v
III. Of his character.
a good part of what I write is from matters of my own knowledg; nor can I well ſeperate my ſelf from it without writing abſurdly. Nor need I be aſham'd to own the little degree of friendſhip, he honor'd me withal. tis no mean ſatisfaction to me that I paſs'd the most flouriſhing part of my life in an age, when there were a number of great men coeval with Sr. Iſaac Newton, more than are mention'd in theſe memoirs, with moſt of whom I was well acquainted: men of great eminence & ſtation, in all the literary societys then among us. If matters are now ſomewhat changed, tis owing to the natural revolutions incident to mundane affairs. men & ſciences have their ſeasone, thir riſe, thir height, and thir declenſion. nor is the beſt of things, religion excluded from this predicament. nought remains immutable but the ſovereign author of the whole.
