228 Notice of British Naturalists. 



Hall, where he staid, in all, about four years ; and he appears to 

 have acted, not only the part of a valuable tutor, but of an indul- 

 gent guardian and kind parent to his charge, 



" In 1673," says his biographer, " having lost some of his best 

 friends, and being in a manner left destitute, he began to have 

 thoughts of marriage ] having met with a young gentlewoman, 

 (then in the family he was in,) of about twenty years of age, 

 whose piety, discretion, and virtues, as well as her person, recom- 

 mended her to him." Her name was Margaret Oakeley, of an 

 Oxfordshire family. They were married in the May following, 

 and he never appears to have had occasion to repent of his choice. 



In 1679, having parted with his pupils, with an affection for 

 the place of his birth, he removed back again, as his years were 

 increasing, to Black Notley. Here for ten years he resided, being 

 actively engaged in writing, till in 1687, his health failed ; he 

 became infirm, and he died, worn out, in 1704, in the seventy- 

 sixth year of his age. He was buried in the Parish church, and 

 a monument was erected to his memory by his friends. 



A good fame is the peculiar possession of the dead ; and with 

 all his faults, few appear, in those busy times, to have left behind 

 them a more unsullied name. If we may judge from the high 

 station which he held in Cambridge, and from the internal evi- 

 dence of his works, he was a fine scholar, and possessed of both 

 descrimination and taste. Contemplation rather than action was 

 the peculiar form of his mind ; but he wanted not activity, and 

 certainly was of a restless and most inquiring turn. While any- 

 thing was to be learned, which he thought it worth while to 

 employ himself upon, he allowed no difficulties to dishearten him 

 and no self-denial to prevent his pursuit. And we may here 

 make a general observation, that however much it may please 

 some to disparage the study of natural history, or to declare it to 

 be only fit for trifling and inferior minds, we not only see in this 

 case, but in all others, that eminence in this science is of peculiar 

 difficulty of attainment. The highest powers of judgment, of 

 research, and of perseverance are necessary ; and it has seldom 

 been reached, where general learning and a well regulated edu- 

 cation have not previously prepared the mind. Considering the 

 numbers who have attempted it, there are fewer who have made 

 any real progress in this, than in any other of the pursuits of 

 mankind. 



