B R O 



760 



B R O 



Browne, but which, on account of its singularity, is worthy 

 ' - "v - of being preserved. * 



During his retirement in the country, he could 

 not be prevailed upon to enjoy the benefit of free air 

 :;ud exercise ; and his sedentary life, joined to his in- 

 tense application to study, brought on a complication 

 of disorders, which put a period to his existence at 

 the close of the same year, 1732, while he was in the 

 5'2d year of his age. 



His writings prove him to have been a good scho- Browne; 

 lar, and an able divine ; and, while he showed him- s -/ -^ 

 self superior to the opposers of Christianity in argu- 

 ment, he was also a zealous advocate for civil and 

 religious liberty. In private life, he appears to have 

 been a man whose heart was highly susceptible of 

 warm and steady friendship, mid whose mind was filled 

 with an ardent zeal for the interests of pure and prac- 

 tical religion. See Biogr. Diet, and Biogr. Brit. (A. F.) 



Dedication to Queen Caroline. " Madam, Of all the extraordinary things that have been tendered to your royal hand* 

 since your first happy arrival in Britain.it may be boldly said, what now bespeaks your majesty's acceptance is the chief. Not in 

 itself indeed : it is a trifle unworthy your exalted rank, and what will hardly prove an entertaining amusement to one of your 

 majesty's deep penetration, exact judgment, and fine taste. But on account of the author, who is the first being of the kind, 

 and yet without a name. 



" He was once a man, and of some little name; but of no worth, as hi : present unparalleled case makes but too manifest; 

 for by the immediate hand of an avenging God, his very thinking substance has for more than seven years been continually 

 v. asting away, till it has wholly perished out of him, if it be not utterly come to nothing. None, no not the least remem- 

 brance, of its very rnins remains; not the shadow of n idea is left, nor any sense that so much as one single one, perfect or 

 imperfect, whole or diminished, ever did appear to a mind within him, or was perceived by it. 



" Such a present from such thing, however worthless in itself, may not be wholly unacceptable to your majesty, the au- 

 thor being such as history cannot parallel : and if the fact, which is real and no fiction, nor wrong conceit, obtains cudit, it 

 must be recorded as the most memorable, and indeed astonishing event in the reign of George II. that a tract composed by 

 such a thing, was presented to the illustrious Caroline ; his royal consort needs not be added ; fame, if I am not misinformed, 

 will tell that with pleasure to all succeeding times. 



" He has been informed that your majesty's piety is as genuine and eminent, as your excellent qualities are great and con- 

 spicuous. This can indeed be truly known to the great Searcher of Hearts only. He alone, who can look into them, can dis- 

 cern if they are sincere, and if the main intention corresponds with the appearance ; and your majrsty cannot take it amiss, 

 if such an author hints, that his secret approbation is of infinitely greater value than ihe commendation of men, who may be 

 easily mistaken, and are too apt to flatter their superiors. 



" But if he has been told the truth, such a case as his will certainly strike your majesty with astonishment, and may raNe 

 that commiseration in your royal breast, which he has in vain endeavoured to excite in those of his friends ; who, by the most 

 unreasonable and ill-founded conceit in the world, have imagined, that a thinking IK ii,g could for seven years together live a 

 stranger to his own powers, exercises, operations, and state; and to what the great God has been doing in it, and to it. 



" If your majesty, in your most retired address to the King of kings, should think of so singular a case, you may perhaps 

 make it your devout request, that the. reign of your beloved sovereign and consort may be renowned to all posterity by the re- 

 covery of a soul now in the utmost ruin ; the restoration of one utterly lost at present amongst men. 



" And should this case affect your royal breast, you will recommend it to the piety and prayers of all the truly devout, who 

 have the honour of being known to your majesty ; many such doubtless there are, though courts are not usually the places 

 where the devout resort, or where devotion reigns. And it is not improbable, that multitudes of the pious throughout the 

 land, may take a case to heart, that, under your majesty's patronage, comes thus recommended. 



" Could such a favour as this restoration be obtained from Heaven hy the prayers of your majesty, with wh.il transports of 

 "ratitude would the recovered being throw himself at your majesty's feet : and, aooiing tK Hiiinc power end grace, profess 

 liimiH'lf, madam, your majesty's most obliged and dutiful servant, SIMON BEOWNE." 





