On the 27th of September, in the fame year, he was licensed to preach, &c. at Stratford fubter Caftrum, or Undercastle, in the county of Wilts; for which he had the stipend of 80l. per ann. paid out of the rectory, appropriated to the dean and chapter. And he I am told was permitted to reap the profits of this curacy till the year 1702.

So far as I can form a judgment from the accounts, he receiv'd no profits from his prebend after this article from his collector: Memorandum, I have collected,

for Mr. Spinckes, gl. 16s. 10d. due to him for Pentecoft money for the year 1690, &c.' And a very reverend and worthy member of that church is pleas'd to inform me, that Mr. Thomas Smith's admiffion was Jan. 20, 1690, and that he finds by the Bishop's [Dr. Burnet's] mandate to the dean and chapter, Mr. Smith was collated to that prebend upon the deprivation of Mr. Spinckes for his not taking the oaths.'

Our author's fortune, time, and study, were nevertheless employ'd in ferving his fellow-creatures, and Chriftians: He went about doing good.

• October 11, 1704. I had a very great escape out ⚫ of a mine at Bwlchyr Efkyr byr, when my breath was quite spent, fo that I thought I fhould never ⚫ have reached the top. Bleffed be the name of God for fuch abundant goodness! And O that I may have a continual sense of it upon my mind! Amen.'

• October 13, 1706. My houfe was wonderfully pre• ferved from burning, by my awaking about four in the morning, and fmelling the fcent of burning linen, ⚫ which proved to be the maid's apron, that had been fmothering till that time, and never broke out into a flame. And the providence of God is the more • remarkable in this, that, had my wife and I lain that night in our ufual bed, I had been at too great a distance, to have smelt any thing of this fire; but the washing of the room made us lie a floor higher, and fo I came to make this discovery.'

⚫ And

• And O that I may be duly fenfible of the great goodness of God to me and mine herein, and truly *thankful to him for it. Amen.'

• August 9, 1708. My fon Robert having run away, ⚫ with a defign no more to return home, was, by the goodness of God to him, ftruck with a fenfe of his folly and undutifulness, and refolved, like a true penitent, to confefs his fault, and beg pardon for it, and to promise amendment for the future; which he did freely of himself, the next morning; for neither his mother nor I had known any thing of his • attempt.'

Bleffed be thy Name for this, O Lord God! And I moft humbly befeech Thee to fet home his convictions upon him, that a due fenfe of them may remain upon him all his days.'

The 29th of the fame month my fon William fell ⚫ out of a cafement two ftories high, and through the ⚫ wonderful providence of God was taken up without any confiderable hurt, though lying and groaning upon the pitched ftreet; and no cloaths on him but his fhirt and ftockings.'

Bleffed and for ever praifed be the name of God for fo miraculous a deliverance! And that we ⚫ may all be unfeignedly thankful to him for it!"

In this interval I find our author's circumstances were reduced to a low ebb; and yet he retained an habitual conviction upon his own mind, that, It is moré blessed to give than to receive. If he had not large fums to caft into the treasury, yet he must throw in his mite : and when he could not minifter to the bodily neceffities of the faints, he turned his bounty into another channel, and promoted a more extenfive good, in forwarding the publication of many excellent books, fuch as Dr. Grabe's Septuagint, Mr. Newcourt's Repertorium, Mr. Howel's Canons, Bishop Potter's Clemens Alexandrinus; and Dr. Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy. This I learn from short references and hints in his own hand-writing.

The

The Feast of Afcenfion, being June 3, 1713, I have feen an instrument of this date under the feal and fign manual of Dr. George Hickes, there ftyled Suffragan Bishop of Thetford, and two affociates, together with other proper atteftations, witneffing that our author was confecrated Bifhop on this day. And it was known to be Dr. Hickes's declared and repeated judgment, that no man understood church-difcipline better, or was better qualified to be a Church-governor, than Mr. Spinckes.

Great regard is due to ancient and intimate friendfhips; and as Mr. Spinckes was more forward to acknowledge paft obligations, than to invite fresh favours, I may be permitted to mention a very feafonable and generous benefaction of Robert Nelfon, Efq; to our author. This worthy perfon, poffibly apprehending that our author's condition in life was depreffed by depending upon his judgment in fome fecular affairs, bequeathed to him by his laft will one hundred pounds of a special denomination; which I conceive was paid on Feb. 16, 1714, with the advance of twenty-three pounds intereft: which liberal fupply contributed very much to make Mr. Spinckes eafy.

