A F ;mera! ::,ermon on Dr. W illiam Bates. --Aj-;;;;;;,ji, whofe fragrant Memory will long furvive the Age he liv'd i~A;;d~ !us Example might govern in London, as long as his Name Jails! Of him the Doflor ;.;~;;~e~:~~ ~~r·u ~B~:;ti:h~ ~::;:'~fe~od~nt~~~t ~:ii~~e:un~~j~~cr:t~r~:r~ of the divine Calm m;,_ Alhh"fi, And who could have !aid this but Dr. Haw! Or fo appofitely have apply'd f;~d~;;,:~. " what had an higher Author! So expreffively! fo fully ! fo truly ! and jullly was it fpoken! ~ut alfo, of whom could this have been mme fitly faid, than Mutato nomine, of Dr. Baw! How rarely fhould we 'ee a Countenance fo conllant, and fo faithful an Index, of an undillurb'd, compos'd Mind? . Thorough that, ifwe_look'd into this, how rich Furniture of the Inner Man fhould we foon perceive, and admire! His IVatHral EndoJVments, an_d Abilities, appea:'d to every Obferv~r, great, much beyond the common rate. HIS .Apprehenfion qu1ck, and clear. HIS Reajo11ing Facullf acute, prompt, and expert: So as readtly and aptly to produce, and urge clofely, the ihonger and more pregnant Ar8Nments, when he was to ufe them; and foon to difcern the Strength of Arguments, 1f l?e w~s to anf\ver them. His Judgment pe... netrating and folid, !table and firm. Hu Wtt never vain, or light, but moll facetious and pleafant~ by the Minillry of a F•nCJ, both very vi 1;orous and lively; and moll ohedtent to h1s ReAfon; always remote both from meannfjs, and e!Jorrmty. HIS Memory was admirable, and never fail'd, that any one could obfer ve, not impair'd by his great Age of 74: Infomuch, that Speecl,es made upon Solemn Occafions, of no in-elel:\ant Compofition (fame whereof the World ita th feen, tho' extorted from him wtth great difficulty, and by much Importunity) he could afterwards repeat to a word, when he had not penn'd one word of them before. And hi <> Ser.. mons, wherein nothing could be more remote from ~·amble, h~ conllamiy deiJVered from his Memory. And hath fometime told me, w tth an am•cable Freedom, That he pa.rtly did it, to teach f9me that were you!lger, to preach wi£hout Notes. Hu Leatning, and acqu1red Knowledge of T~1ings, ufuaiJy reckon'd [O lie within that Compafs, was a vaH:·Treafure. He had ltv'd a long, fi udious Life ; an earncfl: Gatherer, and (as the Phrafe is) Devourer of Books. .With wh:ch he had (o great an acquaintance, and they that were acquamted wtth htm fa well .knew it, :he. t one, who was for the Dtgntty of hiS StatiOn, and the Emmency of hiS Endow!Tients, as great a Pillar, and as excellent an Ornament of the Church, as any it hath had formany an Age, bath been known to fay, That were he to collea a Libra:y, he would as foon confult Dr. Hates, as any Man he l<new. He was indeed himfelf a living one. He knew how to chufe, and was curious in his Choice. Whatfoever belong'd to the finer, and more polite fort of Literature, was moll grateful to h1m, when it Id! into a Conjunaion with what was alfo moft ufeful. Nothing mean was welcome into his Library, or detained there; much lefs thought fit to be entertain'd, and laid up, in the more private Repofitory of his Mind. To fpeak of the particular Parts of his Learning wherein he excell'd, were to trtfle, when there are fo many vifible Effeas extant, that enough inform the World. His Divine !(.now/edge, and the abundant Grace of God in him, have been eminently confpicuous, the fame way·, in great part ; but otherwife alfo. For his private Converfatzon was fo tr.Jiru{five, fo quiclming, in reference to what lay within the Confines of Religion, and Godlinefs, that no Man of ordinary CaE~~~~e~o:!~:~~~r~i~a%ua~~. and moft familiar Difcourfes, but either with great Neg· When he hath been to confider a Cafe of Confeience, I have fometimes had opportunity to obferve, with what Wifdom, what Caution, what Tendernefs, he l1ath fpoken to it, and with what Compafs of Thought ; turning it round this way, ·and that; moft ftriaJy regarding our Sacred Rule, and weighing all Circumftances that concerned the Cafe: But withal, taking occafion tram thence (when the Perfoos concern'd have not been prefent) to magnlfic and adore the Grace of God ; which he would do moft pathetically, and with great Affeaion ; for keeping us out of rhe Way of Temptation. Which he thought was too little confidered by Chrill~ans; and thereby faving us from the Intangkmcnts, and Perplexities of Spirit, as wellas from the Scandals that befel many. I never !mew any more frequent, and affea10. nare,
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