in life, fhe retained fomething of the fmith's daughter, even at her Lord RUSSEL. higheft elevation. She was first the man of probity and virtue, WILLIAM, lord Ruffel, was miftrefs, and afterwards the wife of general Monk; who had fuch an opinion of her understanding, that he often confulted her in the greateft emergencies. As fhe was a thorough royalift, it is probable that fhe had no inconfiderable share in the Restoration. She is fuppofed to have recommended feveral of the privy-counsellors, in the lift which the general prefented to the king foon after his landing. It is more than probable that the carried on a very lucrative trade in felling of offices, which were generally filled by fuch as gave her moft money*. See was an implacable enemy to lord Clarendon; and had fo great an influence over her husband, as to prevail with him to help ruin that excellent man, though he was one of his best friends. Indeed, the general was afraid to offend her, as the prefently took fire; and her anger knew no bounds. She was a great miftrefs of all the low eloquence of abufive rage, and feldom failed to discharge a volley of curfes against fuch as thoroughly provoked hert. Nothing is more certain, than that the intrepid commander, who was never afraid of bullets, was often terrified by the fury of his wife. a and worthy of a better age than that in which he lived; an age, when filence and freedom of speech were equally criminal; when a perjured witnefs was more efteemed than an honeft patriot, and law and equity were wrefted to the purpofes of an enraged faction, and an arbitrary court. As he was apprehenfive for the civil and religious liberties of his country, he diftinguifhed himself by promoting the bill for excluding the duke of York from the crown, which he carried up to the houfe of peers. He thought refiftance preferable to flavery; he had moreover the honefty to avow it, and perfifted in it to the laft, though a retractation of his principles would probably have faved his life. He was accused of being an accomplice in the Ryehoufe plot, and confequently of confpiring the death of the king, a crime of which he was abfolutely innocent. All that was proved against him, by fufpected witneffes, was, that treasonable words were uttered in his prefence, though he bore no part in, or affented the converfation which occafioned them. When he had taken his laft leave of his lady, he said that "the bitterness of death was E 3 " past; P. 46. to * See the "Continuation of Lord Clarendon's Life." Vide the "Continuation of Lord Clarendon's Life," p. 621. Col. Titus, in his fpeech for excluding the duke of York, declared, "That to accept of expedients for fecuring the Proteftant religion, after fuch king mounted the throne, was as ftrange as if there were a lion in the lobby, and they should vote, that they would rather fecure themselves by letting him in and chaining him, than by keeping him out." This fentiment is put into verfe by Bramfton, in his "Art of Politicks." "paft;" and he foon afrer went to his execution, and fubmitted to the fatal ftroke with a refolution worthy of the caufe in which he fuffered. He was the protomartyr of patriotifm in this reign: Algernon Sidney was the fecond, Beheaded 21 July, 1683. TH Earl of OssORY. HOMAS Lord Butler, earl of Offory, general of his majesty's fubjects of Great Britain, in the fervice of his highness the prince of Orange, and the States of the United Provinces; lieutenant-general of his majefty's forces in the kingdom of Ireland; lord chamberlain to the queen; one of the lords of his majesty's most ho nourable privy-council, in the kingdoms of England and Ireland; one of the lords of his najefty's bedchamber; and knight of the most noble order of the garter. A pompous lift of titles and honours, under the portraits of men of rank, fometimes compofe the hif tory of the perfons reprefented. Here we have a man who fhone with unborrowed luftre, whofe merit was the foundation of his fame. Though he feemed born for the camp only, he was perfectly qualified for the court; not as a wit, a mimic, or buffoon, but by a propriety of behaviour, the refult of good fenfe and good breeding. His courage on board the fleet was fcarcely exceeded by that of prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle; and theirs was never exceeded by that of any other fea-officer. He commanded the English troops in the fervice of the prince of Orange; and at the battle of Mons contributed greatly to the retreat of Mar, fhal Luxemburg, to whom Lewis XIV. was indebted for the greatest part of his military glory. He, on this occafion, received the thanks of the duke of Villa Hermofa, go, vernor of the S. anifh Netherlands, and alfo the thanks of his Catholic majetty himself. His fpeech, addreffed to the earl of Shaftesbury, in vindication of his father, was univerfally applauded: it even confounded that intrepid orator, who was in the fenate what the earl of. Offory was in the field. These his great qualities were adorned by a fingular modefty, and a probity which nothing could corrupt. Poets and hiftorians praife him in much the fame terms, as profe naturally rifes to the language of poetry on fo elevated a fubject. He died 30 July, 1680, in the 46th year of his age. The duke of Ormond, his father, faid, "that he "would not exchange his dead "fon for any living fon in chriften"dom." This gallant nobleman is well known to have fought fame in every part of Europe, and in every scene of action where it was to be acquired. In 1666, upon his return from Ireland, he paid a vifit to the earl of Arlington, at his feat at Eufton in Suffolk; where he happened to hear the firing of guns at fea, in the famous battle that began the ift of June. He inftantly prepared to go on board the fleet, where he arrived on the 3d of that month; and had the fatisfaction of informing the duke of Albemarle, that prince Rupert was haftening to join him. He had his fhare in the glorious actions of that and the fucceeding day ་ His reputation was much in creafed by his behaviour in the engagement off Southwold bay. In 1673, he was fucceffively made rear-admiral of the blue and the red fquadrons; he having, in the battle of the 11th of Auguft that year, covered the Royal Prince, on board of which Sir Edward Spragge commanded, and