nerous affiftance and charity of many worthy and welldifpofed perfons of all ranks, enabled to bear the unavoidable lofs and charge of fo vaft an undertaking; and, by his own forward inclination to charity, and his unwearied diligence and activity, extraordinarily fitted to fuftain and go through the incredible pains of it.

But, to return to our deceas'd friend; concerning whom I must content myself to pafs over many things worthy to be remembered of him, and to fpeak only of thofe virtues of his which were more eminent and remarkable.

Of his piety towards God, which is the neceffary foundation of all other graces and virtues, I fhall only fay this, that it was great and exemplary, but yet very ftill and quiet, without ftir and noife, and much more in fubftance and reality, than in fhew and oftentation; and did not confift in cenfuring and finding fault with others, but in the due care and government of his own life and actions, and exercising himfelf continually to have a confcience void of offence toward God and toward men; in which he was fuch a proficient, that even after a long acquaintance and familiar converfation with him, it was not eafy to obferve any thing that might deferve blame.

He particularly excelled in the more peculiar virtues of converfation, in modefty, humility, meeknefs, chearfulness, and in kindness and charity towards all men.

So great was his modefty, that it never appeared, either by word or action, that he put any value upon himfelf. This I have often obferved in him, that the charities which were procured chiefly by his application and industry, when he had occafion to give an account of them, he would rather impute to any one who had but the leaft hand and part in the obtaining of them, than affume any thing of it to himself. Another inftance of his modefty was, that, when he had quitted his living of St. Sepulchres, upon fome diffatisfaction about the terms of conformity, he willingly forbore preaching, faying, there was no need of him here in London, where there were fo many worthy Minifters; and that he thought he might do as much or more good in another way, which could give no offence. Only, in the latter years of his life, being better fatisfied in fome things he had doubted

of

of before, he had licence from fome of the Bishops to preach in Wales in his progrefs; which he was the more willing to do, becaufe in fome places he faw great need of it; and he thought he might do it with greater advantage among the poor people, who were the more likely to regard his inftructions, being recommended by his great charity, fo well known to them, and of which they had fo long had the experience and benefit. But where there was no fuch need, he was very well contented, to hear others perfuade men to goodness, and to practise it himself.

He was clothed with humility, and had, in a most eminent degree, that ornament of a meek and quiet fpirit, which, St. Peter fays, is, in the fight of God, of fo great price fo that there was not the least appearance, either of pride or paffion in any of his words or actions. He was not only free from anger and bitterness, but from all affected gravity and morofenefs. His converfation was affable and pleafant. He had a wonderful ferenity of mind, and evennefs of temper, visible in his very countenance. He was hardly ever merry, but never melancholy and fad and, for any thing I could difcern, after a long and intimate acquaintance with him, he was upon all occafions and accidents perpetually the fame; always chearful, and always kind; of a difpofition ready to embrace and oblige all men; allowing others to differ from him, even in opinions that were very dear to him; and provided men did but fear God and work righteousness, he loved them heartily, how distant foever from him in judgment about things lefs neceffary: in all which he is very worthy to be a pattern for men of all perfuafions whatfoever.

But that virtue which of all other shone brightest in him, and was his most proper and peculiar character, was his chearful and unwearied diligence in acts of pious charity. In this he left far behind him all that ever I knew, and, as I faid before, had a fingular fagacity and prudence in devifing the most effectual ways of doing good; and in managing and difpofing his charity to the best purposes, and to the greatest extent; always, if it were poffible, making it to ferve fome end of piety and reli gion; as, the inftructions of poor children in the prin

ciples of religion, and furnishing grown perfons that were ignorant, with the Bible, and other good books; strictly obliging thofe to whom he gave them to a diligent reading of them, and, when he had opportunity, exacting of them an account how they had profited by them.

In his occafional alms to the poor, in which he was very free and bountiful, the relief he gave them was always mingled with good counsel, and as great a tendernefs and compaffion for their fouls as bodies which very often attained the good effect it was likely to have; the one making way for the other with fo much advantage, and men being very apt to follow the good advice of those who gave them in hand fo fenfible a pledge and teftimony of their good will to them.

This kind of charity muft needs be very expensive to him but he had a plentiful estate fettled upon him, and left him by his father; and he laid it out as liberally in the moft prudent and effectual ways of charity he could think of, and upon fuch perfon's as, all circumftances confidered, he judged to be the fittest and most proper objects of it.

