_I> -£ _i_t -i .£. ii. -T 
 
 ?iaa®iLQQiiaaiL ssimiMtav, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 SAMUEL AGNEW, 
 
 BX 5175 .S58 1820 
 Shuttleworth, George Edmund! 
 Church and the clergy 
 
THE 
 
 Clmrrij anti tty Clergp, 
 
 EXHIBITING 
 
 THE OBLIGATIONS OF SOCIETY, LITERATURE, 
 AND THE ARTS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL ORDERS, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF AN ESTABLISHED PRIESTHOOD. 
 
 By GEORGE EDMUND SIIUTTLEWORTII. 
 
 LOxMDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR F. C. & J. IUVINGTON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD.. 
 AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALI. MALL. 
 
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 Lombard-Hrcct. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IT was whilst musing- amidst the ruins of 
 the Capitol that Gibbon first conceived the 
 idea of " The decline and fall " of the proud 
 mistress of the world. 
 
 In the depths of the Highlands, between 
 Anoch and Glensheals, Johnson experienced 
 a similar excitement : " I sat down/' he ob- 
 serves in his inimitable way, " on a bank 
 such as a writer of romance might have de- 
 lighted to feign. I had indeed no trees to 
 whisper over my head, but a clear rivulet 
 streamed at my feet. The day was calm, the 
 air soft, and all was rudeness, silence, and so- 
 litude. Before me and on either side, were 
 high hills, which by hindering the eye from 
 ranging, forced the mind to find entertainment 
 for itself. Whether I spent the hour well I 
 
IV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 know not, for here I first conceived the thought 
 of this narration." 
 
 Without an arrogant attempt to place my- 
 self in competition with such illustrious indi- 
 viduals, I can observe with perfect truth, that 
 in the majestic aisles and romantic cloisters of 
 our cathedrals, in the solitudes of religious 
 edifices, amidst the shrines of the sainted and 
 the tombs of the renowned, I have deeply par- 
 ticipated in those melancholy reveries which 
 have been described as the happiest state in 
 which the human mind can rest. 
 
 An innate predilection for the remains of 
 antiquity, mingled with my pursuits from child- 
 hood. Ecclesiastical architecture more espe- 
 cially has seldom escaped my attention, and 
 fortunately mv professional duties have led me 
 into the vicinity of a large proportion of the 
 venerable ruins of monastic times. 
 
 A stranger perambulating Rome is surprized 
 at the repeated allusion to Augustus. Augus- 
 tus! Augustus! vibrates through her now de- 
 solate domes and colonnades, her broken aque- 
 ducts, her mouldering circus, and deserted 
 forum ; along the shores of the Tiber, on the 
 Flaminian way, through her sacred groves, her 
 havens, and her sanctuaries, which time has 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 V 
 
 left to record her former greatness, Augustus ! 
 Augustus! is still announced in whispers to 
 the inquiring traveller. 
 
 Not strictly as applied to an individual, but 
 to a distinct class of society, a stranger no 
 sooner passes the threshold of a British Ca- 
 thedral than he finds a similar monotony pre- 
 vailing. In whatever direction I have tra- 
 versed the kingdom I have discovered cause 
 of gratitude to the Clergy. Cathedrals, mo- 
 nasteries, hospitals, asylums, seminaries for 
 learning, whatever can promote human felicity 
 or mitigate the sorrows of mortality, I have 
 found the works of their hands the offspring 
 of their munificence ; and thus forcibly im- 
 pressed by the multitude of their foundations 
 and the magnitude of their endowments, I have 
 ventured (with too much temerity possibly) to 
 become an humble advocate of the most culti- 
 vated community in the world. 
 
 Nor is it with any desire to extenuate the 
 numerous errors and imperfections which will 
 doubtless be discovered in this publication, 
 that I declare it to have been precipitated from 
 the press, with a painful reference to passing 
 events ; instead of a few months which have 
 been spent in hastily arranging these materials, 
 
vi 
 
 INTU0DUCT10N. 
 
 many years of deliberate research might have 
 been well employed upon a subject as gratify- 
 ing as I have found it interesting. 
 
 Religion and morality, all political and civil 
 institutions, every dignity, distinction, and ho- 
 nour, which were wont to command respect, 
 have become objects of abhorrence to a multi- 
 tude of licentious writers, who have saturated 
 the press with a stream of corrupt principles, 
 profligate theories, and diabolical falshoods, 
 that will overwhelm us, unless virtuous men 
 unite to strengthen the arm of justice, and up- 
 hold the faith of our forefathers. 
 
 If we believe these infidels there is no obli- 
 gation amongst mankind to be restricted to the 
 common decencies of life and society, nor a 
 law existing in our legislative code which can 
 justly punish a villain ; and truly it is difficult 
 to be convinced to the contrary when we per- 
 ceive how far offensive declamation may go 
 with impunity, how near and how often traitors 
 may strike, before being deemed guilty of trea- 
 son. 
 
 Whatever can controul the outrageous pas- 
 sions of human nature, has been denounced 
 as despotism ; and lewdness, impiety, and inso- 
 lence the only characteristics of liberty Mo- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vii 
 
 derate and good men are seared by dema- 
 gogues from institutions which once yielded us 
 protection and comfort ; and insignia which 
 through ages has marked its wearers for es- 
 teem and reverence, has been trampled under 
 foot, a sacrifice to a nauseous popularity. 
 
 It is true the times have changed ; the intel- 
 lect of man every day expands, and the pomp, 
 pageantry, and parade of chivalry no longer 
 please ; but if the stronger light of reason be 
 only applied to the propagation of infidelity 
 and treason, the sooner we sink again into 
 inoffensive ignorance the better. 
 
 The Clergy of the establishment have been 
 long esteemed, not only at home but abroad, 
 for profound wisdom and liberality of mind ; 
 and I hope I shall have succeeded in con- 
 vincing many labouring under prejudices of 
 which they know not the root or origin, that 
 for benevolence of heart, intellectual industry, 
 and genuine piety, they merit the homage of 
 all good men. 
 
 Whenever I have borrowed the sentiments 
 of others I hope I have faithfully acknowledged 
 the obligation ; for historical and topographical 
 facts my references have been made to the best 
 and most authentic compilations, and as such 
 
viii 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I conceive T am entitled to the extensive pri- 
 vileges which my predecessors have availed 
 themselves of without the necessity of 
 tation. 
 
 G E. SHUTTLES ORTH. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Preliminary , 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Unjust Prejudices 14 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Monastic Splendour. St. Edmund's Bury — 
 
 Malmsbury— -Glastonbury 24 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Bechet — Beaufort — Wolsey 34 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Cathedrals. Ely — Bath and Wells — Chester — 
 
 Chichester — Salisbury — Worcester — Lincoln — 
 Winchester 45 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Cathedrals in continuation Hereford — Norwich 
 
 — Canterbury 68 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Cathedrals in continuation. — Durham — Gloucester 
 — Exeter — Rochester — Peterborough — Bristol 
 — Carlisle — Lichfield . . 95 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 Cathedrals in continuation. — York — London . . 119 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 The Universities. — Oxford Colleges All Souls 
 
 — Baliol, — Merton, — University, — Exeter, — 
 Hertford, — Oriel, — Queen's 131 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 The Universities. — Oxford in continuation — Ner» 
 College — Lincoln — Magdalen — Brazen Nose 
 — Corpus Christi 151 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 The Universities. Oxford in continuation — Christ 
 Church — Trinity — St. J ohn's — Jesus — Wad- 
 ham — Pembroke — Worcester — The Halls — 
 The Theatre 169 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 The University of Cambridge. — Minor Seminaries 
 — Duties of Ecclesiastics 184 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Superstitions of the Greeks — Egyptians — Cartha- 
 ginians — Assyrians — Romans— and the Ancient 
 Britons 200 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 Monastic Institutions. — Benedictines — Domini- 
 cans — Franciscans 219 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 Feudal Tenures 235 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAG E 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 The Reformers 247 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 Modern Ecclesiastics Leland, — Hooker, — J. 
 
 Prideaux, — Fuller, — Pearson, — Cudworth, — ■ 
 Patrick, — Tillotson — Barrow 256 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 Modern Ecclesiastics continued. — SHllingjleet — 
 Whilb y — Marsh — Burnet — H. Prideaux — 
 W. Lowth — Wilson — Clarke — R. Newton — 
 Seeker — T. Newton 271 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 Modern Ecclesiastics continued R. Lowth — 
 
 Parkhurst—Paley — Porteus — Conclusion . 2SS 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 IF the antiquity of an institution entitle 
 it to respect and honour, the existing system of 
 ecclesiastical remuneration, should claim much 
 greater delicacy of discussion, than usually 
 accompanies it. It is not only interwoven in 
 our political constitution, it has not only 
 •withstood all the convulsions, and violent agi- 
 tations, which have assailed and rent the state, 
 but it emanates from those holy records, which 
 are the direct word of God, and the basis of 
 our religion. 
 
 We do not profess to have searched the folios 
 of the holy Fathers, or to have laboured through 
 the voluminous annals of controversy, to deter- 
 mine a fact, which must remain speculative 
 until the grand consummation of all things ; 
 
 A 
 
<2 
 
 but it has been assumed by many learned 
 theologians, and is still the doctrine of nu- 
 merous wise and good men, that the sacrifices 
 ot Cain and Abel, consisted of a certain pro- 
 portion of their flocks, and their harvests, 
 expressly stipulated, and ordained, by God ; 
 who thus early accustomed mankind, to a re- 
 linquishment of a part of the blessings be- 
 stowed upon them, as an acknowledgment of 
 the power, whence they were derived; which 
 proportion, was to constitute that endowment, 
 the Almighty contemplated in the progress of 
 his inimitable system, to resign to the ad- 
 ministrators of his will ; that their minds might 
 be totally unembarrassed by worldly conside- 
 rations, and anxieties, inconsistent with the 
 duties of the servants of the Most High. 
 
 On a subject so impervious to human obser- 
 vation, we must be content with the conjectures 
 of the learned and ingenious, till as we ad- 
 vance with the investigation, we arrive at a 
 point, whence we may indisputably take our 
 departure with perfect safety, and unless vio- 
 lently impregnated with scepticism, must con- 
 cede thus much, that there exist powerful, if 
 uot irresistible reasons for believing in the 
 ivine origin of tythes. 
 
3 
 
 We read distinctly, that Abraham gave ty the, 
 or a tenth, of the spoils he captured from the 
 four kings, to Melchizedek, Prince or High 
 Priest of Salem ; a circumstance not mentioned 
 as a novelty, but evidently conformable to a 
 previously existing practice, and we find tythes 
 again alluded to in the history of Jacob. They 
 formed a particular section in the legislative 
 code of Moses ; severe anathemas were de- 
 nounced against all defalcators ; and from this 
 period, they may be considered, as constituting 
 the indefeasible right, and privilege, of the 
 priesthood. 
 
 The custom was uninterrupted during the 
 Babylonian captivity, may be traced through 
 all the dynasties of Persia and Assyria — 
 spread itself through the states of Greece — 
 was established amongst the Phoenicians and 
 Scythians — in Arabia and Ethiopia — expanded 
 with the conquests of Alexander, and followed 
 the eagles of Imperial Rome. Our Saviour 
 frequently refers to it, and all the holy fathers, 
 saints, and martyrs, recommend it as a duty, 
 independent of specific offerings, and alms. It 
 flourished with the cross, into whatever region 
 it was borne ; it included the labour of the 
 husbandman, the spoil of the warrior, the 
 a 2 
 
4 
 
 gains of the merchant, the net of the fisher- 
 man, whatever the earth yielded, or the art of 
 man produced ; and it continued the acknow- 
 ledged, and unalienable patrimony of the 
 church, until the corruptions and insolence of 
 the Roman Pontiffs, afforded a no less haughty 
 than capricious monarch, an apology for that 
 indiscriminate desolation, with which he visited 
 the pure cell of devotion, as well as the 
 abominations of hypocrisy and intolerance ; 
 and when the profligacy of the king, bestowed 
 the rich endowments, which had been for 
 centuries dedicated to the Almighty, upon his 
 favourites and courtiers, then, for the first time 
 since the commencement of the world, tythes 
 fell into profane hands ; except, indeed, w hen 
 the pagan nations invaded the church : and at 
 such dangerous extremities, there are instances 
 of nobility receiving tythes, as a reward for 
 defending the cross ; but even this practice 
 occasioned much contention, it was deemed 
 sacrilegious, and several of the Popes con- 
 demned all such infeodations past and to 
 come. 
 
 The Jewish tythes were far more consider- 
 able than under the Christian dispensation : 
 they were received under various denomi- 
 
5 
 
 nations, as — the corner unreaped — the bicu- 
 rine or hundredth part — the therumah or 
 fiftieth — the Levites tythe — the tythe for 
 feasts — and every third year the poor man's 
 tythe. To these may be added the offering 
 of first fruits, the redemption of the first horn 
 of man and beast, and various other payments 
 under the titles of sacrifices, offerings, gifts, 
 or oblations. So that in our ordinary year 
 a Jew paid above a fifth part, and above a 
 fourth in every third year. 
 
 The Pharisees made it a rigid principle to 
 pay their tythe to the full, even upon the 
 smallest herbs ; this is evident during the time 
 of our Saviour ; also after his ascension ; in 
 the reign of Nero ; and as long as the temple 
 stood. Even to the present time, the strictly 
 religious Jews in Poland, and other parts where 
 their settlements and synagogues are nu- 
 merous, pay, or acknowledge as due, the great 
 tythe, or tenth, although they consider all 
 others as abolished with the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 It was customary in the sixth and seventh 
 centuries, for individuals to pay tythea of all 
 they possessed, at the celebration of a mar- 
 riage, the commencement of a journey, or 
 
6 
 
 on undertaking any penance ; and devotees 
 considered every thing they lived by, subject to 
 tythes. Id more recent times we find Geoffrey, 
 Earl of Essex, granted a fythe of the meat 
 used at his table. William, Earl of Warren, 
 a tenth penny of his rents ; tythes of venison 
 were granted by some ; and of whales cast upon 
 their manors by others. 
 
 Tythes were not only paid before the time 
 of Moses, by the Patriarchs and their imme- 
 diate descendants, but were general through 
 Asia and Africa, to people unknown to Moses ; 
 and have been found to exist even amongst the 
 barbarous nations of the north, who could only 
 have derived the practice from the remotest 
 antiquity. 
 
 Although the mode of tything, seems in some 
 instances to have differed, as well as the appro- 
 priation of tythes, yet a tenth seems to have 
 been the predominating measure, and the clergy 
 exclusively entitled to it. 
 
 The Christian tythes are not demanded by 
 virtue of the Levitical law, but, by the original 
 custom ; though tything is essentially con- 
 firmed by the Levitical law, which likewise 
 establishes its antiquity even at the time of 
 Moses. 
 
7 
 
 The regular payment of tythes was obstruct- 
 ed during the persecutions, particularly in the 
 first four centuries of Christianity; but in these 
 early ages, the liberality of the disciples and 
 converts, was such as to render all compulsory 
 regulations unnecessary; and therefore the 
 actual proportion of a tenth, may have re- 
 mained for some centuries as a dead letter, or 
 dormant law, which the character of the times 
 had superseded ; but as literature enlightened 
 the minds of men, this enthusiasm or super- 
 stition, (as we now deem it) gradually dis- 
 appeared, and, unfortunately, carried a great 
 proportion of piety, and benevolence, along- 
 with it ; consequently it became necessary to 
 institute canons, edicts, and other statutes, to 
 secure the clergy their rights. 
 
 Thus we find in early periods, the law of God 
 had more force than the laws of man : now the 
 first is totally disregarded, and the latter are 
 disputed ; and at a moment when every village 
 has a Bible Society, when missionaries from 
 every denomination of Christians, are spread- 
 ing the gospel through the most remote and 
 unenlightened districts of the earth ; the mi- 
 nisters of our establishment, are falling rapidly 
 .into contempt ; their p/ vileges are daily cur- 
 
s 
 
 tailed, their rights and reasonable endowments 
 denied; and the awe, and veneration, which 
 once marked the presence of a priest, have 
 vanished. 
 
 To revise, collect, and augment their canons, 
 the fathers met in Synods and Councils, and 
 we find as frequently as the decay of devotion 
 rendered it necessary, that the same means 
 were resorted to; that there never has occurred 
 any suspension of the right of the church ; that 
 the tenth has always been adhered to as the 
 just proportion, and all these councils declared 
 tythesto be derived "Jure Divino." 
 
 Sometimes exemptions were granted by the 
 Popes, or Bishops ; but all who neglected their 
 contributions, without such exemptions, were 
 excommunicated. It was an enquiry at visita- 
 tions, whether the people had regularly paid 
 their tythes ; the penitentials order the neglect 
 to be punished as a grievous sin ; and when 
 neither devotion, exhortation, nor the influence 
 of ecclesiastical canons and statutes, were suf- 
 ficient to enforce payment, then pious princes 
 began to make secular laws, to compel the 
 refractory. 
 
 It appears a reasonable supposition, that 
 tvthcs were paid by our Saxon ancestors, even 
 
9 
 
 alter llieir conversion, which they expressed as 
 " God's fee or God's gift." The clergy in 
 those days were denominated the servants of 
 God, and the laws of King lna in 692, Withred 
 in 694 and 697, and Ethelbold in 749, appa- 
 rently allude to tythes ; but they are first men- 
 tioned by name in the Canons collected by 
 Egbert, Archbishop of York, in 750. 
 
 The charter of Ethelwolph, the first here- 
 ditary sole Monarch of the English Saxons, was 
 granted in a general council of the whole 
 kingdom, or by the parliamentary council of 
 that time, by which a law binding upon the 
 nation was made, for the regular and equitable 
 payment of tythes. 
 
 The laws of Edward the Confessor enu- 
 merate all articles tytheable. Alfred laid a 
 pecuniary mulct upon all who should detain, 
 or withhold their tythes, which was renewed by 
 his son Edward ; and his grandson Athelstan 
 made a law, which was so well received, that 
 the nobility, gentry, and commons of Kent, in 
 acknowledging the general benefits of his 
 administration, specify in particular his law 
 respecting the dues of the clergy, to which they 
 conformed with alacrity and satisfaction, and 
 contributed their tythes most willingly and 
 liberally. 
 
to 
 
 Edward, brother of Athelstan, denounced 
 all who withheld their tythes, as utterly ac- 
 cursed. 
 
 Edgar, Ethel red, and Canute, enacted laws 
 respecting tythes. The Kings, after the con- 
 quest, swore to maintain all Edward's laws, not 
 because he made them, but because he observed 
 them. 
 
 Magna Charta gives the church all her 
 rights; many of the laws of the preceding 
 reigns enjoined merchants and artificers, pay- 
 ment of tythes on their gains, as well as on the 
 fruits of the earth ; and Edward the Confessor, 
 particularly describes the manner of paying 
 tythe for colts, calves, &c. 
 
 William the Conqueror decreed no new laws; 
 respecting tythes, but ratified all which had 
 been established by his predecessors. 
 
 In the reign of Henry the first, tythes were 
 acknowledged by a general council, and re- 
 commended to be punctually offered as the 
 inheritance of the most high God. 
 
 Stephen decreed that all defalcators should 
 be exeommunicated. 
 
 Henry the second, Richard the first, and 
 John, all ordained a scrupulous attention to 
 tythes. 
 
11 
 
 Henry the third added, that parish priests 
 might deny the sacrament at Easter to such as 
 detained their tythes. 
 
 In 1250, Walter Grey, Archbishop of York, 
 composed a constitution, to settle one uniform 
 custom of tything hay, lambs, wool, milk, &c. 
 by its statutes non-conformists were admo- 
 nished thrice — ultimately excommunicated ; 
 and if the priests connived at the disobedience 
 of their congregations, or failed to prosecute 
 all who were detected in unjust dealing with 
 the church, they were suspended. 
 
 Edward the first followed the footsteps of 
 his predecessor. In the Reigns of Edward the 
 second, and Edward the third, tythes were 
 distinguished as a sacred portion of all things 
 to be dedicated to the Almighty, whose do- 
 minion is universal ; and the conduct of those 
 deemed highly reprehensible who required any 
 allurements to part with their tythes, beyond 
 the blessing of God, presumed to attach to all 
 who voluntarily sacrificed to his service. 
 
 In the time of Edward the third, all timber 
 cut down, paid tythe ; but a compromise took 
 place, which restricted the demand to all under 
 twenty years growth. 
 
12 
 
 Richard the second, and Henry the fourth, 
 confirmed Edward's regulation, and refused 
 compliance with an address from the Commons, 
 urging' the exemption of quarries from tythe. 
 
 Even Henry the eighth, when he had shaken 
 oft' the Pope's supremacy, and scattered the 
 relics of the church far and wide, confirmed 
 all ordinances, respecting the levying and col- 
 lecting tylhes. 
 
 And finally, the ecclesiastical canons, col- 
 lected in the reign of Edward the sixth, by 
 eight of the most celebrated members of the 
 learned professions, viz. — Two bishops, two 
 doctors of divinity, two doctors of civil law, 
 and two common lawyers, declare that all 
 customs which lessen the tenth, or infringe on 
 the divine right oftythcs, shall be abrogated. 
 
 Thus, therefore, as Comber remarks in sum- 
 ming up his eighth chapter, it is plain " That 
 tythes, which God first taught, and inspired 
 Patriarchs paid, which were enjoined under 
 the law, and not repealed but required under 
 the gospel ; which were held to be due by the 
 fathers and paid by the primitive Christians, 
 came in here almost as soon as Christianity 
 itself, and began first to be paid of devotion, 
 
18 
 
 in obedience to God's law, and then by cus- 
 tom, and some human laws were confirmed ; 
 until at length, by a general law, and voluntary 
 donation of them, throughout, the whole king- 
 dom, with the consent of the king and three 
 estates, they were for ever dedicated to the 
 church ; and have been confirmed by innumer- 
 able acts of parliament and canons, in almost 
 every King's reign since, with severe penalties 
 on the offenders. And by virtue of these laws 
 the clergy have enjoyed them for above 800 
 years, adding prescription to all their other 
 titles." * 
 
 * Comber on Tythes, 16&. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 UNJUST PREJUDICES. 
 
 TO those familiar with the history of tythes, 
 the preceding observations, will have had only 
 brevity, to recommend them ; but to the less 
 informed reader, they will prove, what hi the 
 present day is very material, that they did not 
 originate in the brain of a lavish minister — 
 that they were not engendered by loans or 
 subsidies— that they did not commence with 
 the accession of the house of Hanover, or the 
 restoration of King Charles — that they arose 
 not out of the factions of York or Lancaster — 
 were not imported by Coeur de Lion from the 
 fields of Palestine, nor introduced by the sword 
 of the conqueror — that, in short, we owe not 
 their institution to kings or warriors — to cava- 
 liers or roundheads — to whigs or tories — to 
 the suspension of the habeas corpus or any 
 
15 
 
 political revolutions; they bloomed as it were 
 amongst the earliest roses in paradise, and 
 descended to posterity as a memorial, that to 
 the bounteous bestower of every blessing, an 
 oblation of all things is religiously due. 
 
 Such, we mean to support, is the deep- 
 rooted title of the clergy to their tythes, as the 
 delegates of omnipotent authority. Let us 
 examine therefore what have been the effects 
 of an oppression so much complained of. From 
 the rude altar of Abel, and the tent of the 
 Patriarchs, we have seen art, and science, gra- 
 dually expand ; transforming, by progressive 
 improvement, the tabernacle in the wilderness 
 into the gorgeous temple of Jerusalem — and 
 when sin and disobedience had made its wor- 
 shippers captives, polluted its golden orna- 
 ments, and hurled the last stone from its base ; 
 then we see Christianity, amidst stripes and 
 imprisonments — in defiance of death and tor- 
 ments — and under all the heavy burdens of 
 first fruits, alms, oblations, and tythes — cover 
 the world with magnificence. 
 
 When the tyranny of the church was at its 
 acme, when Europe abounded with eccle- 
 siastics, when nine parts of every man's sub- 
 stance and labour, were given away in acts of 
 
}6 
 
 superstition or devotion, when no soul took 
 its flight without leaving an endowment for st 
 favorite church, erecting a chauntry, or found- 
 ing masses for its repose ; still all the works 
 which encourage human genius, all the com- 
 forts which reward human toil, appear to have 
 been attainable, and durable. Even in our 
 own days, gloomy and portentous as they are, 
 in despite of the many omens which centuries 
 have not exhausted, in despite of tory ad- 
 ministrations, the corruptions of parliament, 
 the funding system, tythes, and episcopacy, 
 we perceive science advancing with gigantic 
 strides ; talents and integrity assume pre- 
 eminence ; literature and the arts patronized 
 more liberally, than in the famed ages of Au- 
 gustus and Lorenzo; truth and justice pene- 
 trating every where, and prevailing over 
 human passions, and selfish interest. We 
 have, it is admitted, great, though, we tru-t, 
 not insurmountable calamities, to contend with, 
 but w ith many causes for exultation, we hsa e, 
 unfortunately, those amongst us, who can con- 
 vert as mild a sceptre, as ever swayed a king- 
 dom, into a rod of iron ; and who never per- 
 ceive a spark in the horizon but they magnify 
 it into " the pestilence which walketh at noon 
 
n 
 
 day." Either by too gloomy apprehensions 
 or too brilliant anticipations, Ave are continual- 
 ly deceiving ourselves, and probably if we had 
 " writ our annals true," the hour which saw 
 the fall of the domes, the pinnacles, and 
 shrines, of Bury St. Edmunds, of Glastonbury, 
 Tintern, and so many others, felt as fatal a 
 transition, as lamentable a disappointment in 
 all immediate benefits, as we who have 
 " amazed the welkin" for the abdication of 
 Fontainbleau and the victory of Waterloo, or 
 as a murmuring yeomanry would doubtless ex- 
 perience upon the abolition of tythes. 
 
 To approach still nearer to our subject, 
 what interruption has agriculture experienced, 
 from the day when Abraham set the example, 
 which it is now customary to denounce as an 
 institute of despotism. Amidst all the vicis- 
 situdes of kingdoms, under whatever tyranny 
 the world has groaned, whatever changes our 
 own nation has experienced, and " Heaven 
 has given its share," still the plough has main- 
 tained a progressive course towards improve- 
 ment ; our cattle have increased, and multi- 
 plied exceedingly ; and from century to cen- 
 tury, the husbandman has gained, besides the 
 poor pittance to his Rector or Vicar, for the 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 spiritual comfort which has refreshed his soul 
 on the bed of sickness and deaths " enough 
 and to spare." 
 
 How strange that a class of society, so 
 aggrieved as the agriculturist, should have 
 acquired such possessions ; that the sons of 
 our gentry should voluntarily put on the same 
 voke ; and even our nobility seek the same 
 chains. Are the associations for improvements 
 in agriculture less numerous, less respectable ? 
 Are patrons wanting, or has emulation ceased 
 Is the pursuit less honourable ? Are its results 
 less gratifying, or less profitable? Have our 
 farmers abandoned their homely habits, their 
 sincere, but unpolished hospitality, to descend 
 the scale of comfort and refinement ? Or are 
 they not educated more appropriately for the 
 carpeted parlour, the chintz-covered couch, 
 and the high-bred hunter? Is the peasant's 
 song forgotten, because his master is less 
 happy, or that become more rich, he prefer? 
 " the lascivious pleasing of a lute ?" Has the 
 bright October vanished from the intrusion of 
 poverty ; or rather has not " the tuscan grape" 
 usurped its proverbial virtues ? Shew me any 
 side of the picture where a shadow has darkened 
 the scene, or from which one invigorating ray 
 
19 
 
 has been withdrawn, by the effects of tythes. 
 Or shew me any other pursuit of human life, 
 where there is more to animate, more sound 
 reasons for pride, and independence ; where 
 servility is more a stranger, and the wayward- 
 ness of fortune less felt, than in the pursuits of 
 agriculture. 
 
