on account of its single acts of injustice, unless it strikes at the very basis of the constitution* the enemies of the monarchy and of the established church always esteemed him to be as much their enemy as their friend t. The marquis of Halifax, whose mental acumen was better qualified to judge of other men's characters than to regulate his own, thus wrote his estimate of our author::

“Dr. Burnet ‡, like all men who are above the ordinary level, is seldom spoke of in a mean, he must either be railed at or admired; he has a swiftness of imagination, that no other man comes up to; and as our nature hardly allows us to have enough of any thing without having too much, he cannot at all times so hold in his thoughts but that at some time they may run away with him; as it is hard for a vessel, that is brim-full, when in motion, not to run over; and therefore the variety of matter, that he ever carries about him, may throw out more than an unkind critic would allow of. His first thoughts may sometimes require more digestion, not from a defect in his judgment, but from the abundance of his fancy, which furnishes too fast for him. His friends love him too well to see small faults; or, if they do, think that his greater talents give him a privilege of straying from the strict rules of caution, and exempt him from the ordinary rules of censure. He produces so fast, that what is well in his writings calls for admiration, and what is incorrect deserves an excuse; he may in some things require grains of allowance, which those only can deny him who are unknown, or unjust to him. He is not quicker in discerning other men's faults, than he is in forgiving them: so ready, or rather glad, to acknowledge his own, that from blemishes they become ornaments. All the repeated provocations of his indecent adversaries have had no other effect than the setting his good-nature in so much a better light, since his anger never yet went farther than to pity them. That heat, which in most other men raises sharpness and satire, in him glows into warmth for his friends, and compassion for those in want and misery. As dull men have quick eyes in discerning the smaller faults of those that nature has made superior to them, they do not miss one blot he makes, and being beholden only to their barrenness for their discretion, they fall upon the errors which arise out of his abundance; and by a mistake into which their malice betrays. them, they think that by finding a mote in his eye, they hide the beams that are in their own. His quickness makes writing so easy a thing to him, that his spirits are neither wasted nor soured by it. The soil is not forced, every thing grows and brings forth without pangs; which distinguishes as much what he does from that which smells of the lamp, as a good palate will discern between fruit which comes from a rich mould, and that which tastes of the uncleanly pains that have been bestowed upon it. He makes many enemies, by setting an ill-natured example of living, which they are not inclined to follow. His indifference for preferment, his contempt not only of splendour, but of all unnecessary plenty, his degrading himself into the lowest and most painful duties of his calling, are such unprelatical qualities, that let him be never so orthodox in other things, in these he must be a dissenter. Virtues of such a stamp are so many heresies, in the opinion of those divines, who have softened the primitive injunctions, so as to make them suit better with the present frailty of mankind. No wonder, then, if they are angry, since it is in their own defence, or that from a principle of self-preservation

"hated

"The presbyterian zealots," says his son, him, as apprehending that his schemes of moderation would, in the end, prove the sure way of establishing episcopacy amongst them. The episcopal party, on the other hand, could not endure a man who was for exempting the dissenters from their persecutions."

Life by his son.

The copy from which this is printed was taken from one given to the bishop, in the marquis of Halifax's own hand-writing, which was in the possession of the author's son, the year that George the First began to reign.

they should endeavour to suppress a man, whose parts are a shame, and whose life is a scandal to them."

Such was the estimate formed of Dr. Burnet by one of the most talented of his contemporaries; we shall be better able to judge of its justice when we have traced a few of the leading events of his life; and as these will be found to be every way worthy of him as a teacher of Christianity, the reader of his work will thence be predisposed to believe, that he who acted and suffered for that which he considered just, would not knowingly write that which is false.

The life of Dr. Burnet extended from 1643 to 1715, a series of years during which occurred the most memorable events in our national history. In those seventy-two years, Charles the First died upon the scaffold; our government passed through every grade of change from the most open republicanism to the most uncontrolled despotism-there was the despotism of the army and the despotism of Cromwell. It was the era of the war-struggle for supremacy between protestant episcopacy, protestant dissent, and popery, in which James the Second was ejected from the throne, and a new dynasty was admitted. All which events were the consequences of the great principle that came then for ever to be decided-whether the will and the interests of the people, or of the king, are to be most consulted in the conduct of our national affairs.

The first important question, and it was one dangerous and delicate, upon which our author had to declare his opinion, was concerning his own competency to fulfil the duties of the clerical office. There is no law of Scotland limiting the age at which a minister may take upon himself the cure of souls; consequently, having passed all his examinations and his probation, when he was offered by his kinsman, sir Alexander Burnet, an excellent benefice in the centre of his family connections, he had no restraint upon his decision but such as was dictated by his own heart, Burnet was only eighteen, but he was victor over the temptation; for, feeling that this was an age at which he could not conscientiously accept so responsible an appointment, he declined the living, though his father was the only one of his relations who did not importune him to accept it.

