28 MEMOIR OF 



collector of taxes for the county of Down, and 

 after the restoration of Charles II. commissioner 

 of Array ; he died at Killileigh, in that county, in 

 1666, where, on the 16th of April, 1660, his 

 seventh and youngest son, Hans, was born.* 

 Being naturally of a delicate constitution, which 

 excluded him from the usual boisterous pursuits 

 of youth, he appears to have had recourse to the 

 study of nature at a very early age ; and having 

 determined on following the medical profession, 

 entered on the necessary studies with diligence 

 and ardour. But at the age of sixteen, these 

 were unfortunately interrupted by a spitting of 

 blood, with which he then became afflicted. This 

 confined him to his chamber for three years. By 

 a rigid course of temperance, abstaining entirely 

 from wine and other fermented liquors, he suc- 

 ceeded in conquering the disease, and his own 

 prudence induced him to continue ever after in 

 a great degree to adhere to the same strict 

 regimen. It was his favourite maxim, " that 

 sobriety, temperance, and moderation, are the 

 best preservatives that nature has vouchsafed to 

 mankind ;" and he himself was certainly a proof 

 of its efficacy, as by attention to this maxim, his 

 own life far exceeded the allotted period of man's 

 ordinary existence. 



* His mother was Sarah, daughter of Dr Hickes, pre- 

 bendary of Westminster, and chaplain to Archbishop Laud. 



