derived 
 from God : but it is the doclrine of 
 fcripture alfo that our own endeav- 
 ours mud co-operate with God's 
 goodnefs, and mske his grace effcclu- 
 al. When we are told that God 
 tvorketh in us both to will, and to do of 
 his good pleafure ; that is, through 
 kis good pleafure that he wcrketh in 
 
 us.
 
 us at all ; we are told alfo, that we art 
 -to work out our own falvation with fear 
 and trembling. Every opinion there- 
 fore, however well-meant, which ha 
 a tendency to check our own -pious 
 endeavours ; and to lay the whoh 
 wor/:, if I may fo fpeak, on God, ap- 
 pears to be equally unfcriptural, and 
 mifchievous. 
 
 St. Paul's cafe is mentioned, and 
 that of the thief on the crofs, as in- 
 ftances of fudden, and peculiar efFu- 
 fions of grace. But neither of thcm 
 .feems to be a cafe in point. St. 
 Paul was a man of great piety. Mis 
 difpofition was always good ; and his 
 JM 3
 
 r '56 5 
 
 <pra8ice agreeable to what he thought 
 -the will of God. He was only under 
 a violent prejudice, which it pleafed 
 God to remove by an open miracle. 
 
 As-to-the -Uricf on the crofs, we may 
 fuppofe he had then the firft religious 
 opportunity he had ever had and that 
 the fight of his fuffcring Saviour 
 wrought in him ,at .once a full con- 
 viclion. The hiftory does not give us 
 -the leaft ground for more, or to be- 
 lieve he received any peculiar interfe- 
 rence of grace, which was denied to 
 Ihis companion. 
 
 In fliort, we are not told in what 
 manner the grace of God co-operates 
 wJtk man. Lut we are told, that 
 
 God
 
 'God is no rcfpcffer offierfotis: and 
 every part of fcripture injoins us the 
 practice of a holy life founded on out 
 faith in Chrift. 
 
 Others again, who are lefs concern- 
 ed about religion, would take from 
 the force of fuch converfions, as this 
 of Lord Rochcfter, by attributing 
 them to a melancholy opprefiion of 
 fpirits ; or by rcfolving them into en- 
 'thufiafra or fuperfiition. But why 
 flioukl any of thcfe caufes'be affigned 
 to Lord Rocheder's -ccnverfion ? 
 Does it appear from the hi (lory of 
 te life that 3i-c v;as under any opprelfi-
 
 fpirits that he was under any 
 fear, but what was the effcft of guilt 
 which is the very medium of every 
 converfion ; and which all wicked 
 men muft feel, before they can be 
 brought to a fenfe of their wickedncfs ? 
 Does it appear, .that there was any 
 thing cnthufiaftic, or fuperftitious in 
 his ideas of diriftianity ? and particu- 
 larly, in his declaration at his death? 
 or in fhort, does it appear that he 
 Jiekl any opinion, which all fober 
 chriilians do not, at all times hold ? If 
 jb; why fhould we attribute to a bad 
 caufc, what has the faircft pretcnfions 
 to ilie belt ? 
 
 Ik-
 
 r '69 ) 
 
 Befides. all who were about Lord 
 Rochefter at the time of his death, 
 fpcak of his faculties as perfectly lucid, 
 and equal to what they had ever been, 
 Eiihop Burnet perhaps takes more 
 than ordinary pains to wipe off any 
 fuppofition, that at the time of his 
 death, he was under any particular 
 weaknefs of imagination ; and fpeaks 
 of the great vivacity of his .difcourfe, 
 which was equal at that time, to what 
 he had ever obferved in the days of 
 -his moil perfect health. 
 
 TILE END.
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 NAIMBANNA, 
 
 Young African Prince.
 
 ( '73 ) 
 
 W: 
 
 HEN the Sierra Leone com- 
 pany were firft fettled, they endeav-, 
 cured to bring over to their fricndiinp 
 all the petty African princes in their 
 neighbourhood. Among others, they 
 applied to a chief, of the name of 
 Naimbanna, who was remarkable for 
 a good difpofition, and an acute un- 
 derftanding. He eaiily faw the in- 
 tention of the company was friendly 
 to Africa, and entered into amity with 
 
 them. 
 
 They
 
 ( '74 } 
 
 They fpoke to him about the (lave- 
 frade, and gave him reafons for wifh- 
 ing to have it abolifhed. He was 
 convinced of its vilenefs ; and de- 
 clared, that not one of his fubjecls 
 fhould ever go into (lavery again. 
 
 By degrees they began to talk to= 
 him about religion. But he was ra- 
 ther wary on that head. It feems he 
 had received a prejudice againft 
 chriiiianity, from the following cir- 
 eumftance. 
 
