it of him when he was lord chief baron: he unwil lingly lent it, because it had been writ by him before he was called to the bar, and had never been thoroughly revised by him fince that time, only what alterations had been made in the law by subsequent ftatutes, and judgments, were added by him as they had happened: but the judge having perused it, faid, that though it was composed by him fo early, he did not think any lawyer in England could do it better, except he himself would again fet about it. He was foon found out by that great and learned antiquary Mr. Selden, who though much fuperior to him in years, yet came to have fuch a liking of him, and of Mr. Vaughan, who was afterwards lord chief juftice of the common-pleas, that as he continued in a close friendship with them while he lived, fo he left them at his death, two of his four executors. It was this acquaintance that firft fet Mr. Hale on a more enlarged purfuit of learning, which he had before confined to his own profeffion; but becoming as great a master in it, as ever any was, very foon, he who could never let any of his time go away unprofitably, found leifure to attain to as great a variety of knowledge, in as comprehenfive a manner as most men have done in any age. He fet himself much to the ftudy of the Roman law, and though he liked the way of judicature in England by juries, much better than that of the civil law, where fo much was trufted to the judge; yet he often faid, that the true grounds and reafons of law were fo well delivered in the digefts, that a man could never understand law as a fcience fo well as by feeking it there, and therefore lamented much that it was fo little ftudied in England. He looked on readiness in arithmetic, as a thing which might be useful to him in his own employment, and acquired it to fuch a degree, that he would often on the fudden, and afterwards on the bench, refolve very very hard questions, which had puzzled the beft ac comptants about town. He rested not here, but studied the algebra both fpeciofa and numerofa, and went through all the other mathematical sciences, and made a great collection of very excellent inftruments, fparing no coft to have them as exact as art could make them. He was alfo very converfant in philofophical learning, and in all the curious experiments and rare discoveries of this age: and had the new books written on thofe fubjects fent from all parts, which he both read and examined fo critically, that if the principles and hypothefes which he took firft up, did any way prepoffefs him, yet those who have differed moft from him, have acknowledged, that in what he has writ concerning the Torricellian Experiment, and of the Rarefaction and Condensation of the Air, he fhews as great an exactness, and as much fubtilty in the reasoning he builds on them, as these principles to which he adhered could bear. But indeed it will feem fcarce credible, that a man fo much employed, and of fo fevere a temper of mind, could find leifure to read, obferve and write fo much of thefe fubjects as he did. He called them his diverfions, for he often faid, when he was weary with the ftudy of the law, or divinity, he used to recreate himfelf with philofophy or the mathematics; to this he added great fkill in phyfic, anatomy and chirurgery: and he ufed to fay, No man could be abfolutely a mafter in any profeffion, " without having fome fkill in other fciences;' for befides the fatisfaction he had in the knowledge of thefe things, he made ufe of them often in his employments. In fome examinations he would put fuch queftions to phyficians or chirurgeons, that they have profeffed, the college of phyficians could not do it more exactly; by which he difcovered great judgment, as well as much knowlege in these things: and in his ficknefs he used to argue with his doctors about his diftempers, and the methods they took with them, like one one of their own profeffion; which one of them told me he understood, as far as fpeculation without prac tice could carry him. To this he added great fearches into ancient hiftory, and particularly into the roughest and leaft delightful part of it, Chronology. He was well acquainted with the ancient Greek philofophers; but want of occafion to use it, wore out his knowledge of the Greek tongue; and though he never ftudied the Hebrew tongue, yet by his great converfation with Selden, he understood the moft curious things in the Rabbinical learning. But above all these he feemed to have made the study of Divinity the chief of all others; to which he not only directed every thing elfe, but also arrived at that pitch in it, that those who have read what he has written on these subjects, will think they must have had moft of his time and thoughts. It may feem extravagant, and almost incredible, that one man, in no great compafs of years, fhould have acquired fuch a variety of knowledge, and that