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WORKS EDITED BY THE REV. T. T. CARTER, M.A,
The Treasury of Devotion. A Manual of Prayer for

General and Daily Use. Compiled by a Priest. x8mo. sx. 6d, ; doth
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LONDON AND NEW YORK:

LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO.

NICHOLAS FERRAR

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Nicholas Ferrar

BIS HOUSEHOLD AND HIS
FIENDS

• J «

EDITED BY THB

REV. T. T. CARTER, M.A.

HON. CANON OF CHRISTCHUSCH, OXFORD

THIRD EDITION

!■

LONDON

^ LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO.

^ AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST i6tli STREET

!?■ 1893

^ Ail rights reserved
1

• •* 4

• '•■

* « •

INTRODUCTION

BY THE

REV. T. T. CARTER, M.A,

The following pages represent a very
remarkable personality, and one of a wide
and enduring interest. They also illus-
trate an important epoch in the later
history of the Church of England.

It might, perhaps, seem unnecessary,
and, as the author herself fears to be
possible, even presumptuous, to put forth
a fresh biography of Nicholas Ferrar, con-
sidering how much has already been made
public in the lives previously written, and
most especially the interesting details given
by the Rev. J. E. B. Mayor. But the
preface shows that, while a great debt is

,/<*//->

65931

VI INTRODUCTION'.

due to previous writers, fresh materials of
importance have come to Hght since their
works were published, and there seemed
room for a different treatment of the whole
subject. The author of this volume de-
sires to withhold her name, and it is,
therefore, left to me to give the assurance
that great care has been taken to gather
together and test the value of the mate-
rials now available for the elucidation of
the facts stated, and that this has been done
with a warmth of enthusiasm that will, I
think, be felt to give life to the narrative,
replete as it is with important principles.

It would not be true to say of this
volume that it could be entitled, "Nicholas
Ferrar and his Times." Many most im-
portant forces were then at work, or grow-
ing into power, influencing both the nation
and the Church, acting and reacting the
one on the other. But there is no attempt

INTRODUCTION. vil

here to enter into such general questions,
or to describe the course of events. There
is but the portraiture of the one family
and its surroundings. Yet Nicholas Fer-
rar was a marked character; he had
relations with many other interests besides
his own special objects in life, and he was
in friendly intercourse with leading men of
the time, some of whom are still cherished
in the grateful memories of Churchmen.

Moreover, Nicholas Ferrar's life coin-
cided with one of the most momentous
periods of our Church's history. It fell
in the period that intervened between the
closing years of Elizabeth and the Great
Rebellion. The life -and -death conflict
with Rome had closed with the defeat of
the Armada. The Puritan movement was
gaining strength, but as yet was under
restraint, and its tremendous influence
unsuspected. The Church had the full

viii INTRODUCTION.

support of the State, unconscious of the
injury to its spiritual interests which such
patronage involved. The popular feeling
was settling down upon the lines on which
the Church, as reformed, was intended to
continue, preserving the old Catholic tra-
ditions, free from what had been rejected
of mediaeval development. During this
interval lived and taught Andrewes and
Overall, Bramhall and Hammond, George
Herbert and Jeremy Taylor, Laud and
Cosin. There was, indeed, in the general
temper an acute sensitiveness as to any-
thing that seemed to savour of a return
to past abuses, real or supposed, as is
sufficiently shown in this volume, from the
suspicions aroused by the establishment
at Little Gidding. But, allowing for such
exceptional instances, the sense of the
continuity of the Church with the Church
of the past was as yet imdisturbed, and

INTRODUCTION. IX

the old customs were generally held to be
as true to its life, as they had been before
the rupture with Rome. We may, there-
fore, fairly look at this period as indicating
the character of Church life, which was
intended for us as the result of what has
been generally considered the Elizabethan
settlement. It was, in fact, an interval
of comparative peace, during which the
Church had a fair opportunity of putting
forth her true principles. Afterwards
followed the prostration of the Church,
and on its restoration most unhappily the
currents of higher thought were diverted
aside from the Church's main channels
by the secession of the Nonjurors. They
ran comparatively underground for up-
wards of a century, only appearing here
and there in individual cases, witnessed
to by a few, of whom Robert Nelson
and Bishop Wilson are prominent ex-

X INTRODUCTION.

amples, but destined not to rise again to
the surface, nor indeed to be regarded as
the Church's true inheritance, till the
Oxford movement. John Keble had
Nonjurors for his progenitors, and this
may partly account for the fact, that to
him, as to Pusey, the great revival, now
spreading more and more throughout the
length and breadth of the land, was seen
at once to be the natural and legitimate
aspect of the Church of England.

It is not that this volume attempts to
portray the state of the Church at the
time here spoken of — ^the interval pre-
ceding the Great Rebellion ; but it has, as
I believe, its value in illustrating the
currents of thought prevailing at the time,
and thus marks the characteristic ten-
dencies then acknowledged to be the
groundwork of future progress. Nicholas
Ferrar's life and^ work give the most

INTRODUCTION. XI

detailed view we possess of the religious
feelings and habits of a private family,
and thus serve to paint in some degree
the character of the period*

From its bearing, therefore, on the history
<rf the Church of England at a very critical
time, as well as for the sake of the records
it supplies of a deeply religious life, bent
not only on personal holiness, but also on
practical usefulness, I venture to recom-
mend the work, hoping that it may tend
to promote and deepen the interest now
happily felt more and more widely in
tracing throughout the records of the
Church of England the continuous life
of the higher forms of devotion, which
have ever characterized the Catholic Com-
munion.

T. T. CARTER.

October^ 1892

mmmmmm^^t^

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

It is with sincere diffidence that this
volume is offered to the public. It aims
at presenting the history of Nicholas
Ferrar in somewhat fuller relation to the
life of his times, than was permitted by
the scope of previous biographers; but
a sense of the inadequacy with which this
aim is fulfilled has deepened with the
writing of each succeeding chapter.

The chief excuse for its publication lies
in the fact than on two points of interest
— the dedication of the " Maiden Sisters "
and the history of the Concordances of
Holy Scripture, the making of which
formed so large a portion of the occu-

X3V AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

pations of Gidding — additional information
has come to light since the appearance of
the most recent of the Lives of Nicholas
Ferrar.

Most grateful thanks are tendered to
A. G. Peskitt, Esq., Librarian of Magda-
lene College, Cambridge, for his kind
permission to see and make extracts from
some of the deeply interesting letters
(hitherto unpublished) which have been
lately found among the Ferrar manuscripts
in the library of his college; to Harold
Mapletoft Davis, Esq., for the loan of a
manuscript volume of extracts from the
Life of Ferrar by Francis Turner, the
non-juring Bishop of Ely, and of tran-
scripts from the Gidding " Conversation
books," of which the originals are now in
Australia ; to Captain J. E. Acland, for
permission to use his Catalogue of the
Gidding Concordances, printed in the

AUTHOF^S PREFACE, XV

ArchcBologia for 1888; and to others who
have kindly helped in various ways, not
least to the present owner of Little G id-
ding, the Rev. William Hopkinson, and
Mrs. Hopkinson, to whose kindness the
author is indebted for the sight of the
fields amid which Nicholas Ferrar lived,
the church in which he prayed, and the
grave close by in which he now lies.

The Lives of Ferrar already issued
are five in number. The first is the
" Memoirs of the Life of Mr. Nicholas
Ferrar, by P. Peckard, D.D., Master of
Magdalene College, Cambridge : Cam-
bridge, Archdeacon, 1790," founded on
an unpublished Memoir of Nicholas Ferrar
by his brother John, and other family
papers, of which Dr. Peckard became
possessed through his wife, a descendant
of the Ferrars. The value of this work
is somewhat impaired by the authors

■MMM

XVI AUTHOR'S PREFACE,

obvious wish to tone down the peculiarities
of his subject to suit the taste of his own
day.

Next comes the " Brief Mempirs of
Nicholas Ferrar, M.A., and Fellow of
Clare- Hall, Cambridge, Founder of a
Protestant Religious Establishment at
Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire. By a
Clergyman of the Established Church/'
published at Bristol by J. Chilcot in 1829.
This book passed through two editions,
in the second of which, published by
Nisbet in 1837, is given the name of the
author, the Rev. T. M. Macdonogh. It
is founded, as stated in the preface, on
an unpublished Life by Bishop Turner,
or rather on extracts from that Life,
printed in the Christian Magazine for
1 761. This magazine is now difficult to
find, but the manuscript Life, belonging to
Mr. Mapletoft Davis, which has been for

AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xvii

some time preserved in his family, is
evidently either the draught or a copy of
these extracts. It is entitled "Life of
Nicholas Ferrar, by the Right Rev, Dr.
Turner, formerly Lord Bishop of Ely."
In a short preface the transcriber of the
manuscript states, that "the following
curious and instructive Life was drawn
up by Bishop Turner, whose manuscript
papers are now before us." He adds that
"as the Life is rather too long for our
pamphlet " (qu. the Christian Magazine),
" even divided, we have taken the liberty
to abridge some particulars in the Bishop's
account, and now and then to alter a phrase
or two of his language, which through
length of time is rather in some places
become obsolete." On comparing this
manuscript with Mr. Macdonogh's book,
it appears that he has followed it almost
word for word, even to assigning February

xviii AUTHOR'S FREFACM.

I St as the day of Ferrars birth, a tran-
scriber's error for 21st, the date given in
another copy of Turner's Life to be men-
tioned presently. The incidents omitted
from these extracts are also omitted from
his memoir, except in a few instances, in 1

which Peckard's Life has obviously been
made use of to fill up gaps. |

In 1852 Messrs. Masters published an
abridgment of Peckard's " Life of Nicholas
Ferrar," to which is appended particulars
of the state of Gidding Church at that
time.

Last in order of publication, but earliest
written, and incomparably first in interest
and value, is the " Two Lives of Ferrar,"
edited in 1855 by the Rev. J. E. B. Mayor
for his " Cambridge in the Seventeenth
Century" (Macmillan, Cambridge), to
which are added selections from the Col-
lett Letters, and '* Some observations that

AUTHORS PREFACE, XIX

happened upon these fore-named works
done at Gidding," containing an account
of the ' last days of Nicholas Ferrar,
Junior, by John Ferrar: reprinted from
Wordsworth's " Ecclesiastical Biography."
The original manuscript of the "Obser-
vations" is in the Library at Lambeth.
The first of the " Two Lives " consists
of extracts made by the Rev. Thomas
Baker, the celebrated antiquarian and Non-
juror, from the original memoir of Nicholas
Ferrar by his brother. The second is
entitled by Mr. Mayor, " Life of Nicholas
Ferrar, by Dr. J ebb," because it is so called
in the manuscript from which it is printed ;
but he says, " What is certain is, that the
Life is in substance, and generally in expres-
sion, Turner's." This life by Dr. Jebb is
identical except for the occasional altera-
tion of a single word or short phrase, with
Mr. Mapletoft Davis's manuscript as far as

XX AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

the two go together, but it contains many
passages omitted in the latter. It is not,
however, a complete copy of Turner's life,
for some points are left out, e.g. the ac-
count of the night watchings, and of the
setting up of old Mrs. Ferrar's tablet, both
of which are given in the manuscript It
is curious that both the Life by Turner, and
the Memoir by John Ferrar, have been
lost sight of in their original form, and are
known to us by extracts only.

From the " Two Lives " and the copious
notes with which they are illustrated, these
pages are, with the Rev. J. E. B. Mayor's
kind permission, chiefly drawn. The
author feels unable sufificiently to express
her obligations to Mr. Mayor's work. She
owes to it not only the rich store of
material accumulated in the Notes and
Appendix, to much of which she could
have gained access in no other way, but

AUTHOF^S PREFACE, XXI

also guidance and suggestions as to further
search.

The frontispiece has been engraved
with much care by Mr. C. J. Tomkins, by
the kind permission of the Rev. the Hon.
L. Neville, Master of Magdalene College,
Cambridge, from the portrait of Nicholas
Ferrar by Cornelius Janssen in Magdalene
Lodge, with some assistance, the picture
being in parts indistinct, from the engrav-
ing published by P. W. Tomkins in 1791,
which is to be found in some copies of
Peckard's Life of Ferrar. The view of
the church of Little Gidding, with the
grave of Nicholas Ferrar, facing page 277,
is from a drawing made on the spot by the
author.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
1593-1613.

FAGB

Childhood and Youth i

CHAPTER II.

1613-1618.

Foreign Travel ••••• 21

CHAPTER in.

1618-1625.

The Council op Virginia— Parliament . . • . 49

CHAPTER IV.

1625, 1626.

Ferrar prepares for a Life of Religious Retire-
ment — The Purchase of Gidding— His Ordi-
nation 80

XXIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.
1626-1628.

PAGB

The Family established at Gidding — Manner of
Life and Occupations 106

■

CHAPTER VL

I 628-1 632,

The Maiden Sisters • • • • 132

CHAPTER Vn.
Some Family Letters •••••166

CHAPTER Vin.

Descriptive Catalogue of the Concordances made
at Gidding • . 182

CHAPTER IX.

Restoration of Leighton Church — Nicholas
Ferrar's Work as a Translator • • • • • 201

CHAPTER X

1633.

Death of George Herbert — Publication of "The

Temple"— Acquaintance with Crashaw . . 230

CONTENTS. XXV

CHAPTER XL '

i633»-i637.

FAGB

Unfribnbly Criticism — Mrs. Firrar rbstorrs the
Glebe Land— Bishop Williams at Giddino —
Fbr&ar's Visit to Williams in Prison • • • 240

CHAPTER XIL

1634-1637.

Death op Mrs. Ferrar — Last Years, Illness, and
Death of Nicholas Ferrar •••••• 53

CHAPTER XIIL

1637-1642.

Nicholas Ferrar, Junior—Publication of «*Thb
Arminian Nunnery " — Bishop Williams's Visi-
tation — ^Thb King at Gidding 278

CHAPTER XIV.
1642 — 1660.
Gidding during the Civil War — John Ferrar

PLANS ANOTHER POLYGLOTT — ThE KiNG'S LAST

Visit — Sack of Gidding — Return of the
Family — Deaths of John Ferrar and Mr.
AND Mrs. Collett . • • • 300

XXVI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.

i66o-i72a

Last Notices op Mary Collett — Some Account
OF HER Nephew and Adopted Son, Dr. John

PAGB j

Mapletoft— The End .321

**►

• -"^ * • *

J » w

' • ^ ■ « ^

- - .- •

•• • ••

'•

CHAPTER L '

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.
A.D. 1593—1613.

" To be particular, I am of that reformed, new-cast religion,
wherein I dislike nothing but the name. Of the same belief our
Saviour taught, the apostles disseminated, the fathers authorized,
and the martyrs confirmed ; but by the sinister ends of princes,
the ambition and avarice of prelates, and the fatal corruption of
times, so decayed, impaired, and fallen from its native beauty,
that it required the careful and charitable hands of these times
to restore it to its primitive int^rity." — SiR T. Browne,
ReUgio Medici, 1630.

A KEEN interest attaches to periods of growth and
reconstruction, and to none more than to th^t time,
so remote from our own day, and yet so closely
linked with it, in which the English Church, just
recovering from the struggle and shock of the Refor-
mation, gathered its strength together, and, resting
for awhile from the heat of battle, gave itself to the
task of building up once more the devotional life of
its people.

No doubt reform had been sadly needed, but quiet
people, indisposed for controversy, who only longed

LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

to serve God in peace, must often have found their
'4: .'lives very fold :aild bare during those first years of
separation.* 'The old forms of piety in which their
C* ^ !/par^At|'l0ji Ijecix trained were broken up ; the daily
Sacrifice was no longer offered; the Religious Life was
wholly swept away; the very churches themselves
\irere often suffered to go to ruin. "The people,"
says Clarendon,^ " took so little care of the churches,
and the parsons so little of the chancels, that, instead
of beautifying and adorning them in any degree, they
rarely provided against the falling of many of their
churches, and suffered them at least to be kept so
indecently and slovenly, that they would not have
endured it in the ordinary offices of their own houses ;
the rain and wind to infest them, and the sacra-
ments themselves to be administered where the
people had most mind to receive them/' When
Bishop Williams became Dean of Westminster in
1619, he found the Abbey Church in such decay
"that all that passed by and loved the honour of
God's house shook their heads at the stones that
dropped down from the pinnacles." '

If we try to picture to ourselves the daily life of
England in the beginning of the seventeenth century,
it seems at first sight as if men had grown so weary
of the controversy and persecution which had so long

* Clarendon, " History of Rebellion," Book I.

• Racket's "Life of Archbishop Williams," i. 55,

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

been associated with the name of religion, that they
tried to put the subject from them, and to forget
everything that could recall the fires of Smithfield, or
the fierce vengeance that followed the Rising of the
North,

When we endeavour to trace the features of this
perplexing time in the pages of its greatest writer, we
find in his vast gallery of portraits every type of
character save one — the religious enthusiast The
plays of Shakespeare bum with a passion of patriotism.
We find in them the intellectual difficulties of the
time, and its strange superstitions, its lofty refine-
ment, its love of state and splendour, side by side
with its pleasure in coarse buffoonery. There, too,
we see the keen and new delight in outward nature,
the wild spirit of adventure, the thirst after fresh
fields of thought and knowledge, which mark the
century ; but we look in vain for a trace of the spirit
which made Latimer rejoice, while the faggots were
heaped round him, that he was about to light a candle
in England which should not be soon put out ; and
prompted the dying words of the Jesuit Campion,
"To be condemned with these old lights, by their
degenerate descendants, is both gladness and glory
tous."!

For a while, overwhelmed by the splendour of the
State, by golden dreams of the New World, the
* Quoted in Church Quarterly ^ April, 1879.

LIFE OP NICHOLAS FERRAR.

religious question seen^ed to vanish out of sight ;
but underneath the magnificent England of the
Court and of literature there lay another England—
the England of the people. Impatient of change,
unforgetful, indifferent, for the most part, to the
charm of high culture ; sober-minded, dutiful, religious
to the core, this inner England grew in silence and
shadow, slowly gathering to itself some of the
choicest spirits among those who felt that the thirst
of their soul could not be quenched at the fountains
of the Renaissance. One of the finest scholars of the
time has recorded, in well-known verses, his pursuit
of the learning and the splendour of the world, and
his sense of its insufficiency to fill the heart

" I know the ways of learning ; both the head
And pipes that feed the press, and make it run ;
What Reason hath from Nature borrow^,
Or of itself, like a good housewife, spun,
In laws and policy ; what the stars conspire,
"What willing Nature speaks, what, forced by fire ;
Both the old discoveries, and the new-found seas,
The stock and surplus, cause and histoiy :
All these stand open, or I have the keys —

Yet I love Thee.
• •••••

** I know the ways of Pleasure, the sweet strains.
The lullings and the relishes of it ;
The propositions of hot blood and brains ;
What mirth and music mean ; what love and wit
Have done these twenty hundred years and more ;
I know the projects of unbridled store :

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

My stuff is flesh, not brass ; my senses live,
And grumble oft, that they have more in me
Than He that curbs them, being but one to five i

Yet I love Thee."*

So wrote George Herbert when, after a long
struggle, he put aside his dreams of Court favour
and devoted himself to the priesthood; and no
doubt he spoke the thoughts of many silent students
in the Cambridge of his day. Gradually the life of
the English Church, as we know it, grew into shape.

Among the contemporary records from which we
obtain glimpses of this growing life, few are more
interesting than the ** Memoir of Nicholas Ferrar,"
by his brother John, from which the biography here
attempted is chiefly drawn.*

The father of the family, Nicholas Ferrar the elder,
is a fine type of the great merchants of London;
well-bom, loyal (he " was written Esquire by Queen
Elizabeth" in return for Uberal assistance), hot-
tempered, generous-hearted, a man of wide sympathies,
gathering many of the notable men of the day round
the hospitable table of his fine house in the City ; a
zealous Churchman, repairing and seating, at his own
expense, his parish church of St Sythe,® and providing

> G. Herbert, «*The Pearl." « See Preface.

* Commonly called *' St. Bennet Sherehog/* in honour,
according to Stowe, of an earlier restorer, one Benedict Shome
or Shrog. Later authorities consider this derivation as doubtfuL

LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

a morning preacher for the same, the congregation
having apparently gone sermonless until he brought
Francis White, afterwards Bishop of Ely, to town, and
made him their first lecturer. Mr. Ferraris portrait,
by Janssen, is to be seen at Cambridge in the Masters'
Lodge at Magdalene College — ^a fine open face, with
uprightness and honesty in every line.

His wife, Maiy Woodnoth, of the ancient family of
the Woodnoths oi Shavington, was a remarkable
woman, gifted with the same singular power of im-
pressing her own personality on those around her,
which was one of the most marked characteristics of
her son Nicholas. Her portrait hangs beside her
husband's. The firm delicate lines of her finely cut
features, the exquisitely fair complexion, the noble
and serious countenance, suit well with the description
which is given of her in the memoirs of her son.

We are told that she was beautiful, bright-haired,
and fair, upright even to her eightieth year; highly
educated, of a strong judgment, a wise and even
temper, so that her choleric husband declared that in
their five-and-forty years of married life she had never
given him cause for anger; a woman who did not
talk much, but whose word was a law in her little
world, and whose discreet, careful, charitable life was
grounded in deep love and ^tudy of the will of God.

Nicholas and Mary Ferrar were the parents of seven
children, of whom the fourth is the subject of this

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH,

sketch. His affectionate brother and biographer tells
us that the little Nicholas was a lovely child, with his
mother's bright hair, the petted favourite of the
family and their many friends. Of the other children,
some died young. One, Richard, a merchant like
his father, grew up careless and unthrifty, the black
sheep of the household, and passes out of sight
Susannah only, and John, stand out clear and distinct
in the family records. We read Susannah's character
in her letters, of which a number have been preserved.
She appears in them as an energetic, affectionate
woman, a wise counsellor to her many children,
falling, as every one else did, under the strong in-
fluence of her mother and her brother Nicholas, but
not always, as we gather, fully agreeing with them,
though she gives in dutifully to their wishes. John,
short and dark — following the Ferrar side of the
house probably — ^an excellent man of business, clear-
sighted and upright, humble above all things, and
self-effacing, seems to have been one of those men
who live only for others. Not brilliant, remarkable in
no way, little spoken of, he is yet the member of his
family whom no one can do without

Dr. Lindsell, Bishop of Hereford, the lifelong friend
of Mrs. Ferrar (whom he held in such affectionate
regard that he was himself accustomed to call her
" mother ''), and the tutor of her son Nicholas, gives
a pleasant picture of the household in its happy early

8 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

time, when the mother was constantly to be found
sitting at work with her children and maids around
her, singing psalms with them, and hearing them read
chapters in the Bible, and stories from the " Book of
Martyrs," the Acta Sanctorum of those days. They
had family prayer twice a day, a clergyman generally
residing in the house to act as chaplain. Even on a
journey this was not omitted, and they were careful to
attend the church services on Wednesdays and Fridays,
as well as on Sundays. The good bishop rather
quaintly computes that Mrs. Ferrar must have heard,
in the course of her life, as many as twelve thousand
sermons, adding, "What good use she made of all
these things, let the world speak of it \ her deeds will
praise her in the gates of the City, and in the country,
in the open fields abroad." *

In this atmosphere of religion and good works,
Nicholas Ferrar was bora on the 22nd of February,
1593) ^od baptized in the small parish church of
St Mary, " called Sta3ming because it standeth at the
north end of Stayning Lane" (a little street once
chiefly inhabited by " painter-stain ers," near Wood
Street, Cheapside), on the 28th of the same month, a
day " which he registered as more memorable than his
birthday, esteeming it, as he ought, a greater favour

' *• Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 60, the first
of the two lives of Ferrar, edited by Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, in the
first voL of " Cambridge in the Seventeenth Century."

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH,

to be received into the Catholic Church than to come
into the world." ^

He was an active, graceful child, quick-witted,
gifted with a strong memory, and great perseverance
(he had the Psalter by heart at seven or eight years
old), and the precocious love of books which often
accompanies delicate health. His brother relates
that he would often forget his meals while he pored over
the "English Chronicle," or the "Book of Martyrs,"
quaint old folios which were new then, and of which
the last had a touch of personal interest. The little
boy learnt by heart the story of Robert Ferrar,
Bishop of St David's, burnt at Carmarthen in 1555,
" for his name's sake," though it does not appear that
there was any relationship.

His keen and eager spirit broke forth on occasion
in these childish days, showing itself sometimes in
an oddly original fashion. When about six years old
he was brought to be confirmed, and having duly
received " the laying-on of hands," and, it is to be
supposed, returned to his place with his companions,
he contrived to slip away and again present himself
to the bishop, who, naturally thinking that he saw
before him a new candidate, confirmed him afresh.
" I did it because it was a good thing to have the
bishop's prayers and blessing twice ; and I have got
itl" said little Nicholas, triumphantly, when called
to account for this irregular proceeding.

» Life, by Dr. Jebb.

lo LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

His childish fancies seemed to foreshadow his
future vocation. " Make my bands little and plain,
like those of Mr. Wotton, for I would be a preacher
as he is," he said one day to his mother, when she
was making for the children the dainty lace-trimmed
collars with which we are familiar in the portraits of
the time.

He was not eight years old, when it was resolved
to send him to join his elder brothers at Embome,
near Newbury, where was a school famous for its
healthfiil situation and the careful and religious
discipline maintained therein.

Stirred, no doubt, and excited by the prospect of
this new life, his sensitive nature wrought up to the
highest point, he imderwent an experience singular
in such a young child, and remarkable for its abiding
influence on his mind and heart One night as he
lay alone in his little bed, he was tempted to doubt
the existence of God, and whether it were possible to
render Him an acceptable service. Unable to shake
oflf the horror of these thoughts, and perhaps unwilling
to be found weeping by the other children, he got up,
went downstairs, and stole out into the garden, and
then threw himself on his face on the grass, in an
agony of prayer and tears, and " earnestly, with all his
strength, humbly begged of God that He would put
into his heart the true fear and awe of His Divine
Majesty, and that this fear and love of God might

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. u

never depart out of his mind, and that he might know
how he must serve Him. After much bitter weeping
he felt his heart much eased, and comforts began to
come to it, and to have an assurance of God, and the
doubt began to pass away and his heart was much
cheered. He then rose up and went up to his
chamber to bed again, but could not sleep but little ;
yet he found daily more and more confirmation in his
soul, and so had all his lifetime after a more than
ordinary fear of God in him, and His presence, which
continued till his dying- day." "Two things," says
Dr. John Worthington, " in that night's holy exercise
were so imprinted in the heart and mind of the child,
that they came fresh into his memory every day of his
life. (This he told me more than once two or three
years before his death.) The one was the joy and
sweetness which he did in that watching night
conceive and feel in his heart; the other was the
gracious promise which God made to him to bless and
keep him all his whole life so that he would con-
stantly fear God and keep his commandments." " This
invocation," adds the writer just quoted, " and fervent
prayer of this child, stirred up in him by the Spirit
and grace of God, was so followed by the same Spirit
in an evident effectual vocation of him, that it resem-
bleth the calling of Samuel when he was yet a child." ^

* Account by Dr. Worthington, printed in Hearne, "Caii
Vindiciae.*'

12 LIFE OB NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Mr. Brooke, the headmaster of Emborne, seems to
have been a bom schoolmaster; he loved his work,
and ** forsook the noise of a great city to preside
over children in a country retirement, believing his
charitable pains amply rewarded by the prayers of
such happy innocents." He appears to have bestowed
equal care on the religious and secular instruction of
his pupils. The children had set times for learning
the Psalter and the Epistles and Gospels, as well
as the Catechism, and we are told that none of the
scholars "performed their tasks of this kind (nor
indeed of any kind) so constantly, carefully, and
easily" as did Nicholas Ferrar. The work of the
school would seem to have been hard, and the dis-
cipline severe, but the child had the true scholar's
temperament, which loves learning for its own sake,
and his retentive memory made his tasks the easier,
though perhaps his frail health and high-strung nerves
(he would steal away and cry when praised) may be
partly traceable to overwork.

In 1606 his master declared him fit for the Uni-
versity, saying that he would lose precious time by
remaining longer at Embome, and he was entered at
Cambridge, as a pensioner at Clare Hall, before he
had completed his thirteenth year.

This does not appear to have shown extraordinary
precocity; at that time boys commonly went to the
Universities at a much earUer age than is now usual

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 13

Laud, when Chancellor of Oxford, forbade the
establishment of a riding school, " for the gentlemen
there are most part too young and not strong
enough." Lord Herbert of Cherbury, the elder
brother of the poet, was sent to Oxford at twelve.
Bacon entered Trinity at the same age, and pro-
bably Nicholas Ferrar found other undergraduates
as young as himself among his fellow pensioners at
Clare.i

The discipline of the colleges was suited to the age
of the students, the tutors exercising a close super-
vision over their studies and conduct " What pains
he would take with those under him,** was said by an
old pupil of a famous scholar * of that time ; " and
among other things what excellent lectures he would
deliver to them of piety and instruction from the
chapter that was read on nights in his chamber,"
— and Mede gathered his pupils in his chamber
each evening "to satisfy him that they had per-
formed the task he had set them," and before dis-
missing them to their lodgings "by prayer commended

* Instances may be found 'much nearer our own times. Both
Mr. J. Keble and the late Dr. Copleston, Bishop of Llandaff, were
elected scholars of Corpus before they were fifteen. — Coleridge,
" Life of Keble.**

• Henry More, quoted by Mr. J. B. Mullinger, ** Cambridge
Characteristics in the Seventeenth Century," to which book the
writer is indebted for the notices of Cambridge life in this
chapter.

14 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

them and their studies to God's protection and
blessing.*' ^

Ferrar's tutor was the senior Fellow of his college,
Augustine Lindsell, afterwards Bishop first of Peter-
borough, and then of Hereford. The close and
kindly relationship begun at Clare lasted through the
life of Ferrar, and had a strong influence on his
character. " Nick," the bishop would sometimes say
to his old pupil when he saw the austerities of his
later years, " whither will you go ? what example will
you give us?" "Nay, tutor," he would reply, "you
are to answer to God for this. Why did you com-
mend unto me, and made me (being so young at
college as I was) to read the lives of all the holy men
of old time, and saints of God, the good fathers of
the Church, and of those good men in our later
times even in the Church of England, the saints and
holy mart)rrs ? Was it that I might only know the
good things that they did? And what was that to
roe, if you intended not, or that I should not endea-
vour to fit and frame my lips, in all I could, by the
assistance of Almighty God's good grace and spirit,
to do and to live as they did, as much as was in my
poor power to do ? " ^

He spent seven years at Cambridge, winning golden
opinions. The "sweet mixture in him of gravity with

* Mr. MuUinger, ibid.

* ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar,** by his brother, p. 76.

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 15

affability, and modesty with civility," is affectionately
remembered long after his death by a senior member
of his college, Dr. Byng. "His comportment was
such in all respects as that it was exemplary, not only
to his puisnes and compeers, but to many who were
much his ancients, who were all so much pleased with
his company as that they thought themsfelves happiest
who most enjoyed it," he writes in 1654 to a mutual
friend, also a Fellow of Clare, Barnabas Oley.^

Chief among these " ancients " were his friend and
physician. Dr. Butler, and the " excellent comedian,"
Mr. Ruggles, author of a Latin play which was per-
formed by the Fellows of Clare for the amusement of
James I., on one of his frequent visits to Cambridge.
Of his " puisnes and compeers " one would like to
know more.

One whose name was afterwards closely linked
with his own, George Herbert, came up to Trinity in
1608, but there is no sign that the two young men
formed any acquaintance. Herbert was a year
younger, and combined with his brilliant scholarship
" a genteel humour for clothes and courtly company,"
keeping carefully out of the way of his inferiors,
among whom he would probably have reckoned the
merchant's son at Clare.

There is indeed no trace of friendships formed by
Ferrar at this time among his contemporaries. Per-

* Quoted by Mr. Mayor in his notes to " Two Lives."

|6 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

haps the boy, though so greatly beloved by his elders,
was considered rather old-fashioned and sententious
by his young companions. There was a precocious
gravity about him \ his natural seriousness was deepened
by family sorrows. He writes to his parents of his
"dearest brother Erasmus, and your other children
that are departed in the Lord ; " and we have glimpses
of deep melancholy, of an inward strife that rose at
time to anguish. ** My soul hath been almost rent,"
he writes ; " I may truly say that from youth up Thy
terrors have I suffered with a troubled mind." His
talents were of a sort to delight his teachers more
than his equals. He was thoughtful rather than
brilliant or original, and though he possessed in a
high degree the magnetic influence which enables some
men to draw their fellows round them and rule them
as by right divine, the current was not so much
an intellectual as a spiritual force, and acted mainly
on those whose hearts were awake to spiritual in-
fluences.

He worked so hard that his window was known by
the light which glimmered earliest in the winter morn-
ings, and was last put out at night ; and he was con-
stant in his attendance at the chapel services, " offici-
ating " (by reading the chapters ?) " as regularly as if
he had been the college conduct," a regularity which
implied more effort than in our more luxurious days,
as the chapel bell rang at five in the morning, and

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 17

prayers were sometimes followed by a homily from
one of the fellows.

His principal recreation (it is the only one of which
his biographers make any mention) was found in visits
to his eldest sister, Susannah, married in 1600 to Mr.
John Collett, and now settled at Bourne, about ten
miles from Cambridge. He took from the first a
deep interest in her children, " catechising and giving
them fatherly counsel." He was not more than seven-
teen or eighteen when he assumed this position, as
adviser in the gravest matters ; and it is a striking
proof of the influence which he already possessed over
those who knew him best, that Mrs. Collett, a woman
of strong character, with the experience of several
years of married life, seems from the first to have
accepted his aid in the training of her family with
unquestioning gratitude.

, His studies were broken by frequent fits of ague,
then one of the commonest of English illnesses, and
the system of starvation by which his friend Dr. Butler
tried to keep it down, " though very agreeable to his
patient, who was so great a lover of abstinence "
proved, when added to the lowering effects of the
damp air of Cambridge, a very inefficient cure.

In 1 6 10, after the commendable performance of
his acts " in scholis publicis,*' he was made Bachelor
of Arts, and soon after elected Fellow of his college,
where he continued to reside until the end of the

I8 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

winter of 1612-13. He was to receive his M.A.
degree in the following midsummer, and had already
performed "all private and public acts" — which no
doubt included the disputations maintained in the
College Hall, and also in St. Mary's before the Uni-
versity, then customary before the taking of each
degree (and which until the establishment of the
Tripos were the only public tests of proficiency) —
" with approbation of the college and University, and
to his own high commendation," when his attacks of
ague, which had for some time been increasing in
severity, became so serious, that Dr. Butler advised
him to leave Cambridge at once, without waiting to
take his degree, and try if he could recruit his health
by foreign travel.

His parents were greatly averse to this step, and it
needed strong representations from his tutor to induce
them to give their consent A journey on the Conti-.
nent was then a serious matter, and it is not wonderful
that Mr. and Mrs. Ferrar shrank from exposing their
delicate young son to the difficult journeying and
wild license of the time ; but Lindsell had full confi-
dence in his pupil. "We may hope comfortably to
see him again," he assured the anxious parents, " not
only improved in learning, but grown in grace; a
stock few of our young travellers increase abroad."

Nicholas himself felt the long journey, the distance
and separation from his friends, to be a serious crisis

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. ^

in his life; his heart was wrung by the pain of
parting, and he was probably too much depressed by
illness to take pleasure in the prospect of novelty and
excitement which opened before him.

The "pathetically kind" letter, addressed to his
parents, which was found in his study three days
after his departure, gives a picture of his feelings.
He makes a solemn vow that " if the good Lord God
be merciful to me and bring me safe home again, I
will all the days of my life serve Him in praising His
Holy Name and exhorting others ; yea, in His taber-
nacle and in His holy sanctuary will I serve Him,
and shall account the lowest place in His house better
and more honourable than the greatest crown in the
world." But he writes as one who had little hope of
a happy return to home and friends ; the keynote of
the letter is his tender wish that his parents should
have comfort in his death. " If I go before," he says,
** you must come shortly after ; think it is but a little
forbearance of me. It was God that gave me to you,
and if He take me from you, be you not only content
but most joyful that I am delivered from this vale of
misery and wretchedness. I know that, through the
infinite mercy of my gracious God, it shall be my
happiness, for I shall then, I know, enjoy perpetual
quietness and peace, and be delivered from those
perpetual combats and temptations which afflict my
poor souL" In a postscript he assures his " dearest

20 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

brothers and dearest sisters," ^ that " If I live, you
shall find me a faithful loving brother unto you all.
If I die, I beseech you by the fear of God, by the
duty to our parents, by the bond of nature, by the
love you bear me, that you all agree in perfect love
and amity, and account every one the other's burden
to be his; so may plenty and prosperity dwell among
you." And he ends with a request that in case of his
death £^^ of his books may be given to the college ;
some to his "worthy tutor Lindsell and Cousin
Theophilus ; " and if any of my sister's sons prove a
scholar, the rest may be given to him."*

The letter is dated, "This tenth day of April,
1 6 13, being Sunday," just a fortnight before he left
England.

' His own sister, Susannah Collett, his brother John's first
wife, who died in the following summer.

• Copied by Jebb from John Ferraris MSS. Peckard has
omitted several passages.

CHAPTER IL

FOREIGN TRAVEL.
A.D. 1613-1618.

* The rnind of man is this world's true dimension,
And knowledge is the measure of the minde ;
And as the minde, in her vast comprehension,
Contains more worlds than all the world can finde,
So knowledge doth itself farre more extend.
Than all the minds of men can comprehend.

" A climing height it is without a head,
Depth without bottome, way without an end,
A circle with no line environed ;
Not comprehended, all it comprehends ;
Worth infinite, yet satisfies no minde
Till it that infinite of the God-heade finde."
FuLKE Greville, Lord Brooke, 1554— 1628.

While Nicholas Ferrar, wkh a sinking heart, prepared
to leave Cambridge, his friends were exerting them-
selves to make his departure as pleasant and honour-
able as possible. The University, by a special grace,
granted his M,A. degree three months before the
customary time ; and Dr. Scott, the Master of Clare,
procured for him a place in the household of the

22 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Princess Elizabeth, then newly married to the Elector
Palatine, so that he might begin his foreign life under
distinguished patronage.

In the beginning of Lent the bridegroom visited
Cambridge, accompanied by Prince Charles and a
" comely concourse " of gentlemen, both English and
German, and received a splendid welcome from the
University. It was probably on this occasion that the
young Fellow of Clare was first brought to his notice.

Bishop Racket gives an amusing description of
the public disputation which formed one of the most
important features of the entertainment. This acade-
mical tournament took place, according to the usual
custom, in St Mary's, which was scaffolded for the
occasion, and filled with "the most judicious. of the
whole island,** who listened with delighted interest while
Mr. Samuel Collins " stood in the gap, to maintain
the truth in three theses against all assailants.** " No
flood,** cries the bishop, rapturously, "can be com-
pared to the springtide of his eloquence, but the
milky river of Nilus with his Seven Mouths all at
once disembogueing into the sea. Oh, how voluble,
how quick, how facetious he was I What a Ver-
tumnus when he pleased to argue on the right side
or on the contrary ! These things will be living in
the memory of the longest survivor that ever heard

him." 1

»" life of Archbishop WiUiams."

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 23

No doubt Nicholas Ferrar, who, though not of
sufficient age or importance to figure on such a great
occasion, was himself an adept in these affirays, was
among the admiring crowd, who listened while the
combatants plied each other with ''as many turns
and twists of argument as ever greyhound following
a hare on Newmarket Heath," and looked with
interest and curiosity on the learned Germans in the
Pfalzgrave's train, whose nearer acquaintance he was
soon to make.

The prince and princess sailed from Margate on
April 23. Nicholas Ferrar, no longer in his plain
scholar's garb, but splendidly dressed as befitted the
attendant of a royal bride, was in their retinue, and
with him probably another young Cambridge scholar,
Francb Quarles, author of the " Pious Emblems." ^
The voyage to Flushing lasted four days, and in the
course of thb time, Ferrar lost his ague, cleared away
perhaps, as Dr. Butler had predicted, by sea sickness,
perhaps also by the keen salt breezes, and the novelty
and liveliness of the gay company among whom he
travelled — so great a change from the damp air of the
fens, and the grave talk of the common-room at Clare.

From Flushing, the bridal party crossed the grey
levels, brightened here and there by vivid patches of
spring blossom (for the Dutch were already famous

^ Quarles, who was about a year older than Ferrar was in the
princess's service in his early life.

24 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

gardeners), to the Hague and Amsterdam. Ferrar's
attendance does not seem to have been very onerous,
for he is said to have made during his stay in the
Low Countries, a careful study of the manners and
habits of the Dutch, their polite inventions and
ingenious manufactures, their modes of provision for
the poor and infirm, and their forms of worship,
which were so numerous, that a contemporary
traveller tells us that in the street where he lodged
" there be near as many religions as houses."

He won the favour of the princess, and hopes were
held out that he might become her secretary (a place
subsequently held by Quarles), but a courtier's life
was unsuited to his taste, and when she quitted
Holland for the Palatinate, he resigned his place in
her suite, and continued his journey alone and
untrammelled.

No doubt the grave young scholar was far happier
when the first novelty was past, wandering about the
quaint crowded streets, " having ever his Dutch book
with an English translation in his hand, that he might
not lose a moment " ^ in the study of the language,
than in following the princess to all the splendid
entertainments provided for her by the States ot
Holland. One would give a good deal to see the
diary which he diligently kept during his years of

* The account of Ferrar's travels is taken from "Life of
Nicholas Ferrar," by Dr. Jebb.

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 2^

travel It does not appear that he was greatly
attracted by the wonders of painting and architecture.
He ** did not make it all his business to see sights or
to measure the height of towers," being chiefly
interested in the new customs, the varying forms of
government, the jarring medley of sects among which
he found himself, all the confused and dazzling stir of
life into which he had come suddenly from his study
at Clare.

He spent some time at Hamburg, where the
English merchants, correspondents no doubt of the
prosperous Ferrar house, received him warmly.
Indeed, their hospitality was so overwhelming, that he
was obliged, much to their surprise, to avoid all wine
and strong drink, finding moderation impossible at
their overflowing tables. Not content with this silent
protest, he tried to elevate the tone of his hosts'
conversation, in a way that would now seem rather
priggish for a youth of twenty, but which was then
perhaps considered suitable in a Cambridge scholar.
He " would lead the conversation to some considera-
tion of virtue and vice, and would so delicately array
the one and disrobe the other, that his conversation
was no less pleasing than it was instructive, ever
embracing some pertinent and remarkable passages
out of sacred and civil history." There must have
been some great charm in the manner in which all
this youthful wisdom was poured forth, for the kindly

26 L2FE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

merchants were "strangely taken" with this "new
way of conversation."

From Hamburg Ferrar proceeded to Leipsic, and
there, in the familiar atmosphere of a university town,
he settled down to studies so many and so various,
that it is no wonder his father wrote to him " not to
destroy himself with too much diligence." Besides
his attendance at the exercises in the public schools,
where his fluent and elegant Latin was much admired,
he "made inquiries for the ablest masters in every
art, whom he would gain entirely, if gold and good
words would gain them, to teach him their mystery."
Nothing seemed to come amiss to him, and we are
not surprised that he found it desirable to learn a
system of artificial memory. "Painters, weavers,
dyers, and smiths were mudh at his lodgings, and at
his service, which enabled him to treat with artisans
in their proper terms ; he could maintain a dialogue
with an architect in his own phrases; he could
talk with the mariners in their sea terms, knowing
the word for almost every rope and pin in a ship.
Such was his curiosity in all the fine parts of learning
and knowledge ; an affection which is last mortified
in a polite and a capacious mind, that now made the
great world his other book,"

Among other arts in which the Germans greatly
excelled the English at that time, was that of en-
graving, and the large collection of prints which

FOREIGN TRAVEL. a7

Ferrax brought home, and of which he afterwards
made so much use in the illustration of his Scripture
harmonies, was probably begun during his stay in
Germany. His talent and industry attracted atten-
tion, and his acquaintance was much sought; but
he loved a quieter life than could easily be had among
the crowd of students who lodged, unbound by any
rules of discipline, around the lecture halls of the
University, and after a time, no doubt with many
longings for his rooms at Clare, for the quiet garden
in the shadow of King's, and the noiseless river glid*-
ing past, he retired to a neighbouring village where
he spent his leisure in the study of the best German
writers.

The duration of his stay at Leipsic is un-
certain, but it seems most probable that he set out
again on his travels in the early summer of 1614.
From Leipsic he went to Prague, where he stayed
some time; he then visited Nuremburg and Ulm,
Spires and Augsburg, noting everything, and saw the
splendours of the Imperial Court at Vienna ; but the
plague was raging in Southern Germany, and it would
seem that he hastened his journey on that account,
for it was still winter, apparently the January or
February of 16 15, when he crossed the Alps.

We are not told which course he took, but as he
came first to Venetian territory travelling by way of
Padua, it seems most likely tliat his route was through

28 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

the valleys of the Brenner, from Innspruck to Trent,
a road which must have been frequented at all seasons
of the year. One incident only of this mountain
journey is recorded. " Riding one time over some
narrow and dangerous passages of the Alps, his guide
being but a little way before him, out comes an ass
from the side of a hill between him and his guide,
laden with a large piece of timber lying across her
back, running upon him down the hill, where the way
was extremely strait and narrow and steep, as having
a wall on the one side and a dreadful descent on the
other. His guide, not hearing the tread of his mule,
looked behind him, and seeing the ass thus laden and
now near him, he cried out, * O Lord ! O God! the
man is lost if he had a hundred lives I * " Overhearing
the guide's voice, he was amazed, and, looking up, he
saw the ass coming down hastily upon him, so that,
the wood lying athwart her, he thought it must tumble
him and his mule headlong into the dismal valley
beneath him ; therefore he instantly called upon God
to preserve him, and by His infinite mercy to find
some means of delivering him. Just as the ass came
upon him she tripped, and with that bowing and
sudden violent motion the timber swayed away from
him and only gave him a brush on one side as the ass
passed quickly by, while he and his mule stood stilL
Immediately alighting and falling on his face, he
made his most humble acknowledgments to Almighty

FOREIGN TRAVEL, 29

God for his preservation, while the guide and the
owner of the ass — who, coming up, told how she broke
away as they were loading her — stood crossing them-
selves, and oying Miracolo,

How feir and smiling the sunny slopes of the
Southern Alps must have seemed to the traveller
now come from the plague-struck German towns over
frozen mountain paths I In some green valley on the
^dgc of the Venetian territory he was detained, not
unwillingly, for a quarantine of thirty days. The
period of his detention coincided (possibly he had so
pre-arranged it) with the Lent fast, " so that he was
forced to do penance both under a restraint from
company and from flesh,^ though neither of these was
any great constraint upon one already so mortified
Here he had leisure enough to recollect his thoughts,
to revise his notes, and to reduce his observations
into method. He spent his time of fasting and
sequestration from the world very agreeably. In the
morning he went up to a neighbour mountain, where
abundance of wild thyme and rosemary grew ; there
with a book or two, and with his God, whom he met

' An entry in the diary of Sir John Oglander shows how
strictly the Lent fast was still observed by Englishmen. In 16 10
" Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, granted a dispensation to
Sir E. Conway, his wife, and two others whom he might choose
to eat flesh at prohibited times, as fish did not agree with him,
provided that he did so privately to avoid scandal, and paid
13J. 4ff. per year to the poor of his parish."

30 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

in the closest walks of his mind, having spent his
day in reading, meditation, and prayer, he came down
in the evening to an early supper (his only set meal)
of oil and fish. He omitted not his offices and exer-
cises of devotion morning and evening and at mid-
night in his travels, for to serve and please his Maker
was the travail of his soul. He needed not many
books, who was his own concordance and had the
New Testament in a manner without book.^ And if
the time and place would not serve him to kneel, yet
then and there he made the lowest prostrations of his
soul and spirit" *

This month's retreat, for so it may be called, must
have been the utmost gain and refreshment to Ferraris
spiritual life. From the time he left England, he had
lived in a ceaseless whirl of new ideas, fresh faces,
differing manners, conflicting creeds, and he must
have greatly needed time to retire into himself and
prepare in quietness to meet the rush of thought, the
keen religious difficulties, and the learned unbelief,
which awaited him in Italy. On the mountain-side,
withdrawn from the bustle and worry of the quaran-

* It would seem that he was afraid to carry a Bible about
with him, for it is said that the Psalter, Epistles, and Gospels
learnt in his childhood "served him to good purpose and his
great consolation when, many years after, he travelled and fell
grievously sick among those who count it a mark of heresy in a
traveller to carry about him an English Bible."

* Jebb, ii., ** Two Lives of Ferrar," p. ii.

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 31

tine station, where no doubt plenty of impatient
travellers were fretting their hearts out over their
enforced delay, he found a solitude more complete
than in his study at Clare, looking over the great
lawns and quiet river. Steeped in calm, and a silence
that could be felt —

" No sound of worldly toil ascending there
Mars the full burst of prayer."

We may believe that in after days he often loved to
recall this peaceful time. Of all the noticeable scenes
he passed through in his five years' travel, this moun-
tain resting-place is the only one to which his bio-
grapher adds a descriptive touch, and it is character-
istic that the point which struck Ferrar's fancy, here
on the threshold of Italy, is no beauty or strangeness
of the foreign landscape, but the firagrant growth of
thyme and rosemary, familiar flowers in every English
garden.

About Easter Ferrar proceeded to Venice; but
though he was kindly received by Sir Dudley Carle-
ton, the English ambassador, an introduction that
must have opened to him the best society, he did not
linger in that gayest and fairest of cities. Probably
he longed to be again absorbed in study, for we soon
find him settled in Padua.

For travellers from beyond the Alps, the chief
attractions of the Italian Oxford now lie in the pic-
turesque cathedral on the river bank, and the silent

32 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

garden, where, among long lines of mulberry trees,
stands the deserted chapel which Giotto painted while
he listened to the talk of Dante.

It was very different in the seventeenth century.^
The city was then crowded and overflowing with
youths who came from all parts of the civilized world,
eager to study in its famous schools of law and medi-
cine. The students in the great University of Law
were classed in twenty-three " nations," each of which
had its own officers * and its own rules, and was per-
mitted under the sole condition of not interfering
with the government or religion of the State of Venice,
to live according to its own customs. Its humbler
sister, the University of Arts, could number but seven
"nations," five of which belonged to the States of
Italy, the foreign students being grouped as " oltre-
monte," or " oltremare," but the artisti enjoyed equal
independence with the aristocratic qiuristi, or law
students.

Neapolitan and Tuscan, Frenchman and German,
Pole and Dalmatian, Englishman, Scot, Hungarian,
Spaniard, Cypriote, each, when he came forth from
the magnificent palace (once the dwelling-place of the

* This account of the university is taken from "Galileo Gali-
lei e lo Studio di Padova," by A. Favaro, and some notices in
Evelyn's Diary.

