DOctor Edward Rainbow was Born at Bliton, a Village in Lindsey Coast in Lincolnshire, near unto Gains­borough, a noted Market Town [Page 2] upon Trent, that English Ganges, which divides this Kingdom into two parts, Southern and Nor­thern.

The Day in which he first drew breath was the Twentieth day of April, in the Year of Grace One thousand Six hun­dred and Eight; a Year not forgotten in our English Annals, since in it there were three Scotish Bishops Consecrated by Men of the same Sacred Order in this Nation, our Church be­ing thereby made at least a Nurse to that of Scotland. And no less remarkable was it for extending the Civil power of our Monarchs, together with the propagation of the Gospel, by the English planting of Vir­ginia, althô formerly discovered by the learned and unfortunate Sir Walter Raleigh.

As an honest Extraction is that which gives a greater lustre to all persons, and often recommends them more easily to the esteem of others; so cannot this our Right Reverend and Worthy Prelate be without Injustice deny'd that respect which is due to one vertuously descended, He deriving his O­riginal from Parents more good than great, and eminent for their Piety and real Worth.

His Father, Mr. Thomas Rain­bow was a Reverend Divine, noted for his Learning and Vertue, who after his being educated at Christ's College in Cambridge, was first presented to the Rectory of Bliton above-mentioned, and then to that of Wintringham▪ in the same County of Lincoln, situate upon Humber, that great Aestu­arium, [Page 4] where so many Rivers meet e're they pay their Tri­butes to the Ocean: Both which Places were conferr'd up­on him by the Worshipful Family of the Wrays of Glent­worth.

And he is said to have well deserved such Advancement, being a Man, who preached as well to his Parishioners by his exemplary good Life, as by his sound Doctrin; and when he dy'd (thô I cannot learn certainly when that was) left the Odor of a good Name be­hind him.

Nor was his Mother, Mrs. Rebecca Allen, Daughter to Mr. David Allen, Rector of Lud­brough in Lindsey-Coast afore­seid, an unfit Consort for so Worthy a Man. For, to many of those good qualifications of [Page 5] a Woman mentioned by the wisest of Kings, she added that of the knowledge of the Scrip­tures even in the Original Lan­guages, being trained up by her Father to the understand­ing of the Latin, the Greek, and the Hebrew. So that, if the Female Sex, Eustochium and others have been so much com­mended by S. Hierom for their great Skill in the Sacred Wri­tings, the Praise that this excellent Matron merited in this kind ought not to be for­gotten. Which is also a preg­nant instance, that the other Sex is not incapable of some of the most profound Studies, and not altogether unfit to walk in the most retired Paths of Learning.

Our Edward Rainbow had the Name of Edward given [Page 6] him from his Godfather Mr. Edward Wray of Rycot, who was younger Brother to Sir John Wray the elder, and who was a great Courtier and Favourite of the elder George Duke of Buckingham, by whose Interest Mr Wray married the Heiress of the Honour and Fortune of the Lord Norris of Rycot, and to whom joyntly with his Bro­ther Sir John Wray, his God-Son Mr. Rainbow afterwards dedicated his first printed Ser­mon, Preached at S. Pauls Cross, Entituled, Labour forbidden and commanded.

But to return whence we have digressed a little; From such pious Parents, who can doubt but Edward Rainbow met with a good Education? Goodness, is diffusive of it self by Na­ture, and most especially [Page 7] when seated in those of so near a Relation as Parents to Chil­dren. The sense of their Du­ty in the first quickens their desires of propagating their Vertues in their Off-spring, as well as continuing in them their Names to Posterity. And accordingly this vertuous Cou­ple took great care early to instil into this their Son the Principles of Religion, a great and cordial Love for his Hea­venly Lord and Master, and a just Fear to offend him in the breach of any of his Di­vine Commands. They taught him to aspire to the possession of that Celestial Country, where that love for true Piety would be as unbounded as that God who is the Original of it. And doubtless the early cultivating of so hopeful a [Page 8] Plant was not ineffectual as the Sequel shew'd. He had been taught that this Life was but a Pilgrimage, and what would be the conclusion of minding his walking therein soon, which made him hasten his pace to Heaven-ward: For Travellers never hasten so much, as when they expect good Lodgings at their Journeys end.

His Infancy being past, about Nine years of Age he was sent to Fillingham, a Village in the so often mentioned County of Lincoln, where his Grandmother Allen, and his Ant Peachel his Mothers Sister, lived. At which place he begun to lay the Foun­dation of Secular Learning; which his Parents, observing him to be very capable of improving to a considerable height, sent him in A. Dom. 1619. to the publick [Page 9] School of Gainsborough, and from thence in April 16 [...]0. to Peterborow in Northamptonshire, to be one of the Scholars of Dr. John Williams, who was then Prebend of that Church. And it was upon his account that Edward Rainbow was sent to Westminster School in June 1621; Dr. Williams, old Mr. Rainbows great Friend, being advanced to the Deanry of Westminster and the Bishoprick of Lincoln, and consequently had thereby better opportuni­ties to gratifie his Friends Son in Westminster, where he then chose to reside.

In all these short Stages of his Youth, he was so far from frustrating the Hopes which his Parents had concei­ved of him, that the great Proficiency under his several [Page 10] Masters, adorned with his meek and obliging humor, easily gained him the Favour of his Instructors, and the Esteem of his more diligent School-Fellows. In which state he continued till fitted for the University; and then he was sent to Corpus Christi College in Oxon, in July 1623. at the Age of Fifteen; where his elder Brother John was admitted, and died Fellow of that House.

He had before this, viz. in March 1621, lost his dear Mo­ther, which loss gave him all the disturbance that a dutiful Son was capable of, for the Death of so prudent and ten­der a Mother, and whom he never mentioned without Ho­nour. Nor did she dye lamented by him alone; but by all those who were acquaint­ed [Page 11] with her extraordinary Parts and religious Conversation, and who were not generally Ene­mies of, or Strangers to true Vertue.

Having paid the Debt due to the memory of his good Mo­ther, I am obliged to resume the Thred of his History, and consequently to mention, that during his stay in Oxford he applied himself to his Studies with that attention, which be­came the Son of so Learned a Father; which course he held on in Magdalen College in Cam­bridge, whither he was trans­planted in June 1. 1625, and that upon the following occasion.

The Right Honourable and truly Noble Lady, Frances, Countess Dowager of Warwick, and Daughter to Sir Christopher Wray, sometimes Lord Chief [Page 12] Justice of England; as she inhe­rited her Fathers Liberality, who had been a great Benefactor to the last mentioned College of Magdalen, in giving Lands and Moneys to it for the Found­ing a Fellowship and two Scho­larships; so did she also inherit the kindness of her Family to that of Edward Rainbow, and therefore in her life time did him that honour to nominate him one of her Scholars there: Upon which account (as hath been already hinted) he remo­ved from Oxon thither, and was admitted into that College and Scholarship at the time above-mentioned.

He took his Degree of Ba­chelor of Arts there in Anno Dom. 1627, and commenced Master of Arts in 1630; a Year which is sufficiently re­markable [Page 13] in History for the Birth of our late Gracious So­vereign, Charles the Second; and for the descent of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden into Germany; where, till death put a Period to his Martial Atchiev­ments, Victory seem'd to be his constant Attendant.

In July after he had proceeded Master of Arts, he was sent for to teach the Free-School at Kirton in Lindsey Coast (three or four Miles from Bliton) which was profered to him, by that Great Patron of his Family, Sir John Wray, whither he went; chusing rather to be employed, thô in a low Station, where he might be serviceable to his Coun­try, than to indulge himself in ease and idleness, which are not seldom the incentives to Vice, and too often do prove the ruine [Page 14] of the most hopeful young Men.

But before we conduct him from Barnwell in Northampton­shire, from Mr. Botelers, who had married his Mothers Sister, whither he had sometimes before retired by reason of the hot Sickness, give me leave to add, that as few Graduates, at least such as are Masters of Arts, and have behaved themselves ac­cording to the Statutes of the University, do depart thence without a Testimony under the public Seal of that Uni­versity; so he had, together with that, an unusual Ap­probation from that Learned Body.