 Tything, and the parson, are in short the 
 bug-bears of the farm-house, excitements to 
 anger in the market place, and to wit at the 
 ordinary. If a tenant neglect his land, if he 
 be in arrears with his rent, if his cattle die of 
 murrain, if the harvest fail, should he be 
 injured by flood, or tempest, all are caused by 
 tything, and the Rector;, and are only curable 
 by the abolition of the one, and the subju- 
 gation of the other, to something less respect- 
 able than a common hireling. 
 
 The senseless reproaches cast upon the 
 clergy, originate in total ignorance, and are 
 encouraged upon principles of the most selfish 
 character, from the fallacious hope that what 
 the church is deprived of, the husbandman will 
 enjoy. Examined individually there is no ques- 
 tion, but the grosser qualities of human nature 
 will be found to impregnate the ecclesiastical 
 body, as well as every other class of society ; 
 b 2 
 
20 
 
 the same weaknesses, the same feelings, pas- 
 sions, and propensities, without doubt, exist, 
 under the gown and cassock, as under the 
 more motley habits of the layman ; and it is 
 a source of painful regret, that so much of the 
 man should incorporate with the spirit of a 
 Christian minister ; this cannot be denied : 
 but after allowing full force to every accu- 
 sation, which can be brought against them, 
 we will venture to affirm, and establish 
 upon indisputable evidence, that in no other 
 body of men, does there exist a greater pro- 
 portion of the higher excellencies of rational 
 beings, whether devotional, domestic, or intel- 
 lectual. 
 
 It is neither desirable, nor our intention, to 
 renew the controversies which have, from time 
 to time, agitated the public, upon the subject 
 of tythes. The divine right of the clergy to 
 their tenths, has been as ably maintained, 
 as it has been skilfully and virulently disputed ; 
 but still the question remains where it was 
 found, obscured in dubious records and oral 
 traditions. 
 
 Prescription has, however, rendered th« 
 title of the clergy to this munificent endow- 
 
21 
 
 ment (if, upon investigation, it shall prove so) 
 indisputable, and although we all have cause 
 to rejoice in the consequences of the spolia- 
 tions which a covetous tyrant tolerated, we 
 cannot reflect, without sorrow, that so many 
 establishments, which piety and virtue had 
 founded, have been so relentlessly dismem- 
 bered, or, at least, that such part of their 
 resources, as had been appropriated from the 
 existence of the world, to the servants of the 
 Creator, should, in a moment of infuriated 
 zeal, have been indiscriminately swept away, 
 to enrich the sanguinary instruments of a 
 sacrilegious war ; and, probably, were we to 
 investigate the subject minutely, we should 
 discover, that until lay impropriations were 
 known, the system of tythes was seldom ob- 
 jected to ; and that the example of those who 
 regarded their tythes in no other light than a 
 property, applicable solely to personal grati- 
 fication, has excited the antipathies now 
 almost universally indulged, against this mode 
 of compensation. 
 
 Experience hourly instructs us, that reforms 
 too frequently terminate in destruction. All 
 ancient edifices have some secret imperfec- 
 
22 
 
 tions, some defects, which the march of time, 
 and the progress of human opinions, will 
 necessarily engender; objectionable, perhaps, 
 to modern judgment and penetration, but if 
 attempted to be eradicated, even by the most, 
 skilful hand, the venerable pile becomes so 
 crippled, its primitive beauties so interpolated 
 and defaced, its symmetry, proportions, and 
 harmony so disarranged, that if it avoids 
 destruction during the transition, it only sur- 
 vives a useless disfigured ruin. 
 
 When Henry the eighth directed an inves- 
 tigation of the minor monasteries, it was 
 little anticipated that all the beauteous tem- 
 ples, which piety had projected, and science 
 adorned, were, in a short period, to scatter 
 dust, desolation, and ruin, through the land ; 
 that every sanctuary, where devotion kneeled, 
 or misery sought consolation, was to be in-, 
 vaded by rapine, and stained by the blood of 
 the aged, and the innocent, because here and 
 there corruption was discovered ; yet such 
 were the consequences ; and when the mo- 
 nastic habit was banished from our shores, 
 the holy vestments of the church were la- 
 mentably rent ; the character of the priest- 
 
23 
 
 hood was changed ; they were no longer that 
 distinct and sacred class of mankind, which 
 ages had contemplated with awe and refer- 
 ence ; and step by step we have approached 
 a period, when the clergy J are regarded as 
 little better than authorized despoilers. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 MONASTIC SPLENDOUR. 
 
 $T. EDMUND'S BURY MALMSBURY GLASTONBURY'. 
 
 THE era of the dissolution of monasteries, 
 by Henry the eighth, was the proudest, per- 
 haps, the church had ever known ; and in this 
 kingdom, especially, it was supported with 
 unrivalled splendour. As remarkable for piety 
 as chivalry, the shrines of our ancestors beamed 
 with matchless radiance, every altar groaned 
 with sacrifice, and though shamefully mixed 
 with abominations, which covetousness had 
 introduced, and ignorance encouraged, the 
 accents of praise and thanksgiving were loud 
 and sincere, from one extremity of the nation 
 to the other ; in its remotest corners, as within 
 its most gorgeous and solemn sanctuaries. 
 
 We have, it is true, appalling narrations of 
 the pomp and grandeur of monastic digni- 
 taries, and of the tyranny of ecclesiastics, 
 
25 
 
 when the superstition of saints and relics were 
 in their zenith. The most celebrated institu- 
 tions were, unfortunately, most incumbered 
 with these impositions. From the description 
 of Leland, Bury St. Edmund's could scarcely 
 have been eclipsed by the city of Babylon ; it 
 partook as much of the character of a fortress, 
 as of a religious edifice. It was encompassed by 
 lofty walls, flanked with towers, and shut in by 
 brazen gates, and ponderous portcullis'. 
 
 The abbot was mitred, and a peer of par- 
 liament. One hundred and eleven servants, in 
 addition to various subordinate officers, waited 
 upon the brotherhood. The abbot had exclu- 
 sive jurisdiction in the town; and for a mile 
 round, he had the authority of chief magis- 
 trate, and the power of inflicting capital 
 punishment. He was free from all ecclesias- 
 tical supremacy, except of the pope, and was 
 exempt from excommunication, and interdicts, 
 unless expressly specified in the papal bulls. 
 Fountains, vineries, bowling greens, do\e 
 cotes, and fish ponds, were amongst the deco- 
 rations of St. Edmund's Bury; there were 
 stables for a large stud, accommodations for 
 carriages, hawks, and hounds. The abbot 
 possessed a magnificent mansion in the metro- 
 
26 
 
 polis; four granges, or summer houses, with 
 extensive manors and fisheries. Kings, popes, 
 and prelates, vied with each other in endowing 
 this monastery ; and so prodigious were its 
 estates, royalties, immunities, exemptions, 
 franchises, and liberties, that it was esteemed 
 one of the brightest stars of the ecclesiastical 
 orders, not only in England, but throughout 
 Christendom. 
 
 It was protected and enriched by thirty- 
 three distinct bulls and charters, each con- 
 firming some novel or precious privilege. It 
 possessed the right of coinage ; its benefactors 
 were without number; the gifts and oblations, 
 which decorated its shrines, of incalculable 
 value. Its estates have been estimated worth, 
 in present money, a rental of £400,000 per 
 annum. The spoils of the abbey at the disso- 
 lution, amounted to 5000 marks of gold and 
 silver, besides vestments and jewels ; and the 
 plate, bells, lead, timber, and other materials, 
 produced 5000 marks to the king. 
 
 The vestiges of Malmsbury Abbey, are 
 treated by antiquarians, as so many exquisite 
 specimens of ancient architecture ; the build- 
 ings are stated to have covered forty-five acres 
 of land, and the revenues computed upon ihc 
 
27 
 
 same scale as Bury St. Edmunds, must have 
 amounted to nearly £200,000 per annum. 
 
 The estates formerly attached to Glaston- 
 bury, now produce £300,000 per annum, and 
 the donations of pilgrims, the munificence of 
 princes, and the offering's of devotees were 
 immense. The silver plating of the chapel, 
 weighed more than 2640 lbs. On the altar 
 there were 260 lb. weight of solid gold ; and 
 ihe church plate was incredibly magnificent. 
 The privileges of both the last mentioned 
 abbeys were similar to those of Bury St. Ed- 
 munds. 
 
 The pomp of the mitred abbots was truly 
 regal ; their state sumptuous in the extreme ; 
 they kept public tables; their trains resembled 
 the triumphal processions of Pagan Rome ; 
 and yet shall we remember it in charity, or 
 indignation, the dispensers of these princely 
 revenues, could countenance and traffic in the 
 mummeries of old shirts, bloodless sinews, and 
 parings of toe nails. 
 
 The value of monasteries demolished by 
 Henry the eighth, whose revenues exceeded 
 £200 per annum, appears to be upwards of 
 £107,000 per annum; their present produce, 
 according to the usual calculation, would 
 
28 
 
 exceed two millions ; and these estimates, it 
 must be remembered, are exclusive of the 
 voluntary donations, and offerings, of which it 
 is. impossible to form a precise idea ; indepen- 
 dent of these emoluments, the influence and 
 patronage of such bodies must have been pre- 
 dominating. 
 
 The mighty edifice of the Catholic church 
 in England, sank, in short, beneath exuberant 
 prosperity ; a protector whom she sought to 
 honour, encouraged her caresses, only that he 
 might prey upon her vitals; her reputation he 
 libelled, as an apology for selfish aggressions ; 
 and appropriated her spoils, in a manner total- 
 ly inconsistent with the motives by which he 
 professed to be actuated. 
 
 It would have been greatly to the advantage 
 of the church, had all lay impropriations been 
 abolished, or rather had they never been 
 known ; for it is quite irreconcilable, that 
 ecclesiastical benefices should form a part of 
 any temporal possessions. 
 
 The consequences have been, in the first 
 place, a general spirit of calumny against the 
 clergy, when it would be more justly con- 
 fined to the heartless individuals, w hose feelings 
 are no other way interested than in exacting 
 
29 
 
 their dues. In the second, that the provision 
 tor the ministers of the Almighty, has become an 
 article of mercenary traffic ; that it encourages 
 simony, and has rendered half of our eccle- 
 siastical preferments, little better than pur- 
 chased sinecures. 
 
 But it was no amiable principle, it was far 
 from a virtuous impulse, which actuated the 
 monarch who subverted the monastic institu- 
 tions; in a desire to replenish his own treasury, 
 to augment his means of profligacy, and to 
 aggrandize his flatterers, originated his harsh 
 and rigorous mandates. To render the church 
 more respectable, to serve the cause of piety, 
 and uphold the glory of God, never intruded 
 upon his meditations ; the end, and aim of his 
 insatiable resentment, was plunder; and his 
 courtiers entered upon their destructive service, 
 with as little hesitation, and retired from its 
 accomplishment with as little remorse, as did 
 the bands of Attila from the pillage of Rome, 
 each laden with what first offered itself to his 
 grasp ; reformation was the professed object, but 
 devastation was the cousetpjence ; every holy 
 thing was polluted, every sacred thing laid low ; 
 the vestments of the priest were disfigured. 
 
so 
 
 the vessels of his altar profaned, and his pos- 
 sessions alienated for ever. 
 
 Let us contemplate awhile this splendid ruin ; 
 let us reflect without prejudice upon this awful 
 innovation ; the canonized bones of human 
 beings, whose deeds long lived in grateful re- 
 membrance, the mutilated tombs of martyrs, 
 the effigies of heroes who have suffered for our 
 faith, lie before us ; every fragment is elo- 
 quent, every breath of wind preys upon revered 
 and sacred dust ; the benevolence of our an- 
 cestors is buried in oblivion, the piety of our 
 fathers obliterated, the silence of the sepulchre 
 invaded, no mercy could be found in the breast 
 of the despoiler. The hospital for the cripple, 
 the asylum for the venerable matron, the ctois- 
 ter, where misfortune sought its last consola- 
 tion, the cell which offered a refuge to the 
 broken heart and wounded spirit, the roof 
 which sheltered the widow and the orphan, the 
 forsaken, and the helpless, were swept indis- 
 criminately away. 
 
 But the inroads which Henry made upon the 
 church were not confined to the monasteries ; 
 where persuasion was unsuccessful, coercion 
 was applied, to wrest numerous valuable bene- 
 
31 
 
 fiees from the regular clergy ; and the indig- 
 nation of the virtuous portion of the commu- 
 nity, was loudly expressed, when they saw 
 their sacred spoils bestowed upon the laity ; 
 without a pretext for the dismemberment, and 
 without common respect for the principles of 
 religion, in their subsequent destination. 
 
 The revenues of the monasteries were the 
 last resource of numerous individuals fallen 
 from a state of opulence, who were there hos- 
 pitably entertained without being enjoined the 
 austerities practised by their benefactors ; and 
 partook of all the comforts, and many of the 
 elegancies, of life, in perfect possession of moral 
 and religious liberty. For the exercise of this 
 species of benevolence, the funds of the friars 
 were amply sufficient. Chertsey Abbey con- 
 tained but fourteen monks, although its reve- 
 nues exceeded £700 per annum. Furness, in 
 Lincolnshire, had an income of nearly £1000 
 per annum, and only thirty monks : they might, 
 however, have accumulated their riches for 
 selfish indulgences, and treated with contempt 
 the multitudes who every morning crowded 
 round their gates, supplicating the bounty 
 which was never withheld. 
 
32 
 
 The communities of six hundred and forty- 
 five monasteries, ninety colleges, two thousand 
 three hundred and seventy-four chantries and 
 free chapels, and a hundred and ten hospitals, 
 were dispersed, and their walls laid prostrate, 
 by the orders of Henry ; no supplication could 
 suspend the terrors of the tempest ; the voice 
 of pity was buried in " lamentations, and 
 mournings, and woe ! " Ruin, prompt and irre- 
 vocable, was the spirit of every ordinance ; and 
 it was accomplished to the last syllable and 
 letter. Reflecting men, however, doubted much 
 whether these extensive alienations were legal ; 
 whether any document, however voluntarily 
 executed, could transfer to the king, proper- 
 ties which were only held in trust, or as tenants 
 for life : subsequent proceedings, however, si- 
 lenced every claim, and the insatiable parasites 
 of the most disgraceful reign in the British 
 annals, were permitted to remain in undis- 
 turbed enjoyment of their ill acquired posses- 
 sions. The people were cajoled by an assu- 
 rance that the national purse would be rendered 
 inexhaustible by the plunder of their saints ; 
 but, alas! when all that had for ages inspired 
 their devotion was gone — the new lights which 
 
33 
 
 dawned upon them, displayed nothing but in- 
 creased wants and aggravated misery, — the 
 customary and blessed results, of all precipitate 
 revolutions. 
 
 Thus we have endeavoured to make appa- 
 rent, the power and emoluments once enjoyed 
 by the ecclesiastics ; and it is evident, that with 
 much to condemn, there Was much meriting' 
 admiration. Had the motives of Henry been 
 pure and disinterested, instead of the total dis- 
 solution of every pious foundation in the king- 
 dom, vice, indolence, and profligacy,, alone^ 
 would have suffered : the clergy would still 
 have remained a sacred class amongst us ; mu- 
 nificently endowed, as they ought to be, but 
 divested of every appendage which could scan- 
 dalize their order, profane their office, and be- 
 lie their vows. 
 
 Notwithstanding its unequivocal success, 
 the suppression was unpopular, and effected 
 only by the basest bribery and corruption ; and 
 at this remote period, we are little able to 
 estimate how many sources of happiness and 
 consolation it has dried up. 
 
CHAP IV. 
 
 BECKET — BEAUFORT — WOLSE Y 
 
 THERE are three individuals conspicuous 
 in the annals of our country, whose general 
 lives and ambitious principles, may probably 
 be quoted, as a full and satisfactory justifi- 
 caion of the unsparim;- vengeance with which 
 the church has been visited : but it will be 
 difficult to point to any ecclesiastic in modern 
 times, who has attempted to lift the crozier 
 above the sphere which the laws, and loyalty, 
 have prescribed. 
 
 Becket, Beaufort, and Wolsey, are names 
 seldom cited unaccompanied by terms of dis- 
 esteem. The first proved, unquestionably, a 
 haughty, overbearing prelate. The second, a 
 malevolent, officious politician. But the third 
 was a man in whom we find sufficient for 
 our highest admiration ; whose greatness of 
 mind shone forth with a splendour, which 
 
35 
 
 ought to overpower that characteristic of vain 
 glory, by which our school books, rather than 
 history, teach us to identify him. 
 
 The patronage of archbishop Theobald, was 
 the sunshine in which the talents of Becket 
 were nourished, and matured. The zeal of 
 the servant was outstript by the bounty of the 
 master, and from an origin not peculiarly pro- 
 mising, Becket, feeling himself gradually as- 
 cending the scale of preferment, united the 
 most cautious policy, with principles of un- 
 bounded ambition. 
 
 To the protection of the prelate, the favour 
 Of the monarch succeeded, as a natural con- 
 sequence; and whether in domestic councils, 
 or engaged in foreign diplomacy, Becket was 
 indefatigable in supporting the rights and pre- 
 rogatives of his sovereign ; restless in the pur- 
 suit of polemical knowledge ; expert in all 
 Ihe accomplishments of his age ; and intrepid 
 in every thing. His obsequious demeanour, 
 and apparent sincerity, soon confirmed the 
 partial sentiments, with which the archbishop 
 had impressed the monarch, who embraced 
 every opportunity which the casualties of life 
 or other circumstances afforded, to load his 
 favourite with offices and emoluments ; until the 
 c 2 
 
36 
 
 proud hopes of the embrio saint, were seem- 
 ingly consummated, by the possession of the 
 highest civil office next the crown. 
 
 From the first dawn of his public life, but 
 under the impenetrable veil of hypocrisy, 
 Becket's mind seems incessantly to have rumi- 
 nated upon the fabrication of that ponderous 
 chain, with which he strove to weigh down his 
 prince and his country, before the footstool of 
 the Roman pontiff ; and no sooner was he in- 
 stalled in his new dignity, than he environed 
 himself with the utmost temporal grandeur, 
 the more effectually to conceal the insatiable 
 lust for spiritual dominion, which was after- 
 wards so forcibly developed in his character. 
 
 " The chancellor in that age, besides the 
 custody of the great seal, had possession of all 
 vacant prelacies and abbeys ; he was the guar- 
 dian of all such minors and pupils, as were the 
 king's tenants ; all baronies which escheated 
 to the crown were under his administration ; 
 he was entitled to a place in council, even 
 though he was not particularly called ; and as 
 he exercised also the office of secretary of state, 
 and it belonged to him to countersign all com- 
 missions, writs, and letters patent, he was a 
 kind of prime minister, and was concerned in the 
 
37 
 
 dispatch of every business of consequence."* 
 A tolerable specimen of the inordinate power 
 which was in those days concentrated in the 
 hands of the ecclesiastics. 
 
 The chancellor, in short, had the selection 
 of every appointment of honour, or emolument, 
 which became vacant ; and Becket, with a 
 view to his ultimate object, was not over scru- 
 pulous in appropriating to himself whatever 
 could promote it. He travelled with a gor- 
 geous cavalcade, in which the ancient nobility 
 of the kingdom were happy to be enumerated ; 
 his table was resplendent with guests cele- 
 brated for great deeds, or elevated fortunes ; 
 through the wide circle of his orbit, his muni- 
 ficence was felt as indiscriminately as the dew 
 of the morning; and he left nothing unat- 
 ternpted which could excite popular acclama- 
 tion. To the sports of the field, horsemanship, 
 and the combats of chivalry,' he repaired with 
 the train of a satrap ; and when he accom- 
 panied the king in his military expeditions, his 
 array had rather the appearance of a potent 
 auxiliary, than the aid of a subject. During a 
 campaign in Normandy, twelve hundred knights, 
 
 * Hume. 
 
38 
 
 with their esquires and followers, amounting to 
 several thousand persons, were entirely de- 
 pendent upon his finances : all his arrange- 
 ments were upon a scale of unexampled gran- 
 deur; abroad or at home, as ambassador or 
 soldier, all his actions were calculated to at- 
 tract admiration. England beheld him with 
 awe ; his sovereign with pride ; he advanced in 
 his career like a mighty wonder ; where his 
 arm was lifted, there was dismay ; where his 
 eye rested, there was prosperity. 
 
 But the hour was at hand, when the vanities 
 of the world were to be laid aside ; and at the 
 sacrifice of every feeling and sentiment which 
 can adorn the human character, he prepared a 
 foundation for that posthumous glory, which 
 has not yet entirely passed away : the lightning 
 from heaven was not more rapid, or unex- 
 pected, than the bold defiance with which he 
 rejected all further dependence on the power 
 which had raised him. At the decease of his 
 benefactor, Theobald, he vaulted into his va- 
 cant throne like a knight errant, and, under 
 the banner of the church, deemed himself in- 
 vulnerable : he resigned the seals, and every 
 secular appointment that could encumber his 
 future movements, or distract his attention from 
 
59 
 
 that towering eminence, which his ambition de- 
 signed, as a lasting basis for ecclesiastical su- 
 premacy. As he had previously amazed the 
 multitude by the sumptuousness of his ap- 
 parel, the splendour of his retinue, the deco- 
 rations of his mansions, and the appendages 
 of his state, so he now sought their attach- 
 ment, by adopting the abstemious diet of a 
 hermit, the humility of a saint, and all the 
 rigorous penance ©f a conscience-stricken de- 
 votee. He gained the pious by his sanctity, 
 the monastics by his munificence, the poor by 
 unremitted alms, the superstitious by austeri- 
 ties and mortifications ; he was perpetually on 
 his knees, or engaged in religious offices ; the 
 crucifix was never from his sight, the rosary 
 never left his hands ; his hypocrisy M as most 
 consummate and successful : under the disguise 
 of the deepest devotion, he concealed a heart 
 buusting with pride ; and whilst the last spark 
 of life appeared nearly extinguished in spiritual 
 extasy, his mind was meditating intolerance, 
 and treason. 
 
 Rarely have such ingredients for a dangerous 
 character been concentrated in one man : the 
 sequel, and fatal catastrophe, are well known. 
 Henry's whole life was embittered by the inso- 
 
40 
 
 lent unbending spirit of the individual on whom 
 he had heaped the highest honours., and richest 
 gifts in his dominions ; and long after the mo- 
 narch was forgotten, Beeket's shrine was a 
 point of attraction from every part of Christen- 
 dom. A hundred thousand pilgrims, who an- 
 nually paid their devotions at Canterbury, 
 attested the superior fame of the martyr over 
 the king. 
 
 The entire energies of Becket, subsequent 
 to his elevation to the See of Canterbury, were 
 devoted to the unnatural struggle, which swells, 
 the history of the age. Henry the second 
 attempted that by force, which Henry the 
 eighth accomplished by artifice. Becket, as 
 if anticipating the lasting honors which awaited 
 him, excited, rather than avoided, his tragical 
 end ; and his fall was at once the triumph of 
 his order, and the climax of his own glory ; 
 never was victory more complete ; the living 
 rival became the abject devotee at the charnel 
 of his fallen enemy. The superstitious rever- 
 ence paid to Becket is inconceivable ; in one 
 year, when the offerings at Christ's altar were 
 a cypher ; at the Virgin's only four pounds ; 
 those at the martyr's amounted to nearly a 
 thousand. 
 
41 
 
 Cardinal BeaVfort lived in a period of civil 
 discord, and violent commotion ; when, tQ 
 other calamities, was added that of an infant 
 monarch. Politics were his pursuit, rather 
 than religion ; and his celebrity must be sought 
 in the senate, in preference to the cloister ; 
 under the cuirass, rather than the pontifical 
 robes. By intrigues, little becoming the cha- 
 racter of a christian pastor, he acquired great 
 power and extensive influence, in the councils 
 of the nation, but the inveteracy of faction 
 hurried him into personal antipathies which 
 terminated in blood, and filled the closing 
 scene of his existence with all the terrific 
 phantoms of remorse. Born of high lineage, 
 his wealth and magnificence excited but little 
 astonishment ; brother, uncle, and guardian 
 to a king, lord high chancellor, cardinal, and 
 legate ; he must have risen far above the spirit 
 of the age, had he abandoned the path of 
 worldly ambition, for the matin song and the 
 vesper bell. Still he was not altogether un- 
 mindful of the privileges of his order, but 
 ransomed from his private purse the revenues 
 of the church, when threatened to be confis- 
 cated by his nephew Henry the fifth, to carry 
 on his wars. 
 
42 
 
 Wolsey's origin was humble ; his ambition 
 and his pride unbounded ; yet he was a 
 munificent patron, and a most kind considerate 
 master ; his honours and emoluments were 
 extravagant, but the splendour of the monarch 
 shone in the train and appointments of his 
 minister. Though insatiable in the pursuit of 
 wealth, he was a friend to arts and literature, and 
 in every conception sumptuous and dignified. 
 Henry's vehemence and precipitation, were 
 qualified by Wolsey's talents ; and it is evi- 
 dent, from the unsuccessful endeavours of his 
 persecutors to convict him of high crimes, 
 that the greater, and certainly the worst, 
 portion of the enormities ascribed to him, were 
 fables ; repeated, and believed without inves- 
 tigation, until they have been established as 
 proverbs, 
 
 " To point a moral, or adorn a tale." 
 
 At Ipswich, he erected a token of his affection 
 and benevolence ; at Oxford, a monument 
 remains of his love of learning ; the records of 
 justice bespeak his comprehensive mind, his 
 indefatigable labour, and his integrity as a 
 magistrate. We will not dispute, but much 
 of our present happiness resulted from Wolsey's 
 
disgrace ; he might have contended for the 
 privileges of his order as magnanimously, or 
 obstinately, although not so triumphantly, as 
 Becket; for the conscience of the last Henry 
 was as callous as his will was absolute ; he 
 never left a desire ungratified ; was acquainted 
 with compunction but by name ; his operations 
 were most summary ; he reflected upon no 
 consequenoes, but combated them as they 
 arose, with a purpose irrevocable, and a cou- 
 rage increasing with difficulty and opposition. 
 
 The situation of lord high chancellor is still 
 abundantly rich in patronage, but when to 
 this was annexed, besides the innumerable 
 powers and privileges before remarked,, the 
 primacy, with legatine powers, the monarch 
 was little better than a puppet, led about by an 
 arrogant subject, and kept in awe by the 
 thunders of the Vatican ; then, indeed, tythes 
 or any other sources of emolument, which could 
 be rendered instrumental to the support of 
 such overbearing tyranny, were monstrous im- 
 positions, grievances, which should have lifted 
 every arm in vengeance, until the crown was 
 emancipated from the despotism of the mitre ; 
 until human nature had resented its insults and 
 its injuries. 
 
41 
 
 The yoke of such men as Beckel, Beaufort, 
 and Wolsey, so armed, and ambitiously dis- 
 posed, is doubtless to be deprecated ; but it 
 would be well if modern cavillers at the pos- 
 sessions of the clergy, would revert occasional- 
 ly to preceding ages, and consider whether the 
 spoliations committed upon the church have 
 not been commensurate with her errors ; and 
 whether, if they mean to spare her one ray of 
 lustre, one feature of dignity, any characteristic 
 to remind us what she was, what she remains, 
 and what she ought to be preserved, they will 
 persevere in their loud, indecorous, and un- 
 reasonable objections to her tythes, the incon- 
 siderable remnant she rescued from the wreck 
 which shattered all her endowments, and muti^ 
 luted all her beauties. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 CATHEDRALS. 
 
