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cfrniiigthttloarineoftlu Trinity. Iii 173:, lie publidied, 

 III tUo. " A lubcr and charitable Dil'miilitioii coiictriiiiig 

 t!ie Importance of the Dofl:ine ot" the 'I'riiiity ; particiihirly 

 with r.-garJ lo Worlh.p, and the Dodrinc of Satisfaction ; 

 endeavoiiniiir to rticw, that thofe in the dilTercnt .Schemes 

 Ihould bear with each other in tluir difLrcnt tientinicnt* ; 

 iiiir feparate Communion, and caft one another out ul C'hrif- 

 tiaii I-'cllowlhip on this Account." He alfo piibhihcd, in 

 the farrt vcar, " A fit Rcbnkc to a hidicrt)ns liilidtl, in 

 fome Rcmarka on Mr. Woolllon's fitth Difcomfc on the 

 Miracles of our Saviour ; witli a Preface concerning the 

 Frofcciition of fuch Writers by the Civil powers ;" in which 

 he proves with great ability, that all Inch intcrpotltions of 

 the civil iiiiigillrate, to prevent attacks againll Chrillianity, 

 were extremely dilhonourable to it. It was alio in this 

 yeir that lie nnbliflied his " Di fence of the Religion of 

 Nature, ar.d of the Chriilian Revelation, S:c." In all thefe 

 treatifcM, written in his retirement, where he conld derive 

 little afiiilance from booki, or the converfation of learned 

 friends, he difplays very extenfive k:;owIedge, and great 

 powers of reafoning. To the laft of the above-cited per- 

 formances he had prefixed a very lingular dedication to queen 

 Caroline, exprefiing the unhappy dclnlioii under which he 

 laboured, anil which his friends, at the time of the publica- 

 tion, pnidcntly fupprefl'ed. A cupy of it, however, was 

 prefcrved. It was publilhed in the " Adventurer," No. 88. 

 vol. iii. p. I y, ; and as it exhibits a very curious difplay of 

 the Hate of his mind, we Ihall here fubjoin it, for the grati- 

 fication of thofe who have not immediate accefs to the other 

 publication : 

 ' Madam, 

 • Of all the extraordinary things that hare been tendered 

 to your royal hands lincc your iiril happy arrival in Britain, 

 it may be boldly faid, what now befpeaks your majefty's 

 acceptance is the chief. 



' Not in itfelf, indeed ; it is a trifle unworthy your ex- 

 alted rank, and what will hardly prove an entertaining 

 amufemeut to one of your majefty's deep penetration, exadl 

 judgment, and fine tafte. 



' But on account of the author, who is the firft being of 

 the kind, and yet without a name. 



' He was once a man ; and of fome little name ; but of 

 no worth, as his prefent unparalleled cafe makes but too 

 maniftil ; for by tlie immediate hand of an avenging God, 

 his very thinking iubllance has for more than Icvcn years 

 been continually walling away, till it is wholly periflied 

 out of hiia, if il be not utterly come to nothing. None, 

 no not the leall remembrance of its very ruins, remains, not 

 the ftiadaw of an idea is left, nor any fenle that, fo much as 

 one fingle one, perfvA or iinperfcdl, whole or diminillied, 

 ever did appear to a mind within him, or was perceived 

 by it. 



' Such a prefcnt fsoin fuch a thing, Iiowever worthlefs 

 in itfelf, may not be wholly unacceptable to your majefty, 

 the author being fuch as hiitory cannot parallel ; and if the 

 fact, which is real and no fiftion, nor wrong conceit, ob- 

 tains credit, it muit be recorded .-.s the moll memorable and 

 indeed aftonilhing event in the reign of George IL that a 

 traft compofed by fuch a thing was piefcnted to the ilhil- 

 triou! Caroline ; his royal confort needs not be added ; 

 fame, if I am not mifinfonned, will tell that v;ith pleafure to 

 all fueceediiig times. 