For, during his stay there, he had early given such undeniable proofs of his being the Master of a prompt and facetious Wit, and that upon several accidental [Page 15] and less remarkable occasions, that he was thereby sufficiently distinguished from the Crowd and the Fame hereof, put him and it to so unusual a trial, that perhaps the History of that fa­mous University cannot furnish us with many Parallels thereto.

The Tripos, who was at the Scholars Act chosen to divert rhe University with his Wit, did it with so much Sarcasm and Abuse, and with such se­vere Reflections upon the Prin­cipal Persons in that Eminent Body, that the Vice-Chancellor not suffering him any longer to continue in his Scurrility, had ordered him to be pull'd Our Mr. Rainbow, thô unpro­vided and without the least fore thought, was called up to succeed him in that slippery place of Honour. Which diffi­cult [Page 16] Province, (and made then more difficult by the public Re­primand of his Predecessor) he managed so dexterously, and made his extemporary Speech with so facetious an Air, and delivered it so smoothly and agreeably, that far from dashing against the Rock of Censure, which the other had split upon, he procured the general satis­faction of his Auditors, and a just Applause to himself.

Nor had he before this de­parture gained himself less E­steem in that College of Mag­dalen, where he had been Edu­cated, than in that more public Stage of the University. For, among others, Dr. Henry Smith, who was then Master of that College, being the Chaplain to the Right Honourable Thomas Earl of Suffolk, sometimes Lord [Page 17] Treasurer of England, and pre­sented by him to that place, and one who was an able Judge of a Scholars worth, having taken notice of Mr. Rainbow's excellent Parts and good deport­ment, was very desirous to have retained him in the College. But there being then no prospect of any Preferment that might in­vite him to stay, the Worthy Doctor consented, thô not without some reluctancy, to Mr. Rainbow's removal to Kirton School aforesaid. Which labo­rious employment, so uneasie to most ingenuous Persons, he dis­charged a little while with more satisfaction to those Men, whose Children were entrusted to his Care, than to himself. For this new Charge being not so agreea­ble to his inclinations, he quitted it e're long and went to London [Page 18] with two or three more of the same standing and College; after he had by the way paid a visit to his Friends in Cambridge, and setled himself at Fullers Rents.

When he went into Sacred Orders, I cannot learn; for he hath in his Diaries very rarely taken any notice of any Prefer­ment bestowed on him, as in­compatible with that low and mean Opinion he entertained of himself; only this I find, that the first time he Preached was in April 1632, at Glentworth; by which may be collected, that he was not admitted into Or­ders till he had commenced Master of Arts.

He stayed a Quarter of a year in Fullers Rents, whence he removed to Sion College, for the benefit of the good Library in that place. And he enjoy'd [Page 19] himself and his Friends freely and without noise; and as he thirsted after more Knowledge, and daily improved it in that Retirement, so he had in the year following some hopes of shew­ing it to the benefit of others (thô he was sufficiently averse to all ostentation) in becoming Chaplain to that Worthy and Learned Society of Lincolns Inn. And there he met with no small encouragment in his Pretensions, having gain'd the approbation of the most Judicious Persons concerned in that Election; but he succeeded not in his design, another man (who had a lowder Voice) being preferr'd before him.

And now, lest his disappoint­ment should tempt him to de­spond, the All-wise God, who knew best what was fit for him, and who never fails those that [Page 20] diligently seek and serve him, as we may charitably conclude our Mr. Rainbow then did, since he hath left so many Testimonies of his private Devotion in his Diaries; He, I say, did not for­sake him in his exigency. For, after this generous dismission, rather than refusal of him at Lincolns Inn, where he had stayed two or three Months, he was in June the same year made Curate at the Savoy, and from thence invited to return to his beloved College of Magdalen, by Doctor Smith, the Master, and some of the Fellows, with the profer of the first Fellowship that fell. Any Preferment in that place was like to be acceptable to Mr. Rainbow; but the thought thereof had an irresistible Charm to bring him thither, when seconded with the kindness of that Soci­ety, [Page 21] which (in contradiction to the old Proverb) forgot him not in his Absence.

The Profer was noble and tempting and met with an agree­able success; for Mr. Rainbow upon this returns to the College; and accordingly on Nov. 13. 1633 he was Pre-elected Fellow pro Domino fundatore, of the Foun­dation, and thereupon in Jan. 28 following he was admitted to the Vacancy of the next Fellowship. But that, it seems (as Expectati­ons often are but airy) did not soon fall, and therefore that he might not have a Title without profit, he was elected and ad­mitted into a Fellowship pro Doctore Goch, in June 24. 1634 which notwithstanding he would not accept of without a Salvo jure & interesse in his former Election, lest it should preju­dice [Page 22] his Right to a Fellowship of the Foundation: To which condition the Master and the Fellows willingly consented. For they who so much desired his company, would not (to enjoy it) scruple at any thing which was not inconsistent with their Oaths and Statutes. Pursuant of which design on Decemb. 19 following, they unanimously decreed, that his first Election and Admission should be sufficient for him to obtain and enjoy what Fellow­ship soever first and next vacant, unless appropriate to some School or Scholarship by its Original Foundation. Which Decree ex­tended to four Fellowships more than his first Admission; a thing so uncommon, that I am assu­red from a very good hand, the like instance cannot easily be met with in that College Books.

We have seen Mr. Rainbow re­setled in that College, let us in the next place see, whether he will answer that expectation and hopes which had been conceived of him.

To understand this the better, we will consider him under a double capacity, as a Preacher, and as a Tutor. As to the for­mer of these, thô I cannot (as I have already mentioned) find the Time when he entred into Holy Orders; yet I am informed, That after his fixing again in the University, he preached two Ser­mons at S. Pauls Cross; the one in Sept. 28. 1634, upon Joh. 6. 27, which he printed at the entreaty of his Friends, and Entituled it, Labour forbidden and commanded; and Dedicated the same to Sir John Wray, Baronet, and his Brother Mr. Edward Wray: And [Page 24] another in 1639. And in the University he became a very celebrated Preacher, as he had formerly been highly respected for some other Exercises per­formed by him there in his younger years: For his Sermons before the University were heard with great applause. His Audi­ence was always crowded and thronged; and to give you one Instance of the great esteem he had publickly gained as an emi­nent Preacher, I need only men­tion, that when he who was appointed to Preach in the Ʋni­versity Church, failed to perform that duty, the Vice Chancellor (that then was) earnestly desired Mr. Rainbow to supply that public Defect; which, thô unwilling to undertake, as having neither any Notes about him, nor time for Premeditation, at last through [Page 25] the solicitation of that Public person he condescended to it. And his ready Parts and great Abili­ties enabled him, by Gods Bles­sing thereon, to perform that difficult Task to satisfaction and even admiration, which his Mo­desty would have disswaded him from attempting.

This was indeed a Public Trial and Attestation of his Worth, and that before so Emi­nent and Learned a Society; and therefore when in the sequel of this performance he found himself but too apt in Cases of this nature to be pleased and elated with the vain Praises (as he styled them) of a frothy Wit, he upon serious consideration with himself, finding such Enco­miums to be but glittering No­things, and no fit Objects for his Contemplation, which should [Page 26] not six upon any thing but more lasting and solid Joys; and begging the Divine Assistance to the compleating of that pious Design, did set himself to bend his studies another way, thô with much more difficulty and toil to himself; since those (by him) unaffected Flowers of Rhetoric which appeared, and those spark­ling Rays of Wit which shon forth in his first Performances at the University (as well as in the late mentioned Sermon, Labour forbidden and commanded,) thô they came to him naturally in a manner, and with much ease, did not in his Judgment (at least) tend to the advancement of God's Glory, which is the prin­cipal end of our Nativity; and which, he wisely and truly judged, ought to be the chief end and design of every Sermon.

