Declined

things.

has been made already in the preface, writing the affairs of England, and in particular what fell out in the reign of King Charles II., hath taken upon him to characterise the famous men that died in his several years; and yet of the Lord Keeper North no single word slips from his pen, and one must look very hard to find so much as his name in the whole work: and, considering the value of that great justitiar (which I hope will be made appear in what follows), is not so notorious partiality, in such a pompous writer of history, wonderful? But not only there, but in all the other writers of those times, when the quality of those things related require him to be named, however the actions or occasion might deserve, it is done in an ill-natured manner, and with a leer, implying rather disgrace than any honour to his memory. And since his death we do not find in ordinary converse, or consultation of things past, any mention of him, or, at most, but as one that had been preferred to serve turns; and so, dying, there was an end of him.

Now here, to make the fairest construction of fame in all this silence in a case so eminent, and ascribe it chiefly to ignorance, although I think time-servingness and malice hath the greatest share, I will show that in his lordship's case there was less obvious means for fame than in any other great man's case whatever. For first, he was quite out

of favour with the busy agitating party of men in his time, then termed the fanatic party; and those are the chief architects of fame: and, having nothing ill to say of him, they would say no good, and therefore chose to say nothing at all. If he had acted in these men's measures, and, betraying his master, took in with them, and become their property, he had certainly been the most illustrious hero in the law that ever was heard of. Another reason is derived from his lordship's own conduct of himself, which was always with the greatest modesty, and the least affectation of fame that could be. He rather withdrew himself from it, as being, in his opinion, an empty vanity; and ever labouring to act well and substantially, as concerned for the truth and intelligence of things, and not for any honour to be got thereby, he scarce ever did any thing for show, or spoke a word for the sake of mere sound or ostentation; but in all he did, to have reason on his side, and to make himself therein readily understood, was all that he aimed at otherwise he bore himself retired from public view and eclat as much as ever he could. It is no great wonder therefore, that nothing pompous hath been remembered of him. If he had carried it high, headed parties, and embraced the management of what had not belonged to him, and the like, it had been otherwise; or if he had printed his collections in the law, of which

The en

he had made some considerable, or the other tracts he had in his mind to make fit for the use of his time, or done any thing else, which ordinarily great men do for fame and honour, he might have left a name behind him great as he deserved; but he never let any thing come to the press under his name but what belonged to his office, or was absolutely necessary for his vindication. It is no wonder therefore, that (the malice or ignorance of historians apart) there is so little remembrance of this noble person's life and actions (so near his time as we are) now extant; and, probably, after a reign or two more, bating a formal list of Lord Keepers, that lets none escape, his very name will be forgot.

Here is reason enough to incline any one, engagements dued with competent information of the subject, to this and a literate capacity to digest and express what

and means

work.

he knows thereof, to rescue this honourable person and his great abilities, his approved justice and integrity, and universal good-will, from utter oblivion, by writing the history of his lordship's life. But where do those qualifications concur? The very expectation of them puts me in mind of latter Lammas. But it is usual to say, what good cannot be done in perfection, as it should be, ought to be done, though but in part, or as it may be. And, upon force of that consideration, I am inclined to undertake it; for, if I am wanting in

capacity to write as the subject deserves, I am capable of informing others who may do it better; and am therein farther urged by the consideration of my former felicities. For it was my good fortune to be so nearly allied to him, and, by circumstances of education and profession, so closely attached to his person, that we were almost inseparable. Therefore, upon the strength of the latter of these qualifications, whatever becomes of the former, which, in sense of my own inability, I forbear to claim, I am induced to undertake this great work, which I would have understood to be rather instructions, than history. And if I am required to give an account of my great confidence therein, I must allege that, if I am not the best instructed of any man living for it, it is my own fault; because I passed almost all the active time of my life in his company. And now almost all persons of his intimacy, capable or concerned to remember much of him, are dead, or at least, after so many years, thoughtless of all they might once have known concerning him but I am at this time left a living and sensible witness of his most public and most retired behaviour; and moreover a well-qualified compurgator of all his thoughts and actions and who else should be called upon to show to posterity what he was? And also that there was once a magistrate of a kind, since the loss of him (barring all comparisons) rather to be

wished than hoped for. And not only to supply history, which (after the partial gree of the late authors) has been, to all good purposes, silent of him, but also to refel calumny, whether spread abroad in his life, to supplant his interests, and to enervate his authority, or late, published after his death, to depreciate his memory; of which several species of malice we had, and have yet, some extant, but little, and even that little very impotent and inconsiderable yet I cannot but think it in me a sort of duty to puff away such slight dust, because calumny which riseth after a man's death (the most unworthy and degenerous of all) needs most a friend to retund it; because, as a man's authority and power ceaseth, impudence gets ground, and thinks to ramp it without check; but, of these affairs, the particularities are referred to their proper situation. And here I must not omit one of the chief impulses upon my spirits to undertake this work; I mean gratitude for as,. on the one side, no man is obliged to serve a friend or benefactor by any gross immoralities, for that must be termed conspiracy, not friendship; so, on the other side, no man ought to be wanting to a friend, in any manner of justice, for no better reason than that some folks will misconstrue it, as being done for partiality. I own that all my portion of knowledge and fortunes are owing to him; which makes me a debtor in account of justice and