' In 1644 John Evelyn was elected " S)mdicus Artistarum,"
probably of the " Ultramontane nation, '* or students from beyond
the Alps.

FOREIGN TRAVEL, 33

Dukes of Carrara), which is still the home of the
university, and went to his lodging in the fresco-
painted streets of the student's quarter, found himself
in the midst of a little world of his own countrymen,
where he might unmolested practise the manners and
profess the religion of his own land, a toleration pos-
sible at that time in no State of Italy, or perhaps of
Europe, but the territories of the Venetian Republic,
which, owing its importance mainly to its wide com-
mercial relations, used every means in its power to
make foreigners feel at home on its soiL^

Quarrels of course were of constant occurrence in
this mixed crowd of unruly young men, and the luck-
less "birro" who might rashly venture to interfere
was often ill-used and even stabbed with impunity.
It was very dangerous, says Evelyn, to traverse the
streets after dark. When St Francis de Sales, who
was a student in the University of Law^from 1587 to
159 1,* irritated his companions by his refusal to join
in their evil ways, they attacked him with blows, and
the future bishop was forced to defend himself with
his sword.

*" The commodity which strangers have
With us in Venice, if it be denied,
Will much impeach the justice of the State
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Consisteth of all nations."

Merchant of Venice^ Act iii. sc 3.

• " Life of St Francis de Sales,** by Mrs. Sidney Lear,

34 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

This was the world in which Ferrar found himself,
when, some time in the spring of 1615,^ he entered the
University of Arts, in which was taught medicine,
geometry, philosophy, and rhetoric. Ferrar, who
held the Physic Fellowship at Clare, seems to have
devoted himself chiefly to medicine, for which the
schools of Padua were becoming famous. They
already possessed an anatomical theatre, and a " gar-
den of simples rarely furnished with plants," to which
was attached a school of pharmacy, which had been
in existence for more than sixty years. There were
also two hospitals for the study of clinical medicine,
furnished with ''the greatest helps and most skilful
physicians," and most miserable and deplorable objects
to exercise upon, "very carefully attended, and with
extraordinary charity." *

He also became a proficient in geometry. Galileo,
who quitted the Chair of Geometry, "leaving his
heart in Padua and taking with him the hearts of his
friends," only four years before Ferrar's arrival,
specially recommended this study to medical students.
" Hippocrates," he is reported to have said, " when
writing to his son, warmly exhorted him to the study
of geometry, because it would render his mind clearer
and more acute in gathering fruit from the study of

* As Sir Dudley Carleton left Venice in 1615, Fcrrar*s arrival
cannot be placed later. See Mr. Mayor's notes to Ferraris Life.

* Evelyn's "Diaiy."

j^i

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 35

medicine." By the physicians of the day the science
was valued for another reason. It formed a needful
introduction to the study of astrology, which was still
considered an important branch of the medical art.i

It was probably at this time also that Ferrar first
became acquainted with some of the Oriental langua|;es,
a printing press having lately been established at
Milan, by the liberality of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo,*
for the publication of books in Hebrew, Chaldee,
Arabic, Persian, and Armenian.

The thirst for solitude, for space and silence, still
haunted him, and from time to time he broke away
from his studies and took refuge in one of the pleasant
villages which lie among wide and fiiiitful fields on

* A manuscript book on astrology, believed to have belonged
to Nicholas Ferrar, is now in possession of Mr. Bowes, of the
firm of Macmiilan and Bowes, Cambridge, who kindly lent it to
the writer for examination. This " wyse boke of fylosophy and
astronomie " gives an account of the virtues of the seven planets
and the twelve signs of the Zodiac, each of which have their
influence on different parjts of the body, as Aries on the head
and face, Aquarius on the legs, etc. ; and the transcribers (it is
written in different hands), having apparently become weary of
their task, it ends abruptly in the midst of an enumeration of the
advantages of the " ouz " (house) of the moon.

' Cousin and successor to St. Charles. Readers of the
Promessi Spod may remember the description given by Manzoni
of this saintly man, as one of those *' rare in all ages, who
devoted a great intellect, all the resources of a large fortune, all
the advantage of privileged rank, with continual application, to
the practice of that which is most excellent "

36 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

the banks of the river Brenta.^ What thoughts did
he take into these quiet places, as he wandered alone
among the green entanglement of trellised vines,
mingled with little tracts of rye and feathery Indian
com, which make an Italian field-path the most
fascinating of walks — ^what were the plans, the hopes,
the dreams which filled his soul ?

No letters or journals have reached us to jg^ve an
answer to this question.

That his life was ever pure and holy we have
abundant evidence. It made a deep impression on
the careless and often dissipated youths around him,
who "would often ingenuously confess that he was
in the right way, and that they could not but wish
that they could live as he lived." The name of one
friend, to whom his advice and example were of
priceless service, has been handed down to us.
"Mr. Edward Garton had been forced to fly from
England to escape a trial for murder, having killed
his antagonist in a duel; and being a stranger at
Padua, he was noted there as a man desperately
melancholy, till in a good hour for him, he fell by

* " At other times I repair to a village of mine, seated in the
valley, which is therefore very pleasant, because many ways
thither are so ordered that they all meet and end in a fair plot
of ground, in the midst whereof is a church suitable to the con-
dition of the place. This place is washed by the river Brenta,
on both sides whereof are great and fruitful fields." — L. Cornaro,
** Treatise on Temperance," translated by George Herbert.

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 37

chance into company with Mr. Ferrar, and found so
much goodness in him that he made him his con-
fessor. He, finding the poor soul's hearty repentance
and sorrow for what he had done, so applied the
mercies of God to him, that he was well satisfied and
much comforted ; yet he would say * he was. never
well but in Mr. Ferrar's company,' whom hence-
forward he loved and esteemed above all the world." ^
Among his friends at Padua there were not wanting
some who strove hard to win so devout and thought-
ful a youth to the Roman Obedience. " By what I
have seen in manuscript of Mr. Ferrar," says Barnabas
Oley," " and heard by relation of his travels over the
western parts of Christendom, in which his exquisite
carriage, his rare parts and abilities of understanding
and languages, his morals more perfect than the best,
did tempt the adversaries to tempt him and mark him
for a prize if they could compass him. And opportunity
they had to do this in a sickness that seized on him
at Padua, where mighty care was had by physicians
and others to recover his bodily health with design
to infect his souL But neither did their physic nor
poison work any change in his religion, but rather
inflamed him with a holy zeal to revenge their charity
by transplanting their waste and misplaced zeal to
adorn our Protestant religion, by a right renouncing

* ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by Dr. Jebb, p. 71.
« Oley's ** Life of George Herbert"

38 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

the world with all its profits and honours, in a true
crucifying the flesh with all its pleasures, by continued
temperance, fasting, and watching unto prayers."

Oley seems unduly severe in ascribing the assiduous
care with which the good Paduan physicians tended
Ferrar in his illness solely to their controversial zeaL
It is not likely that they who showed such charity
to the sick in their hospitals would be less kind to
their pupU. They watched over him with the greatest
attention ; but he owed his life not so much to their
skill as to his own dread of bleeding. He felt sure
that this remedy, to which they wished to resort,
would hasten his end, and one very old physician,
with insight bom of long experience, advised that
his prejudice should be respected. The vein was
not opened, and in a few days he began to recover,
to the great joy of his good old friend, who had
doubtless passed some anxious hours, and endured
much silent criticism from his learned brethren.

There was very much no doubt in the Church life
of Padua to awaken Ferraris deepest interest, and
often his admiration. He carefully collected books
on religion and the retired life, and one such, the
" Spiritual Combat" of Lorenzo Scupoli — a work which
was so popular that, in the thirty years which had
elapsed since its publication, it had gone through
fifty editions — must have been well known to him, and
can hardly fail to have awakened his interest in the

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 39

austere order to which its author belonged; it was,
perhapsi, in the Theatine house at Padua that he first
saw realized that life of retirement, prayer, and fasting
for which he seems to have longed from his boyhood,
with a longing which struggled for mastery with his
keen thirst for knowledge.

Another form of the devout life must have come
before him in the congregation of the Oratory. This
society, composed of laymen and secular priests living
under a strict rule, had for one of its chief objects
the promotion of holiness among men living in the
world. With this view, instructions and addresses,
open to all who would attend, were given daily in
every house of the society, and these were often
followed up by some practical lesson in good works,
such as visiting and succouring the sick in some
hospitaL A letter from a priest, who afterwards
became a member of the congregation of the Oratory,^
thus describes the method followed in these exercises.
" Since that time, I go to the Oratory at St Giovanni
of the Florentines, where they deliver every day most
beautiful spiritual discourses on the Gospels, or on
the virtues and vices, or ecclesiastical history, or the
lives of the saints. There are four or five each day
who discourse, and persons of distinction go to hear

* F. Giovinale Ancina. The letter is taken fi-om the " Life
of St. Philip Neri," published by Richardson in 1849. Father
Ancina was a friend of St Francis de Sales.

40 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

them — bishops, prelates, and the like. At the con-
clusion there is a little music to console and recreate
the spirits, which are somewhat wearied by the pre-
ceding discourses. They have gone through the life
of the glorious St Francis and some of his disciples,
and of St. Antony of Padua. I assure you it is a
most delightful entertainment, and a most consoling
and edifying thing altogether ; and I regret very much
that neither you nor I knew last year of this excellent
and laudable exercise. You must know, too, that
they who deliver the discourse are in holy orders, and
of most exemplary and spiritual lives. Their superior
is a certain Reverend Father Philip, an old man of
sixty, but wonderful in many respects, and especially
for holiness of life, and for his astonishing prudence
and dexterity in inventing and promoting spiritual
exercises, the author also of that great work of
charity, which was done at the Trinitk de* Pellegrini ^
during the last Jubilee. Father Toledo, Possevino,
and others attribute much to him. In a word, they
say he is an oracle, not only in Rome, but in the far-
off parts of Italy, and in France and Spain, so that
many come to him for counsel ; indeed, he is another
Rusbrochio, or Thomas k Kempis, or Taulero."
One of these oratories had been opened in Padua,

* St. Philip here founded a confraternity for the care of poor
pilgrims. The house which served for their reception was also
used for convalescents from the hospitals.

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 41

and we may well imagine that Nicholas Ferrar, seek-
ing some peaceful retreat from the noisy crowd which
streamed to and fro through the narrow streets, would
meet, as he threaded the dim arcades echoing with
gay talk in half a dozen languages, with some like-
minded friends on their way to join in the " excellent
and laudable exercise," and having once followed
them into the quiet chapel, would come and come
again. We can even fancy that we perceive in the
pious conversations, interspersed with music and with
stories from history and the lives of the saints, which
he instituted long afterwards at Gidding, some
reminiscences of this Oratorian exercise.

Another influence which strongly affected him, was
connected with the teaching of the Spanish mystics
who made so deep a mark on Italian thought in the
seventeenth century. He was so much struck by a
once famous book, the "Hundred and Ten Con-
siderations" of Juan de Valdds, an early writer of
this school, that some years after his return to Eng-
land he published a translation of it

If Ferrar may have learnt something of rule and
the practise of devotion, from the more zealous
among the religious houses of Italy, the study of
Vald^s may have deepened his meditative and in-
ward tone of mind, the uncontroversial, it might be
almost said the undogmatic, spirit, which in a most
controversial age made him so averse to strife, that

42 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

he "would scarce venture to opine even in points
wherein the world censured him possessed." ^

But neither Roman zeal nor the charm of mystic
thought had any power to shake his dutiful unques-
tioning attachment to his Mother Church. The foun-
dation of that love had been laid too deep in his
earliest years.

When Nicholas Ferrar had completed his studies
at Padua, he visited Malta and travelled through a
great part of Italy. Scarcely any record of his travels
remains except a scanty mention of his ten days* visit
to Rome, a visit made secretly, for the English
Government was suspicious of possible intercourse
with the Roman Court, and the Roman authorities
were not less keenly on the watch to stamp out what
they deemed heresy, in the stronghold of the Church.
Ferrar stole into the city privately on foot on the
Monday in Holy Week, and visited, with what feel-
ings we can but conjecture, the tombs of the apostles,
the sacred sites where the modem world grows dim
beside the vivid memories of the past For fear of
discovery by the Inquisition,* he changed his lodging

* Oley, Preface to " Country Parson."

• Such fears were not causeless, even for an English subject.
In 1607 one Mr. Mole, tutor to Lord Roos, being in Rome
with his pupil, was arrested on a charge of circulating heretical
books, and confined for thirty years in the prisons of the
Inquisition. — ^Aiken's ** Memoirs of the Court of James I.,"
quoted in Macdonoogh*s " Life of Ferrat."

FOREIGN TRAVEL. 43

every night, but, in his extreme eagerness to see
ever3rthing, he pushed one day in the crowd into
* one of the long Vatican galleries to watch the Pope
pass, and being probably ignorant of the etiquette
observed on such occasions, and forgetting all pre-
caution in the interest of the sight, he ran the risk
of arrest by remaining erect among the kneeling
throng, and was only saved by the rough kindness
of one of the Swiss Guards, who, with a hand on his
shoulder, forced him to his knees, crying, "Down,
rascal, down 1 "

After this adventure he avoided public places, and,
getting safely out of Rome, returned to the more
liberal air of Venice.

From Venice he went to Marseilles, meaning to
sail thence to Spain ; but here he was seized by an
old enemy, harder to escape than the Roman in-
quisitors — an attack of fever, from which he nearly
died.

On the first day of this illness he wrote to his dear
firiend, Mr. Garton, ** entreating him to take a chari-
table voyage to visit the sick in a place where he was
a perfect stranger, where he was obliged to be his
own priest, his own cook, and was able to endure
no light but from his own memory; wherefore he
prayed him to come immediately, if ever he would
see him alive, or else procure him some comer for
a Christian burial"

44 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

Garton, with a grateful recollection of that sickness
of the soul of which he had been cured by Ferrar*s
means, set off at once, travelling night and day, and
arrived to find the crisis of the fever safely past, and
to nurse his friend back to health.

Ferrar was so deeply touched by this proof of
affection that he would not allow Garton to return
alone to Venice, but insisted on accompanying him.
There he stayed till his health was recruited, and
then, taking a last leave of Mr. Garton and the other
good friends who had gathered round him during his
years of study, he embarked in a little English vessel
bound for Spain, and sailed down the Adriatic in
search of " fresh woods and pastures new." ^

The pleasant monotony of a summer voyage on
the shining Mediterranean was broken by an adven-
ture which was still common in the seventeenth
century." The little vessel, overladen and lying deep

* So Peckard. Jebb says that he sailed from Marseilles.

* Evelyn was chased by a pirate in the Straits of Dover in
1649. Piracy was by no means confined to the Turks, and
was not thought a disgraceful occupation. ** Sir Henry Mayne-
weringe, that quondam famous pirate, my wyfe*s cosen germain,
was then Surveyor of the Navy," writes Sir John Oglander,
calmly, without the least expression of surprise. And this sea
Robin Hood, who, though he "always respected his own flag,"
plundered every Spanish ship he could lay hands on, was
actually selected — after his pardon— to bring home Prince
Charles from Spain.—" Oglander Memoirs."

FOREIGN TRAVEL, 45

in the smooth water, was chased by a great, swift-
sailing Turkish pirate. The big ship gained rapidly
on the small merchantman, and officers and men held
hasty council whether to yield or to stand at bay and
fight the matter out with their ten guns. Ferrar, the
only passenger, stood silent among them. "Thk
young man has a life to lose as well as we," said one
of the seamen ; ** let us hear what he thinks of the
matter." Landsman and student as he was, Ferrar
had plenty of courage. " Let us fall into the hand
of God, and not into the hands of men," he said, as
the great vessel, its speed aided most likely by the
oars of Christian captives, loomed larger and more
threatening on their view ; and then, remembering no
doubt the tales which he had heard in his childhood
from Sir Francis Drake and his fellows, he strove to
kindle the enthusiasm of the crew with stories of the
gallant deeds of Englishmen at sea. He gave active
help also, and everything was made ready for an
engagement, when, just as the master was giving the
signal for a broadside, the Turk fell oflf and steered
away with all the sail he could, to the inexpressible
joy of the crew, who, gazing anxiously over the poop,
saw that a much larger ship had come in sight, and
that the pirate had turned to chase this more valuable
booty.

They continued their voyage without further inci-
dent, and Ferrar on landing made straight for Madrid.

46 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

For some unexplained reason he concealed his name
during his Spanish travels, perhaps finding secrecy
as needful for Protestants in Spain as in Rome. He
would not even make himself known to his fellow-
countrymen in Madrid, and when he went to inquire
for the letters and bills of exchange which he expected
to find awaiting him, asked as if on behalf of a friend.
The bills had not arrived, his father thinking that he
would not reach Madrid so soon, and to this incon-
venience was soon added another and more serious
anxiety. He fell in with a Mr. Wyche, the son of an
old friend of his father's, who, though not knowing
his name, was so pleased with his manners that he
introduced him among the English residents in the
capital, and he then learnt, apparently firom chance
conversation, that his family was involved in great
distress, and that his return was necessary to extricate
them from their troubles.' On hearing this bad news
he at once gave up his intention of visiting France,
and settled to return home as quickly as possible.

No money having come for him, and being un-
willing to accept the loan kindly pressed on him by
Mr. Wyche, he sold his cloak and a few jewels, and
with the small sum thus obtained started on foot for
St Sebastian. He soon became footsore with this
unaccustomed travel on sandy paths, at the hottest
season of 'the year, and would scarce have been able
to get on but for the remedy prescribed by the hostess

FOREIGN TRAVEL. * 47

of a roadside inn where he rested for the night, who
brought him a bowl of sack in which to steep his feet
By the help of this application, to which he had fre-
quent recourse, he plodded on, meeting with n6
hindrances but weariness and bad accommodation.
Once, indeed, he was stopped and closely questioned
by the governor of a town through which he passed,
who was so delighted with his costly rapier (a parting
gift from Mr. Garton) that he was near taking it from
him by force ; and once, trying to find his way through
a rocky pass, he followed a hog, which he supposed
must belong to some farm, through a subterranean
passage, and found himself in a cavern inhabited by
men whom he took to be robbers. But from both
these dangers he escaped safely, and, after a fatiguing
walk of some five hundred miles, arrived at St
Sebastian. Here he had to wait some time for a
favourable wind, and, his resources being quite ex-
hausted, was glad to accept a loan of ;;^io from
a friendly English factor. With the first fair wind
he sailed for Dover.

He had been five years absent from England, and
more than once had cause to think that he would
never again look on those white cliffs. The sight
filled him with such rapture that, leaping ashore, he
flung himself down, with his face pressed close to the
dear English earth, and, thus prostrate, gave humble
thanks to God for his safe return. From Dover he

48 LIFE OF mCHOLAS FERRAR.

travelled post to his father's house in London. The
door stood open, and Nicholas went in unannounced
through the familiar rooms till he found his father,
and, kneeling at his feet, asked his blessing. In the
first moment of siurprise Mr. Ferrar, who thought him
still far away, did not recognize his son in the travel-
stained figure before him, in foreign dress, his fair
complexion bro^-ned by the sun of Spain. "Who
are you?" he asked, bewildered, while the young
man looked up to him with a heart perhaps too full
for speech. It is easy to imagine his answer, the
fathers fervent blessing, the mother's entrance, all
the confused, tremulous joy of this loving family re-
imited after so long a separation and so many
anxieties.

CHAPTER III.

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT.

A.D. 1618 — 1625.

"Where can he busy himself bettfer than in those new planta-
tions and discoveries, which are not only a noble, but also, as
they may be handled, a religious employment?" — Georgs
Herbert, A Priest in the Temple, chap, xxxii.

The nature of the family trouble which brought
Nicholas Ferrar home in such haste does not appear.
It may probably have been connected with the affairs
of his eldest brother Richard, who seems to have
been, through life, a constant source of anxiety.
John Ferrar passes over his brother's misdeeds in
kindly silence; but in his father's will, made in 1620,
the administration of the family property is left to
John and Nicholas, Richard having his debts forgiven
and receiving a younger son's portion, which he
apparently squandered, for Mrs. Ferrar in her will,^
dated March, 1628, desires that, "if he deserved,"

^ Both wills are given in Mr, Mayor's appendix to "Two
Lives of Ferrar." 1

50 LII^E OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

— — ^ ^

his brothers should, out of their love, make provision
for his "great necessities."

When the crisis, whatever it may have been, was
past, Nicholas wished to return to Cambridge, and,
once more taking up his abode at Clare, continue
the study of medicine ; but his parents would by no
means consent to part again with their beloved son.
A flattering offer was made to him about this time
of the Chair of Geometry at Gresham College, the
late holder of that office, Mr. Briggs, who had just
been appointed to the newly-established Savilian
Professorship at Oxford, recommending him for the
post, as being " like, if he set to it, to be the ablest
man in the world therein." This also was put aside.
Nicholas Ferrar thanked the master and wardens of
the Mercer's Company (in whose hands the appoint-
ment lay) for the great honour they did him, but told
them that " he must not undertake that which he knew
he was at best but a novice in ; nor, in truth; did his
studies bend that way. He had, indeed, some other
good ends, if God thought fit to bring them to pass."^

If these words allude to his desire for a life with-
drawn from the world, he had still long to wait for its
fulfilment, and, before he had been two months in
London, he had flung himself heart and soul into a
new interest.

For the next six years his energies were almost

* Letter from Peck to ■\A^ard, quoted by Rev. J. E. B. Mayor.

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT, 51

entirely given up to the work of assisting in the
guidance and government of the rising settlement in
Virginia, on which so many hopes were already placed.

It is so impossible to give any idea of the life of
Nicholas Ferrar during this period, apart from the
history of the vast undertaking in which he was
engaged, that readers will perhaps pardon a digression,
which may be readily skipped by those to whom that
history is already familiar.

In 1606 a Company had been formed for the
purpose of establishing a colony in that part of the
New World visited by Raleigh, and named by hin>
Virginia. This work, which was taken in hand not
for gain only, but in the hope expressed in the noble
words of the patent, that the work of colonization
" may, by the providence of God, hereafter tend to
the glory of His Diviae Majesty in propagating the
Christian religion to such people as yet lived in dark-
ness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge
and worship of God, and may in time bring the
infidels of those parts to human civility, and to a
settled and quiet government"

The first expedition sent out by the new Company
sailed on December 19, 1606, and, after long battling
with unprosperous winds, reached Cape Henry, in
Virginia, on April 26, 1607.^ They were accom-

^ This sketch of the Virginian settlement is taken from
Peckard's ** Life," Anderson's " History of the Colonial Church,"

tmatmmt^i^tmmmmm^m

52 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

panied by a chaplain, chosen under the advice of
Archbishop Bancroft — the Reverend Robert Hunt.
Much of the success of the expedition seems to have
been due to this holy man. During the stormy,
tedious voyage, when the adventurers, anxious and
over-weary, broke out into quarrels which threatened
to bring the enterprise to an untimely end, he, " with
the water of patience and his godly admonitions (but
chiefly his true, devoted example), quenched these
flames of envy and dissension." When the voyage
was over he gathered together the little band of
settlers, and, on the northern shore of the James
River, a few miles below the place where now stands
the town of Richmond, he administered to them
the Holy Communion. It was the birthday of the
American Church.

On that spot was soon raised a little cluster of huts,
with a reed-thatched church in the middle, and some
rude protection of palisades about it, to which the
settlers gave the name of Jamestown.^ The infant
colony had a hard struggle for existence. Sickness,
fire, and the treachery of the Indians, cost many lives
and much property. The settlers, in their eagerness

and Hawk's " Contributions to Ecclesiastical History of United
States." The Ferrars* share in the work is gathered from
Peckard and Jebb.

* **In 1836 a ruined church tower and surrounding graveyard
still marked the site of Jamestown.*' — Hawk,

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA— PARLIAMENT, 53

to grow tobacco for export (at one time they planted
it even in the streets of Jamestown), neglected to sow
sufficient corn, and they passed through a period of
fearful destitution, remembered long afterwards as the
" starving time." Through all this trouble Mr. Hunt's
patience and courage never failed ; and it is a touch-
ing proof of his influence with his flock that in this
hour of their extremest need the whole remaining
stock of wine was put aside to be used for the Holy
Eucharist alone.

In the early summer of 16 10 the distress became
so great that the survivors resolved to abandon the
settlement They gathered together their scanty
remaining possessions, buried their ordnance, and
having, **by their peale of shot, taken a last and
woeful farewell of this pleasant land," they embarked
in three vessels rudely made of cedar wood, and
dropped down the James River. The next mornings
while they waited for the tide to bear them out to
sea, they saw, coming up the stream, an English boat
It brought the news that Lord De La Warr, with a
squadron of relief, was already in the Chesapeake ;
and on Sunday, June 10, his ships arrived off James-
town.

The famine- stricken settlers drew up to receive
him on the river bank, outside the gate of the
palisade. On landing, he knelt down, and remained
long in private prayer; then, before addressing him-

54 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

self to any business, he went straight to the dismantled
church, followed by all the rescued people, to give
thanks to God.

The settlement, thus saved from utter ruin, con-
tinued to grow slowly, and with varying success.
Among those who watched it with intense interest,
both as merchant and as Churchman, was Mr.
Ferrar.

When Nicholas returned to England in 1618 his
father was a shareholder both in the Virginia Company
and also in the New Bermuda Company, which had
grown out of it; and his brother John was on the
Council of Virginia. Nicholas's academic studies —
perhaps also, to some extent, his spiritual yearnings —
were swept out of view by this rush of vivid life. He
had been surveying, with the eyes of a keen dispas-
sionate observer, the laws and manners, the social
and political life, of foreign lands; now, without
crossing his father's threshold, he found himself a
witness of the making of a nation.
' The Virginian Council met every week in Mr.
Ferrar's great parlour, and in that hospitable house
in Sythe's Lane were laid the foundations of the
first free state of America. Sir Edwin Sandys, the
treasurer of the Company, a pupil of Hooker, and
himself a distinguished scholar, was at once struck
with the ability of Nicholas ; he was constantly in his
society, and so frequently asked his help, that Ferrar,

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT. 55

though he held no office in the Company, did most of
the work of secretary.

Under Sandys's able management the little colony
began to flourish ; during his year of office its popu-
lation rose from six hundred to more than three
thousand souls, and with large-hearted foresight he
gave a representative government to this small com-
munity. The first Legislative Assembly of Virginia
met at Jamestown in June, 16 19. He and his
colleagues were as careful for the Church as for the
State.^ They founded a college for the Christian
education of the Indians, and of the colonists'
children, and, at the suggestion of Sandys, the Com-
pany set apart ten thousand acres of land for its
support The interest taken in this college was
great and general The king issued a letter to the
archbishops and bishops desiring them to make col-
lections in their dioceses for its benefit; and the
Bishop of London alone raised ;^iooo for this nur-

* The following extract from one of the appeals put forth
by the Company shows how zealously they urged the cause
of religion : — ** Oh 1 all ye worthies, follow the ever-sounding
trumpet of a blessed honour; let religion be the first end of
your hopes, et cetera adj'icientur, and other things shall be
added unto you; ye shall be registered to posterity with a
glorious title. . . . Doubt ye not but God hath determined and
demonstrated that He will raise our State and build His Church
in that excellent climate, if the action be seconded with resolu-
tion and religion." — Hawk.

56 . LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

pose. An unknown benefactor sent ;^5oo more;
another, also anonymous, gave Communion plate.
Mr. John Thorpe, a gentleman of the king's bed-
chamber, gave up his place at Court, to go out as
head of the new college, which was established in
Henrico, a settlement which had been raised not far
from Jamestown, on the opposite side of the river,
and named in honour of Henry, Prince of Wales.

The colonists responded warmly to the efforts
made on their behalf; one of the first acts of the
new Legislative Assembly was to establish a fixed
payment of corn and tobacco for the support of the
clergy, who were to be sent out by the Bishop of
London, and to set aside a hundred acres of glebe in
every borough, for each of which the Company at
home provided six tenants at the public cost^

The Company were so well satisfied with their
treasurer that, when Sandys's year of office expired,
they resolved to choose him a second time. *' Very
great was the reputation of the plantation and com-
pany," says John Ferrar, " by the most wise, prudent,
and industrious management of it by that most
eminent man."

* Sandys, though so good a Churchman, was far from in-
tolerant. During his treasurership the Company granted a
patent permitting the Nonconformist emigrants of the Mayflower
to form a settlement in Virginia, and it was by an accident that
they landed north of that territory. See S. R. Gardiner, " History
of England," vol. iv. chap, xxxvi.

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA— PARLIAMENT, 57

But Sir Edv/in Sandys, though "a wise patriot"
according to the view of the Ferrars and their friends,
was but a factious leader of opposition in the eyes of
the king, who was determined, by any means he could
command, to oust him from his post. Peckard's
account of the election is full of interest.^

It was the custom of the Company to name three
persons, one of whom was then chosen by ballot In
a court of near five hundred persons, three names
having been agreed on, that of Sir Edwin Sandys was
being put first to the vote, when a gentleman of the
royal bedchamber entered the room, and, interrupting
the ballot, announced that the king forbade the
election of Sir Edwin Sandys; he added that his
Majesty, being unwilling to infringe the rights of the
Company^ would himself nominate three persons on
whom they might vote.

This speech was received at first in deep silence,
which was soon broken by murmurs, in which were
heard the words " invasion of rights " and " t)rrannic
power." Some of the Company moved that the
courtiers should retire while they considered what
to do, but the Earl of Southampton desired that they
should remain and hear the rules of the Company
publicly discussed.

"Let the patent be read," said Sir Laurence
Hyde.

* Feckard, p. 100.

58 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

" The patent I the patent 1 " cried many voices.
" God save the king."

" Gentlemen," said Hyde, when the reading was
concluded, " by the words of the patent the election
of a treasurer is left to your own free choice. No
doubt these gentlemen will undeceive the king on
this point"

Sir Edwin Sandys, anxious to prevent an open
break with the Crown, whispered to Sir Robert
Phillips, who sat near him, that he desired to with-
draw his claim ; and Sir Robert, rising, proposed that
the king's messengers should nominate two persons,
while the Company preserved their privileges by
naming the third. This was accordingly done. The
Company named the Earl of Southampton.

When the ballot was taken, the nominees of the
Crown had but three votes between them, and the earl
was chosen by acclamation, the court-room echoing
with the cries of " Southampton ! Southampton ! "

John Ferrar was at this time elected deputy
treasurer, and Nicholas succeeded to his brother's
vacant place at the Council Board.

Since Southampton made it a condition of taking
office that he should have the advice and assistance
of Sir Edwin Sandys, it seemed at first as if all might
still go well ; but clouds soon gathered thick and fast
over the fair prospects of the colony.

Before the bad news reached England, one of the

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA— PARLIAMENT. 59

warmest friends of Virginia had passed away. Old
Mr. Ferrar died in April, 1620, and was buried, on
the 1 2th of that month, in the church of St Bennet
Sherehog. "Like a merciful Father, He calleth us
unto hhn," says the good merchant in his will, signed
a few days before his death. "Therefore being
called, O Lord, I come unto Thee; receive me
graciously, for Thy mercy's sake, into Thy hands, O
Lord. For my body, I leave it to be buried in the
place where it shall please God to appoint; and,
further, that there be a sermon made at my burial,
if it may be that thereby all men may be admonished
to fear God sincerely, and truly remember what they
are, and whither they shall, for death is the end of
all flesh." On his sick-bed the true-hearted, humble,
affectionate man entreated the friends who stood
round him to comfort his dear wife, and commanded
his children in all filial duty to love and obey her.
"Never, I think," said the dying husband, "man had
the like in all kinds; and these forty-five years we
have lived together, I must say of her, she never
gave me cause to be angry with her, so wise and good
she is. You all know," he added, " I was by nature —
which God pardon — ^both quick and choleric and
hasty, which she also will forgive."

The funeral sermon was preached by his old friend,
Francis White, then Dean of Carlisle, in the church
which the good merchant had repaired and reseated.

6o LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

" I never came into old Mr. Ferrar's company," he
said, " but that saying of our Saviour Christ came into
my mind, ' Behold an Israelite indeed^ in whom is
no guile.' "

Mr. Ferrar left careful and liberal provision for
his wife and family, with gifts and legacies to his
grandchildren, Mrs. CoUett's daughter Mary, who
had lived with him from her cradle, being specially
provided for; he also made many charitable bequests,
among which the first and largest is to the new
Virginia College, to be paid " when the said college
is erected, and to the number of ten of the infidels'
children therein placed to be educated in Christian
religion and civility ; " and until that time he desired
that " Sir Edwin Sandys and John Ferrar shall
yearly pay by eight pounds a year to any three
several persons in Virginia of good life and fame,
that will undertake therewith to procure and bring
up each of them one of the infidels* children, and
intreating them in all things so Christianly, as by
the good usage and bringing of them up, the infidels
may be persuaded that it is not the intent of our
nation to make their children slaves, but to bring
them to a better manner of hving in this world, and
to the way of eternal happiness in the world to

come."^

The peace of the good man's deathbed was un-

' " Two Laves," Appendix.

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT, 6f

troubled by any knowledge of the cruel blow
which had fallen on the colony in which he took so
deep an interest ; but he had not long departed when
London was horrified by the news of the massacre
of Henrico. The colonists had lived among the
natives on terms of unsuspicious fiiendship^ but the
Indian chief grew jealous of their inceasing numbers,
and in perfect secrecy a plot was formed for the
entire destruction of the colony. On the night of
Friday, March 22, a horde of savages broke on
Henrico, and in a few hours the flourishing village
was left desolate. The rector of the college, Mr.
Thorpe, lay dead among his murdered scholars.
Men, women, and children, the whole population of
Henrico, and of the scattered settlements in the forest
round it, to the number of 340 souls, fell that night
by the Indian knife. The remainder of the colony
was saved by the loyalty of a Christian convert,
Chanco by name; he was servant to one of the
settlers, who loved and treated him as a son. His
brother, a heathen, tried to persuade him to join the
attack, but the bonds of religion proved stronger than
those of race, and he warned his master of the coming
danger. The master hurried to Jamestown to give
the alarm to the governor, and the settlements on
that side of the river gained time for defence.

The colonists can scarcely be blamed if they took
a fierce revenge, but when ** the savages had been

6a LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

driven far away, many destroyed of them, their towns
and houses ruinated, and their deer grounds possessed
by the English to grow wheat in," it was impossible
to bring back the former friendliness, and the cause
of Indian Missions was thrown back for many years.

The settlers were full of courage and endurance;
they revived with wonderful quickness from the
awful stroke. " Yesterday came again good news from
Virginia, that the colony will subsist again; hath
driven Oppockanknogh (the Indian chieQ izx off;
slain many of his men, in revenge for his last year's
murdering of the 340 of ours, and have got much
corn from them," we read in a letter of 1622.^

Southampton and the Ferrars did not relax their
efforts in the cause of Christianity and civilization; in
spite of this bitter experience. Mr. Copeland, the
chaplain of a homeward-bound East Indiaman, had
prevailed on the crew to subscribe £,io towairds
building a church or free school in Virginia. The
Company allotted a thousand acres of land as
endowment, and a school, named, in honour of its
founders, the East India School, was founded at
Charlestown, as a dependency of Henrico College,
to which its more promising scholars were to be
transferred. A new rector was appointed for the
college in place of the murdered Thorpe, and it is
natural to suppose that the Copeland designated for

» Letter to Rev. J. Meade, " Court and Times of James I."

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA —PARLIAMENT 63

this office was the same who had aheady shown so
much interest in the mission.^

The Dean of St. Paul's, Donne, who was a member
of the council, urged the cause of the mission with his
most passionate eloquence. "Before the martyrs
under the throne shall be silenced, before all things
shall be subdued to Christ/' he exclaims in a sermon
which has been preserved to us, "His kingdom
established, and the last enemy destroyed, the gospel
must be preached to those men to whom ye send, to
all men. Farther and hasten you this blessed, this
joyful, this glorious consummation of all, and happie
reunion of all bodies to their souls by preaching the
gospel to those men. Preach to them doctrinally,
preach to them practically 5 enamour them with your
justice and (as farre as may consist with your
securitie) your civilitie; but inflame them with
your gentleness and your religion. . . . We shall
have made this island, which is but as the suburbs of
the old world, a bridge or gallery to the new ; to joyne
all to that world which shall never grow old, the
kingdom of heaven." "

* Owing to the dissolution of the Company, Mr. Copeland
was never sent ont^ and the college remained in abeyance till
Dr. Blair, who was appointed by the Bishop of London in 1685,
restored it under the name of the " Collie of William and
Mary." — Bishop Wilberforce, "History of the American
Church."

• Donne's ** Sermons," quoted by Anderson.

„!!■ n T r, " ■-■■'"■■■'■ — ■■-'■"-'""'■■- .- 1 — ■ — I I.. — ■■! I

64 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

But many things conspired to delay the good work.

The treachery of the Indians was not the only
difficulty which beset the Company and its settle-
ments. They had also to meet the jealousy of Spain,
and to meet it with divided counsels. Gondomar,
the Spanish ambassador, told his friends that he was
commissioned by his sovereign to do his best to ruin
the English settlement. ** If it is permitted to gather
strength," he is reported to have said, " my master's
Indies and his Mexico would shortly be visited both
by sea and land by these planters." It was currently
believed that "our statesmen, when time was, had
store of Gundemore's gold to destroy and dis-
countenance the plantation of Virginia." *

The quarrels at the council board were as mis-
chievous to the colony as the possible gold of
"Gundemore," and more distressing. Sir Thomas
Smith, a former treasurer, with his broflier-in-law, the
Earl of Warwick, and sundry officials who had been
rebuked or dismissed by the council, did their utmost
to stir up dissensioa Accusations of mismanagement
were freely exchanged, and the town rang with stories
of the quarrels of the rival parties. " Guelphs and
Ghibellines were not more enemated against each
other." ^ Sandys and Cavendish fell foul of Warwick ;
Warwick told Cavendish that he lied; there was a

* "A Perfect Description of Virginia," 1649.

• Chamberlain to Carleton, "Court and Times of James L"

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA— PARLIAMENT, 65

talk of duels ; their supporters " brabbled " when they
met in the streets. To add to the difficulties of the
council, the king took the side of Smith and WarwicL
James could not abide the " country party " to which
Sandys and Southampton and the Ferrars belonged ;
and he wished above all things to preserve the
Spanish alliance. To this end he was quite willing
to sacrifice the interests of the Virginian plantations.
He discouraged the importation of tobacco, which
was their most valuable product The planters com-
plained piteously. They had never, they said, had
any help from England, except through Mr. Sandis
(Sir E. Sandys), and since, ** by the sinister practises
of some principal persons'* of their own Company,
his Majesty had been persuaded to prohibit the im-
portation of tobacco, " the only commodity we have
hitherto had the means to raise towards the apparelling
of our bodies and other needful supplements," they
feared to be worse off than ever. They implored the
king, as he valued his word, ratified by the Great
Seal, " than which we could account no earthly thing
more firm," either to restore their former liberties or
send for them home to England.^

* "Petition of the Governor and Colonists in Virginia,"
quoted by Peckard. The king, hearing that mulberries grew in
Virginia, wished the settlers to cultivate silk instead of tobacco,
and Nicholas Ferrar, while deputy treasurer, procured skilled
workmen from France to instruct the colonists in the care of

66 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Their entreaties were in vain. James only said
that smoking was an extravagant and pernicious
practice; but he sanctioned the importation of the
objectionable article from the colonies of Spain.

. The confusion had nearly reached its highest point
when Nicholas Ferrar was called to fill one of the
most important offices of the Company. His brother
John, either because his term of office was expired,
or under the necessity of attending to his private
affairs, which the failure of his partner had reduced
to the verge of ruin, resigned his post, and Nicholas
became deputy treasurer in his place. The vast
stock of miscellaneous knowledge which he had
delighted to pick up during his travels, now came into
use. His office was no sinecure. He had to lay in
the stores needed for exportation to the colony, to
superintend the lading and provisioning of the ships,
probably also to assist in the selection of suitable
emigrants, a matter in which the authorities of the
Company took great pains, being specially anxious to
provide good wives for the colonists.^ In addition

the worms. But this industry was not successful ; the worms
were eaten by rats, and the stock seems never to have been
renewed.

' Here is a specimen of the recommendations sent with
emigrants ; it is one of several given by Peckard. " The bearer
hereof, Abigail Downing, widow, hath paid for her own passage,
so that she is free to dispose of herself when she cometh to
Virginia ; but if she think good to live with you, the adventurers

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA— PARLIAMENT, 67

to'these labours, he drew up all the instructions sent
by the treasurer and council to the Colonial Govern-
ment. His cares were not confined to Virginia; he
was also deputy for the Bermudas. The Church in
those islands had been greatly neglected, and the
clergy had grown careless, but during the administra-
tion of Nicholas Ferrar there was a happy change in
this respect. There was no native population in
Bermuda, but Nicholas and his brother John gave
shares of their estate in the islands, to found a free
school for the children of the colonists, and sent out
a great supply of Bibles and Psalm-books for their use.
For a time all went well, and the colony grew and
developed on the lines laid down by Sir Edwin
Sandys. The Earl of Southampton established trial
by jury, and with wide-hearted statesmanship made
the Colonial Assembly independent of the Company
at home. But the days of his rule were numbered.
Urged on by Gondomar on one side, and the factious
minority in the Company on the other, the king
determined to find a pretext for withdrawing the
charter. Commissioners were appointed to inquire
into the manner in which the Compan/s affairs had

are content that you allow her victual and diet, as to your other
people ; and further, they desire you to have a care of her, and
let her have your good counsel and advice for bestowing her
upon some honest man. Her kindred are honest people of good
fashion, well known to the society."

68 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

been conducted, and the treasurer was not permitted
to employ counsel for the defence of himself and his
colleagues.

The chief burden of maintaining the interests of
the council fell on Nicholas Ferrar. He was fre-
quently summoned before the commission to give
evidence as to the government of the colony, and the
eager "adventurers," whose affairs were at stake,
pressed in after him in such numbers, that an order
was issued forbidding him to present himself at the
board with more than twelve persons attending him.

"In the management of this weighty cause,
wherein he had the advice of the ablest lawyers, he
discovered such great integrity, with such a presence
of mind, and yet with so much deference and profound
submission to his Majesty, that even they whose
interest it was to decry the merits of his cause would
acknowledge the merits of his person, and were
pleased to say he well understood State affairs, and
that it was fit he should be taken off that business
and employed on higher;" and, with the hope of
depriving the council of his services, a diplomatic
appointment was pressed upon him, and also the
situation of clerk of the Privy Council. Both offers
were refused.

The commissioners grew angry at the persistence
of the Company in defending its rights. " Your
interest and advice might prevail on the Company

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT, 69

to lay down the patent," said the Lord Treasurer
Cranfield, hotly. Ferrar answered by an appeal to
the king's good faith. " A very considerable number
of the English nobility and gentry," he said, '* besides
all the planters, were engaged upon the royal word,
and under the broad seal; they had ventured their
estates, and many of them their lives, upon the most
religious accounts and the most honourable action in
its kind that England ever undertook ; that now they
had brought the plantation, if not to perfection, yet
into a very thriving condition; that he could only
speak for himself and in behalf of some others there
present, in whose names he laid his and their private
interest at his Majest/s feet ; but he would not abuse
his trust to hurt the public."

Since Ferrar could not be persuaded to quit his
post, an attempt was made to drive him from it by
false accusations. " A lie," the Spanish ambassador
is said to have remarked on this occasion, "might
be worth a good deal if it would hold water but a
few hours." It was said that since the inquiry
began, Ferrar had drawn up and despatched letters
of very evil counsel to the Governor of Virginia,
advising the planters to insist stiffly on the patent
A pursuivant was sent to fetch him to court with all
haste, and he was ordered to produce the despatches.
He replied that all those papers were in the secre-
tary's hands. The papers were sent for, and read

70 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

before the Privy Council, " not only to their entire
satisfaction concerning his integrity, but even to the
admiration of his politics, piety, and eloquence."

"Who draws them up?" inquired one of the
lords.

Ferrar replied modestly, " The Company."

"No," said another Privy Councillor; '*it is all
one hand, and you have the chief hand in it They
are very rare pieces."

A copy of one of the letters was shown to the
king, who joined in the admiration of the Privy
Council "It is a master-piece indeed," his Majesty
condescended to observe; "the man hath much
worth in him." ^

But Ferrar's efforts brought nothing but empty
compliments; the Company was already doomed.
" The Virginian Company," Gondomar told the king,
" is but a seminary to a seditious parliament ; " and
James was not likely to love it better for any proofs
of the ability of its leaders.

The examinations dragged on through the early
spring of 1623, and at last, on the Thursday in Holy
Week, a lengthy accusation, directed against the
whole government of the Company, was presented to
the Privy Council. The Lord Treasurer sent notice
of the presentation to Ferrar, as deputy of the
Company, and demanded that a complete answer

> Jebb.

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT, 71

to all particulars of the accusation should be sent in
by the following Monday afternoon. Ferrar pro-
tested against this haste, which pressed with peculiar
hardship at such a season, but Cranfield " austerely
refused '* to grant an hour's delay. Finding himself
unable to gain time, he at once assembled such of
the Company as could be got together, and read the
charge to them. It was so voluminous that the
reading occupied three hours.

The Company referred their concerns entirely to
Lord Cavendish, Sir Edwin Sandys, and Nicholas
Ferrar. "These three made it midnight ere they
parted; they ate no set meals, they slept not two
hours all Thursday and Friday nights; they met to
admire each other's labours on Saturday night, and
sat in judgment on the whole till five o'clock on
Sunday morning ; then they divided it equally among
six nimble scribes, and went to bed themselves, as it
was high time for them." The transcribers finished
their task by five o'clock on Monday morning ; the
Company met at six to review their labours, and by
two in the afternoon the answer was presented at the
Council Board

This answer gave complete satisfaction to the
friends of the Company, its enemies, as might be
expected, remaining as dissatisfied as before. They
sent two Commissioners to the colony to examine
into its condition, and rake up, if possible, ftesh

72 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

grounds of accusation, and meanwhile the case was
transferred to the Court of King's Bench, Ferrar and
about thirty more of the directors and principal
members of the Virginian Company being served
with a writ of Quo Warranto^ and commanded to
show by what authority they claimed to exercise a
power over the plantation, and send a governor
thither. The deputy and the other officials were
compelled to conduct their defence at their private
charge.

The case was decided against them, and the court
gave sentence "that the patent or charter of the
Company of English merchants trading to Virginia,
and pretending to exercise a power and authority
over his Majesty's good subjects there, should be
thenceforth null and void."

The Company were not disposed to submit tamely
to the ruin of all their hopes and projects, but nothing
more could be done for the present

The party opposed to the extension of the royal
prerogative was watching, in deep discontent, the
progress of the negotiations for Prince Charles's
marriage with the Spanish Infanta; and when, in
1624, James reluctantly summoned a Parliament, to
be opposed to the policy of Spain was in itself a
recommendation to a majority of the electors. The
new House of Commons contained more than a
hundred members of the dissolved Virginia Company,

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT, 73

with Sandys and Ferrar^ at their heed. The king
vainly tried to prevent Sandys from taking his seat
by offering him an appointment in Ireland.

When the prince returned home, he was welcomed
with a tempest of rejoicing, and the popular feeling
with regard to Spain was shown even in the anthem
selected for the thanksgiving service held in St. PauFs
on the occasion. It was " When Israel came out of
Egypt^^ On the day when Buckingham stood up in
the House, with Prince Charles by his side, to explain
the reasons for breaking off the marriage contract,
he became for the time the most popular man in
England.'

Buckingham was determined not only to break
off the Spanish marriage, but to wreck the Spanish
party at the Court, and to this end he made up his
mind to separate the Lord Treasurer . Cranfield, now
Earl of Middlesex, from the king. The weapon he
chose for this purpose was an impeachment by the
House of Commons.

The king struggled feebly to save his minister.
" You will live to have your bellyful of Parliamentary
impeachments," he said with prophetic shrewdness

' Ferrar was one of the members for Lymington. — Parliament
Roll for 1624.

• S. Gardiner, "History of England," vol. v. chap.
xlviL Buckingham " is now a favourite with Parliament, people,
and city, for breaking the match with Spain." — Howell's
"Letters."

74 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

to his son, who took Buckingham's part. The Lord
Keeper Williams, the duke's "creature and bedes-
man,"^ who feared lest his own turn should come
next, advised the king to give in. "If you suffer
not your old and perhaps innocent servant to be
plucked from the sanctuary of your mercy," said the
official " keeper of the king's conscience," " you foil
your son. Necessity must excuse you from incon-
stancy or cruelty." '

The impeachment proceeded The members of
the Virginia Company had their own quarrel to settle
with the treasurer, and it is probably for this reason
that Ferrar, though so young a member, was joined
with Sandys and Cavendish in bringing the impeach-
ment before the House of Lords, We have no
record of the " long, but not tedious," speech which
Ferrar delivered on this occasion,* but in the opinion
of his friends it was a main cause of the condemnation
of Middlesex.

* Williams signs himself thus in a letter to Buckingham,
through whose influence he had (at his own request) been made
Dean of Westminster.

• Racket, "Life of WiUiams."

» "Many desired to have his speech, but he craved pardon."
— ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. i8. The writer
hoped to have discovered some notice of this speech in Sir
E. Nicholas's "Notes of the Parliament of 1624** (Domestic
State Papers, clxvi.), but was baffled by the extremely difficult
handwriting.

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT, 75

For eight weary hours the treasurer stood at the
bar of the House to listen to the charges against
* him. He was quite worn out, and when a deputation
from the Lords was sent to his house, they found him
in bed, and complaining bitterly of the treatment to
which he had been subjected, in being made to stand
for so many hours, and to defend himself without
the aid of counsel He met with little pity. Lord
Southampton, who was one of the deputation, told
the House that " his voice seemed strong enough,"
and it was agreed that when he was next summoned
before them he should be allowed " a stoole, but no
counsel." Middlesex defended him bravely — in the
opinion of Clarendon he cleared himself from blame ;
but his enemies had no mercy on him. " The faults
of Bacon," said Southampton, passionately, "were
few to the faults of the Lord Treasurer ; " he had been
guilty of " extorsion and tyranny," was unfaithful to
the king, " and a wolfe to all the kingdom." ^

He was found guilty, imprisoned, fined, and
rendered incapable of again sitting in the House j and
so violent was the feeling against him, that in spite
of that severe sentence, we read in a contemporary
letter that " it is marvelled they proceeded no further
to degrade him upon so many just reasons."^

Very different was the feeling of Nicholas Ferrar

* Elsinge's "Notes" (Camden Society).

* Chamberlayne to Sir D. Carleton, " Court of James I."

76 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

when, in calmer days, he looked back upon the thing
which he had helped to do. Middlesex may have
been wrong, very wrong according to a high standard
of honour, wrong even according to the standard
which prevailed among the public men of his time,
but he had not deserved the treatment which he
received ; ^ and Ferrar's sensitive spirit repented long
and bitterly for the course, which loyalty to his party,
and perhaps also some personal anger against the
man who had done so much to destroy his work in
Virginia, had led him to take. "I would I were
assured of the pardon of that sin," he was heard to
say, stretching out his right hand, " though on that
condition this right hand were cut off."