at length brought off the shattered veffel in tow.. On the 10th of September following, he was, by the king, appointed admiral of the whole fleet, during the abfence of prince Rupert. college in Cambridge; whence he is faid to have been expelled for his irregular behaviourt. He afterwards betook himself to the ftaget, where he acquired that gef ticulation and buffoonery which he practifed in the pulpit. He was admitted into holy orders by Dr. Mountaine, bifhop of London; and was, for a confiderable time, lecturer of St. Sepulchre's in that city but being profecuted for criminal converfation with another man's wife, he fled to Rotterdam, where he was paftor of the English church, together with the learned Dr. William Ames. He afterwards exercifed his miniftry in New-England, where he continued about feven years. ven years. He was a great pretender to the faintly character, a vehement declaimer againt Charles I. and one of the foremost to encourage and juftify the rebellion. The hiftorical and critical account of his life, publifhed a few years fince, is chiefly taken from "A Hugh Peters, who was the fon of a merchant at Foy in Cornwall, was fometime a member of Jefus * See dying Father's laft Legacy, &c. 66 or, H. Peters's Advice to his "Daughter." The following verfes were preE 4 fixed "H. Peters's Legacy to his Daughter," p. 98. + See his Life by Dr. Young, p. 6. Life, p. 7, The English language was much corrupted by the preachers at this period. The eloquence of the pulpit differed widely from every other fpecies, and abounded with fuch figures of fpeech as rhetoric has found no name for*. The language of prayer was no lefs corrupted than that of preaching: the fecond perfon in the Trinity was frequently addreffed in the familiar, the fond, and the fulfome ftyle; much of which feems to have been borrowed from Academy of Compliments," a foolish book published about this time. 66 Life, p, 20. cvii. ver. 7. "The This is exemplified in a printed account of a fermon of Hugh Peters's on Pfalm "He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city of "habitation." He told his audience, that God was forty years leading Ifrael through the wilderness to Canaan, which was not forty days march; but that God's right way was great way about. He then made a circumflex on his cufhion, and faid, that the Israelites were led "crinkledom cum crankledom." See the ftory at large in the Parliamentary history," vol. XXII. p. 72. THOMAS VENNER, HOMAS Venner, a wine. TH cooper, who acquired a competent eflate by his trade, was reputed a man of fenfe and religion, before his understanding was bewildered with enthufiafm. He was fo ftrongly poffeffed with the notions of the Millenarians, or Fifth Monarchy Men, that he ftrongly expected that Chrift was coming to reign upon earth, and that all human government, except that of the faints, was prefently to cease. He looked upon Cromwell, and Charles II. as ufurpers upon Chrift's dominion, and perfuaded his weak brethren, that it was their duty to rife and feize upon the kingdom in his name. Accordingly a rabble of them, with Venner at their head, affembled in the streets, and proclaimed king Jefus. They were attacked by a party of the militia, whom they refolutely engaged, as many of them believed themfelves to be invulnerable. They were at length overpowered by numbers, and their leader, with twelve of his followers, was executed in January, 1660-1. They affirmed to the "laft, that if they had been de"ceived, the Lord himfelf was "their deceiver." JOHN, *Lord Clarendon obferves, that the fanatics "difcovered a wonderful malig"nity in their difcourfes, and vows of revenge for their innocent friends (the "regicides). They caufed the fpeeches they made at their deaths to be printed, "in which there was nothing of a repentance or forrow for their wickedness; "but a justification of what they had done for the caufe of God." They had their meetings to confult about revenge, and hoped that the disbanded army would have efpoufed their caufe. See the "Continuation of Lord Clarendon's Life." P. 134, 135. JOHN, the Quaker. JOHN OHN Kelfey went to Conftantinople, upon no less a defign than that of converting the grand fignior. He preached at the corner of one of the freets of that city, with all the vehemence of a fanatic but as he spoke in his own language, the people ftared at him, but could not fo much as guefs at the drift of his difcourfe, They foon concluded him to be out of his fenfes, and carried him to a mad-houfe, where he was confined for fix months. One of the keepers happening to hear him fpeak the word English, informed Jord Winchelfea, who was then ambaffador to the Porte, that a mad countryman of his was then under confinement. His lordship fent for him; and he appeared before him in a torn and dirty hat, which he could not by any means be perfuaded to take off. The ambaffador thought that a little of the Turkish difcipline would be of fervice to him, and prefently ordered him to be drubbed upon the feet. This occafioned a total change in his behaviour, and he acknowledged that the drubbing had a good effect upon his fpirit. Upon fearching his pockets, a letter was found addreffed to the Great Turk, in which he told him, that he was a fcourge in the hand of God to chaftife the wicked; and that he had fent him not only to denounce, but to execute vengeance. He was put on board a fhip bound for England; but found means to escape in his paffage, and returned to Conftantinople. He was foon after fent on board another ship, and fo effectually fecured that he could not efcape a fecond time. 'HIS man, whofe name was Daniel, was porter to Oliver Cromwell, in whose 1 fervice he learned much of the cant that prevailed at that time. He was a great plodder in books of divinity, efpecially in thofe of the myftical kind, which are fuppofed to have turned his brain. He was many years in Bedlam, where his library was, after fome time, allowed him; as there was not the leaft probability of his cure. The moft confpicuous of his books was a large bible, given him by Nell Gwynn. He frequently preached, and fometimes prophefied; and was faid to have foretold feveral remarkable events, particularly the fire of London. One would think that Butler had this frantic enthusiast in view, where he fays, |