He did not think, that a Ser­mon (or rather an Harangue) gar­nished with Tropical and Figura­tive Flowers, and beautified with gay Similies taken from the Historians or Poets, could con­tribute much to the saving of a Soul. 'Twas not a laboured Oratorial Sentence, a round Pe­riod, or a Quaint expression, that could (in his Opinion) much assist to the compleating of that grand Affair, among the Un­learned. He judged a plainness of Matter, a clearness and perspi­cuity of Style, in the expound­ing of the Sacred Oracles of the Old and New Testament, and adapting and applying them home to the Consciences and Spiritual Necessities of the mean­est Persons, and that in an easie and familiar Language, was the grand design of a true Christian [Page 28] Orator, in perswading his Audi­ence to the love and imitation of the Great Captain of our Sal­vation, Jesus Christ; to adore him sincerely here, and to enjoy him eternally hereafter, by our being adopted into that happy number of his Brethren. For the perswading of one poor Soul, whom our Blessed Saviour hath redeemed with his dear Blood, to live as a Christian ought to do, first by working upon the Judgment, and then by engaging the Affections, is of an infinite more value than to ac­quire the empty glory of being accounted a Christian, a Demo­sthenes, or a Cicero; to rival in Eloquence a Lactantius, a Chry­sostom, or a Bernard. And in this method of Preaching did he continue till Death put a Period to his Labours and Toils.

You have seen him in a Public Capacity, as a Preacher; now consider him in his Private one, as a Tutor.

In the Year 1635 he begun to take Pupils, which he instru­cted with so much care, and by his frequent Lectures, both in the Mysteries of Philosophy, and in that, to which the other ought always to be subservient, the Fundamentals and necessary superstructure of Religion, as well as by his constant inspecti­on into their Manners and Be­haviour, fearing, that otherwise, while they perused the large Volumes of the sage and quick-sighted Heathen Philosophers, they should forget that they were Christians; and should not remember God, the First Cause and Author of all, while they wandred in the Maze and Laby­rinth [Page 30] of Second Causes; and lastly, lest while they dwelt upon the study of Ethicks, they should contradict the Divine Pre­cepts of their own Religion, by a deplorable Immorality. So that Dr. Henry Smith, whom I have had occasion to mention twice, as his great Friend, pleas'd with his real Industry, as well as satisfied with his acute Parts, which he had the opportunity of knowing better by the assi­duity of his Company, com­mitted to his Care the two Sons of Theophilus, Earl of Suffolk, who had been recommended to his own, when at the same time another Nobleman, my Lord Daincourt had entrusted Mr. Rain­bow with the like number. Which Trust he did so far answer, that that joyned to the often Visits he made the Earl of Suffolk, in [Page 31] the Company of the Earls Sons from Cambridge, during the time of that Noble Persons long affli­ction upon the racks of the Gout, acquired him not only an high esteem at that time, but made way for his higher advancement in the Church afterwards, through the Favour and Kind­ness (I might have added the true Gratitude) of that Noble Family. For the Earl by this means came to have a true knowledge of Mr. Rainbow's real worth and from thence con­tracted an high value for him, and a Kindness proportionable thereto.

To return again to Cambridge, from whence we have been ab­sent a while at Audley Inn, 'twas after his Settlement in the Col­lege, that the frequency of his Visits to Dr. Smith occasioned [Page 32] an Acquaintance and Kindness betwixt Mr. Rainbow and Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, Daughter, to the said Worthy Doctor, whose Vertues I would have mention'd in this place, if her Modesty (she being yet alive) did not restrain me from doing it, and withal make that Character, I might now give her, look like Flattery in me to her now living; which would be but Justice and a debt to her Vertues, when dead. Therefore, to wave this just Pa­negyric, I must only add, that then began that vertuous Affe­ction betwixt them, which con­tinued for several years before it was compleated by the Con­jugal Tye, by reason of the Iniquity, and the Threatning of those (to give them a soft Epi­thet) Cloudy Times.

In the Year 1639 our Mr. Rainbow was chosen Dean of the College; which Office he dis­charged with great care and prudence; discouraging and pu­nishing the Vicious, and encou­raging the diligent and sober young Students. Upon the 20th day of April he fell into a dan­gerous Swoon, so that that Day wherein he first drew Breath, had like to have proved the day of his death. And hence after his Recovery he had Meditations suitable thereto, to be seen in his Diary.

I have already mentioned, what Favour he had gained of the Earl of Suffolk, one of whose Ancestors had founded that Col­lege: Consequent of the high Opinion that Earl had of Mr. Rainbows Integrity, in making a Settlement of his Estate in the [Page 34] Year 1640, he did him the Honour (among other Trustees) to make him one; as remem­bring not only how careful a Tutor he was over his Sons, but how happy an Instrument he had that year been in reconciling a Difference betwixt himself and his Eldest Son.

This great Trust Mr. Rainbow, because young, undertook with some unwillingness; but he dis­charged it afterwards with all imaginable Fidelity; therein not proposing to himself the least improvement of his own private Fortunes, but the Advantage of that Noble Family. And, while he continued therein after the death of Earl Theophilus, which happened in June in the Year last mentioned, thô his Care for the Estate of his Honourable Charge was great, yet was it no [Page 35] less for the great Concern of their Souls, without which the other had been less valuable; and over whom, agreeable to his Function, he was very watchful and diligent; and God was not wanting to bless his Pious en­deavours therein with a suitable Return. Which Happiness was not confined to those Noble Youths he had under his pecu­liar Tuition, but extended to other young Persons of the No­bility, who frequented that Family. For he observing some Extravagancies in them, too in­cident to men of their Figure, and who meet with many Temp­tations, and especially with one, that of Flattery, the bane of Youth, wrought so upon their Spirits by his cogent Reasons, and insinuating Rhetoric, that they gratefully accepted of some [Page 36] Prayers composed by Mr. Rain­bow, which were suited to their particular condition, as was ap­parent by some Papers seen after his death. And those Noble Per­sons had ever afterwards a just veneration and a true kindness for him. Hence became he so much the Favourite of the Fa­milies of Suffolk, Northumber­land, Warwick, and Orrery. And since I have mentioned the last, I cannot forbear to add, that he who first bore that Title, hath in his Divine Poems, which he wrote in his declining years, bating the difference of the Lan­guages, outstript those of Pru­dentius (who also composed his in his old Age) in the richness of Fancy, and in delicacy of Expression. And as he had in other Topics (composed for his diversion) shewn, that he wanted [Page 37] not a chast and elegant Style, even when he treated on less severe and serious Subjects; so hath he in those his Poems on the Festivals acquired a Repu­tation, which will never be de­ny'd his Merit till Wit and Judg­ment be exil'd the World, no more than Posterity can without the higest Injustice refuse the Title of a most acurate Experi­mental Philosopher to his yet surviving Brother, and our Bi­shops Friend, the Honourable Mr. Robert Boyle; a Gentleman, who is no less happy in, and respected for a sweetness of Temper, than for his Ingenuity. And the present Age seems so much in love with his Philoso­phical Experiments, and Dis­courses upon them, by which he hath signalized himself to the greatest part of Europe, that [Page 38] even a Critic of another Nation, not very ready to bestow Com­plements upon others; but when even compelled thereto by Truth, cannot deny, but that his Experiments and Reflexions have always an Air of Solidity. To which may be justly added, that as he hath enriched Natural Phi­losophy with his choice Obser­vations; so hath he, in contra­diction to the trite Objection of such Students, being near Neigh­bours to Atheists, made that dear Mistress an Handmaid to Religion. But I now forget, that I trespass against the Read­ers Patience by this long digres­sion, as well as hereby offend this Religious Gentlemans Mo­desty; for which, after I have craved pardon of both, I shall return to Mr. Rainbow; whom we shall (according to the Series [Page 39] of his History) find ready to attend the young Earl of Suffolk, James, to the Long Parliament in October 1640. A Parliament, a small part of which afterwards, under the specious pretence of a thorough Reformation, brought one of the best of our Kings, Charles the Martyr, to the Block, and laid waste that Church of England, which hath been long the Glory and Bulwark (under God) of the Reformed Religion, and the Envy of the Romish.

In 1642 Mr. Rainbow had the Honour to Marry the Right Ho­nourable Algernoon Earl of Nor­thumberland, to the Lady Eliza­beth Howard.