If the members of the Virginia Company thought
that either the failure of the Spanish alliance or the
condemnation of Middlesex would restore their fallen
hopes, they were cruelly mistaken. A great effort, in
which Sir Edwin Sandys and Nicholas Ferrar again
took a leading part, was made to procure a confirma-
tion of their rights by Act of Parliament

The Journals of the House briefly record the
struggle.

* On the question of Middlesex's guilt, see Mr. S. R. Gardiner :
" Some things which formed the subject of accusation were even
to his praise. But after all allowances have been made, there
remains enough to show that he had done things which he
ought never to have done." — " History of England," vol v.
chap, xlviii-

THE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA— PARLIAMENT. 77

" Lunae, 26 April :

" Mr. Ferrar delivereth a petition from the Treasurer,
Council, and Company of Virginia. Read.

" A Committee of several and all that will come.
Those that are of the company to be present to
inform, but to have no voice."

" 20 Mail Sir Edwin Sand)rs moves for a select
commission to peruse the draught he and Mr. Ferrar
have made for grievances on trade."

" May 24. Petition of grace, not grievances, upon
questions ordered to be drawn by Sir Ed. Sandys and
Mr. Ferrar."

"May 25. The Committee thought fit a petition
of right, etc. Sir Edwyn Sandys and Mr. Ferrar to
do it"

But on this same day a message from the king was
delivered to the committee. His Majesty " thought
the House need not meddle with it this session . . .
will have the honour himself of recalling the patent."
He added, that " by the next Parliament they should
all see it ; he would make it one of his masterpieces,
as it well deserved to be." The Virginian charter
was withdrawn by the king under the Great Seal ;
and shQrtly after, by letter merely, he suppressed the
Bermuda Company.

The king's promises " were but fair words, as the
event showed, for all was let loose, and to go to six and
seven," writes John Ferrar, with natural bitterness, in

78 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

concluding the story. The colony was " never looked
after, whether sinke or swimme, and hath now these
twenty-four yeares since laboured for life, and only to
subsist with much adoe, ... in all these many yeares
no more people in it, and they having little incourage-
ment and great uncertainties whether even to be
continued a colony ; whereby men have had no heart
to plant for posterity, but every man for the present,
planted tobacco to get a living by it" ^

But the work of Southampton and Sandys, the work
to which the Ferrar brothers devoted some of the
best years of their lives, was not thrown away.

" The Earl of Southampton, Sir Edwin Sandys, and
the patriot party in England, unable to establish
guarantees of a liberal administration at home, were
careful to connect popular freedom so intimately with
the life, prosperity, and state of society of Virginia,
that they never could be separated." *

They had planted with as firm a hand the Catholic
Church, according to the English rite." The colony
continued to bear "a great love to the stated con-
stitutions of the Church of England, in her govern-
ment and public worship, which gave us (who went

• " Perfect Description of Virginia " (1649).

• Bancroft, "History of the United States."

• " The last act of the Colonial Legislature, while still under
the company, provides that in every settlement a house should
be set apart for the worship of God, according to the Church of
England. "—Hawk.

THE COUSCIL OF VIRGINIA — PARLIAMENT. 79

thither under the late persecutions of it) the advantage
of liberty to use it constantly among them, after the
naval force had reduced the colony under the power
but never to the obedience," ^ of Cromwell.

The ruin of the Company must have been a deep
sorrow and disappointment to Nicholas Ferrar, but
he had still before him the possibility of a brilliant
future. He was an active member of the popular
party, the trusted friend of its most distinguished
leaders. "Every parliament man was very willing to
be acquainted with him." * He might have become,
as the stirring years went on —

A potent voice of Parliament,
A pillar steadfast in the storm."

He deliberately chose instead to spend his life in
prayer and fasting, and in the training of a little
group of relations and friends in devotion and good
works.

* ** Vii^nia's Cure,*' quoted by Bishop AA^lberforce, " History
of the American Church.**

• •* life of Nicholas Ferrar,** by his brother.

CHAPTER IV.

FERRAR PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RELIGIOUS RE
TIREMENT — THE PURCHASE OF GIDDING — HIS
ORDINATION,

A.D. 1625, 1626.

•' Thee sovereignly my will shall chuse ;
My love shall to Thy love aspire,
The sole desirable desire.
Thou wilt have all my heart or none,
The world I for Thy sake disown."

Bishop Ken, 1637-1711.

** They carry music in their heart
Through dusty lane and wrangling mart,
Pl3ring their daily task with busier feet,
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat."

Christian Viar, *« Si, Matthew's Day,^

These lines express the attitude of Ferraris mind
throughout the busy years which he spent in London,
filled as they were with business, anxiety, and the heat
of political conflict

It was thought that he took a vow of celibacy on
recovering from his illness at Padua, Whether this
be so or not, it seems certain that the desire to devote
his life to religious retirement sprang from no sudden
impulse, but was the secret growth of years.

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT, 8i

His refusal of the Professorship at Gresham College,
and of Government employment, has been already
mentioned. A rich merchant, one of his friends of
the Virginian Company, made him a proposal which
sounds strange to us, but was permitted by the
manners of the time ; he " courted and wooed ^ him
to take his only child in marriage, with ten thousand
pounds to her portion.

He put all these flattering offers gently aside. He
said that he was not worthy of so much honour ; thai
he had other intentions and aims. To the merchant
only, in his eagerness to avoid discourtesy to the
proffered bride, he confessed his secret purpose — to
lead, with God's help, a retired and single life.^

But though " he had formed his resolutions, he had
not yet shaped his occasions " for the retirement he
longed for. He could not leave his father's affairs
unsettled, and his tender love and regard for his
widowed mother kept him constantly near her. In
the absence of private letters or journals, we have no
means of learning how the peculiar form of religious
life which he afterwards adopted, formed itself in his
mind; but it was apparently the result of circum-
stances, and was probably due, in great part, to the
influence of Mrs. Ferrar.

He himself seems at one time to have cherished
the idea of devoting himself to mission work among

* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 93.

82 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

the Indians in the Virginian colony which he loved so
well. This wish he frequently expressed to Mr. Cope-
land, the rector designate of Henrico College, who
told Sir Edwin Sandys that he verily believed Mr.
Ferrar was determined to spend his life in the con-
version of the infidels or others in that country,
adding, '*If he should do so, I wiU never leave him,
but wait upon him in that glorious work." ^

The sorrow which he expressed on his death-bed
for his " great neglect in almsgiving," perhaps points to
some struggle between his high sense of family duty
and affection, and the desire to give up everything,
^ven those tenderest and most sacred bonds, for the
love of God alone. " It had been my pajt to have
given all I had," he said to one who spoke of his
deeds, adding, "The Lord God forgive, I most
humbly beseech Him, my too much carnal Ipye to my
friends on this kind." ^

During these early years he observed very strict
rules of life, preparing himself, by acts of increasing
austerity, for whatever form of devotion he might
eventually be called to embrace.

In the course of his travels he had collected a
quantity of choice books in various languages ; many
of these books treated of prayer and the spiritual
life, but there were also among them a great number

» " Peckvd,*' p. io6.

• " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. %u

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT. 83

of " comedies, tragedies, love-hymns, heroical poems,
novels, and the like," in which he had formerly taken
great delight With Puritan severity, he cut himself
off from this world of imagination and poetry.^ He
covild not make up bis mind to destroy his cherished
volumes, but he put them under lock and key — three
great hampers full — ^and left them to gather dust and
mildew undisturbed. The hours which he could
secure from business were so frequently spent in
prayer and fasting, that his seasons of retirement
passed unnoticed in his family.

While on the Continent his opportunities of
joining in the worship of the English Church must
have been scanty and infrequent, and we can fancy
how eagerly he would return to the habits of his
youth, how devout and constant would be his atten-
dance at the divine service.

* Bishop Ken, lover and writer of poetry as he was, seems
to have taken the same line. In the catal(^ue of his books,
given l^ the late Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, no poems occur
except some of the works of Milton and those of Herbert,
Donne, Crashaw, and Sandys. Read in the light of this £aict,
tiielines^

•* The heavenly fire Jehovah sent
Was only on His altar spent,
And all poetic heaven-bom flame
Should be devoted to His Name,**

would appear to mean, that all poetry should be distinctly
religious, not only in tone but in subject.

84 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

That " strong north wind coming out of Scotland,"
which was said to have blown Abbott across the
Thames to Lambeth, had reduced the ritual of our
churches to the coldest depth of desolation which
it has ever reached. The archbishop forbade his
household to bow at the Holy Name. King James
showed open disregard for public worship, seldom
entering his chapel till the prayers were nearly over.^
With such examples before them, it is not wonderful
that the careless young court noblemen tilted on
Good Friday, that the clergy sometimes ministered
without surplices, and their congregation received the
Holy Communion standing or sitting.

But new life was springing up. In one diocese, at
least, and that one of the most important. Catholic
teaching and devout ritual were enforced. Of the
work of the great and saintly Bishop of Winchester,
the venerable Lancelot Andrewes, it would be pre-
sumptuous for the present writer to attempt any
description ; yet, since the training of a Churchman
in King James's time without the teaching of

* " I desired his Majesty King Charles that he would please
to be present at prayers as well as sermon every Sunday ; and
that at whatsoever part of the prayers he came, the priest then
ofEciating might proceed to the end of the prayers. The most
religious king not only assented to this request, but also gave
me thanks. This had not before been done from the beginning
of King James's reign unto this day. Now, thanks be to God, it
obtaineth.** — Laud's "Diary," November 14, a.d. 1626.

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT. 85

. \

Andrewes would have been as incomplete as that
of our own generation would be if Dr. Pusey or
Mr. Keble had never existed, it may be allowable
to give some account of that teaching in the words
of one who can speak on such a subject with
authority.^

" Without departing from the position or the lines of
the original Reformation," Bishop Andrewes '* greatly
enlarged its field of teaching. In the outskirts and
fringes of its system, where it had been characteris-
tically reticent, he was not afraid to supply from the
authorities, to which it had all along appealed, what
was wanting to complete the harmony and fiilness of
its doctrine. Thus, with respect to the idea of the
Christian sacrifice in the Eucharist, on which the
language of the ancient Church was so clear and
strong, and on which, from the superstitions and errors
of the Mediaeval Church, the English Prayer-book
was so reserved, Andrewes, without hesitation and
as of full right, recurred, both in controversy and in
teaching, to the language of the Liturgies, familial
to the early writers from Irenaeus to Augustine. So,
again, with respect of those forms and offices for
special occasions not provided for in the general
office-book of the Church, he threw himself, as an
ancient bishop would have done, on his inherent

* "Masters in English Theology: Lancelot Andrewes," by
the late Very Rev. R. W. Church, Dean of St. PauFs.

86 LIFE OP NICHOLA:^ FERRAR.

episcopal authority to supply the want. It is mainly
according to the model used by him that our churches
are even to this day consecrated. Full of discrimi-
nation for what really had the authority of the ancient
Church, he was the most fearless of English divines
where he had that authority. English theology would
be in danger of being much leas Catholic, much
more disconnected with that of the earlier ages,
much more arbitrarily limited in all directions, except
towards Geneva or else towards simple latitude, but
that a man of Andrewes' character and weight
had dared to break through the prescription which
the Puritans were trying to establish against the
doctrinal language, at once more accurate and more
free, of the ancient Church."

Ferrar had been mainly left to form his own
opinions, for he was little more than a boy when he
was launched on the Continent to steer his way alone
amid the conflicting claims of the Roman Church,
the Protestant sects, the scepticism and the indif-
ference which met him on every side.

It must have been an infinite gain to him to hear
the teaching of his own Church put forth in all
its strength and fulness by an authority so weighty.
We can fancy him hanging on the lips of Andrewes,
his keen mind following the great preacher through
all the windings of his condensed and rapid thought,
undeterred by the quaint abruptness which matkes

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT. 87

those famous^ s^rmonsf appear difficult and unattrac-
tive to modem readers. They were not unattractive
then. The chapel at Whitehall was crowded when-
ever the ** matchless bishop," **the oracle of our
present times,** occupied the pulpit; and a great
school of men was rising up to carry on and develop
his teaching.

Among these men were Dr. Lindsell, Ferrat's old
tutor, and his father's friend. Dr. White, Dean of
Carlisle; and closely linked with them were Laud,
lately made Bishop of St David^s, and Cosins, still
young, but already So highly regarded that both
Andrewes and Overall had offered him posts in their
households, the so-called "families^ with which
bishops surrounded themselves in those stately days.

The directions given (under the advice of Laud)
to the chaplains who attended Prince Charles in
Spain ^ show both the progress which had been made
in reviving a decent and orderly ritual, and the great
need of enforcing the most ordinary reverence; it
was even thought necessary to direct that those

> These instructions direct that in the room set apart for
prayer there should be "an altar, fonts, paUs, linen-coverings,
demy - Carpet, four surplices, candlesticks, tapers, chalices,
pattens, a fine towel for the prince, other towels for the
household, a traTese of water for the Commnnion, a bason and
flaggons, two copes ; and also that water should be mixed with
the wine, and smooth wafers used for the bread." — Heylin's
**Lile of Laud," vol. i. p. 106.

88 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

present at the services should be uncovered, and
should stand at the Creeds and Gospel

There was in London another remarkable preacher,
who, though he has left no such mark as Bishop
Andrewes, was yet of great influence in his day.
Dr. John Donne, Dean of St. Paul's, did not form
a school of theology, but he stirred men's hearts to
their innermost depth.

"His own heart was possessed with those very
thoughts and joys which he laboured to distil into
others ; a preacher in earnest, weeping sometimes for
his auditory, sometimes with them ; always preaching
to himself, like an angel from a cloud, but in none ;
carrying some, as St Paul was, to heaven in holy
raptures, and enticing others by a sacred art and
courtship to amend their lives ; here picturing a vice
so as to make it ugly to those that practised it, and
a virtue so as to make it beloved even by those that
loved it not; and all this with a most particular
grace and an inexpressible addition of comeliness." ^
We are reminded of the St Paul's which we know
and love to-day, when we read of the " organs, cor-
nets, and sackbuts " which rolled their waves of sound
through the aisles of the perished cathedral, " accom-
panied and intermingled with such excellent voices
that seemed rather to enchant than chant," ai^d
picture to ourselves the crowds gathering from all

» Walton's "Liie of Donne.'*

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT, 89

parts of the city — from Westminster and Southwark,
and across the fields from quiet suburban villages,
Kensington and Paddington, and others long since
swallowed up by invading London — to hear the ser-
mons of the great dean, "lit up by the genius of
of a poet, and heated by the zeal of an evangelist" ^

We can even distinguish individuals as the streams
go by and disappear in the open doorways, names
familiar to us as the names of those who were alive
but yesterday. There is Donne's college friend,
Sir Henry Wotton, stately and gracious, with the
sweet and polished manner that made his company
"one of the delights of mankind," and with him,
perhaps, Isaak Walton, just settled in his new shop
in Fleet Street The keen eye of the practised
scholar and diplomatist must have detected some
rare gift in the young linen-draper whom he honoured
with his companionship, but he could little have fore-
seen that his fame and that of the preacher whom he
admired and loved were in the keeping of this modest
friend ; that by his portraits, alive with insight and
tender sympathy, their features would be chiefly known.

Here, too, George Herbert, still wearing the silk
clothes and sword of a courtly layman, would come
from time to time to listen to the old friend of his
childhood. He was going through a sharp conflict

' "Donne, the Poet-Preacher,** by Bishop Lightfoot, in
Classic Preachers of the English Church."

90 LIPE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

It was long before he coald decide to give up " the
painted pleasures of a court life *' for the service of
the Church. He tells us himself that—

** Whereas my birth ind spirit rather todk
The way that takes the town,
Tkou didst betray me to a lingering book

And wrap me in a gown.
I was entangled in a world of strife
Before I had the power to change my life.*^

Was it in some crisis of this struggle that he first met
Ferrar, and formed with him in that one interview —

" A friendship that hath conquered Time " ?

Since Arthur Woodnoth, the goldsmith^ the valued
friend of Herbert's family, was also Ferrar's cousin,
what more probable than that these three, coming
forth from the twilight aisles of the cathedral, their
hearts pierced by Donne's fiery eloquence, should
meet and walk together through the darkening streets
to Woodnoth's house in Foster Lane ?

The young poet and the young member of parlia*
ment steeped to the lips in business seem to have
understood one another at once. After their first,
and, as is thought, only meeting, wherever it may have
taken place, Ferrar became George Herbert's "ex-
ceeding dear brother," his "entire friend and
brother."^ Shortly before his death he desired to

> •*! know they " (Herbert and Ferrar) ** loved each other most
entirely, and their very souls cleaved together most intimately,

PREPARES J^OR A LlJ^E OF RETIREMENT. 91

exchange Bemerton for a living near Huntingdon, for
no other reason but to be within reach of his friend ;
and in Ferraris care he left his poems, at his absolute
disposal, to be burnt or printed as he might see fit.
Herbert had been for eight years public orator at
Cambridge ; he had been a courtier ; he had older
friends, friends more highly plac^ than the recluse of
Gidding. This display of confidence and aSection
for a man of whom he had seen so little, marks a
deep sense of admiration, perhaps also of personal
obligation, and a conjecture forces itself on the mind
as one thinks of the brief intercourse of these fervent
spirits, that the influence of Ferrar, more practical,
more determined, less swayed by imagination, may have
helped to decide the wavering mind of Herbert in his
resolution to lay aside all hopes of rising in the state,
and devote himself to the service of God at the
altar,^

and drove a large stock of Christian intelligence together long
before their deaths ; yet saw they not each other in many years. '
— Oley, •'Life of George Herbert." ** As I take it, having but'
once had personal conference with each other." — **Life of
Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother.

* There are many traces of this struggle in Herbert's writings.
For one of the most striking, see the poem entitled ** Affliction "
(No. 63).

" Broken in pieces all asunder.
Lord, hunt me not,
A thing forgot ;
Once a poor creature, now a wonder—*

92 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Nicholas Ferrar did not take his final leave of
London life till the summer of 1626, but during the
winter of 1624-25, after the collapse of the last hopes
of the Virginia Company, though his family affairs,
owing to the failure of John Ferrar's partner, were
still seriously embarrassed, he felt free to consider
the place and manner of his retirement from the
world.

The scheme of life which he then formed, displays
a remarkable union of determination and flexibility.
He accepted the situation in which he found himself,
which was not perhaps that which he would have
chosen, with the calmest common sense, and at the
same time with undiminished fervour. He was the
chief support of his mother, the virtual head of
the family, and he made up his mind to carry out
to the full all the varied duties imposed on him by this
position, and yet to abate nothing of the ascetic ideal
to which he had so long desired to conform his life.
The result was a compromise, as so many things must
be, but a compromise which he turned to the loftiest
purpose.

Mrs. Ferrar entered heartily into her son's plans,

A wonder, tortured in the space
Betwixt this world and that of grace.

My thoughts are all a case of knives,
Wounding my heart.'

»»■

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT. 93

which she may indeed have helped to mould, and
agreed to leave London and fix her abode in some
retired part of the country, where Nicholas might
without interruption lead the life of his choice.

In May, 1625, she completed the purchase of the
lordship of Little Gidding, a depopulated parish
turned entirely into pasture land, with a large ruinous
mansion, a single shepherd's cottage, and a small
church used as a hay bam, situated in a solitary
neighbourhood twelve miles from Huntingdon. The
house required considerable repair and alteration
before it could be made a fit dwelling-place for Mrs.
Ferrar and her family, which included, besides
Nicholas, her granddaughter, Mary Collett, a girl of
twenty-two, who had lived with her from early child-
hood; but circumstances compelled her to leave
London and take up her abode at Gidding at an
earlier date than she at first intended.

The summer of 1625 set in wet and gloomy, and
unhealthy mists crept up from the river, carrying the
seeds of illness from the ships in the Pool into the
narrow streets of the city. The solemnities of the
funeral of James I., the rejoicings for his son's
marriage, lost their importance in the presence of a
great fear. By Ascension Day, people began to
whisper to each other that the plague had come. In
the course of that week a friend of the Ferrars, living
in the next house^ died. His relations were doubtful

94 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

as to the cause of his de^tb, or desirous to conceal it,
and some of the Ferrars were invited to the funeral,
but on Whitsun Eve another menjber of the family
sickened, and Nicholas Ferrar took the alarm.

He at once procured a coach and sent his mother
and her household to Hertford that night j on Whit
Monday Mrs. Ferrar proceeded to her son-in-law's
house at Bourne, taking with her, as it would seem,
her grandaughter Mary and John Ferraris wife and
children, while John himself went on to Gidding to
make the newly purchased house fit for habitation as
speedily as possible, and Nicholas remained in town
to attend to his own affairs and those of his brother.
The wet weather still continued, and the fear of
famine began to be added to that of pestilence. By
the n^iddle of July the plague was raging throughout
London and Westminster, and four thousand persons
died in one week.

Nicholas stayed in the sorrowful city till he had
wound up his business connected with hi$ father's
estate, paid off all debts, and cleared his family estate
from th^ encumbr3,nce§ resulting from the failure of
his brother's p9.rtner, and probably also froni the ruin
of the Virginia Company— a task which he could only
accoipplish at considerable personal sacrifice. The
sum left by bis father to the college at Henrico he
made over, now that the restoration of the college
seemed indefinitely postponed, to the Governor of

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT, 95

B^nuuda, in trust for the Christiaa education of
" three wild young infidels."

When his family affairs w^re at last brought into
order, he joined his brother John at Little Gidding,
entreating his mother to remain a month longer at
Bourne, lest be. should have brought infectioa with
him.

But the mother's heart would not suffer this delay.
Within three days of his arrival, she rode, though now
seventy years of age, the fifteen miles from Bourne to
Gidding, through miry lanes impassable for a coach.

" Their greeting was like that of old Jacob and his
son Joseph, after his father had given him over for
lost, while he was providing for the support of the
family. Such an interview must needs be passion-
ately kind and zealously devout, bpth of them bless-
ing God, and she again and again blessing her son.
He prayed her to enter the rude house and to re-
pose herself after her journey. * Not so,' said she ;
* yonder I see the church; let us first go thither, to
give Grod thanks that He has brought me to this good
place and has restored me my son.' It was told her
there was no getting into it, for as yet there had not
been time to empty the hay that was in it, which was
intended shortly to be done. By the sacrilege and
profaneness of the former inhabitants of Gidding the
house of God was turned into a hay-bam and a
hog-stye. But this good woman had somewhat of

96 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

Augustine's mother, Monica, in her devotion, of whom
that Father affirms, that * if a dragon stood between
her and the altar, she would have stept through him
to advance thither.' So this divine soul persisted in
her ardent resolution, and, thrusting into the church a
little way, she kneeled and prayed and wept there
about a quarter of an hour. Then she charged her
son to send instantly for all the workmen about the
house, which were many, and commanded them to
fling out the hay at the church windows, and to
cleanse it as well as they could for the present.* She
was obeyed, and she saw all this done before she
would stir or set her foot in the house."

Under the energetic rule of this devout and high-
spirited lady, the renovation of both church and
house proceeded so quickly that in a month's time
she was able to send for some of her family from
Bourne, though the old mansion still required much
repair and alteration before it could be properly fitted
to the needs of a large household. Mrs. CoUett was
the first to rejoin her mother, and she was followed
in the course of the summer by the whole of her
numerous family, as well as by Mrs. John Ferrar and
her children. The spendthrift eldest son, Richard
Ferrar, though a constant object of anxiety, is scarcely
mentioned in the memoirs, but Mrs. CoUett's letter?
show that he was an occasional visitor at Gidding^
* ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by Dr. Jebb, p. 29.

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT. 97

and it is hardly likely that he was left uncared for in
this time of dismay and trouble.

Through the remainder of that dreary summer and
the long winter that followed, the reunited family
remained at Gidding. All, following the mother's
example, took a deep interest in the repair and deco-
ration of the desecrated church, working at it with
their own hands. They made it their oratory, and
there daily recited the Litany on behalf of those
suffering from the plague. On Sundays they attended
the neighbouring church of Steeple Gidding, and when
the repair of Little Gidding was sufficiently advanced,
the friendly vicar of that parish would sometimes
come over, followed by his flock, to perform service
in the restored sanctuary.

During this time Nicholas Ferrar, freed from all
labour but the congenial task of fitting house and
church to be the home of his little community,
worked out in his mind a scheme which should com-
bine the rule of a Religious house with the ordinary
routine of domestic life. At what time he first pro-
posed this manner of life to hb relations, by what
persuasion he won them to adopt it, how far the
union of the different branches of the family under
one roof grew out of this plan or was the result of
accident and convenience, is matter of conjecture
only.

Probably the anxieties which they had gone through

98 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

together, the sadness which hung over the land, the
hours of united prayer when they knelt in intercession
for the " deplorable city '* to which they were bound by
so many ties, drew the hearts of the litde company
nearer to each other and to God. In this green and
pleasant solitude, their minds were free to rise un-
disturbed by the thousand influences of business and
society which are too apt to choke devout aspirations.
" They began already to taste the delicious fruits of
peace and quietness," and when Mrs. Ferrar, after
nine months' experience of this quiet life, made up
her mind " by the grace of God to take livery and
seizin of her new purchase by laying her bones there,"
John Ferrar and his wife and Mr. and Mrs. CoUett
determined to remain with her. From this time we
hear no more of the house at Bourne, and Gidding
remained the home of the entire family.

After Easter, the plague having at length ceased,
they all went up to London, ** that the good old
gentlewoman might take her last leave of all her
friends, expecting to see them no more till the great
Easter morning at the Resurrection."

They remained in town for several weeks, arrang-
ing for the letting of the great London house, and
settling their remaining affairs; and, this accom-
plished, Nicholas Ferrar felt that the time was at last
come when he might solemnly dedicate himself to the
exclusive service of God.

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT. 99

He kept his resolution secret, fearing, for what
reason it is not easy to understand, that his friends
might still oppose it. It is possible that his mother,
though herself desirous to live a retired life, still
clung to the hope of some brilliant destiny for her
favourite son. He passed the week before Whit
Sunday in prayer, fasting, and watching, but his
family, accustomed to see him spend much time in
devotion, observed nothing unusual in this retirement
On Whitsun Eve he watched the whole night through.
Dr. Lindsell, the only person to whom he had con-
fided his intentions, was "ravished with joy" to find
that his beloved pupil was now about to enter on the
profession which he had so long desired for him;
yet even he did not fully sympathize with the life to
which Ferrar felt called. " If he could but be pre-
vailed on to ascend the pulpit,** the good man was
sometimes heard to say, " he were then in his proper
orb, and would shine among those who turn many to
righteousness." It was perhaps in order to avoid aU
possibility of preferment, perhaps only from the intense
humility which underlay his somewhat authoritative
ways, that he made known to his old tutor his resolve
never to pass beyond the diaconate.

Early in the morning of Trinity Sunday he went,
accompanied by Lindsell, to Henry VII. 's Chapel in
Westminster Abbey, and there Laud, still Bishop of
St. David's, ordained him deacon, he being then in
his thirty-fifth year.

100 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

It was towards evening when Ferrar returned home
on that, to him, memorable Sunday. He went straight
to his mother, who was seated among her children
and fpends — z. little gathering, of those from whom
she was to part so soon — and, drawing from his
breast a roll of vellum, he begged her to allow him
to read to her what he had written. It was a formal
and solemn vow, written and signed with his own
hand, to devote himself to God's service as an act of
thanksgiving for his preservation in so many dangers
of soul and body, and the deliverance of his &mily
from the brink of ruin. He added his resolution to
be " the Levite in his own house," and make his own
family his cure of souls.

The assembled friends seem to have been over-
whelmed with amazement at this declaration, remem-
bering perhaps how short a time had elapsed since
Nicholas had stood in the forefront of the parliamen-
tary battle, and did service to Buckingham which the
all-powerful duke might now be both able and willing
to requite. They stood silent, looking at him ; but
the mother, falling on his neck, wept and blessed
him, praying that he might be filled with the Holy
Spirit daily more and more. " I also/' said she, ** will,
by the help of my God, set myself with more care and
diligence than ever to serve our good Lord God, as is
all our duties to do, in all we may." *

' " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 25.

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIftEM^N-T, ^oi

-j"»'

- • ^i-l

#4 J '

All Ferrar's friends seem to haVe *shlir4d inutile
astonishment caused by his ordination."' S(5"feservea
had he been, and so completely had his inner life
been concealed during his six years of work in
London, that even Sir Edwin Sandys, who had known
him intimately from the first, was amazed. Offers of
benefices were immediately showered upon him, it
being apparently inconceivable to the imagination of
the time that anybody should wish to live without
preferment of some kind. Sir Edwin, through whom
these offers were made, pressed him to accept them,
but Ferrar was fixed in his determination.

He told his friend that he had parted his worldly
estate among his £a,mily, and meant to devote his
** half-talent," as he modestly called it, to make them
partakers of spiritual treasures.

There was now nothing more to do but to return
to Gidding, and there settle down in the strict way of
life which Nicholas had mapped out That he should
have induced not only his devoted mother, but his
brother and brother-in-law, both married men of
middle age (Mr. Collett had sixteen children), to
submit to this austere rule, and to bring up their
families in the same, is a remarkable proof both of
his extraordinary personal influence and of the recoil
of feeling which was drawing back Churchmen more
and more towards the lost Religious Life. This
feeling meets us again and again in the writings of

ica • . * .IIEE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

• •■

• ■ •

• •' > . : ;■ ; %..'

• - d
• ■

:';>h^'centttrjr. which lies between the period of the

' " ElizartJethan' Settlement and the period of the final

separation of the Nonjurors; the hatred and terror

of Popery was still so great that few ventured openly

to propose the foundation of a Religious Order, but

their minds dwelt on the subject, and here and there,

singly or in little groups, they strove after some

fashion to live the life.

Bishop Andrewes, in his " Devotions," gives thanks

for—

** The ascetics and their tears,
The virgins, flowers of purity,
Celestial gems.
Brides of the Immaculate Lamb." '

It was the cherished hope of Lettice Lady Falkland,
a hope which her early death in the midst of the
civil war left unfulfilled, to aid in the foundation of
houses " for the education of young gentlewomen and
the retirement of widows," "hoping thereby that learn-
ing and religion might flourish more in her own sex
than heretofore, having such opportunities to serve
the Lord without distraction." '

Sir George Wheler,® in the preface to his " Protes-

» "Devotions of Bishop Andrewes," p. 33. Oxford edition.
1848.

* " The Holy life and Death of the Lady Letice Vicountess
Falkland," by John Duncon, Parson (sequestered). See also
Note at the end of this chapter.

• Sir George Wheler, or Wheeler, was in his youth a traveller
of some note. He afterwards took orders and became Rector of

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT. 103

tant Monastery," published in 1698, writes that ** Con-
vents for single women seem convenient, if not very
necessary for all times and countries," and if duly
ordered, "would undoubtedly be both a reputation
to the Church and advantageous to the nation."
" Yet," he adds, ** considering the great decay of
Christian piety, and especially of devotion in this
age, there seems but small hopes that anything of
this nature shall be brought to pass. Therefore, till
it shall please God to send such unprejudiced times
as may bring such commendable works to perfection,
the pious conduct of private families shall be the
monasteries that I shall most earnestly commend to
all devout masters of them."

Of such devout and strictly ordered households,

Houghton-le- Spring. "The Protestant Monastery ; or, Christian
iEconomicks," is a manual of devotion compiled originally for his
own family, and used, as he tells us, in his household for twenty
years before its publication. It consists of four day hours, and
four night watches, matins, sext, and the second night watch, or
compline, being intended for the use of the whole household,
and the five remaining offices for such of the family as have more
leisure. These offices are formed from those in the Common
Prayer-book, with paraphrases and "enlargements,** among
which is a very beautiful " Litany of Praise ** for use on festivals.
Sir G. Wheler adds minute directions for setting apart the best
room in each house as an oratory, or, if this be not practicable,
for a careful arrangement of the family sitting-room before
prayer-time, and suggests that the reader and all his family
should face the same way, and that men should be placed on
one side of the room, and women on the other.

I04 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

the family of Gidding is perhaps the most remarkable
and certainly the most conspicuous example.^

Note.

A plan of a college for the higher education of women, which
should be at the same time a religious house, was put forth half
a century after Lady Falkland's death by Mrs. Astell. After
deploring the ignorance and frivolity of the ladies of her time, she
proposes as a remedy "to erect a monastery, or if you will (to
avoid giving offence to the scrupulous and injudicious by names
which, though innocent in themselves, have been abused by super-
stitious practices) we will call it a religious retirement, . . •
Here such as are willing in a more peculiar and undisturbed
manner to attend the great business they came into the world
about, the service of God and improvement of their own minds,
may find a convenient and blissful recess from the noise and
hurry of the world, . • . and all that acme of delight which the
devout seraphic soul enjoys when, dead to the world, she devotes
herself entirely to the contemplation and fruition of her Beloved ;
when, having disengaged herself from all those lets which
hindered her from without, she moves in a direct and vigourous
motion towards her true and only good. . . . Your retreat, shall
be so managed as not to exclude the good works of the active,
from the pleasure and serenity of a contemplative life."

Daily service " in the cathedral manner," frequent communion,
and a careful observation of the precepts of their " holy mother
the Churehf whose sacred injunctions are too much neglected
even by those who pretend to the greatest zeal for her," were to be
part of the rule of the house, and " care shall be taken that our

' Cf. the account of the Ladies of Naish Court in the 24th
chapter of the " Life of Bishop Ken," by the late Very Rev.
E. H. Plumptre.

PREPARES FOR A LIFE OF RETIREMENT, 105

religious be under the tuition of persons qualified to minister to
all the spiritual wants of their charge, watching over their souls
with tenderness and prudence, applying fitting medicines with
sweetness and affability."

The ladies were to spend some time in study as well as prayer,
Mrs. Astell holding that they had as much right as men to
improve their minds, and that learning would assist them in the
practice of devotion; "for even the men themselves," she
remarks, " if they have not a competent degree of knowledge,
they are carried about with every wind of doctrine."

Their special work was to be the education of girls of the
higher class, and also, if their means would admit, of the
daughters of poor gentlemen, who must otherwise remain
untaught ; but all works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal,
were to be practised among them as opportunity might offer. —
See "A Serious Proposal to the Ladies by a Lover of her Sex"
[Mary Astell], 1694.

Mrs. Astell's scheme roused considerable interest, and an
unnamed lady (supposed to be the queen) was ready to give
;f 10,000 for the foundation of such an institution ; but Bishop
Burnet, who seems to have been consulted in the matter, put an
end to the plan, saying that it would be too much like a nunnery.
—See " Life of Maiy Astell," Diet. Nat. Biog.

CHAPTER V.

THE FAMILY ESTABLISHED AT GIDDING — MANNER OF

LIFE AND OCCUPATIONS.

A.D. 1626-28.

** Slight those who say amongst their sickly healths,
* Thou liv^st by rule* What doth not so but man?
Houses were built by rule, and commonwealths.
Entice the trusty sun, if that you can.

From his ecliptic line ; beckon the sky.
' Who lives by rule, then, keeps good company.*'

G. Herbert.

The estate of Little Gidding consisted, and consists

to this day, of an upland pasture divided into small

irregular fields, of which some still bear names which

recall the memory of its old proprietors. The air

blows freshly on these green heights. There is a

sense of space, of quiet, and pleasant wildness. All ^

around are lower hills, half covered with trees, which

open and sink down into wide valleys, rich with

hidden streams, through which the eye travels till

the grey distance melts into the sky.

The little church stands on the highest level,
sheltered by a wood, which has sprung up among the

MANNER OF UFE AT GIDDING. 107

roots of ancient trees, remnants of the grove which
shaded it when first Mrs. Ferrar rode up the muddy
field track which, until a few years ago, was the only
access.

The Hall has disappeared so completely that its
site can only be conjectured from John Ferrafs
statement that it was about forty paces from the
church. It stood, probably, a little in front of the
present farmhouse, facing south ; a ridge still visible
in the grass is supposed to mark the line of the path
which led to the west door of the church. The little
churchyard has been somewhat enlarged. Some large
box trees, apparently of great age, now within its
boundary, may have formed part of the hedge formerly
dividing it from the garden; these, with a single
hoUy, are the only remaining traces of the old
plantations. In a neighbouring field, the dried-up
hollows of fishponds are still to be seen, and the
name of the " Dovehouse Close " commemorates the
site of the pigeon-house.

The place is as retired and still as when the Ferrars
first came to it, yet it is not lonely. At the foot of
the hill, deep buried in trees, lies Glatton, and, half-
way up, the houses of Great Gidding cluster round
their ancient church. Steeple Gidding is scarce a
quarter of a mile off, and Coppingford but a little way
to the westward.

The road that goes through Huntingdon to Stam-

io8 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

ford and the north, passes the foot of Gidding hill,
and an older highway, the " bullock road," used until
lately by drovers bringing herds of cattle from Scot-
land, runs along the crest of the ridge on the further
side of the valley. From this upper road the great
house at Gidding must have been plainly seen.

When fully repaired and completed, the mansion
must have been of considerable size, for it gave ample
accommodation to a household of above thirty
persons. The men and boys (three schoolmasters
lived in the house) were lodged at one end of the
building, the women and girls at the other, Nicholas
Ferrar having his chamber and study in the midst,
so that he might keep watch over his litde community.
The ground floor was occupied, besides the necessary
offices, by the large dining-parlour, by rooms for the
reception of guests and of the neighbouring poor who
came to seek assistance, and by alms-rooms for poor
widows. These last were handsomely wainscoted,
with four beds in each, " after the Dutch manner in
their almshouses." There was also a dispensary for
the compounding of medicines and ointments, and
a large room set apart as an infirmary, in case of
sickness in the family. The centre of the home life
was in the " great chamber " upstairs, where Mrs.
Ferrar, seated in her armchair with one of her
daughters near her, was usually to be found. This
room, hung with tapestry and glowing in winter with

MANNER OF LIFE AT GIDDING. 109

cheerful firelight, was at once oratory and community
room. Here, till the work grew so large as to require
a separate room, the famous Harmonies were com-
piled. Here the maidens practised embroidery and
" feir writing," while the little children, too young for
school, sat by, silently working or learning their
simple lessons; and here, at the upper end of the
room, before the eastern window which looked
towards the church, the whole family assembled for
the daily offices. For private devotion they had two
oratories, one for men, the other for women, each at
their own end of the house.

A schoolhouse was fitted up in the grounds ; the
great dovecote (probably one of the large beehive-
shaped stone buildings still sometimes found attached
to ancient houses) — which they had cleared out
because, their own land being all in pasture, they
thought it imfair to keep a flock of pigeons to feed on
their neighbour's corn — being utihzed for this purpose.

The house was furnished with the utmost plainness
and simplicity, and had a grave religious aspect,
befitting the life which its inmates had chosen.
"Even the walls are not idle, but something is
written or painted there which may excite the
reader to a thought of piety.'* ^ A brass plate affixed
to the outer door bore the words, "Flee from

* G. Herbert, ••A Priest to the Temple," chap. x. Many passages
in the ** Country Parson" remind us of the customs of Gidding.

LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

EVIL AND DO GOOD, AND DWELL FOR EVERMORE;

and in the parlour, in which it was the custom of the
family to receive strangers, a tablet was placed,
admonishing all comers in what temper of mind they
should visit this devout household. It ran as follows : — ^

LH.S.

He who (by reproof of '
our errors and remon-
strance of that which is
more perfect) seeks to
make us better, is wel-
come as an angel of God.

He who any way goes \
about to disturb us in that
which is and ought to be
amongst Christians (tho' it
be not usual in the world)
is a burden whilst he stays,
and shall bear his judg-
ment, whosoever he be.

And .

But

> And <

He who by a cheerful
participation and appro-
bation of that which is
good confirms us in the
same, is welcome as a
Christian friend.

He who censures us in
absence for that which
in presence he made show
to approve of, doth, by
a double guilt of flattery
and slander, violate the
bands both of friendship
and Christianity.

MARY FERRAR, Widow,

MOTHER OF THIS FAMILY,

AND AGED ABOUT FOURSCORE YEARS,

(WHO BIDS ADIEU TO ALL FEARS AND HOPES OF THIS

WORLD, AND ONLY DESIRES TO SERVE GOD),

Set Up this Table.

' Bishop Turner, "Manuscript Extracts." The copy in
Lenton*s letter gives "charity" for "Christianity."

MANNER OF LIFE AT GIDDING, in

The care and cost which the Ferrars saved in the
simple furnishing of their dwelling were spent freely on
the church. It was hastily put in order on their first
coming, but when they were finally settled at Gidding
they beautified it to the utmost of their power.

It is a tiny brick building consisting only of nave
and chancel, without aisles. It is very narrow, and
is now somewhat shorter than formerly, about seven
feet at the west end having been pulled down, and a
new west firont built, in 17 14.

Mrs. Ferrar had the church new floored, and the
walls wainscoted for warmth. It was seated after the
fashion of a college chapel, with stalls and benches
running east and west ; a pulpit and reading-desk of
equal height (to show that prayer was an ordinance
of equal value with preaching ^) were placed on each
side of the entrance to the chancel, and between
them stood a brazen eagle " of great beauty, still pre-
served, as are the ciuious small brass font, with its

* A point on which protest was much needed. " One beauty
hath beat out another; the beauty of preaching (which is a
beauty too) hath preached away the beauty of holinesse ; for if
men may have a sermon, prayer and church service, with the
ornaments of God's house, may sit abroad in the cold." — Shel-
ford, " Five Discourses." Cambridge : 1635.

' This eagle was discovered about the time of the restoration
in 1853, in a pond on the estate, where it is supposed to have
lain since the pillage in 1646. The claws, which were probably
of silver, had been carried ofi.

112 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

crown-shaped cover, three brass tablets engraved with
the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Commandments
on the east wall, and an hourglass stand, of a pattern
resembling the font cover.

The chancel was raised a step above the rest of the
church, and the floor covered with tapestry ; on each
side were stalls, which seem to have been reserved
for clergy or visitors. The altar, which still remains,
is a massive table of cedar wood. It was covered
with rich silk, green for ordinary days, on festivals
blue with gold embroidery, and furnished with silver
candlesticks. It seems to have been placed length-
wise,^ a point on which Bishop Williams, the diocesan,
would probably have insisted.

The whole chapel was " fairly and sweetly adorned
with herbs and flowers,^ natural in some places and
artificial upon every pillar '* of the stalls, and lit by
wax tapers affixed to each staU, after a convenient and

> "Upon that half-pace stood the communion table (not
altar-wise as reported), with a rich carpet, hanging very large
upon the half-pace, and some plate, as chalice and candlesticks
with wax candles." — Letter from Edward Lenton to Sergeant
Hetley, describing a visit to Gidding in 1634, published by
Peckard and subsequent biographers.

* So common was then the custom of decking churches with
flowers, that even the little reed-thatched church at Jamestown,
on some occasion of special rejoicing, was "neatly trimmed
with the wild flowers of the country." — Purchases " Pilgrims,"
quoted by Bishop Wilberforce, "History of the American
Church.*'

MANNER OF LIFE AT G ID DING. 113

picturesque fashion which may still be sometimes
seen.

The church seems to have shared in a measure the
decay of the house, but in 1853 ^ it was repaired
by reverent hands, and as far as possible restored to
the condition in which it was placed by the Ferrars.

Such was the home in which Nicholas Ferrar and
his family lived their strict and devout Hfe. The rule
which they observed is minutely described by John
Ferrar.'

The whole household rose at five o'clock in
winter, and four in summer, old Mrs. Ferrar herself
never getting up later than five ; • and, having said
their morning prayers in their several chambers, went
as soon as they were ready to the great chamber,
where Nicholas always awaited them. Here the

' By the late William Hopkinson, Esq., of Sutton Grange,
Northamptonshire, who purchased the estate of Gidding, and
restored the church, out of respect for the memory of Nicholas
Ferrar.

■ ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother.

• Compare the practice of Mrs. Hopton (1627-1709), the
"devout gentlewoman of quality," who arranged the " Devotions
in the Antient Way of Offices," edited by Hickes. She kept up
a constant course of devotion, "setting apart five times every
day for religious worship, from which she would not suffer her-
self to be diverted by any business that was not very extraordinary.
Even in her old age and the cold winter season she would be
up, and in the closet at her Mattins, by four of the clock in the
morning." — Ballard's ** Lives," p. 389.

114 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

younger boys and giris repeated to him such chapters
and hymns as each had been set to learn ; and, the
recitation finished, all returned to their own rooms.
At six o'clock they met again in the great chamber,
and said the first office of the day. These offices,
which appear to have been said by heart, consisted
of Psalms, a portion of the " Harmony of the Gospels "
compiled by Nicholas, and a hymn, the whole occupy-
ing about a quarter of an hour. An office was
appointed for each hour,^ and as it would have been
impossible for the whole family to meet so frequently,
they were divided into companies, each company
being responsible for certain hours, and coming at
the sound of the bell into the great chamber, where
they found Mrs. Ferrar and such of the others as
were able to be present. Three times in the day,
at seven, ten, and four, all went to church, assembling
first in the great chamber, and going thence in order,
two and twa* The three schoolmasters, followed by
their pupils, all in black gowns, led the way; then
came John Ferrar and Mr. Collett, and Nicholas lead-
ing his mother ; Mrs. John Ferrar and Mrs. Collett,
with their daughters, followed their mother, the ladies

' "Eight, nine, ten o'clock come; those hours had their
several companies, that came and did as at the former hours ;
psalms said, and a head of the concordance, the organs playing,
the hymn sung at each hour, as the clock struck. — **Life of
Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother.

* See the letter of Edward Lenton.

MANNER OF LIFE AT G ID DING. 115

being dressed plainly in black, with veils on their
heads ; the little procession was closed by the servants.
All, as they entered the church, made an obeisance ^
and took their places, the masters in the chancel, the
boys kneeling on the chancel step, and Mrs. Ferrar,
with her daughters and granddaughters, on the north
side of the aisle, where sat all the women. Nicholas
Ferrar, in surplice and hood, said Matins and Even-
song according to the Prayer-book, and at ten o'clock
recited the Litany, of which, by permission of the
bishop, they continued the daily recitation that had
been begun during the plague.

The schoolmasters and children breakfasted
directly after Matins, and then went to the school-
house ; but the others appear to have taken nothing
until eleven o'clock, when they dined with strict
moderation on the simplest fare.' To prevent un-

* " The fourth sort of reverence ... is at the entering in, before
we take our seat, to bend the knee and bow the body to Him in
the more usual and special place of His residence or resemblance,
which is the high altar or the Lord's table usually standing at
the east end of God's house. . . . But many of our people
come to God's house as the horse goes into his stable, without
any reverence at all." — Shelford, **Five Discourses.** 1635.

• ** They had the more leisure to work because they fasted so
much. ... It was not by fits, but by constancy, that they
subdued their bodies by sobriety. Their bread was coarse, their
drink small and of ill relish to the taste." — Hacket, account of
Gidding in "Life of Archbishop Williams,** part ii.

The Ferrars retained, or returned to, the hardy habits of an

ii6 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

profitable talk, the meal was eaten in silence,
enlivened by the reading of some pleasant book.
** Chronicles of nations, journeys by land, sea voyages,
and such like," were read aloud by the younger
members of the family in turn, and that all might re-
member and profit, one of the elders made an abstract
of the most interesting or instructive points, to be
afterwards fairly copied out and studied by the
children. After dinner, all went to their several
occupations, broken only by the summons to prayer,
until supper-time, which was usually at five in summer
and six in winter. While the table was being set,
they sang a hymn accompanied by the organ (this also
was their custom before dinner) ; a chapter of the Bible
was read during the meal, followed by a story from
the " Book of Martyrs." In the summer evenings
they went out after supper, walking abroad where
they pleased, and in winter they gathered round the
fire, and the elder people "found some good dis-
course or other to pass the time with," while the
younger ones, if they would, " had candles and went
away," perhaps to some livelier amusement. At
eight o'clock the bell again called them to prayers in

earlier time. ** These od repasts — ^thanked be God — are verie
well left, and eche one in maner (except here and there some
young hungrie stomach that cannot fast till dinner-time) con-
ten teth himself with dinner and supper onlie." — Harrison,
"Description of England," 1577, quoted in Church Times ^
March 18, 1892.

MANNER OF LIFE AT G ID DING. 117

the great chamber, and after prayers the children and
grandchildren came to Mrs. Ferrar, and, kneeling,
asked her blessing. Then they wished each other
good night and went to their own rooms, no one
being allowed to go about the house, or into each
other's chambers after they had retired for the night.
After a time, at the suggestion of George Herbert,
Nicholas Ferrar added to the day offices a constant
night watch ; but this severe rule was not imposed on
all the family, but on such only as voluntarily accepted
it, and it was arranged with great care and considera-
tion, lest any should be over-wearied.

The watch was kept every night, from nine o'clock
till one in the morning, either by two men or two
women, in their own oratory. During these four hours
they recited, kneeling, the whole Psalter, occasionally
rising to rest and warm themselves at the fires which
were always provided in cold weather. Ferrar himself
usually watched twice in the week, but he would not
permit any one else to take more than one night in
seven. At one o'clock on the nights that he rested
the watchers knocked at his door, and at that hour, till
his last illness, he always rose and spent the rest of
the night in prayer and meditation. Sometimes the
monotony of the long watches was broken by singing
and soft organ-playing, low and gentle, so as not to
disturb the sleeping house. The children and servants
would beg to join in these watches^ and two of the

n8 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

boys, young Nicholas Ferrar, John's son, and another
"towardly youth," Ferrar Collett, joined their uncle
in his watch as often as he would permit In the
summer, Nicholas Ferrar often spent the time in
church, and his boy companion would lie down at
one o'clock on a bench to sleep, while he remained
in prayer till the morning bell called him to the first
office in the great chamber.

Day and night through the years, so fair on the
surface, so anxious and troubled below, which pre-
ceded the civil war, this ceaseless offering of prayer ^
went up from the quiet house among the Huntingdon-
shire meadows —

** A kind of tune which all things hear and fear."

"Our calling is to serve God, which I take
to be the best,'* said Nicholas Ferrar, when asked
if such continual prayer did not interfere with
other duties; but he did not wholly forget the
activities of life. He devoted a large portion of his
time and thoughts to the careful education of the

* " Note the word continually^ for there was no intermission
day nor night. ... By night they kept watch in the house of
the Lord, and two by turns did supply the office for the rest, from
whence they departed not till the morning. . . . This was the
hardest part of their discipline, that they kept sentinel at all
hours and seasons to expect the second coming of the Lord
Jesus."— Hacket, account of Gidding in "Life of Williams,"
part il pp. 30, 31,

MANNER OF LIFE AT GIDDING, 119

children of the house. Mr. and Mrs. CoUett had
eight sons and eight daughters — ^Thomas (already a
barrister of the Inner Temple), Nicholas, Edward,
Richard, Ferrar (the little companion of his uncle's
night watch), John, and two others whose names are
not given; Mary, Anna, Susanna, Hester, Margaret,
Elizabeth, Joyce, and Judith, all still at home.

