LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP SANCROFT. 71 



images and illustrations, to be produced as oc- 

 casion might require. The style which was 

 most natural to him, appears to have been that 

 which consisted of short, pointed and pithy sen- 

 tences, such as we find in his " ModernPolicies," 

 and in some of his familiar letters. In his ser- 

 mons he is too scholastic and dry as to style, 

 notwithstanding the valuable matter which they 

 contain, and the extensive erudition which they 

 display : much must be attributed to the bad 

 taste in such compositions prevailing in the 

 times in which he was educated and wrote: but 

 still there may be some truth in the remark of 

 Dr. Birch,* that the style of his sermons is more 

 suited to a disciple of Bishop Andrews, than a 

 contemporary of Dr. Tillotson ; with this al- 

 lowance in favour of Archbishop Bancroft, that, 

 as Tillotson was junior to him by many years, 

 in an age when the taste in pulpit compositions 

 was rapidly improving, he possessed superior 

 advantages for acquiring a correct taste, and 

 forming his style on an approved model. 



His industry in pursuing his studies and col- 

 lecting useful information was extraordinary; 

 and it was continued through the period of life, 

 when various avocations pressed upon him, and 

 when the mind generally seeks repose from 



* See Birch's Life of Tillotson, p. 164. 



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