 The Portugueze had, at that time, 
 fcveral miffionaries about the country, 
 who under the pretence of preaching 
 chriftiamtyj fold charms to the na- 
 tives ;
 
 ( '75 ) 
 
 lives; and in exchange received ivory,, 
 gold dud, and other commodities for 
 the merchants, by whom they were 
 employed. Among their converts^ 
 was one of Naimbanna's chief friends; 
 who had afterwards many converfa- 
 tions with Naimbanna on the fubjeft 
 of religion; and endeavoured to 
 make a convert of him alfo. He 
 told Naimbanna, that the chriftian re- 
 ligion was the bed religion in the 
 v.-orld ; for a man could do no- 
 thing fo bad, which the priefls of 
 that religion would not forgive for 
 a mere trifle. Naimbanna with' 
 great acutcnefs of mind, told him,
 
 he thought a good religion would 
 never fuffcr that ; and refufed to be 
 a chriftian. On talking there r ore 
 \viththegentlemenofthe factory, on 
 this fubjcft, and finding they pro- 
 fefied chriftianity, as well as the 
 Portugueze miffionaries, he conclud- 
 ed their tenets \vere the fame, and paid 
 little attention to them. 
 
 By degrees however he found, that 
 the factory contained a very good fort 
 of people that they lived happily 
 among thcmfclves, and did not fell 
 pardons for gold duft as the Portu- 
 gueze did. He began therefore to 
 think more favourublv both of them 
 
 and their religion. 
 
 But
 
 r 77 ) 
 
 Bat tho it appears he had a much 
 jufter opinion of chriftianity, than he 
 had received from the Portugueze 
 iniifionaries ; yet he was ftiil back- 
 ward either in receiving it himfeif, 
 or in making it the religion of his 
 country. He was well convinced of 
 the barbarous flate of his own people, 
 on a comparifon with Europeans, and 
 wifhed for nothing more than a. refor- 
 mation among them efpccially in re- 
 iigion. -But as he found there were 
 Several kinds of religion in the world, 
 lie wifned to know which was the bed, 
 before he introdujced any. 
 
 N T
 
 ( '78 ) 
 
 To afcertain this point as well as he 
 could, he took the following method. 
 He fent one of his fons into Turkey, 
 among the Mahometans a fecond in- 
 to Portugal, among the papifts ; fup- 
 pofing probably that the miilionaries 
 did not teach their religion properly 
 and a third he recommended to the 
 Siejra Leone company? defiring they 
 would fend .him into England, to he 
 ihcre inftruQ.cd in the religion of the 
 country. By the report of his fons, 
 it appears, he meant to he direct cd in 
 the choice of a national religion. 
 
 Of the two former of thefe young 
 11101 v;e have no particulars ; only 
 
 that
 
 ( '79 ) 
 
 that one of them became very vicious. 
 It is the la(t mentioned, tho, I believe, 
 the elded, who bore his father's name, 
 Naimbanna, to whom this account be- 
 longs. The Sierra Leone company 
 
 . 
 received the charge of him with great 
 
 plcafure, believing that nothing could 
 have a better effect in promoting 
 their benevolent fehemes, than mak- 
 ing him a good chriftian. 
 
 Young Naimbanna was a perfect 
 African in his form. He \vas black, 
 liad woolly hair, thick lips, and that 
 1)1 unt lingularity of feature, with 
 ^ 7 hich the African face is commonly 
 marked. While he was with the 
 N a coin-
 
 company, he feemed a well -difpo fed, 
 tractable youth ; but when oppofed, 
 impatient, fierce, and fubject to vio- 
 lent paffions. 
 
 In the firft fliip that failed, he was 
 fent to England, where he arrived 
 in the year i 79 i. Vv r e may imagine 
 with what aftonifiimeiU he furveyed 
 every object that came before him : 
 but his curio Gt.y in prudent hands 
 became from the firli, the medium of 
 iifefui in (I ruction. 
 
 During his voyage he had picked 
 up a little of the Englifli language; to 
 vhkh h-e was not a perfect ftranger 
 he embarked. He had gotten 
 hold
 
 hold of feveral words and phrafes ; 
 and tho he cduld not fpeak it with any 
 degree of fluency, he could under- 
 ftand much of what he heard fpoken; 
 which greatly facilitated his learning 
 it, when he came to it in * more re^ 
 gular way. 
 
 The difficulty of learning to ipeak$ ; 
 and read, being ini a great degree fub- 
 dued, he was put upon the grand 
 point, for which he was fent into 
 
 England -that of being indrucled 
 
 in the chriftian religion. The gentle- 
 men to whofe care he had been recom- 
 mended, alternately took him under 
 their protection ; and each gave up 
 N 3 hi*
 
 his whole time to him, faithfully dif- 
 charging the trufl he had voluntarily*, 
 and without any emolument under- 
 taken. 
 
