NOTES TO INTRODUCTION. he was selected as one of the Assembly of Divines : he is said to have assisted in com- posing the Westminster Confession and Catechism, and, in particular, to have drawn up the exposition of the Commandments in the larger catechism, but to have voted against subscribing to swearing to the confession, &c. set out by authority -a conduct the more deserving of notice and commendation as the instances of a consistent adherence to the principles of religious liberty were so few and rare in that age. In 1645 he became Master of his College; and in 1653 Master of St. John's, Cambridge, in which year he was named one of " the Tryers; " and on the death of Dr. Arrowsmith became Regius Professor of Divinity. He was one of the Presbyterian Divines in attendance at the Savoy conference, where he received a Royal letter from Secretary Nicholas, giving him a supersedeas from his public employments, with the promise of 100/. a -year for life out of his successor's income, which was punctually paid. Calamy says, " he left behind him the character of an eminently pious and learned man, a true friend, an indefatigable student, a candid disputant, and an earnest promoter of truth and godliness." His modesty was as distinguished as his learning, andhe is said to have shewn more courage in maintaining the rights and privileges of the university in those lawless times than any of the heads at Cambridge. He presided over St. John's with great prudenceand ability, and that college' had never flourished more than under his rule. In the elections, when the president, according to the language and spirit of the times, would call upon him to have regard to the godly, bis answer was, " no one should have a greater regard to the truly godly than himself, but he was determined to choose none but scholars; adding, very truly, " theymay deceive me in their godliness, but they cannot in their scholarship." He published in his lifetime some small pieces, as "Death disarmed, or the Grave swallowed up in Victory, 1654;" "Balm of Gilead for the Wounds of England, applyed in a Sermon, 1654;" "A good day well improved, in 5 Sermons, 1656." After his death, were published Forty Sermons of his, preached on several occasions; also his " Prnlectiones Theologian," containing all his theological lectures and exercises while he continued in his public employments in the university : and in 1753, Dr. Samuel Salter, Prebendary of Norwich, published a correspondence between Dr. Tuckney and Dr. Benjamin Whichcote, on moral and interesting subjects. -Neal's Hist. of the Puri- tans, vol. iii. p. 115, vol. iv. p. 556; Dyer's list. of Cambridge; and Baxter's Life, by Calamy.
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