His great Friend, Dr. Henry Smith dying, and the Master­ship of Magdalen College be­come thereby vacant, in October 1642, Mr. Rainbow having for­merly [Page 40] had a Promise and Grant of that Place upon the first vacancy from the Right Honou­rable Theophilus Earl of Suffolk, was now admitted into it with the concurrence of his Son, Earl James. And now seeing himself set upon an higher ground, and consequently his Actions there­by exposed more to the Public view and censure, his next and chief Care was to discharge his new Trust conscientiously; and therefore having, while he was a Fellow of that same College, taken notice, that some very hopeful young Men had, upon their being too early Advanc'd, fallen from their former studi­ous and vertuous course of living into Debauchery; He, upon his accession to the Mastership, re­solved not to admit any man to a Fellowship, who had not first [Page 41] commenced Mr. of Arts; that their longer stay before their Preferment might give the Col­lege a clearer demonstration of their Worth, and they thereby might become (as it were) Pro­bationers for three Years.

He took the Degree of Dr. of Divinity in the Year 1646, when his chief Question (on which he made his Thesis) was, That Ecclesia Anglicana tenet omnia ad salutem necessaria. A Point which he durst defend in the worst of Times, when that Church was so much oppress'd, for asserting her Loyalty to God and the King; for her agreement with the Primitive Church in not rebelling against a lawful Magistrate, and in owning the Jus Divinum of the Episcopal Hierarchy and Liturgy.

But that Black Storm, which [Page 42] (occasioned by the Sins of this Nation, then surfeiting of Ease and Plenty) was permitted a while to hover over our Heads in Black Clouds, broke out at last in dreadful Thunders upon our Trembling Israel, and tore down all that oppos'd its way. In this common Calamity Dr. Rainbow had his share both by sympathizing with the Losses of others, and by his particular Sufferings.

The Royal Martyrs death was that, which in a terrible manner opened the Eyes of all those who before would not, or could not see, that under the Masque of Piety, Rebellion Lorded it over Loyalty; when one of the most horrid Villanies, that the Sun ever saw in this Nation, was perpetrated in open Day! A Pious King, and one who held his [Page 43] Crown of none, but his Great Creator, first haled to a Tribunal, (an Act not to be paralleld in all preceding Ages) who when he had justly deny'd that Usurped Power before whom he was Con­ven'd; after he had suffered all the Indignities that the deluded Rabble, and the ruder Souldiery could throw upon him, was Be­headed upon a Scaffold pur­posely erected before his own Palace. An Act so heinous, that it could not be equalled by any thing, but by the Malice of His Majesties Enemies, from whom it had its Original.

In the fall of this tall Cedar, the other Trees of our Forest were rudely shaken, and thô they were not all hewn down by the fatal Ax, yet were they sore cut; their Boughs and Bran­ches at least lopt off, unless that [Page 44] some of the Shrubs escaped, be­cause their Lowness excused them from the Levelling Stroke.

Thus several Persons truly Noble, both for Descent and proper Merit, attended their most Gracious Sovereign in his Suffer­ings, even to his Fall and their Death; whose greatest Crime was that, for which disinterested Posterity will have them in the highest admiration, their Loyal­ty. Because they could not con­sent to Usurpations in the Civil Government, and to Innovations in the Ecclesiastical, they must be Martyrs; or taught to obey in that new way of Gospelling by Pike, Gun, and Dragoons.

This, among many other Con­fessors, was the Fate of our Dr. Rainbow, who, for refusing a Pro­testation against the King in 1650, lost his Mastership of [Page 45] Magdalen, which he had hi­therto kept by the powerful [...]ntercession of his Noble Friends; and which he was very willing to sacrifice, rather than to make a Sacrifice of his Conscience to those Anakims, which had no­thing to Entitle them to the Government, but Violence and Rapin.

He had been a Mourner be­fore this, in the general loss of the Nation, in the horrid Mur­ther of their Gracious Sovereign, and was a particular one in the Interment of that truly Religious Lady, the Lady Susanna, Countess of Suffolk; the History of whose Vertues is far from being Apo­cryphal. Nor did she want a faith­ful Historian in Doctor Edward Rainbow, who in May 13. 1649. made her Funeral Sermon in a pathetical and moving Air; [Page 46] but did it as far from Flattery, as she was above it; since he spoke nothing but what he be­liev'd, and was not her Orator to present her Vertues in a gaudy Dress, but her faithful Historian, to deliver what he knew upon good grounds to be true.

Dr. Rainbow being exiled from Magdalen College, by the Order of the Rump Parliament, which College now became a Mourner for losing her Orthodox Gover­nour, was Presented by the Earl of Suffolk to a small Living a [...] little Chesterford, near Audley Inn in Essex, in 1652, which he ac­cepted, when he saw no proba­bility of that dark Cloud's dis­persing, which still hung ove [...] this then distemper'd Nation.

But he, who had lost the Mastership of a College for his Loyalty, was resolved not to [Page 47] stain his Conscience by a base submission to those Usurpers, in the acceptance of that place; and therefore held it only by my Lord of Suffolk's Presenta­tion, without being setled therein according to the prevalency of those Licentious Times by their Tryers. In which privacy, since we have found him setled, we will see how he manages in that Critical Juncture; after I have subjoyned, That it was in this Year of 1652 that he married Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, his Prede­cessors Daughter; who (without Flattery I speak it) were so happy in each other, that those who had the longest Acquaint­ance with them, never heard an harsh Word fall from them against each other: A Felicity rarely to be found! and which ought to be mentioned to their [Page 48] Honour; and which doubtless was a true sign, that they were both unfeigned Votaries to Vertue.

In this his Recess, a place much more agreeable to his Inclination than Merit, did Dr. Rainbow continue for some years. And, thô he was so far retired from the Noise and Bustles of those Tumultuous Times; yet he knew he could not retire out of the piercing Eye of the Al­mighty, with whom he had to do. He knew, it was as much incumbent upon him to do his duty there, as in a more conspi­cuous station; and therefore, thô he could not openly use the English Liturgy, yet he used some of those excellent Prayers of which it is compos'd; and that not only in his private Family, but also composed such Prayers as he [Page 49] used in the Church out of those in the Liturgy; and so gradually brought the Ignorant People to affect the Common Prayers, a little transformed and altered; who disliked the Common Prayer Book it self, they knew not why.

Nor was he satisfied with his own Practice alone in this Case; when therefore he lodged one Night at a Clergyman's House, an old Acquaintance of his, who then used other Prayers in his Family, he out of civility to him commended his Friends form of Prayer; but advised him for the future to use the Prayers of the Church, for there were none other like them.

Nor did this Pious Doctor look upon his constant Preach­ing to be a sufficient discharge of his duty, and that which would serve to clear him when [Page 50] he was to give an account of his Stewardship to his great Master. He believd, That many of his Hearers came to Church purely out of Custom and Form, and consequently that their At­tention was not very profitable and advantagious to their Souls, in minding what was delivered to them from the Pulpit, and therefore often went to their Houses to Catechise and instruct them, and to those who were indigent he often gave Mony to oblige them to attend to his Instructions; thereby making their Temporal. Necessities to contribute to the supplying their Spiritual Wants. A double Cha­rity! for which, I doubt not, he hath long since met with a double reward from the Liberal Dispenser of all good things.

In this place did our Dr. Rain­bow reside, pleased with his pre­sent condition, and his Parishio­ners no less pleased with him, till April 1659, when the Rectory of Benefield in Northamptonshire, valued at 200 l. or 300 l. per An­num, and of the Gift of the Earl of Warwick, fell Vacant, and was profered him by the said Noble Earl; which he utterly refused, because the Tryers, with whom he was resolved to have nothing to do, were then in power; till there was sent him a Presenta­tion from the Earl of Warwick, with an Assurance, That he might be possest of Benefield without going to the Tryers. Which last Favour had been procured him by the Earl of Orrery, then only Lord Broghil, and both out of the respect which those Honou­rable Personages had to his [Page 52] Worth and sweet Temper.

