CONVERTS

FROM

INFIDELITY.

JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER

No individual, perhaps, better merits the distinction of being placed at the head of Converted Infidels, than the witty and profligate Earl of Rochester. This pre-eminence he may justly challenge, in whatever aspect his character is viewed; whether we regard the accomplishments of his mind, or the licentiousness of his morals; the reckless hardihood of his impiety, or the sincerity of his penitence. No libertine of that dissolute age was more expert in the mysteries of iniquity, or had so completely studied every art that could supply him with excuses or encouragement in his pleasures. None understood better to handle the unhallowed weapons of raillery and ridicule, or could more skilfully ward off conviction, when assailed by an ingenious adversary; and none had resisted, with greater obstinacy, the

VOL. I.

application of all external means to undeceive and reclaim him from his errors. Nature had bestowed upon him abilities of the highest order, which he had cultivated beyond most of his contemporaries in the same rank of life; and had these superior endowments been enlisted on the side of virtue and decency, his name must have descended to posterity, as one of the most extraordinary men of his time.

But these exalted qualities, which might have made him the delight of society, and an ornament to his country, were so corrupted and debased by vice, that his dissipations have become a proverb, and left a deeper stain on the voluptuous court in which he flourished; and had not his repentance interposed, his character must have remained, to all generations, the scandal of his age, and a reproach to human nature. Fortunately, however, he lived to see his folly, and to feel the consequences of his misconduct; to renounce the errors, and abandon the criminal courses into which he was unhappily seduced, both by inclination and example. His brief career is a lamentable demonstration of the mischievous effects of infidelity; and his dying convictions furnish a memorable instance, among the many triumphs which Christianity has achieved over all the arguments and sophistries of its enemies. A painful sickness, the result of habitual intemperance, roused him to a sense of his delusion and his danger; and in the fiery ordeal of affliction, his stubborn opposition was subdued, and melted down into humble acquiescence, and unfeigned acknowledgments of his guilt. The cloud that obscured his moral perceptions being dispersed, his hopes and sentiments

entirely changed their nature. A light from heaven seemed to pour its effulgence around him, like that which struck the apostle to the ground, who, though before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious, yet obtained mercy, that in him Christ Jesus might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life."

The family from which Lord Rochester was descended, had made no inconsiderable figure in the history of their country, his ancestors being eminent, on both sides, for their devoted loyalty and military services. His father, Henry, acted a conspicuous part in the civil wars, and was created, by Charles L. Baron of Adderbury, in Oxfordshire, and afterwards made Earl of Rochester by Charles II. then in exile, whom he had accompanied to the continent. He is better known, however, by the title of Lord Wilmot, so often mentioned by Clarendon; and contributed not a little, by his courage and able conduct, towards the success which at first attended the royal arms. In most of the actions he was personally concerned, and in some he had the chief command. At the very commencement of hostilities, he was taken prisoner by the Scots, in the rout at Newburn, being then Commissary-General of the horse, but he was soon after released by the treaty of Rippon. At the battle of Edge-hill he commanded the left wing, and shared, with Prince Rupert, the reputation of that victory. He took by stratagem the town of Marlborough, which the Parliament had garrisoned; being at that time advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General. At the siege of Reading, having marched suddenly from Oxford,

he succeeded, without much opposition, in re-inforcing the garrison with a regiment of 500 men, and a supply of ammunition. The defeat of Sir William Waller, at Roundway-down, was achieved under his sole command, and he led the van in the action at Cropready Bridge.

But jealousy or rivalry having fastened upon him suspicions of mutiny, and of favouring the parliamentary interest, he was removed from his post in the army, and retired for a short time to France. He was naturally of an aspiring and imperious disposition, precipitate in his resolutions, and impatient of contradiction; but he had great influence and authority in the army. He had a most pleasant and lively wit,-drank freely,—and excelled in all the companionable qualities of the camp, which made him popular with his fellowofficers. After the battle of Worcester, he was particularly active in managing the concealment and escape of the unfortunate Prince. Disguised with his hawk, he attended him from place to place, assisted in procuring a vessel, and embarked with him for France. He continued, during all his peregrinations, attached to his court, and had considerable influence in his councils. He was sent as ambassador to the Diet at Ratisbon, for the purpose of soliciting the Emperor of Germany to undertake his restoration; and with the hope of obtaining some fit asylum within the imperial dominions, where he might sojourn with his small retinue, in expectation of his better destiny. It was on this occasion that Lord Wilmot was created Earl of Rochester. His success in these negociations was very partial; all he could procure being a trifling subsidy of a few thousand pounds. With the

consent of the Prince he came over to England in 1655, with the intent of exciting an insurrection in favour of the royal cause; in this, however, he failed, having been too free in communicating his designs, and only escaped by being so dexterous in assuming disguises. He returned to Cologne, where Charles then was, but did not live to witness the unexpected event that replaced the exiled monarch on the throne of his ancestors; having expired on the 19th of February, 1657. He was buried privately, and by special leave of the Parliament, in the Church of Spilsby, in the sepulchre of the family of Lee. He married

Anne, daughter of Sir John St Johns, of Lyddiard, bart. and widow of Sir Francis Henry Lee, of Ditchley, in Oxfordshire; and this lady was the mother of the noble convert, to whose history we

now return.

JOHN WILMOT, Earl of Rochester, Viscount Athlone in Ireland, and Baron of Adderbury, in Oxfordshire, was born at Ditchley, near Woodstock, April 10th, 1647. Being early deprived of his father, he was left with little other inheritance than the honours and titles to which he succeeded; with such claims to the royal favour as the eminent services of his family might naturally be supposed to establish. This scanty fortune was, however, carefully managed, by the great prudence and discretion of his mother, so that he received an education every way suitable to his rank. He was entered to the free-school at Burford, where he made extraordinary proficiency both in Greek and Latin, especially the latter, which he acquired to such perfection, that he re