178 RAY. 



to the Word of God." After making this declara- 

 tion, he desired the Rev. Mr Pyke, rector of Black 

 Notley, to read to him the prayers of the church 

 appointed to be used in the visitation of the sick ; 

 and, in particular, the absolution. He then re- 

 ceived the sacrament, '' which, as it is men's duty 

 often to receive in the time of health, so, at the hour 

 of death," he said, "^ it was a necessary viaticum he 

 thought for the great journey he was now a-going." 

 He died in his own house, at Black Notley, on 

 the 17th January 1705, having reached the seventy- 

 seventh year of his age, and was buried, accord- 

 ing to his own desire, in the church of that parish. 

 The authors of the Biographia Britannica, however, 

 assert that he declined the offer made by the rector, 

 of a place in the chancel, choosing rather to repose 

 with his ancestors in the churchyard. A monu- 

 ment was erected to him at the expense of some of 

 his friends, with an elegant Latin epitaph, descrip- 

 tive of his character, composed by the Rev. William 

 Coyte, M. A. In 1737^ this monument, having 

 fallen into decay, was restored at the charge of Dr 

 Legge, and removed into the church. Forty-five 

 years after, it was repaired by Sir Thomas Gery 

 Cullum and others, who subjoined an additional 

 inscription. 



According to his biographer, Dr Derham, he 

 " was a man of excellent natural parts, and had a 

 singular vivacity in his style, whether he wrote in 

 English or Latin. In a word, in his dealings, no 

 man more strictly just ; in his conversation, no man 

 more humble, courteous, and affable. Towards God, 

 no man more devout ; and towards the poor and dis- 

 tressed, no man more compassionate and charitable. 



