AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. PHILIP HENRY, &c. CHAPTER I. Mr. Philip Henry's Birth, Parentage, Early Piety, and Education at School. He was born at Whitehall, in Westminster, on Wednesday, August 24, 1631, being Bartholomew Day. I find, usually, in his Diary, some pious remark or other upon the annual return of his birth-day. As in one year he notes, that the Scripture mentions but two who observed their birth-day with feasting and joy, and they were neither of them copies to be written after: viz. Pharaoh, Gen. xl. 20. and Herod, Matt. xiv. 6.-But, saith he, I rather observe it as a day of mourning and humiliation, because shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin. And when he had completed the thirtieth year of his age, he noted this,-So old, and no older, Alexander* was, when he had conquered the great world, but, saith he, I have not yet subdued the little world, myself. At his thirtythird year he hath this humble reflection,—A long time lived to small purpose, What shall I do to redeem it? And, at another,I may mourn, as Cæsar+ did, when he reflected upon Alexander's early achievements, that others, younger than I am, have done much more than I have done for God, the God of my life. And, to mention no more, when he had lived forty-two years, he thus * Plutarch's Lives, v. 4. p. 223. ed. 1792, oct. ↑ Julius Cæsar. Plut. v. 4. pp. 337, ut supra. Also, Paradise Regained, Book iii. 39, &c. Milton's Poetical Works by the Rev. H. J. Todd, M. A, F. S. A. v. 5. p. 153, note. B 3 writes, I would be loath to live it over again, lest, instead of making it better, I should make it worse; and besides, every year and day spent on earth, is lost in heaven. This last note minds me of a passage I have heard him tell of a friend of his, who, being grown into years, was asked how old he was, and answered,-On the wrong side of fifty;-which, said Mr. Henry, he should not have said; for, if he was going to heaven, it was the right side of fifty. He always kept a will by him ready made; and it was his custom, yearly, upon the return of his birth-day, to review, and, if occasion were, to renew and alter it. For it is good to do that at a set time, which it is very good to do at some time. The last will* he made bears date,-This 24th day of August, 1695, being the day of the year on which I was born, 1631, and also the day of the year on which, by law, I died,+ as did also near two thousand faithful ministers of Jesus Christ, 1662: alluding to that clause in the Act of Uniformity, which disposeth of the places and benefices of ministers not conforming, as if they were naturally dead. 1 His father's name was John Henry, the son of Henry Williams, of Britton-Ferry, betwixt Neath and Swansey, in Glamorganshire. According to the old Welsh custom, (some say conformable to that of the ancient Hebrews, but now almost in all places laid aside,) the father's christian name was the son's surname. He had left his native country, and his father's house, very young, unprovided for by his relations; § but it pleased God to bless his ingenuity and industry with a considerable income afterwards, which enabled him to live comfortably himself, to bring up his children well, and to be kind to many of his relations; but publick events making against him at his latter end, when he died he left little behind him for his children, but God graciously took care of them. Providence brought this Mr. John Henry, when he was young, to be the Earl of Pembroke's gentleman, whom he served many years. The Earl coming to be Lord Chamberlain, preferred him to be the King's Servant. He was first made Keeper of the Orchard at Whitehall; [For which he had, besides a dwelling-house at the garden-stairs, with the perquisites of the water-gate, and lodgings of considerable yearly value, ¶ and the profits of the orchard, ten groats per diem,** standing wages, with livery out of the wardrobe, ++ per annum, insomuch that he lived plentifully, and in good repute, but laid by nothing. ++ * Appendix, No. II. + When that eminent martyr, "Master George Wischard," was prohibited preaching, "he grew pensive; and being asked the reason, said, What do I differ from a dead man, but that I eat and drink?" Clarke's Gen. Martyr. p. 233. Fol. 1677. See Verstegan's Restitution of Decayed Intelligence, p. 311. 1628. 4to. He had from his father, as I have heard, but one groat. P. Henry. Orig. MS. Ob. 23rd Jan. 1649-50. Collins's Peerage, v. 3, p. 127, &c. ed. 1812. £50 or £60 per annum. Orig. MS. of the Life of P. Henry, by Matt. Henry. **Above £60 per annum. Ib. ++ £27 per annum. # P. Hen. Orig. MS. Ib. He was] afterwards Page of the Back Stairs to the King's second son, James,* Duke of York, which place obliged him to a personal attendance upon the Duke in his chamber. He lived and died a courtier, a hearty mourner for his royal master King Charles the First, whom he did not long survive. He continued, during all the war-time, in his house at Whitehall, though the profits of his places ceased. The King, passing by his door, under a guard, to take water, when he was going to Westminster, to that which they called his trial, inquired for his old servant, Mr. John Henry, who was ready to pay his due respects to him, and prayed God toBless