He was the second and youngest Son, of Robert Sanderson, of Gilthwaite-Hall, in the said Parish and County, Esq., by Elizabeth, one of the daughters of Richard Carr, of Butterthwaite-Hall, in the Parish of Ecclesfield, in the said County of York, Gentleman.

This Robert Sanderson, the Father, was descended from a numerous, ancient, and honourable family of his own name:  for the search of which truth, I refer my Reader, that inclines to it, to Dr. Thoroton’s “History of the Antiquities of Nottinghamshire,” and other records; not thinking it necessary here to engage him into a search for bare titles, which are noted to have in them nothing of reality:  for titles not acquired, but derived only, do but shew us who of our ancestors have, and how they have achieved that honour which their descendants claim, and may not be worthy to enjoy.  For, if those titles descend to persons that degenerate into Vice, and break off the continued line of Learning, or Valour, or that Virtue that acquired them, they destroy the very foundation upon which that Honour was built; and all the rubbish of their vices ought to fall heavy on such dishonourable heads; ought to fall so heavy, as to degrade them of their titles, and blast their memories with reproach and shame.

But our Robert Sanderson lived worthy of his name and family:  of which one testimony may be, that Gilbert, called the Great Earl of Shrewsbury, thought him not unworthy to be joined with him as a Godfather to Gilbert Sheldon,[3] the late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury; to whose merits and memory, posterity—­the Clergy especially—­ought to pay a reverence.

[Sidenote:  His youth]

But I return to my intended relation of Robert the Son, who began in his youth to make the Laws of God, and obedience to his parents, the rules of his life; seeming even then to dedicate himself, and all his studies, to Piety and Virtue.

[Sidenote:  His early training]

And as he was inclined to this by that native goodness, with which the wise Disposer of all hearts had endowed his; so this calm, this quiet and happy temper of mind—­his being mild, and averse to oppositions—­made the whole course of his life easy and grateful both to himself and others:  and this blessed temper was maintained and improved by his prudent Father’s good example; and by frequent conversing with him, and scattering short apophthegms and little pleasant stories, and making useful applications of them, his son was in his infancy taught to abhor Vanity and Vice as monsters, and to discern the loveliness of Wisdom and Virtue; and by these means, and God’s concurring grace, his knowledge was so augmented, and his native goodness so confirmed, that all became so habitual, as it was not easy to determine whether Nature or Education were his teachers.

And here let me tell the Reader, that these early beginnings of Virtue, were by God’s assisting grace, blessed with what St. Paul seemed to beg for his Philippians [Phil. i. 6.]; namely, “That he, that had begun a good work in them, would finish it.”  And Almighty God did:  for his whole life was so regular and innocent, that he might have said at his death—­and with truth and comfort—­what the same St. Paul said after to the same Philippians, when he advised them to walk as they had him for an example [chap. iii. 17].