the mitre, and represented to the queen that the Doctor had preached a funeral sermon for Eleanor Gwynn, Charles's mistress, in which he had spoken more than charitably of that poor woman :-" I have heard as much," her majesty calmly replied, "and it is to me a proof that the poor creature died a penitent at last; for if I can read a man's heart through his looks, I feel persuaded that had Nell Gwyne not made a good end, the Doctor never could have been induced to speak of her as he did." In 1693, upon the death of Dr Marsh, Tenison was offered the archbishopric of Dublin; but he declined it on account of some difficulties which stood in the way of the restitution of certain church impropriations which had been forfeited to the crown, but which he thought ought to be restored to the respective churches. In the following year, however, upon the death of Dr Tillotson, the bishop of Lincoln was elevated to the primacy.

Dr Kennet observes of this elevation, that it was "the solicitous care of the court to fill up the see of Canterbury. The first person that seemed to be offered to the eye of the world was Dr Stillingfleet, bishop of Worcester; but his great abilities had raised some envy and some jealousy of him; and indeed his body would not have borne the fatigues of such a station. Even the bishop of Bristol, Dr John Hall, master of Pembroke college, Oxford, was recommended by a great party of men who had an opinion of his great piety and moderation. But the person most esteemed by their majesties, and most universally approved by the ministry, and the clergy, and the people, was Dr Tenison, bishop of Lincoln, who had been exemplary in every station of his life,—had restored a neglected large diocese to some discipline and good order,—and had before, in the office of a parochial minister, done as much good as perhaps was possible for any one man to do.” Soon after his elevation to the archiepiscopal see, the queen being seized with the disease which proved fatal to her, at her particular desire was attended on her death-bed by Dr Tenison. He also preached ber majesty's funeral sermon. Soon after, Dr Ken, the deprived bishop of Bath and Wells, addressed a letter to his grace, in with be charged him with gross neglect of duty, in not representing to her majesty te great guilt she lay under by her conduct at the Revolution." and esdeavouring to awake her to a proper sense of penitence. The arche bishop took no notice of Kea's letter; bat he did what Ken Liuku— had he been in his situation-would probably Lave shrunk from-be charged the king with gross misconduct in the matter of Lady Visits, with whom, it was well-known, he had been long too fumar; and so boldly and warmly did he follow up his remonstrances, that the king took them in good part, and solemnly pledged himself Lever can to visit Lady Villers. He continued favour at court notwith trung of his integrity, and was in constant attendance on King William during his last er

As primate. Dr Tenison officiated at the coronation of Queen ALLE: his steady opposition, however, to several of her wont measures, and particularly the bill against orrasional conformity, lost him her majesty's favour. The following sentiments viniel occur in a speeri malt by Lis grace against tuis bij in 1704. deserve to be quoted >—— - I think the practice of ocet fonal cubrality, as wed by tur Cissenters, is so für from deserving the the of a vür hypoerly, that it is the duty of ed

I

moderate dissenters, upon their own principles, to do it. The employing persons of a different religion from the established has been practised in all countries where liberty of conscience has been allowed. We have gone further already in excluding dissenters than any other country has done. Whatever reasons there were to apprehend our religion in danger from the papists, when the test-act was made, yet there does not seem the least danger to it from the dissenters now. On the other hand, I can see very plain inconveniences from this bill at present. As it is brought in, this last time, indeed, they have added a preamble, which, though it was in the first edition of the bill, was left out in the second; namely, that the act of toleration should be always kept inviolable; but the toleration act being to take away all the penalties that a man might incur by going to a separate congregation, and the occasional bill being to lay new penalties upon those that do it, how they can say that this is not in itself a violation of the other, I cannot easily comprehend. I doubt it will put people in mind of what passed in France, where every edict against the protestants began with a protestation, that the edict of Nantes ought always to be preserved inviolable, till that very edict was in express words repealed. At a time that all Europe is engaged in a bloody and expensive war; that this nation has not only such considerable foreign enemies to deal withal, but has a party in her own bowels ready upon all occasions to bring in a popish pretender, and involve us all in the same or rather worse calamities than those from which, with so much blood and treasure, we have been freed;-at a time that the protestant dissenters, (however they may be in the wrong by separating from us, yet,) are heartily united with us against the common foes to our religion and government; what advantage those who are in earnest for defending these things can have, by lessening the number of such as are firmly united in this common cause, I cannot, for my life, imagine; therefore, I am for throwing out the bill without giving it another reading." The good archbishop further rendered himself obnoxious to her majesty by the zeal he manifested for securing a protestant succession. He even ventured to enter into a correspondence with the electress Sophia, on the subject of the Hanoverian succession. In April, 1706, he was nominated first commissioner for effecting the union with Scotland. In this same year he warmly supported the resolution of the majority of the peers, that "the church of England, as by law established, is in a most safe and flourishing condition, and whosoever goes about to suggest and insinuate

