APPENDIX, No. XXVIII. MR. BENYON'S mother is distinguished by Mr. Henry, in his diary, by a special memorial, of which the following is a transcript. "1663. May 5. At ten o'clock, I was sent for to Ash, where I came at eleven, and found my worthy, dear aunt Benyon alive, and that was all. We went to prayer,—and her life and prayer ended together. She was, without comparison, the best friend I had in this country, and it is no small loss to lose such an one. Lord, make up the loss to me, and all her relations, and humble us for sin, that kill-friend. 7. My dear aunt Benyon was buried at Whitchurch. Mr. Thomas preached. Text, 1 Corinthians, iii. 22. Lord, take up the children, and come in her stead to all her relations, and to me. Amen. She was daughter to Mr. Knight, of Shrewsbury, and had been married twenty-seven years to my uncle Benyon, by whom she had issue now living, Daniel, Martha, Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth. She was the fittest wife for him in the world, being patient and prudent, in opposition to his passion and rashness. She was, I verily believe, one that truly feared God, and was taught to do it from her youth. She was of the mourners of Sion, laying much to heart the sins and sufferings of the times. She was provident and diligent in family affairs, laying her hands to the spindle, and her hands held the distaff. She was an inward, real, true-hearted friend. Eminent for humility and self-denial. Witness that expression of her's, when speaking of her children. I said,-I did not doubt but God had a kindness in store for them for her sake. She answered," For my sake! Alas, poor things, if it be not for another's sake than mine, they are undone."* * P. Henry. Diary. Orig. MS. NOTES. Sir H. Ashhurst,―p. xxxiii. THIS excellent person was descended from the Ashursts of Ashurst, in Lancashire. His father, best known as Alderman Ashurst, appears to have been eminent for piety, and every christian virtue. His character was drawn at large by Mr. Baxter. Works, v. 4, p. 189, &c. fol. Reliq. Baxter. Part I. 290. Part III. 17, 189. The alderman died in 1680, æt. 66. A similar testimony has been borne by Dr. Bates, in the preface to his funeral sermon for Mr. Benjamin Ashurst, Sir Henry's brother. Works. 4, p. 390. Sir Henry Ashurst trod in the steps of his venerable parent, and distinguished himself on the trial of Mr. Baxter, as a steady, faithful, friend. Reliq. Baxter. Preface, &c. Biog. Brit. v. 2, p. 16, &c. He published the Life of the Rev. Nath. Heywood, who was ejected, by the Act of Uniformity, from Ormskirk, in Lancashire. His intimacy with Mr. Henry, and also with Mr. Matt. Henry, was constant. Mr. Matt. Henry, in his Diary, May 8, 1707-8, notices the following incident. "Wrote to Sir H. Ashurst, who writes me, that, last Saturday, he presented the Queen [Anne] my father's Life, and my book of the Sacrament; - sapless things, I fear, at court, and, I am sure, unworthy to be so regarded."+ "Sir Henry died at his seat at Waterstoke, near Coventry, 13th April, 1710-11.” Matt. Henry. Diary. Orig. MS. Afterwards, he notes: "He left £800, to be paid to me 3 years after his decease, to be disposed of by me, as I should think most for the glory of God. It is a surprise to me. God give me wisdom and grace to use it well." Ibid. May 26. Orig. MS. See John Dunton's encomium upon him in his Life and Errors, v. 1, p. 350, ut supra. See, also, ibid. p. 273. Object his nonconformity, - p. xxxv. His non-compliance, observes a distinguished Clergyman, was a great injury to the Church, for he was eminently qualified, as a divine, a scholar, and a gentleman, for one of its Ministers. Noble's Continuation of Granger's Biog. Hist. of England, v. 1, p. 124. The origin of the distinction between conformists and non-conformists must be sought for "in the conduct of those persecuted fugitives, who, to save their lives, their families, and their fortunes, from the bloody rage and inhuman tyranny of Queen Mary, left the places of their nativity, in the year 1554, and took refuge in Germany. Of these fugitive congregations, some performed divine worship with the rites that had been authorized by Edward VI. while others preferred the Swiss method of worship, as more recommendable, on account of its purity and simplicity. The former were called conformists, on account of their compliance with the ecclesiastical laws enacted by the Prince now mentioned; and the denominations of non-conformists and puritans were given to the latter, from their insisting upon a form of worship more exempt from superstition, and of a more pure kind than the Liturgy of Edward seemed to be.” Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. v. 4, pp. 87, 88, ed. 1774, oct. "The pretence for this prosecution was a supposed reference of some passages, in one of his works, to the Bishops of the Church of England;" but "the real motive was the desire of punishing an eminent Dissenting Teacher." "History of the Early Part of the Reign of James II. by the Hon. Charles James Fox, p. 97. t Orig. MS. Two of his four daughters died,—p. xli. The one, Mrs. Radford, who died, Aug. 1, 1697. See a Memoir of her in Mrs. Savage's Life, Appendix, No. V. ut supra. The other, Mrs. Hulton, who died, Sept. 6, 1697. A memoir of her, also, is appended to the third edition of Mrs. Savage's Life. In reference to those affecting events, their eldest sister, Mrs. Savage, thus wrote to another sister, Mrs. Tylston. Dear Sister; Sept. 17. I thank you for your letter, though loaden with heavy tidings. Dear brother wrote to me on Saturday, which would have prepared me for worse, but it came not till to-day. I too much discover that my heart is not fixed as it should be. God's will is done, and my judgment is satisfied, but breach upon breach causes double sorrow; that which comforts, is, hopes of a glorious meeting in the other world, to be together for ever, and with the Lord. How shall we do to search and discover the Jonah that hath raised this storm? Certainly we have deserved worse. I find my heart too much glewed to creature-comforts, whereby I have procured this to myself, and, in particular, as to dear sister Hulton, now in glory. I did too much rejoice, and please myself with her correspondence; for, next to communion with God, (in whose favour is life,) converse with those that have acquaintance with him is the most desirable happiness that this world affords; but even this must not be overvalued. Indeed, we wither our flowers by too much smelling them. Blessed be God, that hath mixed the cup as to both you and I. We and our's are yet spared. And, wherefore? But because the work we have to do is not finished. This morning, as I lay on my sorrowful bed, that call of God to Joshua came to my mind,-Up: Wherefore liest thou thus on thy face? Israel hath sinned, &c. From whence I gather, that it is more proper work, when under the tokens of God's displeasure, to search for the cause, and humble myself under his mighty hand, than to lie down in despondency. I think it an aggravation of my grief, that I am confined, and cannot come to pay my last respects to one so dear to us; but the wise God sees it best that thus it shall be. If not two sparrows, sure not two dear sisters, fall, without his providence. Why should not I expect to pledge the cup also?-God prepare me !Welcome sickness, welcome death, if the sting be out. Blessed be God, that you are in any measure recovered;-the same hand that wounds, must heal. I trust he will heal the rest that are sick, and preserve the sound. Sister Hulton, in her last letter, but one, writes thus:-Oh,we want our Aaron, our prevailing intercessor, the priest of the family, who would have stood between the living and the dead, that the plague might have been stayed. Blessed be God, we once had such a relation, who had so much interest in heaven as he had; but, especially, blessed be God for Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, seeing he ever lives to make intercession. My dear love to brother, and all your's; and believe me to be, as indeed I am, Your affectionate, though sorrowful, Matthew Henry,-p. xliii. S. S.* Ob. June 22, 1714, æt. 52. See an Account of his Life and Death, by W. Tong, oct. 1716. Also the Dissenting Doctors, by John Dunton. Life and Errors, v. 2, pp. 726, 727. Mr. Henry of Chester. He is son (if I do not mistake) to that famous Henry, whose "Life" was lately printed in London. I am told he does patrizare; for all his actions appear to be perfectly devoted to God, strictly observing St. Paul's rule, in the fourth of the Philippians,-"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things;" which Mr. Henry does, with that exactness and sincerity, the very churchmen love him; and even malice is angry she can find no cause to be angry with him. The Life and Errors of John Dunton, ut supra, v. 1, p. 376. Philip Henry was so pre-eminent in worth, that it would have been high honour to any man to have been his son; but he was blessed with such a son, that posterity reveres him as the father of Matthew Henry. History of Dissenters, v. 2, p. 209. * Orig. MS. |