68 MEMOIR OF 



confinement made him very desirous to see any 

 of his old acquaintance to amuse him. During 

 this latter part of his life, he was frequently peti- 

 tioned for charity by some decayed branches of 

 families of eminent men, late of his acquaintance, 

 who were famous for their learned works, &c. 

 which petitions he always received, and considered 

 with attention ; and provided they were not found 

 fraudulent, they were always answered by his 

 charitable donations. He has often desired that I 

 would inquire into the merits of such petitions ; 

 and if found satisfactory, he commissioned me to 

 convey his bounty to the distressed. The last 

 time I saw him, I was greatly surprised and con- 

 cerned to find so good a man in the agonies of 

 death. This was on the tenth day of January, 

 1 753, at four o'clock in the afternoon. He died on 

 the eleventh, at four in the morning, being aged 

 ninety-three years. J continued with him later 

 than any one of his relatives, but was obliged 

 to retire his last agonies being beyond what I 

 could bear ; though under his pain and weakness 

 of body, he seemed to retain a great firmness of 

 mind, and resignation to the will of God."* 



Sir Hans had married, in 1695, Elizabeth, 

 daughter of Alderman Langley, of London. She 

 died in 1724, and was buried at Chelsea, where, 

 on the 18th of January, 1753, her husband's body 



Essays upon Natural History, 8vo. 1770, pp. 122, 124. 