his Majesty, and to deliver him out of the hands of his enemies; for which the guard had like to have been rough upon him.t His mother was Mrs. Magdalen Rochdale, of the parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, in Westminster. She was a virtuous pious gentlewoman, and one that feared God above many. She was altogether dead to the vanities and pleasures of the court, though she lived in the midst of them. She looked well to the ways of her household; prayed with them daily, catechized her children, and taught them the good knowledge of the Lord betimes. I have heard him speak of his learning Mr. Perkins's § Six Principles, || when he was very young; and he often mentioned, with thankfulness to God, his great happiness in having such a mother, who was to him as Lois and Eunice were to Timothy, acquainting him with the Scriptures from his childhood; and, there appearing in him early inclinations both to learning and piety, she devoted him in his tender years to the service of God, in the work of the ministry. She died of a consumption, March 6, 1645, leaving behind her only this son and five daughters. A little before she died, she had this saying, "My head is in heaven, and my heart is in heaven; it is but one step more, and I shall be there too." His susceptors in baptism were Philip¶ Earl of Pembroke, (who gave him his name, and was kind to him as long as he lived, as was * Afterwards King James II. 1652, Feb. 28th. My dear father, Mr. John Henry, died at his house in Whitehall. A very great affliction both to myself and sisters, especially the two little ones. The Lord provide for us! He was born July 20, 1590. P. Henry. Diary. Orig. MS. See a Mem. of the reign of K. Ch. I. by Sir P. Warwick, p. 379 and Sir Tho. Herbert's Memoir, p. 163. The Rev. W. Perkins died A. D. 1602, aged 44. Clarke's Marrow of Eccl. Hist. p. 850, 4to. 1654. It was the motto of the learned and godly divine, Mr. Perkins, Fidei vita vera vita;- the true life, is the life of faith; a word which that worthy servant of God did both write and live. Bishop Hall. Works. vol. viii. p. 30. oct. ed. See Mr. Perkins's Works, vol. i. p. 1. fol. 1608. See Dunton's Life and Errors, v. 1, p. 344. ed. 1818. He died Dec. 11, 1669. Collins's Peerage, v. 3, p. 140, &c. ut supra. also his son Philip after him,) James* Earl of Carlisle, and the Countess of Salisbury.+ Prince Charles and the Duke of York+ being somewhat near of an age to him, he was in his childhood very much an attendant upon them in their play, and they were often with him at his father's house, and they were wont to tell him what preferment he should have at court, as soon as he was fit for it. He kept a book to his dying day, which the Duke of York gave him; and I have heard him bewail the loss of two curious pictures, which he gave him likewise. Archbishop Laud § took a particular kindness to him when he was a child, because he would be very officious to attend at the water-gate, (which was part of his father's charge in Whitehall,) to let the Archbishop through when he came late from Council, to cross the water to Lambeth. [And when the Archbishop was a prisoner in the Tower, his father took him with him to see him, and he would remember that the Archbishop gave him some new money. ||] These circumstances of his childhood he would sometimes speak of among his friends, not as glorying in them, but taking occasion from thence to bless God for his deliverance from the snares of the court, in the midst of which it is so very hard to maintain a good conscience and the power of religion, that it hath been said, though blessed be God, it is not a rule without exception, Exeat ex aulâ qui velit esse pius. The breaking up and scattering of the court, by the calamities of 1641, as it dashed the expectations of his court preferments, so it prevented the danger of court entanglements. And, though it was not, like Moses's, a choice of his own, when come to years, to quit the court; yet when he was come to years, he always expressed a great satisfaction in his removal from it, and blessed God, who chose his inheritance so much better for him. Yet it may not be improper to observe here what was obvious, as well as amiable to all who conversed with him; viz. that he had the most sweet and obliging air of courtesy and civility that could be; which some attributed in part to his early education at court. His mien and carriage were always so very decent and respectful, that it could not but win the hearts of all he had to do with. Never was any man further from that rudeness and moroseness which some scholars, and too many that profess religion, either wilfully affect, or carelessly allow themselves in, sometimes to the reproach of their profession. It is one of the laws of our holy religion, exemplified in * Died without issue in 1660, on which his titles became extinct. Collins's Peerage, v. 7, p. 205, ut supra. + Lady Catharine Howard, youngest daughter of Thomas, Earl of Suffolk. She was married to William, the second Earl of Salisbury, Dec. 1, 1608. Collins's Peerage, v. 2, p. 490, ut supra. Afterwards King Charles II. § He was born A. D. 1573, and beheaded Jan. 10, 1644-5. Hist. of his Troubles, Trial, Diary, &c. 2 vols. fol. 1695. Life. Orig. MS. ut supra. Lucretius. |