watches, by meditating on God's word1: so it was Dr. Sanderson's constant practice every morning to entertain his first waking thoughts with a repetition of those very Psalms that the Church hath appointed to be constantly read in the daily morning service and having at night laid him in his bed, he as constantly closed his eyes with a repetition of those appointed for the service of the evening, remembering and repeating the very Psalms appointed for every day; and as the month had formerly ended and began again, so did this exercise of his devotion. And if his first waking thoughts were of the world, or what concerned it, he would arraign and condemn himself for it. Thus he began that work on earth, which is now his employment in heaven.

After his taking his bed, and about a day before his death, he desired his Chaplain, Mr. Pullin, to give him absolution: and at his performing that office, he pulled off his cap, that Mr. Pullin might lay his hand upon his bare head. After this desire of his was satisfied, his body seemed to be at more ease, and his mind more cheerful; and he said, Lord, forsake me not now my strength faileth me; but continue thy mercy, and let my mouth be filled with thy praise. He continued the remaining night and day very patient, and thankful for any of the little offices that were performed for his ease and refreshment; and during that time did often say the 103d Psalm to himself, and very often these words, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed where true joy is to be found. His thoughts seemed now to be wholly of death, for which he was so prepared, that the King of Terrors could not surprise him as a thief in the night: for he had often said, "he was prepared and longed for it." And as this

1 Psalm cxix. 147.

364 THE LIFE OF DR. ROBERT SANDERSON.

desire seemed to come from heaven, so it left him not till his soul ascended to that region of blessed spirits, whose employments are to join in concert with him, and sing praise and glory to that God, who hath brought them to that place, into which sin and sorrow cannot enter.

Thus this pattern of meekness and primitive innocence changed this for a better life. It is now too late to wish that my life may be like his; for I am in the eighty-fifth year of my age: but I humbly beseech Almighty God, that my death may; and do as earnestly beg of every reader to say Amen.

Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile1.

1 Psalm xxxii. 2.

DR. PIERCE'S LETTER.

Good Mr. Walton,

Ar my return to this place, I made a yet stricter search after the letters long ago sent me from our most excellent Dr. Sanderson, before the happy restoration of the King and Church of England to their several rights in one of which letters more especially, he was pleased to give me a narrative both of the rise and the progress, and reasons also, as well of his younger, as of his last and riper judgment touching the famous points controverted between the Calvinians and the Arminians, as they are commonly (though unjustly and unskilfully) miscalled on either side.

The whole letter I allude to does consist of several sheets, whereof a good part has been made public long ago, by the most learned, most judicious, most pious Dr. Hammond, (to whom I sent it both for his private, and for the public satisfaction, if he thought fit,) in his excellent book, entitled, "A Pacific Discourse of God's Grace and Decrees, in full Accordance with Dr. Sanderson:" to which discourse I refer you for an account of Dr. Sanderson, and the history of his thoughts, in his own hand-writing, wherein I sent it to Westwood, as I received it from Boothby Pannel. And although the whole book (printed in the year 1660, and reprinted since with his other tracts in folio) is very worthy of your perusal; "yet for the work you are about, you shall not have need to read more at

present than from the 8th to the 23d page, and as far as the end of section 33. There you will find in what year that excellent man, whose life you write, became a Master of Arts: how his first reading of learned Hooker had been occasioned by certain puritanical pamphlets; and how good a preparative he found it for his reading of Calvin's Institutions, the honour of whose name (at that time especially) gave such credit to his errors: how he erred with Mr. Calvin, whilst he took things upon trust in the sublapsarian way: how, being chosen to be a Clerk of the Convocation for the diocese of Lincoln, 1625, he reduced the Quinquarticular Controversy into five schemes or tables; and thereupon discerned a necessity of quitting the sublapsarian way, of which he had before a better liking, as well as the supralapsarian, which he could never fancy. There you will meet with his two weighty reasons against them both, and find his happy change of judgment to have been ever since the year 1625, even thirty-four years before the world either knew, or, at least, took notice of it; and more particularly his reasons for rejecting Dr. Twiss, (or the way he walks in), although his acute and very learned and ancient

friend.

1I now proceed to let you know from Dr. Sanderson's own hand, which was never printed, (and which you can hardly know from any unless from his son, or from myself,) that, when the Parliament was broken up, and the Convocation therewith dissolved, a gentleman of his acquaintance, by occasion of some discourse about these points, told him of a book not long before published at Paris (A.D.

1 Sir, I pray note, that all that follows between inverted commas are Dr. Sanderson's own words, excellently worthy, but no where else extant; and commend him as much as any thing you can say of him. T. P.

1623,) by a Spanish Bishop', who had undertaken to clear the differences in the great controversy de Concordia Gratiæ et Liberi Arbitrii. And because his friend perceived he was greedily desirous to see the book, he sent him one of them, containing the four first books of the twelve, which he intended then to publish. "When I had read," says Dr. Sanderson, in the following words of the same letter, "his Epistle Dedicatory to the Pope, (Gregory XV.) he spake so highly of his own invention, that I then began rather to suspect him for a mountebank, than to hope I should find satisfaction from his performances. I found much confidence and great pomp of words, but little matter as to the main knot of the business, other than had been said an hundred times before, to wit, of the co-existence of all things past, present, and future, in mente divina realiter ab æterno, which is the subject of his whole third book; only he interpreteth the word realiter so as to import not only præsentialitatem objectivam, (as others held before him,) but propriam et actualem existentiam; yet confesseth it is hard to make this intelligible. In his fourth book he endeavours to declare a two-fold manner of God's working ad extra; the one sub ordine prædestinationis, of which eternity is the proper measure; the other sub ordine gratia, whereof time is the measure; and that God worketh, fortiter in the one, (though not irresistibiliter,) as well us suaviter in the other, wherein the free will hath his proper working also. From the result of his whole performance I was confirmed in this opinion; that we must acknowledge the work of both grace and free will in the conversion of a sinner; and so likewise in all other events, the consistency of the infallibility of God's foreknowledge at least (though not with any absolute, but con

1 Aribba.