 ELY BATH AND WELLS CHESTER 
 
 CHICHESTER SALISBURY WORCESTER - 
 
 LINCOLN WINCHESTER. 
 
 BUT shall we confine ourselves to discover- 
 ing- the ambitious principles of our prelates ; 
 shall a very small minority form the criterion 
 for so eminent a class of men ? forbid it justice ; 
 history and topography will demonstrate by 
 what pious zeal they were generally actuated, 
 display innumerable examples of their munifi- 
 cence, love for the arts, and encouragement of 
 industry ; and by what sacrifices of worldly 
 possessions, thev endeavoured at once to exalt 
 the name and worship of the Almighty, and 
 embellish the fanes and altars of their native 
 land. 
 
 Ely cathedral owes much of its present and 
 former magnificence, to a succession of gene- 
 
46 
 
 rous individuals, who liave filled the bishop's 
 throne. The great west tower, a building at 
 Once curious, beautiful, and highly decorated, 
 was erected in the twelfth century, by Bishop 
 Rydel ; the handsome vestibule at the en- 
 trance, formerly called the Gallilee, was built 
 about the year 1200, by bishop Eustachius. 
 The foundation of the elegant structure which 
 now forms the choir, but was originally the 
 presbytery, was laid by Hugh Northwold, the 
 eighth bishop, in the year 1234, and finished 
 in 1250. Alan de Walsingharn, sub-prior of 
 the convent, and sacrist of the church, a person 
 eminently versed in architecture, designed and 
 erected the present magnificent octagon, pro- 
 bably unequalled by any other of the kind. 
 The three arches eastward of the octagon, 
 were rebuilt about the same period by bishop 
 Hotham, and are very highly embellished ; at 
 the east end of the north aisle, is a sumptuous 
 chapel, the work of bishop Alcock in 1500. In 
 the south aisle, and in some respects corres- 
 ponding with the former, but much superior 
 in its decorations, is another chapel, erected 
 by bishop West about the year 1530. The 
 font of very elegant worked marble, adorned 
 with several small statues, was given to the 
 
47 
 
 church by dean Spencer. Near the east end 
 of the cathedral, on the north side, is St. Mary's 
 chapel, now Trinity church. This beautiful 
 structure was commenced in the reign of 
 Edward the second, and is one of the most 
 perfect building's of that age ; it was designed 
 and completed at the charge of the convent, 
 by John de Wisbech, one of the monks, and 
 Alan de Walsingham, who erected the octa- 
 gon. A charming little chapel, adjoining the 
 deanery, was the work of prior Crauden. The 
 episcopal palace is indebted for its existence 
 to bishops Alcock and Gooderich ; but was 
 much improved by the late bishop Mawson. to 
 whose philanthropy, and public spirit, the in- 
 habitants of Ely are indebted for many advan- 
 tages. When his lordship was promoted to 
 this see. in 11 j4, the city and its neighbour- 
 hood were greatly on the decline, from the 
 adjoining low lands having been under water 
 for several years: and the wretched situation 
 of the public roads, which were in so bad a 
 state that they could not be travelled with 
 safety; -under these circumstances," observes 
 Mr. Bentham. ' it was obvious that the only 
 effectual mean of restoring the county t3 a 
 flourishing state, was. to embank the river. 
 
48 
 
 to erect mills for draining- the land, and to 
 open a free, and safe communication, through- 
 out the large and almost impassable levels, 
 with which the city of Ely was environed; all 
 of them^ works of great difficulty and formid- 
 able in point of expense." The patronage 
 and support of bishop Mawson, gave efficacy 
 to the schemes proposed to remedy these in- 
 conveniences ; by the aid of several acts of 
 parliament, the necessary improvements were 
 made, and both the commerce and health of 
 the inhabitants considerably benefited. Among 
 other alterations, the road from Ely to Cam- 
 bridge, was made turnpike, at the expense in 
 some places of £300 a mile. The public gaol 
 was also repaired and strengthened, at the 
 charge of the bishop, who likewise contributed 
 a considerable sum towards many judicious 
 alterations in the ecclesiastical buildings. 
 
 When mentioning the cathedral of Ely, the 
 name of the Rev. James Bentham, cannot with 
 propriety be omitted. He was born in 1708, and 
 being a man of very liberal talents, he devoted 
 much attention to projects of general utility; 
 as inclosing waste lands, repairing roads, 
 and draining fens. In 1771 he published his 
 valuable work, on the History and Antiquities 
 
49 
 
 of Ely ; and in 1779, exchanged the rectory of 
 Northwold, for a prebendary in the cathe- 
 dral, whose antiquity and beauty he had 
 illustrated with great judgment and ability. 
 This publication obtained him so much credit, 
 conjointly with his known skill in ancient 
 architecture, that when the dean and chapter 
 resolved some years since, on a general repair 
 of the cathedral, he was appointed to superin- 
 tend the improvements, but was prevented com- 
 pleting his designs by the indiscriminating hand 
 of death, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. 
 
 The Abbey church of Bath was founded by 
 Oliver King, bishop of Bath and Wells. The 
 richly ornamented door in the centre of the 
 grand entrance, was the donation of the family 
 of bishop Montague. The vaulting of the 
 choir, a work of great expense, was chiefly 
 performed at the charge of Adrian di Castello, 
 on his translation from Hereford, in 1594. 
 Bishop Montague, in addition to the liberal 
 contributions of his relatives, has the credit of 
 the roof, celebrated for beauty of design and 
 elegance of execution : the little chapel, or 
 oratory of prior Bird, who died in 1525, dis- 
 plays a fine specimen of monumental archi- 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 tecture; and on the south side of the south 
 aisle, there is a vestry, containing a small li- 
 brary, begun by bishop Lake. 
 
 There formerly stood in the market place 
 of Wells, a curious cross, built in 1342, by 
 bishop Knight, and dean Woolman, for the 
 accommodation of the poor. The city conduit, 
 still in existence, and one of the few relics of 
 the kind remaining in the kingdom, was the 
 donation of bishop Beckington, about the year 
 1451 ; as was the aqueduct which supplies it ; 
 a work in those days of inestimable value. 
 Bishop Wiffeline, remarkable for his piety and 
 learning, laid the foundation of the present 
 cathedral, which having been raised, improved, 
 and adorned, by his successors, has always 
 been considered as one of the most splendid 
 specimens of religious architecture in England . 
 The cloisters are situated on the south side of 
 the church, and are esteemed very fine, pro- 
 bably more from their extent, than elabo- 
 rate architectural ornaments. The west side 
 is one hundred and sixty-two feet in length, 
 and was, together with the school and ex- 
 chequer over it, built by bishop Beckington. 
 The south side is one hundred and fifty-two 
 feet in length, and was begun by the same 
 
51 
 
 bishop, but left to be completed by Thomas 
 Henry, treasurer of Wells, and archdeacon of 
 Cornwall. The east side is one hundred and 
 fifty-nine feet in length, and was the work of 
 bishop Bubwith. Numerous chapels, desig- 
 nated after successive bishops, who doubtless 
 erected them, ornament the aisles. 
 
 Near St. Cuthbert's church are two alms 
 houses, besides the hospital, founded by bishop 
 Bubwith, and endowed for thirty poor men 
 and women. Bishop Giso built a cloister, a 
 hall, and a dormitory; his successor, John de 
 Villula, rebuilt the monastery at Bath. Robert, 
 a monk of Lewes, the third bishop of Bath, 
 rebuilt and adorned a great part of the present 
 cathedral. Joceline de Wells built two costly 
 chapels ; he also restored many parts of the 
 church, which had been mutilated by time, 
 and accidents ; particularly the west end as it 
 now stands, of polished stone and marble. The 
 college of vicars, adjoining the cathedral, was 
 founded by Ralph de Salopia ; himself and 
 Beckington were the most munificent patrons 
 of the see. Bishop Godwin, was celebrated 
 for his learning, and the part he took in the 
 reformation. The glory and misfortunes, of 
 Wolsey, who at the daWn of hi* power was 
 i>2 
 
J2 
 
 bishop of Bath and Wells, have already been 
 alluded to, and are destined to remain indeli- 
 bly inscribed amongst the records of the his- 
 torian and the moralist, the labours of art, and 
 the inspirations of the poet. The celebrity pf 
 Wells stands upon the foundations of its re- 
 ligious institutions, and whilst its vicinity to 
 Glastonbury augmented its fame, contributed 
 to its prosperity, and excited that pious emula- 
 tion, of which many a mouldering memento still 
 appears, to the liberality of its local clergy it 
 is indebted for its chief embellishments^ 
 
 Chester is one of the modern bishopricks 
 erected by Henry the eighth, and the cathedral 
 was the church of the dissolved abbey of St. 
 Werburgh. The see, although of the greatest 
 extent, is of the least value, of any of the 
 English bishopricks ; there has consequently 
 been but little time, and still less leisure, for the 
 exercise of conspicuous munificence on the part 
 of its incumbents ; we find, nevertheless, that in 
 1753, bishop Keene erected the present palace, 
 and it may be gathered from ancient records, 
 that the abbots of the monastery were the 
 founders of the church, and constantly con- 
 tributed towards its improvement. 
 
53 
 
 Bishop Stigand, prepared the foundation of 
 the cathedral of Chichester, the episcopal pa- 
 lace., and the residences of the clergy ■ which 
 was all he could effect at. a period when the 
 military operations of the conqueror to 
 secure his throne, beggared the kingdom, by 
 excessive contributions. His successor, Ralph, 
 no less zealous than himself, accomplished all 
 his designs, which he had no sooner done, 
 than he saw them consumed by a dreadful 
 conflagration : not however disheartened by 
 such a mortifying accident, with unabated 
 jirdour he commenced and finished a new 
 structure, previous to his decease. Seffrid, 
 repaired and beautified the church and its 
 appendages ; and various additional buildings 
 were carried on, by bishop Aquila, and com- 
 pleted by bishop Poore, the most eminent 
 architect of his age. William dc Sancto Leo- 
 fardo, built and endowed the lady chapel, at 
 the east end of the cathedral ; bishop Langtoa 
 erected the large west window, which has been 
 deemed a pattern of elegance, just proportion, 
 and splendour ; he also erected the chapter 
 house, and gave one hundred pounds towards 
 the general expenses of the church. 
 
m 
 
 The choir, which is richly fitted up ; the 
 stalls, finely sculptured and gilt ; the misereres 
 exquisitely carved, and extremely curious ; the 
 beautiful altar screen, the gallery and the 
 paintings in the transcept, were all executed 
 at the charge of bishop Shurborne, in the 
 reign of Henry the eighth. The present bishop 
 has adorned the windows of the palace, with 
 painted glass, and repaired and ornamented 
 the whole, which he found much dilapidated 
 on his accession. The celebrated Dr. Sherlock 
 built the deanery. The cross, which stands in 
 the centre of the city, and is universally ac- 
 knowledged to be one of the most elegant 
 structures of the kind existing in England, 
 was erected by bishop Story, in the fifteenth 
 century, who bequeathed an estate of twenty- 
 five pounds a year to keep it in repair, a be- 
 quest which the laity have to account for. 
 This prelate also founded and endowed the 
 grammar school in west street. 
 
 Juxon, archbishop of Canterbury, was a 
 native of Chichester; he lived in calamitous 
 times, and rose by dint of merit to offices of 
 great honour and emolument ; yet was he " so 
 amiable in his manners, and so inoffensive in. 
 
bb 
 
 his life, that even in periods of intolerant fa- 
 naticism, he was suffered by a courtesy granted 
 to very few, to worship God according to the 
 dictates of his own conscience." 
 
 Salisbury Cathedral, which surpasses all 
 eulogium, was commenced under the auspices 
 of its own clergy, who, in a general convo- 
 cation, bound themselves to subscribe certain 
 sums of money annually for seven years, to- 
 wards its completion ; an example which excited 
 so much emulation amongst the nobility, gen- 
 try, and all orders of the state, that an edifice 
 soon arose which has exhausted panegyric, 
 and baffled criticism. 
 
 The successive prelates have vied with each 
 other, in contributing beauty and magnifi- 
 cence, to the cathedral, and surrounding build- 
 ings ; which constitute a truly superb establish- 
 ment, worthy the church, the nation, and the 
 giver and protector of all things, whom it was 
 meant to honour. 
 
 But the munificence of the bishops was not 
 confined to their personal splendour, the bril- 
 liancy of the mitre neither obscured nor dead- 
 ened the nobler feelings of nature ; bishop 
 Bridport founded the college of Vaux, for a 
 
56 
 
 warden, four fellows, two chaplains, and twenty 
 scholars, in consequence of serious disturbances 
 at the University of Oxford, which threatened 
 the overthrow of that venerable seat of learn- 
 ing. Walter de la Wyle, founded St. Edmund's 
 ■church and college, for a provost and twelve 
 secular canons. Bishop Bingham built St. 
 Thomas' church, as a chapel of ease to the 
 cathedral. Robert Neville founded the mo- 
 nastery of Sunning^ in Berkshire, the revenue 
 of which, at the suppression, was estimated at 
 ,£682 : 14 : 7 per annum. 
 
 Bishop Ward erected the Matron's college, 
 and endowed it with £200 per annum, for the 
 reception and maintenance of ten clergymen's 
 widows; he likewise established an hospital at 
 Buntingford, in Hertfortshire, for old men, 
 with a salary of £10 each, and founded four 
 scholarships in Christ's college, Cambridge. 
 St. Nicholas' hospital was founded by bishop 
 Poore, for six poor men and as many women. 
 Bishop Duppa, amongst other liberal benefac- 
 iions, erected a large alms-house at Richmond, 
 and endowed it with fifteen hundred pounds. 
 
 Woiicester Cathedral is indebted, for the 
 few beauties scientific individuals allow it to 
 
51 
 
 possess, to ecclesiastical patrons. In 1301, 
 Bishop Giffard embellished many parts of it, 
 in a very curious and expensive style. Be- 
 tween 1320 and 1386, Bishop Wakefield built 
 the hall, refectory, cloister, Watergate, and 
 various appurtenances ; he also lengthened 
 the church, and extended his liberality where- 
 ever an object was to be found. The unhappy 
 dissensions between Charles and his parliament, 
 visited Worcester with numerous misfortunes ; 
 the army under the command of the Earl of 
 Essex, studious in devising acts of profanation, 
 converted the cathedral into a barrack and 
 canteen, demolished its windows " richly 
 dight," rifled the library, and destroyed every 
 record and evidence of the church. Thus the 
 names of its early benefactors perished, afford- 
 ing, however, an opportunity for modern 
 churchmen to convince society, that their re- 
 venues are not wholly dissipated, as slander 
 and prejudice would enforce a belief. The 
 devastations of the soldiery were soon repaired, 
 and of late years particularly, great improve- 
 ments have been made ; not only in the ex- 
 terior, but in the internal arrangements and 
 regulations : these have been conducted on 
 the most appropriate scale by the Dean and 
 
58 
 
 Chapter, and reflect great credit on their 
 taste and liberality; so that after all the 
 damages which it has suffered, and notwith- 
 standing the unavoidable varieties of archi- 
 tecture., which have been introduced, this 
 memorable cathedral is now an object of great 
 interest to the general observer, and infinite 
 honour to the established clergy. 
 
 For elegance of design, magnificence in 
 execution, and grandeur of dimensions, Lincoln 
 Cathedral stands pre-eminent ; by many ad- 
 mirers of ecclesiastical architecture, it has been 
 preferred to the minster at York. Raised at 
 a vast expense, it has stood for ages, the admi- 
 ration and astonishment of millions ; outliving 
 in some respects its own glory, and burying in 
 its ruins the names of innumerable patrons and 
 benefactors. It was founded in 1088, by 
 Remigius, and finished by Robert Blovet, who 
 likewise greatly enriched it, but that edifice 
 being consumed by fire, Alexander de Blois 
 built one more costly and durable, arched it 
 with stone to prevent a recurrence of similar 
 accidents, greatly increased the size, and 
 augmented the ornaments, so as to render it 
 the most splendid temple of his time. His 
 
50 
 
 generosity was so unbounded, that he ob- 
 tained the appellation of Alexander the bene- 
 volent; so much was he devoted to ecclesias- 
 tical architecture, that in conjunction with his 
 uncle, he has the credit of founding- and en- 
 larging* several magnificent buildings. 
 
 Robert de Chisney, erected the episcopal 
 palace, and left the see much in debt by his 
 unguarded expenditure ; but his successor,, 
 Geoffrey Plantagenet, discharged all the mort- 
 gages and incumbrances. Hugh Burgundus 
 enlarged the cathedral, added the chapter 
 house, an object of universal admiration, and 
 was so much esteemed, that at his funeral the 
 kings of England and Scotland assisted to 
 carry his body to the sepulchre ; he was sub- 
 sequently canonized, and his shrine of beaten 
 gold became the spoil of Henry the eighth. 
 
 John de Alderby, J ohn Gynewell, Richard 
 Fleming, and William Alnwick, added chapels, 
 porches, and other decorations ; John Russell 
 built a great proportion of the palace at 
 Bugden ; John Longland improved that at 
 VVoburn, and they each erected a chapel in the 
 cathedral; John Williams contributed largely 
 to the repairs of the palaces at Lincoln and 
 Bugden; John Welburn gave the tabernacle 
 
60 
 
 at the high altar ; in short, every new prelate 
 left some improvement or embellishment, to 
 perpetuate his name. 
 
 Britton, as judicious as he is enthusiastic, in 
 al! that relates to ancient British architecture, 
 and from whom we borrow freely in these 
 references, terminates his description of Lincoln 
 rather pathetically, and not inappropriately to 
 the object of this publication. " The disposi- 
 tion of the English seems naturally, or politi- 
 cally, adapted to religion, and at a very early 
 period Christianity met with a very favourable 
 reception, made a rapid progress, and ex- 
 hibited in its converts more zeal, and retained 
 its fervour longer in this kingdom, than in any 
 other : upon which account England merited 
 the appellation it received, " The Isle of 
 Saints." Besides monasteries, nunneries, and 
 other buildings, erected for pious purposes, 
 Lincoln could boast of more than fifty churches; 
 most of these, however, by the obliterating 
 hand of time, exist only upon record, and the 
 dilapidated state of others, tend to remind the 
 reflecting traveller, that devotion was more the 
 characteristic of former, than of the present 
 times. Exclusive of the cathedral, eleven 
 churches only now remain, and over many of 
 
61 
 
 them, which are modem buildings, the writer 
 would gladly throw a charitable veil. The 
 situation, however, in which they are placed, 
 the rank they hold among- public buildings, 
 aud the sacred use for which they were in- 
 tended, all furnish a powerful cause of lamen- 
 tation, that structures so mean, so ill designed, 
 and so puerile in form and character, should 
 ever have been dedicated to the service of the 
 Deity." 
 
 It is the fate of tyrants, as of their most ab- 
 ject slaves, to fall occasionally under the domi- 
 nion of female charms, and to this influence of 
 the weaker sex, the world owes much of its 
 interest and beauty. Wolsey attributed his 
 fall to Anne Bullen : 
 
 " There was the weight that pull'd me down. 
 
 all my glories 
 
 In that one woman I have lost for ever." 
 
 And we must ascribe the birth of religious 
 liberty to the same source, for the existence of 
 the Cardinal, and the progress of reformation, 
 appear to have been incompatible. 
 
 Unfortunately, a malevolence of purpose, a 
 wantonness of heart, a general relaxation of 
 moral principle, distinguished the " Defender 
 of the Faith" in these important operations; 
 
02 
 
 the fascinating Queen soori experienced the 
 same mortifications, and found a yet more 
 untimely grave than " the prime man of the 
 state." Excess followed excess, and emanci- 
 pation from popery was celebrated, by tlie 
 annihilation of all the products of human skill, 
 which contributed to render the altar pre- 
 possessing and lovely, and by devastations over 
 which the genius of architecture will for ever 
 mourn. 
 
 Within the walls of the cathedral he loved 
 and ornamented with the skill of an artist, and 
 the taste of a scholar, is preserved in full 
 pontificalia, the effigy of William of Wyke- 
 ham, who, in the warlike and turbulent days 
 of Edward the third, Richard the second, and 
 Henry the fourth, dedicated all his mind to 
 objects of utility, and his temporal possessions 
 to acts of benevolence ; envied by some, and 
 persecuted by others, in favour or disgrace, 
 as political factions triumphed over each other, 
 he persevered in an undeviating course of 
 virtue, and at the expiration of fourscore years, 
 sank into his grave only to be remembered with 
 gratitude and love. 
 
 The education of the clergy, the improve- 
 ment in discipline of the religious houses in 
 
03 
 
 his diocese, and the perfection and harmony of 
 his cathedral at Winchester, appear to have 
 engrossed all his care, and were never forgotten 
 or neglected, amidst the many vicissitudes 
 through which he passed. 
 
 These he accomplished without invading the 
 rights and possessions of others, or exhibiting 
 vain austerities in his own person; he exer- 
 cised no useless severity towards the feelings 
 of human nature, nor attempted that prelatic 
 dominion, which the zealous servants of the 
 church of Rome, too frequently permitted to 
 interfere with their pastoral duties. He saw 
 with pious transport, the column rise, and 
 the arch expand, which his own intelligence 
 designed, and his private fortune purchased - 
 nor was his generosity confined to the church, 
 the cloister, the oratory, or the altar; but 
 throughout the neighbouring city, local af- 
 fections seem to have filled his heart, whilst 
 the sentiments of the royal psalmist breathed 
 in all his undertakings : 
 
 " Peace be within thy walls: and plenteousness 
 
 within thy palaces. 
 For my brethren and companions sake : I will wish 
 
 thee prosperity. 
 Yea, because of the house of the Lord our God : I 
 
 will seek to do thee good." 
 
64 
 
 Winchester Cathedral, the boast of one of 
 the finest counties in the kingdom, and for 
 many ages the sepulchre of its monarchs, has 
 been singularly fortunate in the prelates who 
 have filled its episcopal chair; their works, in 
 number and grandeur, have familiarized their 
 names in the annals of philanthropy, and in 
 all, as the humility and piety of their lives 
 fully evince, they were actuated by no other 
 motives than loving-kindness and pure zeal, for 
 the honour of God. 
 
 The episcopal costume may sometimes cover 
 a hard heart, and a profligate disposition ; but 
 as we proceed, we trust we shall fully convince 
 our readers, that to benefit their fellow crea- 
 tures, is a characteristic continually conspicuous 
 in ecclesiastics of every rank. 
 
 We intended that William of Wykeham 
 should stand alone in our remarks upon the see 
 of Winchester, but it would be culpable to 
 withhold a tribute of justice to Bishop Fox. 
 " The west end of the cathedral was now 
 complete in its kind, but the eastern part from 
 the tower to the low aisles of de Lucy, was far 
 from being conformable to the rest, it consisting 
 of the Norman work of Walkelin, repaired 
 and decorated at subsequent periods j when 
 
65 
 
 that great and good prelate Fox, at the begin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century, undertook to 
 rebuild it " This he accordingly performed, 
 with all the finished elegance that the English 
 style had at that period acquired. " It is im- 
 possible/' continues the same author, " to 
 survey the works Of this prelate,, either on the 
 outside of the church or within it, without 
 being struck with their beauty and magnifi- 
 cence, in which we (hid the most exquisite 
 art employed to execute the most noble and 
 elegant designs. We cannot fail in particular 
 to admire the vast, but well proportioned, and 
 ornamented arched windows, which surround 
 this part, and give light to the sanctuary; the 
 bold and airy flying buttresses, that stretching 
 over the side aisles, support the upper walls ; 
 the rich open battlement, which surmounts 
 the walls ; and the elegant sweep that contracts 
 them to the size of the great eastern w indow ; 
 the two gorgeous canopies which Crown the 
 extreme turrets ; and the profusion of elegant 
 carved work, which covers the whole east 
 front, tapering up to a point, where we view 
 the breathing statue of the pious founder, 
 resting upon his chosen emblem, the pelican. 
 In a word, neglected and mutilated as this 
 
 F, 
 
86 
 
 work has been, during the course of nearly 
 three centuries, it still warrants us to assert, 
 that if the whole cathedral had been finished 
 in the style of this portion of it, this island, and 
 perhaps all Europe, could not have exhibited a 
 structure more beautiful."* 
 
 So recently as 1700, Dr. Wm. Harris, a 
 prebendary of the cathedral, bequeathed a 
 legacy of Eight hundred pounds, for laying, 
 down the present rich marble pavement, in 
 the presbytery, and providing substitutes for 
 many decayed ornaments. 
 
 To enter deeply into the province of the 
 architect, would lead us far from our present 
 object, but a short observation upon this ex- 
 quisite building, we cannot suppress. From a 
 point opposite the entrance of Fox's orator), 
 the view of the eastern part of the cathedral is 
 at once sublime and awful ; elaborate shrines, 
 elegant arcades, and endless tracery and fan 
 work, rich pendant orbs, crockets, pinnacles, 
 foliage, and all the fanciful decorations of the 
 florid gothic, crowd the prospect, and delight 
 fc: imagination ; whilst the mutilated canopy, 
 the vacant niche, the mortuary chest, the pros- 
 trate statue, the rifled tomb, the vestiges of 
 * Milner. 
 
S7 
 
 sepulchral pomp, call to remembrance that 
 admirable exclamation of Johnson upon visit- 
 ing Icohnkill, a passage frequently quoted, 
 and familiar to all who ever heard the name 
 of its author, but which cannot be too often 
 repeated. 
 
 '* We were now treading that illustrious 
 island, which was once the luminary of the 
 Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and 
 roving barbarians, derived the benefits of 
 knowledge and the blessings of religion; to 
 abstract the mind from all local emotion, would 
 be impossible if it were endeavoured, and 
 would be foolish if it were possible. Whatever 
 withdraws us from the power of our senses, 
 whatever makes the past, the distant, or the 
 future, predominate over the present, advances 
 us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from 
 me, and far from my friends, be such frigid 
 philosophy, as may conduct us indifferently and 
 unmoved over any ground, which has been 
 dignified by wisdom, bravery, Or virtue. That 
 man is little to be envied, whose patriotism 
 would not gain force upon the plains of 
 Marathon, or whose piety would not grow 
 warmer among the ruins of Iona !" 
 
CHAP VI. 
 
 Cathedrals — in continuation. 
 
 HEREFORD — NORWICH — CANTERBURY. 
 
 HOWEVER we may ridicule the super- 
 stition of our forefathers, and smile at their 
 credulity ; however we may reprobate monkish 
 domination, and despise priestcraft, much of 
 the prosperity of England may be attributed 
 to these failings. A massacred monarch, or a 
 murdered priest, was never entombed with- 
 out subsequent miracles, and whether debili- 
 tated in body or in mind, multitudes immedi- 
 ately poured in from all parts of Christendom, 
 to worship the new saint, until first a church, 
 and then a city, marked the repose of the 
 sacred relics ; and all the busy scenes of life, 
 with their attendant consequences, and bene- 
 fits, rapidly succeeded. 
 
69 
 
 Hereford, has peculiarly experienced these 
 advantages; the assassination of Ethelbert king 
 of the East Angles, by Offa, king of Mercia, 
 of which Hereford was the capital, placed the 
 former on the kalendar of saints and martyrs ; 
 caravans of pilgrims daily enriched his shrine, 
 the pomps and ceremonies of the church aug- 
 mented his fame, and the contributions of pe- 
 nitents and devotees, arriving in seasonable 
 abundance, under the auspices of the bishop 
 and his clergy, the towers and pinnacles of a 
 majestic cathedral, gratified the pious and 
 admonished the profane. 
 
