wherein our kings were so well hedg'd in, the surrounding princes have with terror sene the reproofe of their usurpations over their free brethren, whom they rule rather as slaves then subiects, and are only serv'd for feare, but not for love; whereas this people have ever bene as afectionate to good as unpliable to bad soveraignes.

"Nor is it only vallour and generosity that renowne this nation; in arts wee have advanc'd equall to our neighbors, and in those that are most excellent, exceeded them. The world hath not yeilded men more famous in navigation, nor ships better built or furnisht. Agriculture is as ingeniously practis'd: the English archery were the terror of Christendome, and their clothes the ornament: but these low things bounded not their greate spiritts, in all ages it hath yeilded men as famous in all kinds of learning, as Greece or Italy can boast of.

"And to compleate the crowne of all their glorie, reflected from the lustre of their ingenuity, vallour, witt, learning, iustice, wealth, and bounty, their pietie and devotion to God, and his worship, hath made them one of the most truly noble nations in the Christian world. God having as it were enclosed a pcople here, out of the wast common of the world, to serve him with a pure and undefiled worship. Lucius the Brittish king was one of the first monarchs of the earth that receiv'd the faith of Christ into his heart and kingdome: Henric the eighth, the first prince that broke the antichristian yoake of from his owne and his subiects necks. Here it was that the first Christian emperor receiv'd his crowne: Here began the early dawne of gespell light, by Wickliffe and other faithful wittnesses, whom God rays'd up

after the black and horrid midnight of antichristianisme, and a more plentifull harvest of devout con fessors, constant martirs, and holy worshippers of God, hath not growne in any field of the church, throughout all ages, then those whom God hath here glorified his name and gospell by. Yett hath not this wheate bene without its tares, God in comparison with other countries hath made this as a paradice, so, to compleate the parallell, the serpent hath in all times bene busy to seduce, and not unsuccessefull, ever stirring up op posers to the infant truths of Christ.

"No sooner was the faith of Christ embrac'd in this nation, but the neighbouring heathens invaded the innocent Christians, and slaugh ter'd multitudes of them; and when, by the mercy of God, the conquering Pagans were afterwards converted, and that there were none left to opose the name of Christ with open hostillity; then the sub. tile serpent putt of his owne horrid appearance, and comes out in a Christian dresse, to persecute Christ in his poore prophetts, that bore wittresse against the corruption of the times. This intestine quarrell hath bene more successefull to the devill, and more aflictive to the church then all open warres, and, I feare, will never happily be decided, till the Prince of Peace come to conclude the controversie, which att the time of my birth was working up into that tempest, wherin I have shar'd many perills, many feares, and many sorrows, and many more mercies, consola tions and preservations, which I shall have occasion to mention in other places.

"From the place of my birth L shall only desire to remember the goodnesse of the Lord who hath caused

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caused my lott to fall in a good ground, who hath fed me in a pleasant pasture where the well-springs of life flow to all that desire to drinke of them. And this is no small favour, if I consider how many poore people perish among the heathen, where they never heare the name of Christ; how many poore Christians spring up in countries enslav'd by Turkish and antichristian tirants, whose soules and bodies languish under miserable slavery. None knowes what mercy 'tis to live under a good and wholsome law, that have not consider'd the sad condition of being subject to the will of an unlimited man, and surely 'tis too universall a sin in this nation that the common mercies of God to the whole land, are so slightly regarded and so unconsiderately past over; certaine ly these are circumstances which much magnifie God's loving-kindnesse and his special favor to all that are of English birth, and call for a greater returne of duty from us then from all other people of the world.

"Nor is the place only, but the time of my comming into the world a considerable mercy to me. It was not in the midnight of poperie, nor in the dawne of the gospell's restored day, when light and shades were blended and almost undistinquisht, but when the Sun of truth was exalted in his progresse and hastening towards a meridian glo. ry. It was indeed early in the morning, God being pleased to allow me the priviledge of beholding the admirable growth of gospell light in my dayes: and oh! that my soule may never forgett to blesse and prayse his name for the wonders of power and goodnesse, wisdome and truth, which have bene manifested in this my time.

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"The next blessing I have to con sider in my nativity is my parents, both of them pious and vertuous in their owne conversation, and carefull instructors of my youth, notonly by precept but example. Which if I had leizure and abillity, I should have transmitted to my posterity, both to give them the honor due from me in such a gratefull memoriall, and to encrease my children's emproovement of the patterns they sett them; but since I shall detract from those I would celebrate, by my imperfect commemorations, I shall content myselfe to summe up some few things for my owne use, and let the rest alone, which I either knew not, or have forgotten, or cannot worthyly expresse.

