was descended from worthy parents in a very respectable station of life, his father Thomas Barrow being a citizen of London in good repute, and his uncle Isaac elevated to the episcopal see of St. Asaph. His grandfather, Isaac Barrow, Esq. resided at Spiney Abbey in Cambridgeshire, where he was for the term of forty years in the commission for the peace. This Isaac was a son of Philip Barrogh, (for the name is differently spelt,) who published "A Method of Physic," and who had a brother, also named Isaac, a doctor in medicine, and a considerable benefactor to Trinity College, where he had been tutor to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Lord High Treasurer of England. This is all that is recorded of Barrow's family by the father's side: his mother was Ann, daughter of William Buggin, Esq. of North Cray, in Kent, of whose tender care he was deprived at the early age of four years. His first school was that of the Charter House, where he continued but two or three years, and made very little progress in his learning; for he exhibited no precocity of intellect, no docility or appetite for study, but rather a great fondness for games and sports, especially such as produced quarrels and fighting amongst his schoolfellows. This sort of conduct gave his father very little hope that he would shine in the profession of a scholar, for which he designed him, and as little expectation of that comfort and satisfaction which he afterwards experienced from his son's dutiful and pious disposition: whence he often expressed a solemn wish, that if it should please God to take away any of his children, Isaac might be the one selected. "So vain a thing," says Mr. Hill, ❝is man's judgment; so unfit is our providence to guide our own affairs." In truth we should always be cautious before we condemn or neglect a youth, on account of the early errors and irregularities into which he may fall: such ́extravagances are not always sure indications of depravity; since they may arise from high natural endowments, engrafted on an ardent disposition unimproved or misdirected; they should be regarded therefore with tender solicitude, and subjected to restraint by a skilful and experienced hand. His father took the best preliminary step possible to correct young Barrow's propensities, by removing him from the scenes of his early habits, and placing him at Felsted in Essex, where he seems to have met with an excellent instructor and guide;* and it proves no inconsiderable knowlege of human nature in the master, that, when his young pupil's good qualities and great abilities began to show themselves, he appointed him to be a little tutor, (according to his biographer's expression,) to the Lord Viscount Fairfax of Emely in Ireland: yet though all inclination to quarrelling was thus subdued in the young man, an undaunted courage, both physical and moral, still remained in after-life; of which some instances will be recorded hereafter, and one may find a place here. Being sparing of sleep and a very early riser, he one morning went out of a friend's house before the family were up, when a large and fierce mastiff, that was unchained during the night, attacked him with great ferocity; Barrow however caught the savage animal by the throat, and after a long struggle bore him to the ground: there whilst he held him, he considered with himself what he had better do in the exigency of the case: once he had a mind to * I am informed by a friend, who is himself a distinguished ornament of Felsted school, that the name of this master was Martin Holbeach. kill him, but soon rejected that expedient, thinking it would be an unjust action, as the dog only did his duty, and he himself was in fault for rambling out of his lodging before day-light. At length he called out so loud that he awoke the people of the house, who rose and parted the combatants, Barrow having suffered no hurt beyond the straining of his wrists. During his residence at Felsted, he was admitted a pensioner of Peter House,* which was Bishop Barrow's College; but when he was fit to be removed to the University in February 1645, his destination was changed to the noble foundation of Trinity, his uncle, together with Mr. Seth Ward, Peter Gunning, and John Barwick, having been ejected from his college the year before, for writing against the Covenant. At this time his father was with the king at Oxford, having suffered so much from his adherence to the royal cause, that he could not have supported his son at college without assistance from one of those great and benevolent