• He has been informed, that your majefty's piety is as 

 genuine and eminent, as your excellent qualities are great 

 and confpicuous. This can, indeed, be truly known to the 

 great fearchcr of hearts only ; he alone, who can look into 

 ihcm, can difcern if they are fincere, and the main iiitea- 



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lion conefponds with the appearance ; and your majefty 

 cannot take it amifs, if fncli an author hints, that his lecraS 

 approbation is of inhnilely greater value than the commeiV- 

 dation of men, who may be eafily miftakcn and are too apt 

 to Hatter their fuperiors. , r , r 1 • 



« But if he has been tol.l the truth, fuch a cate as his 

 will certainly ftrike your majefty with aftoniftiment, and may 

 raife that commiferation in "your royal breaft which he has 

 in vain endeavoured to excite in thofe of his friends; who, 

 by the moll unrcafonable and ill-founded conceit in the 

 wori;l, have imagined, that a thinking being could for fcveu 

 years together live a ftranger to it^ own powers, cxercifes, 

 operations, and ftnte, and to what the great God has been 

 doing in it and to it. , . 



' If your majefty, in your nioft retired addrefs to the king 

 of kings, ftioulil think of fo lingular a cafe, you may, per- 

 haps, make it your devout requeft, that the reign of your 

 beloved fovereign and confort may be renowned to all pof- 

 tcrity by the recovery of a foul now in the utmoft ruin, the 

 reftoration of one ultei-ly loft at prefent amongft men. 



' And Hiould this cafe afl'ecl your royal breaft, you will 

 recommend it to the piety and prayers ol all the truly de- 

 vout, who have the honour to be known to your majefty: 

 many fuch doubtlefs there are ; though courts are not 

 ufually the places where the devout refort, or where devo- 

 tion reigns. And it i,^ not improbable, that multitudes of 

 the pious throughout the land may take a cafe to heart, 

 that under your majefty's patro^iage comes thus recom.- 

 mended. 



' Could fuch a favour as this reftoratlon be obtained from 

 heaven by the prayers of your majefty, with what a tranf- 

 port of gratitude would the recovered being throw himfclf 

 at your majefty's feet, and adoring the divine power and 

 grace, profefs himfelf, 



' Madam, 



' Your majefty's moft obliged 

 '.and dutiful fervant, 



Simon Browne.' 



After Iiis retirement into the country, the want of exer- 

 cife, which he could not be perfuaded to uie, brought on a 

 complication of diforders, and a mortification in his leg, 

 wliich terminated his life at the clofe of the year 1732, i:i 

 the 5ad year of his age. His learning and knowledge were 

 estenfive. His theological fertiments were liberal, and he 

 was a zealous advocate ior frtcduni of inquiry. His piety 

 and virtue were ditlinguiftied and exemplary ; and he was 

 animated by an ardent zeal for the intereils of rational and' 

 pradlical religion. None v\'ho duly regard the talents he 

 poffefred and the public fervices of which he was capable, 

 can forbear lamenting the malady under which he laboured. 

 " His abihties," fays one of his biographers, " made him 

 refpefled, and his virtues rendered him beloved ; but fuch 

 was the peculiarity of his cafe, that he was at once an 

 evidence of the dignity, and of the weaknefs of human 

 nature." Biog. Brit. 



Browne, Isaac Hawkins, an ingenious and elegant poet 

 of the laft century, was born in i 706, at Burton-upon-Trent, 

 of which parifh his father was mi:iifter. Having received 

 his grammatical education, firft at Litchfield, and afterwards 

 at VVeftminfter-fchool, where he diftinguifticd himfelf by his 

 rapid^ proficiency, he was admitted, at the age of 16 years, 

 into Trinity college, Cambridge ; here he :;pplied with fin. 

 gular affidnity, principally to clafiical literature, hut with, 

 out neglcdiing the appropriate Audits of the place, or the 

 various branches of mathematics, and the principles of the 

 Newtonian philofophy ; and fuch was the reputation which 



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