( 148 ) - [^ept. I, 



MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



Memoirs of t lit i.tv. samuel bold, by 



DR. lOULMIN. 



ABOUT I wo or three years fince there 

 waa priiitt-d at Mr. Goadhy'i. ; rel>, 

 in ■ aorboin, 1 )orft.'t;hiie, a new edition 

 a fhiall vcjliuac in 12ino. entitled, " An 

 Help in Devoti'in : l)eiiif; the New Tcfta- 

 rtient conildeied witli a View to what 

 every C'liajjter in it doth funiifli Chiil- 

 tiiins w th, as iji-oper to ailifl-, them in 

 their p Hate a.id t'l.uily I.-cvotiorts." By 

 Samuel BiM, rector ot'bteepie cum Tync- 

 hani, 111 Durktiliirc. 



Tliii. tniri was lirft pubiilhed in 1736 : 

 die piece itfclf, and its author, ha\e, I 

 apprehend, been very iittic known ; hut 

 it" the writer of this may otier his opini- 

 on, the tenor of his [luhliratioas, which 

 vei-e not, indeed, many or hirire, and a 

 paiucuiar part of hia Hillory, buth of 

 whicJi ilhiftratoJiis hbcjality of fpint and 

 merit of cliai.Ktcr, gi\e him a claim to 

 rcfpect, and ftiould prcfcrvc his name 

 fr.pin liiiliinj; into total oblivion. 



With thi.^ delign the following particu- 

 lars conciu'iiriig him, wi,ich are all that I 

 have been able to collect, aie otfcred for 

 a place ill vour inliructive MifccUany, and 

 rfiay form an article of neglected bioi^ra- 



Mr. Bold was tlie author of a practical 

 elV>iv, entitled, " Alan's !;reat Duty : or 

 a Difcoui fe of the Care every Man Ihould 

 take to make fure the falvation of his 

 own To .1." 10P3. A copy of this tract 

 is ill I1r. Williams's library, Jiod-v.'rois- 

 ftiet't, London. It is dedicated to INIis. 

 Cooke, wid;iw of that very learned and 

 pious man iMr. Wilinini Cooke, fomctime 

 liuroMiniftcrof theCot'pel in the city of 

 C heller, and tci the reft of the author's 

 friends m that cily. Air. Cooke, a man 

 of an apoftoiicfpirit and unwearied in his 

 miiiiltenal labonrs, was ejei^ted by the 

 Aft of Unifiirmiiy, in 16(32, from the 

 livinsc; of St. Michael's, in Chcdcr. In 

 the dedication ]ia;:es IMr. Bold f()caks of 

 him as " an eminently holy pcilbn and 

 faithful miniltcr; wnofr love to and care 

 of fouU, and zeal for ihcirf ilvatioii, were 

 fucli," he fays, " as I am not accjUainted 

 with any words that are fisimficalive 

 e;io-.igI) tocxprefs them:" and in a ftiaiq 

 oi biuh encoiinuras, he give> a noble clut- 

 ractcr of him. It appears froin this 

 piece, that Mr. B-ild's child}kf);>d and 

 youth uei'f fpent under iNIr. Cookie's roof, 

 and \v8'-e chorilhed and foi'med by his fof- 

 tering t;',:e and that of Mi!^. Cooke ; of 

 T'hoie '* motherly a.t?c:!ion and tender- 

 uefa coirfiiuitiy manifellcd towards him," 



during the early period of his life, he 

 fpeaks in a mamiei that ihows the ainia- 

 ble, grateful, and ingenuous difpolitions 

 of his own mi, id. 



The above tract was not Mr. Hold's 

 lirft ))iiblication, but it feems proper to 

 introduce it here, as it cjivcs the only in- 

 formation to be obtained concerninc; the 

 early ftaf;es of his life. Pre»iouily to the 

 appearance of it, he had lent out from 

 the prefs a dilcoiirfe entitled, " Chrift's 

 Importunitv with Sinners to accept of 

 him." 1G87. 



But prior to both thel'e pieces, he had 

 printed a Seruion and a I'rait, on a par- 

 ticular occaliaii, which exprelfed the li- 

 berality of his fpirit, marked his charac- 

 ter, ajid broiic^hl on the moll intcjeitmg 

 events of his life. 



In the year 1602, he received an order 

 to publifli on the 'JOth of March, " A 

 Brief fir the perfccnted Protcftants in 

 France :" this (ii'.y haj)pencd to be the 

 f >urth Su:id:iy in Ixnt. It luul been Mr, 

 Hold's practice, for fomc months before, 

 to preach every Sunday on the whole 

 epillle for the day, or on fome part of it. 

 The Iv.iftle for that day was Gal. iv. 21, 

 to the end. lie thought that there was 

 no neceiVity tr» deviate from his cuftoin, 

 to felect a fubject which ini-^ht fuit tiie 

 occalion. He fixed, therefore, on the 

 29th vcrft: : " But as then he that was 

 born after the tledi, pci-fecuted hiin thnt 

 was born aftci- the fpirit, even fo it is 

 now." He difcu'Vcd the fubjert with free- 

 dom, cxplaiiiiu::; the nature of perl'ecu- 

 tion, delineatins; the character of a per- 

 fccutor, and tracia::;oiit thecaufesof tho 

 A ioleut opoolition lliewn by the wicked to 

 the ri'»hteous. Falfe reports, . conceni- 

 inn this fermon, were foon raifed aaddif- 

 feiniiiat-,.d. This induced him to publilh 

 it to ftop the fpread of tliofe mifreprc- 

 feiuations. In the fa.nc year, he puh- 

 lilhcfl " A Pica tor Moderation towards 

 DiiVenters." 



At the AlTi/cs, after the publicition of 

 the feinion, the Grand Jury prefcnted 

 hiin, and he was indicted f )r it. The 

 fame lleps were taken with refpett to the 

 " Plea." For tlic pencroiis fentiinents 

 which he had adviuieid were .iffenfive to 

 the Frelates and the Court. .After this he 

 was cited to appear in tht; Bifhop's Court 

 to anfwer to various articles exhibited 

 atraintl him both on account of the " Ser- 

 mon" and the " Plea." 



He WHS accufcd of a malicious inten- 

 tion t(; derogate from, and to pour con- 

 tempt on, the ecclclistfticul laws and ca- 



■iious. 



