1634. his own desire; which carried him towards a learned education, which he designed the rather that he might become particularly serviceable to the church of God; but the choice of his parents determined him another way, in which he succeeded much better than they ordinarily do, who engage against the bent of their inclinations. The direct male line of this ancient family being now extinct b, the estate is devolved upon Mrs. Eleanor Doddington, sole heiress of Henry Bull, esq. of Shapwick, and wife of George Doddington, esq. who is member of parliament for the borough of Bridgwater, and was one of the late lords commissioners of the admiralty. By this it appears that Mr. Bull was by extraction a gentleman, an advantage which he the less wanted, because he was engaged in a profession, which is not only highly honourable in itself, but conferreth greater degrees of honour on those who are the best born. And let the family be never so conspicuous, the learning and piety of any branch of it addeth more to its true lustre and glory, than it is capable of giving by any blood it can convey.

He was early dedicated to the service of

It

may not be amiss to observe here, that Mr. Bull was dedicated to the service of the church at the

the church. Same time that he was made a member of it; for his

father declared at the font, that he intended him for holy orders. In which he was the more zealous, by reason of the disappointment he had met with himself from the fixed resolutions of his parents, who would never comply with his earnest and repeated desires of being made a clergyman. But, this good

b [In Shapwick church there are monuments to many of the family the latest is that of Henry Bull, son of William and Joanna Bull, who died in 1751.]

man did not live to see his pious design put in execution; for dying when his son George was but four years old, he could not have made one step in that education which was necessary to qualify his son for the service of the altar. I venture to call him a good man, because the memory that is still preserved of him representeth him as a person that was very conscientious in his dealings, and very pious towards God; and when he left off his trade, which he was never well pleased with, because it diverted him from holy orders, which he chiefly coveted, he gave considerable charities to the poor; and after having been twice mayor of the city of Wells, became a benefactor to the corporation. But though his father left several daughters, yet George was his only son, who was committed to the care and tuition of guardians by his father's last will, with an estate of 2001. per annum, which had a rent-charge upon it of near 50%. a year, payable to his father's widow, who was his mother-in-law; for his own mother c died soon after he was born. Thus by the providence of God, and the care of a good parent, he was enabled to support the charge of a liberal education, which many famous men have obtained with great difficulty, and not without the assistance of persons charitably disposed; and what good use he made of such an advantage, we may be instructed from the ensuing passages of his life.

1638.

at Tiverton school in

II. When he was fit to receive the first rudiments Educated of learning, he was placed in a grammar-school at Wells, where he continued not long; but by the Devonshire.

[Her maiden name was Elizabeth Perkyns. Wood.]

1634. care of his guardians was to great advantage removed to the free-school of Tiverton in Devonshire, of the greatest note of any in the west of England. This school was founded by Mr. Peter Blundel, a clothier, in the year 1604, with a very good maintenance for a schoolmaster and usher, and is not more considerable for its liberal endowment, than it is for its stately and noble structure. There are 150 of the foundation; and if that number cannot be supplied from the town and parish of Tiverton itself, which seldom furnisheth above half so many, then the adjacent places have the advantage of providing the rest; for the scholars generally rather exceed than fall short of the prescribed complement. It hath the privilege of sending two fellows and two scholars to Balliol college in Oxford, and the same number of both to Sidney college in Cambridge, which are chose here, and incorporated afterwards into the respective societies in the universities. An encouragement wisely contrived to preserve the school in honour and reputation, and experience confirmeth the observation; for it not only flourisheth at present, but hath made the most considerable figure of any in that part of the nation ever since its first foundation.

An account and character of his master.

Mr. Samuel Butler, the master under whom Mr. Bull was educated, was very eminent in his profession, an excellent grammarian both for Latin and Greek, diligent in his office, and vigilant in his care and observation of his scholars. He was recommended to this post by my lord chief justice Popham, who by the will of the founder was constituted the chief director of every thing which related to this free-school; and he was so considerable in

his employment, that when he removed to Tiverton, 1634. he brought several gentlemen's sons with him; so that he had scholars from many parts of the kingdom, and bred several persons, considerable for their learning, during the long time he continued master, which was above six and thirty years.

and early

progress in classic

learning.

Mr. Bull, by his great diligence, and by a remark- His great able pregnancy of parts, made a very considerable progress in all classical learning, under a person who was so able and so willing to instruct him. And it was the usual method of this master, when he gave his boys themes for verses, to press them to exert themselves and to do their best, because he judged how far each boy's capacity would carry him; but he always told George Bull, that he expected from him verses like those of Ovid; because, saith he, I know you can do it. Sufficiently thereby intimating that his scholar had a capacity and genius which enabled him to excel in such exercises. And we may very well suppose that the master took no small pains in cultivating such a good soil, and that the scholar was not less observant of the rules and directions which were proposed to him by so able an instructor, when we are assured that Mr. Bull was every ways fit for the university before he attained the fourteenth year of his age.

to Exeter

III. Thus young was Mr. Bull removed from the Removed free-school of Tiverton to Exeter college in Oxford, college in where he was entered a commoner the tenth day of Oxford. July, 1648. Here he was placed under the care of 1648. Mr. Baldwin Ackland, who was his tutor, and very considerable for his learning and piety, zealous for his sovereign, when so many of his subjects and

1

1648. friends forsook him, and true to the interest of the church in her most afflicted circumstances. Yet notwithstanding that he was under the direction of so zealous and orthodox a divine, it must not be concealed that Mr. Bull lost much of the time he spent at the university, and he frequently mentioned it himself with great sorrow and regret; though he did not, as it is too usual, impute this misfortune of his life to any remissness in the government of the place, or to any negligence in his tutor, but to the great rawness and inexperience of his age. For being transplanted very young from the strict discipline of a school to the enjoyment of manly liberty, before he had consideration enough to make use of it to the best purposes, he was overpowered by that love of pleasure and diversion, which so easily captivate youth when it is not upon the guard. But as the freedoms he took were chiefly childish follies, so when he prosecuted them with the greatest earnestness, he still gave sufficient evidence of an extraordinary genius, and by the help of his logical rules which he made himself master of with little labour, and his close way of maintaining his-argument, which was natural to him, he quickly got the reputation of a smart disputant, and as such was taken notice of by his superiors.

Taken no

tice of by two great

men.

There were two great men at that time who had a particular regard for him; the one was Dr. Conant, the rector of the college, who encouraged learning during his government, and gave an example of piety to those under his care. It is true that

d [He was not made rector till June 1649, eleven months after Bull's admission.]