Having (thô very unwilling to leave his Retirement at Chester­ford) accepted of the Presenta­tion to Benefield, upon the above-mentioned Conditions; wherein by the by the Reader may see, how careful he was not to make Shipwreck of a good Conscience for any Temporal Benefit or Ad­vancement, he managed things there as he had done at Little Che­sterford, composing all his Pray­ers for the Church out of the Liturgy; which being repeated by him at the Offices of Chri­stening, Burial, &c. by Heart, which the Ignorant People not understanding, liked well. And there he lived with great content, and in quietness; being kindly treated by that People, who roughly treated others of the same Function.

Before, in the course of our History, I come to that Great and happy year of 1660, when our late Sovereign, CHARLES the Merciful, was restored with the joyful Acclamations of all his Loving Subjects to his Crown and Dignity, and his Loyal Sub­jects to their Privileges, Laws and Religion, I am to inform the Reader, That Dr. Rainbow had the satisfaction to hear, as the Nation had to know, that Oliver Cromwell put a Period to the sitting of that Long Parlia­ment, which had ruined three Kingdoms, and unhinged the whole Royal Family, by pre­tending to Reform the first. And this was done after they had sat about Twelve years, in 1653, on that very day in which Dr. Rainbow was born. A Trans­action, at which he not only [Page 54] publickly rejoyced, because it happened on the Day of his Nativity; but he also noted it in his Diary, with a Prayer, That God would turn it to the good of the Church and Nation.

But to proceed: In the Year 1660, when the Finger of God signally appeared in bringing, in this our Nation, a King to the Throne of his Royal Progeni­tors, after Twelve years Exile, and without a Stroke struck, notwithstanding that there was a Veteran Army, flushed in Blood and Victory, and trained up in an aversion to Monarchy then in being, the Church was also restored with the King. And then all those Worthy Persons, who in the preceding Times of Rebellion and Confusion had been Sufferers by loss of Goods or Places, or by Imprisonment, [Page 55] or by Banishment, were either restored to the places which they had formerly possessed, or were preferred to higher Honours. Among others, Dr. Rainbow was restored to his Mastership of Magdalen College, and by the favour and solicitation of his Noble Friends was made Chap­lain to his late Majesty, King CHARLES the Second; and in the Year following was made Dean of Peterborough, where he had formerly been a Scholar.

Thither he removed in Au­gust 1661, with a design to reside there; but his stay there was not long, Preferments coming now thick upon him. For he was the next Year called to Cam­bridge, being elected Vice Chan­cellor of that famous University in Nov. 1662. Which early Election of him to that great Trust, was [Page 56] not only a public Testimony of the Universities great esteem for him, but of his Loyalty too

In the discharge of the Vice-Chancellors Office he acquitted himself with sufficient Reputa­tion, and in the management thereof forgot not the Care and Interest of that College, whereof he was the Head. For whereas the Office of a Proctor came not to that College in 44 Years, he got it to be publickly ordered and confirmed by His late Ma­jesty, that that Office should return to Magdalen College every Ninth Year; and by a Politic fixing the Epocha of this new Circle, got a Course to his own College sooner than it could expect. And not only so, but because some who were put up to Preach in the University Church, got for a small sum of [Page 57] Mony others to do it for them, who performed it so meanly, that it turn'd often to the disho­nour thereof; to prevent which, he procured a Mulct of 40 s. to be imposed on every such Offender, and to give a good Example therein to the Masters of Art, the Heads of the Col­leges (by his instigation) yielded to Preach there in their Turns.

And now being fix'd again in his former station, with the additional Revenue of the Dean­ry of Peterborough, he had more than satisfi'd his Ambition, which never aim'd higher than such a station, as wherein he might live decently, and might be capacitated to be serviceable to his Country. But, beyond his Wishes, no less than above his Expectation, was he Elected Bishop of Carlisle in 1664, upon [Page 58] the Translation of the Right Reverend Dr. Richard Stern to the Archiepiscopal See of York.

This new Advancement was directly contrary to his mind, as he declared it to those Ho­nourable Friends of his, who had therein solicited for him. His truly Primitive temper put him upon the declining of that high and honourable Employment in the Church; the great Care of so many Souls, as would thereby be devolved upon him, affrighted and deterr'd him a while from embracing that Honour, which so many court in vain, who so little know how to discharge it. He look'd upon himself, as did the Ancient Fathers, to be unfit for that High Calling; which was, thô in his Judgment, highly honourable, yet withal a bur­then too heavy for his weak [Page 59] Shoulders to bear and sustain. He was desirous, as our Most Reverend and Learned Primate, Archbishop Parker, was in the last Age, to be serviceable to the Church, thô moving in a lower Sphere, and only that he might enjoy those Promotions and Dignities he had then arrived to, without ascending higher.

Thus meanly did he think of himself (what others often con­tradicted him in) as not suffici­ently qualified for that high Dig­nity, and had still refused it, if the Importunity of his Friends had not at last prevailed with him to decline it no longer. And there was one thing which con­tributed not a little to his ac­cepting of it; the great respect which he had for two ancient and very deserving Friends, which upon his removal to Car­lisle [Page 60] were to succeed him in his present Promotions; the one in his Deanry, and the other in his Mastership.

Overcome at last with the Desires and Arguments of his Friends, he accepted of that Honourable Dignity, that was procured him by his Noble Pa­trons Mediation; and accord­ingly was Consecrated in July 1664, at London, by the Most Reverend Father in God, Dr. Gilbert Sheldon, then Lord Arch­bishop of Canterbury, and came to settle at Rose Castle in Cumber­land, the Palace for the Bishops of that See, on Sept. 3. following.

I ought to mention, That his generosity in this Case was so great, that thô (perhaps) he was at that time in such Circum­stances, as to need some assistance to defray the necessary Charges [Page 61] of his Consecration, First-Fruits, and his Journy to, and Settle­ment in his Diocess; yet did not he so much as desire to hold the Mastership of Magdalen Col­lege in Commendam for a while with his Bishoprick; but pre­sently and freely resigned both that Place and his Deanry of Peterborough to his Successors in them both; althô such Favours as the retaining one of them for some time, had not unusu­ally been granted to others upon the like Promotion.

We have now seen him ascend by Steps into the Episcopal Throne; a Dignity which the Primitive Church of Christ had so great a Veneration for, and which in Times of hot Perse­cution had been so often sprink­led with the Blood of those who sat thereon; they exchanging [Page 62] that ticklish Honour for an Im­mortal Crown of Glory, by that of Martyrdom, we will now take a stand, and view how he discharges that Sacred Office.

He found his Palace at Rose-Castle much ruinated; a great part of it being burnt down by the Rebels in the late times of Rebellion, and but little Repaired by his immediate Predecessor; thô he had receiv'd great Advan­tages by entring upon that Bisho­prick after so long a Vacancy, and the Expiration of the Te­nants Leases, which engaged him in a Suit about Dilapidations with his Predecessor, then his Metropolitan. In which Trouble he was unwillingly embark'd, as that which was both repugnant to his Meek Nature, and was (in his Thoughts) unbecoming Per­sons of that Sacred Character.

After the conclusion of that long Suit, he was at great Ex­pence in Building at Rose-Castle, for he built the Chapel anew, and made several other Additi­ons and Conveniences there.

But thô these Edifices were Costly as well as Troublesom; yet there was another sort of Building which he was more intent upon, the Building of God's Church in the Spiritual sense; and that, either by him­self or his Assistants, his Bre­thren, the Clergy, in the dili­gent Preaching of Gods Word; in the due Administration of the Holy Sacraments; in Catechising of Youth, (which word is ren­dred by some Grammarians, To build up in the Holy Faith;) in advising them to walk in the Paths of Vertue and Holiness, and in admonishing and reclaim­ing [Page 64] the more Loose from their Immoralities.