characters that shed a lustre on the age in which they live. The generous friend who thus held out the hand of encouragement to our young scholar was the celebrated Dr. Henry Hammond, himself a sufferer in the cause of loyalty, who took this method of restoring sound learning, piety, and discipline, to the established church. At the death of that eminent and good man in 1660, Barrow testified his gratitude in an epitaph consecrated to his memory, which I have inserted in the margin, not only as a specimen of the exuberant fertility of his style in Latin composition, but because it has been thought to describe with great accu * Dec. 15th, 1643. + Life of Dr. John Barwick, p. 36. racy the writer's character, as well as that of his friend.* The time of his undergraduateship was spent in the dili *LEGE, LUGE, DISCE. Ne te prætergressum pœniteat, siste pedem hic et animum, Viator. Etenim, Hic jacet H. HAMMOND, S. T. D. Theologorum sui sæculi coryphæus. Literatorum princeps. Anglicæ gentis decus. Ecclesiæ columen. Veritatis assertor peritissimus. Pacis cultor devotissimus. Ordinis fautor studiosissimus. Antiquitatis genuinæ fidissimus interpres, et propugnator acerrimus. Sanctitatis magister præstantissimus. Omnibus ornamentis instructissimus. Philosophus solide acutus, dilucide subtilis. Orator inaffectate politus, nervose copiosus. Disputator vehemens, extra acerbitatem. Egregius criticus, absque superbia tamen aut supercilio. Lectionis infinitæ sed exquisite digestæ. Maximi ingenii, majoris judicii, consummatæ eruditionis cum pari modestia, tantis dotibus usus præclarissime. De ecclesia, principe, patria optime meritus. Utriusque tabulæ legum præco, observator, vindex. Ecclesiæ Anglicana ensis et clypeus; quam a falsi schismatis labe purgavit, a veri contagio munivit; Romanis hostibus, et perfugis sectariis fusis, fugatis. Sincera doctrinæ radio veteres tenebras pseudo catholicas dispulit, nova lumina Anti-Catholica extinxit. Presbyteranam paritatem prostravit. Fanaticam licentiam coercuit. Temporum iniquitatem expugnavit scriptis victricibus, patientia triumphali. Ecclesiastici ordinis jurisque vindex fortissimus, ac felicissimus. Liturgiæ patronus consultissimus. Theologicorum dogmatum scrutator sedulus. Difficultatum enodator accuratus. Veritatum explorator sagax. Novum Testamentum, et Psalterium Davidicum, luculenta paraphrasi, eximio commentario, sancto exemplo illustravit. Calamo scripsit, vita edidit practicum catechismum. Christianæ fortitudinis, patientiæ, mansuetudinis illustre exemplar. Mentis insigni prudentia, invicta constantia, candore illibato, solertia indefessa mirabilis. Morum integritate spectabilis, gravitate venerabilis, comitate amabilis. Summa pietate in Deum; extrema fide in principem; propensa charitate in omnes conspicuus. Vir scholasticus, theologus, plane incomparabilis, omni epitheto major, quolibet elogio potior. Meruit haberi martyr assiduus pro ecclesia cu gent prosecution of his studies; and though he was at this important period of his life emancipated from the restraint of paternal admonition, he showed that he needed it not, by the purity of his conduct, and the attention which he paid to his religious and moral duties. In the year 1643, the famous Covenant had been ratified between England and Scotland; which, whilst it pretended to secure the privileges of parliament, the liberties of the nation, and the king's authority, openly avowed the overthrow of prelacy and of the established church. This covenant, having been taken by the members of both Houses, was inforced, not only in the city of London and many other parts of the kingdom, but with peculiar rigor in the two universities, where many conscientious individuals, masters, fellows, and students, were ejected from their several stations on their refusal to submit to its terms. The loyalty of Barrow led him steadfastly to reject this oath, though he carried himself with such general fairness, candor, and prudence, that he gained friends where he might least have expected them: among these was Dr. Hill, Master of the College, who had been appointed by the parliament in the place of Dr. Comber, ejected for his adherence to the royal cause. This gen ris et vigiliis confectus. Occidit diei nostri Lucifer anno 1660 salutis partæ, primo Regis restituti, patriæ liberatæ, ecclesiæ instauratæ ; quæ a se strenue promota, et ardenter concupita præsagiit animo, sed oculo non adspectavit, in hoc felicissime infelix.-Vadě, Cogita, Imitare. Nec magnum tamen Hammondum satis ulla loquantur Digna sui tantum sunt monumenta libri. |