 Naimbanna was firft convinced that 
 the bible was the word of God ; the 
 moft material parts of which of the 
 old teftament, as well as of the new 
 were explained to him. The great 
 neceiTityof a Saviour from the liiiluJ- 
 nefs of man was pointed out the end 
 and defign of chriflianity its doc- 
 trines its precepts, and its fanclions, ' 
 were all made intelligible to hirrr. 
 With a clearncfs of underftanding, 
 which aftonifhcd thofe who took the 
 
 eare.
 
 care of intruding him, he made thefe 
 divine truths familiar to him : and 
 having no prejudices to oppofe, but 
 the abfurditics of his own country, 
 "which were eafily fuhducd, he re- 
 ceived the gofpel with joy; and car- 
 ried it home to his heart as the means 
 of happinefs both in this- world and 
 the next. 
 
 His love for reading the fcriptures, 
 and hearing them read, was fuch, that 
 he was never tired of the exercife.* 
 
 * Mrs. II. Mure, who kn;W him well, in- 
 formed the author, that altho (he never faw Xaini- 
 banna fatigued with this exerdfe, he had often fa- 
 tigued her wiih reading ihe fcripture at his defire 
 inccOsn'iv to him* 
 
 Every
 
 r 4- r 
 
 Every other part of learning ttiat h> 
 was put upon, as arithmetic for in- 
 ftancc, was heavy work with him ; and 
 he foon began to complain of fatigue: 
 but even when he was mod fatigued, 
 if he was afked to read in the bible,- 
 he was always ready ; and generally 
 expreffed his readinefs by fome emo- 
 tions of joy. In fhort, he confidercd 
 the bible as the rule which was to di- 
 rect his life; and he made a real ufe" 
 of every piece of inftruftion he ob- 
 tained from it. This was evident ill 
 all his aflions. If his behaviour was 
 at any time wrong, and a paffage of 
 itripture was (hewn to him, which' 
 
 for-
 
 f 185 ) 
 
 forbad the impropriety or wrong bc^ 
 haviour^whatever it was, he inlramU- 
 complied with the rule he received. 
 Of this there were many inftanccs. 
 
 One related to drcfs. He had a 
 little touch of vanity about him was- 
 fond of finery admired it in other 
 people, and was always ready to adorn 
 himfelf. His kind innruclors told 
 him thefe were child! fh inclinations 
 that decency, and propriety of drefs 
 \ere pleafing : but that foppery was 
 clifgurling. Above all, they told him 
 the fcripture idea was very different. 
 The chrifiian was ordered to be cloatk- 
 ed a-iWi humility ; and to put on the
 
 ( .86 ) 
 
 ornament of a mee k and quifl fpirit. 
 Such paHages, whenever they were 
 fuggefted to him. checked all the little 
 vanities of his heart; and made him 
 afhamed of what he had juft before fo 
 eagerly defired. 
 
 The irritable pafTions, where lay 
 his weakell fide, were conquered in 
 the fame way. Kis friends once car- 
 ried him to the houfe of commons to 
 hear a debate on the (lave trade; 
 which colonel Tarlton defended with 
 fome warmth. When Naimbamia 
 came out of the houfe, he exclaimed 
 with great vehemence and indignation, 
 that he would kill that man where- 
 
 ever
 
 ever he met him ; for he told Tories 
 of his country. He told people that 
 his countrymen would not work ; and 
 that was a great fLory. His country- 
 men would work ; but EnglinYncrt 
 would not buy work ; they would buy 
 only men. His friends told him, he 
 fhould not be fo angry with colonel 
 Tavlton ; for perhaps he h^d been 
 mi Unformed, and knew no better. 
 Beiules they told him, that at any 
 rate, he had no right to kill him ; for 
 God fays, Vengeance is wine, I will 
 rf pay, faith the Lord. Tliis calmed 
 him in a moment : and he never after- 
 wards expreffcd the lead indignatiort 
 
 at
 
 f **$ ) 
 
 at colonel Tarlton ; but would have 
 been ready to have fhewn him any 
 friendly office, if it had fallen in his 
 way. 
 
 At another time, when he faw a 
 drayman ufmg his horfe ill; he fired at 
 it exceedingly; and declared in a vio- 
 lent paflion, he would get a gun, and 
 fhoot that fellow direBly. He would 
 always, he faid, carry a gun about him 
 to kill fuch fort of people, for they 
 deferved to be killed. But his anger 
 was prefently affwaged, by fome fuch- 
 paflage from fcripture, as, Be ye angry 
 and Jin not : let net the fun go down up- 
 in y cur wrath. 
 