For about nine or ten years laft paft, he did, as is well known to many here prefent, almoft wholly apply his charity to Wales, because there he judged was most occafion for it: and because this was a very great work, he did not only lay out upon it whatever he could fpare out of his own eftate, but employed his whole time and pains to excite and engage the charity of others for his affiftance in it.

And in this he had two excellent defigns; one, to have poor children brought up to read and write, and to be carefully inftructed in the principles of religion; the other, to furnish perfons of grown age, the poor efpecially, with the neceffary helps and means of knowledge; as the Bible, and other books of piety and devotion, in their own language: to which end he procured The church catechifm, The practice of piety, and that best of books, The whole duty of man, befides feveral other pious and useful treatifes, fome of them to be translated into the Welch tongue, and great numbers of all of them to be printed, and fent down to the chief towns in Wales,

to

to be fold at cafy rates to thofe that were able to buy them, and to be freely given to those that were not.

And in both these designs, through the blessing of God upon his unwearied endeavours, he found very great fuccefs. For, by the large and bountiful contributions which, chiefly by his industry and prudent application, were obtained from charitable perfons of all ranks and conditions; from the Nobility and Gentry of Wales, and the neighbouring counties, and feveral of that quality in and about London; from divers of the Right Reverend Bifhops, and of the clergy; and from that perpetual fountain of charity, the city of London, led on and encouraged by the most bountiful example of the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, and the court of Aldermen ; to all which he constantly added two thirds of his own eftate, which, as I have been credibly informed, was two hundred pounds a year: I fay, by all these together, there were every year eight hundred, fometimes a thousand poor children educated, as I faid before. And, by this example, feveral of the most confiderable towns of Wales were excited to bring up, at their own charge, the like number of poor children, in the like manner, and under his infpection and care.

He likewife gave very great numbers of the books above mentioned, both in the Welch and English tongues, to the poorer fort, fo many as were unable to buy them, and willing to read them. But, which was the greatest work of all, and amounted indeed to a mighty charge, he procured a new and very fair impreffion of the Bible, and liturgy of the church of England, in the Welch tongue, (the former impreffion being spent, and hardly twenty of them to be had in all London), to the number of eight thousand; one thousand whereof were freely given to the poor, and the reft fent to the principal cities and towns in Wales, to be fold to the rich at very reasonable and low rates, viz. at four fhillings a-piece well bound and clafped: which was much cheaper than any English Bible was ever fold, that was of so fair a print and paper: A work of that charge, that it was not likely to have been done any other way; and for which this age, and perhaps the next, will have great caufe to thank God on his behalf.

VOL. II.

E

In

In thefe good works he employed all his time, and care, and pains: and his whole heart was in them; fo that he was very little affected with any thing else, and feldom either minded or knew any thing of the ftrange occurrences of this troublesome and busy age, fuch as I think are hardly to be parallelled in any other; or, if he did mind them, he fcarce ever fpoke any thing about them. For this was the business he laid to heart; and knowing it to be fo much and fo certainly the will of his heavenly Father, it was his meat and drink to be doing of it. And the good fuccefs he had in it, was a continual feast to him, and gave him a perpetual ferenity both of mind and countenance. His great love and zeal for this work, made all the pains and difficulties of it feem nothing to him. He would rife early, and fit up late, and continued the fame diligence and induftry to the laft, though he was in the threefcore and seventeenth year of his age. And that he might manage the diítribution of this great charity with his own hands, and see the good effect of it with his own eyes, he always once, but ufually twice a-year, at his own charge, travelled over a great part of Wales; none of the best countries to travel in but, for the love of God and men, he endured all that, together with the extremity of heat and cold, which in their feveral feafons are both very great there, not only with patience, but with pleasure. So that, all things confidered, there have not, fince the primitive times of Christianity, been many among the fons of men to whom that glorious character of the Son of God might be better applied, that he went about doing good. And Wales may as worthily boast of this truly Apoftolical man, as of their famous St. David; who was alfo very probably a good man, as thofe times of ignorance and fuperftition went. But his goodness is fo difguised by their fabulous legends and ftories, which give us the account of him, that it is not eafy to difcover it. Indeed ridiculous miracles in abundance are reported of him; as, that, upon occafion of a great number of people reforting from all parts to hear him preach, for the greater advantage of his being heard, a mountain all on a fudden rofe up miraculously under his feet, and his voice was extended to that degree, that he might

be