April 21, 1719. A glafs of wine at coufin Tatnal's going wrong, I was feized with fuch a fit of cough⚫ing as ftrangled me, fo that I fell down as dead, • but, bleffed be God! being taken up, I foon reco⚫ver'd my breath, and went home well. For which • deliverance may God be for ever praised, and may • I always make a right improvement of it!"

Feb. 14, 172. I was cut of a fiftula, of which, by God's bleffing, I have been well recovered.'

For this thy great and undeferved goodness I defire to blefs thy Name, O Lord, and to fhew forth thy praife. And I humbly beg, that I may have grace to thew forth my unfeigned gratitude by a truly Chriftian improvement of the addition made to my life, how " long or fhort foever it may prove. This I beg thro • Jefus Christ our Lord and only Saviour. Amen?

• Jan.

¿ Jan. 172. Having been feized with a powerful afthma, fo that I thought myself upon my dying bed, but by the ufe of Dr. Beaufort's prescriptions, and the bleffing of God upon them, I recovered in part, fo as to be able to take a journey to Bath and Bristol, to drink the waters there; from whence, ⚫ bleffed be God! I returned, thought to be recover'd; however, in a better measure of health than when I fet out, and fo continue this 7th day of February 1723. For which all praise, all glory be to God!'

But of the many fruits of his virtuous love, he only left behind him

Anne the wife of Anthony Cope, Esq; of Great Poulteney-ftreet and

William Spinckes, Efq; whofe industry and abilities the providence of God has been pleas'd to reward with a plentiful fortune.

Affection moftly refembles heavy bodies; it defcends with a centripetal force, but rarely afcends; however, in this inftance the filial duty diftinguished itself.

I faw our author dying: he died as he lived, with fuch refignation and ferenity, as reminds me of, Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, &c.

II. We shall now take a fhort view of our author, and furvey him in his writings, and intellectual capacity. He was ever remarkable for fpeaking as he thought, and for writing as he spoke. He purpofely avoided all ornament and drefs in his ftyle: and this was greatly, serviceable to him in the difcharge of his minifterial function, and perhaps not lefs beneficial to his audience in his public difcourfes: for having an happy memory, fupported by a masterly judgment, he generally preached without the trouble of reducing his fermons into writing and this I have from living teftimony, while he was lecturer and curate of St. Stephen's, Walbrook; and from better evidence ftill, so far back as April 18, 1679, being Good-Friday that year on which folemnity his fermon at Petersham, fo far as he committed it to writing, confifted only of

feven fhort lines, or heads of his fubject. He was esteemed a preacher of the first rank.

Our author had feveral bleffings, at his entrance upon life, which may be regarded as fo many inftruments or ingredients neceffary for the forming a confiderable man. He had an habit of industry riveted in him from the beginning: he had, in alt appearance, as hardy and athletic a conftitution, as can fall to any man's lot: he had an ufeful and good collection of books in his poffeffion, as foon as he well knew the use of books and these animated by a good difcernment and kind of intuition.

As to languages, he was a very good judge of the Greek, Latin, Saxon, and French and he was moreover a proficient in the eastern tongues. He ever thought and taught, that a man's chief excellence was to appear in his proper profeffion: he thought it very prepofterous, that the gate fhould have bigger dimenfions than the city: he thought it preternatural and monstrous, that an excrefcence fhould be larger than the body it adher'd to. He excell'd in biblical learning; efpecially in cafes of conscience. He read the originals of the Scriptures with eafe and underftanding. He was daily converfant with the Greek and Latin fathers and councils; he thought it most unnatural to be à ftranger unto his brethren, an alien anto his mother's children, Pfal. xlix. 8. He look'd upon them as ἰσόψυχοι, and ὁμόψυχοι, as bone of his bone, and flesh of his flefb: and, tho' now-and-then a prodigal, or fpendthrift, or changeling, may call them by foul names, yet he knew they were the fons of God, tho' encompass'd with human infirmities. As to the Latin tongue, he spoke it fluently, and wrote it nervously; but he never confulted decorations. The Saxon tongue, I conceive, he excell'd in: he has left a Vocabulary behind him in this language, which may poffibly diminish the value of all the books in that way, when this fhall be introduced; at leaft it is worth examining. It may be impertinent to infift, that he €