66 wrong as he thought it to oppose the established church as many did in those days, in the hope of working further changes in its constitution, he deemed it equally wrong to molest those dissentients who were quietly and peaceably disposed. One of his most intimate friends was a person of this description. Mr. Lever had been head of a college in Cambridge, and afterwards Prebendary of Durham, and Master of Sherborne hospital. To use bishop Carleton's phrase, he was a godly and learned man," and had been esteemed in king Edward's time, an eminent and bold preacher. But having gone abroad for safety during the reign of queen Mary, and imbibing in Switzerland an attachment to the forms of worship and discipline which emanated from Geneva, he was, after his return home in the next reign, convened, with many others, before the archbishop of York, at a time when the violence and disorder of some of the Puritans irritated Elizabeth against the whole party, and was deprived of some of his ecclesiastical preferments. Mr. Lever, however, was really a moderate man, and by no means a forward opponent of the existing constitution of the church; and Mr. Gilpin thought that he was hardly dealt with, pitied his misfortune, and notwithstanding the strength of the popular prejudice, continued to manifest his usual regard towards him*. .... is offended at them. But such grief to be taken at a cap among them that are civil, and full of knowledge, is lamentable.. This realm hath such scarcity of teachers, that, if so many worthy men should be cast out of the ministry for such small matters, many places should be destitute of preachers." An opinion which he expresses upon the too-common character of religious feuds, is also worthy of serious consideration. He says, that "where satan cannot overthrow the greatest matters, he will raise great troubles in trifles."-Appendix to STRYPE'S Life of Archbishop Parker. * Strype gives the following character of Lever." He was a man of great account for his piety and learning, and abilities in preaching the gospel, formerly Master of St. John's college, in Cambridge, the chief nursery, in those times, of the favourers of true religion and solid learning, and contemporary there with We have now seen that Bernard Gilpin's attachment to the Church of England was not the growth of prejudice or of accident, but the result of a persuasion that it might be, what it has since proved, an honoured instrument for promoting the glory of God and the salvation of souls; an instrument, too, framed after an apostolical pattern. His hopes and desires for the church were such as ought to have a place near the heart of every member of the same, Chester, Cecyl, Ascham, Pilkington, &c. In king Edward's time he was reckoned one of the most eminent preachers; insomuch, that bishop Ridley, in his lamentation for the change of religion in queen Mary's days, mentioned four preachers then, namely, Latimer, Bradford, Knox, and Lever, to be famous for their plain and bold preaching;-saying that they ripped so deeply in the galled backs of the great men of the court, to have purged them of the filthy matter that was festering in their hearts, of insatiable covetousness, filthy carnality and voluptuousness, intolerable ambition and pride, and ungodly loathsomeness to hear poor men's causes and God's word, that they of all other they could never abide. But in queen Mary's reign, he lived an exile in Zurich. This is enough to characterize the man."-STRYPE'S Life of Parker, Book iii. ch. viii. Mr. Lever was one of those who deprecated the compulsory use of any clerical habits, and a letter from him to the earl of Leicester and secretary Cecil has been preserved by Strype in the Appendix to the work above quoted. With regard to this unhappy strife about caps and surplices, one cannot help exclaiming with St. James, Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. In the appendix to the Life of Archbishop Parker, and within a few pages of the aforementioned letter to Mr. Lever, a small tract, circulated in those times, has been reprinted. The title is, A Brief and Lamentable Consideration of the Apparel now used by the Clergy of England; set out by a Faithful Servant of God, for the Instruction of the Weak. The writer, after arguing that no form of apparel is forbidden in Scripture, except that which is pompous, or the like,-that uniformity of apparel amongst the clergy is meet, that the king or queen may appoint what such habits shall be, and that the use of any particular garment by the papists is no reason for rejecting it in the reformed church,gives this admirable counsel to his "good christian readers :” "But something, say you, is amiss. And I say some things ever will be amiss. But yet the church, by this discord, is shaken; let us cease; our friends do mourn. Be at unity; our enemies do WHY ATTACHED TO THE CHURCH. 65 and the general diffusion of them would, by Divine favour, work their own fulfilment. For it was the object of his fervent wishes and prayers, that peace might flourish throughout the christian world; that the gospel might be preached by a pious and diligent ministry; and that the church might advance towards perfection by continual improvement under the dew of God's blessing. CHAPTER VI. THE MAN OF BENEFICENCE. Was ever spirit that could bend So promptly from her lofty throne !