 Among
 
 Among the difficulties, in which 
 his new religion involved him, one 
 refpeckd his wives. He had married 
 three; but he clearly faw the new te (la- 
 ment allo-wed only one. What 
 fhould he do with the other two ? 
 Then again, if he mould repudiate two 
 of them, which mould he retain ? In 
 juftice he .thought he mould keep her, 
 whom he had married firft. But me 
 was not the wife of his affeclions. 
 He loved the fecond beiL In fliort, 
 lie (hewed fo much tendernefs of ccn>- 
 icicr.ce on this, and every other point, 
 that he fecmed anxious about nothing, 
 Jbut to know -what his religion required, 
 
 him
 
 ( 190 ') 
 
 him to do. When he could determine 
 the rtBitude of an aclion, he fct an 
 example to chriftians, by (hewing he 
 thought there was no difficulty in the 
 performance. Whether he met with 
 any ca-fuiil, to fet him right in the 
 matter of his wives, I never heard. It 
 is certain however, that while he con- 
 tinued in England, he mewed no fi.gr>, 
 in any inilance, of infidelity to his 
 African engagements. 
 
 Wiih regard to liquor, which is a 
 _great temptation to an African, he 
 was, from the firft, perfectly fobcr. 
 He faid, his father had ordered him 
 never to drink more at a time than a 
 
 fingle
 
 iiG;Ic gfafs'of wine, when he came in- 
 to England; and he coniidered his la- 
 ther's injunction as facred. It was 
 probably founded on the knowledge 
 of his fon's warmth of temper, which 
 he feared wine might inflame. On 
 this head therefore all the inftrucHon 
 he wanted, was to turn his temperance 
 into a chriftian virtue, by pracliiing it 
 with a fincere defire to pleafe God. 
 
 Among the gay fcenes, which N"a- 
 imbanna could not but often fee, he 
 never mixed. His friends were very 
 folicitous to keep him from all pleafu- 
 rablc didlpation, which might pombly 
 iiavc corrupted that beautiful (inrpli- 
 
 city
 
 city of mind, which was fo charafte- 
 riftic in him : tho indeed he never 
 fhewed a deiire to join in any diver* 
 fion, which they did not intircly ap- 
 prove. Dancing affemblies were the 
 only meetings of amufcment, for 
 which he (hewed the lead inclination. 
 But tho his friends were unwilling to 
 truft him in any gay, promifcuous 
 meetings of that kind, they were very- 
 ready to indulge him in a dance at 
 home; and he enjoyed the.exercife 
 with great alacrity, jumping and ca- 
 pering, after the manner of his coun- 
 try, with an agility, which was too 
 violent for any body but himfelf. 
 
 He
 
 T '93 1 
 
 Tie was fond alfo of riding on horfe- 
 back ; but when he got upon a horfe, 
 there was no governing his defire of 
 rapid motion. 
 
 He had now been a year and a half 
 in England, and had been well in- 
 flrutled in the chriftian ^religion, 
 which he perfectly undcrftood. He 
 was baptized therefore .; and now on- 
 ly waited for the firft opportunity of 
 going home, which did not happen 
 -till about live or fix months after- 
 weirds. 
 
 In the mean time two great points 
 were the burthen of his thoughts, and 
 
 Q ZV
 
 f *94 ) 
 
 gave him much diftrefs. The firft 
 related to his father, whofe death, he 
 had heard, had happened about a 
 year after he left the country. The 
 great caufe of his folicitude was his 
 uncertainty, whether his father had 
 died a chriftian. He knew he had 
 been well-difpofcd to-chriftianity : but 
 he had never heard, whether he had 
 -fully embraced it. 
 
 His other difficulty regarded him- 
 (felf. He had now attained the end 
 he aimed at. He had been -inftruclcd 
 in a religion, which, he was convinced, 
 would promote the happinefs of his 
 if it could be eflabliflied 
 among
 
 f "95 > 
 
 among them. But how was that 'to 
 be done ? With regard to himfelf, he 
 had had wife, and learned men to in- 
 flru6l him. But what could his abili- 
 ties do in fuch a work ? efpecially 
 confidering the wild, and favage man- 
 ners of his countrymen. In every 
 light, the greatnefs of the attempt 
 perplexed him. 
 
 With a mind diflreffed by thefe -dif- 
 ficulties, he took an affectionate leave 
 of his kind friends in England, and 
 embarked for Africa in one of the 
 company's (hips, which was named 
 after him 5 the Naimbanna. 
 
 G2 Qja
 
 ( 196 ) 
 
 On the departure of this amiable 
 youth, we cannot help fympathizing 
 with his generous feelings on the (late 
 of his country, which all humane peo- 
 ple muft unite in deploring. Much 
 do we admire the Sierra Leone com- 
 pany for their beneficent endeavours 
 to refcue it from that mifcrable (late 
 of darknefs, -in -which it is involved. 
 But nothing rperhaps '.places its 
 wretched bondage in a -more finking 
 light, than fuch a -charaBer as we 
 havejuft been exhibiting. "When we 
 were taught to believe the African had 
 fcarce a rank among human beings, 
 Jit injured our feelings lefs to think of 
 
 ahe
 
 f '-97- ) 
 
 the bafe condition to which he was 
 reduced. But when we fee in hint 
 "fuch inftances of fine affections fuch 
 generous fentiments fuch aptitude to 
 receive religious truth and- have 
 every reafon to believe, that- inftances 
 of this kind are to be found," more or 
 lefs, in all parts of this unhappy 
 country; *' what a fho eking idea 
 
 does 
 
 * That a real, -and general converfion of the 
 negroes is no romantic projeft, but a thing per- 
 fectly practicable ; and that it \vould be highly 
 beneficial both to the flaves, and their proprietors, 
 is evident frcm the progrefs already made in this 
 work by the Moravian mifiionaries. In the 
 Daaiih iHaads of St, Thomas.- St. Croix, and St.
 