In Lord Dartmouth's notes on Burnet's History of his own Time,' we find the following curious passage regarding the archbishop: "I was ordered by the queen to go to Lambeth and acquaint the archbishop that she thought it necessary that some censure should pass upon Whiston and his book, which gave great offence. He said it was a bad book, and there were a great many, but the worst of all came from abroad, and wished there might be some stop put to that. I told him there were bad books everywhere, but which did his grace mean? He said there was one Bayle had wrote a naughty book about a comet that did a great deal of harm. I told him I had read it, and did not think there was much in it; the chief design being to prove that idolatry was worse than atheism, and that false worship was more offensive to God than none. He said, indeed, he had not read it, and I found by his discourse that he had not read Whiston's; which, I told him, struck at the essentials of the Christian religion. He id there were some difficulties and disputes about prosecuting men for their opinions, d I never could prevail with him to tell me plainly, whether he would do what the en desired of him, or no. But he afterwards sent me a very unintelligible letter, concluded with excusing his not having wrote with his own hand, because he had gout in both his feet."

that the church is in danger, is an enemy to the queen, the church, and the kingdom." This resolution was come to in consequence of the publication of a malicious pamphlet, entitled, 'The Memorial of the Church of England,' said to have been written by Counsellor Pooley and Dr Drake, and the strenuous efforts of Rochester and others to get up the well-known high church tocsin against the whigs.

The archbishop did not long survive the coronation of George I.,— his death occurring on the 14th of December, 1715. Calamy says of the archbishop:-"He was a very steady man: had he died in the reign of Queen Anne, (as many expected,) it was generally thought that Dr Atterbury, bishop of Rochester, would have succeeded him: but this was what God in mercy prevented." Baxter too regarded him with warm admiration. After the praise of such men it is hardly worth while to notice the flippant calumnies of Swift, who calls Tenison "the most good-for-nothing prelate, and the dullest man he ever knew."

Matthew Henry.

BORN A. D. 1662.-died a. D. 1714.

MATTHEW, the second son of Philip Henry, was born on the 18th of October, 1662, at Broad Oak, a farm-house in the township of Iscoyd in Flintshire, about three miles from Whitchurch in Salop, whither his father had retired on the passing of the act of uniformity.

During infancy and childhood Matthew's health was delicate, but he gave early indications of much mental activity and a studious disposition. It is affirmed, that at the infantile age of three, he not only read the Bible distinctly, but even with a knowledge and observation which few children of twice his years display. His early proficiency in the rudiments of education, and his great and rapid advancement in his subsequent studies, were doubtless in a great measure due to the extraordinary attention which his father's seclusion from the duties of a public station enabled him to give to the studies and mental discipline of his family. Our young nonconformist was also greatly indebted to the affectionate and skilful tutoring of a young gentleman, who happened to reside for a time at Broad Oak, previous to his going to the university, and who took Matthew under his special charge. The efforts and advancement of the scholar kept pace with his privileges, and some little attention was necessary on the part of his parents to prevent him injuring his health by too close application to the studies prescribed him.

When about ten years of age, the expectations which his fond parents had begun to form of him were nearly fatally blasted. He was request. by a slow fever to the very brink of the grave; but a kind provIGĖRIS again restored him to their arms, and under circumstances wind B a deep impression, not only upon the hearts of the parem nu a tur of the young sufferer himself. From this time he deporten. W had always been grave and orderly, became шатке, листья

• Memoirs of Dr Tenison-Calamy-bazte:

seriousness of disposition in one so young, and he now began to spend much of his time in retirement within his own closet.

It is believed, that, from his childhood, Matthew Henry had a strong and decided inclination to the ministry. It was evinced in many of those little innocent practices by which children often give indication of a predilection for some particular profession or employment. But it was not till his eighteenth year that, with an ultimate view towards devoting his life to the ministry of the gospel, he was placed under the tuition of that faithful minister,' Mr Thomas Doolittle, who kept a private academy at Islington. On the breaking up of Mr Doolittle's establishment, young Henry was sent for a short time to Gray's Inn, where he bestowed a good deal of attention upon "the noble science of the law;" but without once flinching in heart and purpose from the nobler science and office which he had early coveted-the science of the gospel, and, "office of a bishop." It must be noticed, that at this early period in their history, the nonconformists of England had no regular seminaries for the education of their youth for the ministerial office. It was doubtless, therefore, more with a view to the advantages to be derived from conversation with men of education, and to avail himself of the facilities of learning which the metropolis afforded, than with any serious wish or intention to explore the profundities of jurisprudence, that young Henry entered of Gray's Inn. Accordingly, we find him paying considerable attention to the modern languages while in London, and availing himself of all the opportunities which he possessed of extending his acquaintance amongst divines, and other learned men. He frequently heard sermon from Dr Stillingfleet, or Dr Tillotson, and he attended a weekly divinity disputation kept up by some young men under the presidency of Mr Glascock, a very worthy and ingenious young minister.