It was well for him, in many respects, besides the satisfaction of his conscience, that he thus decided; for it left him leisure to visit the English universities, and to travel in continental Europe. Whilst at the former, and when in London, he acquired the friendship of Dr. Cudworth, Dr. Pearson, Dr. Fell, Dr. Pocock, Dr. Wallis, Dr. Tillotson, Dr. Stillingfleet, Dr. Patrick, Dr. Lloyd, Dr. Whitchcot, Dr. Wilkins, sir Robert Murray, and Mr. Boyle; names deservedly great in the history of our national worthies. From such men as these he gained knowledge, and in their example obtained confidence to maintain the cause of truth in all things. His acquaintance, whilst in Holland, with the chief members of the Arminians, Lutherans, Unitarians, Brownists, Anabaptists, and Papists, whose forms of worship and belief are all tolerated in that country, enlarged his mind, and saved him from being the slave of sectarian bigotry. Amongst all those families of the Christian tribe, "he found men of such real piety and virtue, that there he became fixed in that strong principle of universal charity, of thinking well of those who differed from him, and of invincible abhorrence of all persecutions on account of religious dissensions; which have often drawn upon him the bitterest censures from those who, perhaps by a narrower education, were led into a narrower way of thinking." Dr. Henry More, who bore the highest title of dignity, being called "the Intellectual Epicure," was one of his acquaintances, and, like him, paid more attention to the contents of a book than to its binding-estimated the value of a man's mind, not that

of his coat-believed in Christianity, not in its priesteraft. One of Dr. More's observations upon church ceremonies and rites made great impression upon Burnet. "None of these," said the doctor, are bad enough to make men bad; and I am sure none of them are good enough to make men good."

66

Upon his return to his native country, Scotland, he was appointed to the living of Saltoun, but he declined accepting it until, after a four months' probation, he was unanimously requested to do so by his parishioners. He was then, in the year 1665, ordained priest by the bishop of Edinburgh. "During the five years he remained at Saltoun, he preached twice every Sunday, and once more during the week; he catechised three times during the same period, so as to examine every parishioner, old and young, thrice in the compass of a year he went round his parish from house to house, instructing, reproving, or comforting the inhabitants as occasion required; those who were sick he visited twice a day; he administered the sacrament four times in the year, personally instructing all that gave notice they intended to receive it: all that remained above his own necessary subsistence, in which he was very frugal, he distributed in charity. A particular instance of his liberality was related by a person who then lived with him, and who afterwards was with him at Salisbury. One of his parishioners was distrained upon for debt, and came to our author for some small assistance, who inquired how much would again set him up in his trade. The debtor named the sum, which a servant was immediately ordered to pay him :-'Sir,' said the domestic, it is all we have in the house.'-' Well, well,' replied Burnet, pay it to this poor man ; you do not know the pleasure there is in making a man glad.' Thus, as he knew the concerns of his whole parish, treated them with tenderness and care, and set them a fair example of every article of that duty which he taught them, he soon gained their affections, not excepting the presbyterians; although he was then the only man in Scotland that made use of the prayers in the English church liturgy *."

6

In 1669, the University of Glasgow elected him to be the Professor of Divinity, and the admirable Dr. Leighton succeeded in persuading him to quit his parish and accept the chair. His son thus relates our author's exertions to fulfil the duties that now devolved upon him. "As his principal care, in this new station, was to form just and true notions in the students of divinity, he laid down a plan for that purpose, to which no other objection could be offered but that it seemed to require the labour of four or five, instead of one man; yet he never failed executing every part of it, during his residence at Glasgow. On Mondays he made each of the students, in his turn, explain a head of divinity in Latin, and propound such theses from it as he was to defend against the rest of the scholars; and this exercise concluded with our author's decision of the point in a Latin oration. On Tuesdays he gave them a prelection in the same language, wherein he purposed, in the course of eight years, to have gone through a complete system of divinity. On Wednesdays, he read them a lecture, for above an hour, by way of a critical commentary on St. Matthew's Gospel, which he finished before he quitted the chair. On Thursdays the exercise was alternate: one Thursday he expounded a Hebrew psalm, comparing it with the Septuagint, the vulgar and the English version; and the next Thursday he explained some portion of the ritual and constitution of the primitive church, making the apostolical canons his text, and reducing every article of practice under the head of one or other of those canons. On Fridays he made each of his scholars, in course, preach a short sermon upon some text he assigned; and when

Life of Dr. Burnet, by his son.

it was ended, he observed upon any thing that was defective or amiss, showing how the text ought to have been opened and applied. This was the labour of the mornings; in the evenings, after prayer, he every day read them some parcel of scripture, on which he made a short discourse, and when that was over, he examined into the progress of their several studies, encouraging them to propose their difficulties to him upon the subjects they were then reading. This he performed during the whole time the schools were open, thereby answering the duty of a professor, with the assiduity of a schoolmaster; and in order to acquit himself with credit, he was obliged to study hard from four till ten in the morning; the rest of the day being, of necessity, allotted either to the use of his pupils, or to hearing the complaints of the clergy, who, finding he had an interest with the men in power, were not sparing in their applications to him."