 does It prefent to fee all thefe fine 
 feelings damped ; and tboufands of 
 thefe wretched fufferers, with all their 
 generous propenfities about them, loft 
 to themfclves and to fociety and 
 dragged away into all the mifery, 
 and abje6l neceflities,. which follow 
 
 flav,ery.. 
 
 We 
 
 John, they have profelyted near 6.000 negroes. 
 They have alfo a-corrgregation of feveral thoufands 
 in the ifland of Antigua ; and I have been allured 
 by a gentlemen of credit, who faw them at public 
 worfhip, that their deportment was remarkably 
 ferieus, devout, amd edifying. And they fo 
 greatly furpafs all the other flaves in fobriety, di- 
 ligence, quietnefs, fidelity, and obedience, that the 
 anxious to have their negroes put urv 
 fcr.
 
 We left Naimbanna embarkirrg 
 for Africa, in a ftate of mind rather 
 tending to defpondency. He had too 
 much fenfibility about him to enjoy 
 any fettled repoie. Tho he had al- 
 ways fhewn great affeclion for his own 
 country, and relations, yet the kind- 
 nefTes he had received- from his 
 friends in England had impreffed him 
 
 der the direftion of the miflionaries See a 
 
 note in the XVII. Sermon, Vol. I. ofBifliop 
 Porteus's Sermons, 
 
 We may fiippofe that the Africans are juft as 
 fufceptible of thefe divine truths in a fiate of li- 
 berty, as in a ftate of flavery and that the Mora- 
 vian rmflionaries would be as well inclined to at- 
 tend diem in Africa, as in the Weft Indies. 
 
 ftrongly j
 
 ftrongly ; and it was not with'cttt' 2* 
 great ftruggle with himfelf that he 
 broke away from them at laft. 
 
 The diflrcfs he felt was the greater,. 
 as the fociety he now mixed in at 
 fea was very different from that he 
 had left behind. The profligate 
 mannersy and licentious language of 
 the fliip's company, fhocked him ex- 
 ceedingly. The purity of his mind 
 could not bear it. He hoped in a 
 chriflian country, he mould always 
 have found himfelf among chriftians. 
 But he was greatly difappointed. 
 The company he was in, appeared to 
 liim as ignorant, and uninformed as- 
 
 his
 
 ( 201 ) 
 
 his own favage countrymen ; and 
 much lefs innocent in their manners. 
 At length, the oaths, and abominable 
 converfation he continually heard, 
 difguftcd him fo much, that he com- 
 plained to the captain of the fliip, and 
 defired him to put a (top to fuch in- 
 decent language. The captain en- 
 deavoured to check it; but \\kli 
 little effecl ; \vhich gave Naimbanna 
 new diflrefs. 
 
 But what ftill more than all was the 
 great burden of his mind, was the 
 difficulty he forefaw in his attempt 
 to introduce chriftianity among his 
 countrymen. Many were the fchemes- 
 
 he
 
 ( 202 ) 
 
 he thought of. But tnfuperablfe 
 obftacles feemed to arife en ever/ 
 fide. 
 
 All this perplexity, which h is a&ive, 
 and generous mind underwent, recoiK. 
 ed upon himfelf. His thoughts were 
 continually on the ftretch ; and, as it 
 was thought, at length occafioncd a 
 fever, which fcized him, as his voyage 
 was nearly at an end. His malady in- 
 creafing, was attended with a delirium*, 
 which left him only few lucid inter- 
 vals. In thefe his mind always, flions 
 out full of religious hope, and patient 
 idignaiion to the will of God. 
 
 During
 
 During one of thefe intervals Ire 
 told Mr. Graham, (a fellow-pa ffcngcis, 
 \vith whom he \vas moft intimate) that 
 he began to think he fhoukl be calL-d 
 away, before he had an opportunity 
 to tell his mother of the mercies of 
 God towards him, and of his obligati- 
 ons to the Sierra Leone company. 
 He then defired him to take pen and 
 ink, and write his will. The will, as 
 follows was written in the prefence of 
 captain Wooles, and of James Cato, 
 a black fervant, who attended Nainv 
 banna. It was afterwards regretted., 
 that Mr. Graham had not written the 
 vill exactly in the Iangu3ge, which 
 
 Naijn-
 
 ( 204 ) 
 
 Naimbanna di&ated, inflead of giving 
 it a legal caft. 
 