As this was his great Pro­vince; so was it his desire and endeavour to see, that the Clergy subordinate to him should do their Duties. In the manage­ment of which, when some who had been sufficiently Criminal and Neglectful in the discharge of their Function, were justly reproved by him for so doing; thô that was done too at the first with Meekness enough, yet he met with a very rude Treat­ment from them, and much un­becoming their station; neverthe­less both that and the Ill Returns made him from persons whom he had highly obliged, was far from making him Vindictive, if his public Character and the interest of the Church were not interwoven with his own Con­cern. [Page 65] For then he would take care to rescue both from Con­tempt, lest the Common Cause might suffer by his own supine Negligence. I shall not here revive the remembrance of those Affronts to that Sacred Order by particularizing those which were offered to him, and there­fore will forbear to mention the offending Persons Names, wish­ing that the Faults of some of them may be buried in the same Graves with their Authors; and only add, That generally the Troubles which befel him after his advancement to the Episco­pal Authority, were occasioned by his Conscientious discharge of that Sacred Office; which doth not seldom make the best of Men fall under the weight of popular Odium. For, althô I am far from pretending to [Page 66] exempt him in his Management of that Dignity from Mistakes and Errors, and 'tis certain his own Humility taught him ano­ther Lesson, than to aspire to the swelling Title of Infallible; yet generally his Failings were such as might admit of an easie Apo­logy, without the assistance of Political Refinings, to which he was very much a Stranger.

But to return from whence I have digressed: As he inspected the Lives and Manners of his Clergy, and their performance of their Pastoral Charge; so was not he wanting to set them a good Pattern himself, being assured, that nothing won more upon the Minds and Consci­ences of Men than a good Ex­ample, especially in those who attend at Gods Altar, and dis­pense his Holy Word, and un­fold [Page 67] the Sacred Mysteries of our holy Religion. He therefore resoved to set them a Copy as legible as his human Frailties would permit it to be written, that they fairly imitating it, the Laity might be invited to tran­scribe it from them.

Pursuant of his Pious design, he Preached not only in his Courses at the Cathedral, but often there also upon occasional days; as also frequently at his own Chappel at Ross, at Dalston Church, and the adjacent Chap­pels, till hindred from this per­formance by the Gout; the Racks of which were not pro­bably more troublesom than their Consequence; his being thereby forc'd to omit his Public Duty. And Catechising he so much kept up, that to oblige some indigent Persons to [Page 68] attend it, to their own Spiritual advantage, and the building themselves in the most Holy Faith, he gave them Mony. Neither was his Hospitality, offending against the Canons of the Church; but like that of a Bishop. His Entertainment was free; his Table was well fur­nished with Varieties; his Con­versation pleasant and yet grave, divertive and yet instructing; often feeding the Minds, as well as the Bodies of his Guests.

We have observed his way of Procedure as to what re­lated to the Church; now the ordering of his Family chal­lenges our next Consideration.

The Government of his pri­vate Family was modelled in imitation of that of the Church; that is, Regular. Four times a day was God publickly call'd [Page 69] upon by Prayers in that Family; twice in the Chappel, which part his Lordships Chaplains perform'd; and twice in the Dining-Room; the later of these at Six in the Morning and Nine at Night, was the usual Task of our Right Reverend and Worthy Prelate himself, if not disabled by Sickness. As if he who was the Master of the Family, would open it every Morning, and lock it up every Night, by the Key of Prayer.

All known Profaness and Swearing were banished thence: For this made as much discord in that Family, as an ill Musi­cian did in Plato's Schools. Offenders in Debauchery were at first reproved and admonish­ed; and if they relapsed into the same Fault, they were often dismiss'd the House; unless [Page 70] there appeared visible signs of Repentance, and those ushered in with fervent Promises, to make those good by their ut­most endeavours.

While the Suit was continued betwixt the then Archbishop of Tork and our Worthy Prelate, viz. in the Year 1668, he was once offered to be removed from the See of Carlisle to that of Lincoln, by the most Reve­rend Father in God Gilbert Shel­don, Lord Archbishop of Can­terbury. A Prelate, who, besides the Monuments he erected to his Name by his truly primi­tive Vertues, hath left one at Oxford, that famous Theatre built at his own charge, and dedicated to the uses of the Public, the service of the Church, and the Muses. A Structure, which (if the World last so [Page 71] long) may continue the Name of that Pious Archbishop longer than the Aegyptian Pyramids, have continued the memory of their ambitious and vainglorious Founders.

Dr. Rainbow listned with some pleasure to that Motion of the good Archbishop, as being desi­rous to be freed from the Inquie­tudes which his legal Dispute with his Metropolitan in the above-mentioned Case of Dila­pidations did create him. But herein he met with too potent an Adversary to be successful; a great Lady, with whom he had formerly had some acquain­tance, and a just respect: But, when she had forfeited his Esteem, and that of all good Men, by the prostitution of her Honour, our good Bishop did not then think himself obliged, [Page 72] notwithstanding her greater Quality, to pay her those Re­gards he had formerly done. And when she, after that, offered him Civilities, he was so far from laying hold on such oppor­tunities to advance his Fortunes by her mediation, that he de­clined her very Company; con­temning the most innocent Fa­vours of such a Person, who had forgotten her Noble practices in the addition of new Titles, and those purchased at a dear rate with the loss of her Fame.

This slight from our pious Prelate, the Lady so highly re­sented, that partly out of par­ticular Pique, and partly out of a design to prefer an Uncle of hers to the Bishoprick of Lin­coln, thò far unfit to be placed in so much Light, she hindered the Translation of Dr. Rainbow [Page 73] thither. Albeit the pious Arch­bishop so far prevailed over that Ladies Interest as to get an Irish Bishop, designed before for Carlisle, and with the thoughts whereof he had been well enough contented, to be placed in the stead of that Ladies Uncle, who was thereby gently laid aside.

Our Prelate was not much displeas'd at this turn of Assairs, thò he had wished the contrary for the above-mentioned Rea­son; to which another might be added, That the Bishop of Lincoln's Palace at Bugden was so situated as to be near Cam­bridge, and not far distant from London; in which respect he could not have wished to have been better fixed than there, for the enjoyment of his Relations and intimate Acquaintance; yet [Page 74] when he first considered in his cooler, by whose interest he was frustrated of his expectations; and that the Bishoprick of Lin­coln, besides its vast extent, which still increased the Cure of Souls, and consequently made that greater burthen ballance the greater Revenue, it had (as he thought) a greater inconve­nience, that that Revenue, supe­rior to the other of Carlisle, (which notwithstanding was far from tempting our Prelate to a removal to Lincoln) consisted much in Pensions from the Clergy; so that he used to say, That that Bishop was maintained out of the poor Clergy mans Mouths.

Dr. Edward Rainbow had con­tinued nigh Twenty years in the exercise of his Episcopal Function, thô often indisposed, [Page 75] and especially in his later years, with the Stone and the Gout; two Diseases of so acute a pain, that they would not only pose the patience, or rather pretended apathy of the proudest Stoical Philosopher, but put even a Christian one to fly from Second Causes to the First of all, for his support under that torment, more cruel than the dispatching and devouring Flames; He had been Bishop, I say so long, when in March 1683. his Pains occasioned (as was supposed) by the Gout in the Stomach, in­creased; and the more they augmented, the more did our Pious Bishop apply himself to the Physician of Souls, as looking upon the Bodily health to be in a declining condition; albeit, to preserve it, he neg­lected not to consult Physicians [Page 76] for the Body too, but in vain.

When he was therefore ascer­tained, that Death was approach­ing him, with how much chear­fulness, and with what a true Christian Magnanimity did he look the King of Terrors in the Face! He prepared to receive him, not as an Enemy, but as a welcom Friend, who was to con­duct him out of this Vale of Tears, into the Mansions of Eternal Joy, far above all the Regions of Instability. He saw his Course was almost finished, and he longed to be at the Goal.

During this his last Sickness, not one idle or impertinent word fell from him. He had in his Life-time, before this last Arrest of his Body by Distem­pers, learned a perfect resigna­tion of himself to the Divine [Page 77] Will and Pleasure of Almighty God, and therefore received the approaches of Death with that humble submission to the Divine Will, and with that calmness and serenity of mind, which are not often found but in Per­sons of a Primitive Piety.