John Ferrar had one son,^ Nicholas, his uncle's
godson, and a little daughter was bom on the first
Christmas Eve after he came to Gidding. She was
baptized on Christmas Day, and her uncle and grand-
mother, "out of their affection to the remembrance
of the plantation of Virginia, which they so dearly
affected, and that John Ferrar might daily more and
more have the memorial of it, so as not to cease
praying for it, and doing all the good he could other-
wise to it," named her Virginia, **so that speaking
unto her, looking upon her, or hearing others call her
by her name, he might think of both at once." " Let
me say," her father adds, "both grandmother and
uncle loved her, and liked her much the better for
her name ; and what further insight they had in giving
her that name let others conjecture."^ These last
words seem to point to some hope or intention of
bringing up this little Christmas gift to the Religious

* Another son, John, was bom two years later, and a daughter,
Mnry, who seems to have died in infancy.

* "Life of Nicholas P'errar," by his brother, p, Z"^

I20 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Life ; but Nicholas by no means contemplated educat-
ing all his young charges for perpetual seclusion from
the world, though he may naturally have hoped that
some of them would be drawn to follow his own
example, and his eldest niece, Mary CoUett, seems
from very early days to have felt the desire for a
lifelong dedication.

All the children were taught with extreme care.
One of the schoolmasters instructed them in English
and Latin, another in arithmetic and writing, and the
third in music. Nicholas constantly examined the
boys himself in their various studies ; and he was also
careful to train them for intercourse with the world,
accustoming them to produce their knowledge on
occasion, and to speak freely and easily. To this
end they were constantly called upon to repeat what
they had studied, aloud, before the rest of the family.
"This practice brought the youths to deliver any
speech with a becoming assurance, and not only
taught them a graceful pronunciation, but inured
them to express themselves handsomely and without
affectation, when they spoke or wrote after such ex-
cellent copies of a chaste and clean style as Mr.
Ferrar had set them. This made them men betimes,
and even acquainted the women with the histories,
ancient and modern. And thus a family sequestering
itself from the world could not be thought to de^^pise
the world from want of understanding, for they knew

MANNER OF LIFE AT G ID DING, 13 1

the past and present state of empires, and were more
learned in the great affairs of human life than many
that live in the throng of business, yet have little
insight into things, and less into themselves, notwith-
standing the great scuffle in the dark which they are
ever engaged in, and never the wiser. ''^ The
children of the neighbouring gentry were permitted
to share the teaching of the Gidding school, " where
they might learn virtue as well as grammar, music,
and arithmetic, together with fair writing ; " and the
Ferrars also took charge of the sons of one or two
friends at a distance. A letter from Mrs. CoUett to
her cousin, Mr. Arthur Woodnoth, in 1628, on
receiving his son Ralph into the house at Gidding,
shows the spirit of their training. From the allusion
at the end, it would seem that Mary CoUett was to
have the care of Mr. Woodnoth's niece.

**Dear Cousin,

" I am glad we have received such a pledge
of you, whereby, though we cannot make requital, yet
we shall strive to make proof of that thankfulness and
love which we owe you for your care of ours. Believe
it, Ralph shall not want what lies in our power, and
as we shall truly love him with the selfsame kind of
affection which we do our own, so shall we endeavour
to train him in the selfsame dispositions of mind

» " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by Dr. Jebb.

122 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

which we desire to see in ours, which although at
beginning they will seem a little harsh, yet by practice
they will grow easy, I doubt not, to him, and the end
will be full of joy and comfort to himself and friends,
which God grant My brother hath told us of many
new kindnesses (the fruit of your old love) towards
my children, besides those to himself, which I esteem
the first and chiefest ; they be so many and great as
passing the ordinary bounds of affection in you, one
not with words to be requited on our parts; and
therefore I say nothing, but that we owe you more in
all this than we can pay, save in love. My daughter
Mary hath not been well of late, but I hope in God
she mends, and though we all hope to see you shortly,
yet she prays me to write you. She hath with much
joy embraced her uncle Nicholas's proposition, and
though she cannot sufficiently answer your expecta-
tion touching your niece, yet she will not fail in the
truth and height of affection towards her good, if you
think fit. And so, with all our best prayers, I commit
you to God."*
The Fenars provided teaching for the poor as well

* Collett Letters. These letters were found in pulling down
a house in Peterborough. In 1855 they were in possession
of the late Mr. Samuel Buckle, of Leamington, by whom they
were lent for the use of the Rev, J. E. B. Mayor. [They now
belong to his brother, F. Buckle, Esq.]

MANNER OF LIFE AT GIDDING. 123

as the gentry of the neighbourhoocL Sunday schools
were at that date an almost unknown institution ; but
Nicholas Ferrar, mindful perhaps of those schools
established by St Charles Borromeo, which gathered
(as they gather still) in the chapels of Milan Cathedral,
invited the children from the surrounding parishes to
come to Gidding every Sunday morning, and set his
elder nieces to teach them to repeat the Psalter. As
a penny was given for every psalm learnt by heart,
and the children had dinner before going home, the
new school became very popular, and the careful
teaching and gentle care of the young ladies produced
a great effect for the better on their little scholars.
"Their parents, who were mostly plain country folks,
were extremely pleased and obliged by it, and quickly,
not only their parents, but the adjoining ministers,
when they came to Gidding, protested that a mighty
change was wrought, not only on the children, but on
the men and women who sat hearing their children
reading and repeating at home. And whereas here-
tofore their tongues were exercised in singing either
naughty or lewd or else vain ballads, that much
estranged their young minds from the ways of virtue,
now they heard the streets and doors resounding with
the sacred poetry of David's harp, which drove away
the evil spirit from SauL" ^ Some of the parents

» *• Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by Dr. Jebb.

124 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

begged that their children might be taught the
Catechism as well as the Psalter, but this Nicholas
Ferrar refused to allow. He told them that " bringing
cliildren to learn their Psalter was a thing by itself,
but catechising belonged to their minister and their
parents," adding that " by doing something good in
appearance, one might do very ill by encroaching on
other men's offices, and that they should have a
special care of this fine-trimmed and hidden snare
which the devil every where lays in the way of well-
meaning people. When he cannot persuade them to
ugly known sin, then he tempts them to do some
handsome thing which it is not their parts to act, but
presumption for them to do it" — a sound principle,
though it may appear somewhat overstrained in its
application.

The house at Gidding was well known to the poor
of the neighbourhood for its charities as well as its
teaching. Its inmates visited and comforted the sick
and poor in their own homes, and Nicholas used his
medical knowledge for the instruction of his nieces,
1^ teaching them to dress wounds and prepare salves
and balsams, "all which being as freely given by
them to the poor as themselves freely received them
all from God and their kind uncle, they were sure not
to want customers, which every year cost them a
good round sum. None of them were nice of
dressing with their own hands poor people's wounds.

MANNER OF LIFE AT GIDDING. 125

were they never so offensive ; but as for prescribing
physic, their uncle understood it well himself, yet he
never practised it, and he forbade them to tamper or
meddle with it And together with helps for the
body, the virgins were expert and ready to administer
good counsels, prayers, and comforts to their patients,
for their souls' health." *

The large family of girls had many occupations. " A
mean in all things," Ferrar was wont to say, " was the
only way with good order to effect great things with
ease and delight," and he laid great stress on a con-
stant interchange of employments. The four elder
nieces took charge of the housekeeping. All were
taught embroidery ' as well as household needlework,
and music also was much studied. Mr. and Mrs.
Ferrar had all their children taught music care-
fully, and Mrs. Collett played admirably on the lute.
The young people no doubt inherited the taste of
their parents, and they were diligent in the practice of
singing and playing on various instruments. " Fair
writing " was also made a great point of, not only the
ordinary current hand, but a delicate and beautiful
kind of writing, a survival of the days before

> " Life of Nicholas Ferrar,*' by Dr. Jebb.

« A small piece of tapestry, the work of one of the sisters,
still preserved in Gidding Church, where it is used as a
kneeling-mat, is so exquisitely fine and delicate, that a fac-
simile embroidered by Mr. Hopkinson's niece, cost that lady six
months of diligent and patient labour.

126 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

printing, used in formal writings and in copying
books, which, according to a curious fashion very
prevalent in the seventeenth century, were often cir-
culated for years in manuscript before their authors
made them over to the printer. To add variety to
their occupations, Ferrar also had his nieces taught
^ bookbinding. The daughter of a Cambridge book-
binder lived in the house for a year to give the young
ladies lessons in binding and gilding, and he himself
also acquired the art, with which he had probably
gained some acquaintance while living in Germany.

But the characteristic works of Gidding were the
Harmonies or Concordances. The first of these was
undertaken entirely for their own use, and but for
the interest and admiration it excited, it might have
remained the only specimen. It was a " Harmony of
the Four Gospels," so arranged that the four books
could be read either separately or in one continuous
history, the printed text being cut out and pasted on
large sheets of paper, and every page illustrated with
engravings.

This first book was finished in 1630. It was fol-
lowed by many others, several of which may still be
seen.* So ingeniously and delicately are the printed
slips of paper, some of which are very small, united

* A descriptive list of such^of these works as are known to be
still in existence, was published by Captain Acland in the
Archaologia^ 1888, vol. ii. Sec Chap. VIII.

MANNER OF LIFE AT GIDDING, 127

together, that at first sight the pages might be sup-
posed to be printed in the ordinary way. The head-
ings are written in a fine clear hand, and the pages
surrounded with ruled lines, generally in red ink. The
books are usually richly bound by the hands of the
ladies of Gidding, and each has a short preface, with
the name of Gidding, and the date of the year, but
only one has the name of its maker. This is a
" Harmony of the Four Gospels," bound in leather
and illustrated, now in the possession of the Bishop
of Bath and Wells. It originally belonged to Thomas
Hervey, who married the daughter of Sir Thomas
May, vice-chancellor to Charles I., and has always
remained in the Hervey family. At the end of the
preface to this book is written —

" Thanks be to God.
« Done at Little Gidding, Anno Domini 1640^ by Virginia

Ferrar, an. 12.''

It is easy to imagine the pride and pleasure with which
the little girl's work was contemplated by the elders
of the house, and how John Ferrar, who has never a
word for his own labours, could not refrain from
inscribing his daughter's name in the great l^ook
before sending it to Mr. Hervey.

In the midst of ail their occupations, time was set
apart for recreation. On Thursday and Saturday
afternoons the young people were allowed to amuse
themselves with '* running and vaulting and shooting

128 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

at butts with bows and arrows." Their elders, though
they kept up some acquaintance with the neighbour-
ing families, and received courteously any visitors
who chose to come, made it known from the first
that they had settled at Gidding for retirement, and
avoided all visits of ceremony and the social gather-
ings of the county gentry.

Thus the weeks passed in a grave and cheerful
monotony marked only by recurring Sundays.

" Thou art a day of mirth ;
And where the week days trail on ground
Thy flight is higher, as thy birth."

Then the lesson-books were closed, and the busy
hands rested. They rose on Sunday at the same hour
as in the week, but after the early morning office they
retired again to their own rooms, and remained in
privacy till nine o'clock, when the bell called them
to Matins. Having sung a hymn together in the
great chamber, they went, as on week days, in pro-
cession to the church, all dressed carefully in their
best clothes ; and after the service, which was read by
Nicholas, they returned to find the " Psalm-children "
awaiting them. The time till half-past ten was spent
in instructing them, or hearing them repeat their
former lessons, and at that hoiu: the Vicar of Steeple
Gidding, having already said Matins in his own
church, arrived accompanied by his parishioners, who
apparently followed him straight from the church door,

MANNER OF LIFE AT GIDDING. 129

a pleasant quarter-of-an-hour's walk across the fields.
The Little Gidding family, bringing with them the
Psaim-children, met him at the church, and Nicholas
Ferrar read the ante-Communion Service. At its close
a psalm was sung, and then the vicar preached.
Once a month, and on great festivals, the Holy Com-
munion was celebrated.*

On returning from church their first care was for
the Psalm-children. A long narrow table supported
on trestles was laid in some convenient place, round
which the children stood expectant, while Mrs. Ferrar
with her own hands set the first dish on the table, the
servants following. When grace had been said for
the children, the old lady and her family went to their
own dinner, leaving only one or two to superintend
the Psalm-children, who, when they had finished their

* It need not be supposed, because the Holy Communion was
celebrated after Matins, according to the usual custom of the
time, that this devout family failed to keep the ancient rule of
fasting Communion. Shelford, writing in 1635, P^ts among
the preparations for the Sacrament " to come fasting when men
are able," quoting St. Augustine's saying that **it pleaseth the
Holy Ghost that, in honour of so great a sacrament, the Lord's
body should first enter into the mouth of a Christian." — ** Five
Discourses."

Dinner was usually at eleven or twelve, and the early break-
fast now universal appears to have been considered rather as a
luxury than a necessity. Lessius, author of a book on temper
ance, translated by Nicholas Ferrar, speaks of those who
"provide breakfast betimes in the morning" as "miserably

beguiled."

I30 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

meal, were sent home to go with their parents to their
own parish churches.

When the family had dined they went to their own
rooms, or refreshed themselves with a quiet walk in
the gardens and orchards as they pleased, and at two
o'clock all met together again and went to Steeple
Gidding church for Evensong. On Sunday the private
offices were not said at the usual hours, but all together
on returning from evening service, after which the
remainder of the day was given up to rest and recrea-
tion. The servants of the house were carefully con-
sidered. Nicholas Ferrar " so ordered that w?'j^t was
for dinner should all be performed with the least and
speediest loss of time as might be ; that was, by causing
ovens to be heated, and all the dinner to be set into
them before church-time, and so all the servants were
ready to go to church, not any left at home. And for
supper, church ended in the evening, then the spits
were laid for meat to be roasted at the fire. And one
thing else beside will not be amiss to be recounted
concerning the servants. It was the custom of that
family that, having a Communion the first Sunday of
each month throughout the year (besides the great
festival times, Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter, and
Whitsuntide), they stood at lower end of the board
where the old gentlewoman sat, and there they dined
that day." ^

* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother.

MANNER OF LIFE A GIDDING. 131

This peaceful and useful life flowed on unbroken
till Gidding Hall was plundered by Parliamentary
soldiers in 1646, and was resumed when the surviving
members of the family ventured back to their ravaged
home. The monthly thanksgiving instituted by
Nicholas Ferrar in 1625, of which a few clauses here
follow, was continued until John's death in 1657,* if
not longer.

"Thou hast given us a freedom from all other
affairs that we may without distraction attend Thy
service. . . . That holy gospel which came down from
heaven, with things the angels desire to look into, is
by Thy goodness continually open to our view ; the
sweet music thereof is continually sounding in our
ears ; heavenly songs are by Thy mercy put into our
mouths, and our tongues and lips made daily instru-
ment$ of pouring forth Thy praise. This, Lord, is
the work, and this the pleasure, of the angels in
heaven ; and dost Thou vouchsafe to make us par-
takers of so high a happiness? The knowledge of
Thee and of Thy Son is everlasting life. Thy service
is perfect freedom ; how happy, then, are we, that
Thou dost constantly retain us in the daily exercises
thereof!"

* " Two Lives of Ferrar," by Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, Appendix.

CHAPTER VL

THE MAIDEN SISTERS.
A.D. 1628-1632.

** O happy you, that have subdued
The force o' the world's desire 1
And in th' fort of solitude
For safety do retire.

•* You fled from freedom so supposed
In straitness freedom find,
Because true freedom is enclosed
I* the circuit of the mind."
Song by the " Submissy* " Gidding Conversation Book/*

The house, strictly ordered as it was, was bright with
youth and movement The hours passed evenly,
full of cheerful work, measured by ringing of bells,
and organ music, and the continual recitation of
psalms. The life set to these grave melodies was an
active life ; the younger members of the family coming
and going, carrying the result of their devout training
into the world outside, and bringing new joys and
wider interests to the old home; in some cases
throwing off the restraints which had wearied them,
and causing anxiety and heartache to the loving

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 133

friends who watched and prayed for them in the
great chamber and the church hard by.

Nicholas Ferrar took the keenest interest in all
these young people, and towards the Colletts he acted
the part of a father. Mr. Collett must have been a
man of singularly passive, not to say apathetic, tem-
perament, for he seems to have taken no trouble at
all about the disposal of his children. Every arrange-
ment was made by his energetic wife, under the
advice of her brother.

When the eldest son, Thomas, is about to marry,
it is Nicholas who goes up to town to see about the
affair. Mrs. Collett writes to her aunt in February,
1628—

" I suppose you may have expected to have heard
from me upon occasion of the late business touching
my son; and indeed I had performed it, but that
answering my son's letters every week hath taken up
that space of time which the carrier affords us between
the delivery of his letters and the calling for an
answer. And now my brother Nicholas being to
come up, I think it superfluous, for he is able and
hath full authority to give satisfaction in all things,
and if my son cheerfully submit his judgment and
affections to his directions, I shall not doubt of a
happy issue.'' ^

* Mrs. Collett to her aunt Collett, February, 1628. ^Appendix,
••Two Lives."

134 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

Some time in this same year, 1628, Susanna, the
third daughter, married the Reverend Joshua Maple-
toft, and settled at Margetting, or Margaretting, in
Essex. From this time Mrs. CoUett's letters are full
of the interests of the young home. She often visited
Margetting, and during her absence Nicholas kept
her fully acquainted with all that went on at Gidding.
He certainly did not deserve the reproach often cast
y/ on him in later years, of wishing to make nuns of all
his nieces ; on the contrary, he seems to have been
most desirous of getting them well married. His
efforts in this direction were not always judicious, and
the anxious mother, in the midst of her cares for
young Mrs. Mapletoft, appears to have been cruelly
divided between habitual submission to his judgment
and a very natural doubt whether he were really
qualified to settle such important and delicate matters.
The following letter explains itself.

\Mrs. CoUett to Nicholas Ferrar.]

** Margetting, August, 1629.

" I applaud it as most judiciously resolved on
neither to send for Hester nor oflfer two to the
choice.^ For the other part of your letter, I can say

* To what this refers is not explained, but apparently it had
been proposed by somebody that two of Mr. ColIett*s daughters
should be offered to the choice of some eligible suitor. It
appears to have been not unusual in that time, when marriages

THE MAIDEN SISTERS, 135

little to it, only I will persuade myself, since you have
done it (and with such consent), that you are able to
show better reasons for it than my present appre-
hensions are capable of; and as my continual prayers
shall be that all may prove for the best, so shall my
hopes be that it will. Let this, I beseech you, satis.y
for answer to that which is past, and for the future I
would have said nothing, had not you likewise desired
my opinion, but left it to yourself and my dearest
friends with you, both to consider and determine of,
as those whose judgments are not by me to be
questioned, and whose love to me and mine I am
most confident cannot be paralleled by any in the
like kind. Give me leave only to say, that such
is my affection to my dear Anna, that it would be
most heavy to me to see her bestowed ^on any man
that did not willingly, nay, most desirously^ make
choice of her. But doubting neither of your love nor
wisdom, I dare leave it to God and yourselves to
proceed in or suppress the motion as you shall think
fittest, and God, I trust, shall direct you." *

As far as Anna was concerned, these cares were
needless. Another aim was shaping itself in her
mind — an aim which could be best fulfilled within the
walls of Gidding. It would appear that her elder

were arranged chiefly by parents, for the lady*s family to take
the first step.
* Appendix, "Two Lives.**

136 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

sister, Mary, who had lived with the Ferrars from
infancy, had long shared her uncle's aspirations, and
^had dedicated herself, if the expression may be
allowed, to the Religious Life from the first days of
the settlement at Gidding. She was then twenty-
three years old, and Anna twenty-one. If we may
judge from the reliance which the elder members of
her family evidently placed on her, Mary must have
inherited much of the strength of character, the calm
sweetness and discretion, which distinguished her
grandmother.

She would naturally have had much influence with
her younger sister, the more so, perhaps, that they
were not brought up together, and that Anna came
freshly, at an impressionable and thoughtful age,
under the spell of her earnestness and the high
enthusiasm of their uncle Nicholas, of whom she
could have seen but little since the time when, in her
early childhood, he had been accustomed to come
over from Cambridge to spend a few days of rest and
recreation in her father's house at Bourne.

Among the Ferrar manuscripts lately brought to
light in the Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge,
there are letters from Anna to her uncle, from which,
by the kindness of the authorities of the college, a
few extracts are permitted to appear here.^

* These manuscripts, left by Peckard to the college, were lost
sight of for many years. It may be hoped that, when fully

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 137

These letters show a deep religious spirit, and
many of thenj are evidently answers to letters of
advice and instruction from Nicholas Ferrar. In the
winter of 1629, she paid a long visit to Mrs. Mapletoft,
and writes from Margetting, January 27 —

" To the worshipful Nicholas Ferrar, my most dear
Uncle, these.

" My most dear and honoured Uncle,

" Or rather may I tytel you my tender father,
... for your care hath not rested only in providing
a temporal portion, but it hath reached for the pro-
curing for mee an eternal habitation, by your often
instructions of mee in the way of holinesse."

In March, 1630, Nicholas himself went to Marget-
ting, and Anna writes to him from Gidding, addressing
him as —

" My dear father and soules instructor," asking his
help "to stir up my frozen mind ... to performe
this work which is every moment due from mee,"
and asks his prayers " that I may in some measure be
accounted worthy of that fountain of living water that
floweth to every one that* thirsteth, and that without
Price.''

From Margetting Nicholas seems to have gone to

examined and catalogued, they will throw much fresh light on
the history of Gidding.

138 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

London, and while he is there Anna writes, expressing

her thankfulness to God for having not only delivered

her from fears, but also granted her "pY ^'^'^ comfort

more than I could wish or desire, whilst I behold

your exuberante love to mee. But whereas you are

pleased, dear father, to engadge yourself to performe i

your ... to me by deserte, I must wholly renounce

it from myself and wholly attribute it to God, and

your owne free love, whatever Benefit I have or doe

receive."

** P.S.— I beseech you, dear Unckel, remembermy
duty to my Aunt Collett My sisters' and owne best
love to our Deare Cosin Arthur.*' ^

Anna seems to have thought over her vocation for
some time before taking a decisive step, and Nicholas
was not likely to encourage a hasty resolution on a
matter of such grave importance. It was not till
September, 163 1, she being then in her twenty-seventh
year, that she wrote the letter from which the sub-
joined extracts are taken. It is in **fair writing,"
which, indeed, she frequently uses in her correspond-
ence with her uncle, and is endorsed (by Peckard ?)
•'Anna Collett to her father," but the note which
accompanied it shows that it was really addressed to
Nicholas.

* Mr. Woodnoth.

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 139

" September 22 [1631].

** My most dear and honoured Father,

(The letter begins by stating that the writer
thinks it needless to repeat what she has said pre-
viously as to her wishes) " Which, if not deceived in
mine owne heart, were and are still at present my
earnest wishes, but I rest on God and you, my dear
father, for the accomplishment of them when and how
He pleaseth.

" Touching my condission of life, such content do
I find, I neither wish or desire any change in it; but ^
as God may please, with my Parents* leave, to give
me grace and strength, that I may spend the remainder
of my days without greater encumbrances of this
worlde, which doe of necessitie accompany a married
Estate ;

"But dare not Uust my own judgement in this
waity matter ; but first beseech you, dear father, to let
me know your opinion of it and counsel according to
your faithful love." She goes on to answer some
questions as to her fortune, expressing a wish for " if
God so please, such a portion as may be helpful to
others."

This letter is signed *' Anna Collett"

Anna still shrank firom making known her resolu-
tion to her family, feeling perhaps the natural dread
of hearing her deepest and most sacred desires made

140 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

a subject of discussion and questioning,^ It was not
till a month later that she summoned up courage to
let her uncle have the letter, and she then sent it to
him by the hands of her sister Mary, together with a
little note, addressed —

"The Worshipful Nicholas Ferrar, our much
honoured fether, this.

**My dear and honoured Father,

" It hath not only brought me delay
[illegible]. To my dear and worthy sister Mary my
Futyer love and thanks are ever obleiged to her for
the true and loving affection herein expressed to

mee,

" Your bounden obedient daughter,

"Anna Collett."

" October, 22, 1631."

On this note is written, evidently by Nicholas
Ferrar —

" This letter, together with the declaration of her
choice, Anna gave her sister for me, to read them in
her presence."

On the declaration itself, in the same hand, is
written —

* Mrs. Collett was in much distress at this time owing to the
misconduct of her son Edward. This may have been the reason
for postponing the mention of her own wishes.

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 141

**This enclosed declaration, Anna desired her
sister Mary to give mee on Saturday, the 22nd
October, but I willed her to lay it by till this present
23rd, in the afternoon, when I read it in Mary's
presence ; only I willed her, and not by word but by
writing, to show to her Grandmother and Unkle
Ferrar, and so [words illegible]. But without any
speed*

There is among the Magdalene manuscripts another
paper, a fragment without date, signature, or endorse-
ment, which, if the writing be Anna's, would appear
to have been written subsequently to the letter given
above* It is as follows : —

*'LH.S.

" In the Name of God. Amen.

"Mine honoured Parents and dearest friends, that
I may not be wanting in what I am able to performe,
I beseech you accept of my humblest thanks, which
I tender to you, for it hath pleased you freely to give
me your love and consents to that I have soe much
desyred both from God and from you— that is, that
I may end my days in a Virgin Estate. And this
desyre, I hope, hath been of and from God, although
mixed with much corruption; and further beseech
that none would judge it to proceede either of per-
suasion by any one to it, or contempt of the Estate
of Marriage, or to think it inferior to that which I

142 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

choose, for I here professe in the sight of Heven that
the choice be freely my own, not any . . . further
than their leave ; nor out of contempt for that of
Marriage, for . . . honour it, but have not the herte
. . . myne own choice, wherefore . . ."

The lower comer of the paper is scorched, and the
second sheet, on which the signature would have
been, torn away. It is in a hand much resembling
Anna's ordinary writing, but larger and more rambling,
and until the manuscripts have been fully examined,
and the handwritings compared by some qualified
judge, it must remain doubtful whether this is
Anna's final declaration, or if, as the writer ventures
to think, we have here the act of dedication of her
sister Mary. In either case, a deep interest attaches
to this piece of torn paper in which across the gulf
of two hundred years the " maiden sisters of Gidding"
hold out their hands to the growing company who
in happier times and with fuller completeness have
given themselves to the Religious Life in these days
of its revival.

A letter from Anna CoUett to her parents, also in
the Magdalene collection, seems to belong to this
time, though it has no date of year. It is apparently
written at some time anterior to the declaration given
to her uncle, in answer to a permission to decline
some project of marriage, and an assurance of pro-
vision for her in a single life.

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 143

" In the Name of God. Amen.

"Therefore, as I have your consents to be freed
from it, soe I humbly abide in prayer that I may con-
tinue soe in my desires, and that blessings may rest
on mee . . . thereby, for. that Lardgeness of Estate
which you, my dear friends, are pleased to bestow on
niee, I acknowledge it to be not only above my
deserts, but even my desires ; I durst not expect so
great a favour, and being so given me leave to make
Brother a partaker of it, I esteem it a singular bless-
ing of God, and pledge of your great love to mee,
that I have leave for to pro . . • it with such gajme
as I wish was greater. For this and all other . . .
from God and you, I humbly prayse His holy name,
and pray ever to approve myselfe

"Your most obedient and faithful

**Anna Collett."
(Endorsed, ** Anna Collett to her Parents. July.**)

That Mary and Anna Collett considered themselves
absolutely pledged to a single life there can be no
doubt One of their sisters speaks of "the virgin
estate, whereof our chief hath made profession," and
Nicholas Ferrar, in 1634, in answer to an inquiry
about the "nuns" of Gidding, replied that "the
name of nuns was odious," but that "two of his
nieces had lived, one thirty, the other thirty-two
years, virgins; and so resolved to continue, as he

144 L^P^ OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

hoped they would, the better to give themselves to
fasting and prayer, but had made no vows.'* ^ This last
statement must be understood to apply to formal vows.
Whether they desired to seal their resolution by
such a vow is a difficult question, as we have on this
point two different and contradictory statements.
Hacket, in his account of Bishop Williams' visit to
Gidding in 1634, of which more will be said farther
on, after warm praise of the devout life of the family,
goes on to add that " nothing is so sound but in time
it will run into corruption. For I must not hold it
in, that some persons in Little Gidding had run into
excess and incurred offence, if the bishop had not
broken the snare which they were preparing for their
own feet. For after he had spoken well of the family
in the pulpit, and privately to divers, some of them
could not see when they were well, but aspired to
be transcendants above their measure. For two
daughters of the stock came to the bishop, and
offered themselves to be veiled virgins, to take upon
them the vow of perpetual chastity, with the solemnity
of the episcopal blessing and ratification, whom he
admonished very fatherly, that they knew not what
they went about That they had no promise to con-
firm that grace unto them ; that this readiness, which
they had in the present, should be in their will, with-
out repentance, unto their life's end. Let the younger

* Lenton's Letter.

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 145

women marry, was the best advice, that they might
not be led into temptation. And that they might
not forget what he taught them, he drew up his judge-
ment in three sheets of paper, and sent it them home
that they might dress themselves by that glass, and
learn not to think of human nature above that which
it is, a sea of flowings and ebbings, and of all manner
of inconstancy." ^

Dr. Jebb, on the contrary, says that " when their
reverend diocesan had declared himself, without any-
body's seeking to him, ready to accept a vow (not
absolute and unconditional, as it were, in spite of
heaven and hell, but) — ^a vow of sincere endeavour,
if God should continue to them the grace, in a single
state to withstand the temptations of the world, the
flesh, and the devil, the foremost of them all in any
of their generous and religious undertakings was not
forward to take any such engagement upon her, but
kept the middle way between vowing and slackness,
arriving at that which St. Paul calls steadfastness of
heart, and power over her own will" *

Of these opposite accounts Racket's would seem,
from the characters of the persons concerned, the
most likely to be true, and it also bears more clearly *

> Racket, "Life of Archbishop Williams," part ii. p. 52.

« " life of Nicholas Ferrar," by Dr. Jebb, p. (i(>. The manu-
script "Life" by Bishop Turner omits all mention of the
circumstance.

146 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

the stamp of personal acquaintance with the matter ;
Jebb's account appearing to be founded, not on John
Ferrar's narrative, in which no mention is made of
the proposal, but on recollections which he had
gathered from various sources, and which he adds to
his "Life" as a kind of appendix. His further
statement, that Ferrar in some of his papers declared
himself against vows of single life, is difficult to recon-
cile with the generally received impression among
hi& personal friends that he had himself made such
a vow, as well as with the solemn resolutions which
he unquestionably sanctioned in his nieces.^

Anna and Mary Collett lived on like the veiled
virgins of early Christian ages * in the house of their

* " Mary and Anna , who had both steadfastly, by the

help of God, taken long ago resolutions of li\4ng in virginity." —
** Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother.

* " First in rank and responsibility stood the deaconess, . . .
next to the deaconess were the consecrated virgins, who had
been solemnly blessed by the bishop during the celebration of
the Holy Eucharist, and had received the consecrated veil from
his hands. . . . The third class of the virgins consisted of those
who, though living to some extent in the world, yet by the
adoption of a dark and simple dress, the practice of certain
devotions, and the profession of a vow of celibacy, had placed
themselves in relation with the members of the two higher ranks.
. . . The circumstances of the first Christian ages did not admit
of establishing convents for women, . . . and the deaconesses,
the veiled virgins, and the professed, necessarily resided in their
own homes.** — *' Religious Communities of Women in the Early

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 147

parents and kinsfolk, and their young sisters gathered
round them, sharing in their rule of prayer and work,
till each in succession passed from Gidding to a
home of her own. At first the girls were under
the special charge of their gmndmpther, but in
1632 Mrs. Ferrar, though still active both in mind
and body, felt that the daily supervision of so many
young people was a burden too heavy for her de-
clining years. She resigned her post, and on St
Luke's day in that year her granddaughter, Mary
Collett, was chosen to replace her.

Mrs. Ferrar had formed the sisters into a little
society, which assumed the name of "Academy;"
the members took the names of different virtues, thus
turning a fantastic fashion of the day into what was
no doubt meant as a continual reminder of the special
grace which each should strive to attain. The
** Academy " was composed of two " combinations,"
Mary Collett was " Chief" of the first " combination,"
and with her were associated Anna, under the name
of "the Patient," and two other sisters, probably
Hester and Margaret, who were respectively called
"the Cheerful" and ''the Affectionate." The
"second combination" consisted of the younger
girls and children down to little three-years-old Ann
Mapletoft, who bore the name of "the Humble."

Church," reprinted from the EccUsiastiCy and understood to be
written by the late Dr. Littledale.

1 18 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Nicholas P'errar was the " Visitor *' of this so-called
Academy; John Ferrar, "Guardian;" and Mrs.
Collett, " Moderator."

They held frequent meetings for the discussion of
subjects chosen by the " Visitor." Nicholas Ferrar
jeems to have supplied much of the matter for these
discussions, or " Conversations," as they were called,
which the speakers themselves put into shape, their
speeches being sometimes read, sometimes extempore
or repeated by heart.

The plan of these "Conversations "reminds us some-
what of the Oratorian method, and gives reason to
think that Ferrar must have sometimes, during his
stay in Italy, attended the exercises of the Fathers of
the Oratory in Padua, or elsewhere. The members
spoke in turn, expressing their opinion apparently
with some freedom. Appropriate hymns were sung
(of which those that have come down to us are
singularly unmelodious), and stories told from history
ancient and modem, or the lives of the saints, illustra-
ting the truth which the discussion was intended to
bring out. These stories were often prepared before-
hand, but sometimes told on the spur of the moment,
as we learn from a little incident which has been
preserved.

The young people were assembled as usual in the
•' sisters' chamber," and had made their set speeches
on the virtue of meekness, which was the appointed

THE MAIDEN SISTERS, 149

topic of the day, when the ** Moderator," Mrs. Collett,
asked for an example of this virtue, so specially
needful in their sex. None was in readiness, and
in the pause which ensued, one of the younger
girls, who had as yet taken no part in the debates,
looked eagerly up, evidently longing to say some-
thing, yet not daring to speak till she had obtained
permission.

"The 'Submiss' countenance," said the "Chief"
(Mary Collett), "seems to mine eye to promise
satisfaction of your desires."

" I am much troubled," says the kindly "Guardian,"
" that both she and the * Obedient' have been so long
left out In regard the first attempt cannot be so
perfect; let them have the liberty for a while of
telling their stories as they can." And so the little
"Submiss" makes her first speech in the Academy,
with a beating heart no doubt, and much shy delight.
A great number of these "Conversations" were
written down, revised, and preserved in the family.
Copies of many of them were made about the year
1735, by Francis Peck, Rector of Godeby, author
of an unprinted life of Nicholas Ferrar mentioned by
Peckard,^ and fragments were printed by Heame, and

' The manuscript was lent by Peckard, into whose hands it
came, to Mr. Jones, and by him lost. Peck's copy of some part
of the Conversations is still in existence. See " Two Lives,"
Appendix, p« 294.

15© LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

subsequently (from Peck's copy) by the Rev. J. B.
Mayor.^

The originals, which are stated in, a note left by
Peck,' to have been at that time "at Mr. Maple-
toffs at Bifield, near Daintry, in Northamptonshire,"
disappeared from public view for many years, but
they were carefully treasured and reverently handed
down by successive representatives of their original
owner, Susannah Mapletoft Their last possessor was
Mrs. Hodges, of Tiverton, Devon, who inherited
them from a cousin, Miss Ann Mapletoft. On Mrs.
Hodges's death in April, i888,.they passed together with
a Concordance and some other family relics,' to Mr.
Mapletoft Davis, a gentleman residing in New South
Wales; and in that far off land these curious and
interesting volumes find their present resting-place.

Before they were sent from England, copies of
part of the first volume of ** Conversations" (there are
four),* and of the entries in the Concordance, were

' ** Two Lives of Ferrar," Appenoix.

* Ibid., p. 301.

■ Among these relics is a cabinet said to have been given to
the family by Charles I. , and a lawn handkerchief marked " C. R. "
in gold thread. The Concordance is described Chap. VIII, II.

♦ In Peck's list of the papers at Bifield only three "Conversation "
books are mentioned. In one of the four belonging to Mr. Maple-
toft Davis is the following note i ** N.B. — This No. 3 is a copy
of the first part of No. 2, Elizabeth Kestian, given me by my
dear aunt I^egatt '* (Margaret CoUett married Thomas Legatt,

THE MAIDEN- SISTERS, 151

made by Mrs. Hodges* great-niece, Miss Cruwys
Sharland, who with great and ready kindness has
placed them at the disposal of the writer. Pre*
fixed to the first volume are four letters, of which
the first has already been printed by Hearne,^ and
the last by Peckard.* The second and third have
never before appeared. They are here given in their
proper order.

The first is addressed to Mrs. Ferrar by her two
elder granddaughters.

"Most deare and honoured Grandmother,
" The finishing of this book in the return
of the selfsame Festival in which it began, having
amongst many other considerations brought to re-
membrance the love you that day showed in Bestow-
ing y* Best of yo' Roomes and Furniture upon us,
for the performance of this and other good excercises,
hath made us judge, that the first fruits of our labours
in every kind, are due to you, by whose bounty
we have received the opportunity of beginning and
continuing in them. We most humbly beseech you
therefore favourably to accept now in writing, that

she IS especially mentioned in old Mrs. Ferrar's will) ; *• I desief
it to be ghren to my dear cosen Dr. John Mapletoft."

» "CaiiVindiciae,"p. 782.

' Peckard incorrectly states that it was sent to Mrs. Maple-
toft with a Concordance.

152 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

which you so favourably was pleased to approve in
the rehearsing; and together with it, our Faithful
acknowledgement, that we owe to you, as the great
instrument of God's mercy, not only the conveniency
and opportunitie, but even y* very abilities in them-
selves that are in us, towards the performance of this
or any other good thing. Considering that the
Vacancie of Time, the Means of Instruction, and all
other necessary concurrent helps have had their
prime and daily Rise from and by means of your
Love ; and on your Love and Life do at this present
mainly depend. Besides, for that whereunto this
Excercise is chiefly intended, the discovery of those
false opinions wherewith the world misleads all man-
kind, especially our weaker sex, we have received both
by your precept and example, if not the greatest
and weightiest, yet surely the most proper and
effectual arguments and motives that could have been
brought You have forsaken all those Affections,
Imployments, and Delights, wherein the world per-
swades the chief content of Women's minds should Ue
and you have censured them as vanities at the best,
as sins, and great ones, as they are commonly pursued.
You have taught us often that which we hope shall
ever remain as firm written in our Minds as in this
book, that there is nothing but the practise of Virtue
and Religion that can in the end yield comfort ; all other
things will turn to Bitterness at the lest. We know

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 153

your Experience hath been more large and full than
most others in these matters; and therefore cannot
but beleive your Judgment to be right, and upon
this grotmd have been the rather encouraged to the
contempt of that which is indeed contemptible, and
to the endeavouring after those things which are
alone worthy of Love and Honour.

"We are bold, dear Grandmother, to refresh these
things upon this occasion, the rather as it were by
the recording thereof to oblige ourselves to the follow-
ing both of your example and advice, the benefits
whereof in the continuance of your life wee most
humbly beseech God of His infinite mercy to con-
tinue to us and to your whole Family.

" Your most bounden daughters,
"^ The Sisters,

" Mary & Anna Collet.

•*2Februarie, 163 1."*

Next comes Mrs. Ferrars's reply.

" My Dears Children,

" What I have taught is true. Use carefully
therefore now and ever y* time and Opportunities y*
God offers for y* attainement of wisedome and
encrease of Vertue. As for matters of Huswifery,

* i6ai-32.

154 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

when God puts them upon you, it would be sin either
to refuse them, or to perform them negligently, and
therefore the ignorance of them is a great shame and
Danger for women that intend Marriage. But to
seek these kinds of Businesses for pleasure, and to
make them yo' delights, and to pride yo'selves for
yo' care and curiositie in them, is a great vanitie and
Folly at y* best, and to neglect better things and
more necessarie by pretence of being imployed in
these things, is surely, though a common Practise,
yet a peice of sinful! Hypocrisie. Doe them there-
fore, when God puts them upon you, and doe them
carefully and well, and God shall reward you, how-
ever y* things themselves be but meane, accepting
them at yo' hands, as if they were greater matters,
when they are done and undergone out of obedience
to his Command. But let yo' Delight bee onely in
y* better part. As for yo' Book, I kindly accept it ;
and although I have heard you very Jealously deny
the Communicating it with any, yet because I suppose
you esteeme yo' Sister Mapletoft all one with yo'-
selves, I would have you send her this Book, which
I doubt not will bee both of Profit and Comfort to
her. God continue and encrease you in every good
way and thing, till you come to Perfection in Christ
Jesus.

" Yo' Mother,

" Mary Farrar."

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 15^

The two following letters are addressed to Mrs,
Mapletoft : —

" To OUR DEAREST SiSTER,

*'With the same love y* is given by our
most Honoured Grandmother, doe wee make y* Con-
veyance of this Book unto you, our Dearest Sister,
Professing faithfully, y* wee esteeme our Paines as
well Imployed in thus parting with it to you, as wee
should have done in keeping it for ourselves, so
much doe wee love and praise the Grace of God y*
is in you, and the Gracious Benediction of God which
wee have received by yo' meanes, a most worthy and
Faithful Brother, to whose good judgment wee doe
freely submitt this Little work, Beseeching him to
give us Notice of what hee shall there find amisse.
And so beseeching God to perfecte his goodnes in
you by y* full Restitution both of Inward and Bodily
Health wee rest

" Your FaithfuU

"Sisters,
" Mary and Anna Collet.

^2 Febntarie, 163 1.*'

(The following note * is appended in another hand :
** Who both dyed Virgins, Resolving so to live when

* This note is given by Mr. Mayor, Appendix, p. 301.

156 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

they were young, by the grace of God. My much
honoured Aunt Mary, who took care of me and
my Brother Peter and Sister Mary after the death of
our Reverend and pious Father, Mr. Joshua Maple-
toft, dyed in y* 80*^ year of her age.

" John Mapletoft.

"Jan. 22, 1715.")

" My deare and worthy Neice,

" The Equall joy and Benefitt w** I have in
and by you, make mee as gladly give you my part,
as yo' Sisters have done theirs of this Book, and to
add my further promise, which their joynt consent
doth ratifie, that of every good thing y* God shall
impart to us, y" shall ever have as liberall and free a
Communication, as wee can possibly make you.
Which not onely our love but your own desert binds
us to whilest you continue what y" are by the per-
formance of yo' Duty, y* great comfort and Ornament
to our Familie. God make you to encrease in all
his graces and blessings. Amen.

" Yo' Unkle,

" Nicholas Ferrar."

The touching inscription in the beginning of the
book shows that it was left by Mrs. Mapletoft to her
eldest brother, Thomas Collett, and was given by him
to his son John; it is as follows : —

THE MAIDEN SISTERS, 157

** Johannes Collet

Filius

Thomae Collet

Pater

Thomas, Gulielmi, & Johannis,

Omnium Superstes

Natus

Quarto Junii 1633,

Denasciturus

Quando deo visum fuerit,

Interim hujus proprietarius

John Collet."

The childless man left the treasured volume to his
cousin Elizabeth, the daughter of Hester Collett and
Francis Kestian, and below his signature is a note
presumably in her writing.

" Elizabeth Kestian. Given me by my dear cosen
John Collet. I desier it to be given to my dear
cosen Dr. John Mapletoft."

Her wish was carried out, for after Nicholas Ferrar's
letter to his niece follows a note by Dr. Mapletoft

"This book was presented by my Great Grand-
mother, my honoured Mother's two Sisters (the
daughters of John and Susannah Collet) and their
Unkle Nicholas Farrar to my ever honoured Mother,
Susanna Mapletoft, the same year in which I was born.
And I desire my Son, to whom I do give it, with the
great Concordance and the other story Books, that they
may be preserved in the family as long as may be.

** John Mapletoft.

Jan. 23, 1715-"

1$S LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Dr. Mapletoft died in 1720, and Mr. Mapletoft, of
Bifield, in whose hands the books were when Peck
wrote in 1735, was probably his son.

The book opens with an account of the origin of
the "Conversations" and the uses which they were
intended to serve.

*' It was at the same time when the Church cele-
brates the great festival of the Purification, that the
maiden sisters, longing to be imitators of those glorious
Saints by whose names they were called (for all bore
Saints names, and she that was elected Chief, that of
the blessed Virgin Mary, haying entered into a joint
covenant between themselves and some others of
nearest blood, which, according to their several
relations, they stiled Founder, Guardian, and Visitor,
for the performance of divers religious exercises, lest —
as sweet liquors are often times corrupted by the
sourness of the vessels wherein they are infused —
there should arise in their hearts a distaste or abuse,
of those excellent things which they purposed), they
therefore resolved, together with the practice of devo-
tion, to intermingle the study of wisdom, searching
and enquiring into those things which appertain to
their condition and sex : finding in themselves and
observing in others that do sincerely pursue virtue,
that the greatest bar of perfection was ignorance of
the truth, whereby through misapprehension, many
prejudicial things were embraced, and many most

THE MAIDEN SISTERS, 159

behoveful to their ends, and most delightful in per-
formance, were not only neglected, but abhorred."

The stress laid by Nicholas Ferrar on mental
cultivation as a needful aid to devotion, is noteworthy.
With this object, they agreed ** every day at a sett
houre to conferre together of some such subject, as
should tend either to y* information of y* understand-
ing, or to y* exciting of y* Affections, to y* more ready
and fervent prosecution of vertues, and better per-
formance of all such duties, as in their present or
other Course of Life hereafter should be required of
them."

Some of the discussions are very interesting, from
the light tkey throw on the manners and ways of
thought of the family. Thus, when Mrs. Collett has
related the story of John the Almoner, showing *' y'
hee that sows Almes on earth shall reape Treasures
in Heaven," John Ferrar, in reply, denounces the
folly of those who spend their substance on them-
selves, and who, at the Day of Judgment, must either
'* stand silent or, at best, show forth hounds and
horses, and Idle droanes fatt crammed with continuall
surfetts in the Hall, when y* question shall bee of
feeding y* hungry. Will y* bringing forth of Liveries
for Pages and footmen, and costly hangings for y«
very walls, or y* dayly visits of ladies and great men
bee accepted for answers touching y* clothing of y*
Naked, and visiting y* sick ? I need not goe ovei^y*

l6o ' LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Other particulars ; you know what God will ask, you
see what men can say. If you venter yo'selves upon
such answeares with them, so will not I. My simple-
ness, I confesse, reacheth not to understand how
these Allegations will serve their tume. I meane,
therefore, by God's grace, to keep on y* plaine way,
fulfilling y* letter as much as may bee. And both mine
own body and my children must excuse mee if I take
lesse pleasure to myselfe, or leave lesse wealth to
them by this meanes."

" For mee not to be of the same mind," says Mary
Collett, " were double folly, inasmuch as my Virgin-
estate equally excludes y* care of both of worldly
pleasure and children ; " and she then begs her sisters,
the " Patient " and the " Affectionate," to relate stories
of Saints, " whose riches and prosperity have gone on
multiplpng by the distribution of them in pious uses."
And the " Patient," " having a little conferred with y*
' Affectionate,' " the two relate stories of the generosity
of Cosimo de Medicis and Gonsalvo Ferrante, the
** Great Captain," strangely chosen examples of
saintly life; Mrs. Collett, the "Moderator," having
first warned them that " The examples of Saints
work little, but upon those y* endeavour to become
Saints, or find themselves plain sinners, • . . but
worldly men, that think themselves Christians good
enough for Heaven, whilst none can tax them with
open enormities, make but a jest of the Example

THE MAIDEN SISTERS, i6i

or Authority of holy men, when they are alledged to
prove or persuade them that which they please not
to believe or follow.*'

These discourses may now appear dull and
ponderous, but their quaint pedantry was in the
taste of the day, and they seem to have greatly
interested their hearers, to whom they were intended
to serve, not only for instruction, but as a substitute
for the idle and often coarse masques and interludes
which then formed a favoiu:ite amusement In the
report of the Conversation on St John's Day, 163 1,
we read that " the remembrance of the former day's
pleasure having carried up most of the family (though
after a dinner of more than ordinary cheer) into the
sisters' chamber, the * Guardian ' (seeing himself and
only one or two more left in the dining-room) said,
smiling to his mother, 'Madam, you may now see
that young people may be brought to take as great
delight in things good and profitable, as in others
which are vain and useless ; for I do not think any
gamesters were hardly ever more earnestly bent on
their play than our family are upon their stories,' "

When Mrs. Ferrar resigned the personal super-
intendence of her granddaughters, the sisters met
together to elect a successor. A portion of the
Conversation which followed is worth quoting.*

* The following Conversation is taken from Peck's copy, as
printed in Mr. Mayor's Appendix, pp. 373-376.

l62 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

The " Guardian," John Ferrar, begins by suggesting,
"not for the excercise of misrule,^ but the main-
tenance of good order," that a lord should be
chosen among them for the ensuing Christmas. To
which the "Affectionate" answers that they should
choose, not a lord, but a lady, " as you have resolved,
and as the constitution of our family requires, it being
the female sex which exceeds among us, not merely
in number, but in faultiness."

Moderator. "That we may not seem to usurp
authority, I pray you, let the approbation of our
dearest mother be first made known to the company."

Guardian, " She hath, not only out of love to us,
and desire of our satisfaction, but out of her own
judgment, given both consent and approbation in
this matter."

Patient (Anna Collett). "Since the authority we
are now establishing is derived from her, methinks
the new title should not any way exceed the old, nor
the translation may be more large and lofty than the
original I should counsel, therefore, that, waiving
the ambitious stile of Lady, we should content our-

•* An allusion to the custom of choosing a chief (sometimes
called the ** lord of misrule *') for the Christmas revels. " I was
elected one of the comptrollers of the Middle Temple ReveUers,
as the fashion of the young students and gentlemen was, the
Christmas being kept this yeare with great solemnity." — ** Diary
of John Evelyn:" December 15, 1642,

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 163

selves for our 'Chief* with one of those twain of

Mother or Mistress, which our 'Guardian' ended with."
• •••••

Affectionate. "For this regard, as also with regard
to the virgin estate whereof our 'Chief* has made
profession, as there is nothing more necessary than
humility, both for ornament and protection, I suppose
not only the swelling stile of Lady may be better
waived than used ; and that, with more grace to the
office and satisfaction of all parties, we shall name
her Mother, which virtually includes the authority of
Mistress."

Here followed a conversation about the compara-
tive merits of married and single life, which is closed
by the "Cheerful" and the "Affectionate," whose
views of life differed from those of their elder sisters.