 * On board the Naimbanna^ 
 July 14, 1793. 
 
 7, Henry Granville Naimbanna, 
 having been, for fame days, very un- 
 wel^ and being apprehenjive, that I 
 may not reach my friends, have commu- 
 nicated the. underwritten* in the f re- 
 fence of thefubfcribers. It in ny mill, 
 and dcjire, that my brother Eartholo-- 
 new do pay to the Sierra Leone com- 
 pany thirteen tons of rice, or the value 
 thereof, being in corfideration- of th: 
 'fums expended by tJie faid ccrnj/any on 
 
 vny
 
 my account. And likewife, that r/y 
 faid brother Jli all pay the f urn of fifty 
 pounds Jlerling to Henry Thornton, Efq. 
 for money advanced by him on my ac- 
 count. It is my will alfo^.that my bro- 
 ther Bartholomew Jliall poffifs all my 
 ejlates, real, and perfonal, till my fon 
 Lewis Jliall be of age ; and that he fliaU 
 deliver unto my faidfon, all that he re- 
 i ceives from me for him ; and . that he 
 -. will always' end eav cur to be on a good 
 underjlanding with the Sierra Leone 
 .company. I particularly requejl hirn^ 
 . as far as he can, to oppofe the /lave 
 trade ; and that nothing injurious may 
 *bc imputed to the Sierra Leone company
 
 ( .oS ) 
 
 $y any evil-minded men, whofe inicreft 
 may be to oppofe that -worthy company. 
 / here declare in the prefence of that 
 Gcd, in whom I place my trrjl, that du- 
 ring my flay in England^ I always en- 
 joyed very good health ; and received 
 the greatejl kindnefs from all the fa 
 zvhofe care I zvas under ; and that, at 
 my leaving England, I was in perfect 
 -health. It is likewife my requejl, that 
 my brother fhall fend to the Suzee coun- 
 try for the cows, that belonged to myfa- 
 iher ; and that he will prefent tliree of 
 them to the governor and council of the 
 ^S terra Leone company. And if he does 
 ?ict find d hat number of cczvs, that he 
 
 uill
 
 f 207 ) 
 
 will purchafe three others, and give 
 them in my name. I farther dfjire, 
 that my brother -will pay James Dean 
 Cato, -who attended me as my fer-uant^ 
 
 the fum of Jive bars. 
 
 When Mr. Graham had written 
 thus far, Naimbanna complained of 
 fatigue ; and faid, he would finifh his 
 will after he had taken a little reft. 
 But foon after, his fever came on with 
 increafed violence, and his delirium 
 fcarce ever left him afterwards. 
 
 In this will, we fee the workings of 
 his generous mind, which feems 
 chiefly to have been intent on two 
 
 .things
 
 ( 208 ) 
 
 things the remuneration of his 
 friends (tho they would not accept 
 his kind legacies) and the prevention 
 of any mifchief befalling the company 
 from his dying in their hands. It is 
 probable, if he had finifhcd his will, 
 he would have added other legacies ; 
 for feveral Englifh gentlemen were 
 kind to him, as well as Mr. Thorn- 
 ton. 
 
 The night after Naimbanna had 
 /made his will, the veffel, tlio clofe on 
 the African coaft, durft not attempt to 
 land, as the wind was contrary, and 
 there was danger of running on the 
 Scarries bank. The next morning 
 
 how-
 
 T 2 9 ) 
 
 however, tho the wind was ftill con- 
 trary, Mr. Graham went off to the 
 fetdement in an open boat, to procure 
 medical aid. But when the phyfician 
 came on board, the poor youth was 
 only juft alive : and in that ftate he 
 was carried to the fetdement the next 
 morning, July the lytk, when the (hip 
 came to an anchor. 
 
 On the firft account of Naimbanna's 
 illnefs, an exprefs had been fent t 
 inform his friends at Robanna : and 
 foon after he landed, his mother, bro- 
 thers, fitter, and other relations came 
 to the fetdement. His wives it is 
 P praha-
 
 ( 210 ) 
 
 probable, lived in fome diftant part, 
 as they are not mentioned. The dif- 
 tracled looks of his mother, and the 
 wildnefs of his filler's grief affecled 
 every one. His coufm Henry, an inge- 
 nuous youth, who flood among them, 
 attracted the attention of all by the fo- 
 kmn forrow of his countenance, which 
 feemed to difcover a heart full of ten- 
 dernefs and woe. His brother Bar- 
 tholomew was the only one, who ap- 
 peared little concerned, and gave 
 much offence to the gentlemen of the 
 factory, by the indifference, of his 
 behaviour.
 