 The original structure becoming dilapidated, 
 bishop Athelstan rebuilt it ; this being de- 
 stroyed by fire, almost as soon as finished, 
 Robert de Lozing, nominated to the see by 
 William the conqueror, commenced a new 
 oiie, which was completed by bishop Raynelm ; 
 Engidius de Braose added a tower; William 
 Lochard, a canon in the church, gave the 
 great west window ; bishop Booth, a beautiful 
 porch ; dean Tyler fitted up and decorated the 
 choir in 1720. In 1786, the tower over the 
 west front gave way, and destroyed every 
 thing beneath and near it ; the expense of re-r 
 builing this portion of the cathedral, amounted 
 
70 
 
 to nearly Eighteen thousand pounds, and abour 
 Two thousand more were appropria ed to the 
 general re >uir qfj the central tower, and other 
 parts of the fabric : of these sums, Seven thou- 
 sand pounds were subscribed by the clergy 
 and laify, inid the remaining Thirteen thousand 
 charged on the estates of the church. 
 
 The grammar school adjoining the cathe- 
 dral, and endowed with no less than thirty 
 scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge, was. 
 founded under the fostering hand of bishop 
 Gilbert. The college for the vicar's choral, 
 a spacious common hall, chapel, and library 
 adjoining, were erected principally from the 
 benefactions of bishop Stanbury ; every object 
 which meets the eye, is a monument of priesily 
 munificence. 
 
 In a preceding page we have hazarded an 
 assertion, that by confounding the clergy, with 
 the general mass of mankind, the reformation 
 did serious injury to religion. That we are 
 not singular in this opinion, the follow ing pas- 
 sage in Dr. King's " Political and Literary 
 anecdotes of his own time," recently publish- 
 ed, will be satisfactory evidence. It is out of 
 the power of argument to persuade us, that 
 the cares and anxieties of domestic life are 
 
71 
 
 consistent with the duties of a minister of the 
 w ord of God ; whose mind should have no 
 other object but the honour of his heavenly 
 Master; whose heart should be occupied by no 
 other affection than the love of his Redeemer." 
 
 We shall give the quotation at length, al- 
 though it may appear to militate in some 
 respects, against our own cause. " Butler, 
 bishop of Durham, being applied to on some 
 occasion for a charitable contribution, asked 
 his steward what money he had in the house. 
 The steward informed him there were Five 
 hundred pouuds. ' Five hundred pounds!' said 
 Builer, ' what a shame for a bishop to have 
 such a sum in his possession ! ' and ordered it 
 all to be immediately given to the poor. That 
 spirit of charity and benevolence, which pos- 
 sessed this excellent man, hath not appeared 
 in any other part of the hierarchy since the 
 beginning of the present century. His succes- 
 sor, Dr. Trevor, who possessed a large estate, 
 besides the revenue of his rich bishoprick, had 
 a different turn of mind, but in common with 
 many of his own order. To speak freely, I 
 know nothing that has brought so great a 
 reproach on the church of England, as the 
 avarice and ambition of our bishops. Chandler 
 
72 
 
 bishop of Durham ; Willis, bishop of Winches- 
 ter ; Potter, archbishop of Canterbury ; Gibson, 
 and Sherlock, bishops of London • all died 
 shamefully rich ; some of them worth more 
 than a hundred thousand pounds ; i must add 
 to these my old antagonist Gilbert, predecessor 
 to Drummond, archbishop of York. Some of 
 these prelates were esteemed great divines, 
 (and 1 know they were learned men,) but, 
 they could not be called good Christians. The 
 great wealth they heaped up, the fruits of their 
 bishoprieks, and which they left to enrich their 
 families, was not their own ; it was due to 
 God — to the church — to their poor brethren. 
 The history of the good Saviaritan, which was 
 so particularly explaiued by Christ himself to 
 his disciples, ought to be a monitory to all 
 their successors I knew Burnett, bishop of 
 Salisbury, he was a furious party man, and 
 easily imposed on by any lying spirit of his 
 own faction ; but he was a better pastor than 
 any man who is now. seated on the bishop's 
 bench. Although he, left a large family, three 
 sons and two daughters (if I rightly remem- 
 ber), yet he left them nothing more than their 
 mother's fortune. He always declared that he 
 should think himself guilty of the greatest 
 
7J 
 
 crime, it' he were to raise fortunes for his chil- 
 dren out of the revenues of his bishoprick. It 
 was no small misfortune to the cause o f Chris- 
 iianity, in this kingdom, that when we reformed 
 from popery, our clergy were permitted to mar- 
 ry ; from that period their only care ( which was 
 natural and must have been foreseen), was to 
 provide for their wives and children. This the 
 dignitaries zoho had ample revenues could easily 
 effect, with the loss however, of that respect and 
 veneration which they formerly received, on 
 account of their hospitality and numerous cha- 
 rities : but the greatest part of the inferior 
 clergy were incapable of making provision for 
 sons and daughters, and soon left families of 
 beggars in every part of the kingdom. I do 
 not enquire whether chastity ought to be a 
 requisite in those who are ordained to serve 
 the altar, (it certainly adds grace and dignity 
 to their functions,) but I cannot help observing 
 that our government makes no difference be- 
 tween a bishop's wife and his concubine. The 
 wife has no place or precedence, she does not 
 share in her husband's honours, although the 
 creation of a simple knight, whose honours 
 like the bishops, are for life only, gives a rank 
 and title to his wife; moreover, as an acade 
 
74 
 
 mician and friend to the republic of letters, I 
 
 have often wished that the canons which forbid 
 priests to marry were still in force. To the 
 celibacy of the bishops we owe aLnost all Ihosq 
 noble foundations which are established in bulk 
 Universities, but since the reformation, we can 
 boasi of few of the episcopal order as oenef 'actors 
 to those seats of learning. The munificent do- 
 nations of Laud and Sheldon, in the last cen- 
 tury, will indeed ever be remembered ; but let it 
 likewise be remembered, these two prelates were 
 nnmarried.' x 
 
 The sentiments of a disappointed man ace 
 perceptible in this quotation, and no small 
 degree of acrimony runs through every line; 
 if however the existing- bench of bishops, ot 
 the whole hierarchy, can be reproached with, 
 want of benevolence, and charity, the Doctor 
 also finds a very ample apology for them. The 
 ties of kindred are not relaxed under the regal 
 dome or mitred canopy ; why then should we 
 expect to find beneath them, principles incon- 
 sistent with the first law of nature ? if we tole- 
 rate marriage we must anticipate offspring ; 
 and after dressing up the parent ii " a little 
 brief authority," to cast the children upon 
 the storms of life, to perish like exotics in the 
 winter's frost, would be wanton cruelty. 
 
15 
 
 Anterior to the dissolution, the. immunities 
 and honours of the see of Norwich, were truly 
 princely ; and no instance in the whole system 
 of plunder adopted by the insatiable Henry, 
 was more glaringly unjust and rapacious, than 
 in assigning as an equivalent for them, the 
 nominal, or nearly nominal revenues, of Holme 
 Abbey. 
 
 The bishops of Norwich, appear to have 
 inherited for several centuries, the smiles and 
 favours of the British monarchs, and to have 
 been generally the first thought of when 
 any situation of confidence or emolument was 
 to be disposed of. In 1070, when the Con- 
 queror's chaplain, Herfast, was nominated to. 
 the see, there appertained to it nearly sixty 
 manors, besides advowsons, fee farm rents, 
 &c. ; and although by various revolutions in 
 public affairs, and individual conduct, they had 
 been much diminished, yet in 1535, when they 
 were vested in the king, for the paltry con- 
 sideration above mentioned, the bishop pos- 
 sessed twenty-three manors, seventy-three liv- 
 ings, ten palaces, all the knights fees of the 
 barony, and the first fruits of the whole dio- 
 cese. That such an accumulation of tempo- 
 ralities may be inconsistent with, or unnecessary 
 
76 
 
 to a faithful discharge of spiritual offices, is no 
 justification of so palpable a robbery ; and 
 without entering upon the merits of the ques- 
 tion, we only introduce it here, that the ene- 
 mies of the mitre and the episcopacy, in gene- 
 ral, may be reminded, that when the clergy 
 were more hospitable, and the poor fed at 
 their tables in multitudes, it was previously 
 to being despoiled of those endowments; which 
 nothing but the widest stretch of arbitrary 
 power could sweep away. Extreme licentious- 
 ness, and sensual gratification, have been un- 
 sparingly applied, as the inseparable concomi- 
 tants of priests and monks, but they must be 
 blind and prejudiced indeed, who cannot at 
 the same time discover as many solid reasons 
 for cherishing the memories of thousands, who 
 have borne the crozier and worn the monastic 
 cowl, as the most enlightened and liberal pa- 
 trons of the arts, sciences, and literature. 
 
 Losinga, Everard, John of Oxford, Grey, 
 Suffield, Salomon, Bateman, Percy, Totington, 
 Wakeryng, Alnwick, Brown, Hart, Nykke, 
 Park hurst, Harsnett, Reynolds, Trimnel, and 
 Gooch, are names meriting grateful recollec- 
 tion ; in their hands the revenues of this bishop- 
 rick were not wrapped in a napkin, or dissipated; 
 
11 
 
 in selfish enjoyments, in immoral or irreligious 
 propensities ; but became diverted into various 
 channels., all tending to promote, according to 
 the temper of the times, the honour of God, 
 and the mitigation of human misery. 
 
 The erection of the cathedral, the foundation 
 of the hospital and church of St. Paul, the 
 hospital of St. Giles for poor pilgrims, the 
 chapel of the blessed Virgin, the free school, 
 Trinity Hall in Cambridge, exhibitions to the 
 Universities, splendid additious and embellish- 
 ments to the church and ecclesiastical build- 
 ings, and innumerable acts of beneficence, and 
 genuine Christian charity, attach, or ought to 
 attach, perpetual renown to every name. 
 
 We reflect with detestation and abhorrence, 
 on the impositions of the monastic age, and 
 see without regret the mementos of its glory 
 moulder and vanish away. Its pomps and its 
 ceremonies we would willingly hide from view, 
 and the theatres of its fame are seldom visited 
 without exciting feelings of the harshest cha- 
 racter ; all the atrocities which have been com- 
 mitted, under the influence of monastic in- 
 stitutions, arise before us like the mists of the 
 evening, obscuring whatever is beautiful, com- 
 mendable, or attractive. When wc write on 
 
78 
 
 the subject, we dip our pens in gall ; even 
 allusion to it, is burdened with acrimony, and 
 satire never wearies in launching her arrows in 
 the same direction. 
 
 On the other hand, if the object comes 
 within the limits of what is denominated clas- 
 sical, there is no hyperbole too extrava- 
 gant, to allure the public ear ; from age to 
 age, the senseless Pyramids of Egypt, have 
 constituted a problem for the labours and 
 altercations of the learned ; but we are yet 
 uninformed whether they were erected to 
 honour a monster or a God. The scattered 
 ruins of Greece and Rome, are gathered toge- 
 ther, to enrich our country, but no invectives 
 accompany the awful celebration of heathen 
 Worship ; the Delphic oracle, or the temple of 
 Amnion, call forth no anathemas ; yet were 
 their altars laden with as many offerings, and 
 their floors polluted by as many impositions, 
 as ever emanated from the remains of Becket 
 or Dunstan ; far be from us any desire to 
 restore the reign of miracles, or the faith which 
 found virtue in rags and rosaries;, we have no 
 wish to repeople the desert with anchorites, to 
 reinstate the confessionals, or open a new 
 
79 
 
 traffic in indigencies ; we are perfectly con- 
 tented that all candidates for martyrdom, or 
 canonization, should practice their austerities 
 and mortifications, where saints are still tole- 
 rated, and prognostics still find believers ; We 
 have no disposition to render our churches 
 sanctuaries for rogues and assassins, or to 
 build cloisters for the encouragement of volup- 
 tuous indolence ; all such fruitless and super- 
 fluous engraftments upon genuine religion, 
 we cheerfully abandon, and would, with our 
 own hands, most joyfully apply the catapulta 
 to every barrier that confined an involuntary 
 victim to ill directed piety ; but we would not 
 see the church literally naked, nor her ministers 
 a licenced band of beggars, wandering through 
 the land ; we would preserve at least what she 
 retains, and regret that she retains so little ; 
 the faults of her servants were many, but were 
 they tenfold the largest measure her enemies 
 can fill to her discredit, her worthies form an 
 equal multitude ; bright and glorious in their 
 day, they cannot, be forgotten ; let poets gather 
 garlands from the gardens of antiquity, let her 
 temples be the rule of art, her relics the 
 standard of all taste ; we will not dispute the 
 
80 
 
 palm with her, in any walk of science, in any 
 path of literature ; but for virtue, for moral 
 principles, for the noblest sacrifices which 
 created beings can render to their Creator, in 
 the name of the church, the reformed or un- 
 reformed church of England, we challenge 
 classic lore through all her boasted pages. 
 
 The first spot upon which the cross wa? 
 planted in these islands, and nearly the last 
 where superstition maintained her empire, 
 cannot be approached with indifference ; nor 
 is it possible to view with abated interest, the 
 massive pile which casts its broad shade over 
 the city of CANTERBURY, although de- 
 struction hangs visibly upon every pinnacle and 
 buttress; 
 
 When we cross the verge which once formed 
 a, barrier between a profane world and a region 
 of holy men $ while around us are scattered 
 the wrecks of pious bounty, and pious labour, 
 we cannot resist an impression, that religion 
 has declined in human estimation. 
 
 When we see the shattered doors, the failing 
 arches, which once poured forth an almost end- 
 less flood of pilgrims, whom tempests, perils^ 
 
&1 
 
 fatigue, and sickness, could not restrain from 
 devotion, sincere, however misplaced, we must, 
 indeed, feel convinced of " the transient glory 
 of this world !" 
 
 But although we now behold the grandeur of 
 Canterbury prostrate and perishing, can we omit, 
 to inquire, by whose munificence the splendid 
 original was bid to rise? by whose hands its 
 wondrous parts w r ere united ? in spurning 
 superstition, shall we trample upon virtue ; 
 because Becket was proud, shall all who filled 
 his chair be execrated ? 
 
 Augustine, the founder of Christianity in 
 Britain, was the first Archbishop of Canterbury ; 
 he was eminently pious, although intolerant, 
 and the estimable traits in his character were 
 emulated by his immediate successors, who 
 appear to have been influenced by no other 
 consideration, than the propagation of the 
 Christian religion. Theodore, although im- 
 perious and ambitious, was distinguished for 
 magnanimity and learning, and out of love for 
 the latter, founded a school or college in the 
 city ; and provided for it, the ablest professors 
 in the liberal sciences, whom pecuniary con- 
 siderations could attract to his institution. 
 Cuthbert erected the chapel of St. John the 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 Baptist, near the cathedral, as a mausoleum 
 for the archbishops ; Odo repaired the cathe- 
 dral, and covered it with lead ; his notions of 
 ecclesiastical power and privilege?., will not be 
 misplaced here. His pastoral letter contains 
 this paragraph : " I strictly command and 
 charge, that no man presume to lay any tax on 
 the possessions of the clergy, who are the sons 
 of God ; and the sons of God ought to be free 
 from all tax, in every kingdom. If any man 
 dare to disobey the discipline of the church in 
 this particular, he is more wicked and impu- 
 dent, than the soldiers who crucified Christ. 
 I command the king, the princes, and all in 
 authority, to obey with great humility, the 
 archbishops and bishops, for they possess the 
 keys of the kingdom of Heaven." 
 
 Dunstan, the second in succession to Odo, 
 was a perfect adept in wielding the spiritual 
 thunders, and whatever his predecessor threat- 
 ened, he appears literally to have performed ; 
 uniting in effect the crozier and the sceptre, 
 he ruled the kingdom with a rod of iron. 
 Yet was it for his order not for himself, that 
 his covetousness was stimulated, and far from 
 abridging its austerities, his first measure upon 
 ascending the archiepiscopal throne, was to 
 establish the celibacy of the clergy. The 
 
13 
 
 errors of these despotic priests, however, are 
 almost forgotten, when we reflect upon the 
 pure principles of Lanfranc, a prelate of great 
 talent, and exalted munificence. He rebuilt 
 the cathedral from the very foundations, in so 
 novel and highly decorative a manner, that it 
 became an object of peculiar interest in his 
 own day, and a pattern for similar buildings 
 for ages after. He furnished it with many 
 ornaments, and sumptuous vestments ; from a 
 state of nearly total ruin, he restored all the 
 monastic offices, with their surrounding walls, 
 and likewise the archbishop's palace ; he 
 founded and endowed the priory of St Gregory 
 in Canterbury, the hospitals of St. John with- 
 out Northgate, and St. Nicholas, at Harble- 
 down ; greatly assisted Bishop Gundulph, in 
 the rc-construction of Rochester Cathedral, 
 and Abbot Paul, in the re-building of the 
 abbey church of St. Alban's. He was also a 
 very just man, an upright statesman, a faithful, 
 intrepid, and loyal subject ; so superior were 
 his qualifications, that William the Conqueror 
 frequently constituted him sole justiciary of 
 the kingdom during his absence. Langton, 
 at the translation of Becket's remains, was so 
 profuse in the magnificence of his rejoicings, 
 
$4 
 
 ■that his third successor was scarcely able to 
 disencumber the see of debt ; among other 
 items of expenditure, was,, forage for the horses 
 of all persons coming to attend the solemnity 
 on every part of the road between London and 
 Canterbury ; wine also was distributed in 
 abundance to the people, from various pipes 
 and conduits in different parts of the city. 
 Boniface founded the hospital, which Arch- 
 bishop Courtney afterwards converted into a 
 college at Maidstone ; and also finished the 
 stately hall in the archbishop's palace at 
 Canterbury ; besides rebuilding a considerable 
 part of Lambeth Palace ; Peckham was at 
 great charge, in repairing the castles and man- 
 sions belonging to his see ; and he endowed 
 the college at Wingham, in Kent. Robert 
 Winchelsea was remarkable for his virtues, 
 and his extensive liberality to the poor. John 
 Stratford was a man of very eminent talents, 
 and splendid acquirements ; he possessed the 
 unbounded confidence of Edward the third, by 
 whom he was employed in many important 
 embassies, and on every occasion proved 
 worthy the trust reposed in him. Although he 
 never received more than three hundred pounds 
 from the Exchequer, besides undertaking nu- 
 
85 
 
 inerous journeys to Scotland, and many parts 
 of Britain, he crossed the channel in the public 
 service upwards of thirty times. His bene- 
 volence was commensurate with his industry ; 
 he daily distributed alms to thirty-nine poor 
 people, during the whole period of his primacy; 
 and among other acts of liberality, he founded 
 a collegiate church in his native town of 
 Stratford-upon-Avon. Simon Islip partly re- 
 built the archiepiscopal palaces at Maidstone 
 and Lambeth, and was founder of Canterbury 
 Hall, now part of Christ Church College, 
 Oxford. Simon de Sudbury rebuilt the west 
 gate of the city, with a great part of the wall 
 extending thence towards the north gate ; he 
 also made considerable alterations in the west 
 transcept of the cathedral, to adapt it to the 
 more improved state of architecture then in 
 use ; and he had the whole of the nave taken 
 down, excepting the west front, with intent to 
 rebuild it from the foundation ; but this was pre- 
 vented by his assassination, by the insurgents 
 under Wat Tyler, on Tower Hill. William 
 Courtney was of a disposition liberal and ge- 
 nerous ; he gave a thousand marks towards 
 the unfinished work of Sudbury, which the 
 monks had undertaken at their own expense. 
 
86 
 
 assisted by occasional contributions from the 
 nobility and gentry ; he also prevailed upon 
 King Richard the second, to bestow a thousand 
 pounds for the same purpose ; at his own cost 
 he restored the lodgings and kitchen of the 
 infirmary ; contributed largely towards repair- 
 ing the precinct walls of the monastery, and 
 expended thirty pounds in completing the new 
 windows, painted in honour of St. Alphage. 
 By his v. ill he likewise directed that two hun- 
 dred pounds or upwards, according to the 
 discretion of his executors, should be laid out 
 in building a cloister, to connect the palace 
 and the sanctuary. Henry Chicheley was a 
 great patron of learning, and besides promoting 
 it by various other means, he founded the 
 college of St. Bernard (now St. John's) and 
 that of All Souls at Oxford. He likewise built 
 a collegiate church and hospital at Higham 
 Ferrers, the place of his nativity ; and erected 
 the Lollard's tower in Lambeth palace. His 
 benefactions to his own church were consider- 
 able ; he enriched it with many ornaments of 
 great value, partly rebuilt the south-west 
 tower, as well as the library, which he re- 
 plenished with books. John Kemp founded 
 a college of Seculars, at Olantigh, besides, 
 
SI 
 
 performing various other acts of munificence 
 and charity. George Abbott founded an hos- 
 pital at Guildford, for twenty-one persons, and 
 built a stone conduit at Canterbury, for the use 
 of the inhabitants. Juxon, the faithful servant 
 of Charles the first, whom he attended in his 
 last moments on the scaffold, took down the 
 old hall of Lambeth palace, for which he sub- 
 stituted one of finer proportions, and of more 
 elegant design ; he considerably improved the 
 residence at Croydon, bequeathed seven thou- 
 sand pounds to St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge, two thousand pounds towards the re- 
 pairs of St. Paul's Cathedral, and many other 
 legacies. Sheldon's grand work, the theatre 
 at Oxford, will be hereafter noticed ; inde- 
 pendent of it, his charities were very extensive, 
 and he expended large sums in building ; the 
 whole amount of his disbursements, for pious 
 and charitable uses, in the seventeen years 
 preceding his decease, was sixty-six thousand 
 pounds. The sums which his successor San- 
 oroftj distributed in charitable donations, are 
 < ■slimated at nearly eighteen thousand pounds. 
 Tenuison was a prelate of great piety and 
 exalted goodness, and the legacies he be- 
 queathed at his death, which took place in 
 
88 
 
 1715, were uncommonly numerous. Wake, 
 who followed him, expended eleven thousand 
 pounds upon the palaces of Lambeth and 
 Croydon, and the distressed and indigent never 
 turned from his door unassisted. We shall 
 record more of this prelate's liberal works in 
 our remarks upon Christ Church, Oxford. In 
 short, from the age of St. Augu>tine to the 
 present period, which includes a list of ninety 
 archbishops, few can be named who, besides 
 being conspicuous for talents, knowledge, and 
 virtue, are not likewise deserving honour for 
 munificence, benevolence, and charity. 
 
 The privileges of the archbishop of Canter- 
 bury are still extensive, but in catholic times 
 they were little inferior to the prerogatives of 
 the crown. The bishop of London, observes 
 Selden, was considered the archbishop's dean 
 in the college of bishops, his office being to 
 summon councils ; the bishop of Winchester 
 his chancellor ; the bishop of Lincoln his vice- 
 chancellor; the bishop of Salisbury his pre- 
 centor ; the bishop of Worcester his chaplain ; 
 Rochester was his cross-bearer, and he con- 
 tended strenuously for the same obedience from 
 the archbishop of York as he himself paid to 
 the see of Rome ; under the Saxons, he had 
 
89 
 
 the privilege of coining ; his enthronement was 
 a spectacle for all the Christian world ; sove- 
 reigns were his guests ; affluence and festivity, 
 were the accompaniments of the ceremony. 
 Their pleasures and interests being intimately 
 connected with ecclesiastical affairs, the people 
 of Canterbury adhered to the catholic creed 
 very scrupulously, and it was only by gentle 
 gradations that king Henry overcame their 
 superstitious prejudices, but feeling his influ- 
 ence at last sufficiently powerful, in 1538, a 
 final sentence was pronounced against Becket's 
 usurpation, and the man whom centuries had 
 adored, and half the potentates of Europe 
 worshipped, was denounced " as a stubborn 
 rebel and a traitor to his prince." The decree 
 enjoined, that Becket should no longer be 
 esteemed or called a saint, that his images or 
 pictures should be pulled down throughout the 
 whole realm, and cast out of all churches ; 
 that his name should be erased out of all 
 books ; and the festival service of his days, 
 the collects, antiphones, &c. should for ever 
 remain in disuse, upon pain of imprisonment 
 and the indignation of the monarch. About 
 the same time his shrine was robbed of all its 
 jewels, and splendid ornaments, which were 
 
<J0 
 
 taken to the king's coffers; and the hallowed 
 bones of the saint were, at the command of 
 lord Cromwell, burnt to ashes, and mingled with 
 vulgar and undistinguishable dust. This was 
 all consistent with good sense, and we could 
 clap our hands at the overthrow of so mon- 
 strous an idol, but the motive of the magnani- 
 mous monarch was every where developed, by 
 the seizure of the priory and revenues of St. 
 Augustine ; the whole of which were made 
 applicable to provide luxuries for the royal 
 appetite, or to secure the pliant dispositions 
 of his courtiers. 
 
 The priors of St. Augustine were no less 
 celebrated for munificence than the arch- 
 bishops; but to carry our readers through a 
 long chronology will be superfluous; Chillen- 
 dene, orChislesdene, however, was pre-eminent ; 
 he was a great projector of new buildings, and 
 celebrated for his architectural taste and know- 
 ledge ; he built the cloister, the chapter house, 
 the water conduit, the priory chamber, the 
 prior's chapel, the great dormitory, and the 
 frater; the bakehouse, the brev> house, the ex- 
 chequer, a capital inn in the high street, for 
 the accommodation of pilgrims visiting Becket's 
 shrine; the town and abbey walls were also 
 
91 
 
 1 he labours of his hands, labours which yielded 
 abundance to thousands in his own generation, 
 and comforts that were experienced in ages that 
 succeeded. 
 
 This union of liberality and talent, rendered 
 the cathedral of Canterbury " a magnificent 
 and noble pile, not less interesting from its 
 architectural splendour, than from the admi- 
 rable ingenuity and skill displayed in the con- 
 struction of its different parts, in the beauty of 
 its ornaments, and the excellence of its monu- 
 mental sculpture. It exhibits specimens of the 
 style of almost every age, from the advent of 
 the Normans, to the suppression of the monas- 
 teries ; and the correctness of its proportions 
 are in general of equal eminenco with the 
 richness of its decorations." 
 
 The shrine of Becket, to which the cathe- 
 dral, the city, and indeed the whole neighbour- 
 hood, were indebted for prosperity, is described 
 by Erasmus, who saw it a short time previous 
 to the dissolution. " They drew up a chest or 
 case of wood, which enclosed a chest or coffin 
 of gold, together with inestimable riches, gold 
 being the meanest thing to be seen there ; it 
 shone all over, and sparkled and glittered with 
 jewels, of the most rare and precious kinds, 
 
92 
 
 and of an extraordinary size, some of them 
 being larger than a goose's egg. When this 
 was displayed, the prior, who was always pre- 
 sent, took a white wand, and touching every 
 jewel with it, told the name and the value, and 
 the donor; for the chief of them were the 
 gifts of monarchs." That such a silly toy 
 should be demolished, and its jewellery trans- 
 ferred to the regalia, or the finger of a mistress, 
 can occasion but little regret, but that an ex- 
 terminating war should be carried on against 
 the most beautiful specimens of art that the 
 country could boast, must awaken indig- 
 nation. 
 