"My grandfather by the father's side was a gentleman of a competent estate, about 7 or 8007. a yeare, in Sussex. He being descended ct a younger house, had his residence att a place called Pulborough; the famely out of which he came was an Apsley of Apsley, a towne where they had bene seated before the conquest, and ever since continued, till of late the last heire male of that eldest house, being the sonne of Sr. Edward Apsley, is dead without issue, and his estate gone with his sister's daughters into other famelies. Particularities concerning my father's kindred or country, I never knew much of, by reason of my youth, at the time of his death, and my education in farre distant places, only in generall I have heard, that my grandfather was a man well reputed and beloved in his country, and that it had bene such a continued custome for my ancestors to take wives att home, that there was not scarce a famely of any note in Sussex, to which they were not by intermarriages

riages neerely related; but I was myselfe a stranger to them all, except my Lord Goring, who living att court, I have sene with my father, and heard of him, because he was appoynted one of my father's executors, though he declin'd the trouble. My grandfather had seven sonns, of which my father was the youngest to the eldest he gave his whole estate, and to the rest, according to the custome of those times, slight annuities. The eldest brother married to a gentle woman of a good famely, and by her had only one sonne, whose mother dying, my uncle married himselfe againe to one of his own maides, and by her had three more sons, whom, with their mother, my cousin William Apsley, the sonne of the first wife, held in such contempt, that a greate while after, dying without children, he gave his estate of inheritance to my father, and two of my brothers, except about 1007. a yeare to the eldest of his halfe brothers, and annuities of 301. a piece to the 3 for their lives. He died before I was borne, but I have heard very honorable mention of him in our famely; the rest of my father's brothers went into the warres in Ireland and the Low Countries, and there remain'd none of them, nor their issues when I was born, but only three daughters who bestowed themselves meanely, and their generations are worne out except two or three unregarded children. My father att the death of my grandfather being but a youth at schoole had not patience to stay the perfecting of his studies, but putt himselfe into present action, sold his annuitie, bought himselfe good clothes, put some mony in his purse, and came to London; and by meanes of a relation at

court, got a place in the household of Queene Elizabeth, where he behav'd himselfe so that he won the love of many of the court; but being young tooke an affection to gaming, and spent most of the mony he had in his purse. About that time the Earle of Essex was sett ing forth for Cales voyage, and my father, that had a mind to quite his idle court life, procur'd an employment from the Victuallar of the Navic, to goe allong with that fleete. In which voyage he demean'd himselfe with so much courage and prudence, that after his returne he was honor'd with a very noble and profitable employment in Ireland. There a rich widow that had many children cast her affections upon him, and he married her; but she not living many yeares with him, and having no children by him, after her death he distributed all her estate among her children, for whom he ever preserv'd a fatherly kindnesse, and some of her grand-children were brought up in his house after I was borne. He, by God's blessing, and his fidellity and industry, growing in estate and honor, receiv'd a knighthood from King James soone after his coming to the crowne, for some eminent service done to him in Ireland, which having only heard in my childhood, I cannot perfectly sett downe. After that growing into afamiliarity with Sr. George Carew, made now by the King Earle of Totnesse, a niece of this earls, the daughter of Sr. Peter Carew, who liv'd a young widow in her uncle's house, fell in love with him, which her uncle perceiving, procur'd a marriage betweene them.

She had divers

father was absent from her in Ireland. He led all the time of his widdowhood a very disconsolate life, carefull for nothing in the world but to educate and advance the sonne and daughter, the deare pledges she had left him, for whose sake he quitted himselfe of his employments abroad, and procur'd himselfe the office of Victualler of the Navie, a place then both of credit and greate revenue. His friends, considering his solitude, had procur'd him a match of a very rich widdow, who was a lady of as much discretion as wealth; but while he was upon this designe he chanc'd to see my mother, att the house of Sr. William St. John, who had married her eider sister, and though he went on his fourney, yett something in her person and behaviour, he carried allong with him, which would not lett him accomplish it, but brought him back to my mother. She was of a noble famely, being the youngest daughter of Sr. John St. John, of Lidiar Tregoz, in the county of Wiltz; her father and mother died when she was not above five yeares of age, and yet at her nurses, from whence she was carried to be brought up in the house of the Lord Grandison, her father's younger brother, an honorable and excellent person, but married to a lady so icalous of him, and so illnatured in her iealous fitts, to any thing that was related to him, that her cruelties to my mother exceeded the stories of stepmothers: the rest of my aunts, my mother's sisters, were disperst to severall places, where they grew up till my uncle Sr. John St. John being married to the daughter of Sr. Thomas Laten, they were all againe brought home to their brother's house. There were not in those days so