Cheerful. " Though we cannot with so much ease as
you " (Maiy and Anna) " may, yet with no less desire,
by God's grace, shall we follow after that which is
excellent in every kind. Your virgin state serves
better than wedlock to the attainment of perfection,
but doth not more necessarily require it We would
not, with the whole world to boot, take husbands, to
have less interest with God by that means. It is the
hope of serving God better, and of our firmer union
unto Him, which inclines our judgements to the
married condition. We have made up the accompt
and find it clear that there is no gain of worldly

i64 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

comforts to be got by marriage, except to them who
look no higher than the earth, no farther than this
life."

Affectionate. "For industry, therefore, worthy
Chief, take what part you please for yourself, and
you shall see a double charge belongs to us, who are
by you and our other friends designed for wives."

In a further conversation, held on All Saints Day,
Mary Collett was formally inducted into her oflfice,
and gifts are offered to her on this occasion, which
she refuses, until a note from the " Visitor " (Nicholas)
is handed to her, desiring her to accept them.

The new Mother begins by warning her sisters how
she intends to exercise the authority confided in her.
" You may cashier me if you please, but if you hold
me in you must give me leave to govern as becomes
my profession. It must be a very sober table that a
virgin sits at the head of; and they must be sober
cates that are of her providing."

Then the "Patient" arose, "and, kissing it, pre-
sented a rich Bible to the * Chief,* " who, after receiving
it, said, " I salute it with a kiss " (here she kissed it)
" in token of love, and put it on my head " (here she
put it on her head), " and lay it up in my bosom "
(here she laid it in her bosom) " as an incomparable
treasure. I have applied the letter without ; do Thou,
O my God (here she lifts up the book) ** apply the
spirit of this book within."

THE MAIDEN SISTERS. 165

The " Cheerful" gave a bell, inscribed, The bell tolls
to prayers and rings out for the dead.

The " Aflfectionate " gave a watch light

Then the "Moderator,** Mrs. Collett, arose, and
taking three of her children by the hand, led them up
to the " Chief," saying, ^ I give you these now for
children whom, at the first, I brought forth brothers
and sisters to you."

The " Guardian " (John Ferrar) : " The extent of
her motherhood is by no means to be confined within
those bounds, but must enlarge itself to the generality
of this whole family, and in particular to my three "
(Nicholas, John, and Virginia) " whom I likewise now
set over to her motherhood."

" To make the gift more proportionable," Susannah
Mapletoft offered a seventh child (her own little
Ann), " seven being the number of perfection, and
by the Pythagoreans more particularly attributed to
virginity."

The curious mixture of playfulness and affectation
in these formalities does not conceal the deep re-
ligious enthusiasm which they express — a strong and
true enthusiasm, not suffered to bum away in excited
feeling, but fed, instructed, and exercised in Christian
learning and the practice of fixed and active duties.

CHAPTER VII.

SOME FAMILY LETTERS.

** No empty hopes, no courtly fears her fright^
No begging wants her middle fortunes bite,
But sweet content exiles both miserie and spite.

• ••••••

Her life is neither tost in boisterous seas,
Of troublous world, nor lost in slothful! ease ;
Pleased and full blest she lives, when she her God can please.**

Phineas Fletcher, 1584-1650.

Mrs. Collett's letters,* full of good sense and
affection, show under what careful tender guidance
her children lived. Many are written from Mar-
getting, where her daughter frequently claimed her
care. She spent some months with Mrs. Mapletoft
in the summer of 1628, and, when she returned to
Gidding, left her daughter Hester to assist in the care
of the baby grandchildren. Nan and Mary. This
arrangement, it seems, could not be concluded with-
out the permission of Nicholas, whose position in the

* The letters of Mrs. CoUett that appear in this volume are all
taken from those printed by the Rev. J. £. B. Mayor in the
Appendix of " Two Lives of Ferrar.**

s ■

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. 167

house appears to have resembled that of the recog-
nized Superior of a religious community.

" Even in this absence," Mrs. CoUett writes to her
brother in September, "your love hath been con-
firmed to us under many seals. For your agreement
upon Hester's stay here for a while longer, as also
myself in especial, give you many thanks, for as it
will be a great comfort to my dear Su, so I hope by
God's mercy, He giving her health, it will be no less
content to Hester to show kindness than to receive it
For our resolutions what time to take our journey, we
never concluded upon it, but desired that you would
not only advise but determine of it Only, by the
way, at my husband's last being here he spake of
setting forth from hence as on Monday next, because
my son desired to begin our journey on a Monday
that he might reach Lincolnshire the Friday after, but
what Monday, he is very indifferent It was only
fear of foul weather and Essex bad ways made us
think of going so soon, but we expect the resolution
from you, for as yet we have made none. We all
here beseech you to present our most humble and
bounden duties to my most dear mother, our dearest
love remembered to yourself, my good brother Ferrar
and brother Richard (who I hope is yet with you), my
sister, and all other friends."

In November Mrs. CoUett is again at Gidding,
having safely traversed the muddy Essex roads ; and

l68 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

we find her writing to Nicholas, who has been called
to London on " troublesome and weighty aflfairs," to
beg him to undertake some commission, apparently
relating to one or other of her sons. In the following
March, Nicholas went to visit his niece at Margetting,
who was still far from strong. His reports were
eagerly looked for, and the postal arrangements of the
time must have kept up a continual excitement on
the subject of letters. Mrs. CoUett writes —

" March I, 1630.
"My MOST DEAR BROTHER,

"Your letters were most gladly read, they
confirming us in that hope of your health, which, by
the carrier's negligence, we could the last week
receive no other testimony of than by his own report
And now I beseech you to accept of my most hearty
and affectionate thanks for yoiu: so constant perse-
verance in the manifestation of your unparalleled love
and care of me and mine, and in particular that you
have been pleased not only to visit but to afford them
your company so long at Margetting when I doubt
not but, by God's help, the joy to see you and the
good counsel you have left with them, will be a
means of my dearest Su's speedier recovery of health.
For your letters also my husband and myself acknow-
ledge ourselves bound and do still desire that you
will be pleased to take the like course with any that

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. ' 169

shall come hereafter. But though time may per-
chance hardly permit it, yet the necessity of the case
makes me bold to entreat from you a full and ample
advice how to carry that business, which, as it seems,
can now no ways be avoided. My dear brother
Ferrar (John), who, as he best can, will sufficiently
inform you of every particular of our estate here,
only I cannot pass over the acknowledgement of
God's mercy to us all in that which is so main a
pillar of our comforts, the health of our dearest
mother, which I beseech Him long to continue and
make us truly thankful for it Let me entreat you to
remember my most kind love to my good cousin
Arthur^ and all other friends. With my prayers to
God for your health and prosperous success in all
your affairs, I commit you to God's protection."

No detail of the household at Margetting is too

minute for the consideration of the mother and uncle,

and in February, 1631, Mrs. Collett puts down in

• writing her answer to several household difficulties

which her son-in-law had brought to her for solution.

" Gidding, February 12, 1631.
"That which must be considered is, as I think,
what is best for her* to do, the things in question

* Mr. Arthur Woodnoth. Nicholas Ferrar was evidently
going on to London.
• Mrs. Mapletoft.

I70 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

being such as tend either to easing her of trouble,
avoiding of pain, or procuring some pleasure and
content to her mind. Now, my opinion is, that if she
shall purchase any of these with the displeasure either
of God, her husband, or her friends, she will with
much bitterness repent the bargain. Therefore my
counsel in general is that she be most wary not to
foil herself in this kind.

"Now, for the three first positions, I conceive
them to be such as, should they be yielded unto,
would in themselves be in no way displeasing to God,
but as they have relation to others, and chiefly her
husband, whose liking or dislike will make tliat either
good or evil which simply in itself is not so. And
first, for her going to see her brother and sister,
I cannot see any harm likely^ have ensued thereof;
but should rather have hoped the quite contrary, and
that their kind visitations and conversing together at
times convenient might be a means to increase such
love between them as might prove of good conse-'
quence to them both. For keeping another maid,
I am not able to say what is best, but shall rather wish
her to try the uttermost of her own strength, which,
by God's blessing, may be increased into her that she
shall not have such need of a maid as may now be
feared she will. Concerning one of her sisters going
unto her ; though it might for the time be a great com-
fort to her, yet, considering that it may please God

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. 171

and is most likely that she may often have as great
need of such helps in the same kind^ and no proba-
bility that she shall often enjoy their company, I think
it as good for her to satisfy herself with these comforts
that she may have nearer hand, and not to be
troubled in longing after that which is so doubtful she
might But for the nursing of her child, when it
shall please God to send it to her, I would advise her
not so much as to think of doing it by any but herself,
but to resolve to do what possibly she may, though it
should be with some pains, and leave the issue to
God, for I cannot doubt but the putting of it forth
would prove to her a matter of so much grief and
trouble of mind that, though she were sure by that
means to enjoy it, yet she would think her health
bought at too dear a rate. Thus, according to my
ability, you have my advice ; but I leave the solution
to better judgements, and shall heartily beseech God
to direct in the choice of wh^t is best." *

The brother and sister whom Mrs. Mapletoft
wished to visit were probably Thomas Collect and
his wife, who had now left Gidding and settled in a
home of their own. The following letter is to this
son, and probably refers to the " Concordance of the
Holy Gospels " made for him : — '

' With this letter was sent a copy of a prayer used at Gidding
on behalf of the young couple.
» Chap. VIIL, U,

172 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

" Gidding, November 22, 1630,
" The book which your sister sent you in the last
week I doubt not but you have read before this
(though in your letter to your grandmother you men*
tion it not), which upon a diligent survey I am assured
you cannot but read in it the character of a most
unparalleled love and unwearied pains and carefulness
in the contriving thereof for your benefit. God, for
His mercy's sake,* grant you may in some measure
answer them all, the first in a return, the other in
imitation; and that you may with all speed resolve
and constantly put in execution the practise of that
which is contained therein."

Mrs. Collett's heart was filled with heavier anxieties
than the number of Mrs. Mapletoft's maids, or the
regulation of her visits to her family. Her youngest
son Edward had been placed in some business in
London; Mrs. Collett writes to him a letter full of
earnest advice in November, 1628, apparently shortly
after his first leaving home.

" It would trouble me much if I had but a thought
that you would forget those psalms that you have
learned. Nay, I hope you will not content yourself
in the only keeping of them in your memory, but
learn much more, and in particular that book of the
Proverbs, which both I desired, and you promised me
to do ; and do not say with the sluggard, TTiere is a lion
in the way^ you have now so much business that you

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. 173

can intend nothing else, without the neglect of per-
forming your service to your master, which God
forbid you should do. No, my son ; that time which
you shall spend in this kind, borrow it from those
hours that others take, and yourself may have liberty
to spend, in their own pleasures. But if you will say,
there is none such allowed you, though I can hardly
believe that, then take it from those that are allowed
for your rest, and assure yourself, if with a good heart
you shall do so, undoubtedly you shall find your mind
much strengthened for the performance of all your
duties, and the strength of your body no whit im-
paired. I might say much more, but I assure myself
and praise God for it, you shall not want better
counsel than I can give you ; for your dear uncle will
see you shortly."

The young man flung his mother's exhortations to
the winds. He is continually in trouble. His
master complains of him ; for a whole year he does
not write home, in spite of repeated admonitions. It
is no doubt of this son that Mrs. Collett speaks in a
letter from Margetting, where she had again gone to
watch over Mrs. Mapletoft's health.

"June, 1631,
" I am confident that by God's assistance you are
the best able to judge both of his disposition and of
what might be likeliest in such an uncertainty, to

174 I-IP^ OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

bring him to a greater sense of his own ill case, and
serious endeavours as much as possibly he may, to
regain first pardon of God for his sin against Him,
and so the assurance of the safety of his soul, and if
God shall please to see it good for him, the repair of
his now seeming lost hopes for the things of this life."
Thomas, now a barrister in London, and Nicholas
Collett, who was learning the goldsmith's trade under
Mr. Arthur Woodnoth, were both exhorted to do their
utmost for their brother. Thom'as took him to live
with him, but the youth seems to have been irreclaim-
able, and in despair his parents, with Mr. Woodnoth's
aid, determined to send him abroad, a resolution of
which her brother Nicholas did not wholly approve.

" To my dear Brother Nicholas.

" Oct. 21, 1631.

*'My MOST DEAR BROTHER,

" Since I entreated your help for a draught
of a letter to Mr. B., I have gathered that by your
denial and by your speeches (and the more at the
receipt of my cousin Arthur's letter) that you do not
well approve of my son's going to the Indies, which
before that time 1 did not conceive that you disliked
of the course as but only by reason of the difficulties
that we are like to meet with in procuring his enter-
tainment and his insufficiency to discharge any place

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. 175

of that kind. . . . The only hope I have of his well
doing is only in God's mercy, who can give wisdom to
the simple and grace to them that are most unworthy,
even when in men's judgement they are most uncapable
of the receiving of it, and my trust is that He will
hear the prayers of so many as I hope will continually
be intercessory for him. Besides, I do conceive well
of the means, that the length of the voyage, the
danger of peril in the way, the good orders that are
kept in the ship, the necessity of forcing him to be
obedient to so many that are in authority above him,
the discretion he shall see in others in applpng them-
selves to perform their charge, may by God's grace
work the like care in him, and bring him to a more
feeling apprehension of his past faults, and so to a
more hearty repentance and endeavour of amend-
ment every way, Mr. Buckridge thinking it abso-
lutely the best way we could set him in. . . . Mr.
Bateman and my cousin Massenberd ... gave
instances of some but ill-disposed before their going
thither, to have come home sober and discreet men.
Yet notwithstanding perceiving now some opinions of
such great danger of evil, I shall humbly beseech
yours whether upon these grounds we may not still
desire this for him, and have as good hope of his well-
doing in this, as in any other course we shall be able
to set mm m, for, I profess, [for] my own part, I would
not hazard a more imminent danger to his soul for a

176 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

more certainty of his temporal preferment If you
therefore will please give me your opinion and counsel
herein, I shall by God's grace endeavour to follow it,
and shall ever acknowledge it for an addition to those
many favours and that obligation wherein myself and
all mine stand bound to you in the height of all love
and duty.

** Your loving sister to you much obliged,

"S. C"

Nicholas's answer is dated October 28, 163 it

"Dear Sister,

" As I am partner in your cares, so shall I,
God willing, in your prayers to God for the good
success of the business, but counsel is too late to ask
when the business is brought almost to upshot Your
reasons do not satisfy me, my own and others fears
trouble me. I cannot, therefore, be a setter forward
by my approbation, nor will be a hinderer of it,
because I have no certainty of exception against the
employment itself, and I see your husband's and your
own mind strongly bent to the going forward of it, to
which I shall never make any exception in any matter
touching your children but upon evidence of error
on your parts, and that in the very substance and
essence of the business; but as for circumstantial
errors (God willing), I will not stand upon them;

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. 177

some such have been committed in this matter, but I
freely pass them over, as much as concerns me ; only
one, out of the same love which makes me forget the
rest, 1 am bound to remember, that is, burdening your
son Thomas with Edward's diet, which I did not
suspect you had intended, till my mother told me it
I am afraid, nay, I am almost assured, it will prove
every way of evil consequences ; if you doubt so too,
you have for the making him satisfaction one of your
jQio remaining of the ;^2o, and also your husband
hath free liberty to dispose of the twenty nobles a year
overplus which remain of the jQ20 rent, besides your
own and sister's allowance. I desire it to be reserved
for the exercise of your bounty towards a son ; if you
will use it for the benefit of a couple, I shall not hold
it an alteration but an improvement of your first reso-
lution. 1 have no more to say in this business, but
that you hearken diligently what God saith unto you
in it and follow His direction, and all shall, I hope,
prove to the best; He will not fail to instruct you if
you call upon Him faithfully. To His good grace I
commit you, and by His grace continue

" Your faithful loving brother,

" N. F."

The answer to this rather harsh letter, in which
Nicholas betrays evident annoyance at finding that
Mr. and Mrs. Collett had for once ventured to act on

lyfe LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

their own responsibility, is not given. Edward
Collett sailed for the East Indies in the following
March, with promises of amendment, which we may
hope were kept . " I give you in charge not only the
reading but the putting in practice those precepts con-
tained in the written book I send you," Mrs. Collett
wrote to him in 1634. " I send you also three books
of Mr. Herbert's which are held (and worthily) in
great esteem ; if they shall prove so with you, you
shall please some of my friends." " The Temple "
must have been one of the books sent out to the boy
in India.

One more letter of Mrs. CoUett's must be here
given.

" To my dearest Brother Nicholas.

"March 2, 1631,

"My most dear Brother,

** Since your first offer to me (of that which
in all reason should have been either my suit or my
want), — that is to give me your best assistance upon the
revealing thereof, to the attainingof my own desires, —
I have, I confess, had many conflicts within myself,
to what bounds to limit them. But upon a strict
examination of what hath passed in all my life
hitherto, I have found that those hopes and expecta-
tions which I had fancied to myself would in the

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. 179

fruition prove most happy, they have not seldom
deceived me. I have therefore now resolved by
God's grace, not to make any choice for myself, but
commit myself wholly to Him to dispose of ray future
estate which He hath hitherto so graciously provided
for me. And for the things of this hfe my greatest
desire is, that I may desire nothing but to rest content
and fully satisfied with what estate soever He shall
place me in, and with all thankful acknowledgment of
His unspeakable mercy towards me to endeavour the
performance of those duties which He requires of me,
both to Himself and to all those to whom I have
special reference of duty or love, and that I may be
the more strongly conformed in this purpose, by
framing my actions as is most befitting my present
condition, I not only beseech your prayers but your
counsels and directions. And for my daughter
Betty,^ my desire is that she may be trained up in
the true fear of God and exercise of humility and
obedience, and set in a course whereby she may attain
such wisdom for the right ordering of her mind, that
howsoever it may please God to settle her, she may
by a right use make either a prosperous estate happy,
or a mean contented. And if you shall please to
assist me with your counsel for the effecting of this
both in myself and her, I shall ever acknowledge it

' Elizabeth Collett afterwards married her cousin, Benjamin
Woodnoth, of Shavington,

i8o LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

among the greatest of those many benefits, which it
has pleased God to make you the instrument of to
me and all mine, who shall ever rest in all due
acknowledgment.

" Your most bounden and much-obliged sister,

"Susannah Collett."

This ktter appears to refer to some arrangement
with regard to the family property. It may well be
that among those hopes and expectations which Mrs.
CoUett desired to leave wholly to the disposal of
God, were the vocation of Mary and Anna to the
single life " for the better giving themselves to fasting
and prayer," and the devotion of her son Ferrar to
the priesthood. In the Conversation for the Feast
of the Circumcision, 1632, she says, "I will give now
by way of recipe to my son, whom my prayers and
vows have set apart to this holy calling, that he keep
himself pure and undefiled from this evil usage of the
world, and whenever he is invited to a tavern or ale-
house, let him answer, his mothtr gave him charge to
the contrary y

Two of the little grandchildren from Margetting
were by this time added to the household at Gidding.
Mrs. Mapletoft's health seems to have been unequal
to the care of her increasing family. She accepted
her sister's offer to take charge of Nan and Mall, and
Nan was formally made over to Mary's care, as

SOME FAMILY LETTERS. iSi

mentioned in the last chapter, and bore the name
of "the Humble" in the Academy of Gidding.
Three little boys followed one another quickly in the
Margetting parsonage, but of these, one was soon
taken to a more lasting home.

In 163s Mr. Mapletoft died, greatly regretted.
** I am truly sensible of the loss of such neighbours,"
a friend wrote to Mrs. CoUett; "the loss of that
glorified saint doth reflect double on me, not only in
him, but in them likewise. I am so sorry for their
going from hence, that truly I think the worse of my
dwelling. I think there will come a supply to the
parsonage, but none so endeared to me as these
gentlewomen."

After a time Susannah was married again to
a Mr. Chedley, but her daughter Mary and the two
surviving boys, John and Peter, remained at Gidding
in charge of her sisters.

CHAPTER VIII.

DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE CONCORDANCES

MADE AT GIDDING.

** Prosper Thou, O Lord, the work of our hands : O prosper
Thou our handy works."

** Innocency is never better lodged than at the sign of labour."
• — Inscriptions on tJie Wall oj the Concordance Room at Gidding,

The Harmonies, or, as they are always called in the
family manuscripts, the Concordances, made at
Gidding, are so numerous and interesting that their
history requires a chapter to itself.^

It would be a misapprehension to regard these
unique works as mere curiosities, the laborious toys
of an unoccupied mind. They were the fruit of a
close and thoughtful study of Holy Scripture, an
earnest desire to learn and to teach its lessons.
Nicholas Ferrar's Jove for the Bible resembles that
of his friend Herbert.

* This chapter is taken from John Ferrar*s (imperfect) list of
the works done at Gidding, printed by the Rev. J. E. B. Mayor,
and the very full and interesting catalogue published in the
Archceolo^ for i8S8, vol. ii., by Captain Acland.

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT G ID DING, 183

■

"O Book ! infinite sweetness ! let my heart
Suck every letter, and a honey gain,
Precious for any grief in any part,
To clear the breast, to mollify all pain.
■ •••••

Oh, that I knew how all thy lights combine,
And the configurations of their glory !
Seeing not only how each verse doth shine,
But all the constellations of the story.''

During Ferrar's lifetime, the arrangement of the
Harmonies seems to have been entirely his own, but
all the members of the family, from Mrs. Ferrar down
to the little girls, assisted in the manufacture. The
method of their construction has been already
described. The following extract from John Ferraris
account of the one originally made for their own use
will show how much study must have been bestowed
on the arrangement : —

"Glory be to God on high.

" The actions, doctrines, and other passages touch-
ing our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as
they are related by the four Evangelists, reduced into
one complete body of history; wherein that which
is severally related by them is digested into order,
and that which is jointly related by all, or any of
them, is first expressed in their own words, by way
of comparison ; secondly, brought into one narration,
by way of composition ; thirdly, extracted into clear

i84 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

context, by way of collection ; yet so as whatsoever
was omitted in the context, is inserted by way of
supplement in another print, and in such a manner
as all the four evangelists may easily be read severally
and distinctly, each apart and alone, from first to last.
Done at Little Gidding, anno 1630."

In each page throughout the book were sundry
exquisite pictures added, expressing either the facts
themselves, or other types and figures, or matters
appertaining thereto, "much to the pleasure of the
eye and delight of the reader."

This volume is lost, destroyed probably in the
pillage of Gidding.

II.

Another Concordance was made apparently on the
occasion of Thomas CoUett leaving Gidding for a
home of his own. This book is a " Harmony of the
Four Gospels," bound in red parchment. On the
first blank page are the following inscriptions : — (The
first is the same as that in the Conversations.)

" Johannes Collet Filius Thomge Collet, Pater
Thomse, Gulielmi, and Johannis, omnium superstes.
Natus Quarto Junii 1633. Denasciturus — Quando
Deo visum fueiiL Interim hujus proprietarius. —
John Collet."

"This was the book of my honoured Aunt, Mrs.
Mary Collet, compiled at Little Gidding by the

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT GIDDING. ibS

direction of her Uncle, Mr. N. Ferrar, and bound,
I believe, by herself It was given to me by my good
and dear Cosin, Mrs. Elizabeth Kestian, who died
Aug., 17 15. I give it to my son, and if he dyes
without issue to my daughter, Elizabeth Castrell, and
to her son Robert, and I desire that it may be
preserved in my family as long as may be. There
were never above two more of the form that I ever
heard of, one of which was presented to Charles the
First, by his desire, when he was pleased to honour
the Family at Little Gidding with a visit, when he
went from London into the North ; and the other to
King Charles II. at his restoration, 1660, by John
Ferrar,^ who is now owner of Little Gidding, from
the aforesaid Mrs. Mary Collett, who, as I think,
bound both the said books in purple velvet and richly
gilded.

'* That to King Charles the First was sent to him
soon after he had been there. — ^John Mapletoft,
Jan. 23, 1715" (1715-16).

This book remained in the Mapletoft family, and
is now the property of a descendant, Mr. Harold
Mapletoft Davis, residing in New South Wales,
Australia.'

' Only surviving son of John Ferrar, author of " Memoir of
Nicholas Ferrar." He died in 1719 in his eighty-ninth year. —
Inscription in Gidding Church.

- Further note on the Harmonies, 1889, Captain Acland.

1 86 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

It is characteristic that in these elaborate works
Nicholas Ferrar seems to have had no end in view
beyond the instruction of his own family. It was
only by accident that he was induced to extend their
usefulness.

In 1 63 1 the king, having heard — by what means
we are not informed, but very probably through
Cosin, one of the royal chaplains — that an extremely
curious and interesting book had been compiled at
Gidding, despatched a gentleman from Apthorpe,
where he was then staying, to request that this choice
volume might be sent for his inspection.

" The tidings were much unexpected, and Nicholas
Ferrar at London." Apparently no one ventured to
take any decided step in his absence; for they
begged leave to defer sending the book for a week,
adding a message that it " was wholly unfitting every
way for a king's eye, and those who had given him
any notice of such a thing had much misinformed
his Majesty; and when he should see it, he would
con ^ them no thanks, the book being made only for
the young people in the family."

But the gentleman was not to be put off, declaring
that if he went back without it, he knew he should
be sent again that night. " So necessity enforced the
delivery," and the book was carried off with a promise

* ***To con thanks,* an old expression for *to thank;* it is
the same with sfavoir grSJ** — ^Johnson.

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT GIDDING. 187

that it should be returned when the king left
Apthorpe; but three months passed before the
gentleman came back to Gidding, and then he
arrived empty-handed.

The king, he said, took such pleasure in that book,
that he would not part with it unless the family would
make him another for his daily use, " for in the midst
of his progress and sports he spent one hour in the
perusing of it, and that would apparently be seen by
the notations he had made upon the margins of it
with his own hand/' Some months later, the volume
was restored, and the many notes found in the margin
proved how diligently Charles had studied it ** In
one place, which is not to be forgotten to the eternal
memory of his Majesty's superlative humility (no
small virtue in a king), having written something in
one place, he puts it out again very neatly with his
pen. But that, it seems, not contenting him, he
vouchsafes to underwrite, / confess my error ^ It was
well before (an example to all his subjects), / was
mistaken.

III.

The Ferrars hastened to obey the king's command,
and another Harmony was at once put in hand.^

' From John Ferrar's narrative, it would appear that the first
Concordance made for the king was finished in 1632 or 1633, but
the date in the book itself is 1635. if this is correct, it was not
presented till after the royal visit to Giddiug.

i88 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

So greatly was Charles interested in this book and
its makers, that in 1633, on his progress into Scotland
to be crowned at Holyrood, he stopped to visit
Gidding. Strangely enough, the Ferrar memoirs
make no mention of this honour ; and it is only from
Rushworth's ** Progress" that we learn that on
May 13 in that year the king " stept a little out of
the way to view a place at Gidding, near Stilton, in
Northamptonshire, which by the vulgar sort of people
was called a Protestant nunnery, ^^ ^

The king's description of this Protestant family,
who " outdid the severest monastics abroad," kindled
the curiosity of the queen, who perhaps fancied the
account exaggerated. She sent a gentleman to Little
Gidding, with commands to bring her an exact account
of what he saw there ; and she wished to have visited
the place herself, but this was prevented by the state
of the roads, which seem to have enjoyed a reputation
for superior badness, and which proved impassable
for her coach.

When the Concordance was finished it was sent to
the king through Cosin, who was chaplain-in-waiting
that month, and was received by Charles with
expressions of pleasure which meant more than
merely royal coiuriesy.

"It shall be my vade mecum^^ he said to Cosin,

' ** Rush worth," vol. ii. p. 178, quoted by the Rev. J. E. B.
Mayor.

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT GTDDING. 189

and added to Laud, who stood by, " How happy a
king were I if I had many more such workmen and
women in my kingdom ! God's blessing on their
hearts and painful hands ! "

This Concordance remained in the royal library at
Windsor till it was presented by George III. to the
British Museum, where it now remains.

IV.

The king was so much pleased with the work, that he
asked Laud if he thought " these good people " would
be willing to take some further trouble.

" I often," he said, " read the Books of Kings and
Chronicles, as is befitting a king, but in many things
I find some seeming contradictions, and one book
saith more, and the other less, in many circumstances
the latter being a supply to the former. Now I,
seeing this judicious and well<ontrived book of the
four Evangelists, gladly would have these skilful
persons to make me another book, that might be so
ordered that I might read these stories of Kings and
Chronicles so interwoven by them as if one pen had
written the whole books." He added that he had
often spoken to his chaplains about such a work, but

that they had excused themselves on the ground of
us difficulty.

• Cosin informed the family of his Majesty's wish,

igo LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

and in a year's time a Harmony of the Books of Kings
and Chronicles, arranged with great care and skill,
was ready for the king's use.

It was presented by John Ferrar, who gives a most
graphic account of its reception, though with charac-
teristic reticence he omits all mention of himself in
the relation.

The book was first shown to Laud, who viewed it
with great admiration, saying that the name of
Gidding, where such works were produced, should
be changed from Parva to Magna, He then in-
troduced John Ferrar into the royal presence. The
interview must be given in Ferrar's own words.

**At their coming into the room where the king
was, he, seeing my lord of Canterbury to have a
stately great book in his two hands, presently rose
out of his chair where he was sitting, many lords then
standing round about him.

" Whaty said he, shall I now enjoy this rich jewel I
have thus long desired^ Have you, my lord, brought
me my book f

" Yea, sir, replied the Bishop of Canterbury. Give
it me, give it me, said the king. Your expectations,
sir, said he, are not only performed, but out of doubt
many ways surpassed. For my own part, I wonder at
the work and all the parts of it.

" Let me have it, said the king. So, smiling, he took
it and carried it to the table.

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT G ID DING, iqi

"Then, first seriously viewing the outside of the
book, which was bound in purple velvet, and that also
most artificially gilt upon the velvet in an extraordinary
manner, he said. My lords, the outside thus glorious^
what think you will be the inside and matter cf it?
Then, untying the stately string, he opening it read
the frontispiece and contents of the book. Then,
turning to my lord of Canterbury, he said. You have
given me a right character of the work, truly it passeth
what I could have wished. . . . / will not part with
this diamond for all those in my Jewel-house, For it is
so delightful to me, and I know the virtues of it will
^ pass all the precious stones in the world. It is a most
rare crystal glass, and most useful and needful and
profitable for me and all kings. It shows and represents
to the life God's exceeding high and great mercies to all
pious and virtuous kings, and likewise his severe justice
to all ill and bckL It shall, I assure you, be my
companion in the daytime, and the sweetest perfumed
bags that can lay under my head at night.

" He then sent his hearty thanks to the makers of
the book. I know, he said, that they look for none,
neither will they receive any reward. Yet let them
know, as occasion shall be, I will not forget them,
and God bless them in their good intentions. And so,
after some more talk the lords had of Gidding, the king
took the book, and went away with it in his arms."

This Concordance is also in the British Museum,

102 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

having been sent, like the first, from Windsor.
It bears the date 1637, the last year of Nicholas

Ferrar's life.

"Some while after," says John Ferrar, "Dr. Cosin
gave notice that the king, the more he perused both
books given him the more he liked them ; and had con-
ference with him about the printing of them, that, as
he said, all his people might have the benefit of them.
And Dr. Cosin told the king it was a kingly notion,
and by his Majest/s favour they should be put out,
as at his command^ and the latter as done by his
directions."

The coming troubles, no doubt, caused this project
to be laid aside, and these Harmonies have never
been printed.

Another Concordance, dated 1635, seems to have
been made originally for Sir R. Cotton, founder of
the Cottonian Library,^ from whom it came by
marriage into the possession of the Bowdler family.
It was presented by the Rev. Thos. Bowdler to the
late Arthur Acland Troyte, Esq., of Huntsham Court,
Devon. His son relates in the Archceologia, that the
gift was made because, in the pious ordering of hij
family, the master of Huntsham recalled to mind the
founder of Little Gidding.

^ The Cotton family lived in the neighbouring parish of
Denton.

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT GIDDING. 193

This book is now in possession of Captain Acland,
and is in daily use for the instruction of his children.

After the death of Nicholas Ferrar in 1637, the
work was carried on by his favourite nephew and
godson, Nicholas Ferrar the younger, who had long
been his assistant The story of this young scholar
belongs to a later chapter, but it will be convenient to
give here the list of his works.

" The Monotessaron ; or, The Four Evangelists," in
English, Latin, French, and Italian, *' to which are,
in all the pages of the book, added sundry of the best
pictures that could be gotten, expressing the facts
themselves, or their types, figures, or other matters
pertaining thereto/'

This was presented to Charles Prince of Wales, it
having been made at his request

It is now in possession of the Earl of Normanton,
and is a magnificent book, 2 ft i in. in height, richly
bound in green velvet stamped with fieur-de-lis and
sprays of oak.

VIL

"The Holy Gospels " in eight languages.

VIII.

The same in twenty-foiu: languages.

194 UFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

IX.

" The Gospel of St John *' in twenty-one languages,
each several language being accompanied by a Latin
or English translation.

These three books were presented to the king, in
the hope, probably, that he would assist in getting
them printed.

Their subsequent history is unknown.

** Acts of the Apostles and Revelation of St John,"
bound in leather gilt. The tide-page curiously deco-
rated with pictures. Presented to the king, and re-
mained in royal library at Windsor till lent by
George II. to the British Museum.

XI.

A square folio, illustrated throughout, containing
the Five Books of Moses. Presented by Arch-
bishop Laud to St John's College, Oxford, dated
1640 ; and now in the library of St John's College.

After the death of the younger Nicholas, the sur-
viving members of the family still continued the
work.

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT GIDDING. 19^

XIL

**The Four Gospels,*' bound in purple velvet,
stamped with a pattern of acorn sprigs of oak and
fleurnde-lis. No date. Probably the volume made
for the Duke of York, and never presented owing to
the outbreak of the civil war.

It is now in possession of the Marquis of Salisbury.

XIIL

" The Pentateuch," a splendid volume 2 ft 4| in. by
I ft. 8 in., bound in purple velvet stamped in patterns
of small crowns. Profusely illustrated. No date.
Contents : the Five Books of Moses, corresponding
passages from the New Testament, also long extracts
from a work entitled ** Moses Unveiled,'* and papers
on a variety of other subjects, including holy men,
types of our Lord, etc. Evidently the second book
made for Prince Charles, and seen by the King at
Gidding in 1642, but never presented.

In 1776 this book belonged to Jacques Bourdillon,
who bought it from the Harleian Library. It was
found at the beginning of the present century, walled
up at Brookman's Park, and is now in the library of
Captain Gaussen, Brookman's Park, Hatfield*

196 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

XIV.

"Four Gospels," bound in light brown leather,
illustrated throughout, dat6d 1640. On the title-
page is written —

" This book was the work of two ladies, nieces of
Mr. Ferrar of L. Gidding, who, according to Ward's
account in the Gresham professors, devoted them-
selves to a single life. • • •

** The said Mr. Ferrar was great-uncle to Dr. John
Mapletoft, some time Phisic professor of Gresham
College, and afterwards Vicar of St Laurence Jewry,
London ; which Dr. Mapletoft was great-uncle to the
present possessor of this book.

"J. Mapletoft, M.A.,
" Chaplain to the Right Hon. John, Lord St John

" of Bletsoe.

"July 16, 1764."

Now in possession of Miss Heming, Hillingdon
Hill, Uxbridge.

XV.

The Concordance " of an inferior kind and sort "
sold to Lord Wharton for jQzh mentioned by John
Ferrar in letter to Dr. Basire ; of which the history is
unknown.

These, with (XVI.) the volume already mentioned

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT GIDDING. 197

as belonging to the Hervey family, and the unfinished
Concordance in the treasure trove at Magdalene
College, are the whole of the works known ^ to have
been executed at Gidding, All are bound by the
hands of the family, who were also in the habit of
binding other books * for their own use, for friends,
and possibly for sale with a view to provide funds to
carry on their costly work. Their friend Dr. Isaac
Basire, sending to his betrothed a copy of St Francis
de Sale's " Devout Life," tells her that " it was bound
by those devout virgins I told you of. Who knows
but the prayers they may have bestowed on the
binding may do you good in the reading thereoC"

NOTB.

A spedmen of the arrangement of these Harmonies may be
found interesting ; it is taken from the great Concordance made
for Charles L, now in the King's Library, British Museum. The
words in italics are written, the rest printed, the slips of paper,
often exceedingly small, being fitted together and pasted down
on large folio paper with the utmost neatness. The words of
the Evangelists are distinguished in the "Composition" by
their initials, in the "Collection" by the marginal letters
A, B, C, D. I have given only a portion of the " Comparison *'
and "Composition" of the passage chosen, which is selected on

* Others are said to have been made for Herbert and Dr.
Jackson.

* A Bible, bound at Gidding for Charles I.| is in the library
at Cardiff Castle.

198

LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

account of the close interweaving of the three sacred narratives
in the compass of a few verses. The whole occupies a single
page of the folio.

The Rubbing of the Ears of Com.
COMPARISON.

ST. MATTHEW.

At that time, Jesus
went on the Sabbath
day through the torn ;
and his Disciples were
an hungred, and began
to pluck uie ears of
com, and to eat.

But when the Phari-
sees saw it, they said
unto him, Behold, thv
Disciples do that which
is not lawfull to do upon
the Sabbath day.

ST. MARK.

And it came to pass,
that He went throueh
the com fields on tne
Sabbath day; and his
disciples began as they
went to pluck the ears
of com.

And the Pharisees
said unto him. Behold,
why do they on the
Sabbath day that which
is not lawfull f

ST. LURE.

And it came to pass
on the second Sabbath
after the first, that He
went through the com
fields ; and his disciples
plucked the ears of
com, and did eat, rub-
bing them in their
hands.

And certain of the
Pharisees said unto
them. Why do ye that
which is not lawfull to
do on the Sabbath
days

COMPOSITION.

M A.'oA it came to passe -W*at that time -*^that .^ Jesus
J^^yreni through the cornfields on the Sabbath day, ^ the second
Sabbath after the first, <Af and his disciples were an hungred
Mi and b^an as they went to pluck the ears of com, L and did
eat, rubbing them in their hands. M But when L certain of the
Pharisees -^saw it, they I* said unto them. Why do ye that
ttrhich is not lawfull to do on the Sabbath dayes ? Mk And the
Pharisees said unto him. Behold, why do they on the Sabbath
day that which is not lawfull ? iKf Behold Thy disciples do that
which is not lawfull to do on the Sabbath day.

COLLECTION.

A. 12, I. %t tl^at iimt StiMi foott nn iS^t tvtiAKf^

Iras QotdtDe t^^ tnxm^ and his disciples were an hungred
and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. '

THE CONCORDANCES MADE AT GIDDING. 199

B, 6, I. TM it aant ta pnMit on fbt iecav^ ^Blihuti)
after tj^ SrKt t^ "^ tooit ft^axofBt tfyt tavtf&tUiif otilr
|)u( ^ii{d#Iei< iplucitf^ tl^t tuxti of com otilr ^Oi eate^
ntiUbliiv iti^tn in t^tix "^Mdii*

2. 9titr certain at t^t Ij^'^axiitti i^Os tmta t^tm^
8B^9 tsat mt ft^nt tDl^irt) i^ not loSofun ta liat an tfyt

^* 2. iSut tD|)en Q»e ^l^arltfeeiir jfTatD it, tfytta itiits nnta
Ilim, ^oQi t^m SiiitifiUi tsat t^nt tol^ir]^ iA not latoful
t0 ^0e txpan t^t ^sMat^ ^a^.

3. But he said unto them. Have ye not read what David did
when he was an hungred and they that were with him ?

4. How he entered into the house of God and did eate the
shewbread, which was not lawfull for him to eate, neither for
them which were with him, but only for the priests ?

c 2. ^nlr S^iui anifattinq nnta tl^em, i&ifSf Have ye

not read so much as this, what David did when himself was an
hungred and they that were with him ?

4. How he went into the house of God, and did take and
eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that went with him,
which is not lawful to eat but for the priest alone ?

5. And he said unto them. That the Son of Man is Lord also
of the Sabbath.

£, II. 23. And it came to pass as he went through the
cornfields on the Sabbath day, and his disciples began as they
went to pluck the ears of com.

24. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on
the Sabbath day that which

25. Is not lawfull ? And he said unto them, ftafie mt ntbtt

rttCa ta^sit Bahitt irCtr fol^en ^t "fytCti ntttst taCts foojEt on
|)unjtrrlr l^e anlr tfytu f^&t tattt fni^ %im^

26. fgotD (e iDent into tt^t fgotute at eats in t^e irasifr
of ^hiKt^Kt ffyt "^iffy priritt ax(n tsits rat t|)r id^rtDirraXr,
tjoi^it^ ii( nat laSntuU ta rate hnt tat t^t j^xititi, anH

SS^t tUsia ta Qrm t^at forrr iaitb f^im.

200 LIPE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

A, 5. <dr "fyAt jft tmt ttiin in tt^t laf»e l^ofo tfyat on
f^t ^tSAs^ tftijuiti ff^t IfiritM in tf^t ttnqfit profane
l^t SftSAnt^ tints wet ilam^les^jie?

6. )Sut i Jtos tmta fiott t^ in Qitf iflsu ii ant
%ttBttt t^sn ffyt temple*

7. 3But ii jft l^tf ItturtDm fnl^ot ffyii mtwxt^^ i fnOI
l^alie mtttjui taCts not liraarif ce» 90 fsuivXis not ^ubt ton'
Hemti^ tt^t fpiHtitiit.

8. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day*

B. 27. fftOr |e sTaOf vtnta t^tm, C^e Ji^a^oQ fnxtf
unto for m8ti» anlr not num tat tfyt SttiAai^.

28. Wt^ttttatt Hbt tan at M«n ii ftorlr Ma at t^t
JftiAibat^

CHAPTER IX.

RESTORATION OF LEIGHTON CHURCH — NICHOLAS
FERRAR'S WORK AS A TRANSLATOR.

^ No longer shall our churches frighted stones
Lie scattered like the dead and martyred bones
Of dead devotion, nor faint marbles weep.
For their sad ruins."

R. Crash AW, Lines prefixed to

Shel/ord's ^'Five Discourses.^ 1635.

A.D.— 1628-1633.

Though Nicholas Ferraris chosen work lay in his
own family, his interests were not wholly confined
within its bounds.

George Herbert, while yet a layman, was presented
by Bishop Williams to a prebend at Lincoln, which
carried with it the patronage. of Leighton Ecclesia, a
parish about six miles from Gidding. This living he
earnestly pressed on his friend. Ferrar was firm
in his resolve to remain a deacon, and to accept of
no preferment; but though he would not undertake
the charge of the parish, he became much interested
in its condition. Leighton had shared in the neglect

202 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

which fell on so many parishes in the close of the
sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries.
Its " fair church " was in ruins. It " was fallen down
a long time, and lay in the dust, the vicar and parish
fain to use my lord duke's ^ great hall for their prayers
and preaching."

The parishioners had collected some money for the
restoration of their church, but they could not get
together enough to begin building. Ferrar described
the state of things to Herbert, and ^* earnestly
assaulted ''c him to do what he could towards so good
a work. He did not confine himself to exhortations,
but gave liberaUy, and also undertook that ''his
iHodier Jdm Ferrar should very carefully prosecute
the business, if once began, by three times a week
attending the workmen, and providing all materials.**
It is only in this incidental way that John lets us
know how fully he entered into his brother's interests.

Ferrar's representations roused Herbert to active
exertion. He " set upon it to solicit his friends, and
spared not his own purse." Between them the
church was rebuilt, "not only to the parishioners
much comfort and joy, but to the admiration of all
men." A steeple was afterwards added by the Duke
of Lenox, " to the memorial of his honour."

Among those who assisted in the restoration, both
with money and personal trouble, was Mr. Arthur
* James, fourth Duke of Lenox.

RESTORATION OF LEIGHTON CHURCH. 203

Woodnoth. His name occurs so frequently in the
history of the Ferrars, that Walton's short account
of hiniy^ though well-known, may not be out of place
here.

''He was a man that had considered overgrown
estates do often require more care and watchfulness
to preserve than get them, and considered that there
be many discontents that riches cure not, and did
therefore set limits to himself, as to desire of wealth.
And having attained so much as to be able to show
some mercy to the poor, and preserve a competence
for himself, he dedicated the remaining part of his
life to the service of God, and to be useful to his
friends."

This excellent man undertook to manage the
accounts of the building, and paid many visits to
Gidding during its progress.

The following letter was addressed to Forar by
Herbert during the progress of the work : —

"My exceeding dear Brother,

"Although you have a much better pay-
master than myself, even Him whom we both serve,
yet I shall ever put your care of Leighton upon toy
account, and give you myself for it, to be yours foi
ever. God knows I have desired a long time to do
the place good, and have endeavoured many ways to
» Walton's " Life of George Herbert'*

204 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

find out a man for it And now my gracious Lord
God is pleased to give me you for the man I desired,
for which I humbly thank Him, and am so far from
giving you cause to apology about your counselling
me herein, that I take it exceeding kindly of you. I
refuse not advice from the meanest that creeps upon
God's earth, no, not though the advice step so &r as
to be reproof: much less can I disesteem it from you,
whom I esteem to be God's faithful and diligent
servant, not considering you any other wajrs, as
neither I myself desire to be considered. Particu-
larly I like all your addresses, and, for aught I see,
they are ever to be likeA" (Here follow particulars as
to the building of the church, in such form as Nicholas
Ferrar advised, and the collecting of the money.)
"You write very lovingly, that all your things are
mine. If so, let this of Leighton Church the care
be among the chiefest also ; so also have I requested
Mr. W.^ for his part Now God, the Father of pur
Lord Jesus Christ, bless you more and more, and so
turn you all, in your several ways, one to the other,
that ye may be a heavenly comfort, to His praise, and
the great joy of

" Your brother and servant in Christ Jesus,

** George Herbert.

** Postscript — As I had written thus much I re-

* Mr. Arthur Woodnoth.

RESTORATION OF tklGHTON CHURCH. 205

ceived a letter from my brother, Sir Hemy H., of
the blessed success that God had given us by moving
the duchess's heart ^ to an exceeding cheerfulness, in
signing ;£ioo with her own hands, and promising to
get her son to do as much, with some little apology
that she had done nothing in it (as my brother writes)
hitherto. She referred it also to my brother to name
at first what the sum should be ; but he told her Grace
that he would by no means do so, urging that charity
must be firee. She liked our book well, and has given
order to the tenants at Leighton to make payment of
it God Almighty prosper the work. Amen." *

John Ferrar gives a fragment of another letter from
Herbert on the same subject

"My dear Brother, —

"I thank you heartily for Leighton, your
care, your counsel, and your cost. And as I am
glad for the thing, so no less for the heart that God
has given you and yours to pious works. Blessed be
my God and dear Master, the Spring and Fountain
of all goodness. As for my assistance, doubt not
through God's blessing, but it shall be to the full;
and for my power, I have sent my letters to your
brother, investing him in all that I have."

* The Dowager Duchess of Lenox.

■ ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 72.

2o6 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Nicholas himself wrote a short account of the
restoration of Leighton, in his preface to Herbert's
"Temple," but not even his natural wish to link his
name with that of his beloved and honoured friend
could induce him to mention his own share in the
work. He only tells us that the reparation was
successfully effected by Herbert with the aid of
*'some few others' private freewill offerings.**

From this time there seems to have been a constant
interchange of letters between the friends, and it is
said that Herbert contemplated exchanging his living
of Bemerton for one in the neighboiu-hood of Gidding,
" merely for the situation, as being nearer to his dear
brother, though in value much inferior to his own;
but he said that ht valued Mr. Ferrai^s near neigh-
bourhood more than any living. And truly there was
no loss of affection between them ; Nicholas Ferrar
prizing him as a most precious friend, and with whom
he could live and die, if God saw it so good for both.
And as Nicholas Ferrar communicated his heart to
him so he made him the peruser, and desired the
approbation of what he did, as in those three trans-
lations of Valdesso, Lessius, and Carbo." ^

Though Ferrar seems to have written much, the
greater part of his work was intended solely for the
use of his own family, and the translations above
» " Life of Nicholas Ferrar,*' by his brother.

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS. 207

named are. the only writings which he prepared for
the press.

One of these, a treatise "On the Instruction of
Children in the Christian Doctrine," by Ludovico
Carbone,^ was '*well approved" by Herbert, but
when it was sent to Cambridge to be licensed the
authorities, for some unexplained reason, took a
different view, and, as Oley says quaintly, "would
not suffer that Egyptian jewel to be published."

The works of Juan de Valdds, whose Spanish name
Ferrar translates as "John Valdesso," and Lessius,
met with more favour.

The "Hundred and Ten Considerations" of Juan
de Valdds have been already mentioned.* The book,
though written in Spanish, was first printed in an
Italian translation, published at Bile in 1550, and this
was soon followed by translations in French® and Dutch.

* The manuscripts have disappeared. The title is given in
the Middle Hill manuscripts, 9527, among a list of books and
manuscripts belonging to Mr. John Mapletoft. It is described
as **a woik very profitable and necessary for every Christian.
Printed at Venice by John Guarigli, 1596." And the transla-
tion is said to have been finished in June, 1634, at the request
of Edmund Duncon, so that the rough draft only can have been
shown to Herbert— Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, "Two Lives,**
Appendix.

« See Chap. II.

* A French translation of Vald^s, dated 1563, is now in the
Bodleian. It contains the following inscriptions : " This booke
was the Right Reverend Father in God, Austin, Lord Bishop

2o8 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

"John Valdesso," says the Italian editor (the
English is Ferrar's), " was by nation a Spaniard, of
noble kindred, of honourable degree, and a resplen-
dent chevalier of the Emperour,^ but a much more
honourable and resplendent chevalier of Christ True
it is he did not much follow the Court after Christ
had revealed Himself to him, but abode in Italy,
spending the greatest part of his life at Naples,
where, with the sweetnesse of his doctrine and
sanctity of his life, he gained many disciples unto
Christ; and especially among the gentlemen and
cavaliers, and some ladies ; he was very eminent and
praiseworthy in all kinds of praise ; it seemed that he
was appointed by God for a teacher and pastour of
noble and illustrious personages ; although he was of
such benignitie and charity that he accounted himself
debtour of his talent to every mean and rude person,
and became all things to all men that he might gain
all to Christ And not this alone, but he gave light
to some of the most famous preachers of Italy, which
I very well know, having conversed with them them-
selves."

Among the distinguished persons who gathered

of Hereford ; ** and below, ** Given to the Publique Library in
Oxford by Mr. John Farrar, of Huntingdonshire. September 8,
1642." — "Two Lives," Appendix.

^ He was Chamberlain to Pope Adrian VL, and brother to
Alonzo de Vald^, Latin Secretary to the Emperor Charles V.
—See "Life of Vald6s," by Benjamm Wiffen, Esq,

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS, 209

round Valdds in his Neapolitan retreat, we find the
names of Bernardino Ochino, the great Capuchin
preacher, and Peter Martyr Vermiglio, afterwards
Dean of Christchurch, of Marc Antonio Flaminio, of
Giulia Gonzaga, and Vittoria Colonna, the friend of
Michael Angelo.

A letter has been preserved, written soon after his
death, in 1540, which shows how highly these friends
regarded him.