 The effigies of the virtuous, and the trophies 
 of the brave, meeting the eye as we repair to 
 address our vows to heaven, exalt every good 
 principle, and cherish the noblest resolutions; 
 whilst the pontificals of the bishop, the degrees 
 and honours of the clergy, the white robes of 
 the choristers, the deep swell of the organ, the 
 concert of melodious voices, the echoes and 
 vibrations of the vaulted aisles, promote that 
 illusion under which the mind settles into peace 
 and resignation ; or awaken that enthusiasm, 
 which imparts ardour to piety, invincibility to 
 yalour, and constancy to patriotism. Such arc. 
 
93 
 
 the objects, and such the influence, which we 
 still observe and feel at Canterbury, at Win- 
 chester, at York ; wherever the glorious monu- 
 ments of monastic days lift their mutilated 
 pinnacles to heaven, which we still see and 
 feel, although " the temple is rent in twain." 
 
 It is well said by a modern author, * speak- 
 ing of the bigotry of the Scottish covenanters, 
 " It was worthy only of the savage soul of Knox, 
 to banish all the most delightful of the arts 
 from the house of God, to degrade for every 
 those arts from their proper purpose and des- 
 tination, among the people whose faith and 
 worship he reformed, only because his own 
 rude (though masculine) mind, wanted grace 
 to comprehend what their true purposes, and 
 destinations and capacities are. This was in- 
 deed the triumph of a bigot, who had neither 
 an ear or a heart for beauty. The light of the 
 man's virtues should not be forgotten, but why 
 should an enlightened nation continue to pu- 
 nish themselves by walking in the cold shadow 
 of his prejudices." The same observations 
 are, in many respects, applicable to the Royal 
 Vandal who covered this country with ruins. 
 
 * Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk. 
 
The monasteries, and ecclesiastical buildin»> 
 of England, constituted her pride and glory* 
 and it were happy had they been spared ; 
 being gone, however, we dare not wish for 
 their restoration, lest superstition, which was 
 their parent, should revive with them. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 Ca ihedra Is — in continualio n . 
 
 DURHAM GLOUCESTER EXETER 
 
 ROCHESTER PETERBOROUGH BRISTOL 
 
 CARLISLE LICHFIELD. 
 
 THE approach to Durham is peculiarly 
 prepossessing. The cathedral stands upon the 
 apex of a rocky eminence, declining gradually 
 to the River YVeare, whose meanders at this 
 part nearly convert the city into an island. 
 The shores of the stream are bounded by rich 
 meadows; contiguous, are beautiful hanging 
 gardens, seats, and country houses of the citi- 
 zens ; and above them the city stretching round 
 the crown of the hill, and pressing close upon 
 the castle and the abbey, presents a picture on 
 
96 
 
 which the labour of man, and the operations 
 of nature, have been from age to age so finely 
 blended, that they seem to have grown toge- 
 ther from the birth of time. 
 
 St. Cuthbert, the tutelary saint of Durham, 
 was first inhumed at Lindisfarne, but the 
 Danes having alarmed the pious guardians of 
 his shrine, they decamped hastily with his re- 
 mains, and after experiencing numerous mira- 
 cles, and wandering about for half a century, 
 at length rested from their fatigues, and found 
 relief from their anxieties at Durham, at that 
 period an arable field surrounded by a forest. 
 The first protection to their sacred treasure in 
 this place, was a wicker tabernacle ; but in a 
 few years the whole population of the neigh- 
 bouring districts was commanded to assist in 
 rendering the situation suitable to such a 
 tenant ; and as the reputation of the saint 
 spread, in the same proportion the wealth of 
 the city accumulated, until in 1093, William 
 de Carilepho, the bishop> laid the foundation 
 of that permanent temple, which, for splendour 
 of design, ingenuity of workmanship, architec- 
 tural taste, and curious labour, stands in the first 
 rank of celebrated buildings ; and following the 
 various periods of its elaborate and expensive 
 
97 
 
 improvements, we shall discover,, as we have 
 hitherto done in every other sacred edifice, 
 the hands of ecclesiastics greatly to predomi- 
 nate. 
 
 Prior Melsonby projected, and partly built, 
 the great central tower. Priors Middleton, 
 and Hugh of Darlington, his successors, finished 
 the work ; the first mentioned has also credit 
 for the stone roof of the cathedral, and the 
 commencement of the chapel of the Nine Altars, 
 completed by Richard de Hotoun, in 1289. 
 From this time it appears to have remained 
 very much in statu quo until 1776, when an 
 extensive repair was commenced under the 
 patronage of the Dean and Chapter, which 
 has been continued without intermission. 
 From 1790 to 1804, a sum, amounting to no 
 less than from £1500 to £'2000 per annum, 
 has been expended in its improvement, and a 
 permanent fund has also been provided, ade- 
 quate, it is presumed, to all future reparations. 
 Although the Dean and Chapter are, in some 
 degree, indebted to collateral assistance, for 
 accomplishing their objects, no praise can be 
 too great for their zealous exertions to pre- 
 serve so beautiful a piece of antiquity from 
 destruction, and for the personal sacrifices they 
 
98 
 
 have constantly used, to complete the vast 
 and expensive undertaking, of restoring- the 
 inroads which time had made upon it. 
 
 The furious principles of Henry's reforma- 
 tion, and the barbarian zeal of Cromwell's 
 soldiers, are too visible through this venerable 
 structure ; not only have the gems, jewellery, 
 and misplaced finery of every description 
 vanished, but the tombs and records of its bene- 
 factors, the monumental honours of heroes 
 who bled for the cross and the crown, the 
 sepulchres of the wise, and virtuous, all that 
 commanded adoration, and merited respect, 
 have been defaced and swept away. 
 
 With whatever prejudice or disgust we may 
 now look upon monastic institutions, it is in- 
 controvertible, that in the worst ages of our 
 history, when war was the pastime of kings, 
 and the only pursuit of all above the rank of 
 the peasant and mechanic, they mitigated the 
 savage practices of the military, and were 
 always a refuge from misery. All within their 
 portals was sacred ; to friends or foes they were 
 unconditional asylums ; the uplifted sword 
 spared its victim within their sacred borders ; 
 no hostile hoof would willingly trespass on 
 their fields ; they sheltered the affrighted 
 
99 
 
 matron and virgin, and endeavoured to sweeten 
 the bitter enp of adversity for all ; surely those 
 days possessed a species of happiness unattain- 
 able in our own, when bowed down with care, 
 disappointment, and sorrow, man secluding 
 himself from the gaze of pride, and the finger 
 of scorn, could pour out his griefs in silence, 
 and seek consolation for his broken heart in 
 those calm recesses, where the spirit of his 
 Redeemer was supposed perpetually to dwell. 
 
 After the murder of Edward the second, at 
 Berkeley Castle, when every one fled from the 
 body as if it were expected to rise up in accu- 
 sation against them ; when those who occupied 
 the first place in the unfortunate monarch's 
 heart, were the last who thought of his obse- 
 quies ; the intrepid loyalty of the abbot of 
 Gloucester, rescued his corpse from ignominy, 
 solemnized his funeral with appropriate honors, 
 and bestowed a splendid tomb to mark the re- 
 pose of the slaughtered king. In those days of 
 intellectual darkness, it was heresy to doubt 
 whatever the church thought proper to adopt ; 
 and it is not to be contradicted that the monks 
 found it to their advantage to promote the be- 
 lief in supernatural occurrences ; thus various 
 
100 
 
 miracles were attributed to the bones of king- 
 Edward, and so numerous became the visitants, 
 that the greatest part of the present church was- 
 built with the offerings made at his shrine. In 
 the short space of six years, abbot Wigmore, 
 built from the same source, the abbot's great 
 chamber, the Grange at Higham, and several 
 smaller edifices, together with the north tran- 
 scept, or St. Andrew's aisle. 
 
 Previous to the reformation, the cathedral 
 of Gloucester, was the church annexed to the 
 Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter, which being 
 wholly, or in part, destroyed by fire no less 
 than six times in 1087, 1101, 1122, 1214, 1222, 
 and 1300, its records arc very scanty. We 
 find, however, Henry Foliot constructed an 
 aqueduct, to supply the convent with water ; 
 built a handsome roof to the church ; vaulted 
 the nave, and was in other respects a great 
 benefactor. 
 
 The abbey having become involved in debt, 
 probably from the many repairs and addi- 
 tional buildings, undertaken by the successive 
 abbots, whose private means were inadequate 
 to accomplish the many splendid improvements 
 each in his turn adopted ; the admission of 
 strangers, and the exercise of the customary 
 
101 
 
 hospitality., was forbidden, until the embarrass- 
 ments could be diminished. This affords a 
 convincing proof that convents were the usual 
 resting places of strangers and travellers, and 
 that if their tables were well spread, their 
 guests were in proportion numerous. Agri- 
 cultural pursuits were much cultivated by the 
 monks, and the farms and pasturage attached 
 to the Abbey of St. Peter, were so extensive, 
 that in the year 1300, after abbot Gamage, 
 by frugality and policy, had liquidated all 
 the heavy incumbrances upon the estates of the 
 convent, he augmented their stock of sheep to 
 ten thousand. 
 
 Thomas Horton made rich additions to the 
 vestments of the church, rebuilt the high altar, 
 the presbytery, St. Paul's aisle, and the great 
 hall. Walter Froucester completed the clois- 
 ters, still the most perfect and the most ad- 
 mired of any thing of the kind in the kingdom. 
 John Morwent rebuilt the west front of the 
 church in 1421, and added the south porch. 
 About thirty years after, abbot Sebroke began 
 the present beautiful tower. Hanley and 
 Ferley, his successors, rebuilt the chapel of 
 our Lady. William Malvern, the last abbot, 
 wrote a history of the abbey, adorned the 
 
102 
 
 gates of the cathedral, rebuilt great part of the 
 abbot's house, the present episcopal palace, 
 and the chapel on the north side of the presby- 
 tery. 
 
 Thus, by the combined liberality, taste, and 
 devotion, of these religious men, we are in- 
 debted for another elaborate specimen of gothic 
 architecture : to enter upon a minute descrip- 
 tion of its beauties, would, as we have already 
 remarked, be departing from the immediate 
 object we have at present in view ; let it be 
 sufficient therefore to add, that to gratify him- 
 self with highly finished examples of every 
 eminent era, in the Saxon, Norman, and 
 English art of building, the amateur cannot 
 direct his steps to a spot more admirable than 
 Gloucester. 
 
 The episcopal throne of Devon, was not 
 permanently established at Exeter until 1049, 
 when Edward the confessor removed it from 
 Crediton, and installed the bishop with suit- 
 able pomp. The Cathedral at that time was 
 nothing more than an insignificant Saxon 
 chapel, but on the accession of William Warle- 
 wast, the third bishop, in 1 107, it began to as- 
 sume importance ; and under the auspices, and 
 
103 
 
 assisted by the personal benefactions of his suc- 
 cessors, Chichester, Robert Warlevvast, Bartho- 
 lomew of Exeter, John the Chanter, and Henry 
 Marshall, whose elevation occurred in 1 1 94, a 
 characteristic magnificence was gradually dis- 
 played. Bishop Bondy is conspicuous " as a 
 worthy benefactor to his church, contributing 
 very liberally towards building the same/ 5 
 Walter Bronescombe, his successor, built a 
 chapel in the south side of the east end, which 
 he dedicated to St. Gabriel, wherein he was 
 buried, and his tomb still remains. He en- 
 dowed it with the vicarage of Bokerel, in 
 Devonshire, to remunerate two chaplains for 
 praying for his own soul, his benefactors', and 
 all the faithful deceased. Little merit may 
 seem to attach to this superstition, but nothing 
 should excite our derision which is consistent 
 with the tone of devotion at particular epochas. 
 
 Bronescombe was succeeded in 1281 by 
 Quivil, who appears to have laid down an ex- 
 tensive plan for recasting the whole edifice, 
 and introducing uniformity, and consistency, 
 in all its parts. The beauty of the design, the 
 ingenuity displayed in accomplishing many 
 difficult improvements, and the munificence of 
 the founder, are each entitled to a full share 
 
104 
 
 of public admiration. How far Quivil had the 
 
 satisfaction of witnessing the progress of his 
 grand conceptions, neither tradition nor records 
 have communicated ; great sums appear to 
 have been expended on the undertaking, for a 
 series of years, and the bishops of the see 
 were not the only individuals actuated by this 
 pious enthusiasm ; the minor dignitaries of the 
 church, the clergy of the diocese, and the 
 dependent monasteries, all contributed to the 
 expenses, many voluntarily, others by assess- 
 ment. The total cost of this sumptuous tem- 
 ple, it is impossible to conjecture, but it is 
 ascertained, that from the beginning of the 
 fourteenth to the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, a sum equal to a thousand pounds per 
 annum, of our present money, was expended 
 upon it. Bishop Stapledon, who was decapi- 
 tated by the cabal of Mortimer and Queen 
 Isabel, for his adherence to Edward the second, 
 did not degenerate in bounty from his prede- 
 cessors ; and Grandison followed the munifi- 
 cent example, he enlarged the west part of the 
 building, vaulted the whole nave with stone, 
 decorated the west front with a magnificent 
 screen or facade, profusely ornamented with 
 tracery, niches, statues, &c. ; made some ad- 
 
105 
 
 ditions to the cloisters, and constructed the 
 elegant chapel which still bears his name. 
 
 The Society of Antiquaries have deemed the 
 works of Grandison, but particularly the screen, 
 deserving- especial notice, and have published a 
 description of the latter, which as referring to 
 one of the most beautiful specimens of the sort, 
 we shall insert as a just t bu e to that class of 
 men, whom we here seek to rescue from the 
 ignominious terms too frequently applied to 
 them individually, and as a community. " The 
 screen is divided into three parts, separated in 
 some degree by two projections or buttresses, 
 but both of them comprehended in the regular 
 design. In the centre is the principal entrance 
 to the church, and on the right are the small 
 windows of the donor's chapel ; in the two other 
 divisions are the smaller entrances, which differ 
 in their form. The angles on each extremity 
 of the screen are different ; the principal parts 
 are a plinth with mouldings, on which rises a 
 regular number of divisions, separated by small 
 regular buttresses enriched. Each division con- 
 tains two tier of niches ; the lower has a pedes- 
 tal of three sides, with pannels, and embattled 
 at the top ; from which issue angels, either 
 placed against, or embracing small clusters of 
 
106 
 
 columns,, and display an elegant variet y of at- 
 titudes, &c. 
 
 " On the pedestals of the small windows, 
 there is but one column ; though there are 
 three capitals, corresponding with the rest of 
 the several capitals. They support an assem- 
 blage of royal personages, who are seated some 
 in their robes, and some in very splendid ar- 
 mour. Those statues on the buttresses which 
 are standing are religious ; the one that is per- 
 fect on the right a bishop. Over the entrance 
 of the left part of the screen, are three of the 
 cardinal virtues ; the fourth destroyed. The 
 first from the scales, Justice; the second from 
 the lance and shield, Fortitude ; the third from 
 the religious dress and heart in her hands, Dis- 
 cipline : they each have crowns on their heads, 
 and are trampling under their feet prostrate 
 figures, emblematic of their opposite vices. 
 
 " In the spandrels of the arch of the principal 
 entrance are four angels reposing ; and in four 
 small niches on the side of the architrave are 
 small statues of royal personages seated. Over 
 the entrance of the third part, issue, from small 
 ornamented brackets, two royal personages ; 
 and between them a griffon. On the returns 
 or sides of the buttresses are four more royal 
 
107 
 
 persons. The canopies to the niches differ on 
 the buttresses and from the four first divisions 
 on the third part. 
 
 " In the second tier all the statues are stand- 
 ing except in the niche joining the centre small 
 angular buttress., in which is a royal figure 
 seated ; in his right hand the remains of a 
 sceptre ; and in the other a book ; his foot on 
 a globe, which is divided into three parts ; 
 below is a shield with the arms of the see, 
 quartered with the old Saxon kings, supported 
 by two kneeling angels. The corresponding 
 statue is gone, though the shield with the arms 
 of England and Edward the Confessor, sup- 
 ported likewise with angels, remains. The five 
 statues on each side comprehend ten of the 
 apostles, with their attributes. On the but- 
 tresses are the four evangelists, with their sym- 
 bols at their feet. The rest of the statues which 
 fill the remaining niches, bear no particular 
 badge to distinguish them. There are like- 
 wise four more statues in this line on the re- 
 turn of the buttresses ; but they have no dis- 
 tinguishing marks ; the statue on the angle at 
 the extremity to the right in this tier is St. 
 Michael triumphing over Lucifer. The heads 
 of the niches differ also in the buttresses j but 
 
108 
 
 those in the third part, alter their designs en- 
 tirely. The line of the entablature continues 
 to the right hand buttress, and then loses part 
 of its width. The battlements on the first and 
 third parts are of a most uncommon fancy. 
 Angels appear between the openings, some 
 playing on musical instruments, and others iu 
 attitudes of devotion : the battlements of the 
 centre part and buttresses are open and much 
 enriched." 
 
 Had the bishop's object been selfish, he could 
 not have devised a more superb monument to 
 perpetuate his name. 
 
 The whole of the cathedral is imposing and 
 grand : there are altogether ten chapels or 
 oratories, all erected by one or other of the 
 bishops or dignitaries attached to the see of 
 Exeter, most of them adorned by elegant and 
 appropriate sculpture. Henry Blackburn, a 
 canon in 1390, repaired and beautified with 
 painted glass the large eastern window, and it 
 still forms a sumptuous memento of his taste 
 and liberality. Bishop Courtenay gave the 
 curious clock in the north tower, and the cele- 
 brated great bell, weighing twelve thousand 
 five hundred pounds. 
 Several antiquaries and men of science hare 
 
109 
 
 passed eulogiums on this edifice, and it merits 
 still loftier panegyric. Sir Henry Englefield 
 speaks much both of the work and its patrons 
 in thus summiug up his remarks upon it. — 
 ee It is not easy to quit the subject of this cele- 
 brated cathedral without noticing the singular 
 felicity which attended its erection. During 
 the long period of fifty years, no tasteless, or 
 vain prelate interfered with the regular and 
 elegant plan of the founder. Although the 
 taste in architecture was continually changing, 
 so scrupulous was the adherence to the origi- 
 nal design, that the church seems rather to 
 have been created at once in its perfect state, 
 than to have slowly grown to its consummate 
 beauty. Even Grandison, who if we may judge 
 from his screen, had a taste florid in the extreme 
 in architecture, chastened his ideas within the 
 church, and felt the simple grace of Quivil's 
 design." 
 
 Education is the source of good or evil ; and 
 nothing is too preposterous for the human mind 
 to cherish if the seeds of prejudice are not era- 
 dicated by rational precepts and unequivocal 
 example. 
 
110 
 
 William, the patron saint of Rochester, was 
 a Scotchman by birth, by profession a baker ; 
 whose piety having induced him to undertake 
 a pilgrimage to the holy land, he was murdered 
 by his servant a short distance from the theatre 
 of his posthumous fame. The finances of the 
 church being then very defective, the monks 
 announced various miracles to have taken place 
 after his inhumation ; and by proper influence 
 being in due time canonized and enrolled in 
 the army of martyrs, such an influx of visitors 
 was brought to Rochester that the greatest 
 part of the cathedral was rebuilt out of their 
 voluntary contributions. If we suppose the 
 monastics were not themselves frequently dupes 
 to these artifices, and did not believe that they 
 were honouring the Deity by countenancing 
 them, we do them injustice : sensuality no 
 doubt existed amongst them ; but so did rigid 
 abstinence, severe penance, and the most un- 
 affected piety. Had there been no oracles in 
 Greece, her sublime architecture might now be 
 unknown : had there been no shrines in Chris- 
 tendom, half her beauties would never have 
 seen existence. 
 
 After struggling through centuries of splendid 
 slavery, the cross was at length emancipated : 
 
Ill 
 
 but in shaking off the spurious tinsel and trum- 
 pery which had accumulated around it, ruin 
 and desolation marks every spot on which it 
 rested : the overthrow of idolatry was to be 
 desired, but the motive which precipitated it 
 is too visible, too legible, in the mutilations 
 which disfigure nearly every hill and every 
 valley in the kingdom. 
 
 From the foundation of the see of Rochester 
 to the present time, it has been occupied by 
 ninety-three bishops; of which number, two 
 were saints, one a martyr (the celebrated Rid- 
 ley), and many were eminent for superior vir- 
 tue and high attainments. Gundulph in 1077 
 appears to have done so much to the original 
 cathedral as to merit almost the distinction of 
 its founder ; he does not rank above mediocrity 
 as a scholar or theologian, but his scientific ac- 
 quirements were unrivalled. Besides the ca- 
 thedral, he built the castle at Rochester, an 
 edifice still deserving particular notice, not 
 only from the solidity, but peculiarity and in- 
 genuity of its construction ; he designed and 
 superintended the erection of the White Tower 
 hi the Tower of London ; he founded a Nunnery 
 at West Mailing, and several other monuments 
 of his skill might be seen for many years sub- 
 
112 
 
 sequent to his decease. Ernulph was a cele- 
 brated compiler of antiquities and skilful arch- 
 itect ; he commenced many splendid altera- 
 tions in Canterbury cathedral, erected the chap- 
 ter house, refectory and dormitory, at Peter- 
 borough, and similar buildings at Rochester. 
 Gilbert de Glanville was a man of eminent 
 talents : he was a justice itinerant, a baron of 
 the exchequer, justiciary of England, and chan- 
 cellor in the reign of Henry the second. He 
 rebuilt the episcopal palace, the cloisters of 
 the monastery, and presented the cathedral 
 with an organ. Walter de Merton succeeded 
 to the see in 1274 or 1275, he had been twice 
 chancellor and keeper of the great seal ; but 
 Merton college at Oxford is a memento of his 
 munificence, which let us hope no lapse of time 
 or change of circumstances will ever destroy. 
 Hamo de Hethe was a considerable benefactor 
 towards various superstitious ceremonies. 
 
 The cathedral has many latent features of 
 magnificence, and contains many sumptuous 
 monuments: although erected at several dif- 
 ferent times, it presents considerable harmony, 
 and the specimens of each era are in many 
 respects elegant, in none contemptible. 
 
 The tomb of bishop Warner brings to our 
 
113 
 
 recollection an establishment which has been 
 consecrated by the tears of the widowed for 
 many generations. Bromley college, in Kent, 
 was founded and endowed by this worthy man 
 in 1666, for the residence and maintenance of 
 twenty widows of loyal and orthodox clergy- 
 men, but (such is the benefit of good example) 
 the original endowment has been greatly aug- 
 mented by the gifts of various persons. In 1756 
 Mrs. Helen Betenson, of Bradbourne, in the 
 same county, bequeathed the sum of ten thou- 
 sand pounds, for the purpose of erecting ten 
 additional houses for an equal number of wi- 
 dows ; since which a bequest of twelve thousand 
 pounds, subject to certain contingencies, by 
 William Pearce, brother to bishop Pearce, for 
 the accommodation of ten more widows, has 
 also fallen in ; so that this excellent charity is 
 now in a most flourishing state. The widows 
 on bishop Warner's foundation have an annual 
 allowance of thirty pounds ten shillings each, 
 with coals and candles ; the others have twenty 
 pounds each. The salary of the chaplain, who 
 must belong to Magdalen College, Oxford, has 
 been augmented w ith the increase of the estab- 
 lishment, and is now about eighty guineas per 
 annum. 
 
 H 
 
114 
 
 Peterborough is one of the modern sees 
 created by Henry the eighth. The present 
 cathedral, was the conventual church of a sup- 
 pressed monastery, and the unfortunate Mary 
 Queen of Scots was buried here the day after 
 her decapitation in Fotheringay castle. The 
 parliamentary soldiers in 1643, demolished every 
 thing about the building, which spear, battle- 
 axe, or match-lock could reach, so that little 
 remains but the massive outline of an extensive 
 Norman church. 
 
 David Pole, consecrated bishop in 1557, left 
 his library to All Souls College, Oxford. Francis 
 Dee gave to St. John's College, Cambridge, the 
 impropriate parsonage of Pagham, in Sussex, 
 for the maintenance of two Fellows and two 
 Scholars, to be elected out of Peterborough 
 School. 
 
 The misdirected enthusiasm of Cromwell's 
 soldiers, which we have had frequent occasion 
 to notice, is no where more visible than at 
 Bristol. The cathedral is little else than a 
 monument of their lamentable infatuation. 
 Whatever the members of the church contri- 
 buted to its embellishment being destroyed, 
 that which remains docs not come within the 
 
115 
 
 scope of our undertaking-, we shall not there- 
 fore swell our pages by irrelevant observation. 
 It must not, however, be oinitted, that Dr. 
 Butler, afterwards removed to the see of Dur- 
 ham, expended the whole income of this 
 bishopric, which he held for twelve years, in 
 repairs of the cathedral. 
 
 Our records of Carlisle are equally defec- 
 tive; civil wars ruined its cathedral, and buried 
 in total darkness all things that were admira- 
 ble, and many names that were w orthy ; one, 
 however, has been protected from the general 
 wreck, whieh, if the marble lie not, merits 
 perpetual remembrance, gratitude, and love. 
 
 Bishop Henry Robinson was born in Carlisle 
 in 1556, and became celebrated for his piety 
 and learning. He was educated at Queen's 
 College, Oxford, where he was at first only 
 " a poor serving child," but afterwards became 
 provost, and by his judicious regulations and 
 good conduct, considerably advanced the in- 
 terests of that foundation, to which also, in 
 other respects, we shall have opportunity to 
 shew he was a great benefactor. The memo- 
 rial of his virtues is finely engraven on brass. 
 He is represented in pontijicalibus, kneeling, 
 h 2 
 
116 
 
 and bearing his crozier in one hand, whilst in 
 the other he holds a lighted candle, and three 
 dogs in a leash, who are guarding sheep-folds 
 from the attack of wolves. Below is a group 
 of figures, with implements of agriculture and 
 industry ; near them, a wolf fondling a lamb, 
 and various warlike weapons scattered and 
 mutilated. Quotations from the Scriptures in 
 Greek [and Latin, illustrate each compartment. 
 A model of Queen's College, is represented 
 behind the bishop, with the following inscrip- 
 tions : — " Invenit destructum : reliquit extrue- 
 tum et instructum ." He found ii in decay — he 
 left it renovated and furnished. On a repre- 
 sentation of the cathedral are inscribed, " In- 
 travit per ostium; Permansit fidelis; Recessit 
 beatus." He approached by the door — he exe- 
 cuted his trust icith fidelity — he departed blessed. 
 And Robiiiion is by no means a solitary instance 
 in the list of our bishops, meriting so honour- 
 able an allegory. 
 
 The cathedral of Lichfield is unique ; the 
 three spires give it an air of peculiar elegance 
 and symmetry ; and although much defaced, 
 the whole exterior surface exhibits great splen- 
 dour ; its vicissitudes have been many, confla- 
 
117 
 
 "rations and civil commotions, having frequent- 
 ly destroyed the labours of the architect, and 
 the decorations of the sculptor. Roger de 
 Clinton, a great benefactor to the town of 
 Lichfield, also erected the greatest proportion 
 of the present magnificent structure. Walter 
 de Laugton built the cloisters, St. Mary's 
 chapel, (a work of uncommon beauty), the 
 bishop's palace, which he finished in the most 
 sumptuous style ; and expended two thousand 
 pounds upon the shrine of St. Chad, which, 
 with other riches, was too powerful a tempta- 
 tion for the unrelenting destroyer of our eccle- 
 siastical and monastic architecture ; and what he 
 left undisturbed, Cromwell's mad republicans, 
 and Charles's wanton loyalists, successively de- 
 molished. Upon the restoration, however, 
 Bishop Hacket was scarcely appointed to the 
 see, when he set his own domestics and teams 
 to clear away the ruins, and by niGney from his 
 private funds, contributions by the Dean and 
 Chapter, and assistance obtained through the 
 bishop's exertions, from the nobility and gentry 
 of his diocese, he was enabled to restore this 
 noble pile to its pristine splendour. But 
 Hacket's energies were not restricted to such 
 labours ; his practical piety was of the most 
 
118 
 
 exalted character, and throughout the puri- 
 tanical persecution, he displayed a degree of 
 magnanimity, which conscious integrity, and 
 a firm reliance upon God, are alone calcu- 
 lated to inspire. He neither shunned danger, 
 nor rashly sought, the career of martyrdom, but 
 resolutely persevered in what he deemed the 
 path of duty, indifferent to human opinions, 
 unsubdued by human cruelty, and unawed by 
 human power. 
 
CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Cathedrals — in continuation. 
 
 YORK LONDON. 
 
 YORK has been from time immemorial,, the 
 theatre of so many interesting events,, that in 
 speaking of it, we find a difficulty in fixing any 
 limits to our observations ; foreign invasion., 
 intestine wars, and civil commotions, have 
 repeatedly reduced it to a promiscuous heap of 
 ruin and desolation ; conflagration has levelled 
 its proud and venerable institutions with the 
 dust, and the most sanguinary deeds of mis- 
 guided enthusiasts, have rendered its annals at 
 once terrific and instructive. We shall not, how- 
 ever, yield to the many allurements attaching to 
 its history ; but direct our steps to that august 
 edifice, which has been the admiration of ages,, 
 
120 
 
 the wonder of the wise,, and the astonishment 
 of genius ; and if any one, whatever be his 
 creed, can approach its sacred precincts, tread 
 its hallowed floor, or gaze upon the refulgent 
 beauties, which on every hand are forced upon 
 his attention, without experiencing an uni- 
 versal fervour of devotion, a glow of piety 
 before unfclt, and unutterable, we had rather 
 bear his sorrows, than share his apathy. 
 
 Political and religious discord have, in 
 turns, so defaced this fine cathedral, that for 
 many centuries, whilst we read only of its 
 demolition and restoration, the destroyer and 
 the patron are equally forgotten. From the 
 year 625 to the present time, eightv-three 
 archbishops have occupied the metropolitan 
 throne ; and for patriotism, loyalty, learning, 
 benevolence, eloquence, true Christian piety, 
 and virtuous principles, stand pre-eminent in 
 all existing records. 
 
 Egbert, the seventh archbishop, in the year 
 730, was, in his day, a brilliant star in the 
 republic of letters. York, about this period, 
 has been styled " the Athens of that dark age," 
 and the library collected by Egbert, and placed 
 in the cathedral, was equalled by few in 
 Christendom. The writings it contained have 
 
121 
 
 been alluded to by poets, and enumerated by 
 historians ; and the preceptor of Charlemagne, 
 in addressing that prince, requests " that 
 scholars might be sent from France, to copy 
 these books ; that the garden of letters might 
 not be shut up in York, but that some of its 
 fruits, might be placed in the paradise of Tours. 
 William of Malmsbury, terms this collection 
 the noblest repository and cabinet of arts and 
 sciences, in the whole zeorld." 
 
 The Danes and Northumbrians in 1069, laid 
 nearly the whole city in ashes, and William 
 the Conqueror, in the following year, com- 
 pleted the devastation ; whilst, however, the 
 ruins were still smoking from these successive 
 calamities, Archbishop Thomas, undismayed, 
 and full of confidence in divine protection, 
 instantly commenced the rebuilding of the 
 cathedral ; and his exertions, during a long 
 life, were unremitted for the honour of the 
 church. Walter de Grey purchased Whitehall, 
 which, under the denomination of York-place, 
 continued the palace of the archbishops, until, 
 by Wolsey's disgrace, it lapsed to the crown. 
 William tie Melton bestowed a large sum of 
 money towards finishing the west end of the 
 cathedral, in the beginning of the fourteenth 
 
122 
 
 century. John Thoresby built a new choir, 
 and expended considerable sums of money in 
 repairs and adornment. Thomas Arundel con- 
 tinued the operations his predecessors had 
 begun, and put in order the palaces and 
 mansion houses attached to the see. Henry 
 Bowet added a great hall to the palace or 
 castle at Cawood. William Bothe entered into 
 expensive improvements and decorations, at 
 the palaces of Southwell and York. Lawrence 
 Bothe purchased the manor of Battersea, and 
 settled it on the church of York. Thomas de 
 Rotheram made large additions to the archi- 
 episcopal palaces, and bestowed many rich 
 ornaments on the cathedral. Thomas Savage 
 expended large sums of money on (he palaces 
 at Scrooby and Cawood. 
 
 These expenditures will appear the more 
 praiseworthy, when we reflect, that they were 
 not laid out upon real estates, but were certain 
 to pass into alien hands, immediately upon the 
 decease of the incumbent primates, without 
 their families enjo\ iiig the least equivalent; and 
 still more when we find they had power to 
 enrich themselves by a very opposite conduct ; 
 such as, to his eternal reproach, was adopted 
 by Archbishop Holgate, in the reign of Henry 
 
123 
 
 the eighth, who voluntarily, or, at least, for a 
 great pecuniary consideration, transferred to 
 that monarch no less than sixty-seven manors 
 belonging to his see. 
 
 Mr. Bigland pays a high compliment to the 
 present archbishop: " As the cathedral of 
 York," he observes, " is one of the largest 
 structures of the kind in England, or even in 
 Europe, its magnificence corresponds with the 
 magnitude of its fabric. The western end or 
 front, with its two uniform steeples, is extremely 
 superb : ingenuity and skill could scarcely have 
 produced any thing more complete in that 
 style of architecture. It has all been cloistered 
 for imagery, but has lost much of its beauty by 
 being robbed of a great number of curious 
 statues, with which it was formerly adorned ; 
 and many vacant niches, discover the depre- 
 dations of barbarian and fanatic zeal. Time 
 and vandalic fury had, in this part of the edifice, 
 made the greatest ravages, but by the praise- 
 worthy liberality of the archbishop and the dean 
 and chapter, it has nearly undergone a thorough 
 repair, in the most correct taste, and a sight, such 
 as few cities can boast, will transmit the name of 
 Markham to the approbation of posterity." 
 
124 
 
 That rank and riches did not constitute the 
 only admissible claims to the prelacy, is evinced 
 in George Montaign, the sixty-seventh arch- 
 bishop,, in the reign of Charles the first. He 
 left his native village a farmer's boy, and re- 
 turned to it archbishop of York. He returned 
 however but to lay his bones amongst his hum- 
 ble ancestors, dying in the first year of his pre- 
 lacy. 
 
 Hospitality was the virtue of antiquity, and 
 the elevated classes of ecclesiastics were ex- 
 pected to keep splendid tables : it must not 
 therefore be inferred, that because their halls 
 were the scene of mirth and plenty, they were 
 themselves epicurean in their appetites, or pro- 
 fligate in their morals ; but when we find them 
 presiding at feasts and banquets, we are to 
 contemplate them as in the act of fulfilling that 
 department of the sacred office of a bishop, 
 which the community then held as an highly 
 estimable, and indispensable concomitant of 
 their pious trust. 
 
 Bowel, already mentioned, is recorded to 
 have consumed in his several palaces, eighty 
 tuns of claret annually. The installation (east 
 of archbishop Neville is described as the most 
 
125 
 
 magnificent ever given by a British subject : 
 all the delicacies of every season were united ; 
 the enormous number of four thousand wood- 
 cocks, may be recorded as an instance of the 
 profusion that was displayed ; and the quantity, 
 as well as the variety, of provisions and liquors 
 mentioned by historians, appears almost incre- 
 dible. Neville was the brother of the famous 
 Earl of Warwick, surnamed the " king maker." 
 Others were as rigidly scrupulous in moral con- 
 duct. Frewen, archbishop in 1660, lived in a 
 state of celibacy, and would not even suffer a 
 woman servant to be kept in his family. Tobias 
 Matthew was equally celebrated for industry 
 and pulpit eloquence ; he composed nineteen 
 hundred and ninety-two sermons. 
 
 Thomas Lamplugh, was an ingenious advo- 
 cate for the Church, when puritanic zeal made 
 it dangerous to avow such a predilection. In 
 order to please his congregation by the extem- 
 porary manner of the fanatics of the Common- 
 wealth, he learned by rote the whole Liturgy ; 
 and his auditors became so enamoured with his 
 beauty of expression and warmth of language, 
 that he was long the reigning favourite, not 
 only of his own parish, but of the whole coun- 
 try round. 
 
126 
 
 The ancient Cathedral of St. Paul, in Lon- 
 don, was the most interesting ecclesiastical edi- 
 fice in the Christian world ; its great extent, 
 the vicissitudes it had seen, the anomaly of its 
 parts, and the progressive advance in taste and 
 science which it displayed, were all calculated 
 to render it an object of great curiosity, and 
 deserved attraction. 
 
 The shrine of Saint Erkenwald, which stood 
 in the choir, was no less celebrated than 
 Becket's ; and the high altar was prodigiously 
 splendid : St. Paul's contained seventy-six 
 chantry chapels, and had sixty endowed anni- 
 versary obits, which occupied nearly two hun- 
 dred priests. The major part of the chantries and 
 shrines were very sumptuous. The aisles were 
 filled with magnificent monuments ; and a des- 
 cription of the ornaments, vestments, commu- 
 nion services, and other treasures, occupy thir- 
 teen folio pages of Dugdale's Monasticon. 
 Upon particular occasions, such as the king's 
 accession, proclamation of peace, &c. the pro- 
 cessions to this church were indescribably 
 grand : all the massive silver crosses of the 
 several parishes in London, which before the 
 Reformation amounted to upwards of an hun- 
 dred, increased the pageant ; many of them were 
 
12*7 
 
 curious from their antiquity and of great value ; 
 but under an apprehension that they would 
 engender popery, it was deemed prudent to 
 deposit them in the king's treasury, from which 
 his extravagance soon ejected them in more 
 convenient forms. 
 
 St. Paul's has never lost its celebrity, but in 
 the reign of Elizabeth and her predecessors it 
 was the focus of fashion and the resort of the 
 gay • Paul's walk was as notorious to all the 
 kingdom at those periods, as Bond Street in 
 the present day ; and Paul's walkers, a term 
 synonymous to Bond Street loungers. So uni- 
 versal was this rendezvous, that a facetious 
 writer has denominated it the Land's Epitome, 
 the Whole World's Map, the Modern Babel, 
 the Politician's Synod, the Mint of Inventions, 
 every thing originated at Paul's, and nothing 
 obtained credence which was not previously 
 mentioned there ; but wanton mischief, fanati- 
 cal zeal, elementary tempests, and especially 
 the dreadful fire in 1656, at length totally de- 
 molished the venerable structure, and the reduc- 
 tion in the value of ecclesiastical benefices, was 
 not the least of the important consequences re- 
 sulting from that calamity* 
 
 As it has been our study to avoid contro- 
 
128 
 
 versy, we shall express our opinion as briefly as 
 possible upon the subject of contention now 
 existing between the London Clergy and their 
 parishioners, satisfying ourselves by shewing 
 in gross numbers, the injury which a large body 
 of ecclesiastics have sustained, by the destruc- 
 tive accident above mentioned. 
 
 By " a succinct view of the eighty-six pa- 
 rishes" affected by the Fire Act, it appears that 
 they were reduced or united into fifty. 
 
 Upon a valuation of these eighty-six 
 parishes made in 1638, in the reign of 
 Charles the first, the tythes were esti- 
 mated at the annual value of . . . .£24,683 0 0 
 
 The remuneration to the clergy of the 
 same parishes, established subsequent to 
 the fire in the reign of Charles the se- 
 cond, amounted, exclusive of glebes, 
 parsonages, surplice fees, Easter offer- 
 ings, &c. to 7,220 0 0 
 
 By the Act of the 44th Geo. Ill, 1804, 
 the stipends were augmented to . . . 12,240 0 0 
 
 By the Bill attempted to be brought 
 into Parliament by the clergy in 1819, 
 a further augmentation was solicited, 
 which would have increased the annual 
 stipends to 26,173 0 0 
 
 By the 2s 9d rate existing previously 
 to the fire, and still enjoyed by the in- 
 cumbents of the parishes which escaped 
 
129 
 
 that calamity, the tythes or stipends of 
 the said eighty-six parishes would have 
 amounted annually to £105,733 0 0 
 
 The annual rental of the eighty-six 
 parishes in 1638, presuming the tythes 
 Mere calculated at the rate of 2s 9d in 
 the pound, would amount to (or there- 
 abouts) 178,000 0 0 
 
 The present annual rental of the same 
 parishes, is set down at 775,700 0 0 
 
 So that upon a rental of .£178,000, the 
 clergy in 1638, received a compensation 
 equal to I3{ per cent. 
 
 Jn 1820, upon a rental of £775,700, 
 their remuneration amounts to something 
 more than l \ per cent. 
 
 And the augmentation for which they 
 petition, to something less than 3| per 
 cent. 
 
 It is contended that there are no circumstan- 
 ces rendering the duties of the incumbents in 
 any degree equal to the difference between \~ 
 percent, and 13|, or even 3% per cent,; that 
 when the churches within the walls of London 
 were more numerous, the population was also 
 more condensed., that the character of the oc- 
 cupancy of the metropolis is wholly different, 
 and that the citizens of London in the reign of 
 Charles, dwelt on the spot where they carried on 
 their callings; but that at present the cure of 
 i 
 
130 
 
 souk, within the city, with few exceptions, af- 
 fords but very little occupation to the clergy, 
 most of w horn are consequently non-resident. 
 
 To this it may be answered, that the disper- 
 sion of the population is a serious injury, indeed 
 the very disadvantage which the incumbents 
 have to regret ; that the character of occupancy 
 is changed because the citizens have grown 
 more opulent, and therefore can retire daily 
 to splendid residences in the suburbs, and be- 
 cause they can appropriate their dwellings in 
 the city, to more beneficial purposes than to 
 domestic services. That in the fifty consoli- 
 dated parishes there are thirty-six wholly with- 
 out a parsonage, or where it is admitted to be 
 unfit for residence; and that, dwellings in the 
 city are too valuable to admit of the clergy be- 
 coming resident where no parsonage is pro- 
 vided ; lastly, that the remuneration of £26,173 
 will average little more than £500 to each in- 
 cumbent, and that it is small in comparison 
 to the increased value of property, which has 
 augmented in less than two centuries from 
 £178,000, to three-fourths of a million sterling 
 per annum. 
 
 That the city benefices are held with other 
 preferments, is the effect of their insufficiency 
 
131 
 
 to the support of a family ; and it cannot be 
 surprising that a scholar and a gentleman, 
 should he anxious to withdraw from a society 
 which instead of being constituted as formerly 
 of British merchants (a community sought after 
 and respected in every part of the habitable 
 globe) is dwindled down to little more than an 
 assemblage of managing clerks, and superan- 
 nuated housekeepers. 
 
 The documents, which this contention has 
 produced, pay without intending it a compli- 
 ment to the clergy not affected by the Fire Act. 
 The tythes of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, belong 
 to the rector; the late incumbent for many 
 years collected from his parishioners, only be- 
 tween three and four hundred pounds per an- 
 num, although he was not ignorant of the 
 power he possessed to augment his revenue 
 ten or perhaps twenty-fold ; and it was at 
 the pressing instances of his parishioners, by 
 whom he was much beloved, that he consented 
 a short time antecedent to his death, to accept, 
 of one thousand pounds per annum. The pre- 
 sent rector has but doubled the income forced 
 upon his predecessor, although the principle is 
 established, by which he may increase the pro- 
 duce of his tythes to seven or eight thousand 
 i2 
 
132 
 
 pounds per annum ; and this liberality of con- 
 duct will be found to prevail in many other, we 
 might venture to add in every other instance, 
 where the Clergy only, are interested. Where 
 however the parishes are impropriate, and in 
 lay hands, very different sentiments are found 
 to actuate the proprietors. The parish of St. 
 Botolph, Aldgate, is a lay impropriation in 
 private hands : about half the parish in popu- 
 lation and value, is in the county of Middlesex, 
 and has for a great length of time paid one 
 hundred and twenty pounds per annum to the 
 lay impropriator, without any attempt to in- 
 crease it ; but the other half in London, under 
 colour of the act of King Henry the eighth, was 
 by the last impropriator raised to eight hundred 
 pounds, and since his decease has been in- 
 creased by his son to upwards of four thousand 
 pounds per annum. 
 
 The lay impropriator of Aldgate does not 
 contribute in the smallest degree, towards the 
 maintenance of the clergymen, who do the duty 
 at the parish church, but generously leaves 
 them to be rewarded by the surplice fees. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that this glaring con- 
 trast, does not seem to have made any impres- 
 sion favorable to the clergy, upon the opposers 
 
133 
 
 of " The London Clergy Bill they appear 
 to have been so alarmed at what the clergy 
 may lawfully do, but have not done, that they 
 have wholly omitted to spare one syllable of 
 commendation, for a forbearance, which must 
 place them deservedly high in the opinion of 
 all unprejudiced individuals. 
 
CHAP. IX 
 
 THE UNIVERSITIES. 
 OXFORD COLLEGES. 
 
 ALL SOULS BALIOL MERTON UNIVERSITY — ■ 
 
 EXETER-— HERTFORD ORIEL — QUEENS. 
 
 At Oxford,, the episcopal clergy may elevate 
 the banner of defiance ; here their deeds are 
 emblazoned in colours that will never fade, on 
 monuments, whose foundations are laid in the 
 hearts of the grateful, and whose superstruc- 
 tures shine in the page of literature. 
 
 We shall conduct our readers to the colleges 
 indiscriminately, since, to make a selection, is 
 impossible. 
 
 All Souls, was founded by Henry Chichele, 
 archbishop of Canterbury, in 1437. The design 
 of the founder was extensive, and executed in 
 
135 
 
 the most liberal manner; but the addition of 
 (he library, by Colonel Codriugton, the reno- 
 vatioris by Sir Christopher Wren, and the 
 Climating pencil of Sir James Tiioruhill, have 
 rendered it magnificent. The first court is 
 124 feet in length, by 72 feet in breadth; the 
 interior quadrangle, 172 feet by 155 feet; the 
 chapel, hall, library, cloister, apartments of 
 the fellows, and the accommodations for the 
 students, are consistent with these dimensions; 
 and those parts of the ancient design, which 
 '• Time's effacing fingers" have spared, do 
 infinite credit to the taste of the artist. 
 
 Chichele was educated at Winchester, and 
 after taking his degree at Oxford, rose rapidly 
 to the pinnacle of ecclesiastical fame. The 
 factious times in which he lived, and the new 
 doctrines which Wicklirle had broached, ren- 
 dered his situation by no means enviable ; he, 
 however, must have conducted himself with 
 great judgment and moderation, to have es- 
 caped the censure alike of theologians, histo- 
 rians, and polemical writers ; none of whom 
 mention him but with respect. 
 
 Chichele also founded a collegiate church at 
 Higham Ferrars, so amply endowed, that 
 Henry the eighth seized its revenues, amount- 
 
136 
 
 ing to £156 per annum. The buildings still 
 remaining are used as the parish church ; an 
 hospital for the poor, was attached to this 
 institution He likewise expended large sums 
 of money in adorning Canterbury Cathedral, 
 founding a library there, adding to Lambeth 
 palace, Croydon Church, and Rochester bridge. 
 For the endowment of the college, he bestowed 
 the manor of Wedon and Weston, in Northamp- 
 tonshire, with the advowsons of the churches 
 belonging to it ; he also gave the manor of 
 Horsham, and Bletching-court, in Kent ; certain 
 lands at Wapeuham in Northamptonshire, the 
 suppressed alien priories of liomnev, m Kent, 
 the rectory of Upchurch, the priories of New 
 Abbey in Shropshire, of St. Clare in Caermar- 
 thenshire, and Llangenith in Glamorganshire ; 
 besides these, his trustees purchased the manors 
 of Edgeware, Kingsbury, and Malarces, in 
 Middlesex, &c. ; and he bequeathed £1,':>4: 6: 8: 
 and a thousand marks, to be banked for the 
 use of the college, which was tinished about 
 the year 1444- The expense of the building 
 was estimated at £'4156 : 5:3^: The purchase 
 of ground, books, chapel furniture, &c. at 
 £4302: 3: S: The subsequent benefactions 
 have also been numerous; James Goldwell, 
 
137 
 
 Bishop of Norwich, at the close of the fifteenth 
 century, besides various sums given in his life 
 time, left £146: 13: 4: for the foundation of 
 a chantry in the chapel. David Pole, Bishop 
 of Peterborough, left a legacy of money and 
 books. Dr. Niblet, and Dr. Sanford, contri- 
 buted liberally to the fund for purchasing 
 advowsons. Archbishop Warham, Henry 
 Godolphin, dean of St. Paul's, and other 
 clergymen, also subscribed to the buildings. 
 
 Baliol College, was founded by the imme- 
 diate ancestor of John de Baliol, the unfor- 
 tunate king of Scotland - the resources, how- 
 ever, which he left, proved very precarious, 
 and it is indebted for many augmentations to 
 various members of the church. The bene- 
 volent Dr. Warner, bishop of Rochester, gave 
 part of the revenues of the manor 'of Swayton, 
 for the maintenance of four scholars of the 
 Scottish nation ; each to have twenty pounds 
 yearly, until he had taken his master's degree, 
 when he was to return to his own country, to 
 support the ecclesiastical establishment of 
 England. The residence of the master was 
 built by Grey, bishop of Ely, who also pre- 
 sented the library with a valuable collection of 
 
138 
 
 manuscripts. Thomas Cave, Rector of Wei 
 wyke, in Yorkshire, gave £100 as a provision 
 for an increased number of scholars, with 
 which the livings of Filling-ham, Rischohne, 
 and Brattleby, in Lincolnshire, were purchased. 
 Thomas Harrope, rector of Hasely, Oxford- 
 shire, also bequeathed lands to the college, for 
 increasing the number of scholars; Dr. Bell, 
 bishop of Worcester, founded two exhibitions ; 
 John Browne, vicar of Basingstoke, founded 
 one ; Dr. Mander, master of the college in 
 1704, gave the living of Bere Regis, in Dorset- 
 shire ; and Dr. Compton, bishop of London, 
 gave the livings of All Saints, Holy Trinity, 
 and St, Leonard's, in Colchester; and Tendring 
 and Tey Marks, both in Essex. Archbishop 
 Abbott, and several other ecclesiastics, were 
 also liberal benefactors to Baliol. 
 
 Merton College, was founded in 1264, by 
 Walter de Merton, bishop of Rochester, and 
 chancellor of England. He was scarcely in 
 possession of an estate, when he founded an 
 hospital for poor and in (inn clergymen. The 
 endowment of the college, comprised lands and 
 estates in Oxfordshire, and other parts of Eng- 
 land. John Wellyott, chancellor of Exeter, 
 
139 
 
 John Chamber, canon of Windsor, Dr. Higgins, 
 the Rev. Geo. Vernon, rector of Burten, in 
 Gloucestershire, Rede, bishop of Chichester, 
 Griffin Higgs, dean of Litchfield, the Rev. 
 Henry Jackson, minor canon of St. Paul's, 
 with several others, contributed to the support 
 of the establishment, by exhibitions, books, 
 lands, buildings, pecuniary loans, and ad- 
 vowsons. The livings of Elham, Farley, Wal- 
 ford, and Lap worth, it is presumed, were at- 
 tached by the founder, having been in posses- 
 sion of the college ever since its existence. 
 
 The controversy with respect to University 
 College, it is presumed, has been determined by 
 the acute reasoning of Mr. Smith, and upon the 
 same authority, the honour of the foundation 
 has been transferred from Alfred, to William 
 of Durham, rector of Bishop Wearmouth. He 
 bequeathed for this purpose 310 marks, to 
 purchase securities for the support of ten or 
 more masters, and by the judicious application 
 of this money, the college has progressively 
 arrived at its present distinction. 
 
 Philip of Beverley, rector of Kangham, or 
 Canygham, gave a mill, and lands in Holder 
 nesse, to support two scholars or masters ; 
 
140 
 
 Walter Skirlaw, bishop of Durham in 1403, 
 gave the manor of Mark's-hall, in Essex, for 
 the maintenance of three fellows, and furnished 
 the library with some manuscripts. A na- 
 tural love for learning was the foundation of 
 Skirlaw's eminence ; tradition states, that when 
 a boy he ran away from his father's house to 
 the University, where in the humblest situa- 
 tion, he applied with so much enthusiasm to 
 his studies, as to be nominated from one 
 dignity to another, until he was placed in the 
 princely see of Durham : his parents, so the 
 story continues, heard no more of their son, 
 until as bishop of Durham, he made a pro- 
 vision for them, equivalent to his own improved 
 situation. Cardinal Beaufort contributed a 
 sum of money towards building a refectory, 
 and other accommodations. In 1590, Otho 
 Hunt, clergyman of Methely, in Yorkshire, 
 endowed a scholarship; with certain lands. In 
 1607, John Browne, vicar of Basingstoke, gave 
 an exhibition. In 1618, the Rev. Robert 
 Gunsley, rector of Titsey, in Surrey, be- 
 queathed the rectory and parsonage of Flam- 
 stead, in Hertfordshire, to the college, for the 
 support of four scholars; two to be chosen 
 from the Grammar School at Rochester, and 
 
141 
 
 two from that of Maidstone. Their present 
 allowance is £15 per annum, and chambers in 
 the college. In the same year, the Rev. 
 Charles Greenwood, rector of Thornhill, in 
 Yorkshire, bequeathed money for the main- 
 tenance of fellows and seholars, but his exe- 
 cutors contrived to render the bequest nugatory. 
 He, however, contributed £1500 towards the 
 buildings of the college. Bishop Skirlaw was 
 a general benefactor, he repaired many cham- 
 bers, erected several bridges and gateways in 
 his diocese, and built, at his own expense, a 
 great part of the tower of York Minster. He 
 also founded a chantry at York, erected part 
 of the beautiful cloister at Durham, and a 
 chapel in Holdernesse. 
 
 The founder of Exeter College, merited 
 a happier fate than he experienced from the 
 mad multitude of London ; but a mob has no 
 reflection, it is callous to reason ; and as its 
 acts are always precipitate, so they are in- 
 variably unjust. Respecting Waiter de Staple- 
 don, bishop of Exeter, in the reign of King 
 Edward the second, we have made a few 
 observations in our remarks upon that cathe- 
 dral. In those days the church and politics 
 
142 
 
 were so interwoven, that bishops were nece* 
 sarily statesmen ; thus Stapledon was altt 
 nately priest, privy counsellor, lord treasure^ 
 embassador, and guardian or governor, of the 
 city of London, in which last character he 
 fell a sacrifice to the rabble espousing the 
 cause of the queen, by whom he was igno- 
 miniously decapitated, and as ignominiously 
 buried. No insult, however, offered to the 
 body, can obliterate the good and virtuous 
 deeds of men, and the bishop of Exeter lives 
 in honourable memorial, as the parent of two 
 institutions for the promotion of learning, 
 Exeter and Hertford colleges; independent 
 of which charities, he bequeathed a great many 
 legacies to poor scholars, and several sums of 
 money towards the repairs of bridges in the 
 county of Devon, building Pilton church, &c. 
 
