Of public action, unheard, unseen,

And unconcern'd, as if I ne'er had been.
And thus, while I shall pass my silent days
In shady privacy, free from the noise
And bustles of the mad world, then shall I
A good old innocent plebeian die.
Death is a mere surprise, a very snare

To him that makes it his life's greatest care,
To be a public pageant, known to all,
But unacquainted with himself doth fall.

He quitted office on the 15th of February, 1676; and died on the Christmas day following. The interval was spent in exercises of piety and devotion. He had always been constant in the use of family prayer, performing the duty himself if there was no clergyman present: and on Sundays it had been his uniform practice to repeat to his family the heads of the sermons, with some further remarks and expositions of his own. He usually invited his poor neighbours to dine with him, on that day, at his own table; and when any were sick, he sent the choicest of his food to their own houses.

From the commencement of his public life he had laid aside a tenth of his income to charitable uses; and with his perquisites when he was a judge, he secretly liberated11 many poor debtors from prison. He did not neglect even common beggars, but felt it his duty to relieve them with the small sums he could conveniently spare; thinking" that charity consisted not so much in the good actually done, as in the motive with which it is attempted to be done. It is well for mankind, that Charity, which is the greatest and most necessary of all christian vir tues, is not the impulse of a feeling heart; for that depends on certain constitutional tendencies, with which no man can endow himself: nor that it consists in the success which attends our alms; for much of that is derived from prudence and penetration, in which the best of men are frequently de ficient: still less that the magnitude or splendour of the gift declares the charity of the donor; for riches are not the lot of all; 928alq or t-gh

and

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we know that to the poor, and his

man may give all he has body to be burned, and yet want charity. True charity is known by the motive, and by that alone; and none but He who sees the heart, can tell who is charitable, and who is not. It is not for us, therefore, to judge others: nor should we attempt to do it, if we have charity; for charity "thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." But though we judge not others, we are commanded to judge ourselves; and this is the test by which we may try our charity:-Love to God. If we love Him we shall keep his commandments, and obedience to these is perfect charity it comprises the whole of our duty to our neighbour. If we do every thing to them, which we in their situations should wish them or others to do to us; and this, not for the relief of our own feelings, or to gain the good opinion of men, but from a desire to please God by our behaviour;

then we possess that charity which shall never fail: and this charity is what every man may possess, by God's grace, as soon as he pleases.

The habit of considering himself as he appeared in the sight of the Almighty, and not in the estimation of men, made Sir Matthew Hale avoid all undue opportunities of giving publicity to the good parts of his character. He had such an aversion to all ostentation in religion, that he was careful to make no great professions, wishing that his deeds, rather than his tongue, should make known his faith; and humbly fearing lest by any means he should at last fall away, and cause the religion of Christ to be evil spoken of. This was especially the case with his private devotions, wherein he secluded himself from the observation even of his own family.

The nearer his death approached, the more fervent and frequent were his prayers;

and when his voice could no longer be heard, it might be seen from his eyes and hands being almost constantly lifted up, that his soul was still in earnest communion with that blessed Spirit, who soon after called it out of darkness into his marvellous light. For more than a year, he had suffered such pain that he was unable to lie down in bed, but he never complained. His end was peaceful: he had no struggling, nor seemed to be in any pangs in his last moments.

Such was the life and death of Sir Matthew Hale: his character speaks for itself, and needs no comment; it is seen in all his actions, and is further pourtrayed in the Letters which compose this little volume. They were written at different periods, while he was on the circuit as a judge. They prove how much the happiness of his children was the object of his constant solicitude. Loving them so sincerely, he could not but address to them the best of his understanding. Whatever conduct would