they were appointed, as may be instanced in the office of the visitation of the sick; in which it is objected, that there are some particulars, which cannot always with propriety be said. In the office for the burial of the dead, we express our hopes of the salvation of all that are buried, though they may be atheists and deists, and such as have declared themselves so to the last. In the litany, we pray for the strengthening of the king in the true worship of God; whereas it may happen, that the king is openly and declaredly in a false worship, as was the case of king James the Second. In the prayer for the parliament, the king, who reigneth over us, whoever he be, is styled our most religious king; whereas it may happen that we may have a king who hath no religion at all, as, some say, was the case of king Charles the Second. And besides these, there are many other particulars in different parts of the service that are objected against, especially by those that dissent from us, which Dr. Prideaux was of opinion might be much easier corrected than defended. And were all those places in our liturgy, which are with any justice excepted against, corrected and amended, and what was wanting therein supplied, as many hoped would have been done by this convocation; it is hardly to be doubted, but that all our offices might have been rendered so complete, perfect, and unexceptionable, that not only many of the dissenters among us, but also foreign churches of the Protestant communion, might have been persuaded to introduce them into their public religious assemblies, and unite in the same form of worship, as well as in the same faith with us.

Dr. Prideaux, on his return from the convocation, finding the cathedral church fully settled under the new dean, who, as he had no other avocation, constantly resided there; and the popish controversy being brought to an end by the revolution, he quitted Norwich, and retired to his parsonage of Saham, in the county of Norfolk, which he served constantly every Sunday, morning and afternoon, during the four years that he lived there, excepting only while he was keeping his two months residence at Norwich, or vis

iting his archdeaconry of Suffolk, which he did constantly twice every year, till disabled to bear the journey by the unhappy disorder that afterwards came upon him. For the first three years after the revolution, he took upon himself the office of preaching at every place where he held his visitation, which was a caution then very necessary, for preventing such of the clergy, as were not satisfied of the justice of the revolution, from launching out on topics that might give offence to the government, when it should come to their turn to preach. In all the sermons he preached on this occasion, he, with great earnestness, pressed upon the clergy the faithful discharge of the duties of their function; that so they might to the utmost of their power, both by the good examples of their lives, and the soundness of their doctrines, promote the honour of God, and the salvation of souls among the people to whom they were sent; and being well informed, that in many families of the clergy, prayers were wholly omitted, and God not at all called upon, either morning or evening; in one of his visitations, he made it the subject of his sermons in all the several divisions of his archdeaconry, to urge them to the

performance of this duty. When the Jews pray thrice every day, and the Mahometans five times, he thought it a shame to Christians, especially the clergy, not to do it at least twice every day; prayer being one of the prime duties, which by the nature of their office the clergy are designed to; and the rubrick of the common-prayer (to the observance of which they have all subscribed) obligeth every one of them, as well deacons as priests, to be constant and faithful herein for the words of the rubrick, in the beginning of the Common-Prayer Book, under the title, Concerning the Service of the Church, are as follow: That "all priests and deacons are to say daily the morning and evening prayer, either privately or openly, not being let by sickness, or some other urgent cause.' It is true, the words immediately following this clause in the rubrick direct these morning and evening prayers to be said openly by the minister, in the church or chapel, where they minister: but this being impracti

cable in country parishes, by reason of the difficulty of getting the people together, from their several distant habitations; the next thing that is practicable, is to be said in its stead, and that is family prayer; for this is open prayer as well as the other in the sense of the rubrick, which is manifest, in that it is there opposed to private prayer. Both therefore are included in the obligation of this rule; so that where the for mer cannot be performed, the other at least must. But however this be, as it is the duty of every man, that is master of a family, to take care that God be daily worshipped in it, more especially it is so, if he be of the clergy, who are all consecrated, and set apart for the work of prayer, as well as that of preaching the word; and therefore ought by their example, as well as by their instruction and exhortation, to excite all men thereto; and consequently are of all men most unpardonable, if themselves neglect this duty. The doctor carried this matter so far, as to tell them, that prayer was so much the duty of the clergy, that every one of the order should not only be diligent and constant in daily offering of it up unto God, every morning and evening with his whole family; but that in whatever other family he should at any time happen to lodge, he ought to offer his prayers to the family, if they should not be otherwise provided for that duty, and exhort them to join with him in them; and should they refuse to hearken to him therein, let him look on that house, as unfit for a clergyman to make his abode in, and avoid it accordingly.