 In 1404, Edmund Stafford, bishop of Exeter, 
 reformed the statutes, and distinguished Exeter 
 College by its present name; he added two 
 fellowships from the diocese of Salisbury, pre- 
 sented more than 200 marks in money, besides 
 books and ornaments to the library and chapel; 
 and so grateful were the members of this 
 establishment for his numerous benefits, that 
 they appointed a perpetual obit for him. Samuel 
 
143 
 
 Hill, rector of Warlegan, in Cornwall, founded 
 four scholarships in 1634. The celebrated Dr. 
 Prideaux, and many other divines, made con- 
 siderable additions, at their personal charge, 
 to the buildings, which from their varied style 
 of architecture, evince many different hands, 
 at very different times, to have been employed 
 in their erection. 
 
 John Grandison, bishop of Exeier, presented 
 the college, in 136S, with a collection of theo- 
 logical manuscripts. In the beginning of the 
 last century, the Rev. Joseph Sanford, and 
 others, substituted a valuable collection of ma- 
 nuscripts and printed works, for the old library, 
 which was accidentally destroyed by tire. Dr. 
 George Hakev.ill, contributed £1200, out of 
 £1400, towards the erection of the present 
 chape), and left a sum of money for the cele- 
 bration of prayers and a sermon, on the anni- 
 versary of St. James, to whom it was dedi- 
 cated. 
 
 Hertford College, was the original foun- 
 dation of bishop Stapledon, but when he trans- 
 ferred the fellows and scholars to Exeter, it 
 appears to have been only a secondary con- 
 sideration with him, and he does not seem lo 
 
144 
 
 have added any endowment to his purchase of 
 the ground and buildings, which existed pre- 
 viously to the erection of his more munificent 
 establishment. Hertford College met with but 
 one benefactor, from the time of its founder in 
 1314 to 1710, when Dr. Richard Newton, rec- 
 tor of Sudbury, in Northamptonshire, settled 
 considerable property, as a provision for a re- 
 gular collegiate institution ; the mode he adopt- 
 ed, however, proved injudicious ; and in con- 
 sequence his intentions have been so frustrated 
 by changes in the value of money, that Hert- 
 ford College is scarcely known but by name. 
 Newton's benevolence was notwithstanding 
 great; he expended £1500 in building the 
 chapel, and additional accommodations for his 
 infant society ; settled an annuity of £53 : 6 : 8 
 for four senior fellows, or £ 13 : 6 : 8 each ; 
 £26:13:4 each for eight junior fellows; 
 £6 : 13 : 4 each for eight probationary stu- 
 dents ; and £13:6:8 for twenty-four actual 
 students, subject to augmentation for com- 
 mons : but this provision being in the shape of 
 specific annuities, charged upon his lands at 
 Lavendon, the present abandoned state of the 
 institution is accounted for. 
 
145 
 
 The provision for the principal was better 
 contrived for perpetuating- the founder's object; 
 it was to arise from the rents of the chambers, 
 and certain annual contribution!! from the stu- 
 dents, and which, presuming* the college full, 
 would have yielded nearly £300 per annum. 
 Dr. Rawlinson bequeathed property at Fulham, 
 now yielding £28 per annum, as an increase to 
 the salary of the principal. Dr. Durell, in 1775, 
 left £20 yearly, one moiety to the principal, 
 and the other to two senior fellows ; and the 
 Rev. Win. Rogers endowed a scholarship. 
 
 Yet although this college has struggled with 
 adversity, ever since its birth, it has at times 
 lifted its head with honour, amongst its more 
 opulent competitors, and its list of members is 
 comparatively as brilliant as any of its neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 Oriel College, was founded by Adam de 
 Brom, almoner to Edward the second, although 
 that monarch, from the liberal aid he gave to 
 de Brom, is, through courtesy, acknowledged 
 the parent of the institution, and the generous 
 patronage he extended to it, certainly entitles 
 hi in to precedency. 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 The pious priest, after purchasing* a tene- 
 ment and land, for the site of the buildings, 
 and preparing- accommodations for his fra- 
 ternity, gave them the church of Aberforth, 
 in Yorkshire, and the advowson of Coleby, in 
 Lincolnshire. 
 
 John Carpenter, bishop of Worcester, in 
 W16, endowed one fellowship and six exhi- 
 bitions, and gave Bedell Hall, with other con- 
 tiguous buildings, to the college; this bishop 
 was likewise a most eminent benefactor to 
 Westbury College, in Gloucestershire. Smyth, 
 bishop of Lincoln, contributed £300, for the 
 establishment of a fellowship in 1507. In 1529. 
 Dr. Richard Dudley, gave the manor of Swains- 
 wick, in Somersetshire, for the maintenance of 
 two fellowships and six exhibitions ; Dr. Ro- 
 binson, bishop of London, celebrated for act* 
 of splendid benevolence, gave £2500, to aug- 
 ment the existing fellowships, and to found 
 three additional exhibitions; he also erected 
 one of the handsome ranges of buildings in 
 the garden. Dr. Carter, the provost, left his 
 whole fortune for the purchase of livings, the 
 endowment of exhibitions, and the improve- 
 ment of buildings. Dr. Tolson was a con- 
 
147 
 
 siderable benefactor, independent of a donation 
 of upwards of £1100, towards the extension 
 of the college. 
 
 " Robert de Eglesfield," observes Chalmers, 
 " employed his interest at court in promoting 
 religion and learning, giving all he had to the 
 public, and that in his life time, when he could 
 best secure those advantages which he was 
 anxious to bestow on posterity." Amongst 
 other acts of munificence, he founded Queen's 
 College, and as the regulations he adopted 
 are curious, as displaying the oddities and 
 superstitions, even of the learned of those days 
 (lo40), we shall extract them from the author 
 above mentioned, although somewhat irrele- 
 vant to the object of this publication. " It 
 is thought that Eglesfield limited the num- 
 ber of fellows to twelve, in allusion to Christ 
 and his twelve apostles ; and that in allusion 
 to the seventy disciples, he intended to add 
 seventy poor scholars, who were to be regu- 
 larly educated, and chosen fellows in all cases 
 of vacancy. The society was to be called to 
 meals by the sound of trumpet, and the fellows 
 being placed on one side the table, in robes of 
 scarlet, (those of the doctors faced with black 
 k2 
 
]48 
 
 fur,) were to oppose in philosophy the poor 
 scholars, who, in token of submission and hu- 
 mility, knelt on the other side. These regu- 
 lations do not appear to have been adopted in 
 his life time, but prevailed afterwards for many 
 years, and one vestige of them is still remain- 
 ing'. The society is still called together by the 
 sound of a trumpet, and during part of the last 
 century, Ihc fellows and taberdars, used some- 
 times to dispute on Sundays and holidays." 
 
 The bequests to Queen's, have been nume- 
 rous and splendid, and directly or indirectly 
 the clergy have borne a conspicuous part in 
 its erection and endowment. The specific 
 legacies and donations, we are not able to 
 record ; but the indefatigable zeal of provost 
 Smith, (himself a considerable benefactor) en- 
 titles him to our peculiar notice. He persuaded 
 his patron and godfather, Sir Joseph William- 
 son, (who had devised considerable property to 
 endow a college in Dublin,) to alter his intention 
 in favor of Queen's, which besides what he pre- 
 sented to the society in his life time, amounted 
 to six thousand pounds. Smith also procured 
 a gift of one thousand pounds from Queen 
 Caroline : he recovered five exhibitions founded 
 by Lady Elizabeth Hastings, as well as others 
 
149 
 
 founded by Sir Francis Bridgman ; and he is 
 considered as little less than the immediate 
 donor of the extraordinary " New Founda- 
 tion/' as it is distinguished, bestowed by John 
 Michel, Esq. of Richmond, in Surrey, in 1739. 
 This legacy comprised the manor of Plumsted, 
 in Kent, with lands in the same parish; the 
 manor and lands of llorton Kirby, and else- 
 where in Kent; and lands and tenements at 
 Old Windsor, of the estimated value of from 
 £500 to £700 per annum, for an establishment 
 of eight Master Fellows, four Bachelor Scho- 
 lars, and four Undergraduates ; to purchase also 
 advowsons, presentations, and livings, above 
 the annual value of £120, and to erect a suit- 
 able building for the accommodation of this 
 auxiliary society. This generous bequest is 
 strikingly displayed in the magnificence of the 
 modern architecture, .which conspicuously a- 
 dorns the High Street of Oxford ; and the inci- 
 dents which have occurred in the history of the 
 college, bear ample testimony of the still ex- 
 isting munificence amongst the clergy as indi- 
 viduals, and ecclesiastical societies generally. 
 
 Provost Halton gave his collection of books, 
 and bore a considerable proportion of the ex- 
 pence of erecting a suitable receptacle for them, 
 
130 
 
 which it was necessary to augment in conse- 
 quence of the legacy of a more extensive 
 liftrary by bishop Barlow. Of the pr osts, 
 one and all, it may be remarked, that not only 
 to support the reputation of their individual 
 College, but the fame and honour of the uni- 
 versity, their talents and fortunes have been 
 most generously dedicated. Dr. Gibson, bishop 
 of London, founder of the preacherships at 
 Whitehall, was a member of this college, as 
 was Cardinal Beaufort, a kind and munificent 
 one, traduced as he has been by Shakespeare, 
 whose picture of his last moments has blemish- 
 ed a character, which but for the period in. 
 which he iived might have been placed on high, 
 admirable to the pious, and an example to all ; 
 but tumultuous times subdue the meekness of 
 human nature, and awaken passions few of us 
 can believe that we possess. 
 
CHAP. X. 
 
 The Universities. Oxford — in continuation. 
 
 NEW COLLEGE LINCOLN MAGDALEN BRAZEN 
 
 NOSE CORPUS CHRISTI. 
 
 WILLIAM of Wykeham, is a name which 
 children lisp, school boys reverence, and all 
 who esteem virtue, admire and love. His ca- 
 thedral, we have already stated he enlarged 
 and decorated, with infinite taste and liberality, 
 and his benefactions to the church were most 
 princely. The good of mankind however was 
 a no less favourite object with him, and he 
 justly concluded that he could not promote 
 the glory of God moie, than by enlightening 
 the mind of man. His conceptions were always 
 grand ; and his spirit never relaxed from any 
 thing which his fortune could accomplish. From 
 such principles emanated the " New College" 
 at Oxford, and its dependent preparatory semi- 
 
152 
 
 nary at Winchester ; and that his whole atten- 
 tion might be dedicated to these extraordinary 
 undertakings, he withdrew entirely from public 
 business, from the flattery and ambition of 
 courts and politics, to the retirement of the 
 philanthropist and sage. 
 
 This great and good man had the happiness 
 to survive to witness the completion of his 
 most anxious labours The college and the 
 seminary rose with rapidity, and the magna- 
 nimity of the founder shone forth in the gran- 
 deur of his works. Every thing was performed 
 at his individual expense, from the first pur- 
 chase of the ground to the gilding of the last 
 pinnacle. Hs was his own architect, framed 
 his own statutes, superintended every depart- 
 ment, scientific or mechanical, and throughout 
 the whole, the artist never wearied, the ardour 
 of the patron never cooled. 
 
 Proudly as we may boast the annals of our 
 kings, our statesmen, and our heroes ; prouder 
 still ought we to be of the munificence which 
 has garnished our country from one extremity 
 to the other, with institutions that cherish the 
 first bud of youth, give vigour and beauty to 
 the expanding blossoms of manhood, and yield 
 consolation to the last feeble efforts of expiring 
 
153 
 
 nature ; how brilliant then amidst the worthies 
 of their country, whom the shouts of popular- 
 ity celebrate, and the labours of the historian 
 immortalize, are the names of William of 
 Wykeham and that long list of pious founders 
 and benefactors whom we seek to honour. 
 
 The foundation stone of New College was 
 laid in 1380, and in six years the edifice was 
 declared perfect. The endowment provided 
 liberally for a warden and seventy poor scho- 
 lars, besides ten priests, three clerks, and six- 
 teen choristers to minister in the service of the 
 chapel. 
 
 In 1387 the preparatory college at Winchester 
 was begun, and six years more consummated 
 this second labour. The construction of the 
 minor society was very similar to its prede- 
 cessor, consisting of a warden, seventy scho- 
 lars, ten secular priests, three priest's chap- 
 lains, three clerks, and sixteen choristers ; for 
 all of whom ample provision was also made. 
 
 Such an example was well calculated to ex- 
 cite emulation, and amongst the list of bene- 
 factors the clergy are again conspicuous. John 
 de Buckingham, bishop of Lincoln, in the life 
 time of the founder, bestowed upon the college 
 the advowson of SwalclilFe church, and lands 
 
154 
 
 adjoining. In 1440, Thomas Beckington, 
 bishop of Bath and Wells, besides what he left 
 by his will, persuaded Henry the sixth to 
 give them the manor of Newton Longville, in 
 Buckinghamshire. Thomas Jane, bishop of 
 Norwich, in 1494, Clement Hardyng, in 1507, 
 and archbishop Warham, in 1509, contributed 
 landed property. Robert Shirebourne, bishop 
 of Chichester, besides lands in Middlesex and 
 Bucks, founded four prebends in Chichester 
 cathedral, for the Fellows of New College. 
 In 1524, Dr. Thomas Wells, founded three 
 exhibitions. In 1528, Dr. Fleshmonger, dean 
 of Chichester, bestowed the manor of Shering- 
 hall, in Essex, to found an exhibition for 
 four Fellows, and contributed to purchase the 
 manor of Staunton St. John, in Oxfordshire, 
 on condition of adding exhibitions for twelve 
 Fellows. In 1533, Thomas Mylling, a mem- 
 ber of the college, contributed to the same 
 purchase, on condition of adding two Fellows. 
 In 1558, John White, bishop of Winchester, 
 gave the manor of Hall Place, in Southampton, 
 stipulating that out of the profits the sum of 
 13s 4d should be given to every scholar on his 
 being admitted a Fellow. In 15S9, Christopher 
 Rawlins, vicar of Adderbury, after building 
 
155 
 
 and endowing a free school at that place, con- 
 veyed the whole to New College ; and after 
 paying the school-master's salary, and pro- 
 viding for the repairs of the school-house, di- 
 rected the produce of his estates in Lincoln- 
 shire should be divided amongst the poorest 
 Fellows and Scholars. Dr. Ryves, warden in 
 1613, endowed a sermon to be preached on 
 Trinity Sunday. Lake, bishop of Bath and 
 Wells, made a similar endowment; and in 
 1647, Robert Pinke, warden and rector of 
 Staunton St. John, in Oxfordshire, and Cole- 
 rue in Wiltshire, gave the patronage of Wot- 
 ton, near Woodstock. 
 
 The library has been enriched from time to 
 time, by Rede, bishop of Chichester, arch- 
 bishop Crawley, bishop Reckington, Russell, 
 bishop of Lincoln, archbishop Warham, bishop 
 Lake, and numerous minor dignitaries of the 
 church. 
 
 The institutions of William of Wykeham, 
 emanated from a purely benevolent spirit ; they 
 were not the sacrifice of a morbid mind, the 
 impulses of superstitious retribution, nor monu- 
 ments of glory purchased at the expense of in- 
 jured posterity ; through the many changes and 
 agitations, of a period marked by turbulence 
 
156 
 
 and bloodshed, Wykeham passed, not unper- 
 secuted, but unblemished ; and he waited not 
 until the hand of death was ready to tear him 
 from all worldly possessions, to effect the good 
 he meditated ; but whilst health remained, and 
 nature was still strong and cheerful, he received 
 the bounty of the sovereign and his country, 
 but to become their voluntary and unbidden 
 almoner; preparing a garden in which the 
 germ of genius might strike deep and flourish, 
 planting a vineyard, whose tendrils should 
 spread wherever the influence of his country 
 was acknowledged, twine round the pillars of 
 the state and adorn his native laud. 
 
 Vacillating both in religion, and politics,, 
 controuled by prejudices and resentments, 
 swayed by ambition and a lust of power, 
 Richard Flemming, trod a far different path ; 
 and it is rather a perverted heart than a gene- 
 rous mind which we have to thank for the 
 foundation of Lincoln College. Early attached 
 to the doctrines of Wickliffe, Flemming sud- 
 denly became an advocate for contrary prin- 
 ciples, planned a college to resist the heresy 
 he had formerly approved, and executed him- 
 self the decree which ordered the harmless re- 
 
157 
 
 mains of the man he once admired and reve- 
 renced, to be unsepulehred and burned. But 
 of this no further; too busy in his life time to 
 accomplish his design, the embrio college lay 
 dormant after his decease, until other benefac- 
 tors reared his project to maturity. Of these, 
 John Forrest, dean of Wells, in 1437, built 
 the chapel, library, hall, and kitchen. John 
 Southam, archdeacon of Oxford, and Cardinal 
 Beaufort, were liberal contributors, but Thomas 
 Rotherham (a successor of Flemming in the 
 see of Lincoln, and of whose magnificence and 
 taste we have before had occasion to speak.) 
 by his extraordinary partiality and bounty, has 
 been allowed to share the honours of founder- 
 ship. His patronage was accidental ; being 
 upon a visit through his diocese, the rector of 
 Lincoln College (then denominated Deep Hall,) 
 preached the visitation sermon, selecting for 
 his text, " Behold and visit this vine, and the 
 vineyard which thy right hand hath planted," 
 &c. 80th Psalm ; and addressed his discourse 
 so pointedly, but judiciously to the bishop, and 
 exhorted him by such moving appeals, and 
 powerful arguments, that Rotherham rose up 
 in extacy, and declared he would accomplish 
 what was required of him; he accordingly ar- 
 
158 
 
 ranged the buildings upon a regular architec- 
 tural design, increased the number of fellows 
 from seven to twelve, and gave them the liv- 
 ings of Twyford, in Buckinghamshire, and 
 Long Combe, in Oxfordshire. Walter Bate, 
 a priest and commoner, gave the society a 
 house and garden adjacent to the college. 
 Thomas Crosby, treasurer of Lincoln, gave 
 an hundred marks to found a chaplainship. 
 Bishop Smyth, the founder of Brazen Nose, 
 gave the very valuable manor of Bushberry, 
 near Brewood in Staffordshire, and the manor 
 of Sengclcre in Chalgrave, Oxfordshire, for the 
 general purposes and benefit of this college. 
 In 1518, Edmund Audlcy, bishop of Salisbury, 
 gave four hundred pounds, for the purchase of 
 lands in Buckinghamshire, and added the pa- 
 tronage of a chantry in the cathedral of Salis- 
 bury. In 1535, Edward Darby, archdeacon of 
 Stow, founded three fellowships. John Smith, 
 rector of Wykeham Breux, founded a scholar- 
 ship in 1633. In 171"/, Lord Crewe, bishop of 
 Durham, added £"20 yearly to the rectorship, 
 £*I0 to each of the twelve fellowships, and in- 
 creased the bible clerk's place, and the poorer 
 scholarships £10 each. The same sum was 
 added to the curacies of All Saints, and St. 
 
159 
 
 Michael's in Oxford, Twyford in Buckingham- 
 shire, and Long Combe in Oxfordshire ; and in 
 1718, he endowed twelve exhibitions of £20 
 each. He bequeathed also .§£200 per annum 
 to the University for general purposes ; was a 
 liberal contributor to the buildings of Christ 
 Church, Queen's, Worcester, and All Souls 
 Colleges, and the new church of All Saints. 
 His latter days were spent in promoting every 
 virtuous and charitable object which came 
 within his knowledge, in dispensing kindness 
 and hospitality to friends and strangers, and 
 in fulfilling w ith conscientious minuteness every 
 duty of a Christian. For these his memory is 
 cherished in the University, where the benevo- 
 lence of the man and the piety of the bishop 
 are still in vernal life. The scholarships and 
 exhibitions, were also augmented by Dr. 
 Thomas Marshall, dean of Gloucester, who 
 added four to their number ; and by the bene- 
 faction of Dr. Hutchins, rector, from 1755 to 
 1781. The rector's lodgings were built by, 
 and at the expense of bishop Beckington ; 
 manuscripts of great value and rarity were 
 presented by the founder, and other divines, 
 but were destroyed during the civil wars. Dr. 
 Kilbye, rector from 1590 to 1620, repaired the 
 
160 
 
 library completely, and contributed a con- 
 siderable collection of books, in which he was 
 followed by Dr. Wilson, the Rev. Daniel Hough, 
 bishop Sanderson, Dr. Gilbert Watts, Dr. 
 Marshall, and others. The present chapel was 
 built in 1630, at the expense of Dr. Williams) 
 bishop of Lincoln. Archbishop Williams gave 
 the painted window ; and Dr. Fitzherbert 
 Adams, prebendary of Durham, and rector 
 from 1685 to 1719, laid out fifteen hundred 
 pounds, which he had received for renewing 
 one of the college leases, in the repairs of this 
 chapel, and the rector's lodgings. 
 
 Were we desirous of a parallel to Wykeham, 
 we should seek him in Waynfleet, the founder 
 of Magdalen; he was the same steady and 
 sincere friend to the king, possessed the same 
 pious and virtuous principles as Wykeham, 
 and was urged to the foundation of his college, 
 by the same love towards his fellow creatures. 
 This appears first in his will, by which he be- 
 queathed legacies to all his servants, to all 
 the religious of both sexes in Winchester, to 
 all the clergy in that city, and to every fellow 
 and scholar, of Wykeham's two colleges and 
 his own. Secondly, in the establishment of a 
 
161 
 
 free school in his native town of Waynfleet in 
 Lincolnshire, as a benefactor to Eton College, 
 to Winchester cathedral, and other places. 
 Lastly, in the foundation of Magdalen Col- 
 lege; the original endowment was £ 100 per 
 annum, which although considerable in those 
 days, was augmented by numerous grants 
 from Henry the sixth, over whom Waynfleet 
 had deservedly obtained great influence; and 
 the patronage of the monarch thus keeping 
 pace wilh the zeal of the bishop and founder, 
 the college soon acquired splendour and re- 
 nown. Two fellowships were founded in 1161, 
 by John Ingledew, chaplain to Waynfleet, and 
 a third by John Forman, vicar of Ruston, in 
 Yorkshire. 
 
 Owing probably to the munificent appropri- 
 ations made by the king, the further endow- 
 ments of Magdalen have not been numerous, 
 but many valuable gifts and legacies, grace 
 the annals of the college. Warner, bishop of 
 Rochester, in the reign of James the second, 
 contributed £1400, towards the ornament and 
 augmentation of the library, and for the gene- 
 ral repair, improvement, and extension of the 
 buildings ; Dr. Butler subscribed £2500, Dr. 
 Hough, bishop of Worcester, £1000, Dr. Boul- 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 ter, primate of Ireland, £1000, Dr. Thomas 
 Waldegrave, vicar of Washington, £1500, 
 3 per cent, consols. In a general contribution 
 of £4000, the names of many clergy of inferior 
 rank are recorded ; and in 1793, between five 
 and six thousand pounds were expended, out 
 of the income of the president and fellows, in 
 new roofing the chapel and hall, and in painted 
 windows for the ante-chapel. 
 
 In the " olden time," as has been before 
 noticed, the pursuits of law and divinity were 
 one ; and previous to the reformation, there 
 is scarcely an instance, where the mitre and the 
 seals were not united in the same individual. 
 Our ancestors probably considered nothing 
 could be more compatible with the office of a 
 divine, than the administration of justice, but 
 so irrelevant have the two professions become, 
 that were we to see before us a priest accoutred 
 in the robes of an advocate, we should turn 
 from the novelty with disgust, 
 
 Bishop Smyth, founder of Brazen Nose, 
 held many civil offices ; he was president of 
 the prince's council within the Marches of 
 Wales, and his Majesty's justice in the counties 
 of Salop, Hereford, and Gloucester ; these en- 
 
163 
 
 grossed a great proportion of his time, and yield- 
 ed him, no doubt, essential emoluments, but the 
 duties of his diocese he took especial precaution 
 should never be unattended to, and the fees of 
 the lawyer appear only to have been accepted 
 to augment the benevolence of the bishop. 
 He was elected Chancellor of the University 
 in 1500, and if we were to extract from the 
 addresses upon thai occasion, we might repre- 
 sent him an immaculate moralist, a prodigy in 
 wisdom, and a saint in devotion ; but congratu- 
 latory productions are very equivocal sources of 
 information. When the approach of a master 
 is inevitable, whether he come in the character 
 of a tyrant or a parent, it is policy to be 
 courteous ; it is the uncostly right of the latter, 
 and it may mitigate the wrath of the oppressor, 
 for tyranny is always vain, as well as cruel. 
 We have little doubt, were the research made., 
 but we should find the language addressed to 
 Cromwell, when his puritanical followers had 
 half desolated the University, as adulatory as 
 the sentiments expressed towards the truly 
 amiable and inoffensive prelate, now the sub- 
 ject of our narrative, who probably felt as 
 much disgusted with the flattery, as the pro- 
 
164 
 
 tector experienced rapture from the nauseou* 
 panegyrics, which prudence, necessity, or panic 
 dictated. 
 
 It would be highly unjust to proceed without 
 observing, that in all he did, bishop Smyth 
 had a most liberal and able coadjutor in Sir 
 Richard Sutton. To the site of the college 
 and the buildings, he contributed a moiety of 
 the expense, and his endowments probably 
 exceeded those of his friend. Brazen Nose 
 must, therefore, be considered a joint work of 
 the bishop and the knight, and the founder's 
 wreath divided between them. The estates, 
 constituting the bishop's endowment, were 
 Basset's Fee, in the vicinity of Oxford, and 
 the entire property of the suppressed priory of 
 Cold Norton, with its manors and estates in 
 Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. The lat- 
 ter he purchased of the convent of St. Stephens, 
 Westminster, for Eleven hundred and fifty 
 marks. 
 
 Such illustrious examples are never deficient 
 in followers. The Rev. John Williamson, of 
 St. George's, Canterbury, founded two fellow- 
 ships in 1521. John Elton, canon of Salisbury, 
 founded a third in 152S. William Porter, 
 
165 
 
 warden of New College, a fourth in 1531, 
 endowed with lands in Oxfordshire and Glou- 
 cestershire. Edward Darley, archdeacon of 
 Stow, a fifth in 1538. Dr. William Clifton, 
 sub-dean of York, a sixth ; also endowed with 
 lands in the counties above mentioned. And 
 a seventh, was founded upon a bequest of 
 money by Bryan Hygden. dean of York, in 
 1549. John Claymond, president of Corpus in 
 1536, contributed six scholarships. Humphrey 
 Ogle, archdeacon of Salop, two. Nowell, 
 dean of St. Paul's, thirteen. Thomas Yates, 
 P.D. augmented some, and endowed three. 
 John Barneston, canon residentiary of Salis- 
 bury, founded a Hebrew lectureship ; and 
 Thomas Weston, rector of Crisselton, near 
 Chester, a mathematical lecture. The contri- 
 butors to the library have also been numerous; 
 Dr. Barker subscribed Three hundred pounds 
 to the rebuilding of it in 1780. Bishop Smyth, 
 Longland bishop of Lincoln, and archdeacon 
 Bothe, bequeathed, or gave in their life-times, 
 collections of books. Henry Mason, rector of 
 St. Andrew's Undershaft, gave as many as were 
 estimated at a thousand pounds ; and Dr. 
 Yarborough, a most valuable selection, classi- 
 
166 
 
 cal and general. The chapel was built by 
 subscription, in which the names of the clergy 
 were conspicuous. 
 
 After a long course of prosperity, the rising 
 influence of Wolsey induced Fox, bishop of 
 Winchester, to withdraw from the intrigues 
 and vicissitudes of politics, to meditate upon 
 the vanity of this world, and the glory of the 
 next. The services he rendered to king Henry 
 the seventh, had been liberally rewarded, but 
 his soul expanded with the increase of his 
 wealth, and subsequent to his seclusion, we 
 only read of his piety and benevolence. We 
 have already noticed his expensive labours at 
 Durham and Winchester. In 1552, he founded 
 a free school at Taunton, and a second at 
 Grantham. He was unbounded in his charity 
 to the poor, whom he assisted with money, 
 food, and raiment ; exercised a princely hos- 
 pitality, and retained upwards of two hundred 
 domestics, with the principal view of pro- 
 moting the trade of Winchester, his favourite 
 city. 
 
