"Meditations" on his irreparable loss, in which, after expressing his high sense of the admirable virtues of his wife, he enumerates her acts of beneficence and liberality, many of which had, during her life, been carefully concealed from himself.
BURNET, ELIZABETH,
Third wife of Bishop Burnet, and daughter of Sir Richard Blake, Knight, was born in London, in 1661. At the age of eighteen, she married Robert Berkeley, Esq., of Spetchley, with whom she went to Holland to reside till the revolution in England, when they returned to Spetchley, where her husband died. After being a widow seven years, she, in 1700, married Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury. She was benevolent and exemplary in her conduct. She published a book of devotion, which showed great religions knowledge. It was called, "A Method of Devotion; or, Rules for Holy and Devout Living; with prayers on several occasions, and Advices and Devotions for the Holy Sacrament: written by Mrs. Lumet." She died in 1709, and was buried at Spetchley, near her first husband, according to a promise made to him during his life.
A constant journal was kept by Mrs. Burnet, of her life; every evening she devoted some time to recollections of the past day, by way of avoiding in future any errors into which she might have fallen. Though without learning, she possessed an acute and active mind; theology continued to be her favourite study, to which, by the circumstances of the times and of her own situation, she had been more particularly led. She also made some progress in geometry and philosophy: but she valued knowledge as a means rather than as an end, as it had a tendency to enlarge and purify the mind. By the austerities of her piety, which was exalted to enthusiasm, she injured her constitution; but, in her zeal for speculative opinions, she never lost sight of candour and benevolence; she considered the regulation of her conduct, and the purity of her life, as the best evidence of the sincerity of her faith. Her general manners were unaffected, cheerful, and conciliating; severe to herself and candid to others. Without external pretence of ostentation, humility, modesty, and kindness were her peculiar characteristics. In what was indifferent, she avoided singularity, and conformed with moderation and simplicity to the customs suited to her station and rank.
BURY, ELIZABETH,
Daughter of Captain Lawrence, was born at Linton, Cambridgeshire, and married Mr. Lloyd, of Huntingdonshire; and after his death, Samuel Bury, a dissenting minister of Bristol. She excelled in her knowledge of divinity, mathematics, and the learned languages, and was noted for her piety. She particularly applied herself to the study of Hebrew, in which, by unwearied application and practice, she became a proficient She wrote critical remarks upon the idioms and peculiarities of the Hebrew language, which were found among her papers after her decease. She was a good musician, and spoke French with ease and fluency. She took great interest in the study of anatomy and medicine, which she frequently made useful among those by whom she was surrounded.
Her beneficence and generosity were habitual and persevering, and often exerted on an extensive scale, so that at one time she