" If you were now at the window of that turret so
often praised by us," wrote Jacomo Bonfadio to his
friend Monsignor Camesecchi, secretary to Clement
VIL, "while the eyes were cast by turns all round
those sunny gardens, and then stretched along the
spacious bosom of that shining sea,^ a thousand vital
spirits would multiply about the heart- I remember
youjr lordship said many times before leaving, that
you wished to return, and as often invited me there.
May it please God that we may return. Yet, think-
ing on the other side, where shall we go now that
Signor Vald^s is dead ? This truly has been a great
loss for us and the world, for Signor Valdds was one
of the rare men of Europe, and those writings he has
left on the Epistles of Paul and the Psalms of David
most amply show it He was, without doubt, in his
actions, his speech, and in all his conduct, a perfect
man. With a particle of his soul he governed his

* The Bay of Naples,

2ro LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

frail and spare body ; with the larger part, and with
his pure understanding, as though almost out of the
body, he was always raised in tiie contemplation of
truth and of divine things." *

Valdds has been called a Protestant, and some of
those who came under his influence, notably Ochiro
and Vermiglio, afterwards left Italy and openly joraed
the Reformers ; but he himself never separated from
the Roman Church.

Much of his teaching is said to be based on the
** Christian Institutes" of Tauler.^ Its merits and
defects are brought out in the letter which George
Herbert, after careful study of the translation,
addressed to Ferrar, and in the notes that follow

"My dear and deserving Brother,

" Your * Valdesso ' I now return with many
thanks, and some notes, in which perhaps you will
discover some care, which I forbare not in the midst

> Quoted in **Life of Vald^s" by Benjamin Wiffen, Esq.
Camesecchi was burnt by the Holy Office on suspicion of
heresy, in 1567. Both he and Flaminio were friends of Cardinal
Pole. Mr. Wiffen gives a letter of Pole, in which he says ** the
remainder of the day was spent in the holy and profitable society
of Signor Carnesecchi and our Marc Antonio Flaminio. I call
it profitable because in th« evening Marc Antonio gave me and
most of my family a supper of that bread which perishes not,
in such a manner that I know not when I have felt greater con-
solation or greater edification.**

* McCrie, " Reformation in Italy.**

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS. 211

of my griefes; first, for your sake, because I would
do nothing negligently which you commit unto mee ;
secondly, for the author's sake, whom I conceive to
have been a true servant of God ; and to such, and
all that is theirs, I owe diligence; thirdly, for the
Church's sake, to whom, by printing it, I would have
you consecrate it You owe the Church a debt, and
God hath put this into your hands (as He sent the
fish with money to S. Peter) to discharge it ; happily
also with this (as His thoughts are fruitful), intending
the honour of His servant the author, who, being
obscured in his own country. He would have to flourish
in this land of light and region of the Gospel among
His chosen. It is true there are some things which
I hke not in him, as my fragments will express, when
you read them; neverthelesse I wish you by all
means to publish it, for these three eminent things
observable therein: First, that God in the midst of
Popery should open the eyes of one to understand
and express so clearly and excellendy the intent of
the Gospel in the acceptation of Christ's righteousness
(as he sheweth through all his Considerations) a thing
strangely buried and darkened by the Adversaries,
and their great stumbling-block. Secondly, the great
honour and reverence which he everywhere beares
towards our deare Master and Lord, concluding every
Consideration almost with His holy Name, and setting
His merit forth so piously; for which I doe so love

212 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

•

him, that were there nothing else, I would print it,
that with it the honour of my Lord might be published.
Thirdly, the many pious rules of ordering our life,
about mortification, and observation of God's kingdom
within us, and the working thereof, of which he was a
very diligent observer. These three things are very
eminent in the author, and overweigh the defects (as
I conceive) towards the publishing thereof.

" From his Parsonage of Bemmorton, near Salisbury,
** September 29, 1632/*

"A copy of a letter written by Mr. George Herbert
to his friend the translator of this book."

Though Ferrar thought with Herbert that the book
contained expressions "at which not only the weak
reader may stumble, and the curious quarrel, but also
the wise and charitable reader may justly blame," it
was contrary to his scrupulous sense of the duty of a
translator to omit or alter the offensive passages \ the
altering of ancient authors is an "ill example," and
one of the " greatest causes of the corruption of truth
and learning," he says, in his preface to the Con-
siderations.

He was equally unwilling to make the needful
corrections himself. He placed Herbert's letter in
the beginning of the book, and his notes in the
margin of the passages to which they refer, and, thus
recommended and safeguarded the " Hundred and

>— ■ m^^tm rfWP

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS 213

Ten Considerations of Signior John Valdesso . . .
translated out of the Italian copy into English, with
notes," was made ready for the press. His own
name nowhere appears.

It was perhaps the death of Herbert which caused
the finished book to be laid aside till 1638, when it
was published at Oxford. It was reprinted at Cam-
bridge in 1646. In this second edition the text is
somewhat altered, and some of Herbert's notes
omitted. The book is now so rare that those who
would like to know something of an author whom
Herbert loved, and Ferrar felt profitable to his soul,
will pardon the length of the following extracts.

The two first treat of Mortification, and of the
demands made by God on the soul of man.

"Consideration XLIV. i

" In what manner a man shall know what fruit he
hath made in Mortification, and what is the cause
that they who apply themselves to piety, are tempted
by affections and appetites with which they were
never before tempted.

** I consider that when a person would understand
the profit that he hath made in Mortification^ that is,
what affections and appetites he hath mortified, he
shall know it by examining himself thoroughly what
affections and appetites he hath found alive in him-
self, having been tempted by them. And consider inp

•r«

2T4 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

what, and which of them, are now dead and mortified,
he shall understand what profit he hath made in
mortification.

" For I understand that he who hath never felt the
shame to speak of the Justice of Christ, hath not
mortified the affection of shame, which is proper and
natural! unto man ; and he that hath felt the shame,
and now no more feels it, he it is that hath mortified
it ; as St. Paul had mortified it, as he shows, saying
that he was not ashamed to preach the gospel^ and I
understand that if he had never been ashamed, he
would never have gloried in not being ashamed. In
like manner I understand the aff*ection of the honour
of the world, and of his own proper esteem, that he
that having been tempted thereunto, and having con-
cluded with it, is now no more tempted. . . . Under-
standing that he only may say that he is mortified in
these appetites when having been tempted and
molested by them, and having combated with them,
is now reduced to such terms, that either he feels
them not, or is so much master of them, that with
ease he overcomes them whenever they molest him.
And because none dies but he that hath lived, it
being necessary that, in them who are to be quickened,
all that which is according to the flesh should die,
as well touching affections as appetites, I understand
that all this being to die in the regenerated, it is the
work of God that presently when a man sets himself

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS, 213

to pietie, he should be molested and tempted, not
only from those affections and appetites with which
he was formerly tempted, but moreover with others,
which he never before felt, being different, yea, and
very strange ones; to the intent that feeling them
alive he may kill them, and killing them, his regenera-
tion should be made perfect, as appertains to them
that are members of the Sonne of God, Jesus Christ
our Lord."

"Consideration LXXX.

" What God's intent is in demanding of men that
which of themselves alone they cannot give Him ;
and why He gives them not at once all that which
He will give them.

Extract. — " From the knowledge which the Spirit
of God hath of God's being, it comes to passe that
not judging of Him as one of the Princes of the
world, it knows, that He demanding of men that
which they cannot give Him, He doth it not to
condemn them^ but to save them; and that from
the knowledge which the Holy Spirit hath of the
being of man it proceeds, that knowing that man in
himself is so arrogant, that if God should demand of
him for his salvation things that he could easily give
of himself, he would enter into such pride when he
had given them, that by the selfsame way whereby he
thought to obtain salvation, he would get condemna-

2i6 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

tion. By this he comes to know, that the intent with
which God demands of men that which of themselves
they cannot give Him, is not to condemn them, as
human wisdom judgeth, which hereupon holds God
for unjust, and for cruell; but it is to save them, and
to further their salvation; God doing this to the
intent that men assaying and trying to love God with
all their hearty and to believe in Him, and finding
themselves altogether unable thus to love and believe,
they should have recoarse unto God, and beg those
graces of Him, and by those gifts and graces of His
they may obtain that felicity which they desire, not
for that which they are of themselves, but for that
which they are through God. • • .

"I would say, that as He demands of them that
which they cannot give Him, to the intent they
should not grow proud, as they would if He should
demand of them that which they could give Him,
and so their salvation would be hindred ; so He doth
not let them entirely comprehend spiritual things,
which He sometimes makes them feel, to the end
they should not pride themselves, and so hinder their
salvation.

" God knows our evil lump, and desiring our salva-
tion He deals with us, as He sees it convenient we
should be dealt with ; herein doing that with us,
which we do with a child, when we would have him
to love us and depend on us, as I would say, that

TJiANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS, 217

as we give not the child at one time all that which
he would have from us, and which we mean to give
him ; nay, rather some things we give him altogether,
others in part, and others we only show unto him.
so much as to breed in him a desire to them, and to
enamour him of them, to the end he may go en-
amouring himself in us, may follow and depend on
us, knowing that if we gave him at once all that we
have to give him, he would grow proud, and would
not love us, nor depend on us. So God giveth not
unto us at once all that which we would have from
Him, not that which He will give us, but some things
He gives altogether, and others in part, and others
He lets us see so much as sufficieth to breed a longing
in us for them, and to enamour us of them ; to the
intent we may follow Him, love Him, and depend on
Him. This He doth, because He knows us to be
such that if He should give us at once all that which
He hath to give us, we should become proud, and
so He should not have from us what He would, that
is, fAaf we should love Hiiri with all our hearts^ and
that for the obtaining of etemall life, firmly believing
we may make ours the justice of his only begotten
Sonne Jesus Christ our Lord."

The three passages which follow are among those
condemned by Herbert. The first and last of his
notes here given, only appear in the first edition of

2i8 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

Valdesso, and are not to be found in Pickering's
edition of " Herbert's Remains," in which the notes
are reprinted from the second, or Cambridge edition.

" Consideration IIL

" In what the sonnes of God differ from the sonnes
of Adam.

^^ Extract. — In the purity and holinesse, which is
the health of the soul, the sonnes of God growing
daily in grace, and perfecting themselves in holinesse,
as they of Samaria (John iv. 42) said unto the woman.
Now we believe t not because^ of thy saying: for we have
heard Him ourselves; so they say of the Holy Scrip-
tures, Now we live and grow in spiritual strength,
not by the letter or outward relation of the Scriptures,
but by the inward teaching and anointing of the
Heavenly Spirit of truth, this is that which ruleth and
govemeth us in the ways of holinesse and righteous-
ness, and so long as He abideth in us and we in
Him, we need no other guide, because we are hereby
led unto God our Father in Heaven." ^ The sons, of

' Compare "The Imitadon of Christ," hook iii. ch. ii.,
•* That the Truth speaketh inwardly without noise of words,"
and Tauler*s "Sermon for Whit-Sunday," "In the school of the
Spirit, man does not learn through books, which teach through
outward image addressed to the senses, but here the truth,
which of its nature does not speak by means of images, is
spoken into the soul itself." — *'Life of the Reverend Dr. John
Tauler, with Twenty-five of his Sermons," translated by
Susannah Winkworth.

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS. 2tg

God likewise " make use of some rules to preserve
the health of their soules. This they do rather to
conform themselves outwardly with the sonnes of
Adam, than because they feel themselves to stand
in need of such observations, forasmuch as they being
governed by God alone, observe the will of God and
wholly depend on it"

Marginal Note by G. Herbert. — "I like none
of it, for it slights the Scriptures too much. Holy
Scriptures have not only an elementary use, but a
use of perfection, and are able to make the man of
God perfect And David (though David) studied all
the day long upon it; and Joshua was to meditate
therein day and night

" All the saints of God may be said in some sense
to have put confidence in Scripture; but not as a
naked word severed from God, but as the Word of
God, and in so doing they do not sever their trust
from God. But by trusting in the Word of God, they
trust in God.**

Again, in Consideration XXXII., "On the abuse
and the right use of the Holy Scriptures," Valdesso
writes : * The unlearned man that hath the Spirit
serveth himself with images, as with an alphabet of
Christian piety; for as much as he so much serves
himself with the picture of Christ crucified, as serves
to imprint on his mind that which Christ suffered.

220 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

and to taste and feel the benefit of Christ. And
when he hath imprinted Him, and tasteth and feeleth
Him, he cares no more for Xhtpidurey leaving it to
serve for an alphabet to other beginners. . . • In like
manner, a learned man that hath the Spirit, serveth
himself of Holy Scriptures ^ as of an alphabet of
Christian piety . . . until such time as it penetrates
into his mind, . . . afterwards leaves them to serve
for the same effect to other beginners, he attending
to the inward inspiration.' . . . And so as well in
the unlearned with the Spirit as in the learned with
the Spirit, is fulfilled that which was prophesied of
the time of the Gospel, where it is said, They shall all
be taught of God"

Note in Margin, G. Herbert. — " I much mislike
the comparison of images and Holy Scriptures, as if
they were both but alphabets, an J after a time to be
left The Holy Scriptures have not only an elementary
use, but a use of perfection ; neither can they ever be
exhausted (as pictures may by a plenary circum-
spection), but still, even to the most learned and
perfect in them, there is somewhat to be learnt more,
therefore David desireth God, in the 119th Psalnie, to
open his eyes that he might see the wondrous things of
His laWy and that he would make them his study ;
although, by other words of the same Psalme, it is
evident that he was not meanly conversant in them.
Indeed, he that shall so attend to the back of the

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESS2US, 221

letter as to neglect the consideration of God's work
in his heart through the Word, doth amisse ; both are
to be done, the Scripture still used, and God's work
within us still observed, who works by His Word, and
ever in the reading of it. As for the text. They shall
dl be taught of Gody it being Scripture, cannot be
spoken to the disparagement of Scripture ; but the
meaning is this ; that God in the dayes of the Gospel
will not give an outward law of ceremonies as of old ;
but such an one as shall still have the assistance of
the Holy Spirit applying it to our hearts, and ever
out-running the teacher, as it did when Peter taught
Cornelius. There the case is plain, Cornelius had
revelation, yet Peter was to be sent for; and those
that have inspirations must still use Peter — God's Word.
If we make another sense of the text, we shall overthrow
all means, save catechising, and set up enthusiasmes."

"Consideration VI.

" Two depravations of man, the one Naturall, the
other Acquisite.

" Of these two depravations I understand that the
naturall cannot be repaired but by grace, and that
they only are free from it who enter into the Kingdom
of God by faith, and come to be the sonnes of God
by the Holy Spirit, which abideth in them ; in such
sort that in them, who knowing Christ by Revelation,
and accepting the covenant which He made between

222 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

God and man, believe and because they believe, are
baptised; the natural depravation is repaired, and
they remain only with that which is acquisite ; from
which they go on freeing themselves by little and
little, the Spirit of God helping them therein, and
whilst they go on freeing themselves of it, that wherein
they offend is not put to their account of sin ; because
they be incorporated in Christ Jesus : for St Paul
sayeth. There is no condemnation to them which are in
Christ JesusJ*

Note in Margin, G. Herbert. — "The doctrine
of this passage must be warily understood : First,
that it is not to be understood of actual sins but
habitual, for I can no more free myself from actual
sins, after baptisme, than I could of originall, before
and without baptisme; the exemption from both
is by the grace of God. Secondly, among Habits,
some oppose Theological virtues, as Vncharitablenesse
opposes Charity ; Infidelity, Faith ; Distrust, Hope : of
these, none can free themselves of themselves, but
only by the grace of God. Other habits oppose
moral virtues, as Prodigality opposes Moderation,
and Pusillanimity, Magnanimity. Of these the
heathen freed themselves only by the general Provi-
dence of God, as Socrates and Aristides, eta"

The second work of these two firiends was not com-
pleted till after Herbert's death. The preface of

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS. 223

**The Temperate Man" bears date December 7,
1633. It consists of three treatises "On the right
way of preserving life and health, together with
somidness of the senses, judgement, and memory
unto extream old age." The first of these is
Ferrar's translation of the " Hygieasticon," published
in 16 13 by Leonard Lessius, a Jesuit of Louvain;
the other two are translated by Herbert from the
Italian of Ludovico Cornaro and another author un-
named.

Complimentary verses, in the fashion of the day,
are prefixed to the little book, written by young Cam-
bridge fiiends of the Ferrars, some of whom became
noted men in their day. Among these are Barnabas
Oley, afterwards well-known as the editor of "The
Country Parson," a Fellow and tutor of Clare ; ^ Peter

* Oley was ejected from his fellowship in 1644. After the
Restoration he became Vicar of Great Grandsden, Huntingdon-
shire. He left an endowment of ;f 20 a year to the school,
which was built during his incumbency. His recollections of
Ferrar are to be found in his ** Life of George Herbert/' published
as a preface to the first edition of the "Country Parson*' in
1652. He was much beloved and respected. ** I'm told that
this day your friend, Mr. Barnabas Oley, is to be buried. His
parishioners are already extreme sensible of their loss of that
reverend and eminently worthy good man." — Letter to Dean
Granville, quoted by Rev. J. H. Overton, **Life in the Church
of England, 1660— 1 7 14." Oley was also Prebendary of
Worcester, and was the means oi establishing a weekly Celebra-
tion in the CathedraL

224 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Gunning, the future Bishop of Ely, then a youth of
twenty, who had just taken his degree ; and Richard
Crashaw, the poet, still an undergraduate at Pembroke.
Crashaw*s verses are to be found among his collected
poems, but they are more interesting when read in
connection with the book to which they refer : —

" Haste hither, reader, wouldst thou see
Nature her own physician be ?
Wouldst see a man all his own wealth.
His own music, his own health ?
A man whose sober soul can tell
How to wear her garments well ;
Her garments that upon her sit
(As garments should do), close and fit ;
A well-clothed soul, that's not opprest.
Nor chokt with what she should be drest ?
Whose soul, sheathed in a crystal shrine.
Through which all her bright features shine,
As when a piece of wanton lawn
A thin serial veil is drawn
0*er beauty's face ; seeming to hide.
More sweetly shows the blushing bride ?
A soul, whose intellectual beams,
No mists do mask, no lazy steams?
A happy soul, that all the way
To heaven rides in a summer's day ?
Wouldst see a man whose well-warmed bloody
Bathes him in a genuine flood ;
A man whose tuned humours be
A set of rarest harmony ?
Wouldst see blithe looks, fresh cheeks beguile
Age ? Wouldst see December smile ?

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESS2US, 225

Wouldst see a nest of roses grow

In a bed of reverend snow ?

Warm thoughts, free spirits, flattering

Winter's self into a spring ? —

In sum, wouldst see a man that can

Live to be old, and still a man ;

Whose latest and most leaden hours

Fall with soft wings, stuck with soft flowers,

And when life's sweet fable ends,

His soul and body part like friends ;

No quarrels, murmurs, no delay ;

A kiss, a sigh, and so away ?

This rare one, reader, wouldst thou see ?

Haste hither, and thyself be he.''

Crashaw is said by the editor of his poems to
have himself practised " an almost Lessian temper-
ance," and Ferrar's preface bears witness that the
severe rules prescribed in these treatises spurred on
his little community to greater austerities than they
had at first attempted.

" Master George Herbert of blessed memory," he
says, " having at the request of a noble personage
translated it" (Comaro on Temperance) " into English,
sent a copy thereof, not many months before his death,
unto some friends of his, who a good while before had
given an attempt at regulating themselves in matter
of diet ; which, although it was after a very imperfect
manner, in regard of that exact course therein pre-
scribed, yet was of great advantage to them, inasmuch
as they were enabled, through the good example that

226 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

they had thus made, to go immediately to the practise
of that pattern which Cornarus had set them and so
have reaped the benefit thereof in a larger and emi-
nenter manner than could otherwise possibly have
been imagined in so short a space.

" Not long after, Lessius his book, by happy chance,
or, to speak better, by gracious providence of the
Author of health and all other good things, came to
their hands ; whereby receiving much instruction and
confirmation, they requested from me the translation
of it into English, Whereupon hath ensued what you
shall now receive. ... As for the practitioners they
forbid any more to be spoken of them than this, that
as they find all the benefits which are promised by
Cornarus and Lessius most true and real, so by God's
mercy they had no difficulty at all in the observation
of this course. They are suflftcient witnesses in their
own affairs, and I hold them to be faithful, and there-
fore making no doubt of the truth of the latter part of
their statement, as I can abundantly give testimony to
the verities of the former, I commend both to thy belief
and consideration, and so commit thee to God's grace."

Herbert's translations have been reprinted in his
" Remains." The work of Lessius is now to be found
only in the edition of " The Temperate Man," pub-
lished in 1678.^

' A copy of this edition is in the Library of Pembroke College,
from which, by the kindness of the librarian, the following ex-

TRANSLATIONS OF VALDESSO AND LESSIUS. 227

The author begins his work with an apology for the
subject which he has chosen. ** The search into and
consideration of this business," he writes, "is not
altogether physical, but in great part appertains to
divinity and moral philosophy.

" And over and above, the end which I aim at herein,
is indeed most befitting a Divine. For that which I
principally intend, is to furnish religious persons and
those who give themselves to piety, with such a way
and manner of living, as they may with more ease,
cheerfulness and fervency apply themselves to the
faithful service of the great God, and our Saviour the
Lord Jesus Christ*'

The author then proceeds to give a graphic pictiure
of the evil effects of intemperate eating, and of the
gain to mind and body of a strict rule of temperance,
illustrated by examples from the lives of the Fathers
of the Desert, and other ascetics.

The gluttony which he denounces, and the abstin-
ence which he recommends, are both on a scale too
heroic for our feebler times ; yet since the spirit of an
ordered life is the same in all ages, a few paragraphs
from his " Seven Commodities of Temperance," may
be worth inserting.

" The Fourth Commodity is the vigour of the wit

tracts have been taken. It is not marked on the title-page as a
second edition, and it is possible that the Ferrars may have cir-
culated the work in manuscript only.

223 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

in excogitating, reasoning, finding out, and judging of
things, and the aptitude and fitness that it hath for
the receiving of Divine illuminations. And hence it
comes to pass, that men given to abstinence are
watchful, circumspect, provident, of good forecast,
able to give counsel, and of sound judgement, and for
matters of learning, they do easily grow to excellency
in these things whereunto they apply themselves. As
for prayer, meditation, and contemplation, they do
perform them with great facility, pleasure, and spiritual
delight

" The ancient Fathers and those that lived in the
deserts prove this by their example, who being most
abstinent, were always fresh in their minds, and spent
whole nights in prayer, and in search and study of
divine matters, with so great solace of mind, that they
deemed themselves to be in Paradise as it were, and
perceived not the passage of the time. And by this
means they came to that great measure of holinesse,
and familiarity with God, and were adorned with the
gifts of prophesie and miracles, and became admirable
to all the world. . . , There are very many also now-
adays, who tend unto the highest pitches of wisdom
and vertue by the selfsame way of abstinence, whereof
some are very admirable in all men's eyes through
the abundance of their writings, and their surpassing
learning. But no man without the assistance of
sobriety can perform any such matter, and if he obstin-

TRANSLATIONS OF VAlDESSO AND LESSIUS. 229

ately attempt it, be shall kill himself long before his
time. . . . All the Saints who have gone about the
building up the High Tower of Evangelical Perfection,
have made their beginnings from this vertue, as from
the foundation of their spiritual fabrick."

Besides these works, Nicholas Ferrar translated
from the Spanish the " Life of Tho. Sanquay of Cor-
dova, a gentleman by birth, and very learned in law
and divinity, one who led a very holy and strict life.
He died in 1612."^ This translation was never pub-
lished.

^ Peckaid.

CHAPTER X.

DEATH OF GEORGE HERBERT— PUBLICATION OF ** THE
temple" — ACQUAINTANCE WITH CRASHAW.

A.D. 1633.

** The day is spent and hath his will on mee :
I and the sunn have run our races,
I went y« slower, yet more paces :
For I decay, not hee.

• • • • • •

O let my soule, whose keys I must deliver
Into the hands of senceless dreames,
W<* know not Thee, suck in Thy beames.
And wake with Thee for ever.**

G. Vxd^BJLSiT^ printed by Dr. Grosart,^^»»

the ** Williams* Manuscript,^

The griefs of which Herbert speaks in the letter pre-
fixed to the " Considerations " are perhaps the trials
of his failing health. Through the winter of 1632-33
he became increasingly feeble.

His friends at Gidding prayed constantly for him
during those weary months when he was obliged to
forego the public services of the Church which he loved
so much.

DEATH OF HERBERT. 231

" O most mighty God," so runs their supplication,
" merciful Father, we most humbly beseech Thee if it
be Thy good pleasure to continue to us that singular
benefit which Thou hast given us in the friendship of
Thy Swivant, our dear brother, who now lieth on the
bed of sickness. Let him abide with us yet awhile
for the furtherance of our faith. . . . Lord, Thou hast
willed that our delights should be in the saints on
earth, and in such as excel in virtue ; how then should
we not be afflicted and mourn when Thou takest tiiem
away from us I Thou hast made him a great help,
and furtherance of the best things amongst us. . . . If
it be Thy good pleasure restore unto us our dear
brother.'' ^

This affectionate and tender desire was not granted.
The time had come for fulfilment of the longing of
Herbert's fenrent soul —

" O that I now past changing were,
Safe in Thy Paradise, where no flower can wither.**

On a certain Friday, of which the date is not given,
but which must have been at the end of January
or February, 1633, Mr. Mapletoft, arriving at Gidding
on a visit to his wife's relations, brought the grievous
news that Herbert was ill past hope of recovery. The
blow was unexpected, they had not realized that the
danger was so pressing.

* ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar,** by his brother, p. 74.

232 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

It was now, probably, that Nicholas Ferrar sent Mr.
Edmund Duncon to Bemerton to learn how his friend
did, and to bear him loving assurances of prayer and
sympathy.

The history of that holy death-bed is too well known
for repetition, yet since Herbert's last gift to the
Church was made through Ferrar's hands, it must be
told, how *^ with so sweet a humility as seemed to
exalt him,'* he bowed down to Mr. Duncon, saying,
with a thoughtful and contented look, " Sir, I pray
deliver this little book to my dear brother Ferrar, and
tell him he shall find in it a picture of the many
spiritual conflicts that have passed between God and
my soul, before I could subject mine to the will of
Jesus my Master, in Whose service I have now found
perfect freedom ; desire him to read it, and then, if he
can think it may turn to the advantage of any de-
jected poor soul ; let it be made public, if not, -^t him
bum it ; for I and it are less than the least of God's
mercies." ^

The book so humbly given was the manuscript of
" The Temple."

When the precious legacy was brought to Ferrar,
he read it many times over, kissing again and again
the pages on which his beloved friend had poured
out his inmost soul. "He could not," he said,
"sufficiently admire it, as a rich jewel and most

* Walton, ** Life of Herbert."

''THE TEMPLE,'' 233

worthy to be in the hands and hearts of all true
Christians that feared God and loved the Church of
England." *

His prompt action with regard to his friend's poems
is a great contrast to the tardiness with which his
own works were brought out Within three weeks of
Herbert's death a few copies of "The Temple" were
printed, apparently for private distribution. A little
delay in publication was caused by the Chancellor's
refusal to license the book * unless the lines

*• Religion stands on tip- toe in our land,
Readie to pass to the American strand,"

were omitted. Ferrar stoutly refused to alter a line
or word of the work entrusted to his charge, but the
difficulty was got over in some way, and two editions,
in neither of which any license appears, wer^ brought
out in the course of the year. They came out with
no dedication, and unaccompanied by the com-

* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 51.

' The manuscript copy sent to Cambridge for license is now
in the Bodleian. Herbert's original manuscript is lost, destroyed
probably in the plunder of Gidding, but a very interesting
manuscript, partly in his handwriting, containing about one-
third of ** The Temple," with some additional poems, is in the
"Williams' Library. It is in a Gidding binding, and was once the
property of one of the Mapletofts, who probably received it from
Nicholas Ferrar. See " Diet. Nat. Biog.," article " Herbert,"
and Dr. Grosart's preface to the collected edition of " Herbert's
Poems," published by Messrs. G. Bell and Sons.

234 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

plimentary verses so often prefixed to books of the
period.

" The dedication of this work," Ferrar wrote in the
preface, which has been retained in each succeeding
edition, "having been made by the authour to the
Divine Majestie only, how should we now presume
to interest any mortall man in the patronage of it !
Much lesse think we it meet to seek the recommenda-
tion of the Muses, for that which himself was con-
fident to have been inspired by a diviner breath than
flows from Helicon. The world therefore shall
receive it in that naked simplicitie with which he left
it, without any addition either of support or ornament
more than is included in itself. We leave it free and
unforestalled to every man's judgement, and to the
l)enefit that he shall find by perusall."

No such record of spiritual experience had yet
appeared in the English language, and the book at
once took a place only to be compared to that of the
"Christian Year." It was reprinted in 1634, in 1635,
again in *638, and six more editions followed in the
course of the century. It was the treasured companion
of the most dissimilar people. It was among the
books from which Charles I. sought consolation in
his prison. " Next to the Scripture poems " Richard
Baxter found " none so savoury *' as these. It brought
comfort and light to the sick-bed of Henry Vaughan,
who in the preface to his " Silex Scintillans '* speaks

CRASHA W. 235

of "the blessed man, Mr. George Herbert, whose
holy life and verse gained many pious converts, of
' whom I am the least" Crashaw wrote in a copy
which he sent to a friend the lines beginning —

" When your hands untie these strings,
Think you've an angel by the wings."

And he named his own poems "Steps tg the Temple.'*^
It was probably at Gidding that the younger poet
first learnt to know and admire the works of the
elder. Crashaw came up to Pembroke a boy about
sixteen, the year before Herbert's death. He soon
became acquainted with the Ferrars, for we find him
writing the verses prefixed to the " Temperate Man,"
in 1633 ; and it is evident that his tender, affectionate,
enthusiastic spirit was at once attracted by their life
of devotion. At Gidding he found his ideal, * * Religious
House," in a visible shape.

" Walks and unshorn woods, and souls, just so
Unforu.d and genuine ; but not shady tho* ;
. . ... *

Our lodging hard, and homely as our fare,

That chaste and cheap as the few clothes we wear.

A hasty portion of prescribed sleep,
Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep,
And sing, and sigh, and work, and sleep again.
Still rowling a round sphear of still returning pain.
Hands full of hearty labours. . . .

* See Dr. Grosart's preface to ** Herbert's Poems."

236 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

Reverent Discipline, and religious fear,
And soft obedience find sweet hiding here.

Silence and sacred rest ; peace and pure joys.
• • • • •

The self-remembering soul sweetly recovers

Her kindred with the stars, nor basely hovers

Below, but meditates her immortal way

Home to the original source of light and intellectual day.*'

There seems to be an allusion to the employments
of Gidding in another poem, sufficiently marked to
warrant the conjecture that the ** Lines on a Prayer-
book " may have been originally addressed to one of
the Fetrar family.

*' Lo, here a little volume, but greate booke,
A neste of ntW'bome szveetes.

Whose native fires disdaining
To lie thus folded and complaining^

Of these ignoble sheetes^
Affect more comely bands
Fair one from thy kinde handes.
And confidently looke
To find the reste
Of a rich binding in your breste^
• .•••*

** It is an armoury of light ;
Let constant use but keep it bright.
You'll find it yields

To holy hands and humble hearts,

w ■ ■ ■

' The lines printed in italics do not occur in the first edition
of the poems, printed in 1646, but they are found in those of
1648 and 1652.— Dr. Grosart, "Fuller Worthies," ed. of
Crashaw.

■'

CRASIfAW. 2V!

More swordes and shields,
Than sinne hath snares, or hell hath dartes.

•* Only be sure

The hands be pure
That hold these weapons, and the eyes
Those of turtles, chast and true.

Wakeful and wise ;
Here is a friend shall fight for you ;
Hold but this book before your heart,
Let prayer alone to play its part.

" But; oh ! the heart
That studies this high art

Must be a sure housekeeper.
And yet no sleeper.
• •••#•

" Dear soule, be strong.
Mercy will come ere long.
And bring its bosome full of blessings.
Flowers of never-fading graces,
To make immortal dressings.
For worthy soules, whose wise embraces,
Store up themselves for Him who is alone
The spouse of virgins and the Virgin's Son."

If we may suppose that lines five to ten in the

above ode refer to the work done at Gidding, it seems

to follow that a companion poem, " Counsel to a

Young Lady Concerning her Choice," addressed to

the same lady, " Mistress M. R.," * is an exhortation

to follow the path already marked out by Mary and

Anna Collett.

' May not this unknown "M. R." be MaRgaret Collett or
MaRy Mapletoft ?

23S LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

** 'Tis time you listen to a braver love
Which from above
Calls you up higher.
And bids you come
And choose your roome
Among His own fair sons of fire.
• • • •

** It was His heavenly art

Kindly to cross you

In your mistaken love,

That at the next remove

Thence he might toss you,

And strike your troubled heart
Home to Himself, to hide it on His brest,

The bright ambrosial nest
Of love, of life, and everlasting rest."

Crashaw's sympathy with the life of Gidding was
not expressed in words alone. He was himself often
to be found among those

" Holy hands and humble hearts "

of whom he sings ; delighting to join in their prayers
and watchings, and when in Cambridge his leisure
time was spent " in the temple of God, under His
wing " in " St. Marie's Church near St Peter's College ;
there he lodged under TertuUian's roof of angels,
there he made his rest more gladly than David's
swallow near the house of God, where, like a
primitive saint, he offered more prayers in the night
than others in the day." ^

* Preface to first edition of ** Steps to the Temple."

CRASHA W 239

When Crashaw was made Fellow and Tutor of
Peterhouse, Ferrar Collett, one of the "towaidly
youths " who loved to share the watch-nights of their
Uncle Nicholas, became his pupil, and the friendly
intercourse continued till Crashaw, with two hundred
other resident Fellows, was ejected by Cromwell for
refusing to sign the Covenant.

There were many who, like Crashaw, loved to
withdraw themselves for a while from the world and
refresh their souls in the peaceful atmosphere of
Gidding, so that it became a house of retreat, to
which ** many of the clergy that were more inclined
to practical piety and devotion than to doubtful and
needless disputation, did often come,*' ^ not to" disturb
the strict order of the household, but to make them-
selves for a time "a part of that happy society,"
sharing in the daily hours of prayer, and often
assisting Mr. Ferrar and his family in keeping up the
night watch.

» Walton's " Life of ncrbert."

CHAPTER XL

UNFRIENDLY CRITICISM — MRS. FERRAR RESTORES THE
GLEBE LAND — BISHOP WILLIAMS AT GIDDING —
FERRARIS VISIT TO WILLIAMS IN PRISON.

A.D. 1633-1637.

** Our all is from Thy gracious throne,
We nought can style our own.
And vben to Thee we offerings bring.
They drops are of Thy boundless spring."

Bishop Ken, 1637-1711.

Many visitors came to Gidding besides the sympa-
thetic friends who looked upon it as an oasis of
peace and refreshment The peculiarities of the
family life attracted attention from all kinds of
people ; and, the house, being easy of access from the
Huntingdon high-road, a visit to Gidding seems to
have become a favourite amusement with leisurely
travellers, mildly interested in Church matters, who
happened to find themselves in the neighbourhood.
One such self-invited guest, a lawyer fr6m Gray's Inn,
named Lenton, chronicled his experience in an

UNFRIENDLY CRITICISM. 241

extremely interesting and amusing letter,^ which has
already been referred to in these pages. He was
received by Nicholas Ferrar with great courtesy,
presented to his mother and sister, and hospitably
offered "a glass of sack, a sugar-cake, and a fine
riapkin, brought by a mannerly maid."

On the strength of this kind reception, Mr. Lenton
catechised his host with an unabashed curiosity, which
proves that the ** interviewer " is not of modem
growth. He inquired how long a time they spent
in prayers, and what they did besides, whether it was
true that some of the young ladies were vowed to
celibacy, at what hour they rose in the morning,
how they furnished their chapel, and if they did not
consider that their habits and customs savoured of
popery and superstition. All these remarks and
many more Nicholas Ferrar heard " very civilly and
with much humility," and answered them " with mild-
ness and moderation," as Lenton, who seems quite
unconscious that he had been making himself ex-
tremely disagreeable, assures his correspondent

After accompanying his host to the morning
service, he asked for his horse, hoping inwardly that
he would be invited to remain and dine with the
family, "that he might have gained more time to

' Lenton to Hetley, 1634. This letter is to be found in
Peckard*s **Life of Nicholas Ferrar" and Mr. Mayor's Preface
to ** Two Lives," p. xxvi.

242 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

have seen and observed more of their fashions ; " but
Ferrar, whose patience must have been somewhat
outworn, instead of making him stay, helped him in
calling for his horse, and the inquisitive gentleman
rode away musing on the **many more questions"
which he " thought on when it was too late"

Some persons pushed their curiosity so far that they
left their horses and servants at a neighbouring inn,
and wandered in the dark to Gidding, pretending to
have lost their way, and begging for a night's lodging,
merely that they might see something of the customs
of the house.

Nicholas Ferrar treated all who came with kind-
ness, never refusing to see them, however busy he
might be. "He well hoped," he would say, when
called from his study to receive some uninvited guest,
**they came for his good or their own, and the whole
design of his life was to make himself or others
better." Often, we may believe, his grave and kindly
words were blest to these chance comers, who carried
away mth them the lasting recollection of a home in
which the service of God was visibly set before all
other objects and duties ; but there were some whose
dislike and contempt for what they considered Roman
ways, blinded them to the beauty of a life of piety
and charity. Such persons were not appeased by the
declaration with which Ferrar had silenced Lenton,
that he " believed the Pope to be Antichrist, as firmly

UNFRIENDLY CRITICISM. 243

as any article in his creed" They pointed to the
" I.H.S." constantly used in the letters and papers of
Gidding, and asked if that sacred monogram were not
the symbol of the Jesuits ; they found fault with the
cross on the altar, and with the lengthy devotions of
the family. The Ferrars "rose at midnight for
prayer," writes Fuller, "and other people much
complained of it, whose heads, I dare say, never ached
for want of sleep."*

The critics even accused Nicholas of harshness to
his family, of overbearing waj^, and the enforcement
of a severe rule — ^ridiculous accusations enough, since
John Ferrar and Mr, CoUett were free agents, and
could have broken up the joint household at any
time, if they had been so minded. So much was
said that Mrs. CoUett actually felt compelled to write
a letter to her brother exculpating him from these
charges, and also replying to some objections which
seem to have been made to the " Conversations" with
which her daughters amused themselves.

The letter is written from Gidding, and undated.

" My most dear Brother,

" As you desire a free, so I make no doubt
but a brief, declaration will give you satisfaction in
those two things wherein you require an answer.
And first for letters, those you have been pleased to

» Fuller, "Worthies of Huntingdonshire."

214 LWE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

give me any assistance in, I think myself much
beholden, and if hereafter upon entreaty and occasion
you shall afford me your help, I shall thankfully
acknowledge it for a great favour. Then, for the
matter of storying, I have accounted the most part
of them to be delivered by way of relation of the
actions and opinions of good and virtuous men and
women, and such as for the substance ought to be
taken for patterns of imitation, and so for all other
passages that are intermingled with them, and do
heartily desire that whatever is contained in them,
that is the will and command of God, that we in our
own particular should do, we may both consent
and conform unto all points. For any corporal
exercise, there is none imposed, nor (as I conceive)
expected from me, but what I both may and do
willingly perform, and therefore I shall not need to
say any more to that, nor, I hope, at all in these
matters, but humbly beseech God that whatever shall
be done or said further may prove to His glory and
our comforts.

** Your loving Sister,

"S. C."i

Nicholas was painfully sensitive to these unkindly
criticisms. He told his friend Barnabas Oley " that
lo fry a faggot was not more martyrdom than con-

* ** Two Lives," Appendix.

BTSIIOP WILLIAMS, 245

tinual obloquy."* The thirst for battle was not in
him, and, were it but possible, he would fain have
lived at peace with all men, though he could hold
his own with spirit when a controversy was forced
on him, as happened occasionally when Roman
mission ers, thinking perhaps that a man who was
so obnoxious to the Puritans must be ripe for sub-
mission to the Pope, found their way to Gidding.

Meanwhile the practices of the family found firm
support in a quarter where such help could hardly
have been looked for. In the same year in which
Nicholas Ferrar, with joy and thankfulness, began
that retired course of life for which he had long
prepared, his old acquaintance Williams, the late
Lord Keeper, came, a most unwilling exile, to take
up his abode at Buckden, the country house of the
Bishops of Lincoln, distant only a few miles from
Gidding. When the Great Seal was taken from him,
he ** having now no more to do with civil distractions,
bethought him instantly of the Duty of his Pastoral
Staff,"' and paid his first visit to the diocese over
which he had already presided four years. He
comforted himself for the loss of court favour by

> "Life of G. Herbert." Oley adds that his friend was
" torn asunder as with mad horses, or crushed betwixt the under
and upper millstone of contrary reports ; that he was a Papist,
and that he was a Puritan.**

* Racket's ** Life of Archbishop Williams.**

246 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

laying out the neglected grounds of Buckden with
a lavish magnificence which recalls the visionary
gardens of Bacon's essay, and there lived with splendid
hospitality, making all comers welcome, and re-
ceiving with equal kindness the nobles and rich
gentry, the clergy, of whom he had "commonly a
coovy '* about him, the neighbouring townsmen, and
the poor.

Nicholas Ferrar must have known his future
diocesan at least by s^ght as one of the proctors at
Cambridge, and he may have formed one of the
crowd of gownsmen in St. Mary's on the occasion
when, in his examination for the degree of Bachelor
of Divinity, Williams defended the characteristic
thesis that, ** though the end of Theology is to gain
souls, the end of the Theologue, subject to the first
and Architectonical end, is for an honest maintenance
and sustentation : " but his real acquaintance with
him began during the long debates held at the
council board on the Virginian affairs, while Williams
was Lord Keeper.

This acquaintance was continued in Huntingdon-
shire; and one of the most amiable points in the
character of the world-loving bishop is the uniform
kindness and consideration which he showed to the
unworldly family at Gidding, through good and evil
days. He could admire the strict life, which he had
no wish to imitate, and he seems to have felt for these

BISHOP WILLIAMS, 247

simple and single-hearted people a regard which was
almost aflfection. He made himself acquainted with
their rule of prayer and discipline, and gave it his fuM
approval, undisturhed by the plain-spoken opinion of
the Huntingdonshire Puritans, that a house so con-
ducted could be none other than " a convent packed
together of some superstitious order beyond seas, or
a nunnery, and that the sufferance of it looked
towards a change in religioa" His friend and
biographer, Hacket, shared his admiration for Gid-
ding ; ** Let this history," ^ he says, ** give glory to
God in their behalf, showing in a touch on what
religious grounds their policy was founded. . . . AH
their practice was heavenly; a great deal of it had
some singularity, by the custom of our corrupt ways,
who do not strive to enter in at the strait gate to
come to Blessedness," and he indignantly repudiates
the idea that their rule was in any respect alien to the
spirit of the English Church. ** Speak, Sir Censurer,"
he cries, "we, the true children of the Church of
England, were we not, without departing from our
own Station, capable of Mortification? of vowing
ourselves to God? of renouncing the World? of
Fasting? of Vigils? of prayer limited to Canons, and
Hours, as any that say, and do not, that call them-
selves from St Basil, St. Bennet, or such other insti-
tution? Not our Reformation, but our slothfulness

* •* Life of Archbishop Williams," part ii. p. 51.

248 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

doth indispose us, that we let others run faster than
we in Temperance, in Chastity, in Scleragogy, as it
was called.*'

Some little time after her arrival at Gidding, Mrs.
Ferrar discovered that a portion of the estate had
formerly been glebe, which had been enclosed for
pasture by a former lord of the manor, he having
compounded with the vicar for a payment of ;£'2o a
year, to be paid for ever, in lieu of glebe and tithes.
She felt this arrangement insufficient, and having with
some trouble made out the extent of the ancient
glebe, in 1633 she restored the whole to the Church.
Racket gives extracts from the letter in which she
announced her intention to the bishop.

" Right reverend Father in God — the expectation
of opportunities, having some years whealed me off
from the Performance of this Business, I now think it
necessary to break through all Impediments, and
humbly to present to your Lordship the Desires and
the Intentions, of my Heart Beseeching you, on
God's behalf, to take them into your Fatherly Con-
sideration, and to ^SQ, a speedy accomplishment to
them, by the Direction of your Wisdom, and the
Assistance of your authority. , . ."

The paper ends with the prayer subjoined.

** Be graciously pleased. Lord, now to accept from
Thy Handmaid the Restitution of that, which has
been unduly heretofore taken from Thy Ministers.

BISHOP WILLIAMS. 2^9

And as an earnest and pledge of the total Resignation
of herself and hers to Thy Service, vouchsafe to
receive to the use of Thy Church this small portion 6f
that large Estate, which Thou hast bestowed on her,
the unworthiest of Thy Servants. Lord, redeem Thy
right, whereof Tbou hast been too long disseized by
the world, both in the Possessions, and in the Person
of Thy Handmaid And let this outward seizure of
Earth be accompanied by an inward Surprizal of the
Heart and Spirit into Thine own Hands ; So that the
Restorer, as well as that which is restored, may
become and be confirmed Thine inheritance. . • ."

Williams, who was not |iimself in the habit o
voluntarily resigning any possession which he had
once acquired, and who held so many and various
preferments that he was said to be " a whole diocese
in his own person," prized this generous gift at its
fullest worth. " It was the joy of his heart,'* he said,
*' to live to see such an act done, in honour of God
and the Church of England. Many had taken from
it, and the coal from the altar had consumed many oi
their inheritances ; yet the rest feared not But to
restore, as is now done, the glebe land to the Church
of their own accord, request, and seeking, which was
no less than to give so much to it! Here's an
example to all the gentry of England."

To do honour to this liberaUty, and to give a
public mark of his approval to the family, the bishop,

250 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

at his next visitation, administered Confirmation and
preached in the church at Gidding.

It was a great day at Gidding, and the family
spared no pains to show their respect for the bishop,
and to give him pleasure. Williams loved music, and
the choir of Peterborough Cathedral, where Ferrar's
old friend Augustine Lindsell was now bishop, and his
successor, Dr. Towers, dean, came over that the
musical part of the service might be worthy of the
occasion. The little church was crowded with the
neighbouring gentry and villageis, many of whom
brought their children to be confirmed together with
the younger Ferrars and CoUetts. In the midst of the
press the bishop, scarce raised above their heads in
the low pulpit, spoke, in words which must have
sounded strangely from his lips, of the contempt of
the world, of the cutting off of the right hand and the
right eye, and all fleshly contentments, that so they
might enter into life eternal.'^ The sermon was
meant, and understood, as an eulogium of the Ferrars,
and must have been a little trying to the venerable
lady who sat by, in the midst of her children, listening
to these veiled praises, but it may be hoped that it
had at least some temporary effect in silencing the
criticism of the neighbourhood.

After the service the bishop dined at the house, and
went over it, noticing and approving all the arrange-
* " Life of Archbishop Williams,*' part ii. p. 51.

BISHOP WILLIAMS, 251

ments, and before his departure he gave his solemn
benediction to the assembled family. A crowd of
people gathered about the gates to see him ride away,
and before them all he embraced Nicholas Ferrar
with the words, ^^ Deus tibi animutn istum d anitnjD
isti.tempus longissimum concedet^* ("God keep you in
that mind, and grant that mind of yours a long con-
tinuance here on earth '').^

Williams paid several visits to Gidding. He took
great delight in the conversation of Nicholas Ferrar ;
and John, with evident pleasure in the recollection,
tells how on one occasion it seemed good to the
bishop "to enter into the pleasantness of telling
stories," and "he would have Nicholas Ferrar to
parallel them with some of the like nature, and so the
time passed away to the great delight of the present
company." " I must confess," said the bishop after-
wards to a mutual friend, " I thought myself pretty
good at storying, but never met with my match till
then. . . . Commend me to him, and tell him, the
next time I come, we will have another game at
storying "

The opportunity never came. In July, 1637,
Williams was committed to the Tower. He was per-
mitted to receive his friends freely, keeping open house
in the prison rooms, and here, mindful of old kind-
ness, Nicholas Ferrar came to see him. This time
* ** Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 63.

2S2 LIFE OF NICHOLAS' FERRAR

there was no gay encounter of wits. The bishop was
conscious of some change in the countenance and
manner of his visitor, some marks of infirmity, or a
look more withdrawn and spiritual; his farewell
wprds had the ring of prophecy.

They talked long together, and then Nicholas asked
the bishop's blessing and took his leave gravely, with
a sad foreboding in his heart ** Your brother made
me much to wonder," said Williams afterwards, de-
scribing the interview to John Ferrar, ** for he said to
me, that I should come out of this place, and rise to
greater dignity, but the times would be dangerous. I
thought, when he was gone, the more upon them, as
from a dying man's words, for so he seemed to me,
and I feared I never should see him again." *

* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 53,

CHAPTER XII.

DEATH OF MRS. FERRAR — LAST YEARS, ILLNESS,
AND DEATH OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

A.D. 1634-1637.

" Since I am coming to that holy room.
Where with Thy quire of saints for evermore
I shall be made Thy music, as I come
I tune my instrument here at the doors
And what I must do then, think here before. *•

Donne (1573-1630).

In the spring of 1634 a heavy blow fell on the house-
hold of Gidding. Mrs. Ferrar had always been the
prop and centre of her family. Her daughter's letters
are full of tender allusions to her. Mrs. Collett speaks
of " God*s mercy to us all in that which is so great
a pillar of our comforts, the health of our dearest
mother, which I beseech Him still to continue, and
make us truly thankful for it ; " and again, in writing
to a cousin, she dwells on " the perfect health, and (I
may well say and bless God for it) the great strength
and ability both of body and mind, of my dearest

254 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

mother." Early in 1634 Lenton saw her, "tall,
straight, and clear complexioned," going on her son's
arm to the daily prayer, at the head of her children
and grandchildren, but in the May of that year her
strength failed, and she was taken from the home
which she had founded and guided, going before her
children to the perpetual worship of Paradise, as she
had so often gone before them to the sanctuary which
she had prepared for their constant prayers on earth.

" Though of so great age, at her dying day she had
no infirmity, and scarce any sign of old age upon her.
Her hearing, sight, and all her senses were very
good. She had never lost a tooth ; she walked very
upright, and with great agility. Nor was she troubled
with any pains or uneasiness of body. While she
lived at Gidding, she rose, summer and winter, at
five o'clock, and sometimes sooner. In her person
she was of a comely presence, and had a countenance,
so full of gravity that it drew respect from all who
beheld her. In her words she was courteous, in her
actions obliging. In her diet always very temperate ;
saying she did not live to eat and drink, but ate and
drank to live. She was a pattern of piety, benevolence,
and charity. And thus she lived and died, esteemed,
revered, and beloved of all who knew her." ^

After his mother's death Nicholas Ferrar increased
his austerities. He would no longer go to bed, but

^ John Ferrar, quoted by Peckard.