in fciences that require much leifure and application. But as his parts were quick, and his apprehenfions lively, his memory great, and his judgments ftrong; fo his industry was almoft indefatigable. He rofe always betimes in the morning; was never idle; fcarce ever held any dif course about news, except with fome few in whom he confided entirely. He entered into no correfpondence by letters, except about neceffary business, or matters of learning, and spent very little time in eating or drinking; for as he never went to public feafts, fo he gave no entertainments but to the poor; for he followed our Saviour's directions (of feafting none but thefe) literally. And in eating and drinking, he obferved not only great plainness and moderation, but lived fo philofophically, that he always ended his meal with an appetite; fo that he loft little time at it (that being the only portion which he grudged himself), and was difpofed to any exercife of mind, to which he VOL. I. thought thought fit to apply himself, immediately after he had dined. By thefe means he gained much time, that is otherwife unprofitably wafted. He had alfo an admirable equality in the temper of his mind, which difpofed him for whatever ftudies he thought fit to turn himself to; and fome very uneafy things which he lay under for many years, did rather engage him to, than diftract him from his ftudies. When he was called to the Bar, and began to make a figure in the world, the late unhappy wars broke out, in which it was no eafy thing for a man to preserve his integrity, and to live fecurely free from great danger and trouble. He had read the life of Pomponius Atticus, writ by Nepos; and having obferved, that he had paffed through a time of as much distraction, as ever was in any age or ftate, from the wars of Marius and Sylla, to the beginning of Auguftus's reign, without the least blemish on his reputation, and free from any confiderable danger, being held in great esteem by all parties, and courted and favoured by them, he fet him as a pattern to himself; and obferving, that befides thofe virtues which are neceffary to all men, and at all times, there were two things that chiefly preferved Atticus; the one was, his engaging in no faction, and medding in no public bufinefs; the other was, the conftant favouring and receiving thofe that were lowest, which was afcribed by fuch as prevailed to the generofity of his temper, and procured him much kindnefs from thofe on whom he had exercifed his bounty, when it came to their turn to govern; he refolved to guide himself by those rules as much as was poffible for him to do. He not only avoided all public employment, but the very talking of news, and was always both favourable and charitable to thofe who were depreft, and was fure never o provoke any in particular, by cenfuring or reflecting on their actions; for many that have converfed much with him, have told me they never heard him once speak ill of any perfon. He He was employed in his practice by all the king's party; he was affigned counfel to the earl of Strafford, and archbishop Laud, and afterwards to the bleffed King himself, when brought to the infamous pageantry of a mock-trial, and offered to plead for him with all the courage that fo glorious a cause ought to have inspired him with; but was not fuffered to appear, because the king refufing, as he had good reason, to fubmit to the court, it was pretended none could be admitted to speak for him. He was also counsel for the duke of Hamilton, the earl of Holland, and the lord Capel. His plea for the former of thefe, I have published in the memoirs of that duke's life. Afterwards alfo being counsel for the lord Craven, he pleaded with that force of argument, that the then attorneygeneral, threatened him for appearing against the government; to whom he answered, 'He was pleading in defence of those laws, which they declared they 'would maintain and preferve, and he was doing his duty to his client, fo that he was not to be daunted ' with threatnings.' Upon all thefe occafions he had discharged himself with fo much learning, fidelity, and courage, that he came to be generally employed for all that party; nor was he fatisfied to appear for their juft defence in the way of his profeffion, but he alfo relieved them often in their neceffities; which he did in a way that was no less prudent than charitable, confidering the dangers of that time: for he did often depofit confiderable fums in the hands of a worthy gentleman of the king's party, who knew their neceffities well, and was to distribute his charity according to his own difcretion, without either letting them know from whence it came, or giving himself any account to whom he had given it, Cromwell feeing him poffeft of fo much practice, and he being one of the eminenteft men of the law, who was not at all afraid of doing his duty in thofe c 2 critical |