The bishoprick of Norwich being vacant, on bishop Lloyd's deprivation, Dr. Compton, bishop of London, and Dr. Lloyd, bishop of St. Asaph, were appointed by commission to govern the diocese, till a successor should be nominated; and they consulted and advised with Dr. Prideaux, in most things, which they did by virtue of this delegacy, who served them on all occasions much to their satisfaction.

The cause of bishop Lloyd's deprivation was his not taking the oaths to king William and queen Mary, as has been mentioned above; for on his first refusal, August the 1st, A. D. 1689, he was with several others

of the clergy, who were of the same sentiments with him as to this matter, suspended from his office, and on his persisting in the same refusal, was on the 1st of February following, deprived and wholly outed of his bishoprick, according to the tenor of an act of parliament, in that behalf made; and thereby the diocese was deprived of a very able and worthy pastor; for he was an excellent preacher, a man of great integrity and piety, thoroughly understood all the parts and duties of his function, and had a mind fully bent to put them all in execution, for the honour of God, and the good of his church on all occasions. He was first bishop of Llandaff, from thence translated to Peterborough, and from thence by another translation, promoted to the see of Norwich. After his deprivation, he lived very retired, in some of the villages near London; first at Hoxton, next at Wandsworth, and afterwards at Hammersmith; where he died on the 1st of January, A. D. 1709, being full twenty years after he had been deprived of his bishoprick.

Whilst Dr. Prideaux lived at Saham, he contracted a friendship with several of the neighbouring gentry; particularly with sir John Holland, and sir Edward Atkins. The former of these was a gentleman, who retained a remarkable vigour in a very advanced age, being past ninety, when the doctor first became acquainted with him; and afterwards lived to be within one of an hundred. He was a person of great understanding and wisdom, and had made a very considerable figure in the long parliament, where he was always for moderate measures, and sided with those, who were for composing matters with the king; till at last, finding that all attempts of this kind were constantly defeated by the violence of parties, sometimes on the side of the parliament, sometimes by the king, and that there were no hopes of bringing matters to an accommodation, he began to despair, of being any longer serviceable to his king or his country, and therefore retired into Holland, where he lived most part of his time, till the return of king Charles the Second, when he was appointed one of the commissioners sent by the parliament to bring him home.

As to sir Edward Atkins, he lived much nearer the doctor, and conversed with him more frequently. He was a man of great piety, probity, and goodness, and had in the reign of king James the Second, been Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and acquitted himself in that post, with great justice and integrity, especially towards the clergy, whom he would never suffer to be oppressed, and of whose rights he was remarkably careful, whilst he presided in that court. On the accession of king William and queen Mary, having refused to take the oaths, this excluded him from all place under the government in that reign, on which he retired to Pickenham in Norfolk, and there lived quietly, greatly respected and esteemed by all his neighbours, to whom he was very useful, in reconcil→ ing their differences. For being a man of great reputation and integrity, whenever any controversy arose among them, they usually referred it to his arbitration; which he always decided with justice and equity, and generally to the satisfaction of both parties. This was his chief employment and delight in this retirement, scarce a week passing, in which he had not several of these causes brought before him; for as his fame spread all over the country, people came from considerable distances, to lay their causes before him. As to the oaths, though he always refused to take them himself, he condemned no one else who did. His usual saying was, when he was discoursed with about this matter, that the devil was busy with men. on their death-beds; and therefore he would keep his mind free, that when he should come to die, he might have no doubts or fears on this account to disturb his conscience. About a year after Dr. Prideaux left Saham, sir Edward also left Pickenham, and removed with his family to London, where he not long after died of the stone.

In the beginning of the year, 1689, it being thought proper to fill up the vacant dioceses, Dr. Tillotson, dean of St. Paul's, was declared archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Beveridge, bishop of Bath and Wells, Dr. Fowler, bishop of Gloucester, Dr. Cumberland, bishop of Peterborough, Dr. Moor, bishop of Norwich, Dr.