control, and that all that other men bave, fhould be at their difpofal. If he hath any inclinations in religion, they are to the church of Rome, being a people with whom he hath most converfed, and to whom he hath too much undervalued the protestant religion (which he never understoood) to feem now to have any reverence for it; but furely he is without affection to, at least reverence for any religion, and entertains difcourfe of it, as a field wide and large for all skirmifhes of wit. In a word he is the first man that ever aimed to be great in government without the leaf pretence of caring for religion or of love to juftice, and if his days end in profperity he will be a rare example. MEMOIRS of Sir JOHN DAVIES. [Extracted from the Account of his Life, prefixed to the Collection of his Hiftorical Tracts.] "He was the third fon of John Davies, of Tifbury in Wiltshire, who, having been of New Inn, returned to his native place from the practice of the law, with fuch a fortune as enabled him to give his children very liberal educations. Young Davies, when was not yet fifteen, was fent to Oxford, in Michaelmas term 1585, where he became a commoner of Queen's College, which has reared fo many men eminent for literature. Having an acute mind, an attentive tutor, and, what is feldom the companion of genius, great application, he foon acquired a contiderable fhare of academic knowledge. His writings, which abound in claffic allufions, are fufficient proofs of his fcholaftic acquirements. He obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts,; in July 1590, as appears from the Fasti. Davies removed, mean while, from Queen's to the Middle Temple, in February 1587-8. In this learned fociety he found an exten five field, on which to difplay his talents. As he abridged, at a fubfequent period, the elaborate Reports of fir Edward Coke, we might infer, that he was a fevere reader, if his own works did not evince how much he exerted a laudable industry in every fituation. But he was high-fpirited, perhaps quar relfome; and he interrupted his own ftudies, and the quiet of the Inn, by mifdemeanors, for which he was fined, and by disorders, for which he was removed from com mons. In proportion as the difcipline of thofe times was rigid, were the manners of the ftudents licentious. With the relaxation of difcipline, diforders gradually difappeared. To young men of fuperioracquirements, much was forgiven, by difcerning benchers; and Davies, after all his frolics, was, alone, called called to the degree of utter barrifter, in July 1595. In an age when promotion was gradual and flow, Davies, probably, did not advance faft in his profeffion, against fuch powerful competitors as Coke, Bacon, and other eminent lawyers. He was, indeed, thrown feveral years behind by his own indifcretion. "Upon fome little provocation (as Anthony Wood relates) he baftinadoed Richard Martin, while they were at dinner in the Temple-hall." This was, doubtlefs, a grievous offence against the fevere manners of thofe times, and indeed against the punctilious civility of any times: and in February 1597-8, Davies was expelled by the unanimous fuffrages of a fociety whofe privileges he had forfeited, by an offence, dangerous to its members, and deftructive of its credit. Of this outrage we are left by Wood to guefs the provocation. "Davies now returned to Oxford, in the condition of a fojourner, according to Wood, but with a mind improved by adverfity. He, indeed, fays himself, This mistress lately pluck'd me by the ear, And many a golden leffon hath me taught; Hath made my fenfes quick and reafon clear, Reform'd my will, and rectify'd my thought. Under this fhelter, and with thefe golden leffons, our author compofed his poem on the Immortality of the Soul, which he published in 1599, and entitled, Nofce Teipfum. If in this fhort period he compofed this work, which Wood calls divine, he must have poffeffed very vigorous. faculties. For we every where meet with fyftematic arrangement, metaphyfical exact "In a strain of wit and gallantry, which may have furnished patterns to Cowley and Waller, our author dedicated his elaborate production to queen Elizabeth : To that clear majefly, which, in the north, Doth, like another fun, in glory rise, Which ftandeth fix'd, yet fpreads her heavenly worth: Load one to hearts, and load ar to all eyes. "Elizabeth was fufficiently eager of praife, which fhe received as due to her charms, even in the decline of life, as much as to her wifdom, when her government was most refpected; but he too feldom extended her patronage to the greatest genius. This poem, however, procured him the notice of the great, and perhaps laid the foundation of his future fortune. "Davies was now confidered as a profefled wit, and at length enjoyed the notice, which greatnefs often yields to genius. When the queen was to be entertained by Mr. Secretary Cecil, our poet was fummoned to furnish his fhare of gratulations. And he has left us