HIS LAST YEARS. 255

lay, wrapped " in a great shag black freize gown," on
a bearskin on the floor, for the few hours sleep which
he allowed himself; and in the coldest weather he
would scarce ever sit by the fire. His faithful old
friend, Bishop Lindsell, remonstrated with him in
vain. Nicholas answered by reminding his former
tutor of his lessons on the ascetic lives of the ancient
fathers. To other friends he declared " that he knew
that whosoever, upon what pretence so ever did by
these means infringe then: healths, did sore amiss
and sin ; for that it is found by daily experience that
sickly, infirm, and weak healths make men subject
to many ill passions and distempers, and the pains
of the body disquiet the mind not a little, and make
us not so apt and fit, neither to perform our duties
to God in that station He hath appointed us, nor to
execute our duty to our neighbour."

But he seems to have found by experience that,
however little such a way of life might appear suited
to the powers of ordinary men, to him at least it was
not injurious, for his brother affirms that " it is known
to all, that he never had so much health, together
with ability of bodily strength and mind, as in the
last seven years of his life, when he was as they
thought most strictest in these things."

Nicholas Ferrar wrote much during this period,
and often on his knees. The whole of the manuscripts
thus composed — to the number it is said of ^\q

256 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

folio volumes — are lost; destroyed probably in the
plunder of Gidding. The result of those last years
of prayer and fasting can be traced only in the tender
memories of his friends, and the life lived by the
children of his training. Bishop Lindsell never ceased
to regret that he had shrunk from the priesthood.
He was a better scholar and an abler divine than
himself, he would say, and of all men he knew he
would have chosen him to be his confessor. The
venerable bishop willingly accepted reproof from his
old pupil, who "never heard his tutor say or do
amiss at any time, but he would before they parted,
in some sweet good way, let him know his mind,
which was commonly by way of story. "^ And many
other friends long remembered the affectionate pains
with which he would advise them in their spiritual
distresses, until he had, "as it were, begotten them
anew to God."

Meanwhile the shadows deepened on his own spirit,
and his last year of life was passed in sad and bitter
forebodings. The time was one of great outward
prosperity both in Church and State. "What a
halcyonian calm, a blessed time of peace, this Chiurch
of England had for many years, above all the churches
in the world beside, when the King, St. Charles of
blessed memory, and the good Archbishop of Canter-
bury, with others, were endeavouring to perfect the

* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 76.

HIS LAST YEARS. 257

clergy in regularity of life, uniformity of officiating,
and all variety of learning I" So wrote Barnabas Oley
in his old age, looking back across forty troubled
years to the prosperous days of youth.'- But already
below the fair and shining surface a listening ear
might catch the murmur of the rising storm.

Gidding lay within the bounds of the most Puritan
region of England, * the counties which afterwards
formed the "Eastern Association,"* "the Torres
Vedras lines of the early Civil War." In the fen-lands
about Huntingdon and Peterborough, Cromwell, now
peacefully employed in farming at St Ives, afterwards
found and formed his famous Ironsides. The flame
which was to break forth so soon, was already
smouldering, and it is easy to imagine with what a
troubled heart the pupil of Lindsell and White, the
friend of Sandys, the once eager member of the
" country party," must have watched the signs of
coming strife, all his keen sympathies, his early
associations going with the cause of liberty, while yet
he felt that the religion which was dearer than all,
would be dragged in the dust by the men who were
ranged on the popular side.

As early as 1636 he perceived that trouble was at

* Preface to second edition of the " Country Parson,*' pub-
lished 167 1.

• The Associated Counties were Cambridgeshire, Norfolk,
Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Lincoln.

T7T"

258 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

hand. Some of his tenants applied for leases of
fifteen years at the old rent John Ferrar objected
to the proposed arrangement, saying that the land
was under rented, and the leases much too long.
" Content yourself, I pray," said Nicholas. " Let the
men have ten years time, and a good pennyworth,
so that they may be contented, and pay you honestly
at your day of payment, for I tell*you that before those
times come out, you will see other days, and think
yourself happy that you may receive, and they pay
you, that rent in quiet."

In the following year, 1637, Nicholas had the inter-
view with Williams in the Tower which has been
already mentioned. From that visit he returned to
Gidding weighed down by sadness, the depression
of failing health adding to his prophetic sorrow for
the coming troubles of his country.

John Ferrar remembered and wrote down long after
the words in which he gave expression to these feelings.

The brothers were walking up and down in the
great parlour, when Nicholas told John that he felt
the hand of death drawing near. " My dear brother,"
he said, " I am now shortly to appear before our good
Lord God, to whom I must give account of what I
have said and taught you all of this family in the ways
and service of God. I have, I tell you, delivered
unto you all nothing but what is agreeable to His
holy law, will, and word, that you should love Him,

ffIS LAST YEARS. 259
t

serve Him, and have showed you the right good way
... it is the right old good way you are in ; keep in
it. God will be worshipped in spirit and truth, in
soul and in body ; He will have both inward love and
fear, and outward reverence of body and gesture. . . .
There will be sad times come, and very sad ; you
will live to see them, but be courageous, and hold
you fast to God with humility and patience, rely upon
His mercy and power ; you will suffer much . . . and
you will be sifted, but be you steadfest and call upon
God. Keep to your daily prayers, and let all be done
in sincerity, setting God always before your eyes.*'

And then, " weeping and grasping his brother by
the hand," he went on, " Ah, brother, my brother, I
pity you, I pity your care and what you may live to
see, even great alterations. God will bring punishments
upon this land, but I trust not to the utter ruin of it,
but in judgment He will remember mercy, and will
yet spare this sinful and unthankful land and nation.
But if you should live to see the Divine service and
worship of God by supreme authority brought to
nought and suppressed, then look and fear that deso-
lation is at hand, and cry mightily to God : His wrath
will be then hot against the land. God in His infinite
mercy, whese mercy is above all, divert such a judg-
ment" ^

Nicholas had been engaged on some work, the
* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother.

26o LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

subject of which we are not told. He now laid it
aside, and began to write a meditation on death, of
which the following fragment has been preserved : —

"The remembrance of death is very powerful to
restrain us from sinning. For he who shall well
consider that the day will come (and he knoweth not
how soon) when he shall be laid on a sick-bed, weak
and famt, without care and almost without strength,
encompassed with melancholy thoughts and over-
whelmed with anguish; when, on one side, his dis-
temper increasing upon him, the physician tells him
that he is past all hope of life, and, on the other, his
friends urge him to dispose of his worldly goods and
share his wealth among them, that wealth which he
procured with trouble and preserved with anxiety,
that wealth which he now parts from with sorrow;
when again the priest calls on him to take the prepa-
ratory measures for his departure ; when he himself
now begins to be assured that here he hath no abiding
city, that this is no longer a world for him, that no
more suns will rise and set upon him, that for him
there will be no more seeing, no more hearing, no
more speaking, no more touching, no more tasting,
no more fancying, no more understanding, no more
remembering, no more desiring, no more loving, no
more delights of any sort to be enjoyed by him ; but
that death will at one stroke deprive him of all these
things, that he will speedily be carried out of that

HIS ILLNESS AND DEATH. 261

house which he had called his own, and is now
become another's, that he will be put into a cold
narrow grave, that earth will be consigned to earth,
aslies to ashes, dust to dust ; — let any man duly and
daily ponder these things, and how could it be that
he should dare " ^

The paper here breaks off unfinished, and these
solemn words seem to be the last that ever fell from
the pen of Nicholas Ferrar. On Friday, November 3,
he went to church and said the service, according to
his custom, but on coming home he sat down and
complained of faintness. He rested awhile by the
fire and took some broth which was brought to him,
but felt no better, and when some one expressed a
hope that in God's mercy the weakness would pass,
replied " that he thought not so," and presently desired
that Mr. Groose, the Vicar of Great Gidding, might
be sent for. He was an old friend, having already
held the living for seventeen years, and Nicholas now
begged of him that he would keep up the daily services
at Little Gidding.

" It is my first care," he said, " that the service of
my God be not one day neglected by those that can
go to church. We owe much more than any our
continual serving God; for his favours to us are
above what we can express, and the performances
of our dutiful thankfulness can have no end I shall
* •* Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, p. 88.

262 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

not, I know, be any more able to perform my duty
to Him at church, but come I pray you daily, and
perform there my part"

The next morning Nicholas rose again, but felt
unable to go out, and had prayers in his chamber,
sending the family to church at their usual hours.
That evening he moved into another room, larger per-
haps and more suitable to a sick man than his own,
and there took to his bed, where he remained for two
or three days, and then "he willed a pallet to be
made on the floor, unto which he removed, and came
no more off it" On this lowly couch he lay for
nearly a month, feeling no pain» but a constant
faintness and decay of strength.

From the first he felt an inward conviction that
this illness was his last " In all former sickness I
have had a strong desire to live," he said to the
troubled friends who watched him, " and an earnest-
ness to pray to my God to spare me, which He hath
to this day done, and I may further say, to the glory
of His great Name, that I never earnestly set myself
to beg of God anything, but He fulfilled the petition
of His most unworthy servant But now, and of late,
I do not find in my heart any inclination to beg longer
life of God. Nay, I rather desire to be dissolved
with St Paul, and to leave this life for one eternal in
heaven, through the merits of my Saviour Jesus
Christ, now wholly and fully submitting myself to the

His ILLNESS AND DEATH, 263

blessed will of my good Lord, to do with me for life
or death as He sees best for me."

Sunday, November s> Mr. Groose gave him the
Holy Communion. Before receiving it he ** made a
most solemn and comfortable confession of his faith,"
according to the Church of England, acknowledging
his salvation to depend only upon the sweet and
infinite mercies and sufferings of his most dear' Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, renouncing all other depen-
dencies, " saying when men had done all they could,
they must wholly acknowledge and confess themselves
most unworthy servants," and so " with great desire
and devotion, he received the Blessed Sacrament with
much joy."

Throughout his illness he constantly exhorted his
family whom he had so carefully taught and trained,
to continue in ** the good old way " which he had
pointed out ''Be constant, be steadfast, do not
shrink." These are the constant tenor of his last in-
structions ; the fear of coming trouble is always before
his dying eyes. "Adhere to the doctrine of the
Church of England," he repeats, with prophetic con-
sciousness of the evil days to come.

He recommended the young people to continue
working at the Concordances, as he had taught them.
''I hope God will send you ways and means and
helps to go forward with them," he said. " You may
grow to perfection of something, by such helps as

264 ^^P^ OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

God will send. Leave not the thought of them,
though I be gone."

The care of the little Community was constantly in
his thoughts. He would send for them all from time
to time, down to the little ones, ten-year-old Virginia
and her brother John, and the Mapletoft children, and
bid them remember all he had taught them, and keep
in heart diligently the Psalms and Gospels which they
had learnt, and remember ever that the fear of God
is the beginning of wisdom, and then would dismiss
them with his blessing, kissing them tenderly, and
calling on God to protect them, for he only was safe
whom God kept

His most earnest advice and special care was for
his brother's eldest son, his own godson, Nicholas.
"This youth he loved dearly, and looked upon as
him to whom Gidding, by God's blessing, would in the
end descend; and desirous he was, that he might
continue in that virtuous and pious course he had by
his love and care been trained up in from his cradle.**

He shrank with horror from anything that implied
praise ; all the eager vehemence, of his youth breaks
forth in the sick man if he hears any utterance of
overmuch sorrow, of too great regret for the loss
of his guiding hand. He reproved his brother for
saying "in his exuberance of grief," "What shall
become of us poor sheep, if the shepherd be now
thus taken from us ? " " Do you know what you

Ills ILLNESS AND DEATH. 265

say ? " he asked with startling severity. " Go, I pray
you, go to church and. fast this day, and beg of God
to forgive you your undue speeches and expressions ;
it much grieveth me to hear them. God forgive you
them, I beseech Him."

He was ^* much offended and displeased " when Mr.
Groose spoke of his sickness as a punishment to his
family, as well as a trial to his own patience, and,
"with great vehemency and a loud voice," begged
''that he would not let such a word proceed out of his
mouth ; " and to another clergyman who spoke to him
of the comfort he must now feel in his ahns-deeds,
he replied, ** Mass, I am to ask my God forgiveness
for my great neglect in that my duty. It had been
but my part to have given all that I had, and not to
have scattered a few crumbs of alms here and there.
The Lord God forgive, I most humbly beseech Him,
my too much carnal love to my friends in this
kind."

Thus, growing more and more feeble in body, but
still lively and vigorous in mind, he spent the month
of November on his pallet bed on the floor, advising,
exhorting, planning for the continuance of the life
of work and devotion which he had built up round
him, preparing with passionate self-humiliation for
the account which he was soon to render.

He had still one possession which had once, per-
haps, been a source of temptation to him — the col-

266 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

lection of plays and poems, which he had packed
away before quitting London. They had remained
at Gidding unopened. Early in the winter morning
(it was about the first of December) he called his
brother and sister and his nieces to him. " Brother,"
he said, '*I would have you go to the church, and
measure seven foot to the westward from the door
where we go into church, and at the end of that
seven foot let my grave be made;" his brother,
looking very sadly at him, with his eyes full of tears,
(and so all the standers-by did). He went on saying,
** Brother, that first place of the length of seven foot
I leave for your own burying-place, for you are my
elder ; God, I hope, will let you there take up yoiu:
resting-place till we all rise again in joy." And then,
speaking with some vehemency and passion of indig-
nation, he bade that the great hampers of books,
which he had kept so long, should be carried to the
place of his grave and there burnt ** Go," he cried,
'' let it be done, let it be done, and then come again,
all of you, to me."

The smoke of this strange bonfire rose high above
the leafiess trees, visible to all the hamlets round,
and men left their work in the fields and came
running to see what was the matter at Gidding Hall
The burning of so many books created a not un-
natural awe among the simple villagers, and it was
told through all the country-side that Mr, Nicholas

ffIS ILLNESS AND DEATH. 267

Ferrar lay dying, but could not die till he had burnt
his conjuring books.

He had destroyed the last relics of the worldly life
which he had never loved, and had long since re-
nounced; and for three days more he lay tranquil,
calmly awaiting the end

On the morning of Advent Sunday he found his
strength declining. "This Sunday was the first
Sunday in the month, &e constant usual day for their
monthly Communion. He acquainted the minister
that, after he had celebrated it at the church, he would
come home and give It to him ; for now it was that
heavenly food was his only stay, strength, and joy to
receive. As for earthly food, he had now done with
it; God would ere long hear his prayers, and the
humble requests of his poor souL To this end and
like effect he spake, but in far better expressions.
When the minister came to give it him, he desired
absolution, having made again a most full and lively
expression of his faith. The minister said, 'Shall
I give it you in the words of the book?* *Ay,
ay,' said he, 'nothing better, nothing better.' Then
he received, in most devout manner, the Sacrament ;
which done, gave Almighty God most humble and
hearty thanks for this inestimable benefit and favour,
and used very efiectual words to that purpose, and so
awhile lay very silent and stilL

'*And afterwards being demanded, 'how he felt

258 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

himself?' he would say he was very well, blessed
be God, but hoped to be better ere long. As his
friends, brother, sister, nieces, etc., stood about him
with sad looks, he would bid them * be cheerful, for
part we all must. It was the common portion for all
men to die. Be of good comfort, be of good courage ;
we shall meet again in heaven at last, I doubt it not
(and some of you ere long). It will be the best
wisdom and only happiness to prepare all for it ; for
who can be too ready for death?' He more par-
ticularly directed his speeches to his dearly beloved
two nieces, Mary and Anna (whom, as formerly
related, he most entirely loved ; who had both stead-
fastly, by the help of God's assistance, taken long
ago resolutions of living in virginity, and in such and
such ways and course of life as they had chosen, with
the advice and assistance of their good uncle Nicholas
Ferrar, whom he most tenderly affected, and highly
esteemed of), that * they should be steadfast, and
commit themselves to the good guidance of their
gracious Lord God and Master, Jesus Christ, to
whom they had, more than in an ordinary manner,
given themselves, each in their station;' assuring
them that *they should in the end have cause to
rejoice in their good resolutions.'

** Being demanded, *if the ministers should be
called,' who not long before were gone out of the
chamber, all supposing he had been asleep, he said

HIS ILLNESS AND DEATH. 2^9

* Entreat them to come in and pray together.* Which
being done, he desired them to say that prayer for
a dying man; which ended, he being by them
demanded, * how he did,* said, " Pretty well, I thank
my God and you; and I shall be better.' And
then he lay very still half an hour and more, all
standing by him, supposing him to be in a fine
slumber. But afterwards he, on a sudden, casting
his hands out of the bed with great strength, and
looking up and about, with a strong voice and
cheerful, said, ' Oh, what a blessed change is here !
What do I see ? Oh, let us come and sing unto the
Lord, and magnify His holy Name together. I have
been at a great feast : Oh, magnify the Lord with
me.* One of his nieces said presently, *At a feast,
dear father?' *Ay,' replied he; *at a great feast,
the great King's feast.' And this he uttered with as
sound and perfect voice as in time of his health.
While all stood somewhat amazed and loth to inter-
rupt him, if he should say more, he laid himself down
most quietly, putting his hands into the bed, laid
them by his side, and then shut his eyes, and m this
posture laid, his legs stretched out, most sweetly and
still. The ministers went again presently to prayers,
and after awhile they said that prayer again (that God
would be pleased to send His angels to carry his soul
to heaven), all kneeling round about his pallet.
While these words were saying, he opened his lips

270 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

and gave one gasp; and so, not once moving or
stirring hand, foot, or eyes, he rendered up his soul,
to be carried in their hands imto his Lord Jesus
Chrisf s bosom, which was that he so often prayed for.
And at that instant the clock struck one^ the hour that
he constantly rose up every morning to praise God
and to pray unto Him. That very hour and time
God, you see, called him to His heavenly kingdom, to
praise Him everlastingly with the blessed angels and
saints above, and, as one of the company said, ' he
ended the sabbath here on earth, to begin the ever-
lasting sabbath in heaven.* " ^

No word can be changed or added to this history
of a saintly death-bed, told by the brother who
stood by.

Till the Thursday following his body rested in the
care of his loving friends — z. most fair and sweet
corpse. It was observed that the right hand and
fingers remained ** lithe and flexible, as if they were
of a living man." "Well," said one who saw it,
" may that hand not grow stiff, that was so often, day
and night, lifted up to God ; and was so liberal in
continual giving alms to the poor and needy in
several kinds ! "

On December 7, 1637, he was laid in a vault of
brick, made, as he had desired, in the midst of the
path, a few feet from the west door of the church.
* "Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, pp. 78-92.

ins ILLNESS AND DEATH. 271

The funeral service was said by his cousin, Robert
Mapletoft,^ afterwards Master of Pembroke and Dean
of Ely, " whom he loved exceeding well, who often
came to Gidding, and was most welcome to him."

A short notice of Nicholas Ferrar was published in
1652, in the anonymous preface to the first edition of
the " Country Parson." He is there commemorated,
together with its author, George Herbert, and their
common friend, Dr. Jackson, the president of Corpus.
" All three holy in their lives, eminent in their gifts,
signal Protestants for their religion, painful in their
several stations, precious in their deaths, and sweet
in their memories." ** Methinks Dr. J. had some-
what like the spirit of Jeremy^ Saint James, and
Salvian ; Master Herbert like David, and other
Psalm-men, Saint John and Prudcntius ; Master F.
like Esay, Saint Luke, and Saint Chrysostom,^*

** What is so well compiled by that worthy learned
man (whoever he be)," says John Ferrar, " it's but my
poor pains to write it out of the book, that can never
too often read or meditate upon that discourse, that
so nearly concerns me, as of such a brother, whom
the world never could show a better brother to any
brother, nor a more true lover, and one that did more
for his family than he did, in all kinds and ways —
for their temporal welfare, in preservation, augmenta-

* Brother to Joshua and Solomon Mapletoft, who married two
of his nieces.

272 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

tion, and maintenance of their civil estates and affairs,
and that, which is the superlative of all goodness and
benefit, his never-ceasing care and pains for their
spiritual well-being, everlasting happiness, and bliss."

The unknown writer was their old friend Barnabas
Oley, and in his hyperbolic phrase he expresses
Ferrar's* warmth of sympathetic aflfection, his tender
charity, and his ready and persuasive speech. He
tells us also that Ferrar was no controversialist ; " he
would scarcely opine." He carried his respect for
authority, for the established order of things, to an
extent which seems extreme. He would not allow
his nieces to teach the Catechism in their Sunday
school, because this would trench on the prerogatives
of the parents and the parish priest And when
Dr. Morison, the Chancellor of Lincoln, told him
that the only thing wanting in his chapel was a
painted window with the crucifix, he replied, that
had he found such a thing, he would have preserved
it, but he would not set one up where none had been
before."

He must have inherited this conservative turn of
mind from the good old merchant, his father. He
inherited also his straightforward sincerity and
honesty of purpose, together with some touch of his
choleric temper, for (as we may gather from some of
his utterances) Nicholas could be overbearing and
very hot on occasion. He was affectionate, home-

niS ILLNESS AND DEATH, 273

loving, dutiful, simple and sober in his tastes.
He had all the making of an excellent man of busi-
ness ; he was acute, clear-headed, prompt, observant,
with a gift for organization, •and a great power of
adopting and assimilating new ideas, whenever his
respect for precedent did not come in the way.

From his mother he inherited a strong will, and that
faculty of ruling others which he was tempted to use
at times, perhaps too absolutely. His portrait shows
that he also inherited her delicate and refined features,
and suggests that to her he owed the graceful speech
and manner which won him so much popularity.
The picture is at Magdalene College, near those of
his parents. The likeness to Mrs. Ferrar is in
feature only ; the serene calm of her fair countenance
is replaced in that of her son by an expression of
deep and almost melancholy gravity.

He had a vivid, bright, restless intellect, practical,
not speculative ; he does not seem to have indulged
in any flight of original thought ; but everything he
reads or sees is remembered and turned to account,
whether it be the ascetic example of the Fathers of
the Desert, the skill of German artificers, or the
admirable provision made in Holland for the neces-
sities of the poor.

His practical law-abiding spirit is shown in his
religion. He was thoroughly English, a dutiful son
of the Reformed Church as it was understood by the

276 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

" When God vouchsafeth to become our fare,
Their hands convey Him who conveys their hands :
Oh what pure things, most pure, must those things be
Who bring my God to me ! "

It seems the more permissible to take Herbert's
words as showing Ferrar's thought, because, where
Ferrar wants doctrine clearly laid down (as in the
notes to Valdesso) he appeals to Herbert to do it
for him.

His own cast of mind was mystical and devotional,
rather than theological. Throughout his life, under-
neath his busy, practical nature, lay the keenest sense
of the supernatural. He is ever conscious of a
mission, a call, of some special vocation. He goes
through an agony of doubt and ecstasy in his child-
hood, of which the memory never leaves him. He
has moments of sharp struggle through his boyish
days at Cambridge. He rushes away impulsively
from Leipzig or Padua, to bury himself for weeks
together in lonely villages. In the hurry and strain
of London life, he retires for prayer and fasting so
often that his family cease to notice it

As the spiritual element in Kim gained full sway,
it conquered alike the desire of action and the love
of learning. Thenceforth he had no wish, no aim,
no ambition, but to offer himself wholly to the
worship of God, and to teach those around him to
do the same.

HIS ILLNESS AND DEATH 277

It was this entire singleness of purpose, rather
than his intellectual vigour, which gave him so great
a mastery over those with whom he came in contact
They felt themselves in the presence of one, every
fibre of whose soul was purified and spiritualized by
the flame of Divine Love.

The value of his life and work is not of a kind that
can be tested by visible results.

•• Think*st thou the spires that glow so bright

In front of yonder setting sun,
Stand by their own unshaken might ?

No ; where the upholding grace is won
We dare not ask, nor Heaven would tell,
But sure from many a hidden dell.
From many a rural nook unthought of there^
Rises for that proud world the saints' prevailing prayer."

The grass grows over the site of Gidding Hall,
and sheep feed on the slopes which once were
covered with orchards and gardeng. The oft-trodden
path which led to the churchyard gate is now only a
green ridge across the meadow ; but the church itself,
and the churchyard, are not greatly altered. In
the centre of the path^ a little way from the west
door, under a plain altar tomb, without name or date,
Nicholas Ferrar lies in the place of his choice, at the
feet of his elder brother.

CHAPTER XIIL

NICHOLAS FERRAR, JUNIOR — PUBLICATION OF "THE
ARMINIAN nunnery" — BISHOP WILLIAMS'S VISI-
TATION — THE KING AT GIDDINa

A.D. 1637— 1642.

" Dear, beauteous Death ; the Jewel of the Just !
Shining nowhere but in the dark ;
What mysteries do lie beyond thy dust,
Could man outlook that mark I

" He that hath found some fledged bird's nest may know
At first sight if the bird be flown ;
But what fair dell or grove he sings in now,
That is to him unknown/'

H. Vaughan (1621-1695).

The Community, if so it may be called, at Gidding
appears to have suffered little change from the death
of the founder. The same charitable works were
carried on. We know that the aged widows were
still cared for. The poor, no doubt, were relieved,
and the Psalm-children taught, as before. The Har-

NICHOLAS FERRAR, JUNIOR. 279

monies were continued, with even increased zeal,
under the charge of young Nicholas.*

His cousin, Ferrar Collett, was already at Peter-
house, under Crashaw's tutorship, and it seems strange
that Nicholas, with his remarkable abilities, should
not have enjoyed the same advantage. Perhaps the
delicacy of his constitution made his father unwilling
that he should change the invigorating breezes of
Gidding Tor the damp Cambridge air.

This same delicacy of health, combined with an
impediment in his speech, which seems to have been
sufficiently marked to be a hindrance in any pursuit
which required much intercourse with his fellows,
doubtless conduced to the bo/s extraordinary devotion
to learning.

He possessed the great powers of attention and
application which had distinguished his uncle, but he
does not seem to have shared his restless and versatile
temper. The elder Nicholas divided his attention
among a multiplicity of studies; the younger seems
to have given his mind wholly to one branch of leam>
ing — the knowledge of languages. His acquisitions in
this way are amazing, and his aims far-reaching and
noble. Among the papers found in his study after

* This chapter is taken from a memoir by John Ferrar, pub-
lished in Wordsworth's *' Ecclesiastical Biography,** and again
by Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, in the "Two lives of Ferrar." The
original manuscript is in the Lambeth Library.

28o LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

his premature death is a scheme for translating the
New Testament into fifty languages ; and underneath
the list of these languages he had written, " This, by
the help of God, I intend to effect, and also to trans-
late the Church Catechism into these languages, so
likewise the 117th Psalm, 'Praise the Lord, all ye
heathen : praise Him, all ye nations,' and present
them to the king, that he may print them and send
them to all nations."

The amount of work of this kind which he actually
executed is truly astonishing.

In 1640, at the age of twenty-one, he went, accom-
panied by his father, to London, taking with him no
fewer than six Concordances, all arranged and carried
out by himself, with the help of the ladies of the
family. Of these books, one was a " Harmony of the
New Testament in Twenty-four Languages." ^ On
the way they stayed at Cambridge, where the books
were shown to many learned persons, and were greatly
admired. The father and son arrived in London
shortly before Easter, and were received with great
kindness by Laud, to whom they presented them-
selves. When Nicholas knelt to ask his blessing, the
archbishop " embraced him very lovingly," and, having
examined the books, was warm in his commendations.
**They were truly jewels for princes," he said; and

* For a fuller account of these Concordances see Chapter
VIII., where they are numbered vi., vii., viii., ix., x., xi.

NICHOLAS FERRAR, JUNIOR. 281

he desired Nicholas to attend at Whitehall on the
following day, Maundy Thursday, that he might
present him to the king.

At the time appointed the youth came with his
father to the palace, and took his place among other
applicants for royal favour, waiting the archbishop's
leisure.

The great man came in. " Follow me," he said to
Nicholas, and led the way into the next room, where
the king stood by the fire, with many nobles about
him.

We have here a glimpse of one of the last peaceful
days of that stately Court, the home of art and of
learning. Laud led the young scholar by the hand
into the royal presence, and Charles received him
with the kindliest grace. The book, made for the
prince, was first exhibited — a splendid volume, bound
in green velvet.

" Here," said the king, " is a fine book for Charles
indeed. I hope it will soon make him in love with
what is within it, for I know it is good. I like it
in all respects exceedingly well, and find Charles
will have a double benefit by the contrivement of
it, and not only obtain by the daily reading of it a
full information of our blessed Saviour's life, doctrine,
and actions, but the knowledge of four languages.
A couple of better things a prince cannot desire,
nor the world recommend to him."

282 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Nicholas then begged his Majesty's permission to
carry the book to the prince. "My learned and
religious wise unde," he said, "under whose wings
I was covered, gave me among other rules, this one,
that I should never give anything, though never so
good and fitting, to any person whatever that had a
superior over him, without his consent and approba-
tion first obtained."

"I like the rule well," said the king; and then,
turning to the archbishop, he desired that the young
gentleman should carry the book next day to the
prince, then staying at Richmond, adding, " It is a
good day, and a good work should be done on it."

Nicholas then produced, one after the other, three
more books, one being the New Testament in twenty-
four languages. The king turned them over with
delighted interest, happy no doubt to forget for a few
moments his troubles with the rebellious Scotch, and
his anxiety as to the conduct of the short-lived parlia-
ment which he had unwillingly summoned at the
advice of Strafford, while he examined these efforts
of precocious schoLorship. " Here we have more and
more rarities," he exclaimed. The great Polyglott
was surely "the emperor of all books." He called
the nobles round him to look and wonder, and
appealed to Laud if it were possible that a young
man of twenty-one could have acquired the know-
ledge of so many languages.

NICHOLAS FERRAR, JUNIOR, 283

Nicholas had prepared a little surprise as an
answer to this expected question. He took from
the bottom of the box in which he had brought his
great works a fifth book, in which he had written
out the Gospel of St John in twenty-one languages,
each verse being accompanied by a Latin or English
translation made by himself.

"Lo," said his Majesty, "here is ample proof, and
I am fully satisfied in all things.^'

He then dismissed Nicholas " with a cheerful royal
look," desiring him to attend the prince next morning,
and afterwards to wait on the archbishop, who would
acquaint him with his further pleasure.

On the next morning. Good Friday, provided with
a letter to Bishop Duppa, the prince's tutor, Nicholas
and his father repaired to Richmond. Prince Charles
received the book with many expressions of pleasure,
and the little Duke of York, delighted with the
pictures and the fine binding, begged earnestly that
such another might be made for him. " How soon
will it be ready?" he cried, with royal and boyish
impatience. " Pray tell the gentlewomen at Gidding
I will heartily thank them if they will despatch it."

Nicholas dined with Bishop Duppa, and some of
the young lords, the prince's companions, among
whom was the boy Duke of Buckingham, receiving
compliments enough to turn an older head ; it must
have been a strange Good Friday for a youth bred at

<m'

2?4 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Gidding. After dinner the prince somewhat discon-
certed him by offering him a handful of gold pieces.
The scholar stepped back, perhaps a little affronted,
but Charles, with graceful courtesy inherited from his
father, assured him that it was not meant as a recom-
pense for the work, which he prized far above gold,
but only as a testimony of his esteem ; and so, amid
many kind words, Nicholas took his leave, attended
to his coach by my lord bishop's own secretary.

On the following morning, Easter Eve, he went
to Lambeth, by the archbishop's order, to let him
know what had passed at Richmond. The interview
is worth transcribing at length as a picture of the
great archbishop on his gentler side. Laud, who
could be so hasty and sharp of speech, who took so
little pains to court popularity, that "few excellent
men ever had fewer friends to their persons,"^ had
yet an under-current of tender feeling which breaks
out in frequent entries in his diaries and private letters.
He treated Nicholas with fatherly kindness. He had
" much longed to know what entertainment was given
to the book and person, and was right glad that
things went as he hoped; he should acquaint the
king with all."

"Then, taking Nicholas Ferrar's father aside, he
said, * Let your care now cease for your hopeful son,
or for his future preferment, or estate, or present main-

' Clarendozv.

NICHOLAS FERRAR, JUNIOR, 285

tenance. God hath so inclined the king's heart, and
his liking to your son, and the gifts God hath endued
him with ; and having been informed of his virtuous,
pious education, and singular industry and Christian
deportment, and of his sober inclination, that he will
take him from you into his own protection and care,
and make him his scholar and servant; and hath
given me order, that, after the holidays being past,
I should send him to Oxford, and that there he shall
be maintained in all things needful to him at the
king*s proper charge, and shall not need what he can
desire, to further him in the prosecution of those
works he hath begun in matter of languages, and
what help of books or heads or hands he shall require,
he shall not be unfurnished with ; for the king would
have this work of the New Testament in twenty-four
languages to be accomplished by his own care and
assistance ; and to have the help of all the learned
men that can be had to that end. Assure yourself
he shall want for nothing. In a word, the king is
greatly in love with him, and you will, and have cause
to, bless and praise God for such a son.'

" So John Ferrar, being ravished with joy, in all
humble manner gave thanks to my lord's grace. And
they, returning to Nicholas Ferrar, my lord embraced
him, and gave him his benediction. Nicholas Ferrar,
kneeling down, took the bishop by the hand and kissed
it He took him up in his arms, and laid his hand on

286 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

his cheek, and earnestly besought God Almighty to
bless him and increase all grace in him, and fit him
every day more and more for an instrument of His
glory here upon earth and a saint in heaven, * which,'
said he, ' is the only happiness that can be desired,
and ought to be our chief end in all our actions.
God bless you I God bless you ! I have told your
father what is to be done for you after the holidays.
God will provide for you better than your father can.
God bless you, and keep you I ' So they parted fh>m
his grace."

The archbishop's words were fulfilled, but not in
the sense in which they were spoken. Nicholas
Ferrar was never to become the king's young scholar
and servant At the moment when his hopes were
at the flood, a summons came which could not be
put by. His name lives in no roll of famous scholars;
it is inscribed on the forgotten list of the '^ inheritors
of unfulfilled renown."

Happy they if their thread of life, in the quaintly
beautiful phrase of Herbert, is "wound up and laid
ready for work in the New Jerusalem."

It may be that the eager brain of the young student,
"like a sharp penknife in a narrow sheath," had
worn his strength away, and that excitement and
over-fatigue made him an easy prey to the foul air
of the narrow London streets, so different to the
fresh breezes on the heights of Gidding. On the

NICHOLAS FERRAR, JUNIOR. 2S7

same afternoon on which he received the king's
promise of protection, the Saturday in Holy Week,
he felt unwell, but he rose early on the Easter morn-
ing, and received the Holy Communion at St. Paul's
Cathedral On his return he could scarce eat any-
thing, and by the following day he became so ill that
the anxious father called in two physicians. Nicholas
grew worse and worse, but bore his sickness with
brave submission and cheerfulness.

Bishop Williams was still in the Tower, but their
old friend Dr. Towers, first Dean and then Bishop of
Peterborough, who had known Nicholas from his
childhood, and loved him dearly, was in London,
and came to minister to him. He confessed and
absolved him, and bade his father be of good comfort,
for the instructions of his pious uncle had taken
mighty root in his soul, and now sprang up not " only
widi leaves and fair blossoms, but with good and ripe
fruit" " He is too good, he is too good," said he,
" to live longer in these ill-approaching times. For
there is much fear now that the glory of Church and
State is at the highest."

Nicholas prepared himself to resign his young life,
and the bright future which seemed opening before
him, with touching submission. " I am too young to
be mine own judge what is best for me," he said to a
friend who asked if he were not grieved to leave the
world in the flower of his youth ; " let all be, as God's

288 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

will is. If I live, I desire it may be to His further
glory, and mine own soul's good, and the comfort
and service that I intend to be to my father, that
loves me so dearly, and in his old age to be his
servant If I die I hope my father will submit all to
God's will and pleasure, and rejoice at my happiness
in heaven, where, by the merits of my blessed Lord
and Saviour, I know I shall go out of this wretched
life."

Had he lived he would have met with bitter dis-
appointment. The peace of this calm sick-room
seems the deeper for its contrast to the growing
storm without On the Monday after Low Sunday
the " Short Parliament " began its sittings. On May 6
the king dissolved it in hot indignation at its refusal
to aid him against the Scotch. "Things must go
worse before they go better," was the ominous com-
ment of Cromwell's cousin, Oliver St John, when he
found himself thus abruptly unseated. »

Placards were posted inciting the mob to sack
Lambeth Palace. On May n it was attacked by
a mob of Anabaptists, Brownists, and other sectaries,
five hundred strong. Laud had notice, and fortified
his house as well as he could, and the rabble, finding
itself unable to make any impression on the solid
walls of Lambeth, turned its attention to Convoca-
tion, which was still sitting, and the trainbands had
to be called out to protect the bishops. Several

NICHOLAS FERRAR, JUNIOR. 289

arrests were made, but the prisons were broken open
in broad daylight, and the rioters set free.

The news of these outrages disturbed even the
stillness of the sick- chamber. The dying youth was
deeply moved. " Alas ! alas ! '* he said, " God help
His Church and poor England ! I now fear, indeed,
what my dear uncle said before he died, that evil days
were coming, and happy were they that went to
heaven before they came. . . . God amend all!
Truly, truly, it troubles me.*'

By this time it drew towards Ascensiontide. He
lingered yet a few days longer. Bishop Towers came
again, and found him " most cheerful to die and to
be with God." He ** gave him absolution, and with
many tears departed, saying to his father, * God give
you consolation, and prepare yourself to part with
your good son ; ... be of good comfort ; you give
him back again to Him that gave him you for a
season.' "

On the Tuesday before \Vhit-Sunday, May 19,
1640, at the age of twenty-one, Nicholas Ferrar the
younger was taken away from the evil to come.

The stricken father comforted himself by writing
a short memoir of these closing days. He says no
word of his own sorrow. He forgot himself in his
promising son, as completely as he had forgotten
himself in his distinguished brother. It is only from
a word here and there, from the entry, very touching

290 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

in the light of what was to follow, that he was
"ravished with joy" when Laud told him of the
king's proposed care of young Nicholas, that we
learn that John Ferrar was present throughout ; but
the tender pride with which he chronicles every detail
of his son's brief success, and the careful treasuring
of his last sayings, tell the tale of the father's love
and grief more clearly than any words.

Mr. Ferrar went sadly home along the ways which
he had travelled so joyfully but a few weeks before
in company with his son, and bravely began the old
life afresh. He found consolation and pleasure, no
doubt, in watching his little daughter's industrious
fingers, as she learnt to take her share in the family-
work. The book belonging to the Bishop of Bath
and Wells, made by "Virginia Ferrar, aged twelve,"
is dated 1642, and must have been begun about this
time. The Concordance which Nicholas had pro-
mised to the little Duke of York was also taken in
hand.

The miserable winter of 1640-41 brought new
trouble to Gidding. The enemies of the Church were
not satisfied with attacking the Archbishop. They
desired to give battle all along the line, and even this
peaceful family, carr}ang on their quiet pursuits in the
midst of their own fields and woods, were not safe
from annoyance. A tract was published called ** The

''THE ARMmiAN NUNNERY?" 291

Arminian Nunnery," ^ containing a scandalous attack
on Gidding, "such stories told as the devil himself
would be ashamed to utter." A false air of truth was
thrown round this publication by the free use of
passages in the letter written seven years earlier by
Lenton to his friend Sergeant Hetley, describing his
visit to Gidding, which letter seems to have been
shown about

John Ferrar wrote at once to Mr. Lenton,
apparently (for his letter is not forthcoming), inquiring
if he had taken any share in putting forth the
pamphlet

Lenton indignantly disclaimed all responsibility,
and was evidently extremely annoyed at finding that
his kindly gossip had been turned to such malicious
use.

" I should much degenerate," he writes, " from my
birth (being a gentleman), my breeding (well known to
the world), and the religion I profess, if having, upon
something a bold visit, been entertained in your
family with kind and civil respects, I should requite
it with such scorn and calumny as this libellous

* "The Arminian Nunnery, or a Brief Description and
Relation of the late erected Monasticall Place called the Armi-
nian Nunnery at Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire, humbly
recommended to the wise consideration of this present Parlia-
ment. The Foundation is by a Company of Ferrars at Gidding,
Printed for Thomas Underbill, 1641, London."

292 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

pamphlet seems to insinuate. . . . I am so far from
being ''the author, infuser, or countenancer of tliis
fable, that by it I take myself to be as much abused,
and that there is as much aspersion cast upon me
as upon your family, by a sly and cunning intima-
tion (my letter being his groundwork), to make me
thought (by such as know me not well) to be the
author and divulger of his lies and scandals, which
(by God's mercy) my soul abhors." *

But, however groundless, the pamphlet was spread
abroad in all directions; copies were put into the
hands of members of parliament as they went into the
House, and dispersed among the soldiery who passed
near Gidding on their way to the army in the north,
apparently with the hope of stirring the Puritans to
attempt some violence ; but, for the present, no actual
injury was done to the family or their property.

In the midst of this annoyance they were cheered
by a visit from Bishop Williams. That time-serving
but kindly prelate had been released from the Tower
in the autumn of 1640, and for a short time his star
was again in the ascendant

** The Bishop of Lincoln rides his visitation, and
begins in October, and for security he hath an order
from the Lords at his own motion," wrote Dr. Busby,
the famous and loyal head-master of Westminster, to

> Lenton to Ferrar, Oct. 27, 1641. Preface to " Two Lives,"
p. 23, printed also by Hearne and Peckard.

t«

THE ARMINIAN NUNNERY,'' 293

a friend in the country. " The bishop hath not yet
left us at Westminster, remaining alone of all the
bishops ; a stout defender of his order and discipline ;
not without the envy and broad censures of the
people. Pray for the Church, as it concerns us all,
and pray for me." ^ .

The bishop went the round of his diocese, diplo-
matizing, persuading, preaching to congregations of
"ignoble sectaries and high-shone clowns," as
Hacket uncivilly calls the Puritans of Lincolnshire
and Huntingdonshire; doing his best "to heal the
maladies of brainsick distempers," and draw his
people to attend the ministrations of their lawful
pastors, instead of following after "coachman-
preachers, watchmaking-preachers, barber-preachers,
and such addle-headed companions," with very limited
success. " So long as he was in place, and for a while
that his words were remembered," says the admiring
Hacket, he " brought those counties to a handsome
state of quietness \ " * but the bishop himself confided
to John Ferrar that he ** was used but coarsely " by the
people of Boston, from which place he came to Gidding.

* Dr. Busby to Dr. Isaac Basire, Vicar of Egglescliffe, and one
of the royal chaplains. — ** Life and Correspondence of I. B."
(Isaac Basire). Twelve bishops, including the Ferrars' friend,
Dr. Towers, had spent a considerable portion of this year in
prison, for protesting against their exclusion from the House of
Lords.

• " Life of Archbishop Williams," part ii. p. 156.

294 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

From his prison in the Tower, Williams had
inquired with much interest for Mary and Anna
Collett, after their uncle^s death; telling Ferrar that
he "had now well studied the case of his virgin
nieces," and was " armed to maintain their good reso-
lutions," which he prayed God to keep them in.^

He now exerted himself to vindicate the household
from the charge of Popery, saying publicly that "they
were of his flock," and he "knew they did practise
nothing but what was according to the law of the
Church of England," but to the family he counselled
prudence, and an avoidance of all that might give
offence " seeing whither the stream is turning." He
advised them to take down the tablet which Mrs.
Ferrar set up in the parlour, and which one would
think was harmless enough. " Not that I dislike it,"
said the bishop, but " the times, as you see, grow
high and turbulent ; I counsel as your friend only."

His advice was taken, " and the old gentlewoman's
tablet taken down out of the common parlour, where-
into, indeed, not very long after, came men of another
garb than the bishop, and of other minds."

We have one more record of Gidding in its peaceful
days ; a memorable and touching incident

In March, 1642, on his way from Newmarket to
York, the king slept at Huntingdon. Next morning,
as, accompanied by his son, his nephew the Elector

* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother.

THE KING AT G ID DING. 295

Palatine, and a train of nobles and county gentlemen,
he rode towards Stamford, he observed the roof of a
great house among the still leafless trees. "What
house is that," he asked, " that stands so pleasingly ? "
And on hearing that it was Little Gidding, he ex-
pressed a desire to visit the place again.

The family having heard that he was passing, came
loyally down to a little bridge, near the place where
the way to Gidding turned out of the main road, and
on his approach, " they all knelt down and prayed
God to bless and preserve his Majesty, and protect
him from the fury of his enemies." Then one by one
they came up to the king, and kissed his hand as he
sat on his horse. Prince Charles then came gallop-
ing up, and gave his hand likewise to be kissed, and
he and the Palsgrave, who was in the company, pro-
posed that the ladies should mount their horses, and
ride behind them up the hilL This invitation was
declined, and the ladies hastened up the steep fields
as quickly as they could, the king courteously keeping
his horse at a foot pace, as he rode beside them up
the grassy track toward the house.

Before entering the house, he went to look at the
church; the accusations of Popery put forth in " The
Arminian Nunnery " had probably reached his ears.

" Where," he said, " are those images so much talked
of?" He was told that everything had always been
as his Majesty now saw it " I knew it full well that

296 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

never any were in it," he answered, smiling; **but
what will not malice invent ? "

One of the lords present said that he had been told
there was in one of the windows a cross in painted
glass.

" The lion that supported the king's arms ^n the
west window) had on the crown he wore on his head
a little cross," was the answer. There was no other
painted glass or picture in the church.

" Envy is quick-sighted," said the Duke of Lenox.

"Nay, it can see what is not," the Palsgrave
answered.

From the church they went past Nicholas Fen-ax's
grave, across the garden to the house, and the king
asked to see the book which was being made for
Prince Charles. It was brought, the tallest of tall
folios, more than two feet high, magnificent in purple
velvet^

"Sir," said the Duke of Lenox, "one of your
strongest guard will be but able to carry this book."

It was laid on the table before the king. He read
over the title and frontispiece "very deliberately,"
and then proceeded carefully to examine the book.
"Charles," he said to the prince, who stood by,
"here is a book that contains excellent things; this
will make you both wise and good." He was much

* Probably the one now in possession of Captain Gaussen.
See Chap. VIII., No. xiii.

THE KING AT GIDDING, 297

interested in the engravings with which the book was
illustrated, and pointed them out to his nephew, who
seems to have had some share of his brother Rupert's
knowledge of such matters, naming the engravers.

The king sat for hours turning over the book,
reading and asking questions, while the younger
members of his suite roved about the housje, winding
up with a visit to the buttery, whence they emerged
with their hands full of apple-pie and cheesecakes.
They were full of gaiety and laughter, as was natural,
the Prince of Wales the gayest of them all. To
them the ride to York was no doubt a holiday ex-
pedition, and the struggle with the Parliament a
matter which would soon be put to rights, scarce
worth a moment's serious thought; but to Charles
what thoughts must have come as he sat turning the
leaves of the great Pentateuch, glad, no doubt, of
leisure and quiet, of the calm unworldly atmosphere
of the devout house. How much he had passed
through since, two years before, with Laud at his
side, he had received John Ferrar and his lost son at
Whitehall. Now Laud was in the Tower, and he
himself had quitted his palace, never again to return
as king. He had broken with his Parliament ; only
a few days before he came to Gidding he had ridden
along the cliffs of Dover to watch, as long as the sails
remained in sight, the ship that bore his beloved wife
to her refuge in France.

298 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

He was roused at last by the Palsgrave, who
begged him to come and see the alms widows* rooms,
which he said he would like well. Charles went
through them, " looking well about him." " Truly,"
he said, " this is worth the sight I did not think to
have seen a thing in this kind that so well pleaseth
me. God's blessing be upon the founders thereof,"
and taking from his pocket five pieces of gold, he
directed that they should be given to the poor widows,
adding, ** and will them to pray for me."

Before his departure, he looked round on the
peaceful landscape — the house set deep in budding
orchards, the sheep feeding in the meadows. " Gidding
is a happy place in many respects ; I am glad I have
seen it," he said.

The sun got low, and Stamford, their destination
for the night, was still far away. The horses were
brought to the door, and, while the king mounted, all
the family, men and women, knelt down and prayed
God to bless and defend him, and give him a long
and happy reign. He, lifting his hand to his hat,
replied, " Pray, pray for my speedy and safe return." ^

He rode away through the gathering twilight with
the young princes and his attendant nobles, a gallant
train, making a splendid appearance in the country
lanes; away to Stamford and the North; to be

* " Life of Nicholas Ferrar," by his brother, pp. 130-136 ;
and Appendix, p. 253.

THE KING AT GIDDING, 299

repulsed from the gates of Hull; to gather a loyal
remnant of his Parliament at York ; to raise, before
the summer was out, his standard at Nottingham ; to
meet his rebellious subjects in open field at Edgehill.
Once again, after four weary years, he came to
Gidding, disguised, almost alone, in the shadows of
night and failure.

CHAPTER XIV.

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR — JOHN FERRAR
PLANS ANOTHER POLYGLOTT— THE KING'S LAST
VISIT — SACK OF GIDDING — RETURN OF THE
FAMILY— DEATHS OF JOHN FERRAR AND MR. AND
MRS. COLLETT.

A.D. 1642— 1660.

** We can see
The Church thrive in her misery.
And like her Head at Bethlehem, rise,
When she oppressed with trouble lies.
Rise ? Should all fall, we cannot be
In more extremities than He.

" But stay ! what light is that doth stream
And drop here in a gilded beam ?
It is Thy star runs page, and brings
The tributary Eastern kings.
Lord, grant some light to us, that we
May find with them the way to Thee I

** Behold what mists eclipse the day I
How dark it is I Shed down one ray,
To guide us out of this dark night,
And say once more, * Let there be light.* "

H. Vaughan, from ** Verses on the Nativity
oj our Lord^ written in 1656,"

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 301

The chronicles of Gidding end with the outbreak of
the Civil War. We have only scattered notices, a
brief note on the margin of a manuscript, an occasional
sentence in a letter, to show how the Ferrars and
Colletts lived through these years of distress and
disaster.

Through the summer of 1642 armed men were
passing continually along the lanes which lie below
the Gidding fields. The distant tramp of horse, the
flash of arms among the trees, must have become
familiar sounds and sights to the inhabitants of
Gidding from the earliest period of the war. The
house stood alone on its green hill, an unwarlike
stronghold of loyalty and Churchmanship, in the
midst of a hostile country.

Here, perhaps, Barnabas Oley came for shelter
when the college tutor, roused from his steady work
at Clare by the excitement of the hour, rode, with a
few trusty friends, *^ through bypaths in the night," to
carry a contribution of plate from loyal Cambridge
to the aid of the king at Nottingham,^ slipping
triumphantly, in the darkness, past Oliver Cromwell
himself, who, "with a train of townsmen and
rustics," lay in wait to intercept him not far fi*om
Huntingdon.

Except for such chance visitors as may have taken

* Dr. Worthington's Diary, quoted by Mr. Mullinger, " Cam-
bridge in the Seventeenth Century."

