BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY; CONTAINING An Hiftorical and Critical ACCOUNT OF THE LIVES and WRITINGS OF THE Moft Eminent Perfons In every NATION; Particularly the BRITISH and IRISH; From the earlieft Accounts of Time to the present Period. WHEREIN Their remarkable ACTIONS or SUFFERINGS, VOL. VIII. LONDON: Printed for T. OSBORNE, J. WHISTON and B. WHITE, MDCCLXII. 2101 e 31 ΑΝ Univerfal, Historical, and Literary DICTIONARY. L L. LOYD (WILLIAM) a very learned English bishop, was originally of Welch extraction, being grandfon of David Lloyd, of Henblas, in the ifle of Anglefey; but he was born at Tilehurst in Berkfire, in 1627, of which place his father, mr. Richard Lloyd, was then vicar, and rector likewise of Sunning, in the fame county. He took care himself to inftruct his fon [A] in the rudiments of grammar and claffical learning; by which means he came to understand Greek and Latin, and fomething of Hebrew, at eleven years of age; and was entered, in 1638, a ftudent of Oriel college in Oxford, whence, the following year, he was removed to a scholarship of Jefus college. In 1642, he proceeded bachelor of arts, which being completed by determination, he left the univerfity, which was then garifoned for the use of the king; but, after the furrender of it to the parliament, he returned, was chofen fellow of his college, and commenced master of arts in 1646. In the year of king Charles's martyrdom, our author took deacon's orders from dr. Skinner, bishop of Oxford, and afterwards became tutor to the children of fir William Backhoufe, of Swallowfield in Berkshire, efq;, In 1654, upon the ejection of dr. Pordage by the prefbyte[A] See his epitaph in Willis's furvey of the cathedrals of York, &c. p. 655. rian committee, he was prefented to the rectory of Bradfield, in the fame county, by Elias Afhmole, efq; patron of that living in right of his wife [B]. Accordingly he was examined by the tryers, and pafled with approbation; but defigns being laid againft him by mr. Fowler and mr. Ford, two minifters at Reading, who endeavoured to bring in dr. Temple, pretending the adyowfon was in fir Humphrey Forfter, he chofe to refign his prefentation to mr, Afhmole, rather than undergo a conteft with thofe bufy men. In 1656 he was ordained prieft, by dr. Brownrig, bifhop of Exeter, and the fame year went to Wadham college in Oxford, as governor to John Backhoufe, efq; who was a gentleman commoner there; with him he continued till 1659. In September 1660, he was incorporated mafter of arts at Cambridge [c], and, about the fame time, was made a prebendary of the collegiate church of Rippon in Yorkshire. In 1666, he was appointed king's chaplain; and, in December 1667, was collated to a prebend of Salisbury, having proceeded doctor of divinity at Oxford, in the act preceding. In 1668, he was prefented by the crown to the vicarage of St. Mary's in Reading; and the fame year was inftalled archdeacon of Merioneth, in the church of Bangor, of which he was made dean in 1672. This year he obtained also a prebend in the church of St. Paul, London. In 1674, he became refidentiary of Salisbury; and, in 1676, he fucceeded dr. Lamplugh, promoted to the fee of Exeter, in the vicarage of St. Martin's in the Fields, Westminster; upon which occafion he refigned his prebend of St. Paul's. Our author had hewn his zeal in feveral tracts against popery [D]; and in the fame fpirit he published, in 1677, Confiderations touching the true way to fupprefs popery in this kingdom, &c. on occafion whereof is inferted an Hiftorical account of the reformation here in England: but his defign was mifreprefented, and himfelf charged with favouring the papifts. The fact was thus: in this piece he propofed to tolerate fuch papifts as denied the pope's infallibility, and his power to depofe kings, excluding the reft; a method which had been put in practice both by queen Elizabeth and king James, with good fuccefs, in dividing, and fo by degrees ruining, the whole party. However, he was fuspected of complying in it with the court; and the fufpicion increased upon his being promoted to the bifhopric of St. Afaph, in 1680: infomuch that he thought it neceffary to vindicate himself, as he did [E] effectually, by fhewing, that, at the very time he made the juft-mentioned propoal, the papifts themselves were in great apprehenfion of the thing, as being the moft likely to blaft their hopes, and to preferve the nation from that ruin which they were then bringing upon it [F]. At length the fufpicion intirely vanifhed in king James the Second's reign, being one of the fix prelates who, with archbishop Sancroft, were committed to the Tower, in June 1688, for fubfcribing and prefenting the famous petition to his majesty, against diftributing and publishing in all their churches the royal declaration for liberty of confcience. The iffue of this affair is the fubject of general hiftory, and well known and about the latter end of the fame year, our bishop having concurred heartily in the revolution, was made lord almoner to king William III. In 1692, he was translated to the fee of Litchfield and Coventry, and thence to Worcester in 1699. In this bifhopric he fat till he arrived to the ninety-firft year of his age, when, without lofing the ufe of his understanding, he departed this life at Hartlebury-caftle, Auguft 30, 1717. He was buried on the 10th of September following, in the church of Fladbury, near Evesham, of which his fon was rector, where a monament is erected to his memory, with a long infcription, or elogy, fetting him forth as an excellent pattern of virtue and learning, of quick invention, firm memory, exquifite [E] In a dedication to the lords, of his fermon on the 5th of November 1680. [F] Coleman at that time wrote to the pope's internuncio thus: "There is but one thing to be "feared (whereof I have a great "apprehenfion) that can hinder "the fuccefs of our defigns; " which is, a divifion among the catholics themselves: by propo"fitions to the parliament to accord their conjunction to thofe that require it, on conditions "prejudicial to the authority of "the pope, and fo to perfecute the "reft of them with more appear A 3 ance of juftice, and ruin the one half of them more eafily, "than the whole body at once. And cardinal Howard delivered it as their judgment at Rome: "Di"vifion of catholics, fays he, will be the eafieft way for proteftants to destroy them." Collection of letters fet out by order of the houfe of commons. There is a virulent fatire upon him on this occafion, in a poem called Faction displayed, fuppofed to be written by the late W. Shippen, efq; many years a remarkable member of the house of commons. judgment, |