A Conference between a Gentleman Ufher and a Poft, before the Queen, at Mr. Secretary's Houfe. This dramatic effort of our author's mufe does him no great credit as a poet, however much it may have delighted the hearers, who came prepared to be pleased. On the other hand, few of our greatest dramatic writers could have produced the Nofce Teipfum, or the Acrostics. from whence he expected his best preferment." After fome delay, and in confequence of ample fub. milion before chiet juftice Popham, and other judges, he was restored, in Trinity term, 1601, to his former rank; Martin, at the fame time, forgiving an injury, which both probably wifhed to forget. It was by the favour of lord Ellefmere, fays Wood, that he was reftored to his chamber. Certain it is when Davies dedicated his Law Reports to that illuftrious Chancellor, and worthy man, he acknowledged, that lord Ellefmere "had been a good angel unto him, and what might carry a fhew of adulation in another, muft needs be thought gratitude in him." "With the influence of fuch patronage, and the aid of great abili ties, Davies continued to rife in his profeffion, till the demife of Eliza beth. New profpects opened to him, with the commencement of a new reign. If we may believe the great Bacon, there was, on that memorable event, a continual post "Davies was ere long called to play his own part in a drama of greater dignity. He was chofen (though by what influence, it is now impoffible to tell) into the laft parliament of Elizabeth, which met on the 27th of October 1601. He appears to have been extremely active in moving ufeful bills, and to have been a ftrenuous fupporter of the privileges of the houfe, while it was not yet quite fafe. He spoke manfully in the great debate about monopolies, infifting, that the houfe ought to procced against them by bill, and not by petition. It is rather remarkable, that his old antagonist Martin maintained the other fide of the question. On this occafion it was, that Hakewell afked, If bread was not in the long lifting of men of good quality towards of monopolics? Elizabeth, perceiving the houfe fo greatly agitated as to difregard her minifier's apologies, thought it prudent to recall the patents; and Davies was fent on the grand committce, to thank the queen for relinquishing projects, which, happy had it been for prince and people, had the legifla ture on this occafion abolished by ftatute. "Davies had now acquired a flation of fome eminence, at a time of life when friendships are easily formed. And he ardently wifhed to be reftored to the privileges and profits of a fociety, amongst whon, as he declared, he had received his chiefest education, and 66 the king. Davies pofted with lord Hunfdon to Scotland, in order to offer his adorations to the rifing fun; and being, among other Englifh gentlemen, introduced to James, the king, fays, Wood, ftraightway afked, if he was Nofce Teipfum ? and receiving for answer that he was the fame, his majefty gracioufly embraced him. This conduct was truly characteristic of James, who is known to have been of much more familiar manners than Elizabeth, and ftill more forward to difinguifh lefs merit than Davies poffeffed. If Lacon did not accompany Davies, he wrote to him, as he had done to every other perfon, who, he thought, could imprefs a good conceit of a concealed poet. Davies was an avowed poet; Bacon a concealed one. "It was to the patronage of fir Robert Cecil, as much as to the favour of James, that Davies was fent, in 1603, folicitor-general to Ireland, and immediately appointed attorney-general. Thefe offices required, at that time, men as remarkable for prudence, as diftinguifhed for knowledge. "Davies was highly qualified for his ftation and he was foon appointed one of the judges of affize, who, for the first time, ever visited feveral counties of Ireland, and who taught, at length, a rude people the difference between the tyrannic oppreffion of their ancient customs, and the mild influence of juft government. In all thefe fituations, Davies obtained the praifes of his fuperiors, as a painful and well deferving fervant of his majefty. It was on thefe circuits, probably, which enabled him to vifit every province of Ireland, that he met with Eleanor, the third daughter of lord Audley, who having diftinguished himfelf in the Irifh wars, now enjoyed dignified eafe, among a people that admired his valour. This lady he married: but, from her eccentricity of temper, he could not derive much domeftic happiness. She brought him only one fon, who died a youth, in his father's life, and one daughter, Lucy, who having married Ferdinando Haftings, carried the blood of Davies, with his fortune, into the family of Huntingdon. "With the extenfion of law over a more quiet people, law-fuits neceffarily increafed; and as the bufinefs of the courts of juftice augmented, the practice of Davies alfo extended, in proportion to the greatness of his ftation and his talents. He was called to