bishops. As archbishop, he exerted all his powers for the good and welfare of the Church. A little be-
fore his death he visited his diocese, provided for the repairs of his cathedral, and returned to Dublin about the middle of May, 1662. He died January 25, 1663. Jeremy Taylor preached his funeral sermon. He was a High-Church divine, but very laborious and zealous for Protestant Christianity as well as for the Church of England. The most important passage in his liter- ary history was the controversy with Hobbes, an ac- count of which will be found in The Question concerning Liberty, etc., between Bishop Bramhall and Mr. Holies (Lond. 1C56), and also in Bramhall's Works. "The controversy between Bramhall and Hobbes took its rise from a conversation that passed between them at an accidental meeting, in 1G45, at the house of the Marquis of Newcastle in Paris. It appears that the bishop subsequently committed his thoughts upon the subject to writing, and transmitted his 'discourse' through the marquis to Hobbes. This called forth an answer from the latter, in a letter addressed to the marquis (dated Rouen, Aug. 20, 1645), to be communi- cated ' only to my lord bishop ;' to which Bramhall re- plied in a second paper, not, however, until the middle of the following year, and privately as before. Here the controversy rested for more than eight years, hav- ing been hitherto carried on with perfect courtesy on both sides. In 1654, however, a friend of Hobbes pro- cured without his knowledge a copy of his letter, and published it in London with Hobbes's name, but with the erroneous date of 1C52 for 1645 ; upon which Bram-' hall, finding himself thus deceived, rejoined in the next year by the publication of the Defence, etc. (Lond. 1655, 8vo), consisting of his own original ' discourse,' of Hobbes's answer, and of his own reply, printed sen- tence by sentence, with a dedication to the Marquis of Newcastle, and an advertisement to the reader ex- plaining the circum: tances under which it was pub- lished." His works were collected in one vol. fol., and published at Dublin in 1676, again in 1677, and lately at Oxford in the "Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology" (Oxford, 1842-45, 5 vols. 8vo). They are distributed into four volumes, viz. : 1. Discourses against the Romanists; 2. His Writings against the English Sec- taries ; 3. His Writings against Mr. Hobbes ; 4. Miscel- laneous. A sketch of bis life, with a list of his writings, is given in vol. i of the late Oxford edition of his works.
Jeremy Tajdor, in his funeral sermon on Bishop Bramhall, says of him : " To sum up all, he was a wise prelate, a learned doctor, a just man, a true friend, a great benefactor to others, a thankful beneficiary where he was obliged himself. He was a faithful servant to his masters, a loyal subject to the king, a zealous as- sertor of his religion, against Popery on one side and fanaticism on the other. The practice of his religion was not so much in forms and exterior ministeries, al- though he was a great observer of all the public rites and ministeries of the Church, as it was in doing good to others. It will be hard to find his equal in all things. For in him were visible the great lines of Hooker's ju- diciousness, of Jewel's learning, of the acuteness of
Bishop Andrewcs He showed his equanimity
in poverty, and his justice in riches; ho was useful in his country, and profitable in his banishment." See Hook, Feci. B'og. iii, 52 ; Landon, Dccl. Diet, ii, £82.
Biamwell, William, one of the most successful preachers of English Methodism, was born at Elswich, Lancashire, in 1759. His early education was limited to the advantages afforded by the village school of Elswich. His parents trained him to religious habits, and his exemplary life, while apprenticed to a currier at Preston, secured him general respect, but the de- mands of bis conscience were not satisfied. After long sufferings and struggles he joined the Methodists, much against the wish of his parents, and soon after, during a sermon of Wesley, became assured of his acceptance with God. lie at once began to display a great ac- tivity in religious labors; he conducted prayer-meet- ings at five o'clock in the morning for the acconimo-
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dation of working-people ; he became a class-leader,
and by his instrumentality such a religious interest was excited in Preston that the Methodist Society was quickly doubled. He entered upon the itinerant min.- istry in 1785, and in the following 3'ear was recognised by the Conference. For thirty years he then labored as a Methodist preacher, and was a "revivalist" in the best sense of the word. It is said that few men, per- haps no man of his day, gathered more converts into the communion of Methodism. In 1791 he was the instrument of a widespread revival in Dewsbury cir- cuit, which followed him, 1792, to Bristol circuit, where about 500 souls were added to the societies. He la- bored with similar success on the other circuits to which he was successively appointed, reporting at al- most every conference additions to the societies of not merely scores, but hundreds. He died suddenly, while attending the Conference at Leeds in 1818. "The records of Methodism are crowded with examples of saintly living, but from among them all no instance of profounder piety can be cited than that of William Bramwell. His energy was tireless, his understand- ing masculine, his decision of character unswerving, his voice singularly musical, his command over the passions of his hearers absolute. He was ascetic ; an early riser for study and prayer; reading some, study- ing more, and praying most. He acquired a knowl- edge of the Greek and the French, and translated from the latter a good work on preaching. He was scrupu- lous to a fault, and charitable to excess, giving even the clothes from his person to the poor. The quick- ness and clearness of his discriminations of character were marvellous, and led both himself and his friends to suppose that he possessed the power of 'discerning spirits' " (Stevens, Hist. Of Method, ii, 310). A J/< moir of the Life and Ministry if Win. Bramwell, written by Rev. James Sigston (1st edit. 1820), has had an im- mense circulation both in England and America, and is still a popular work of Methodist literature. See Stevens, Hist, of Meth. ii, 308 sq. ; iii, 113, 178, 216 sq., 266 sq.