He had indeed begged of God, that he might over-live Lady-day, because it would much con­duce to the Prosit of his then Consort, and since Mournful Widow. And this seems to have been granted to him, since he survived the Return of that time no more than one day. Another Petition he also made, That his Reason and Senses might conti­nue to the last moment of his Life; which was also granted; evidencing thereby, That he was no mean Favourite in the High Court of Heaven: For he lived [Page 78] till Wednesday, March 26. 1684. in the Evening; and yet did he not mispend his precious Hours. His care for Secular concerns, which was never so great as to merit the Title of Fondness, was now taken off by a more pres­sing and laudable one; and that which was to be entertained in the preparation for, and con­templation of a Future and Eternal state. Hence the last Moments wherein he enjoy­ed the use of his Tongue were spent in a most Pious man­ner: Prudent Counsel to those that were about him; Holy Meditations upon his own Con­dition at that time; fervent Prayers and Supplications to the King of Mercy, were the happy employments of his Heavenly Soul; and all these performed with so much zeal and fervour, [Page 79] that it seem'd already to be upon the Wing towards Heaven.

Towards Even, on Wednes­day above-mentioned, being got into Bed, and finding himself very weak, he called for Prayers; which being concluded, and ob­serving his Speech to fail, he spake these Words to the Com­pany which were then with him: It hath pleased God to take away my Speech, and I am heavy and dull; I desire you all to Pray for me, That God would assist me with his Grace.

After this he lay quietly, and slumbred sometimes, till Eleven a Clock at Night, when a starting Fit (which formerly in his Sickness had troubled him at times) seiz'd him sharply for some time; then he lay quietly a while, thô sensible (as might be perceived) to the last, and so [Page 80] breathed out his last Breath; yielding up his Spirit to God, the Auth [...] of it, and leaving all the Spectators of this his happy End, dissolv'd in Tears at this long Separation, in going to inherit, I hope, a Crown of Glory, which God hath prepa­red for all them which unfeign­edly love and sincerely serve him.

Thus dy'd that Right Reverend and Pious Prelate, Dr. Edward Rainbow, late Bishop of Carlisle, about Eleven of the Clock at Night, on Wednesday March 26. 1684. at the Age of near Seventy six years, and was Interred on Tuesday following in Dalston Church yard, April 1. 1684. as he had desired upon his Death-bed. His Herse was attended with a great multitude of the Gentry, the Clergy, and other [Page 81] Neighbours; Mr. Thomas Tullie, his Lordships Chaplain and Chancellor of the Diocess of Carlisle, Preaching his Funeral Sermon.

As he had requested, That no Pomp nor State should be used at his Funeral, no more than any Elogium should be made of him (such was his rare Modesty and Humility:) So did he desire to be buried in Dalston Church-yard, and to have a plain Stone laid over his Grave with no other Inscription, but that such a Day and Year died Edward, Bishop of Carlisle.

Which accordingly was per­formed. These his two last Requests are a declaration to the World in his last Moments, how little he valued the Page­antry of Funeral Pomp, and all Monuments, which were not [Page 82] built upon the sure and firm Basis of Piety.

We have now seen him laid in the Chambers of the Dust, let us draw the Curtains about him, leaving his Body to repose till the last Trumpet shall awake him to the general Resurrection of the Just.

He left no Works in Print, but three occasional Sermons; the two former of which are scarce to be got.

The first of these Sermons, and which hath been already twice mentioned, was Preached at S. Paul's Cross, on Sept. 28. 1634, Entituled, Labour forbid­den and commanded; and which to all Persons that peruse it without prejudice will suffici­ently evince, That the late Dr. Rainbow could cloath his Thoughts in all the gaiety of [Page 83] expression suitable to a great Audience, when he judged it convenient.

The second was at the Fune­ral of Susanna, Countess of Suf­folk, Preached May 13. 1649. on Eccles. 7. 1. which was printed together with some Elogies in praise of that Vertuous young Lady; which were composed by his two intimate and no less Learned Friends, Dr. S. Collins, Regius Professor of Divinity in Cambridge, and Dr. James Duport, Greek Professor there, and his Successor, in the Mastership of Magdalen and Deanry of Peter­borough.

The third was Preached at the Interment of Anne Countess of Pembroke, Dorset and Mont­gomery, at Appleby in Westmor­land, April 14. 1676. with some Remarks on the Life of that [Page 84] Eminenr Lady, on Prov. 14. 1.

In his Youth he had a rich Vein in Poesy, in which ap­peared somewhat of Ovid's Air and Fancy, tempered with the Judgment of Virgil; but none of his Poetical Exercises and Diversions have been published, but a Paper of Verses upon the Frontispiece of Mr. Henry Isaac­son's Chronology; which acu­rate Chronologer was our Bi­shops particular Friend, and had formerly been Amanuensis to that living Library, while he was alive, the Reverend and Learned Bishop Andrews; and another Paper on Mr. Shelton's Art of Short-Writing.

Of the Honour of the former of these Poems, printed without the addition of any Name in 1633, he was robbed by the Publisher of Mr. Richard Cra­shaw's [Page 85] Poems, Entituled, Steps to the Temple, and ascribed by him to that Ingenious Epi­grammatist. But he having no Title to it, but what the modest silence of Mr. Rainbow gave him, I have recovered it to the true Owner by a Melius inquiren­dum, and subjoyned it here.

But that which would have been most useful to the Church of God, if it had pleased the Almighty to have granted him Life to finish it, was a Treatise call'd by him, Verba Christi, or, The Words of Christ. His design in it was this;

He considered, how great an Eye-sore it was to all good Men, to see Christians persecute each other, and as violently as those of the same Religion had been Persecuted in former Ages by the grossest Hereticks, by [Page 92] Jews or Heathen Infidels. His desire therefore was to make enquiry (I now use his own Ex­pressions) into the Causes and Reasons why Christians should be so animated against one ano­ther, and having fix'd it in his Mind and Judgment, that all reasons of this, and indeed of the decay of Christianity in general, were to be resolved into this one; namely, the not duly attending unto the Words of our Saviour; not only his Precepts and Doctrins, but all his Sayings.

He therefore thought it not an unprofitable Task, to bring into one Body and Complex all the Words and Sayings of our Saviour, which lye dispersed in the four Evangelists; making them appear in a distinct and larger Character from the Words [Page 93] with which they have a neces­sary connexion and dependance. In the Words (saith he) uttered by our Saviours own Mouth, or by direct consequences from them, we may find a Body of Divinity, a Complex of all necessary Theo­logical Truths, fundamental to the Faith. Here (added he) may be found ground for decision of Controversies, so as to keep us from Erring damnably, or Sinning mortally; for resolving all Casu­istical Points of moment to Sal­vation. Here we might learn to direct and moderate our Passions, to attain and exercise all Ver­tues, and shun all Vices. Here (saith our Prelate) patience to bear, and strength to conquer all Afflictions. From our Saviours Lips have flowed words of sweet­est Consolation to erect the Soul, when oppressed under heaviest burthens.

So far as to the Reason and Foundation of his Work, now hear him as to the manner and platform of it. And that was this; he would endeavour to shew from the time in which, and the occasion upon which, each saying was uttered by Our Saviour, the scope and drift of his Words, and what applica­tion may be made of them for our instruction; either to guide us in our Faith, or to direct us in our life, in several Cases and Occurrences.

This was the design, and this the method of the pious Au­thor in that imperfect Treatise of his, Verba Christi. A work truly worthy of its Author, and agreeable to the pacific temper of him in particular, and to the design of Christianity in general. But his being snatch'd [Page 95] away by the rude hand of Death, in the very beginning of that undertaking, as the Learned and Pious Archbishop Ʋsher was in the prosecution of his Sacred Chronology, hath left it an Abortive. A loss which as it cannot now be retrieved, is not enough to be lamented; since it might have contributed in part to allay the flames, and cool the heats among Chri­stians; which administer so much occasion thereby of Scan­dal to the common Enemies of our Faith, Jews, Mahometans and Heathens.

And thô his Name should not live in these his scattered Works, some of which notwithstanding may escape the Teeth of Time, if not those of Calumny; yet will he live, at least, in the remembrance of all vertuous [Page 96] and honest Men, who knew his real Merit and Worth. The Hopes which I have conceived of the duration of his unspotted Fame, obliges me to hasten to a Conclusion, after I have endea­voured to draw his Picture in Miniature, in Little; thô therein I stand in need of the Pencil of an Ʋrbin, or an Angelo.