the degree of ferjeant at law, in Trinityterm 1606, and received the honour of knighthood, on the 11th of February 1607. Thefe promotions he owed to the patronage of Lord Ellefiere and the Earl of Salifbury, with whom he corresponded. Sir Edward Coke was at the fame time called to the degree of ferjeant, being appointed chief juftice of the Common Pleas. But Sir Francis Bacon was ftill left undif tinguifhed behind, to the infinite mortification of an ambitious mind. "Sir John retained his office of attorney-general of Ireland, notwithstanding his degree of ferjeant, the king having fpecially difpenf ed with his prefence in England. Thefe honours, we may eafily fup. pofe, did not leffen his practice, or his credit; and there remains fufficient evidence, that he did not difcontinue his accustomed diligence. "Among his most laborious avocations, fir John employed much of his time in ftudying the complicated hiftory of Ireland, and in tracing, through various revolutions, the origin of its laws, and progrefs of its conftitution. "He publifhed the refult of his inquiries in 1612, under the wellknown title of A Difcovery of the true Caufes why Ireland was never entirely fubdued till the Beginning of his Majesty's Reign. This ela borate performance he dedicated to the king, in a Latin line, which imported that it is the first duty of a prince to know his own dominions. "This work is often quoted: and it can never be read without pleafure or inftruction. Dr. Johnfon by frequently citing the Disco very, and the Nofce Teipfum, as au thorities, has enrolled the writings of fir John Davies among the Eng. lith claffics. Whether as an acknowledgment for this dedication, or as a reward for greater fervices, our author was, in June 1612, appointed the king's ferjeant. But he not long after loft his first and fteady patron the Earl of Salisbury, who died when his wifdom and his influence were the most neceffary to a court, fwayed by favouritifm, and to a country governed by minions. Sir John was foon elected into a ftill more diftinguifhed ftation. Amidft the distractions of civil war, and the repofe of fubfequent projects of improvement, no parliament had been called in IreĴand during the laft feven and twenty years; yet, never were legiflative acts more neceflary. The Irish nation was divided into two parties, whofe power was nearly equal. The Roman Catholics formed the great body of the people: the Proteftan's compofed probably not more than one fourth. The laws, however, impofed on the objects of their jealoufy many difabilities; and the proteftants of confequence enjoyed all official profit and all political power. When the people and the government ftand thus oppofed to cach other, diffatisfaction must ever predominate. Such was the fiate of Ireland, when manifest utility induced the lord deputy to if fue writs for a new election in 1612. Both parties exerted the artifices and the violences, which accompa. ny popular elections, when the minds of the electors are ftrongly agitated by hopes or apprehenfions. The Roman Catholic party carried their elections chiefly in the counties; the proteftant party in the boroughs, feveral of which had been lately erected, during the progrefs of plantation. Sir John Davies was elected for the county of Ferinannagh; being the first re prefentative whh it had ever chofen. "The houfe of commons confisted now of two hundred and twenty five members. Of these there appeared when the houfe met, of the proteftant party, one hundred and twenty-one; of the Roman Catholic, one hundred and one. This approximation to equality had been alfo futhcient to create great intrigues and altercation in any popular alfembly. But, among the members who were then aiembled to chufe a fpeaker, and who were animated by a fenfe of ancient antipathy and of recent oppofition, the tumult approached nearly to the bloody fcenes of a Polifh diet. Sir John Davies was propofed as fpeaker by the court; fir John Everard, who had been an Irish judge, but refigned, because he could not take the oath of fupremacy, was fupported by the Roman catholic party.. The houfe divided. The court members went out, according to parliamentary form. But their opponents, confidering themfelves as the majority of legal reprefentatives, placed fir John Everard in the chair, as duly elected, and nothing remained for the real majority but to remove the intruder, or to place the true fpeaker in the fame chair. The perfeverance of the majority induced the minority to fecede from an affembly which they thus found they could not rule. All parties had been fo much accuftomed in that country to attempt every thing by force, that the parliament-men had not yet learned to defeat, or to qualify difagreeable measures by fly intrigue, pertina cious debate, or by close divifions. The great body of the people applauded the feceders. And the lord deputy Chichester, whose prudence was equal to his firmness, prorogued the parliament, in order to fuffer |