THE COPY OF A LETTER WRIT TO

MR. IZAAK WALTON,

BY

DR. KING,

LORD BISHOP OF CHICHESTER.

HONEST IZAAK,

THOUGH a familiarity of more than forty years continuance, and the conftant experience of your love, even in the worft of the late fad times, be fufficient to endear our friendship; yet I must confefs my affection much improved, not only by evidences of private respect to many that know and love you, but by your new demonstration of a public fpirit, teftified in a diligent, true, and ufeful collection of fo many material pasfages as you have now afforded me in the Life of venerable Mr. Hooker; of which, fince defired by fuch a friend as yourself, I shall not deny to give the testimony of what I know concerning him and his

learned

learned books: but shall first here take a fair occafion to tell you, that you have been happy in choofing to write the Lives of three fuch persons, as pofterity hath just cause to honour; which they will do the more for the true relation of them by your happy pen of all which I shall give you my unfeigned cenfure.

I fhall begin with my moft dear and incomparable friend Dr. Donne, late Dean of St. Paul's church, who not only trufted me as his executor, but three days before his death delivered into my hands those excellent Sermons of his, now made public; profeffing before Dr. Winniff, Dr. Mon-ford, and, I think, yourself then prefent at his bed-fide, that it was by my restless importunity, that he had prepared them for the prefs: together with which (as his beft legacy) he gave me all his fermonnotes, and his other papers, containing an extract of near fifteen hundred authors. How these were got out of my hands, you, who were the meffenger for them, and how loft both to me and yourself, is not now seasonable to complain. But fince

they

they did miscarry, I am glad that the general demonftration of his worth was fo fairly preferved, and reprefented to the world by your pen in the hiftory of his life; indeed fo well, that, befide others, the beft critic of our later time (Mr. John Hales, of Eaton College) affirmed to me, " he had not feen a life written with more "advantage to the fubject, or more repu"tation to the writer, than that of Dr. "Donne's."

After the performance of this task for Dr. Donne, you undertook the like office for our friend Sir Henry Wotton: betwixt which two there was a friendship begun in Oxford, continued in their various travels, and more confirmed in the religious friendship of age; and doubtless this excellent perfon had writ the Life of Dr. Donne, if death had not prevented him: by which means, his and your pre-collections for that work fell to the happy manage of your pen: a work which you would have declined, if imperious perfuafions had not been ftronger than your modeft refolutions against it. And I am b thus

VOL. I.

thus far glad, that the firft Life was fo imposed upon you, because it gave an unavoidable caufe of writing the second: if not, it is too probable we had wanted both; which had been a prejudice to all lovers of honour and ingenious learning. And let me not leave my friend Sir Henry without this teftimony added to yours; that he was a man of as florid a wit, and as elegant a pen, as any former (or ours, which in that kind is a moft excellent) age hath ever produced.

And now, having made this voluntary obfervation of our two deceased friends, I proceed to fatisfy your defire concerning what I know and believe of the evermemorable Mr. Hooker, who was Schif maticorum malleus, fo great a champion for the Church of England's rights, against the factious torrent of Separatifts that then ran high against church-difcipline; and in his unanfwerable Books continues to be so against the unquiet disciples of their fchifm, which now, under other names, ftill carry on their defign; and who (as the proper heirs of their irrational zeal) would