PRINCES-STREET, WESTMINSTER.English Presbyterian.

this rather an odd accident contributed; which was the ignorance of the informers as to his christian name, which he studiously concealed, and which they could not by any artifices discover. Wood, who mentions him more than once, and with his accustomed good nature, supposed his name to be Benjamin, probably from the sameness of Ben and Vin, in their sound. His sufferings, however, terminated with the reign of Charles II. or at least in the beginning of the next reign; when his son, who had been engaged in some treasonable practices, was freely pardoned by King James. This circumstance is supposed to have made a great impression upon the mind of Mr. Alsop, and to account for his intimacy with that mouarch, as well as for the part he took in the transactions of that short reign. After this event he certainly went much to court, and is generally supposed to have been the person who drew up the address to that prince, for his general indulgence. For this he has been greatly censured both by Churchmen and Presbyterians: by the former because they had lost their influence; and by the latter for want of a just acquaintance with the true principles of religious liberty. For a more particular account of the politics of the court and clergy at that period, the reader is requested to turn to the account of Mr. Lobb.* After the revolution, Mr. Alsop gave very public testimonies of his affection for the government; yet upon all occasions spoke respectfully of King James, and retained to the last a high sense of his clemency in sparing his only son.

The remainder of his life he spent in the exercise of his ministry, and in doing all the good which opportunity afforded him. Besides preaching once every Lord's-day at his own place in Westminster, he had a lecture there on Thursdays, and preached in his turn at the Merchants' lecture, first at Pinners'-hall, and afterwards at Salters'-hall;

PRINCES-STREET, WESTMINSTER.

-English Presbyterian.

in which places he laboured with all his might to promote the cause of truth and holiness, and was not without success. He lived to be a very old man, and preserved his spirits to the last. Mr. Alsop died at his house in Westminster, May the 28th, 1703. His funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Slater, and his memory will be always preserved by his own learned and elegant writings. Of these, a catalogue shall be inserted below. (B)

JOHN SHOWER.-This valuable minister entered upon public life as assistant to Mr. Alsop, and continued in that relation till he retired abroad in 1683. He preached afterwards for many years in the Old Jewry, under which article the reader will find a particular account of his life and cha

racter.

NATHANIEL TAYLOR Succeeded Mr. Shower in the capacity of assistant to Mr. Alsop, for about four years, but

Calamy's Acc. p. 487-489.- - Contin. p. 633, 4. vol. i. p. 167, 8.

-Biog. Brit.

(B) WORKS.-1. Anti-Sozzo; in Vindication of some great truths opposed by Mr. William Sherlock. 8vo. 1675.—2. Melius Inquirendum, or, Sober Inquiry into the Preaching and Practices of the Nonconformists, against Dr. Goodman. 8vo. 1679. Third edit. 1681.-3. The Mischief of Impositions. In answer to Dr. Stillingfleet's Mischief of Separation. 1680.-4. A Seasonable Warning to Protestants from the Treachery and Cruelty of the Massacre in Paris.—5. Divine Meditations upon several Subjects, by the excellent Pen of Sir William Waller.-6. A Faithful Rebuke to a False Report, with Reference to the Differences occasioned by the Re-publication of Dr. Crisp's Works.-7. Duty and Interest united in Prayer and Praise for Kings; a Thanksgiving Sermon Sept. 8, 1695.-8. Practical Godliness the Ornament of Religion. 8vo. 1696.-9. God in the Mount: a Sermon on the Wonderful Deliverance of his Majesty from Assassination, and the Nation from Invasion. 1696. -10. A Sermon before the Society for Reformation of Manners, Aug. 15, 1698.—11. A Sermon preached at Westminster on the Public Fast, Dec. 19, 1701.-12. Two Sermons in the Morning Exercise, 1. On the Fulness of God; in the 4th vol. 2. On strange Fashions in Apparel; in the Coutinuation.-18. The Life of Mr. Daniel Cawdry.

PRINCES-STREET, WESTMINSTER.-English Presbyterian.

in 1687, he retired to Holland, and was afterwards a very distinguished minister at Salters'-hall, to which place we refer for a further account of him.