In the month of June, 1686, Mr Henry returned to Broad Oak, and soon after commenced preaching. In 1687, he accepted the invitation of a church at Chester, to undertake the pastoral office amongst them. The same year he married, but lost his wife soon after by small-pox. His next lady was a member of the family of the Warburtons of Grange, in Chester, with whom he lived more than twenty years, and by whom God gave him a numerous progeny. After Mr Henry had been settled about seven years at Chester, he lost his father, an event which he deeply felt. To the memory of this beloved parent he has dedicated one of the most beautiful and interesting, because most simple and unaffected, pieces of biography in the English language.

In Mr Henry's zealous ministrations, the villages and towns around Chester also largely participated. At some of them, particularly Moldsworth, Grange, Bromborough, Elton, and Saighton, he preached a monthly lecture. At Beesdon, Mickledale, Peckferton, Wrexham, Stockbridge, Burton, and Darnal, he preached still more frequently. His labour every Sabbath-day, in his own congregation, consisted of two double services, as they are called, comprising first a lecture or exposition, and then a sermon. On Saturdays he catechised the young people; and besides this, he had one week-day lecture, with other religious meetings, in addition to visiting the sick, preaching to the prisoners in the castle, and the various other occasional services which will impose themselves, whether solicited or not, upon a faithful and

ardent minister in a populous locality. For several years, the care of all the neighbouring churches may be said, "daily to have come upon" Mr Henry, especially such as he could visit beween the Sabbaths. The engagements to which he was thus frequently called, included a circuit of about thirty miles, and embraced frequent public addresses, ordinations, and funeral sermons. And yet Mr Henry was by no means one of those restless spirits who delight in publicity and bustle. He was naturally fond of retirement, and courted privacy and quiet as far as it was possible for him to do so in consistency with his obligations to God and his neighbour. Hence the delight he felt in those calm and unostentatious hours of private study and meditation, which produced his ever-memorable commentary on the Scriptures; and the gratitude he was known to express that that part of his work, at least, was "cut out in retirement, and not in noise and hurry." It is marvellous, how, with so much work upon his hands, he contrived to dedicate such a large proportion of his time to the devotions of the closet, and the preparations of the study. His sermons were elaborated with more than ordinary care, and often written out at full length; his expositions were also the fruit of very considerable research and mental exertion.

In the year 1699, Mr Henry was thought of as a suitable person to succeed Dr Bates, then lately deceased at Hackney. To the first and the second invitation sent him from the church assembling at that place, he gave a decided negative, believing that Chester presented to him a sphere of greater usefulness, and therefore, that it was his duty to remain there. Ten years after this, however, when the congregation at Hackney, by the death of Mr Billio, were again left destitute, and had renewed their application to Mr Henry, he saw it his duty to comply, and, accordingly, he removed from Chester to London in May, 1712. One motive which greatly influenced Mr Henry in at last acceding to the wishes of the church at Hackney, might be traced to the wish which he must have felt to superintend the publication of his great work, the Commentary, then in the press, a duty which it was hardly possible for him to perform with any efficiency while resident in Chester.

Our author's pastoral engagements at Hackney commenced on the 18th of May, 1712. In the new sphere of labour which now lay around him, he found ample opportunity for constant and laborious exertion; and, though his strength was somewhat impaired, and disease began to make its inroads upon his frame, he entered upon his new duties with undiminished alacrity and zeal. His biographer has remarked of him, that sometimes while at Hackney he preached his early lecture at Little-St-Helen's; then returned to Hackney to fulfil his regular morning and afternoon services, consisting, as at Chester, of two expositions and two sermons; then he has gone to Wapping to preach at Mr Lloyd's meeting house, or to Shakspeare's Walk charity school, or sometimes to the evening lecture at Redriff'; and finally, having returned home, has gone through all the parts of family worship without giving evidence of either mental or bodily fatigue.

By such labours Mr Henry's health soon became visibly impaired. His friends would have persuaded him to suspend, or at least abate, some portion of his incessant circle of engagements; but he would not