302 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Gidding in their way to join the Royalist armies, or to
exchange secretly a few words of sympathy on the
troubles which came thicker every year, the lives of
John Ferrar and his family must have become more
and more isolated. Their school was apparently
broken up, for little John Mapletoft was sent to be
educated at Westminster, where Dr. Busby calmly
carried on his work throughout the turmoil, with un-
diminished energy, and a special regard for the
children of Royalists. He seems to have been
personally acquainted with the Ferrars. "Certify
me when and how I may pay my respects to your
friends in Huntingdonshire," he writes to Basire, in
September, 1642.

The wreck of Peterborough Cathedral, in 1643,
must have struck all lovers of the Church — it might
almost be said, all true lovers of the worship of God—
with heart-sickness. Such outrages soon became too
common ; but the beautiful church which rises among
the waters of the Nen valley was the first to suffer.

"In this place," says Gunton, "began that strange
kind of deformed Reformation which afterwards
passed over most places in the land, by robbing,
rifling, and defacing churches."

The troopers (they were under the command of
Cromwell's son) dragged down the altar screen, and
being unable to reach the painting of our Saviour in
glory, which hung above, fired at it until it was

G ID DING DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 303

riddled by shot They carried off the silver candle-
sticks from the altar, tore up all the Common Prayer-
books that could be found, pulled out the Apocrypha
from the great Bible, and destroyed the whole of the
carved decoration of the choir stalls.

Their wrath was specially hot against the organs,
of which there were two pair. These were " stamped,
trampled on, and broken in pieces, with such a
strange, furious, and frantic zeal, as cannot be well
conceived bat by them that saw it"

When a " well-disposed person " who was present
offered some protest against this fearful sacrilege, the
officer in command merely remarked, " See how these
poor people are concerned to see their idols pulled
down."

The soldiers stayed a fortnight in Peterborough,
and " went to church daily to do mischief." ^

In December of the same year the storm broke on
Cambridge. "We went to Peterhouse," writes one
of the spoilers, evidently rejoicing in his work, *^ and
pulled down two mighty great angels with wings,
and divers other angels, and the four Evangelists, and
Peter, with his keies, over the chapell dore, and about
a hundred cherubims and angels, and divers supersti-
tious letters in gold."^ At Little St. Mary's, close

' Gunton*s "Peterborough.**

• Quoted in Dr. Grosart's introduction to " Fuller Worthies,"
edition of Crashaw.

304 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

by, the church in which Crashaw spent so many
hours in prayer, "sixty superstitious pictures" were
destroyed

Next year the heads and fellows of colleges were
required to sign the Covenant Upwards of two
hundred refused compliance, and were ejected in
consequence.

Among those who went out was Crashaw. His
tender and sensitive spirit was well-nigh broken by
the desolation of the holy places he had loved so
well, the ruin which seemed falling on the University
and the Church. His version of the 137th Psalm
is perhaps an expression of his feelings during this
time of bitter pain.

** Sing I play ! to whom, ah I shall we sing or play
If not, Jerasalem, to thee ?
Ah ! thee, Jerusalem, ah I sooner may
This hand forget the mastery
Of music's dainty touch, than I
The music of thy memory.

** Which when I lose, oh I may at once my tongue
Lose this same busy-speaking art ;
Unperched, her vocal arteries unstrung,
No more acquainted with my hearty
On my dry pallat*s roof to rest,
A withered leaf, an idle guest."

He lacked the courage and patience to wait for better
days. ** Upon an infallible foresight that the Church

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR, 305

of England would be quite ruinated by the untimely
fury of the Presbyterians," * he left England, joined
the Roman Church, and, after long wandering and
much poverty, died in 1650, at the age of thirty-five,
having enjoyed for a few weeks some small office at
Loretto. There, in the great church which encloses
the "holy house," he lies buried, far from his early
friends.'

Through loneliness, and loss, and anxiety, the
Ferrars kept bravely on with their life of prayer, of
charity, and steady industry. The labours of the
Concordance room were continued as before, and
John Ferrar, with courage unabated by bereavement
and straitened circumstances, still cherished the hope
of carrying out some of the lofty designs of his dead
son.

He formed a scheme, probably with the assistance
of Ferrar Collett, for a Polyglott on a still more
extensive scale than those presented to the king. It
was to consist of the New Testament in twenty-six
languages, Chaldee and Samaritan being added to the
twenty-four employed by young Nicholas. To these
were to be added twelve several English translations,
twenty various Latin translations, three in Italian,
etc., besides a comparison between the authorized
and the Rhemish versions of the English Testament,

' Preface to first edition of ** Poems.**

« See Dr. Grosart, " Fuller Worthies,** ed. of Crashaw*s Poems.

3o6 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

the two being placed side by side; together with a
defence of the Authorized Version against the
slanders of one Gregory Martin.

The following letters relate to the preparation of
materials for this gigantic undertaking. They are
undated, but the mention of the "stately Bible of the
King of France/' as lately printed, seems to prove
that they were written some time in 1645, in which .
year a magnificent Bible in Hebrew, Samaritan,
Chaldee, Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Arabic, was
published in Paris in nine folio volumes.

John Ferrar to Dr. Basire.

"At your best leisure.

"Worthy Sir,

" That you will please to favour me with your
help and advice, how and where to procure these
ensuing things, by your own and friends' assbtance.

" I. All the several translations that have been
since Henry VIIL's time of the Holy Bible in the
English tongue."

(Here follows a list of translations.)

" 2. And all the several translations of the New
Testament."

(Here follows a list of desiderata in various
languages.)

"3. To inquire if the great and stately Bible of

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 307

the King of France in the seven several languages,
be come yet into England, and the price of it ; if not,
how it is at Paris sold, and if the New Testament is
not to be had single. I suppose the French preachers
in London can inform you at full of it"

(Here follows an inquiry for further translations,
among others Armenian and Persian, which ** aie to
be had at Venice, so that Signior Burlamac, the
Postmaster at London, spoken to by any friend,
would easily send for them to come in the first ship
that comes from Venice.")

• • ■ • • • •

"If so be our dear brother Thristcross* should
desire, or you so think good, that he take a copy of
the titles of these books in the other paper, which
were done at Gidding, he may. For it may be some
of his acquaintance of noble personages, may desire
some of them to be made for them ; yea, some rich
divines, as deans, or prebends, etc. And it may be
there may be more occasion to show them, upon this
libel,* which makes as if there were no work done at
Gidding, but all the time spent in contemplation, as
it would make the world believe : that they may see
this cost hath time and much labour every way ; and
it may do us much right in that thing."

* See note at end of chapter.

• ** The Arminian Nunnery,"

3o8 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

Second Letter.

"At your best and spare leisure, and when there
Ls fitting time and opportunity for it.

'Sir,

"I have now further taken the presumption to
send you herein enclosed the titles or frontispieces
of some of those works and books done at Gidding ;
the inventions and patterns left us by our dearest
brother.

" The intent and end I have in it (submitting all
this and other my desires to your better judgement)
is, that if you think so good to show them to my lord
of Durham,* or to some other worthy noble person-
ages ; if his lordship or they might desire to have any
of these made for their uses, and would bestow their
money upon them, if not for their own use, yet it may
be for some library, as rarities in their kinds and the
handiwork of women (for their manufacture, I mean,
and labour of putting together by way of pasting, etc.),
we should be glad of the employment for our younger
and elder people ; and it may be if noble personages
and learned knew of them, they would be casting
away money upon them as well as upon other things.
My Lord Wharton, upon the sight of King's Con-
cordance, desired to have one in an inferior kind and

• Dr. Morton, Bishop of Durham.

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR, 309

sort, for the king's stands us in above ;^ioo; but my
lord Wharton's cost him but J[,yj ; and so much he
gave us for it willingly ; but it was deemed of all that
saw it to be of more worth,

" Well, sir, I know you love us, and would be glad
in any good way to promote our affairs and employ-
ments; if shall find that the times settle, and men
grow out of these fears and doubts ; I hope in God,
if the bishops and Book of Common Prayer be
established, all will settle shortly in a good end;
which God Almighty grant, unto whom I recommend
this and yourself, and am

*'Yours»

"J. F.

" To Dr. Easier at his best leisure and fitting time." ^

The answers to these letters are not given, and
we do not know whether Dr. Basire took any steps
to procure the books. Probably notj for "the sad
times coming on amain, gave an obstruction to these
proceedings." In the following year, Basire was a
prisoner for his loyalty in Stockton Castle, and on his
release, his living of Egglescliff being sequestrated,
he thought "that it was better to turn his steps
towards Italy than towards Newgate," and went
abroad to seek subsistence as tutor to the sons of
some royalist gentlemen. Finding, after a time,
* Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, Appendix to "Two Lives of Ferrar."

3IO LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

employment in Eastern Europe, he did not return
to England till after the Restoration.

After the crushing defeat at Naseby, the fall of one
royalist stronghold after another, the surrender of
Astley and of Hopton, the most sanguine of royalists
could hardly dare to hope that bishops or other noble
personages could soon be in a condition to assist in
the production of costly and learned works.

John Ferrar had other reasons, besides the im-
prisonment of Dr. Basire, and the difficulty of pro-
curing the rare and costly books he needed, for
postponing his grand project He had already seen
most of his friends driven from their homes. His
own turn was now close at hand.

On April 27, 1646, the king, in despair, left Oxford
secretly. He wandered from place to place in dis-
guise, attended only by his trusty chaplain, Dr.
Hudson, and Mr. Ashbumham. At length he came
to Downham, in Norfolk. In his desolation, the
remembrance of the religious house in which he had
spent some peaceful hours on the eve of the war
recurred to his mind. Very privately, in the darkness
of night, he came once more to Gidding. The steep
field, to the southwest of the church, up which he is
said to have come, is still called the King's Close.
" Having an entire confidence in the family, he made
himself known to Mr. John Ferrar, who received his
Majesty with all possible duty and respect But

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 311

fearing that Gidding, from the known loyalty of the
family, might be a suspected place, for better conceal-
ment he conducted his Majesty to a private house at
Coppingford,an obscure village at a small distance from
Gidding, and not far from Stilton. Here the king slept,
and went from thence, May 3, to Stamford, where he
lodged one night, stayed till eleven the next night, and
from thence went, on May 5, to join the Scotch army." *

On the 1 6th, Charles wrote from Newcastle, to Sir
Edward Nicholas at Oxford, the despairing words,
** Know that you are not to expect releefe, so that I
give you leave to treate on good condic'ons." *

Perhaps, in spite of all precautions, the king's visit
to Gidding became known to some parliamentary
officer in the neighbourhood, for the blow which had
long been threatened fell on Gidding at this crisis.

"Not long before the real tragedy of King Charles
was perpetrated, active soldiers of the Parliament
party resolved to plunder the house at Gidding.
The family being informed of their intended approach,
thought it prudent to fly, and, as to their persons,
endeavour to escape the intended violence.

' Peckard, on authority of a manuscript account by J. Ferrar.
No mention of Charles's visit to Gidding at this time is made in
the inquiry instituted by the Commonwealth into the particulars
of his journey, but Dr. Peckard considers that it took place
during an evening which that inquiry leaves unaccounted for.

• The king to Sir E. Nicholas, "Diary and Correspondence of
John Evelyn."

312 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

" These military zealots, in the rage of what they
called reformation, ransacked both the church and
the house. In doing which they expressed a. par-
ticular spite against the organ. This they broke in
pieces, of which they made a large fire, and thereat
roasted several of Mr. Ferrar's sheep, which they
had killed in his grounds. This done, they seized all
the plate, furniture, and provision which they could
conveniently carry away. And in this general devasta-
tion perished those works of Mr. Nicholas Ferrar
which merited a better fate.'* ^

It does not appear whether the ejection of Ferrar
CoUett from his fellowship at Peterhouse had any
connection with this attack on Gidding, but it took
place in the same year— on November 6, 1646.

Where the Ferrars took shelter in their trouble
we are not informed, no letters or journals belonging
to this time of distress having come to light. We
may be sure that they suffered much. The universal
poverty which overwhelmed the royalist party had
touched its lowest point, and out of all their many
friends few indeed could have been in a position to
offer them shelter or help in their need. Mrs. Basire's
letters to her husband give a pathetic description of
her efforts to bring up her children on the scanty and
ill-paid "fifths," which were allowed for the main-
tenance of the families of the sequestered clergy.

* Peckard.

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 313

She writes to say that her "frend busbe " (Dr. Busby)
had offered to educate their eldest boy free of cost,
if she could pay for his board, but even this she
canr.ot manage. Dr. Basire, now at Rouen with his
pupils, can do little to help her. " I advise every one
interessed in the English desolation, to read the Book
of Lamentations," he writes to her, apparently by way
of consolation.

In the following summer the hopes of the royalists
began to revive. On July 7, 1647, Sir Edward
Nicholas wrote, full of hope in the pending negotiations
between Charles and the parliament, " I hope it will
not now be long before we heare that peace in England
is in soe good forwardness as that horniest men may
return with comfort to their homes. Dr. Hammond
preached, Sunday was se'ennight, before the king, when
service was said according to the English Liturgy.
God will, I trust, finish the good work which he hath
so wonderfully begun for the peace and good of
England.'' ^

During this breathing space, Mr. Ferrar brought
his family back to Gidding.

On July 27 Dr. Busby communicates the news to
their mutual friend, Basire : " A dead numnes hath
these many years fall'n on my spirits, as upon the
nation; join with me in the versicle, *0 Lord my

' Sir E. Nicholas to Dr. Basire, *'Life and Correspondence
of Isaac Basire." ^^^-^

314 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR

God, lighten mine eyes that I sleep not in death ! *
All things at this time are in so dubious a calme, that
the fear is greatest when the danger is less. . . .
Mr. Thuscrosse is again settled in Yorkshire, Mr.
Ferrar with his family at Gidden, long since Mr.
Mapletoft hath a good living. All remember you, the
Joseph in affliction."

The calm lasted a few months longer. In October,
Nicholas could still write, with unconquerable hope-
fulness, "I do not despair but before the spring,
the king may yet be resetled on his throane. . . . All
now expect to heare whether his Ma'ts pious over-
ture for a personall treaty for an accomodation
wil be yielded unto, and then what will be the
yssue of that treaty, which I trust wil be a happy
peace."

The king's flight from Hampton Court, his re-
capture, the renewed outbreak of civil war, dashed
all these hopes to the ground.

We know nothing of the Ferrars during the sad days
that followed. They must have shared fully in the
awestruck and amazed horror with which the country
heard of the king's death sentence, ** that horrid act
of which noe age ever heard the like." ** I look for
nothing after this but the destruction of the kingdom,"
wrote the Dean of Bristol to his brother, Sir E.
Nicholas.^ " The sad news," says Basire, " had almost
* " Nicholas Papers," edited by Mr. Warner.

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 315

spoyled my life ; yet his blood lives, and cries loud I
fear."

In one respect, the Ferrars were more fortunate
than most of their friends. They were never deprived
of the services of the faithful friend and pastor, who
had ministered to them ever since the first years of
their coming to Gidding.

The living of Great Gidding was very poor, and
was perhaps not considered worth sequestrating, for
Mr. Groose held it undisturbed throughout the Civil
War, and into the first years of the Restoration.^

It may surely be viewed as a special blessing, granted
to their continual prayer, that even in the darkest
years of the Commonwealth the family of Gidding
were never deprived of the Sacraments of the Church.

"Where shall we now receive the Viaticum with
safety ? How shall we be baptized ? * For to this pass
is it come, sir," wrote John Evelyn, in 1655, to his
"ghostly father," Jeremy Taylor. "The shepherds
are smitten, and the sheep must of a necessity be
scattered, unlesse the greate Shephearde of Soules
oppose, or some of His delegates reduce and direct

' This appears from the registers of Gidding Church. See
Mr. Mayor, Appendix,

• Sir Ralph Vemey writes to his wife in 1647, ** Now for
the christening. I pray give noe offence to the State ; should
it bee donn in the old way perhapps it may bring more trouble
uppon you then you can immagen."—** Memoirs of the Vemey
Family."

3i6 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

US. Deare Sir, we are now preparing to take our last
sad farewell (as they threaten) of God's service in
this citty or anywhere else in publique. I must con-
fesse it is a sad consideration, but it is what God sees
best, and to what we must submitt. My comfort is,
Deus providebit!* ^

In the tiny church at Gidding, hidden by its
sheltering woods, the edict of " Julianus Redivivus,"
as Evelyn terms Cromwell, could perhaps be safely
disregarded ; if it were not so, at least in the great
parlour, or the oratories sanctified by years of nightly
intercession, the holy Mysteries might still be celebrated
by the faithful friend who for so many years had fed
that little flock with the Bread of Life.

The remaining members of the family still clung
together.

" My dear Swete Sister," writes Susannah Chedley
(formerly Susannah Mapletofl) to Virginia Ferrar, in
1650, "the blessed Psalm saith, it is a joyful thing
when brethren dwell together in unity, as I am sure
you do."

Virginia, now grown to womanhood, seems to have
been a great joy and delight to her family, " making a
sunshine in the shady place." Among the Magdalene
College manuscripts are numerous letters to her from
Susannah Chedley, and from Jane Collett, wife to her

*John Evelyn to Dr. Taylor, London, March 18, 1655,
"Diary and Correspondence.'*

CIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR, 317

cousin Richard. ** Your noble and free sperrit . . ,
hath satisfide me beyond expression," writes Jane in
one of her affectionate ill-spelt epistles, which present
a great contrast to Susannah's careful writing.

It is pleasant to think that John Ferrar's declining
years were brightened by the presence of this beloved
child. He occupied himself in writing the Memoirs
from which this book is drawn — ^and still the vision of
his great Bible flitted before his eyes.

**It hath lain still till this year, 165 — "* (they are
the closing words of "Observations on the Works
done at Gidding") ; "and now it hath so fallen out,
that (to the honour of those worthy learned men
that have, by their great care and diligence, set it on
foot) the printing of the Holy Bible in eight several
languages is designed here in England ; * the which
work in many respects is like to pass that Bible both
of the King of Spain's, and the aforenamed King of
France's : in which regard it is now thought fitting to
defer this model and intended work, till that our Bible
be finished. And then, by the good blessing of God,
and the help of some of those active hands, that are
yet alive, who were instruments of the other many
precedent works, as you have heard, this may in a
good hour be begun, and by the help of God and good

* Year omitted or illegible in manuscripts.

• The printing of Bishop Walton's Polyglott was begun in
1653, and completed 1657.

3iS LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

friends brought to light and finished. ... A book it
will be that hath not its parallel or match in the whole
world, and may well become, as many learned men
say that have seen the model of it, the best library in
the Christian world, and a jewel not unbeseeming the
greatest potentate's study. . God Almighty give both
means and heads and hands to effect it : to whom must
be the glory, praise, and honour! Amen, amen,
amen." ^

In the September of the year in which the English
Polyglott was published — 1657 — the earthly remains
of John Ferrar were laid in Gidding churchyard, and
his noble conception was left a dream unrealiz^

On the memorial brass, which still remains in
Gidding church, is inscribed, beneath his name and
arms, the same text which, on his first coming to
Gidding, was engraved over the door of the house:
** Flee from evil, and do ye the thing y* is right, and
dwell for ever-more.'*

His sister, Mrs. CoUett, survived him little more
than a week, dying on the 9th of October, at the age
of seventy-six. She had been a widow seven years,
Mr. CoUett having ended his quiet life in 1650. Both
husband and wife lie in the churchyard at (iidding,
and near them rests their daughter, Susannah Chedley,
** who exchanged this life for a better on the 31st day

* " Obsenrations on Works done at Gidding," printed with
** Two Lives," by Mr. Mayor.

GIDDING DURING THE CIVIL WAR, 319

of October, in the year of our Lord 1657, and of her
pilgrimage fifty and five," ^ but three weeks after her
mother.

The inhabitants of Gidding Hall were by this time
but few. The family now consisted of John Ferraris
only surviving son, also named John, with his wife
and children, and his sister Virginia, Mary and Anna
Collett, their brother Ferrar, and the young Maple-
tofts — the children of Susannah Chedley by her first
marriage. Mrs. Colletf s younger daughters were all
married, and the sons long since established in their
various trades and professions. The great house
must have been far too large for the diminished
numbers and lessened means of the household. At
what time they removed from it, and suffered it to
fall into decay, is not known. A note from Ferrar
Collett to his brother Nicholas in town,' containing
a list of small commissions for their sister Mary,,
proves that they were still at Gidding in i66o. At
some later date John Ferrar, with his wife and sister,
removed to Old Park, but the connection with
Gidding remained unbroken, for the brother and sister
were both buried among their kindred. Virginia died
in 1668. John survived till 17 15, when he passed
away at the age of eighty-nine. Two small brasses
in Gidding church preserve his memory and that of

' Inscription on her tomb in Gidding churchyard.
• Magdalene College Manuscripts.

320 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

his wife. He left a large family, of whom some descend-
ants yet remain. His grandson, Thomas, was buried at
Gidding in 1748, and the baptism of the little daughter
of a cousin, Henry Ferrar, is noted in the Gidding
Register in 1753. After this date the estate seems to
have passed out of the hands of the Ferrars.^

' For these dates the writer is indebted to Mr. Mayor's
Appendix.

Note. — Mr. Thrisfcross* The name appears as Thristcross, Thriscross,
Thurscross, and Thruscrosse. " I did love to talk with worthy Mr.
Thristcross, who knew Mr. Ferrar and Little Gidding** (JVortking^ton
Correspondence)* That he was deeply impressed by Ferrar's example and
teaching, we gather from an entry in the Diary of Sir John Slingsby,
written in 1638. "The zpth December I came acquainted with Mr. Tim
Thurscross, a prebend of York, having some discourse with him in y"
library of y« Minster Church in York, at which time he bestowed on me a
book called y* hundred and ten Considerations of John Valdesso, a
Spaniard. He is a man of late greatly mortified, having within less than
this half year, resigned untoy* Archbishop of York his archdeaconrie and
vicaridge of Kirby Moorside, being much troubled in y* conscience lor
having obtained them through symonie, and now living at York with nothing
to maintain himself and his wife w^all, but this prebend. He preacheth
every Sunday at one place or other, where most need is, and often times on
the week dayes, and his wife betakes herself to get her living by teaching
young children to sow. He is a man of most holy life, only he is conform-
able to the Church discipline that now is used, and to those late imposed
ceremonies of bowing and adoring towards the altar . . • this man bestowed
a great part of the day in prayer with much fasting. He riseth at four
o'clock in the morning, and is at prayers in private and with his family until
six, at which time he goes to the Minster prayers, and from thence to the
library till ten, and then to the Minster prayers again, and thus he spends
his days and strength, very much impaired and weakened by his much
fasting. His discourse doth much tend to show how hard a thing it is to be a
good Christian, and he that will be a right Christian must suffer martyrdom,
if not by loss of life, yet by loss of credit and honour, which is as dear to
many as life.'* — Yorkshire Diaries, Surtees Society.

This good man was sheltered and aided during the Rebellion by the Duke
of Lennox, and seems to have lived till 1671.

CHAPTER XV.

LAST NOTICES OF MARY COLLETT — SOME ACCOUNT
OF HER NEPHEW AND ADOPTED SON, DR. JOHN
MAPLETOFT — THE END.

A.D. 1660-I720.

** How brave a prospect is a traversed plain,
Where flowers and palms refresh the eye,
And days well spent like the glad East remain,
Whose morning glories cannot die.'*

H. Vaughan.

When the home at Gidding was broken up, Mary and
Anna CoUett seem to have left the neighbourhood,
for their names are not to be found among those who
sleep in that peaceful churchyard. Of Anna, indeed,
we have no further knowledge except such as is con-
tained in the few words written by John Mapletoft
under the sisters' names in the " Conversation Book."

"Who both died Virgins, resolving (so) to live
when they were young, by the grace of God." ^

A slight and uncertain glimpse of the surroundings

» Chap. VII.

322 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

of Mary in her later years, may be gathered from a
few words written in a copy of the Eikon Basilikcy
given by her to a friend.

** This book was bound at litle Giding in Hunting-
donshire by ye much celebrated Mrs. Mary Colet, ye
beloved Neece of ye famous Mr. Nicolas Farar, who
honoured her with ye title of Chief of his most pious
Society.

** I leave ye Book as a valuable jewel to my Son,
who in his childhood was very dear to ye S* who
presented me ye book and who bound it with her own
hands.

" Anne Grigg, March,

"1678."!

Anne Grigg is probably the Mrs. Grigge to whom
Bishop Ken addressed, in 1 691, an interesting letter
(given in Dean Plumptre's Life of Ken), written in
terms which imply friendship and confidence.

"God of His infinite goodnesse," it concludes,
"multiply His blessings on yourself and on my good
friends with you, and enable us to doe, and to sufier.
His most Holy Will

" Your very affectionate friend,

"Thos. Bath and Wells.'*

* Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, Appendix. The book belonged, in
1858, to the Rev. T.*H. Tooke, who showed it to Mr. Mayor.

DR, JOHN MAPLETOFT. 323

The "good friends" were Francis Turner, the
nonjuring Bishop of Ely, and his mother, in whose
family Mrs. Grigge was living, apparently as governess
to the bishop's daughter.

We may suppose, therefore, that it was through
this lady, or perhaps direct from Mary CoUett herself,
that Bishop Turner obtained the materials for his life
of Nicholas Ferrar.

The link between Mrs. Grigge and Mary Collett
is easily found. Mrs. Grigge was cousin to the
celebrated John Locke, to whose constant kindness
she and her son (she was early left a widow) seem
to have been much indebted; and one of Locke's
earliest and closest friends was John MapletofL The
friendship extended to the members of their respec-
tive families. "And now I come to you, beloved,
first, with a word of information, that your cousin
Collett is well," Locke writes to Mapletoft in 1672,^
and Mapletoft in return sends messages of remem-
brance to Mrs. Grigge.

A short account of Mary Collett's adopted son
may form a not unfitting close to this imperfect sketch
of the family to which he owed his training.

John Mapletoft" was originally intended for Holy
Orders, but the troublous times in which he grew up

> Fox Bournes* "Life of Lccke.**

« See "Life of Dr. Mapletoft" in Ward's "Gresham Pro-
fessors," and Rev. R. F. Secretan's "Life of Robert Nelson.'*

324 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

long prevented the fulfilment of his desire. Follow-
ing the footsteps of his great-uncle Nicholas, he
proceeded, after graduating at Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, to Italy, and there devoted himself to the
study of medicine. On his return to England he
settled as a physician in London. He still cherished
a desire for ordination, but when all difficulties were
removed by the Restoration, he was long withheld
from carrying out his wish by a sensitive dread lest
his change of profession should seem to be actuated
by worldly views. It was not until 1678, when he
had attained to high distinction as a physician, and
had become Professor of Medicine at Gresham College,
that he gave up practice, quitted London, and retired
into the country to prepare himself in quiet for Holy
Orders.

" I cannot tell how to blame your design, but I
must confess to you, I like our calling the worse since
you have quitted it," Locke writes, on hearing his
friend's decision.

Two letters from Robert Nelson, then a youth of
twenty-three, with whom the physician of eight and
forty had already formed a friendship that lasted
through their lives, show that part of this season of
retirement was spent at Hemel Hempstead, in Hert-
fordshire.

" Dear and honoured Sir," writes Nelson in 1679,
"as soon as I came to town, which was about ten

DR. JOHN MAPLETOFT. 325

days ago, I made a strict inquiry concerning your
welfare, which I counted myself not a little concerned
in, by reason your many favours and obligations,
besides the just value of your person, have engaged
me in a particular respect and esteem to yourselC

Mary CoUett seems to have lived just long enough
to rejoice in her nephew's ordination. We learn from
the ** Conversation Book " that " My much honoured
Aunt Mary, who took care of me and my brother
Peter and sister Mary, after the death of our reverend
and pious father, Mr. Joshua Mapletoft, died in the
80th year of her age."

As she was thirty-two in 1634,* this would place
her death in 1682, the year in which Dr. Mapletoft
was appointed to the living of Braybrooke, in North-
amptonshire. At Braybrooke he remained only three
years, but in that space of time he effected much
good. He prevailed on his parishioners to repair
their fine old church, and to furnish the altar with
suitable Communion plate. He brought many of
the people to their religious duties, and took pains
to supply them with good books ; he was also careful
to provide employment for the poor (often setting
them to work at his own expense), and instruction
for the children. To this day the schools at Bray-
brooke benefit by his generosity.

* "His nieces had lived, one thirty, the other thirty-two
years, virgins." — Lenton's Letter.

326 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

In 1685, at the request of several of the London
clergy, he was appointed to the living of St Lawrelice
Jewry, " but would never advance farther, to avoid
the suspicion of having left one profession and taken
up another, to enrich himself and his family." ^

It was a time of reviving life in the Church. Under
the Commonwealth a generation had grown up with-
out teaching and without sacraments ; such a popula-
tion formed an evil soil in which the wild license of
the Restoration spread and flourished ; but a strong
reaction had now set in. In 1678 a few young lay-
men formed themselves into a society, bound to meet
frequently for prayer, for religious conferences, and
for the reception of the Holy Communion ; in a few
years similar societies were spread throughout London,
and had been founded in many provincial towns.
These religious societies strengthened the hands of
the parochial clergy, they supported daily services,
they collected alms among themselves for various
charitable purposes, and by their exertions and ex-
ample did much to purify and reform the neighbour-
hoods where they lived and worked.

Dr. Mapletoft entered zealously into the work
which was going on round his new cure, showing
a special interest in the increase of Church services
and the spread of Christian education.

The Holy Communion was celebrated in St Law-
* Ward, " Lives of Gresham Professors."

DR. JOHN MAPLETOFT. 327

rence Jewry at six o'clock every Sunday morning.
He took much pains with the religious instruction
of his people, seeing that every house in the parish
was supplied with good books. He assisted in Dr.
Bray's schemes for the establishment of parochial
libraries, and was an early member of the Christian
Knowledge Society. "I depend upon your usual
goodwill for some considerable encouragement,"
Nelson writes, when announcing that the society pro-
poses to set up at once fifty libraries. His interest
in the cause of foreign missions must have been first
awakened in his childish days, when he was taught
no doubt to join in the intercessions of his family
for the cause of the Church in Virginia. When the
desolate state of the American missions began once
more to engage the attention of Churchmen in
England, Dr. Mapletoft came forward at once. He
joined in the foundation of the Society for the Propa-
gation of the Gospel, and was one of its first vice-
presidents. His interest in it continued when he had
become too infirm to attend its meetings.

" I will to-morrow communicate your letter to the
society, who are very much disposed to encourage
the mission in the East," writes Robert Nelson to him
in 1 7 10. "I despair of finding any of that sort of
zeal among us as will carry our clergy to such distant
places, where they are exposed to so many hardships ;
the business of party takes up all our zeal."

328 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR.

The "business of party" had indeed made sad
havoc in the Church ; but though Dr. Mapletoft did
not join the ranks of the Nonjurors, the diflference of
opinion led to no breach with those of his friends
whose conscience compelled them to take a different
line. Nelson writes to him in 1701, suggesting that
he should visit Lord Weymouth ; ** you will find him
(Dr. Bray) and Bishop Ken both there."

In 1 7 10, after an illness which seems to have
occasioned much anxiety to his friends, Dr. Maple-
toft resigned his living. As a farewell to his
parishioners, he gave to each householder a book
which he had written specially for that purpose —
** The Principles and Duties of the Christian Religion
Considered and Explained, in order to Retrieve and
Promote the Christian Life, and that Holiness without
which no man shall see the Lord."

The book contains a clear and practical exposition
of the Creed, and the duties of the Christian life as
taught in the Beatitudes, with instructions on self-
examination, prayer, and the Holy Communion.
A few paragraphs from the "Short Discourse on
Prayer " will show its tone.

"Prayer is that homage we owe and pay to our
Creator for having made us men in His own image "
, . . it " will unlock our souls from that clod of earth
to which they now grow, and in which they lose
themselves; it will raise our thoughts, and desires.

DR. JOHN MAPLETOFT, 329

and aims above the smoak and dust, the petty cares,
and worthless trifling designs of this lower world. . . .
They therefore that have any, though but the least,
trace of that image of God in which man was first
created, remaining in their souls, and who understand
anything of that religion which chiefly distinguishes
man from the beasts that perish, will never pass any
one day of their life without making devout and
solemn application to the Father of their spirits, the
God of all grace, and the only Giver of all good
things. . . . Nor can he be presumed to have any
great desire or to be in any measure fit to enjoy God
in heaven to eternal ages, who can be usually hindred
by any vain amusements, or business at that time
unnecessary, firom employing an hour or two in each
day in attendance upon and doing open honour to
his Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, in those as-
semblies and performances which make the best
representation and performance of the heavenly
state, which we are now capable of. . . . We ought,
whenever we are about to pray, to labour to possess
our minds with an actual awful apprehension of the
great and tremendous Majesty we approach to, with
a deep sense of the importance of those things we
ask, which are of no less consequence to us than the
life of our immortal souls, with that humility which
becomes sinners, and yet with that faith and trust in
God which becomes His children."

330 LIFE OF NICHOLAS FERRAR,

"Such truly pious and Christian discourses must
particularly affect your friends and acquaintances,
because your own example preaches to them at the
same time," Nelson writes, in acknowledging a copy
sent to him. " This a very acceptable legacy to your
friends and parishioners."

Dr. Mapletoft spent his last years under the roof
of his daughter and her husband. Dr. Gastrell, Bishop
of Chester. He had, as Nelson wrote, " a soft and
gentle old age," preserving to the last the gaiety and
cheerfulness of his temper, seeming always desirous
** to gain the affections of those about him that he
might engage them to virtue and religion."

"His body decayed gently, but his mind not at
all."^ He clung affectionately to the recollections
of his early years. " I desire that it may be pre-
served in my family as long as may be," he writes in
1 7 15, in a Gidding Concordance, which he gives to
his son.*

In 1720, in the ninetieth year of his age, the
latest survivor of the household of Nicholas Ferrar
entered into " the rest that remaineth to the people
of God."

His life covers an era in the history of the English
Church. In his youth he saw it trodden down by the
Commonwealth. He lived through the time of its

» Ward.

« See Chap. VIII., No. IL

DR. JOHN MAPLE TOFT. 331

revival, with energies quickened and renewed by
suffering. When he passed away, it was already
sinking into the strange sleep of the eighteenth
century, the sleep, of the chrysalis, full of unknown
forces and unconscious growth.

THE END.

rSlKTUO BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED.
LONDON AND BBCCLES.

January 1890.

A Selection of Works

I'M

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\continued

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SELF-RENUNCIATION. x(^mo, as. 6d.

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NICHOLAS FERRAR : his Household and his Friends. With Portrait
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IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE.

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Jnkes.— Works by Andrew Jukes.

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THE SECOND DEATH AND THE RESTITUTION OF ALL
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THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM. Crown Svo. as.6d.

THE ORDER AND CONNEXION OF THE CHURCH'S TEACH-
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SACERDOTALISM, WHEN RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD. THE
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THE HOPES AND DECISIONS OF THE PASSION OF OUR
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REDEEMER. Crown Svo, os. 6d,

[continued.

IN THEOLOGICAL UTERATURE.

EInoz Little.— -Works by W. J. Knox Little, M.A., Canon Resi-
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THE LIGHT OF LIFE. Sermons preached on Various Occasions.
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SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
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Lear.— Works by, and Edited by, H. L. Sidney Lear.

FOR DAYS AND YEARS. A book containing a Text. Short Reading,
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FIVE MINUTES. Daily Readings of Poetry. i6mo. $s, 6d. Also a
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WEARINESS. A Book for the Languid and Lonely. Large Type,

Small 8vo. y,
THE UGHT OF THE CONSCIENCE. i6mo. as. 6d. ^mo, is, ;
cloth limp, 6d,

Nine Vols, Crown Zvo, 31. 6d, each.
The Revival of Priestly Life

CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHIES.

Madame Louise de France,
Daughter of Louis xv., known
also as the Mother T6r^e de
St. Augustin.

A Dominican Artist : a Sketch of
the Life of the Rev. P^ Besson,
of the Order of St Dominic

Henri Pbrrbtvs. By P&rb
Gratrt.

St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and
Prince of Geneva.

IN THE Seventeenth Century
IN France.

A Christian Painter of the
Nineteenth Century.

bossuet and his contempora-
RIES.

F^nelon, Archbishop of Cam-

BRAI.

Henri Dominique Lacordaire.

DEVOTIONAL WORKS. Edited by H. L. Sidney Lear. New and
Uniform Editions, Nine Vols, i&mo, as, 6d, each.

The Hidden Life of the Soul.

F^nelon's Spiritual Letters to

Men.
F^elon's Spiritual Letters to

Women.

A Selection from the Spiritual
Letters of St. Francis de
Sales.

The Spirit of St. Francis de
Sales.

The Light of the Conscience.

Self-Renunciation. From the
French.

St. Francis de Sales' Of the
Love of God.

Selections from Pascal's
* Thoughts.'

10 A SELECTION OF WORKS

LiddozL^Works by Henry Parry Liddon, D.D., D.C.L.,LL.D.,

late Canon Residentiary and Chancellor of St Paul's.

LIFE OF EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY. D.D. By Henry Parry

Liddon, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D. Edited and prepared for publication

by the Rev, J. O. Johnston, M.A., Principal of the Theological

College, and Vicar of Cuddesdon, Oxford; and the Rev. Robert

J. Wilson, D.D., Warden of Keble College. With Portraits and

Illustrations, Four Vols. Svo, Vols, I, and II., 361X. Vol. Ill,, zBs,

CLERICAL LIFE AND WORK : Sermons. Crown Svo, y,

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES : Lectures on Buddhism— Lectures on the
Life of St. Paul — Papers on Dante. Crown Zvo. 51.

EXPLANATORY ANALYSIS OF PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE
ROMANS. Zvo, 14J.

SERMONS ON OLD TESTAMENT SUBJECTS. Crown Svo, 5*.

SERMONS ON SOME WORDS OF CHRIST. Crozvn Svo. 5s,

THE DIVINITY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
Being the Bampton Lectures for 1866. Crown Svo, 51.

ADVENT IN ST. PAUL'S. Sermons bearing chiefly on the Two
Comings of our Lord. Two Vols, Crown Svo, y, 6d. each. Cheap
Edition in one Volume, Crown Svo, 5J.

CHRISTMASTIDE IN ST. PAUL'S. Sermons bearing chiefly on the
Birth of our Lord and the End of the Year. Crown Svo, y.

PASSIONTIDE SERMONS. Crown Svo, 51.

EASTER IN ST. PAUL'S. Sermons bearing chiefly oH the Resurrec-
tion of our Lord. Ttoo Vols, Crown Svo, y, 6d, each. Cheap
Edition in one Volume, Crown Svo, y,

SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF
OXFORD. Two Vols, Crown Svo, 3s, 6d, each. Cheap Edition in
one Volume, Crown Svo, 5s,

THE MAGNIFICAT. Sermons in St. Paul's. Crown Svo, as, 6d,

SOME ELEMENTS OF RELIGION. Lent Lectures. Small Svo,

as, 6d,i or in paper cover, is, 6d,

The Crown Bvo Editum (ss.) may still be had,
SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF H. P. LIDDON, D.D.

Crown Svo, y, 6d,

MAXIMS AND GLEANINGS FROM THE WRITINGS OF H. P.
LIDDON, D.D. Selected and arranged by C M. S. Crown i6mo, is.

DR. LIDDON'S TOUR IN EGYPT AND PALESTINE IN 1886.
Being Letters descriptive of the Tour, written by his Sister, Mrs. Kinq.
Crown Svo, y.

IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. ii

Lii(5koclL— Works by Herbert Mortimer Luckock, D.D.,

Dean of Lichfield,

THE. HISTORY OF MARRIAGE, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN, IN
RELATION TO DIVORCE AND CERTAIN FORBIDDEN
DEGREES. New and Enlarged Edition. Crown Bvoi 6s,

AFTER DEATH. An Examination of the Testimony of Primitive
Times respecting the State of the Faithful Dead, and their Relation^p
to the Living. Crown Bvo, 3J, 6d,

THE INTERMEDIATE STATE BETWEEN DEATH AND
JUDGMENT. Being a Sequel to After Death. Crown %vo, y, 6d.

FOOTPRINTS OF THE SON OF MAN, as traced b^ St. Mark. Being
Eighty Portions for Private Study, Family Reading, and Instructions
in Church. Crown Zvo. y, 6d,

THE DIVINE LITURGY. Being the Order for Holy Communion,
Historically, Doctrinally, and devotionally set forth, in Fifty Portions.
Crown Bvo, y, 6d.

STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON
PRAYER. The Anglican Reform— The Puritan Innovations— The
. Elizabethan Reaction — The Caroline Settlement. With Appendices.
Crown Bvo^ y, 6d,

THE BISHOPS IN THE TOWER- A Record of Stirring Events
affecting the Church and Nonconformists from the Restoration to the
Revolution. Crown Bvo, y. 6d,

LYRA GERMANICA. Hymns translated from the German by
Catherine WiNKWORTH. Small Bvo, y,

MacOolL— Works by the Rev. MALCOLM MacColl, M.A., Canon
Residentary of Ripon.

CHRISTIANITY IN RELATION TO SCIENCE AND MORALS.
Crown Bvo, 6s, ,

LIFE HERE AND HEREAFTER : Sermons. Crown Bvo, ys. 6d,

lliason.— Works by A. J. Mason, D.D., Lady Margaret Professor

of Divinity in the University of Cambridge.

THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL. A Manual of Christian Doctrine.
Crown Bvo, y. 6d,

THE RELATION OF CONFIRMATION TO BAPTISM. As taught
in Holy Scripture and the Fathers. Crown Bvo, 7s, 6d,

Mercier.—OUR MOTHER CHURCH : Being Simple Talk
on High Topics. By Mrs. Jerome Mercier. Small Bvo, y, 6d,

Milne.— THE DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE OF THE

EUCHARIST as deduced from Scripture and the Ancient Liturgies.
By J. R. Milne, Vicar of Rougham, Norfolk. Crmon Bvo, y, 6d.

A SELECTION OF WORKS

Mortimer.— Works by the Rev. Alfred G. Mortimer, D.D.,
Rector of St. Mark's, Philadelphia.

HELPS TO MEDITATION : Sketches for Every Day in the Year.
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Vol. I.— Advent to Trinity. 8w. js, 6d,
Vol. II.— Trinity to Advent. 8w. 7s, 6d,

SERMONS IN MINIATURE FOREX

LEARN OF JESUS CHRIST TO
DIE : Addresses on the Words of our
Lord from the Cross, taken as Teadiing
the Way of Preparati<m for Death.
i6mfi, at,

THE LAWS OF HAPPINESS; or,
The Beatitudes as teaching oor Duty to
God| Self, and our Neighbour. xZmo. as.

THE LAWS OF PENITENCE : Ad-
dresses on the Words of our Lord from
the Cross. xSmo. xx. 6d,

TEMPORE PREACHERS : Sketches
for Every Sunday and Holy Day of the
Christian Year. Craum Bvih 61.

NOTES ON THE SEVEN PENE-
TENTIAL PSALMS, chiefly from
Patristic Sources. Fc/, Zvo. 3$. 6d,

STORIES FROM GENESIS: Sermons
for Children. Crfftum Ztw, it,

Mozley.— Works by J. B. Mozley, D.D., late Canon of Christ

Church, and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford.

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EIGHT LECTURES ON MIRACLES. Bemg the Hampton Lectures
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RULING IDEAS IN EARLY AGES AND THEIR RELATION TO
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SERMONS, PAROCHIAL AND OCCASIONAL. CroumSuo. y.eo.

A REVIEW OF THE BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY. Crown Svo,
y, 6d,

Newbolt^Works by the Rev. W. C. £. Newbolt, M.A., Canon

and Chancellor of St. Paul's Cathedral, Select Preacher at

Oxford, and Examining Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Ely.

COUNSELS OF FAITH AND PRACTICE : bdng Sermons preached
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SPECULUM SACERDOTUM ; or, the Divine Model of the Priestly
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THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. Being Ten Addresses bearing on
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THE MAN OF GOD. Being Six Addresses delivered during Lent a
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THE PRAYER BOOK : Its Voice and Teaching. Being Spiritual
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IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. ri

Newman.-— Works by John Henry Newman, B.D., sometime

Vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford.

PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS. Eight Vols. CaHnet Edition.
Crown Svo. y. each. Cheaper Edition, y. 6d. each.

SELECTION, ADAPTED TO THE SEASONS OF THE ECCLE-
SIASTICAL YEAR, from the 'Parochial and Plain Sermons,*
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FIFTEEN SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY
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SERMONS BEARING UPON SUBJECTS OF THE DAY. CaHnet
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LECTURES ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION. CaHnet
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%* A Compiete Uat of Cardinal Newman's Works can be had on AppHeation.

Norris.— RUDIMENTS OF THEOLOGY : a First Book for
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Bristol, and Canon Residentiary of Bristol CathedraL Cr, Svo. y. 6d,

Osboma— Works by Edward Osborne, Mission Priest of the

Society of St John the Evangelist, Cowley, Oxford.

THE CHILDREN'S SAVIOUR. Instructions to Children on the Life
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THE SAVIOUR KING. Instructions to Children on Old Testament
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THE CHILDREN'S FAITH. Instructions to Children on the Apostles'
Creed. Illustrated, i6tno, 2s, 6d,

Overton.— THE ENGLISH CHURCH IN THE NINE-
TEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1833. By the Rev. John H. Overton.
D.D., Canon of Lincoln, Rector of Epworth, Doncaster, and Rural
Dean of the Isle of Axholme. Svo, 14J.

OzendezL—Works by the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden,
formerly Bishop of Montreal.

PLAIN SERMONS, to which is prefixed a Memorial Portrait. Crown
Svo. y.

THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE : An Autobiography. Croum Svo, y,

PEACE AND ITS HINDRANCES. Crown Svo, is, sewed ; as, cloth,

THE PATHWAY OF SAFETY; or, Counsel to the Awakened. Fcap,
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THE EARNEST COMMUNICANT. New Red RubrU Edition,
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OUR CHURCH AND HER SERVICES. Fcap. Svo. at. 6d.

[continued

i4 A SELECTION OF WORKS

Qxenden.^ Works by the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden
formerly Bishop of Montreal — continued,

FAMILY PkAYERS FOR FOUR WEEKS. First Series. Fcap, 8w.
af. 6d, Second Series. Fcap, Bvo. 2s, 6d,
Large Type EDrriON. Two Series in one Volume, Crown Svo, &s,
COTTAGE SERMONS ; or, Plain Words to the Poor. Fcap. Svo, as, 6d.
THOUGHTS FOR HOLY WEEK. i6»w, cloth, is. 6d.
DECISION. iSfHo, IS, 6d,

THE HOME BEYOND ; or, A Happy Old Age. Fcap. Bvo. is. 6d.
THE LABOURING MAN'S BOOK. iBfno, large type, cloth, is, 6d.

Paget,— Works by Francis Paget, D.D., Dean of Christ Church.

STUDIES IN THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER : Sermons. With an

Introductory Essay. Crown Bvo. 6s. 6d,
THE SPIRIT OF DISCIPLINE : Sermons. Crown Bvo. 6s. 6d,
FACULTIES AND DIFFICULTIES FOR BELIEF AND DIS-
BELIEF. Crown Bvo. 6s, 6d.

THE HALLOWING OF WORK. Addresses given at Eton, January
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PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. By a Clergyman. With

Prefaces by H. P. Liddon, D.D., D.CL., and the Bishop op
Lincoln. Croien Bvo,

The Holt Gospels. 4s, 6d,
Acts to Revelations. 6s,

The Book of Genesis. 41. 6d,
The Psalms. 51.
Isaiah. 41. 6d,

PRIEST (THE) TO THE ALTAR ; or, Aids to the Devout
Celebration of Holy Communion, chiefly after the Ancient English
UseofSarum. Royal Bvo, las.

Prynne. — THE TRUTH AND REALITY OF THE

EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE, Proved from Holy Scripture, the
Teachine: of the Primitive Church, and the Book of Common Prayer.
By the Rev. George Rundle Prynne, M.A. Crown Bvo.' y. 6<L

Puller.— THE PRIMITIVE SAINTS AND THE SEE OF
ROME. By F. W. Puller, M.A., Mission Priest of the Society of
St. John Evangelist, Cowley, Oxford, Crown Bvo, js. 6d,

Pusey.— LIFE OF EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, D.D.
By Henry Parry Liddon, D.D,, D.C.L., LL.D. Edited and pre-
pared for publication by the Rev. J. O. Johnston, M.A,, Principal
of the Theological College, Vicar of Cuddesdon, Oxford, and the Rev,
Robert J. Wilson, D.D., Warden of Keble College. With Portraits
and Illustrations. Four Vols, Bvo. Vols. I. and II., ^1^. Vol.III.,iBs.

ynaey.— Works by the Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D.

PRIVATE PRAYERS.. With Preface by H. P. Liddon, D.D. 3211^. xj.
SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF EDWARD BOUVERIE
PUSEY, D.D, Crown Bvo, is. 6d,

MMm

IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 15

■

•

Bandolph.— LAW OF SINAI : being Devotional Addresses on
/ the Ten Commandments delivered to Qrdinands. By B. W. Ran-
' DOLPH, M.A., Principal of the Theological College and Hon. Canon
of Ely. Crown 8iv. 3J. 6^.

Sanday.—Works by W. Sanday, D.D., Margaret Professor of

Divinity in the University of Oxford.

INSPIRATION : Eight Lectures on the Early History and Origin of the
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1893. Crown, 7J. 6d,

THE ORACLES OF GOD : Nine Lectures on the Nature and Extent of
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TWO PRESENT-DAY QUESTIONS. I. BibHcal Criticism. II. The
Social Movement. Sermons preached before the University of Cam-
bridge. Crown Svo. 2J. 6d»

Seebolim.— THE OXFORD REFORMERS— JOHN COLET,
ERASMUS, AND THOMAS MORE : A History of theu- Fellow-
Work. By Frederick Seebohm. Svo, 14s,

Waiiams.— Works by the Rev. Isaac Williams, B.D.

A DEVOTIONAL COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL NARRA-
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Thoughts on the Study of the
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A Harmony of the Four Gospels.

Our Lord's Nativity.

Our Lord's Ministry (Second Year).

Our Lord's Ministry (Third Year).
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Our Lord's Passion.

Our Lord's Resurrection.

FEMALE CHARACTERS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. A Series of
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THE CHARACTERS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Crown Svo. 55.

THE APOCALYPSE. With Notes and Reflections. Crown Svo, 5s.

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l6 A SELECTION OF THEOLOGICAL WORKS.

WordfwortlL— Works by the late Christopher Wordswoath,
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A CHURCH HISTORY TO A.D. 451. Four Vols, Crown Bvo.
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THEOPHILUS ANGLICANUS: a Manual of Instruction on the
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GUIDES AND GOADS. (An English Edition of < Etiiica et Spiritualia.')

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Tonn^nsbancl^Works by Frances Younghusband.

THE STORY OF OUR LORD, told in Simple Language for Children.
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t)U

■MMMB