fallen under the power of our worst enemies, for brethren turned enemies are ever the most implacable, they looked upon us as men in mispersuasion and error; and therefore I was to defend our persons, that whether our cause were right or wrong, for it would be supposed wrong, yet we might be permitted in liberty and impunity. But then the consequent would be this, that if we, when we were supposed to be in error, were yet to be indemnified, then others, also, whom we thought as ill of, were to rejoice in the same freedom, because this equality was the great instrument of justice, and if we would not do to others as we desired should be done to us, we were no more to pretend religion, because we destroy the law and the prophets. Of this some men were impatient, and they would have all the world spare them, and yet they would spare nobody. But because this is too unreasonable, I need no excuse for my speaking to other purposes. Others complained that it would have evil effects, and all heresies would enter at the gate of toleration; and because I know that they would crowd and throng in as far as they could, I placed such guards and restraints there, as might keep out all unreasonable pretenders; allowing none to enter here, that speak against the Apostles' Creed, or weakened the hands of government, or were enemies to good life."*

* See the Epistle Dedicatory, prefixed to the "Collection of Polemical and Moral Discourses, by Jeremy Taylor." This is a folio volume, and was printed in 1657. It contains the Liberty of

Taylor was prompted to write the Liberty of Prophesying by the state of the times. The political and ecclesiastical affairs of the nation were intimately blended, and the spirit of civil discord, which raged so violently, infused itself into the religious principles and feelings of the parties; the regular clergy were expelled from their benefices, and left destitute of the means of support; and persecution, if not deemed a virtue, was hardly felt to be a crime. At this crisis Taylor came forward as a decided champion of toleration, and he pleaded the cause of charity and forbearance, in the matter of religious opinion, with a boldness, eloquence, power, and learning, altogether unparalelled at that time. No person had ever ventured to speak so plainly on those topics, and no one was better qualified by his talents, his attainments, and the benevolence of his temper, to discuss them in a profound and judicious manner. There is an excess of learning, in this performance, and too much deference paid to the notions of ancient fathers, but these were faults of the age, and extraneous to the author's forcible arguments, his winning eloquence, and christian spirit. Had he produced no other work than this, it would have placed him in the rank of the first of scholars and of Christians.

Taylor was now quietly settled in Wales, and he regularly performed the office of clergyman in the family at Golden Grove. His industry and application

Prophesying, and several other treatises, which had been previously published at different times in a separate form.

to study were unabating. His next publication was the Great Exemplar, a work of a doctrinal, practical, and devotional character. It contains a narrative of the life of Christ, interspersed with dissertations on various important topics in theology and ethics, and with prayers suited to the subjects of the different chapters. The author's usually serious frame of mind, his devotional temper, and wide range of learning are conspicuous throughout this treatise.

In the year 1650, the Rule and Exercises of Holy Living came out, a work which has been as often reprinted, and as much read, as almost any other of a religious character in the English language. It still holds its popularity, and will doubtless continue to be a treasure in the cabinets of the devout, while the language shall last. The Rules and Exercises of Holy Dying appeared soon after, written much in the same spirit as the Holy Living, but with a greater display of learning, with more of the richness and beauty of composition, and of the peculiar characteristics of Taylor's genius and style. Quick in succession were published his Sermons, which seem to have been a selection from those delivered in the ordinary course of his preaching at Golden Grove. These Sermons are too well known to need comment. Having been written without much premeditation, or labour of study, they exhibit more accurately than any other of Taylor's writings, the features and resources of his mind; and it is difficult for a reader to decide at which he is most astonished,

the copiousness of topics and language, the flow of eloquence and profusion of poetical imagery, or the extent, variety, and readiness of the author's learning. There is an inequality in different parts, as would be natural in compositions of this nature; the learning sometimes approaches to pedantry, but this was consistent with the times; the strength and pertinency of thought are not always equally sustained, but in every discourse passages are found, which show a rare union of eloquence and poetry, of a fertile and subdued imagination, with a warm and cheerful piety, of a deep insight into human nature, with a wide practical observation of the habits, manners, and propensities of mankind. If Taylor was less cogent than Barrow, in the exercise and deductions of the reasoning powers, or less sententious and acute than the ever memorable Hales, he yielded to no one in the brilliancy of an exhaustless genius, the fervour of devotion, and the treasures of a well stored mind.

In the year 1655, was published the little treatise, entitled the Guide to Infant Devotion, or the Golden Grove, which contains a catechism, a short commentary on the Apostles' Creed, rules of Christian practice, and devotional exercises, the whole designed chiefly for the religious instruction of young people. It has passed through numerous editions, and been used as a daily manual by the pious of all ages, and of different sects. At the end of this treatise are specimens of the author's poetry, called Festival Hymns, and the only productions of his muse in measure and rhyme, it is believed, which

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have been preserved. They are jejune, prosaic, and full of the conceits peculiar to the time in which he wrote. Of Taylor it may indeed be said, that there never was a more captivating poet in prose, and seldom a feebler one in verse.

It was near the end of the year 1654, when fresh excitements began to break out among the royalists, and Cromwell deemed it necessary to exercise a double vigilance over them, and resort to decisive measures to suppress the efforts of the disaffected. Several persons were imprisoned, and Taylor among others. Not that he had taken an active part in any particular movements, which gave offence, but the loyalty of his sentiments, and the independence of his character were too well known, to suffer a person of his talents and influence to remain at liberty without suspicion. He was for some time confined in Chepstow Castle. He published his Unum Necessarium, or the Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, in the year 1655, but whether previously to his imprisonment does not appear. While in prison he had a correspondence on the subject of this work with the Bishop of Rochester, who had taken serious exception to some of its doctrines. This treatise indeed led him into a very warm controversy with the bishop, and with other persons, which continued for two or three years, and which, before it was done, betrayed even the mild and judicious Taylor into a heat of temper and feeling, not to be witnessed in any other part of his writings. of his writings. The point in dispute was