Our author was thrice married. His first wife was Lady Mary Kennedy, a daughter of the earl of Cassilis; the second a Dutch lady, of the name of Scott; and the third, Mrs. Berkley,-all women eminent for their piety; the third being author of "A Method of Devotion," edited after her death by Dr. Goodwyn, archbishop of Cashel. Of Dr. Burnet's conduct in the relationships of a husband, a father, a friend, and a master, we have his son's testimony:-" He was a most affectionate husband. His tender care of his first wife, during a course of sickness that lasted for many years, and his fond love to the other two, and the deep concern he expressed for their loss, were no more than their just due, from one of his humanity, gratitude, and discernment.

"His love to his children, perhaps accompanied with too much indulgence, was not exerted in laying up for them a hoard of wealth out of the revenues of the church, but in giving them a noble education, though the charge of it was wholly maintained out of his private fortune. At seven years old he entered his sons into Latin, giving each of them a distinct tutor, who had a salary of forty pounds a-year, which was never lessened on account of any prebend the bishop gave him. After five or six years had perfected his sons in the learned languages, he sent them to the University; the eldest, a gentleman commoner, to Trinity College, in Cambridge; the other two, commoners, to Merton College, in Oxford, where, besides the college tutor, they had a private one, to assist them in their learning, and to overlook their behaviour. In the year 1706, he sent them abroad for two years to finish their studies at Leyden, whence two of them took a tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The eldest and youngest, by their own choice, were bred to the law, and the second to divinity.

“In his friendships our author was warm, open-hearted, and constant: from those I have taken the liberty to mention, the reader will perceive that they were formed upon the most prudent choice, and I cannot find an instance of any one friend he ever lost, but by death. It is a common, perhaps a just observation, that a hearty friend is apt to be as hearty an enemy; yet this rule did not hold in our author: for though his station, his principles, but, above all, his steadfast adherence to the Hanover succession, raised him many enemies, yet he no sooner had it in his power to have taken severe revenges on them, than he endeavoured, by the kindest good offices, to repay all their injuries, and overcome them, by returning good for

evil.

"The bishop was a kind and bountiful master to his servants, whom he never changed but with regret, and through necessity. Friendly and obliging to all in employment under him. and peculiarly happy in the choice of them, especially in that of the steward to the bishopric and his courts, William Wastefield, Esq., (a gentleman of a plentiful fortune at the time of

his accepting this post,) and in that of his domestic steward, Mr. Mackney. These were both men of approved worth and integrity, firmly attached to his interests, and were treated by him, as they well deserved, with friendship and confidence."

Four times did our author refuse a bishopric. At length, when king William was established on the throne, the see of Salisbury became vacant, which Dr. Burnet solicited for his old friend, Dr. Lloyd, then bishop of St. Asaph. The king coldly answered, "I have another person in view :" and the next day Burnet found that he himself was nominated to

the vacant see.

His son has dwelt at some length upon his conduct as a diocesan. "His primary visitation could only be regulated by the practice of his predecessors, who contented themselves with formal triennial visitations of their diocese, in which they used always to confirm; but when he perceived the hurry, the disorder and noise that attended these public meetings, he thought them wholly unfit for solemn acts of devotion; they seemed much more proper for the exercise of an ordinary's jurisdiction, according to law, than for the performance of the more Christian functions of a bishop. These were inconsistent with that pomp and show which, perhaps, the other required. He had always looked upon confirmation as the likeliest means of reviving a spirit of Christianity; if men could be brought to consider it, not as a mere ceremony, but as an act whereby a man became a Christian from his own choice; since upon attaining to the use of reason, he thereby renewed for himself a vow, which others had only made for him at baptism. He wrote a short directory, con aining proper rules how to prepare the youth upon such occasions; this he printed, and sent copies of it, some months beforehand, to the minister of every parish where he intended to confirm. He every summer took a tour, for six weeks or two months, through some district of his bishopric, daily preaching and confirming from church to church, so as in the compass of three years (besides his former triennial visitation) to go through all the principal livings in his diocese. The clergy, near the places he passed through, generally attended on him; therefore, to avoid being burthensome in these circuits, he entertained them all at his own charge. He, likewise, for many years, entered into conferences with them upon the chief heads of divinity: one of which he usually opened at their meeting, in a discourse that lasted near two hours; and then encouraged those present to start such questions or difficulties upon it as occurred to them. Four of these discourses, against infidelity, socinianism, popery and schism, were printed in the year 1694. When our author had published his 'Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles,' conferences of this nature seemed in some measure needless he therefore discontinued them, in order to apply himself wholly to the work of confirmation. To be more useful in it, he disposed his annual progress, during the last ten years of his life, in the following manner:-He went through five or six of the considerable market towns every year; he fixed himself for a whole week in each of them; and though he went out every morning to preach and confirm in some parish, within seven or eight miles of the place, yet at the evening prayer, for six days together, he catechised the youth of the town, in the principal church there, expounding to them some portion of the church catechism every day, until he had gone through the whole: and, on Sunday, he confirmed those who had been thus examined and instructed, and then, inviting them all to dine with him, he gave to each a useful present of books. As the country flocked in from all parts to hear him, he was in hopes this would encourage the clergy to catechise more, and would raise an emulation in Christian knowledge among the inferior sort of people, who were ignorant to a scandal.

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