better for such a one to have a millstone hanged upon his neck, and be cast into the sea himself.

Finally, let us all beseech our Lord Jesus Christ to give us wisdom and opportunity to further his work, and to give success unto the same Himself, to hasten the judgment of Babylon, to bring his people out of this bondage, that we with them and all his saints in the church triumphant, may thereupon sing a joyful hallelujah, as is expressed in the next chapter. Salvation, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto the Lord our God, Amen.-Hallelujah.

CHAPTER III.

HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER; THE REBELLION; HIS DEATH.

The pastoral staff, the keys of heav'n

To wield awhile in gray-hair'd might;
Then from his cross to spring forgiv'n,

And follow Jesus out of sight.- -Christian Year.

THE domestic habits and private deportment of bishop Bedell were such as must increase the veneration with which the reader may have been induced by the preceding account to regard him. In a man's own home, after all, is the grand trial of his piety and virtue, and by his conduct there he shows whether his public proceedings are directed by a regard for the honour of God, or by the love of worldly authority and human applause.

The devotional exercises of his closet are known only to that Being to whom they were addressed. A journal, which might perhaps have admitted us into his secret chamber, had it been preserved, was lost with his other papers in the rebellion. But it is recorded that he prayed with his family three times a-day; first, in the early morning; again, "when the cloth was laid for dinner, kneeling down at the head of the table, he prayed the

second time;" and once more he commended their mutual wants to God after supper. This duty, as well as that of asking God's blessing before meals, he always performed himself, using a set form of words, but repeating it without a book. "He never rose from dinner or supper without having a chapter read, which he often expounded."

To

The obligation of the sabbath was in his estimation moral and perpetual, and he accounted it to be a merciful institution, designed for the spiritual welfare of man. this important end he carefully devoted it, and after having preached twice, and catechised young persons once in the public services of the church, he usually reviewed the subjects of his sermons in the bosom of his family, and concluded the holy day with a psalm of thanksgiving and with prayer.

These, and all his other pious employments, were dictated by the exalted views of religion to which he had attained. In his eyes Christianity was not so much a system of opinions, or a series of forms, as a divine principle renewing and transforming the heart and life. And he often repeated the saying of the ancient father, Augustine, "I look for fruit, not leaves."

To the end of his days he was a diligent student, particularly of the Holy Scriptures, and he thus became as familiar with the Hebrew original and the Greek septuagint, as with the English version. It was his daily practice to read in the Hebrew Bible the psalms appointed by our common prayer; or if his son, or any other person skilled in Hebrew, were present, he read one verse out of the Hebrew and rendered it into Latin, and then his companion did the same with the next verse, until they had finished the allotted portion. He made an extensive collection of critical expositions of the scriptures, and wrote paraphrases and sermons upon those parts of the Bible which are read in the evening service. These and his other manuscripts, bulky enongh to fill a large box, were lost in the Irish rebellion of 1641. From the general and

wanton destruction which then took place, a valuable Hebrew manuscript was happily rescued by the exertions of one of his Irish converts, and is to this day preserved in the library of Emmanuel college, Cambridge.

He wrote several controversial works, particularly against popery, the corruptions of which he had seen too plainly at Venice, and afterwards had constantly before his eyes in Ireland. Amongst these was a treatise in answer to the questions, Where was the protestant's religion before Luther? and what became of our ancestors that died in popery? This work, in which, in answer to the former question, he traced up the principles of our faith to the days of the apostles, and the authority of scripture, would have been a valuable legacy to the church. Archbishop Usher urged him to have it printed; and with that request he intended to comply, and was only prevented by the rebellion, which terminated that and all his other undertakings. In the absence of the work itself, we find a brief answer to the question in one of his letters to Mr. Waddesworth. "The state of the church under the Roman obedience," he says, "and that part which is reformed, is like a field overgrown all with weeds, thistles, tares, cockle; some part whereof is weeded and cleansed, some part remains as it was before: which makes such a difference to the view as if it were not the same corn. But being considered, it will be found that all the difference is from the weeds, which remain there, and here are taken away." From the same correspondence we may also safely infer, with regard to the latter question, that while he would declare his conviction, that the system of popery was dishonourable to God, he would own his persuasion that salvation would not be denied to holy men in that communion. In his sermon on the text, Come out of her, my people, he represents those very words to be a plain argument, that in the Romish church "there are many not only good, moral, and civil honest men, but good christians, not redeemed only, but in the possession of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."

TRAITS OF CHARACTER.

267

Bishop Bedell corresponded with many of the English divines, as well as with learned men of other countries. With the latter he communicated in the Latin language, which he was allowed to write with considerable elegance. Some of his letters were at one period devoted to the charitable design of uniting the Calvinists and Lutherans, an object towards which he also contributed twenty pounds yearly, being a zealous supporter of Dury's plan of reconciliation*.

His recreations were of a most simple kind, consisting chiefly of the exercise of walking, and the interesting pleasures afforded by his garden, to the cultivation of which he applied some information acquired during his residence in Italy.

He was naturally endued with great bodily strength, and was tall and graceful in person. He followed the ancient custom of wearing a long and broad beard, and his general appearance and demeanour were such as to command respect. His dress is thus described by A. C.: "His habit was grave, in a long stuff gown, not costly but comely; his stockings woollen, his shoes not much higher behind than before." He studiously avoided all appearance of state, usually riding on horseback, or walking, when he visited Dublin, attended by a servant, except when public occasions made it necessary for him to pay more attention to outward appearance. He possessed a high and fearless spirit, and boldly remonstrated with those whom he saw neglecting their duty. The weight of years which he bore, combined with his personal character, gave peculiar force to his admonitions. But vigorous as he was in resisting those evils which were dishonourable to the church, and to religion, he was calm and patient under personal affronts, and was not easily offended.

To remind him of the need he had of being cleansed and purified in heart by the Spirit of God, he chose an

* Some account of the designs of Mr. Dury, often called Duræus, may be seen in MOSHEIM's Ecclesiastical History.

ingenious device, consisting of a flaming crucible, with a Hebrew motto, signifying, Take from me all my tin, in allusion to Isaiah i. 25. The reason for choosing those particular words was, that the Hebrew word for tin is bedil.

He practised a liberal hospitality. His conversation was agreeable and instructive, but in formal society he usually spoke little. This circumstance was once noticed to archbishop Usher, by some one who met him at the table of the earl of Strafford, the lord deputy of Ireland. The archbishop made answer to the gentleman, “Broach him, and you will find that he contains good liquor;" upon which, some topic of a serious nature was proposed, and bishop Bedell treated the question with so much skill and learning, that he completely puzzled him with whom he was conversing, to the no small entertainment of the

company.

His bounty to the poor won for him the titles of "patron" and "patriarch," by which A. C. informs us that he was familiarly known amongst the Irish. Many indigent families were constantly supplied with food from his kitchen, and at the season of Christmas, great numbers assembled in his house, and sat down to meat at the same table with him.

It has been already stated, that of his four children, two died in infancy. The others, being sons, grew up to man's estate, and survived their parents. The eldest became a clergyman, upon whom his father conferred a benefice of 801. a-year, in which he laboured with zeal and faithfulness. To his second son he gave a small estate, worth about 601. a-year, which was all that he had to leave. After the rebellion and the death of their father, they both came into England, where the eldest became minister of Rattlesden, in Suffolk. Soon after, the younger, Ambrose, returned to Ireland, and served as a captain in the regiment of colonel Hill.

His excellent wife, the comfort and support of his manhood and age, terminated her earthly pilgrimage