 In the mean time, the dying youth 
 appeared every moment drawing near- 
 er the clofe of life. His voice failing 
 more and more, the little he faid, was 
 'with difficulty unclerftood. Once, or 
 twice, thole around him caught hold 
 of fomething like our Saviour's words, 
 'Many arc called, but few are chofen. 
 
 About an hour before he died, k his 
 voice wholly failed. He was awhile 
 reftlefs and uneafy ; till turning his 
 head on his pillow, he found an eafier 
 pofture, and lay perfectly quiet. 
 About feven o'clock in the evening 
 of the fame day, on which he was 
 P a brought
 
 ( 212 ) 
 
 brought on fhore, he expired without 
 a groan. 
 
 When his mother and other rela- 
 tions found his breath was gone, their 
 fhrieks, and agonizing cries were dif- 
 treffing beyond meafure. Inflantly, 
 in a kind of frantic madnefs, they 
 fnatched up his body, hurried it into 
 a canoe, and went off with it to 
 Robanna. 
 
 Some of the gentlemen of the 
 faciory immediately followed in boats 
 with a coffin. When the corpfe was 
 laid decently into it, Mr. Home, the 
 clergyman, read the funeral fervice 
 it, amidft a number of people ; 
 -and
 
 C *'3 ) 
 
 and Finifhed \uthanextempore prayer. 
 The ceremony was conducted with fo 
 much folemnity, and performed in fo 
 aifccling a manner, that the imprefTion 
 was communicated through the whole 
 ignorant croud. They drew clofer 
 and clofer, as Mr. Home continued 
 to fpeak ; and tho they underftood not 
 a fyllable of what he faid, they liflened 
 to him with great attention ; and bore 
 witnefs, with every mark of forrow, to 
 the powers of fympathy. After the 
 ceremony was over, the gentlemen of 
 the factory retired to their boats, leav- 
 ing the corpfe, as his friends defired, to 
 
 Pa be
 
 be buried after the manner of the 
 country. We mix our grief with 
 theirs; and fhut up in the infcrutable 
 eounfels of God, all inquiries into the 
 reafons why fo invaluable life was per- 
 mitted to be cut off, jufl at the time of 
 its greateft probable utility. 
 
 In his pocket-book were found- 
 after his death, two litle notes, which 
 fhew the wonderful fenfibility of hi- 
 mind in religious matters. They re- 
 late to a cirumftance already taken- 
 notice of the difguiT: he took at the 
 Behaviour of the fhip's company. 
 
 The
 
 The firft Teems to have been written 
 foon after he embarked. 
 
 I Jliall take, cart of this company 
 which I now fallen into, for thf.y faezrs 
 good deal, and talks all manner of 
 wicked/iefs, and Jilt hy. All thefe things 
 can I be able to refift this temptation ? 
 No, I cannot, but the Lord -will deliver 
 me. 
 
 The other memorandum was pro* 
 bably written after he had complained 
 to the captain. 
 
 June 20, 1793. / have this day 
 declared, that if Sierra Leone's vejfeh 
 Jliould be like to Naimbanna, or have a, 
 company like her,. I will never think of 
 
 corning.
 
 ( 216 / 
 
 coming to England again> tho I 
 friends there as dear to me as the lajl 
 words my father fpoke, when he gave 
 yp the ghojl. 
 
 It was not however without reafon, 
 that Naimbanna, who knew his coun- 
 trymen, had been fo folicitous in his 
 will, to fettle the ftate of his health, 
 when he left England. Tho the peo- 
 ple appeared pleafed at firft with the 
 - attention, which the company had 
 fhewn to their young prince; yet a 
 rumour foon began to fpread, and 
 gain credit among them, that he had 
 been poifoned by the captain of the 
 
 fhir>;.
 
 f 2,7 ) 
 
 flnp; and a fpirit was rifmg in the* 
 country, in fome degree fomented, it 
 was fuppofed, by Naimbanna's brother 
 Bartholomew, \vhich feemed to fore- 
 bode difagreeable eonfequences. The 
 company had occafion for all their 
 addrefs to fatisfy the people, and 
 bring them to a right underilanding of 
 the cafe ; which however they at 
 length wuh great prudence efrccled. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 THE:
 
 1,8 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 FROM THE WHOLE. 
 
 T 
 
 JL HE obfervations which fccm 
 naturally to arife from thefe fcveral 
 little hillories, are thefe. 
 