— In works of love, in these alone, How restless, how minute !-WORDSWORTH. THE life of one who was so anxious to form his character after the model of the gospel, was naturally full of almsdeeds and other works of christian beneficence. As he devoted his time and talents, so also his fortune, to the service of God, in the relief of the poor, the promotion of religion, and the practice of hospitality. Whatever inwardly rejoice. Away with these contentions. Wherefore, dear brethren, join hands; help forward the Lord's building; let us be faithful labourers, for we have of proud loiterers too many. To work! to work! the harvest is great, and the workmen are few. Love you Christ? Feed his sheep. Love yourselves? Brawl not in his vineyard. Love your brethren? Disturb not their quietness. Let every one of us help the other's burden. Let us bewail our lives; let us fall to earnest prayers; and let us proceed in all good works. And so shall our enemies quail; satan shall be resisted, and sects prevented. So shall our friends be glad, the whole church shall joy, and true godliness shall increase. So shall we and you, so shall all good men, receive an incorruptible crown, not of gold, but of glory; and that when the chief Shepherd shall appear."-STRYPE's Life of Parker. Appendix. VOL. II. F temporal goods he possessed had come to him unsought, and were liberally distributed for the well-being of others. He said, in a letter to a friend, "It is my design, at my departure, to leave no more behind me but to bury me and pay my debts;" and his whole conduct was regulated in accordance with these sentiments*. The value of his living was about four hundred pounds a-year, a large income in those times, which he made the more fruitful of blessings to the neighbourhood, by frugal management and great self-denial. His bounty to the poor is thus described by Mr. William Gilpin: "Every Thursday, throughout the year, a very large quantity of meat was dressed wholly for the poor; and every day they had what quantity of broth they wanted. Twenty-four of the poorest were his constant pensioners. Four times in the year a dinner was provided for them, when they received from his steward a certain quantity of corn and a sum of money; and at Christmas they had always an ox divided among them. "Wherever he heard of any in distress, whether of his own parish or any other, he was sure to relieve them. In his walks abroad he would frequently bring home with him poor people, and send them away clothed as well as fed. "He took great pains to inform himself of the circumstances of his neighbours, that the modesty of the sufferer might not prevent his relief. "But the money best laid out was, in his opinion, that which encouraged industry. It was one of his greatest pleasures to make up the losses of his laborious neighbours, and prevent their sinking under them. If a poor man had lost a beast, he would send him another in its * By his last will and testament after providing for the payment of his debts, and leaving a few small remembrances to his friends, and some furniture and building-materials to his successor, in lieu of dilapidations, he bequeathed the residue of his goods, cattle, and money, to the poor, to the school, and to nine of his students at Oxford. BOUNTY TO THE POOR. 67 room: or if any farmer had a bad year, he would make him an abatement in his tithes. Thus, as far as he was able, he took the misfortunes of his parish upon himself; and like a true shepherd, exposed himself for his flock. "But of all kinds of industrious poor, he was most forward to assist those who had large families: such never failed to meet with his bounty, when they wanted to settle their children in the world. "In the distant parishes where he preached, as well as in his own neighbourhood, his generosity and benevolence were continually showing themselves; particularly in the desolate parts of Northumberland. 'When he began his journey,' says an old manuscript life of him, he would have ten pounds in his purse; and at his coming home he would be twenty nobles* in debt, which he would always pay within a fortnight after. In the jails he visited, he was not only careful to give the prisoners proper instructions, but used to purchase for them, likewise, what necessaries they wanted.' "Even upon the public road, he never let slip an opportunity of doing good. Often has he been known to take off his cloak, and give it to a half-naked traveller ; and when he has had scarcely money enough in his pocket. to provide a dinner, yet would he give away part of that little, or the whole, if he found any who seemed to stand in need of it. Of this benevolent temper the following instance is preserved :—One day, returning home, he saw in a field several people crowding together; and judging something more than ordinary had happened, he rode up, and found that one of the horses in a team had suddenly dropped down, which they were endeavouring to raise ; but in vain, for the horse was dead. The owner of it seeming much dejected with his misfortune, and declaring how grievous a loss it would be to him, Mr. Gilpin told him not to be disheartened; 'I'll let you have,' says he, 'honest man, that horse of mine,' and pointed to his * A noble was a coin worth 6s. 8d. |