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form a sufficient attraction to the series; for it must greatly abridge the labors of the reader, as well as the Student, to find so direct an access to any portion of each Discourse, Sermon, &c. The Biographical Memoir of Bishop Sherlock given in No. I. is a complete record of some of the most interesting polemical events of his day, and is written with great ease and perspicuity. Its convenient size, excellent print, and low price, are great recommend ions to public favor.'-Sunday Times, June 6.

'Mr. Valpy has commenced a highly meritorious and desirable series of our English Divines, to be revised by the Rev. T. S. Hughes, whose previous labors have proved him well qualified for the task. The first volume is beautifully printed, at a very moderate price, and contains a Summary of each Discourse, admirably calculated to assist the Divine in the arduous task of composition for the pulpit.'-Observer, June 6.

'Mr. Valpy has commenced the publication of a work which cannot fail to become highly popular and useful in the religious world. The first number, a well-printed volume, at the low price of 78. 6d., is now before us. We may, with perfect safety, afford to this work the most unqualified approbation. Indeed, the works of Mr. Valpy are almost invariably of a high character-they are distinguished by the most sterling classical qualities, and the utter absence of any thing like quackery or pretence.'-Weekly Dispatch, June 6.

'A work which should collect, embody, and bring before the public, in a library form, a complete edition of the most celebrated British Divines, has long been a desideratum in English literature. Mr. Valpy has commenced a work of this kind, the first volume of which has just appeared. The Editor, the Rev. T. S. Hughes, is well known for his attainments in all branches of literature; and his Life of Sherlock is a great accession to the history of English Divines.'-Bell's Weekly Messenger, June 6.

'Mr. Valpy has just brought out another work, for which the religious world,—particularly the Theological Student,—will feel grateful to him. The first volume commences the works of Bishop Sherlock, a complete edition of which has not hitherto appeared, at a price which we consider to be exceedingly cheap. We cannot better do justice to the spirited publisher than by referring our readers to the Prospectus.'-Brighton Herald, June 5.

"This work, from the importance of its object, may challenge comparison with any of the literary productions of the day. It has commenced with the Sermons of Bishop Sherlock, and contains an ably written Memoir of that Prelate, with twenty-four of his productions, at the comparatively low price of 7s. 6d. ; and this, joined to the intrinsic merit of the work, will, we trust, insure the patronage which such an undertaking deserves.'-Liverpool Courier, June 9.

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF

DR. ISAAC BARROW.

IN the life of a scholar who has escaped the trammels of public employment, and shunned the turbulence of party faction, it cannot be expected that very numerous incidents should be found, to exercise the writer's judgment, or excite the reader's curiosity: yet neither of them will have reason to complain, provided the excellence of the subject compensates for the deficience of interest, and the spirit of emulation can be awakened, though curiosity may remain unsatisfied; in short, if they be led, as in the present instance, to the retrospect of splendid talents, great learning, and various acquirements, uniformly exerted in the cause of virtue and for the good of society. It is matter of surprise that some such considerations as these should never have induced any one, qualified for the undertaking, to collect more extensive information, and to compose a more complete biography, than has yet appeared, of the illustrious person who is the subject of our present memoir the task was strongly recommended, soon after

BAR.

VOL. I.

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his decease, by those who best knew his worth; but their. suggestions were unheeded, until his contemporaries followed him to the silent grave; and little is known of Isaac Barrow beyond what is contained in a slight sketch drawn up by one of his executors,* and prefixed to the first edition of his works: fortunately however his own writings, particularly those whose Latin dress has too long kept them from general investigation, contain much accurate and authentic information respecting their author, furnishing us with as clear an insight into his character, as those of any writer who has not expressly left memorials of his own life. On these genuine and important documents therefore, aided by some additional information collected in a general course of reading, the Editor must rely, whilst he endeavors to do more justice than has hitherto been done, to one of the greatest names that adorn our annals.

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At a very eventful period, when the political horizon began to darken with those storms which shook the foundation both of church and state, this great man was born in the metropolis, in the month of October, 1630.† He

* Abraham Hill, Esq. Dr. Ward added some new details, and corrected some errors: see the biography of Barrow, in his Lives of the Professors of Gresham College. The short account introduced by Dr. Pope into his life of the Bishop of Salisbury is to be received with some caution.

This is Mr. A. Hill's account. Dr. Pope in his life of Seth, Lord Bishop of Salisbury, p. 129, says that this date is not right; for he had often heard Dr. Barrow himself say, that he was born on the 29th of February, which could not be in 1630, that not being a leap-year the college register however of Peter House, where he was entered as annum agens decimum quartum, shows that Mr. Hillis not far from the truth at any rate. See Ward's Lives, p. 157.

was descended from worthy parents in a very respectable station of life, his father Thomas Barrow being a citizen of London in good repute, and his uncle Isaac elevated to the episcopal see of St. Asaph. His grandfather, Isaac Barrow, Esq. resided at Spiney Abbey in Cambridgeshire, where he was for the term of forty years in the commission for the peace. This Isaac was a son of Philip Barrogh, (for the name is differently spelt,) who published "A Method of Physic," and who had a brother, also named Isaac, a doctor in medicine, and a considerable benefactor to Trinity College, where he had been tutor to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Lord High Treasurer of England.

This is all that is recorded of Barrow's family by the father's side: his mother was Ann, daughter of William Buggin, Esq. of North Cray, in Kent, of whose tender care he was deprived at the early age of four years. His first school was that of the Charter House, where he continued but two or three years, and made very little progress in his learning; for he exhibited no precocity of intellect, no docility or appetite for study, but rather a great fondness for games and sports, especially such as produced quarrels and fighting amongst his schoolfellows. This sort of conduct gave his father very little hope that he would shine in the profession of a scholar, for which he designed him, and as little expectation of that comfort and satisfaction which he afterwards experienced from his son's dutiful and pious disposition: whence he often expressed a solemn wish, that if it should please God to take away any of his children, Isaac might be the one selected. "So vain a thing," says Mr. Hill, "is man's judgment; so unfit is our providence to guide our own affairs." In truth we should always be cautious before we condemn or

neglect a youth, on account of the early errors and irregularities into which he may fall: such extravagances are not always sure indications of depravity; since they may arise from high natural endowments, engrafted on an ardent disposition unimproved or misdirected; they should be regarded therefore with tender solicitude, and subjected to restraint by a skilful and experienced hand.

His father took the best preliminary step possible to correct young Barrow's propensities, by removing him from the scenes of his early habits, and placing him at Felsted in Essex, where he seems to have met with an excellent instructor and guide;* and it proves no inconsiderable knowlege of human nature in the master, that, when his young pupil's good qualities and great abilities began to show themselves, he appointed him to be a little tutor, (according to his biographer's expression,) to the Lord Viscount Fairfax of Emely in Ireland: yet though all inclination to quarrelling was thus subdued in the young man, an undaunted courage, both physical and moral, still remained in after-life; of which some instances will be recorded hereafter, and one may find a place here. Being sparing of sleep and a very early riser, he one morning went out of a friend's house before the family were up, when a large and fierce mastiff, that was unchained during the night, attacked him with great ferocity; Barrow, however caught the savage animal by the throat, and after a long struggle bore him to the ground: there whilst he held him, he considered with himself what he had better do in the exigency of the case: once he had a mind to

* I am informed by a friend, who is himself a distinguished ornament of Felsted school, that the name of this master was Martin Holbeach.

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