 The two nrft exemplify that if a 
 man of fortune would live mod at his 
 cafe, he muft live within his income 
 that a moderate and temperate ufe of 
 the bleflings, which God hath intru fl- 
 ed to him, affords as much happinefs, 
 
 as
 
 ( 21 9 ) 
 
 as thofe bleflings can produce much 
 more than a licentious abufc of them 
 
 that his enjoyments are in fact 
 
 multiplied by distributing from his 
 overplus to thofe in need -that this 
 can only be done by economy, and 
 the abridgment of many of his own 
 de fires that a religious life is the 
 only means of procuring him real 
 happinefs in this "world that fortune 
 alone can never be a fource of happi- 
 nefs that no fortune can fecure a 
 man againfl. the mifery, and diftrefs, 
 which folly and extravagance occafion 
 that when vice is added to folly, 
 and. extravagance, they never fail to
 
 C 22 ) 
 
 produce in conjunction, a very com- 
 plicated fcene of mifery that a pro- 
 fligate man of fortune is a curfe to his 
 neighbourhood : in return for the 
 bleffings which God hath given him r 
 he firft corrupts his own family ; and 
 then by his licentious manners fpreads 
 vice, and diffipation through the 
 country and lafily, that altho few 
 men attain fo perfctt a character ; 
 or can be fo bafely depraved, as the 
 two perfons here reprefented yet in 
 the fame proportion, in \vhich they 
 approach the one characler, or the 
 other, they will feel the happinefs, or 
 
 mifery,
 
 221 
 
 -mifery, which naturally belongs to 
 each. 
 
 In the next memoir, the effetls of 
 religion on our future inter efts are 
 chiefly confidered. It would be an 
 unfaithful piclure, unlefs it pointed 
 out the temporal calamities alfo con- 
 fequent on vice 3 but its primary in- 
 tention is to illuftrate the triumph of 
 religion over wickednefs. 
 
 The moft accompliflied libertine 
 cannot pretend to more mining qua- 
 lities, or greater powers of mind, than 
 Lord Rochefter poffefTed. If a man 
 *Gf his parts and knowledge -therefore 
 
 .could
 
 ( 222 ) 
 
 could not fatisfy himfclf with his 
 deiftical arguments, it is hardly to he 
 fuppofcd, that other infidels of inferi- 
 or parts can hit upon arguments that 
 are more fatisfaclory. They (hould 
 learn therefore to be a little more 
 modeft ; and to doubt, whether their 
 own conclufions are quite fo fafe, as 
 .they are willing to believe them. 
 
 Again, the mod abandoned libertine 
 -cannot enjoy more of the guilty plea- 
 fures of life than Lord Rochefter did. 
 If then thcfe guilty plcafures, when en- 
 joyed in the highefl degree, ended in 
 the keeneft diilrefs if nothing could 
 remove this diftrcfs, but a fincere re- 
 pentance
 
 pentance, and the hopes of forgivenefs 
 through the atonement of Chriil if 
 religion thus gave peace and happinefc 
 to one of the greateft fmners that ever 
 lived if it, and it alone could quiet 
 his eying moments, and make him 
 happier in the thoughts of leaving 
 the world, than he had ever been in 
 poireffing it it follows, that the plea- 
 fures of fin are merely the baits of 
 wickednefs that religion alone '.af- 
 fords folid comfort ; and is indeed 
 that alone, on which we can depend 
 for happinefs in every circumftance, 
 in every period of our lives. 
 
 The
 
 The lad of thefe memoirs fliews re- 
 ligion in that genuine purity, in which 
 we feldom fee it. Amidft the refine- 
 ments of learning, and philofophy 
 the courtefies of the world the max- 
 ims of trade and corrupting amufe- 
 ments of life we fee chriflianity 
 tricked out in a variety of dreffes, in 
 which it is always difguifed, and often 
 deformed. Were we with honeft and 
 open hearts, to fee religion flopped 
 of all thefe falfe colours, it would 
 ftrike us, as it did the early ages, to 
 whom it was firft preached, with its 
 powerful influence in improving the 
 .nziiLrc nf -man. 
 
 To
 
 ( 225 ) 
 
 To illuftrate this truth is the bufi- 
 nefs of the little narrative before us. 
 A rude African comes amongil us, to- 
 tally void of all ideas of religion. 
 He is kept aloof from the pleafure- 
 able, and corrupting feenes of life. 
 Chriftianity in its genuine form is 
 placed before him. From his own 
 wants, and imperfections he infers its 
 neceflity. From its holinefs he infers 
 its truth. He imbibes its genius. He 
 changes his favage manners. He be- 
 comes a new man. He is mocked 
 at vice in the profeffors of chrifti- 
 anity ; and fees no difference himfelf 
 
 between
 
 ( 226 ) 
 
 bctv;een knowing his duty, and prac- 
 tifing it. 
 
 In fhort, the ftory of Naimbanna", 
 is a beautiful illustration of GUI 
 bleficd Saviour's injunction to receii 
 iiie gvjpel as little children : aiid il 
 fliould convince us, that if we art 
 dei r irous to receive it in this mannei 
 we fliould endeavour carefully to 
 parate it from the cuftoms- and prac- 
 tices of the world ; which is one 
 the mod neceflary, and at the fai 
 time one of the fevered duties of: 
 ilale of trial. 
 
 PIN is.
 
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