2''d S. X. Aug. 18. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



125 



and being a known latitudinarian, by his own rule we 

 can never safely trust him when he commends or defends 

 any of his friends of that side. And it was upon the 

 score of latitudinarianism and mystical devotion, that he 

 loved to extol Dr. Layton, though by some canons he 

 hath cited in his History of the Rights of Princes, he was 

 an usurper of the see of Glasgow, as Dr. Tillotson was es- 

 teemed to be in a more offensive degree of the see of Can- 

 terbury. But to return to his admired Dr. Laj'ton, he was 

 so great a libertine in comprehension, that he freely 

 oflfered to receive the ejected Presbyterian ministers 

 without episcopal ordination if the}' would come in, and 

 to transact all things in the government of the Church 

 with his presbyters by plurality of suffrages, strictly 

 speaking as if he were no more than a presbyter among 

 them. Archbishop Burnet, into whose chair he intruded, 

 told Dr. Gunning, Bishop of Ely, this story of his intru- 

 der ; and he wondering that any Bishop should give up 

 that power without which he could not act as Bishop, asked 

 Dr. Burnet of the truth of it, which he positively denied. 

 This denial of his obliged the good Archbishop for his 

 vindication to refer Bishop Gunning to a book which he 

 had left with a friend, for the truth of what he had told 

 him of the comprehensive latitude of Dr. Layton. I saw 

 the book, and remember it was printed at Glasgow, and 

 it so fully satisfied the Bishop, that he took it home with 

 him ; but before he went made some reflections on the 

 want of ingenuity in Dr. Burnet, and concluded his ani- 

 madversions upon him with a- trick he shewed himself. 

 It relates to a book called Naked Truth, which the Bishop 

 intended to answer. Dr. Burnet, among others, hearing 

 of it, came to wait upon him ; and when that Discourse 

 arose between them, he asked the Bishop upon what 

 scheme he intended to make his answer. He, who was 

 one of the most frank and communicative men in the 

 world, told him he would answer it from Part to Part ; 

 which the Doctor observing with design, carried every 

 thing away, and being a swift and ready writer, printed 

 his Answer to it before the other had finished his. 



" I said before that he was also an admirer of Dr. 

 Layton upon the account of mystical devotion; for he 

 was an enthusiast of the first magnitude, and it was a 

 great mischance, that this preacher preached not his 

 funeral sermon. And as upon that account he admired 

 him, so was he wonderfully taken with Labadie's writ- 

 ings, and would have persuaded the Duke of Lauderdale 

 to send for him into Scotland. One of his greatest Lon- 

 don friends hath also told me what pains he and some 

 others formerly took to correct the enthusiasm of his 

 temper, and keep him from plunging himself into mystical 

 divinity. And when he was professor at Glasgow, he 

 was got so far into a fit of it, that he set up for an 

 ascetick ; and once being in the archbishop's house, and 

 discoursing with his daughter upon some common sub- 

 ject, all on a sudden he leaped out of his chair, and with 

 a tone, look, and gesture, all extatic and enthusiastical, 

 said words to this effect : ' Now am I sure of my salva- 

 tion, now I am sure, that if the earth should open and 

 swallow me up this moment, my soul would go to hea- 

 ven.' I had this story from the good archbishop, and I 

 mention it because I have observed, in very many in-* 

 stances, how enthusiasm with its religious heats, makes 

 those in whom it is prevalent do the same ill things, that 

 Atheism in the same degree makes others do ... . And 

 one cannot but suppose that he [Gilbert Burnet] had a 

 great dose of enthusiasm in him, when he undertook to 

 persuade the late unhappy Princess [Mary] to invade 

 her father's kingdom, against the light of nature, and the 

 principles of her education ; and that he seasoned his per- 

 suasives with the salt of pharisaical tears, pretended to 

 be shed in commiseration of the Church of England : for 

 it is well known that he had tears at command, as en- 



thusiasts of all religions have. He wept like any crocodile 

 at Mr. Napleton's relation of the barbarous usage which 

 the King [James IL] met with at Faversham. ' And pray, 

 Mr. Napleton,' said he, still wiping his eyes, ' carry my 

 duty to the King, and let him know mj* concern for him.' 

 Which puts me in mind of a story that I have heard of 

 that master-enthusiast Cromwell, who when a gentle- 

 man came to entreat his Excellency, ' That he would give 

 leave that he might have a lock of the beheaded King's 

 hair for an honourable lady : ' ' Ah ! no, Sir,' saith he, 

 bursting into tears, ' that must not be ; for I swore to him, 

 when he was living, that not an hair of his head should 

 perish ! ' " — Some Discourses upon Dr. Burnet and Dr. 

 Tillotson, 4fo. 1695, pp. 22-24.] 



WELSH BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



May I beg your aid in procuring information 

 and assistance from quarters which can be reached 

 by means of a literary journal alone ? The sub- 

 ject of my request will, I do not doubt, be of 

 interest to ^.t least one class of your readers. 



My friend, Mr. E. G. Salisbury of Glan-Aber, 

 Chester, — to whose Welsh library I was greatly 

 indebted when I was compiling a History of the 

 Principality, some ten years ago, — has now raised 

 the number of his collection to 2500 or 3000 

 volumes ; and he is about to print a catalogue of 

 them, as a contribution, and by no means an un- 

 important one, to Welsh bibliography. 



The books may be classified generally as (1.) 

 Works on Wales and the Border Counties, (2.) 

 Works in Welsh, and (3.) Works by Welshmen 

 and natives of the Border Counties. But the 

 catalogue will be arranged under the three divi- 

 sions of works published before 1800 ; those pub- 

 lished in the first half of the present century; and 

 those published since 1850. 



The requests which, by your courtesy, I would 

 prefer to librarians and collectors of books com- 

 ing under any one of the three classes mentioned 

 above, are, that they would be so good as to com- 

 municate to Mr. Salisbury the titles of any such 

 works as they may possess, which are not so com- 

 mon as certainly to be found in any Welsh library, 

 infidl, and, if possible, accompanied by some brief 

 description, especially if published abroad ; and 

 that, if they have duplicates, they would oblig- 

 ingly indicate the fact, and their willingness to 

 part with them, by exchange, or on any other 

 terms. 



I need not point out the value of a Catalogue 

 like this ; but I may say that the knowledge and 

 determination which my friend has brought to the 

 performance of his self-imposed task, are such as 

 to be to me a satisfactory assurance that his Cata- 

 logue will be, and particularly if he obtain the aid 

 which I have requested, a most important addition 

 to British Bibliography. B. B. Woodwakd. 



Royal Library, Windsor Castle. 



