charge of 1000l. in money, and plate to the same value. Upon his coming thither, he entered himself in the university of Leyden, became guardian to the young gentleman, took good lodgings, and made a considerable appearance. Having continued a student eight years, he took his degree of M. A. and was afterwards admitted ad eundum at Oxford. While he was in Holland he got into the particular acquaintance of the famous Mr. Cann, then pastor of the English church at Amsterdam; to whose daughter (a very deserving woman) he paid his addresses, and after his return to England he married her. Soon afterwards he was chosen minister of Paul's Wharf in London, where he was ordained by Mr. Matthew Poole, &c. He remained there six years, well respected, and was in high repute among his brethren. Not enjoying his health well in the city, he removed to Wooburn in Bedfordshire, and was chaplain to the earl of Bedford about two years. Mr. Hartford, the minister of Dartmouth, dying in the year 1656, Mr. John Howe and Mr. Robert Jagoe, (the latter of whom conformed after the restoration) were proposed as candidates there, and had an equal number of voices. The town was at a great loss, for neither side was willing to yield. Mr. T. Boon (Mr. Howe's great friend at Dartmouth, and his near relation by marriage) having been with Oliver Cromwell, took the opportunity of mentioning to him the difficulty they were in at Dartmouth, and at the same time gave such a character of Mr. Howe, as raised in the protector an earnest desire to see him, and to hear him preach; upon which, he said, he would give his judgment in the case. Mr. Boon signified that Mr. Howe intended to be at the chapel as an auditor, the next Lord's day. He accordingly was, when the protector sent for him, and desired a sermon from him. [Mr. Howe begged to be excused, and pleaded the necessity of his return home; but the protector over-ruled his pleas and] was so charmed with his performance, that he declared Mr. Howe should not go to Dartmouth, but should be his chaplain; and soon after signified to the people of that town, his unwillingness to have Mr. Jagoe his competitor settled there. Thus the contest ended, and the town was at liberty to proceed to a new choice,

§ The account given in the former edition, vol. I. p. 351, which repre sents Mr. Howe in an unfavourable light, as if he was too anxious to please the protector, is here omitted, as it does not well accord with that great man's general character, nor with the statement of this affair by Dr. Calamy himself, in his MEMOIRS of the LIFE of Mr. HowE, printed 1724, p. 17.

VOL. II.-NO. XI,

which

which fell upon Mr. Geare. Mr. Joseph Cubit, then mayor, and Mr. Barnes, one of the magistrates, took a journey to Wooburn to invite and treat with him. He accepted their call, and sent Mr. Ford to officiate in his room, till such time as he could remove thither. In about six months Mr. Geare went to Dartmouth with his family, and was highly respected by the inhabitants of the town, and by the neighbouring ministers, having the character of a universal scholar, an able preacher, and an eminently pious man.

any

After his ejectment in 1662, he had offers of great preferment if he would conform, but he could not be moved by solicitations, judging the terms required unlawful; and he expressed great satisfaction in his Nonconformity on his death-bed. He met with hard measure for preaching a sermon on a Lord's day after the public service was ended. Some of the magistrates informed against him, whereupon he was summoned, and appeared before the commissioners at Exeter, in very severe weather; whereby he got such a grievous cold as threw him into a violent fever, which in a fortnight put a period to his valuable life, towards the end of December 1662, when he was about forty years of age. He left a widow and five children. His being buried in the church-yard was much opposed by some; but at length, with no small difficulty, it was obtained. Mr. Flavel was his

intimate friend.

WORKS. He was concerned with Mr. Calamy and others, in a Preface to some of Mr. Christopher Love's Posthumous Works. He translated the Dutch Annotations on the Bible, for which he was paid 601. He left behind him a fair MS. against the Baptists, dated at Leyden.

*

** *TOWNSTALL, [alias ST. CLEMENTS, R.] JOHN FLAVEL, B. A. of University Col. Oxford. He was a native of Worcestershire, where his father was an eminent minister, first at Bromsgrove, and afterwards at Hasler. He was first assistant to Mr. Walplate at Diptford in Devonshire, in 1650, and ordained with several others at Salisbury, Oct. 17, in the same year. On Mr. Walplate's death, he succeeded in this rectory; but, upon an unanimous call, he removed to Dartmouth, where there was a larger sphere of usefulness, though the benefice was smaller. He was settled here by the Commissioners for the approbation of public preachers, having an order from Whitehall, dated Dec. 10, 1650, in conjunction with Mr. Allan Geare. Mr. Flavel preached every Lord's-day at Townstall, (which is the mo

ther

Published by Button & Son, Paternoster Row.

30

ther church, standing on a hill without the town) and every fortnight at the Wednesday-lecture in Dartmouth. He here laboured with great acceptance and success, till the Act of uniformity ejected him. But, not thinking his relation to his people thereupon at an end, he took all opportunities of ministering the word and sacraments to them in private. About four months after his ejectment his colleague died, when the whole care of the flock devolved upon him. When the Oxford act took place, he removed from Dartmouth, (his people following him to Townstall church-yard, where they took a mournful farewell of each other) and went to Slapton, about five miles distant, where he met with signal instances of God's providential care, and preached twice every Lord's day; making frequent visits to his friends in Dartmouth, and preaching to them as the watchful diligence of his enemies would admit. A manuscript account says, The house to which he retired was called Hudscott, a seat belonging to the family of the Rolles, near South-Molton; and that there he preached at midnight, for the sake of secrecy, when the great hall was thronged with an attentive and deeply-affected auditory. Probably both these accounts may be true, as he might preach privately by night at first, and find encouragement to preach publicly in the day-time afterwards. Here it was that he laid in his materials for his Husbandry Spiritualized, from the observations he here made on the scenes of rural life. Being once at Exeter, he was invited by many good people of that city to preach to them in a wood about three miles distant, where their enemies disturbed them; but Mr. Flavel, through the care of his hearers, escaped, though many of them were taken. The rest however, not being discouraged, took him to another wood, where he preached without any molestation.

On K. Charles's first Indulgence, he returned to Dartmouth, and kept an open meeting in the town. When that liberty was recalled, he continued to preach more privately. Being at last in great danger here, through the malice of his enemies, he resolved to retire to London, where he hoped for more safety. He went by sea, and met with so terrible a storm, within five leagues of Portland, that both the master and seamen concluded they must of necessity be wrecked, if the wind did not quickly change. When things were in this posture, he called all that could be spared to prayer, and recommended himself and them to God. No sooner was prayer ended, than the wind changed, and one came down