His Learning (to begin with that which is not the least Cha­racteristic of a good Divine) was sufficiently attested in those public Exercises performed by him with so much Applause, and attended with so much Pomp (as hath been already mentioned) before that famous University, and which certainly wanted not many Men as fit to judge of worth, as there are others to censure it without any Title to that unmannerly [Page 97] Freedom, but Confidence and Ignorance.

How his Preaching was re­ceiv'd and valued in the Uni­versity, hath been already shewn; and with so clear a demonstration, that Venerable Antiquity cannot furnish us with many parallel Instances. 'Tis true, in his Elder years he had declined to use that florid way of Preaching, for which he had been so much celebrated in his Younger times; and thô after that he affected no pom­pous Expressions, no gawdy Oratory; yet were his Reasons masculine, his Arguments co­gent, and his Phrase plain and clear; and have offence to none but some superficial Wit­lings: Persons who applaud nothing but their own Tinsel­ware, and consequently judged [Page 98] his studied Plainness to be in­compatible with the design of a Pulpit-harangue.

His Humility set off all his other Vertues, like a Diamond in a Ring; and was so conspi­cuous, that, thô it gave a greater lustre thereto among good and sober Men; yet did his humble condescension to the meanest of Men, and especially to any of those who had a Ray of the Immortal Wisdom dart­ing upon their Souls, seem to lessen him among the unthink­ing Rabble, who being strangers to his real Worth, resolved to diminish it.

And thô he was remarkable for this last Vertue, and which may be said (at least) to be the Nurse of the rest; yet as he in all Businesses of moment pon­dered long with himself all the [Page 99] Causes and Circumstances there­of, and resolved them into Cases of Conscience, when he had once thus satisfied his Consci­ence, and consulted therein his Judgment, 'twas not the insinu­ations of the promising Flat­terer that could perswade, nor the frowns of the Great that could byass or withdraw him from his Post, and from the lines of Just and Right; althô in more minute Matters he might in some Cases be imposed upon, by his Credulity to those who therein pretended to advise him. And, to finish that part of his Portraiture, in the ma­nagement of Public Concerns he shew'd himself to be both Prudent and Couragious. In all Affronts or Reproaches cast up­on him, as a Private Man, his Reason and sweet Temper so [Page 100] far subdu'd his passionate Re­sentments, as not to study any Revenge against the Offender. He would have look'd upon himself as a notorious Violater of the Divine Precepts, if he did not forgive Injuries, and write them in the Dust. The tart Reflections which ensued such a Crime, as the meditating a Revenge, were made upon himself; and he inferr'd, That God was displeased with his ways, since those became his Enemies whom he had obliged to a more Friendly procedure, by his having formerly loaden them with Kindnesses. For he used to say; It was just with God to suffer him to be so ill used by Men, who had been far more ingrateful to God. And, if herein some sallies of Passion shewed, that he was a Man; [Page 101] his quick correction of them shewed, that he was a Christian. How patiently, and how calmly did he often resent such Indigni­ties to his private Person! of which all the above-mentioned Discourse is intended.

His Piety might be read in visible Characters, in his public Actions, and was best drawn by his own Pencil in his Diaries, and in keeping his Birth-day with Fasting and Prayers; some of which I have here added, that by this taste the Reader may perceive, how near this Prelates Devotion came to the warm Zeal and vigorous Piety of the Christians of the first Ages; and how much his hum­ble complaining of his Infirmi­ties, and the mean performances of his Duty, when at best, suits with their holy Practices.

Meditations on April 20. 1681. by Dr. Edward Rainbow.

Meditations on Jan. 30. 1652. after a Recovery from a Cold with a Cough.

If I should write all his Medi­tations, I might transcribe a good part of his Diary.

You have here had a Speci­men of his private Devotion; in the next and last place we shall consider, whether his Li­berality to the Poor and Needy was agreeable to his Sacred Character, or no.

In examining his Actions by the Test of this Vertue, we shall find that he left a large [Page 105] Inventory of charitable Deeds. And, as Nerva Coesar was called Pater Patrioe, the Father of his Country, by reason of his gen­tle and kind Government; so might he be termed Pater Pau­perum, the Father of the Poor, for his liberal Donative to them, unto whom his Compassion was never deny'd, nor his Hand closed up, without something to warm their Hearts and chear their Spirits; and what was still more obliging, what he be­stowed was with a free heart, taking pleasure in the good Offices he did any of those Mystical Members of Jesus Christ.

To descend to particularize the several methods of this Bi­shops Charity, after he came to be so, would look something like Flattery; such variety did [Page 106] he use in the dispensing the Goods of Fortune to his Indi­gent Brethren; since the Proverb in these Dregs of Time proves too true, which asserts the great disuse of that most extorting Usury, when the Use out-strips the Principal.

To proceed; He usually gave 20 s. to the Poor at Carlisle, when it was his turn to Preach there, that his Liberality might tempt them to listen to his Do­ctrin. His Allowance to the Poor of Dalston Parish (within the Limits of which Rose Castle stands) was 30 s. a Month, be­sides what was given them at his Castle-Gates, and to Sick People; not to mention, what was given them at Sacraments, and upon other occasions. In Dear Years, when his own stock of Corn was spent, he [Page 107] ordered Barley to be bought at 12 s. or 14 s. per Bushel, and to be given to the Poor; which came then in such great numbers to the Gates, that the Porter who served them, having some­times the curiosity to tell them, affirmed, that he often serv'd Seven or Eightscore People in one and the same day. He al­lowed Mony to a School Master for teaching Eight Poor Chil­dren to Read, at Dalston. He put out Poor Boys to Appren­tices. In Pensions to Poor Scholars at the University, and to some Indigent Persons he gave 32 l. per Annum constantly, for several Years. To which may be added, his share with other Bishops in yearly Pensions to Forein Converts, and to other publick Charities, as the Re­building of S. Paul's Church; [Page 108] to French Protestants large Sums, &c. Nay, his Charity was often so extensive, that he forgat his own Secular Interest to lend unto God, by his Largesses to the Needy.

At his Death, he gave to the Poor of eight or nine Parishes, and in some other Modes of Charity, which amounted to the Sum of 200 l. And what that pious Prelate left, his Wi­dow punctually performed. For as she loved him entirely; so did she shew her true respect for his Memory, in enlarging his gift. And thus that Reli­gious Couple, as they strove whether should love more; so did they rival each other in Charity.

Moreover I should be inju­rious the memory of this good Bishop, if I should not further add, that besides these Public Acts of Liberality, his Charity was yet in some respects so secret (according to our Blessed Saviour's Advice) that he kept a Private Purse for that end, and that so private, that even his dear Consort, the Partner of all his Joys and other Counsels, was a Stranger to it; not know­ing how he disposed of it, till he himself discovered to her a little before his death where­about 20 l. of that Mony lay, which he desired might be given to three or four of the French Protestants, or to some decayed Gentleman of honest Conver­sation; and that without naming of him. Which his Loving Consort accordingly performed. [Page 110] This last Act is not only a plain demonstration of his extensive Bounty, but how far he was from that pompous and osten­tous Charity, which is made (by too many) the foundation of Merit in another Commu­nion.

And, as his Kindness was un­limited to the corporal Wants of the Needy; so no less com­passionate was he to those who went astray from the true Fold. To such he used lenity and mildness, endeavouring to bring them into the way by strong Argumenrs and soft Words; convincing their erronious Judg­ments by Reason and Scripture, rather than by affrighting them with Corporal punishments out of that by-way into which they had fallen by mistake. As to his own Practice, none could be [Page 111] more observant of the Rules of the Church of England than he was; thô he pitied the Errors of others, who differed from him in Opinion.

To conclude, May this mean Monument, which I have ere­cted to the Memory of this Right Reverend Prelate, suffice to continue his Name, and the History of his Vertues to suc­ceeding Ages, and that thereby the lustre of his Pious Actions may so shine forth in this de­bauched and profligate Age, that others may be induced to Copy after so fair an Example; serving God faithfully and sin­cerely in this Life, and enjoy­ing him eternally in that which is to come.