universally beloved for his sweet and gentle disposition," by whom Evelyn "had the honour to be loved,”—had long before him exchanged time for eternity; and more recently Dr. Bathurst died (May 1704), "the oldest acquaintance," he says, "now left me in the world; this," he adds, "is a serious alarm to me; God grant that I may profit by it." His father-in-law, Sir Richard Browne, had been many years gathered to his fathers. The harp of Cowley was silent; and many others whose society he had cultivated for their elegant tastes and accomplishments, had gone to give their account. He had been on terms of great intimacy with Mr. Pepys, who died in 1703, universally beloved," he says, "hospitable, generous, learned in many things, skilled in music, a very great cherisher of learned men of whom he had the conversation." And he had found consolation in "the religious and pious circumstances" of the sickness and death of lord Ossory, his "most noble and illustrious friend," whom he regarded as "a true christian," and exemplary in all the relations of life.

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He had also mourned for the loss of the pious, excellent, and virtuous Lady Mordaunt, his "long acquaintance," "a blessed creature, and one that loved and feared God exemplarily." And in the death of another lady, he had occasion to lament for "the most excellent and inestimable friend that ever lived." This was Mrs. Godolphin, who died in 1678, at the early age of twenty-six. Never," he 66 says, was a more virtuous and inviolable friendship; never a more religious, discreet, and admirable creature; beloved of all, admired of all, for all possible perfections of her sex. . . . How shall I ever repay the obligations to her for the infinite good offices she did my soul, by so oft engaging me to make religion the terms and tie of the friendship there was between us!

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We often prayed, visited the sick and miserable, received, read, discoursed, and communicated in all holy offices together. She was most dear to my wife and affectionate to my children. But she is gone! This only is my comfort, that she is happy in Christ, and I shall shortly behold her again!”

He had also recorded the death of many others of whom he only says that they were his friends, without making mention of their characters; and old age warned him that the time of his own departure was at hand, and that he ought to trim his lamp more diligently, in order that he might be found like one who waits for his Lord.

On entering his eighty-fourth year, he looked back with thankfulness upon the mercies of God, and particularly expressed his gratitude for his exemption from so many of the sorrows common to old age; he also prayed for the pardon of his sins, and for grace to prepare him for a better life. Soon after, on a Sunday, when "the wet and uncomfortable weather" prevented him from attending church, his good friend Dr. Bohun "officiated in the family, and made an excellent discourse on 1 Cor. xv. 55, 56, of the vanity of this world and uncertainty of life, and the inexpressible happiness and satisfaction of a holy life, with pertinent inferences to prepare us for death, and a future state. I gave him thanks," he says, "and told him I took it kindly as my funeral sermon."

He lived however to see two birth-days more. On the former of these," after particular reflection on his concerns and passages of the year, he set some considerable time of this day apart to recollect and examine his state and condition." The last entries in his diary are as follows;"1705. Oct. 31. I am this day arrived to the eighty-fifth

*

He that day completed his eighty-fifth and commenced his eighty-sixth year.

year of my age. Lord teach me so to number my days to come, that I may apply them to wisdom."

"1706. Jan. 1. Making up my accounts for the past year, paid bills, wages, and new-years' gifts according to custom. Though much indisposed, and in so advanced a stage, I went to our chapel [in London], to give God public thanks, beseeching Almighty God to assist me and my family the ensuing year, if he should yet continue my pilgrimage here, and bring me at last to a better life with Him, in his heavenly kingdom. Divers of our friends and relations dined with us this day."

"Jan. 27. My indisposition increasing, I was exceeding ill this whole week."

The Diary concludes with his notes of the sermons preached at the chapel, in the morning and the afternoon of the third of February, but these have not been published by the editor of that work.

We must here take leave of Mr. Evelyn; there remains no further memorial of his latter days, nor any account of his death, excepting that "he fell asleep on the 27th of February 1706, in full hope of a glorious resurrection through faith in Jesus Christ," having directed this truth, which he had learned by long experience, to be inscribed upon his monument;-That all is vanity which is not honest, and that there is no solid wisdom but in real piety."

The private character of Mr. Evelyn was most amiable and exemplary. As a husband, a parent, and a friend he was worthy of the love which he enjoyed. His home was the abode of peace and affection, cemented and secured by the happy influence of religion; and the uniform kindliness of heart, which appears throughout his journal and letters, may be taken as a satisfactory evidence of the amiableness of his disposition. To this excellent temper, which evinced itself, among other ways, in tenderness

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towards the failings of others, we may perhaps in a great measure attribute the fact of his possessing so many attached friends, and experiencing so little of that enmity and acrimony which too commonly assail eminent characters. Mr. Pepys speaks of him as "a most excellent person," a man much above others," and declares that the more he knows him the more he loves him; and it may fairly be inferred from Evelyn's Diary, that the most worthy characters of the day valued his acquaintance, and cultivated his society. The constancy and warmth of his friendship were felt by many in their hour of adversity; to Lords Clarendon, Clifford, and Arlington, Sandwich, and Ossory, he showed that so long as he could respect their characters and virtues, they were sure of his affection and esteem.

While mentioning these noble names it is right to add that he "blessed God that he himself was born in a private condition."

He felt for the sufferings and sorrows of his fellow creatures; it appears from his Diary, that at particular times he entertained the poor at his own house; and if he had not been frequently amongst them in their own houses, he would scarcely have been selected, as he was, by his friends to administer their alms. In public life his example is worthy of imitation, since he exercised the duties of the offices conferred upon him diligently, conscientiously, and fearlessly.

His pleasures were such as are laudable as well as innocent; healthful alike for the mind and for the body; his employments in his study were elegant and useful; and his writings, if not indicative of commanding genius, yet show unwearied industry and excellent taste. He had studied the works of the Creator and the creature, and wrote on many departments of literature and the arts; yet few who have cultivated so great a diversity of

subjects, have met with his success in elucidating them. It was his desire to be instrumental to the advancement of science, and to awaken in his countrymen a love of the elegant pursuits of peace.

His taste and accomplishments were engaged in teaching them to build their houses, to adorn them with pictures and furnish them with books, and to cultivate their orchards and gardens; and the lover of our native groves may remember with gratitude his efforts to stay betimes the axe of the woodman, and give energy to the spade of the planter.

Above all, his deep and practical piety may be recommended as an example to all men. A manuscript commentary on the Holy Scriptures, of considerable length, and several other religious works, not published but preserved by his family,* testify that his thoughts were frequently engaged upon religious subjects; and although we cannot speak of their contents, yet the probability that they were written for his private use may confirm our belief that his object was the confirmation of his faith, and his own personal edification. His diary and letters do not often admit us into his closet, yet as far as they open the door, they exhibit a prospect which it is pleasing to contemplate. They show him a devout man, and one that feared God, and a believer in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of sinners; they tell us that he appointed stated times for reflection and the scrutiny of his conduct

* The manuscripts here referred to are thus described by himself. 1. "The three remaining Meditations on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, being the remaining course of offices; to which belongs a Book of Recollection, bound in leather."

2. "A rational account of the true Religion, or An History of it; with a packet of notes belonging to it."

"Animadversions upon Spinosa." There are also "Papers concerning Education," and "The Life of Mrs. Godolphin."