SAMUEL LAWRENCE, an excellent minister, who spent the chief part of his life in the country, was born in the year 1661, at Wem, a market town in Shropshire. His parents were pious persons, and his uncle, Mr. Edward Lawrence, whom he is said to have greatly resembled, quitted a living for conscience sake, in the same county. From his earliest years he was greatly addicted to books and reading, and at a proper age was placed at the free-school in Wem, where he made great progress in the languages, under Mr. Roderick the master. He was afterwards removed to a flourishing school at Newport; from whence he passed under the inspection of Mr. Philip Henry at Broad-Oak, and Mr. Tallents at Shrewsbury. After this he spent some considerable time under Mr. Malden at Alkinton, near Whitchurch, and upon that gentleman's death in 1681, was sent to study university learning under Mr. Charles Moreton, who kept a flourishing academy at Newington Green, in the vicinity of London. When the iniquity of the times forced that learned person to break up his seminary, Mr. Lawrence was recommended as an assistant to Mr. Singleton, who kept a grammar-school in Bartholomew-close. After two or three years he was received into the family of Lady Irby, at Westminster, as her domestic chaplain. Whilst in this situation he began to preach as an assistant to Mr. Alsop, and his first performances were very acceptable. In 1688 he went into the country to see his relations. Whilst there, he received an invitation from a society of Dissenters at Nantwich, in Cheshire, and being persuaded to accept it, received ordination at Warrington, in the November of that year. In this station, Mr. Lawrence continued till his death, which happened April 24, 1712, in the fifty-first year of his age. He was a minister of extraordinary piety, dili

PRINCES-STREET, WESTMINSTER.-English Presbyterian,

gence and faithfulness; and his labours were made very useful in the part of the country where he was situated. A little before his death, he began to prepare young men in their studies for the ministry amongst the nonconformists, to whose cause he was firmly and conscientiously attached. As he lived in a state of constant preparation for death, the suddenness of its appearance was no terror to him; and he finished his course with joy, after an illness of only nine days. The excellent Mr. Matthew Henry, who preached his funeral sermon, and annexed to it some account of his life, has drawn a portraiture of him that exhibits in very striking characters, the pastoral labours of a nonconformist minister at that period; and presents a model deserving the imitation of every minister who may be desirous of making himself useful. Mr. Lawrence left behind him a widow and two daughters; as also three sons by a former wife. One of these was Dr. Samuel Lawrence, of Monkwell

strect.

THOMAS KENTISH.-Mr. Alsop was assisted soon after the revolution by another young minister, Mr. Thomas Kentish, who had also pursued his studies under Mr. MoreIn 1696, he removed to succeed Mr. Nathaniel Oldfield, at Maid-lane, Southwark; where he will again fall under our notice.

DANIEL MAYO.-After the removal of Mr. Kentish, his place was supplied by Mr. Daniel Mayo, who had just commenced preacher. He continued but a short time with Mr. Alsop, having accepted a call, about 1698, from a congregation at Kingston-upon-Thames. He was afterwards minister of Silver-street and Hackney, at the former of which places, we have given some account of his life and

character.

Henry's Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Lawrence, p. 33—48.

PRINCES-STREET, WESTMINSTER.English Presbyterian.

EDMUND CALAMY, D. D.-This learned and eminent Divine to whom, as Protestant Dissenters, we are on various accounts so greatly indebted, was descended from a race of illustrious ancestors. His grandfather was that renowned puritan and celebrated preacher, the Rev. Mr. Edmund Calamy, of Aldermanbury, who, to the reproach of the times, was deprived of his living for nonconformity, in 1662, and afterwards died of a broken heart upon seeing London in ashes. The eldest son of this venerable man, who was also ejected from a good living at Moreton, in Essex, was the father of Dr. Edmund Calamy, of Westminster.(c) He was born in Aldermanbury, April 5, 1671. Being inclined to learning from his earliest years, suitable care was taken of his education; and having made a considerable proficiency in grammar learning at several private schools, he was placed at Merchant Tailors', under the instruction of the celebrated Mr. Hartcliffe. From this gentleman he merited particular esteem; and received the kind offer of his assistance in procuring him admission into one of the universities, had he been so disposed. But his own views, as well as those of his relations, inclining a different way, he was sent to a private academy at Islington, kept by the celebrated Mr. Thomas Doolittle.* From thence he removed to another private seminary at Wickham-Brook in Suffolk, where he went through a course of logic, natural philosophy and metaphysics, under the tuition of the pious and learned Mr. Samuel Cradock, who, before the act of uniformity, had been fellow of Emmanuel College, in Cambridge, where he was a noted tutor. With this excellent person Mr. Ca

(c) Old Mr. Calamy, of Aldermanbury, had several children besides him of Moreton. One of these was Dr. Benjamin Calamy. a zealous conformist, and rector of St. Lawrence Jewry, whose name is too well known in connexion with that of Mr. Dalaune. He had a younger brother, Mr. James Calamy, who was likewise a conformist, and possessed the living of Cheriton-Bishops, in Devonshire.

• Dr. Calamy's funeral sermon for Mr. Mottershed, p. 35.