many beautifull women found in any famely as these, but my mother was by the most iudgements preferr'd before all her elder sisters, who, something envious att it, us'd her unkindly, yett all the suiters that came to them, still turned their addresses to her, which she in her youthful innocency neglected, till one of greater name, estate, and reputation then the rest, hapned to fall deeply in love with her, and to manage it so discretely, that my mother could not but enter taine him, and my uncle's wife, who had a mother's kindnesse for her, perswaded her to remoove her. selfe from her sisters envie, by going along with her to Isle of Jernsey, where her father was gover nor; which she did, and there went into the towne, and boarded in a French minister's house, to learne the language, that minister having bene, by the persecution in France, driven to seeke his shelter there. Contracting a deare friendship with this holy man and his wife, she was instructed in their Geneva discipline, which she liked so much better then our more superstitious service, that she could have bene contented to have liv'd there, had not a powerfull passion in her heart drawn her back. But at her returne she met with many aflictions, the gentleman who had professt so much love to her, in her absence had bene, by most vile practises and treacheries, drawne out of his sences, and into the marriage of a person, whom when he recover'd his reason he hated: but that serv'd only to augment his misfortune, and the circumstances of that story not being necessary to be here inserted, I shall only adde that my mother liv'd in my uncle's house, secretly discontented at this accident, but was comforted by the kindnesss

kindnesse of my uncle's wife, who had contracted such an intimate friendship with her, that they seemed to have but one soule. And in this kindnesse she had some time a great sollace, till some mallicious persons had wrought some iealousies which were very groundlesse in my uncle, concerning his wife, but his nature being inclinable to that passion, which was fomented in him by subtile wicked persons, and my mother endeavouring to vindicate iniur'd innocence, she was herselfe not well treated by my uncle, whereupon she left his house, with a resolution to withdraw herselfe into the island, where the good minister was, and there to weare out her life in the service of God. While she was deliberating, and had fixt upon it in her owne thoughts, resolving to impart it to none, she was with Sr. William St. John, who had married my aunt, when my father accidentally came in there, and fell so heartily in love with her, that he perswaded her to marry him, which she did, and her melancholly made her çon forme chearfully to that gravity of habitt and conversation, which was becoming the wife of such a person; who was then 48 yeares of age, and she not above 16. The 1st yeare of their marriage was crown'd with a sonne, call'd after my father's name, and borne at East Smithfield, in that house of the king's, which belong'd to my father's employment in the navie: the next yeare they removed to the Tower of London, whereof my father was made lieftenant, and there had 2 sonns more before me and 4 daughters, and two sonnes after of all which only three sons and two daughters surviv'd him att the time of his death, which was in the sixty-third yeare of his age,

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after he had three yeares before languisht of a consumption that succeeded a feaver which he gott in the unfortunate voyage to the Isle of Rhee.

"He died in the month of May 1630, sadly bewail'd by not only all his dependants and relations, but by all that were acquainted with him, for he never converst with any to whom he was not at some time or in some way beneficiall; and his nature was so delighted in doing good, that it wan. him the love of all men, even his enemies, whose envie and mallice it was his custome to overcome with obligations. He had greate naturall parts, but was too active in his youth to stay the heightning of them by study of dead writings, but in the living bookes of men's conversations he soone became so skillfull that he was never mistaken but where his owne good would not lett him give creditt to the evill he discern'd in others. He was a most indulgent husband, and no lesse kind to his children; a most noble master, who thought it not enough to maintaine his servants honorably while they were with him, but for all that deserv'd it, provided offices or settlements as for children. He was a father to all his prisoners, sweetning with such compassionate kindnesse their restraint, that the afliction of a prison was not felt in his dayes. He had a singular kindnesse for all persons that were eminent either in learning or armes, and when through the ingratitude and vice of that age many of the wives and chilldren of queene Elizabeth's glorious captaines were reduc'd to poverty, his purse was their common treasury, and they knew not the inconvenience of decay'd fortunes till he was dead: many of those B4 valliant