 In 1513, when he made his first purchases 
 for the foundation of a college, his plan 
 
167 
 
 was upon a very limited scale ; but in 1516, 
 at the suggestion of Hugh Oldham, bishop 
 of Exeter, he obtained a charter from Henry 
 the seventh, for a more enlarged and dura- 
 ble institution, which he denominated "Corpus 
 Christi College." This he endowed in 
 a suitable manner for a president, twenty 
 fellows, twenty scholars, two chaplains, two 
 clerks, and two choristers, He established 
 the first Greek and Latin lectures which were 
 known at Oxford, and invited the most learned 
 and scientific men in Europe to carry his 
 design to the utmost perfection. The bishop 
 of Exeter, who had instigated Pox to this 
 undertaking, did not forget it when arrived at 
 maturity ; he contributed six thousand marks 
 in money, besides lands, to Corpus Christi, and 
 founded a grammar school at Manchester, 
 with exhibitions for the scholars to Corpus and 
 Brazen Nose, Oxford, and St. John's Cam- 
 bridge. The contributions of lands and money 
 were also augmented by several of the early 
 presidents, fellows, and other members of the 
 college, who had taken holy orders ; and at 
 the commencement of the eighteenth century, 
 Dr. Turner, the principal, besides expending 
 
168 
 
 a large sum of money in an elegant enlarge- 
 ment of the college, left it in his will Six 
 thousand pounds more; this benefactor be- 
 queathed likewise Twenty thousand pounds to 
 the charity for the relief of the widows and 
 children of poor clergyman, and many ample 
 sums to purposes equally laudable. 
 
CHAP. XI. 
 
 The Universities. Oxford — in continuation. 
 
 CHRIST CHURCH TRINITY ST. JOHN'S — 
 
 JESUS WADHAM PEMBROKE WORCESTER 
 
 THE HALLS THE THEATRE. 
 
 THE life of Wolsey is still a problem which 
 baffles the research of all his biographers ; 
 born with incomparable talents,, and strong 
 passions, he burst into power too suddenly to 
 become familiar with his own frailties ; found 
 himself the arbiter of the fates of men, whilst 
 yet a novice in the art of government, savT 
 his person surrounded by sycophants and 
 suitors, yet ignorant of his own pre-eminence, 
 and felt the attributes of power in his hands 
 ere he knew their force and virtue. 
 
 But, leaving these affairs to the learned and 
 the curious, we have only to speak of Wolsey 
 
170 
 
 as a benefactor; amidst all his schemes of 
 personal aggandizement, his unbounded pre- 
 sumption,, and ambition, the low spirit of 
 avarice never possessed his mind ; although a 
 Catholic, and an enemy to the reformation, the 
 encouragement of literature and science was 
 an early propensity, and his mind gradually 
 enlarged as he rose in the scale of human 
 grandeur. 
 
 The favour of Henry, and Wolsey's interest 
 with Rome, afforded him great facility towards 
 accomplishing a foundation, upon which he 
 appeared anxious to rest his fame. This, 
 after numerous vicissitudes, at length became 
 permanently settled as the college of " Christ 
 Church," and although the caprice of the king 
 interrupted the plans of the cardinal, and he 
 endeavoured to supersede him in the honour of 
 the design, we see no just reason for depriving 
 Wolsey of the sole merit of an institution, 
 which, had he survived to finish it, would have 
 added to Oxford a lustre, amidst all its fascina- 
 tions still unknown. 
 
 By the suppression of a number of small 
 and superfluous monasteries, an endowment of 
 £2000 per annum was provided for Christ 
 Church, " as a perpetual foundation for the 
 
171 
 
 study of the sciences, divinity, canon and civil 
 law ; also the arts, physic, and polite literature, 
 and for the continual performance of divine 
 service." The members were to be a dean, 
 sixty regular canons, and forty of the second 
 order, besides subordinates ; to fill these nu- 
 merous appointments, the cardinal selected, or 
 invited, all the most learned in his native 
 country, or elsewhere, for the avowed purpose 
 of coping" with Luther and the reformers, 
 whose principal success and growing import- 
 ance, he attributed to the ignorance of the 
 monastic clergy. And when his star was de- 
 clining from the bright orbit in which it had 
 so long beamed upon the world, when every 
 earthly object was fading away beneath the 
 frowns of the monarch, and the revi lings of an 
 envious multitude, who had long trembled at 
 his shadow ; his last supplication was in favour 
 of his college, his last accents a prayer for its 
 prosperity. 
 
 Wolsey's designs for the building were upon 
 the most magnificent scale, and the execution, 
 as far as it extended, highly creditable to the 
 age, and to the refined taste for which the 
 cardinal was remarkable. The hall, which 
 
172 
 
 has been the theatre of many important 
 transactions connected with the church and 
 state, the scene of regal banquets, and the 
 pomps of chivalry, is the finest of the kind in 
 England; its approach is peculiarly prepos- 
 sessing, and an indescribable interest attaches 
 not only to this, but every other part of the 
 buildings. What Wolsey intended to perform 
 may be conjectured from the traces of foun- 
 dations still discernible ; what he did effect 
 not only here but elsewhere, was unhappily 
 considered fair spoil when his fall took place ; 
 an emulation seemed to exist between the 
 king and his courtiers, who should most in- 
 sult his memory, and their unmanly antipa- 
 thies caused irreparable injury to literature, to 
 science, and their country. 
 
 The artists, men of science, mechanics, and 
 labourers, employed by Wolsey, were innu- 
 merable, and the money disseminated by his 
 gigantic undertaking, gave life, comfort, and 
 prosperity, far and wide. In one year, and let 
 it be remembered, this was three centuries ago, 
 the expense of the buildings amounted to 
 £7835: 7: 2: his disgrace and death were 
 consequently severely felt, and the suspension 
 
173 
 
 of these extraordinary operations was regretted, 
 not only as affecting private interests, but as a 
 national calamity. 
 
 The subsequent benefactions to Christ 
 Church, have been truly magnificent. In 1665, 
 the quadrangle, as it now stands, was com- 
 pleted by a subscription, to which the dean 
 and canons contributed £2167 ; Dr. Morley 
 £2200; and the individual subscriptions of 
 many of the dignified clergy, were very liberal. 
 Burton, the author of the anatomy of melan- 
 choly, left part of his books, and an annuity 
 of £5. Dr. Morris £b, for a speech in com- 
 memoration of Sir Thomas Bodley, Bishop 
 Fell, Dean Aldrich, Dr. Mead, Dea., Atter- 
 bury, and Dr. Stratford, contributed books. 
 Dr. Wm. Wake, archbishop of Canterbury, 
 gave an ample library of printed books and 
 manuscripts, a large collection of coins and 
 medals, and a thousand pounds towards 
 building a new library. The whole of this 
 benefaction was estimated at Ten thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 These donations and bequests rendered a 
 new library indispensable, and a very splendid 
 one was accordingly built. The first con- 
 tributor to the funds for this purpose, was 
 
174 
 
 Anthony Radcliffe, canon of Christ Church, 
 who left, by his will, three thousand pounds. 
 The dean and canons, and clergy, bore the 
 expense of the remainder, in common with the 
 nobility, gentry, and students, educated at the 
 college. Dr. Philip Barton, a canon, added a 
 most valuable collection of British and English 
 coins in 1765, and Dr. Richard Brown, Regius 
 Professor of Hebrew, gave an equally precious 
 collection of Oriental coins in 1780. In con- 
 sequence of these legacies, the library of Christ 
 Church has risen to great celebrity ; it is in 
 short at once a library, a gallery, and a mu- 
 seum, highly enriched by literature, antiquity, 
 natural curiosities, and the most interesting 
 departments of art. 
 
 Canterbury Square, or Quadrangle, is erect- 
 ed upon the site of Canterbury Hall, an antient 
 institution for the study of canon and civil law, 
 founded and endowed by archbishop Islip, and 
 other ecclesiastics, in 1361. In 1775, every 
 vestige of the old buildings was removed, and 
 the present elegant substitutes erected, chiefly 
 at the expense of Dr. Richard Robinson, baron 
 Rokeby and primate of Ireland, whose diocese 
 in the sister kingdom likewise possesses many 
 records of his munificence. The list of Deans 
 
175 
 
 includes many names estimable as members of 
 the church, honourable for their learning 1 , and 
 distinguished with very few exceptions as libe- 
 ral benefactors to their college ; and to close a 
 catalogue so illustrious, we have to add the 
 Rev. Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode, who be- 
 queathed his library, prints, and coins, to the 
 British Museum, estimated at thirty thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 The church of Christ Church is used as the 
 bishop's cathedral. 
 
 Trinity College, owes its fame to a layman, 
 it only comes therefore within the limits we 
 have affixed to our researches, briefly to enu- 
 merate such benefactors as were members of 
 the church. In 1667, Edward Bathurst, B. D. 
 bequeathed to the college land in Northamp- 
 tonshire, to the yearly value of £21. In 1664, 
 Dr. Bathurst commenced at his own expense, 
 a series of extensive improvements in the build- 
 ings, which was completed by the contribu- 
 tions of archbishop Sheldon, Dr. Ironside, bishop 
 of Bristol, and others. Dr. Bathurst also pur- 
 chased and presented to the college the advow- 
 son of Oddington, upon Otmoor in Oxfordshire. 
 
176 
 
 We have also to claim for the clergy, the merit 
 of many legacies in money and books. 
 
 St. John's College^ owes its existence 
 to a layman; the clergy however continue 
 conspicuous upon the records of this insti- 
 tution also. Dr. Buckeridge, bishop of Ely, 
 bequeathed money for the increase of the fel- 
 lowships and exhibitions. Archbishop Laud, 
 besides liberal contributions to the buildings, 
 left ,£500 for general purposes. Dr. Juxorij 
 archbishop of Canterbury, left the society seven 
 thousand pounds. Dr. Bell left money for the 
 purchase of livings. In more modern times, 
 Dr. Rawlinson, and Dr. Holmes, were liberal 
 benefactors ; the former bequeathed the rever- 
 sion of an estate in fee farm rents ; the latter, 
 thirteen thousand pounds, receivable on the 
 death of his widow, who in respect for her 
 husband, increased it to fifteen thousand. The 
 library was enlarged and augmented by Arch- 
 bishop Laud; and bishop Buckeridge, with 
 several other divines, contributed books, or- 
 naments, curiosities, and antiquities. The 
 chapel is likewise indebted to similar patron- 
 
177 
 
 Jesus College, although not so splendid as 
 many we have described, yet reflects more 
 credit on the founder than many of its neigh- 
 bours, being established for the benefit of the 
 natives of Wales, who hitherto seem to have 
 been excluded or forgotten in every collegiate 
 endowment. The projector of this unostenta- 
 tious institution, was Hugh ap Price, a preben- 
 dary of Rochester. Having procured a charter 
 from queen Elizabeth for a society, to consist 
 of a principal, eight fellows, and eight scholars, 
 he conveyed for their maintenance, estates of 
 the yearly value of £160, in Brecknockshire, 
 bestowed upwards of £1500 on buildings, and 
 left a considerable sum of money by his will 
 for the same purpose. This college is another 
 instance of the value of a good example ; 
 scarcely was it permanently established, than 
 benefactors arose, and numerous fellowships 
 and scholarships were founded with ample en- 
 dowments, in money or lands, by Dr. Griffith 
 Lloyd, in 1586; Weslphaling, bishop of Here- 
 ford, in 1602; Rowland, bishop of Bangor, in 
 1609; Wood, dean of Armagh, Thomas Redd- 
 riche, minister of Battley in Suffolk, in 1616; 
 Griffith Powell, principal,, in 1620 ; Parry, 
 bishop of St. iVsaph, in 1622 ; William Prichard, 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 Rector Ewelme, in 1623. Lloyd, chancellor of 
 Hereford, in 1625, and Thomas Gwynne, chan- 
 cellor of Llandaff, in 1643. Dr. Mansell gave 
 a sum of money for general purposes, and was 
 a great benefactor to the buildings. Dr. John 
 Williams founded a logical lecture. Edward 
 Merrick, M. A. treasurer of St. David's in 1713, 
 left his whole estate to the society, by which 
 its finances were materially benefitted. 
 
 Wadham College, although not founded by 
 a divine, is greatly indebted to the church. 
 John Goodndge, M.A. gave an estate in money 
 to be divided between four exhibitioners, three 
 scholars, the moderator, the catechist, &c. 
 Humphrey Hody, archdeacon of Oxford, foun- 
 ded ten exhibitions of £10 each, which have 
 since been increased to £15. Lisle, bishop of 
 St. Asaph, founded an exhibition of £12. The 
 Rev. Henry Pigot, and Dr. Gerard, also foun- 
 ded exhibitions. Dr. John Wills, the warden, 
 who died in 1806, stands unrivalled by any of 
 his predecessors ; he bequeathed £400 per 
 annum in addition to his wardenship ; £1000 
 to improve his lodgings, two exhibitions of 
 £100 each for two fellows, students in law or 
 medicine ; two exhibitions of £20 each for two 
 
179 
 
 scholars, students in the same faculties; £20 
 per annum for a divinity lecturer ; for a super- 
 annuated fellow not having- property of his 
 own to the amount of £75 per annum, a vearly 
 exhibition of £75; to a second, not having 
 property of his own to the amount of £1C0 
 per annum, an exhibition of £50 yearly ; 
 £11 : 10 to a preacher for four sermons ; £5 
 or £0 yearly, in books, to the best reader of 
 lessons in the chapel ; interest of money arising 
 from the sale of an estate in Lincolnshire, to 
 the Vice Chancellor for the time being ; £2000 
 to the Bodleian librarian ; £2000 to be divided 
 between the theatre and the Clarendon press ; 
 and £1000. 3 per cents, to the infirmary. The 
 residue of his fortune, after some legacies to 
 very distant relatives, he bequeathed as a fund 
 to accumulate for the purchase of livings for 
 the college. Philip Bisse, archdeacon of Taun- 
 ton, contributed his private collection of books 
 to the library, valued at £700; and Samuel 
 Bush, vicar of Wadhurst, in Sussex, left a 
 similar donation. 
 
 The honours of the foundership of Pembroke 
 College, are divided between the church and 
 the laity. The first being represented in the 
 m 2 
 
180 
 
 person of Richard Wightwick, rector of East 
 lldesley, in Berkshire, whose endowment con- 
 sisted of estates producing £100 per annum, 
 for the support of three fellows and four scho- 
 lars. Francis Rouse, provost of Eton during 
 the usurpation, subscribed to the augmentation 
 of the fellowships and exhibitions. Morley, 
 bishop of Winchester, who died in 1684, gave 
 five exhibitions. In 1695, Hall, bishop of Bristol, 
 was at considerable charge in erecting accom- 
 modations for the master. Dr. Clayton, first 
 master, and Dr. Wall, rector of St. Aldates, 
 were early contributors of books : and in 1709, 
 so large a collection was presented by Dr. Hall, 
 as to occasion the removal of the library, to a 
 more spacious and convenient part of the col- 
 lege. 
 
 Worcester College, is a recent foundation 
 upon the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 
 bai t. ; but although perfectly disposed to ad- 
 mire his generosity, he is out of the pale of 
 our undertaking. His institution however did 
 not long remain without clerical patrons. In 
 1726, Dr. James Fynney, rector of Long New- 
 ton, in Durham, bequeathed ,£2500 for the 
 foundation of two fellowships, and two scholar- 
 
181 
 
 ships; the former of £40, and the latter of 
 £10 yearly. Dr. William Gower, provost in 
 1777, bequeathed £3500 old South Sea an- 
 nuities, and the reversion of an estate at Bram- 
 ford, near the city of Worcester, for general 
 purposes. And we trust we shall not be ac- 
 cused of wandering - much out of our immediate 
 path, if we add the name of Mrs. Sarah Eaton, 
 daughter of Dr. Byrom Eaton, who in 1739, 
 bequeathed freehold and leasehold estates in 
 Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Glou- 
 cestershire, for the endowment of six fellow- 
 ships, and five scholarships, confined to the 
 sons of the clergy. 
 
 The contributors of books were Samuel 
 Cooke, M.A. who gave four hundred volumes ; 
 to these, John Loder, M.A. vicar of Napton, iu 
 Warwickshire, added his collection, and pro- 
 vided in his will for several fellowships and ex- 
 hibitions, but his intentions were frustrated by 
 the ingenuity of his heirs, and their professional 
 advisers. Dr. Gower was also a liberal con- 
 tributor, and by such means the library is be- 
 come extensive, and particularly rich in archi- 
 tectural works. 
 
182 
 
 The Halls, are relics of the ancient univer- 
 sity, of which historians enumerate from two 
 to three hundred, but at present they are re- 
 duced to five. St. Alban s hall, Edmund hall, 
 St. Mary's, St. Mary Magdalen, and New Inn 
 hall ; the rest having- been consolidated in, or 
 superceded by, the more magnificent institu- 
 tions which are previously described. The sys- 
 tem however, although more limited, is the 
 same at the halls as the colleges, and the ad- 
 vantages and privileges are also similar To 
 these minor establishments, numerous benefac- 
 tions from the clergy are on record in money, 
 in architectural improvements or additions, 
 lectureships, books, exhibitions, scholarships, 
 and in legacies for general purposes. 
 
 Previously to the erection of the Theatre, 
 the commemoration, public acts, exercises, &c. 
 were held in St. Mary's church ; greatly to the 
 inconvenience of an audience always numerous, 
 and much to the injury of that venerable edifice. 
 To the public spirit and liberality of archbishop 
 Sheldon, the university is indebted for me pre- 
 sent elegant building dedicated to these im- 
 portant purposes. Sheldon generously laid a 
 
183 
 
 thousand pounds upon the foundation stone, 
 and when no one could be found who had either 
 mind or feeling to follow his example, he took 
 the whole expense upon himself, amounting to 
 upwards of twelve thousand pounds, indepen- 
 dent of an endowment of two thousand pounds 
 to be invested as a fund for repairs, or for the 
 establishment of a printing office. Under such 
 auspices arose the theatre, a building of no 
 common beauty and celebrity as a work of art ; 
 and with it was introduced to public notice the 
 immortal Sir Christopher Wren. 
 
CHAP. XII. 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 MINOR SEMINARIES DUTIES OF ECCLESIASTICS. 
 
 THE University of CAMBRIDGE, presents 
 another wide field from which the unfading 
 wreaths of glory, may be abundantly gathered, 
 to decorate the episcopal clergy ; and although 
 the monotony which the narrative might intro- 
 duce into our work, would be rather antici- 
 pated than censured, we shall not too far tres- 
 pass on the patience of our readers, nor un- 
 necessarily detain ourselves from other and 
 still important researches. 
 
 Of seventeen colleges in Cambridge, five were 
 wholly founded by members of the church, and 
 the archives of the remainder without any ex- 
 ception, shine with their sumptuous endow- 
 ments. Were a parallel to be drawn, between 
 the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the 
 
185 
 
 contrast might possibly be great, but we should 
 weary ere we determined upon a preference • 
 they have stood, and under Providence will 
 stand for ages, two proud and brilliant monu- 
 ments, whose mighty shadows should bury in 
 oblivion, the imperfections of the hands that 
 formed them, and of the community from which 
 they chiefly sprung. Placing then these ma- 
 jestic seminaries in the foreground of the pic- 
 ture, let us recur to the equally meritorious but 
 minor institutions which have been propagated 
 by a similarity of devotion, cherished by similar 
 principles of human kindness, and preserved 
 by similar influence. 
 
 From the fall of Rome and consequent de- 
 cline of learning, through the dark ages of chi- 
 valry, and feudal barbarity, the seeds of litera- 
 ture were no where cultivated, but amongst the 
 religious orders ; in every episcopal palace, 
 and monastic institution, a school was estab- 
 lished, limited it is true in its objects, but still 
 sufficient to preserve the latent embers of a 
 more enlightened era; and when the grosser 
 features of the gothic ages had vanished, and 
 the barren victories of the holy land lost their 
 allurements ; when the enthusiasm of the cru- 
 saders began to languish, the trains of the 
 
186 
 
 bishops, and the cloisters of the monks, became 
 crowded with the youth of England ; and thus 
 countenanced, the pursuits of literature super- 
 seded the iron panoply of war; wisdom was 
 henceforth more highly prized than valour, the 
 preponderance of intellect grew daily palpable ; 
 bigotry, superstition, all the legerdemain en- 
 grafted on the theology of Rome, were exposed 
 by reason and investigation, and gradually the 
 reformation approached. 
 
 That the treasures of the church precipitated 
 that memorable event is unquestionable, and 
 that the devastation which accompanied it was 
 so indiscriminate, is to be lamented. Henry 
 himself, without acknowledging the error, had 
 sufficient policy, in some instances, to make an 
 effort to retrieve it, by chartering seminaries 
 for education, which he endowed with a por- 
 tion of his plunder ; but his avarice and pro- 
 fusion were at enmity with such principles, and 
 they declined almost from their birth. His 
 more amiable son and successor, did all and 
 much more than could possibly have been an- 
 ticipated from a minor, in a short and by no 
 means a tranquil reign, and the example has 
 occasionally been imitated by succeeding mo- 
 narchs. Kings however suffer little by muni- 
 
187 
 
 ficence ; if therefore we admire that, in sove- 
 reigns, which costs them no sacrifice, how much 
 more estimable must it be when flowing from 
 private iuvividuals. 
 
 In a publication of great industry and much 
 usefulness, Mr. Carlisle (librarian to her late 
 Majesty) enumerates four hundred and seventy- 
 Jive endowed grammar schools, now existing 
 in England and Wales ; of this number eighty- 
 two were founded, and sixty-nine principally 
 or partially endowed, by clergymen ; making a 
 total of one hundred and fifty-one, or nearly 
 one third of the whole number; to many of 
 which, hospitals, alms-houses, and other cha- 
 ritable establishments are attached. It is also 
 peculiarly worthy of remark, that all the royal 
 foundations, as well as those of individuals sub- 
 sequent to the reformation, (with some few 
 exceptions only) were occasioned by the total 
 want of institutions for the instruction of youth, 
 in consequence of the dissolution of monas- 
 teries. Of these four hundred and seventy- 
 five schools, three -fourths are superintended by 
 the clergy, whose sources of remuneration will 
 probably not be deemed superabundant. 
 In instances where the emoluments have been 
 
188 
 
 ascertained, it appears, that of schools where 
 the master's stipend amounts to 
 
 £500 and upwards there are 6 
 
 400 and under £500 2 
 
 300 and under 400 ... . 6 
 
 200 and under 300 27 
 
 100 and under 200 52 
 
 50 and under 100 85 
 
 40 and under 50 30 
 
 30 and under 40 45 
 
 20 and under 30 47 
 
 — and under 20 33 
 
 In the above, the public schools of West- 
 minster, Eton, and Winchester, are not in- 
 cluded. 
 
 It is true, most of these schools have resi- 
 dences attached to them, and the masters are, 
 generally speaking, privileged to take boarders; 
 here and there we find a small benefice, a cu- 
 racy, or a chapel, a concomitant of the insti- 
 tution ; from a few of the large ones, the 
 masterships have a remote prospect of church 
 preferment, and in some rare instances the 
 salary is a sinecure. The nature of these ad- 
 vantages, the conditions sometimes annexed to 
 them, and the duties of ecclesiastics in sonic 
 
189 
 
 parts of the kingdom, may also be gathered 
 from Mr. Carlisle's interesting- publication. 
 
 The Grammar school at Doncaster (one of 
 the most opulent towns in England), had fallen 
 into decay ; and with the laudable view of reviv- 
 ing it, the late master, the Rev. Mr. Crochley, 
 previously an usher at Westminster, was ap- 
 pointed at a salary of £50 per annum ; and a 
 promise from the corporation that he should 
 be presented to the living of Rossington, pro- 
 vided he had fifty scholars when it became 
 vacant ; with these hopes he struggled for 
 many years, with all the ardour with which 
 such a reward could be supposed to animate 
 a very poor man, harassed with privations of 
 every description ; all his exertions however 
 were fruitless, Greek and Latin were useless 
 to the town boys of Doncaster, and he never 
 could reach beyond the number of forty-five; 
 of course he had no legal claim upon the bond, 
 and never obtained the living. Suffering under 
 accumulated distress and mortification, the 
 good people of Doncaster saw him break his 
 heart rather than mitigate the contract; a bar- 
 gain is a bargain all the world over, but more 
 especially in Yorkshire, and to this principle, 
 
190 
 
 " a good scholar, an excellent pulpit orator, 
 and a respectable poet" fell a sacrifice. 
 
 In the case of the Crediton charity £1812), 
 the following documents appear, (see vul. i. 
 p. 261.) 
 
 " The Master found from the joint affidavit 
 of the Rev. John Rudall, and the Rev. John 
 White, that the parish of Crediton, exclusive 
 of the district or hamlet of Sandford, very con- 
 siderably exceeds 9500 acres, extending in 
 length about eleven miles, and in breadth in 
 some parts about seven miles, and contains a 
 population of upwards of 5100 persons ; and 
 that the ecclesiastical functions exercised with- 
 in this parish, exclusively of the district of 
 Sandford, consist in performing divine service 
 twice, and preaching two sermons every Sun- 
 day in the parish church of Crediton, to a con- 
 gregation usually consisting of about 2000 
 persons ; in performing divine service once 
 every Wednesday and Friday, and on every 
 Saint's day, throughout the year ; preaching a 
 sermon every Wednesday throughout the year; 
 catechising the children of the parish four 
 times every year, and instructing and preparing 
 them for episcopal confirmation ; in adminis- 
 tering the holy sacrament of the Lord's supper 
 
191 
 
 in the parish church, on three several days at 
 the festival of Easter, on two several days at 
 Whitsuntide, the like at Christmas, and also 
 on the first Sunday in every month, to gene- 
 rally upwards of 300 communicants ; visiting 
 the sick and administering the sacrament to 
 them at their respective houses, in baptizing 
 privately at their houses about 50 children 
 yearly, churching about 90 women, and yearly 
 marrying about 40 couples ; in baptizing pub- 
 licly about 120 children, and burying about 
 85 ; all which ecclesiastical functions are, and 
 have been for many years past, usually per- 
 formed by the said John Iludall, with the assist- 
 ance of his curate and the chaplain of Creditou, 
 or some of them. And that the said John 
 Rudall's own duty as vicar, in the performance 
 of these functions, would be fully sufficient 
 when he is in health, for the employment of all 
 his time, and that as such vicar, he receives 
 from the governors an annual stipend of £160, 
 and no more ; and about the sum of £40 a 
 year for surplice fees, which are wholly casual 
 and fluctuating, one half of which surplice fees 
 he hath been accustomed to give to the chap- 
 lain of Crcditon. 
 
192 
 
 <c That the parish of Exminster exceeds 4200 
 acres, extending in length about six miles, and 
 in breadth on an average about three miles, 
 and contains a population of upwards of 700 
 persons ; and that the ecclesiastical functions 
 exercised in the said parish, consist in perform- 
 ing divine service twice, and preaching two 
 sermons every Sunday, and one on Christmas 
 day and Good Friday, each in the parish church 
 of Exminster, to a congregation usually con- 
 sisting of about '200 persons; and instructing 
 and preparing the children of the parish, for 
 episcopal confirmation ; in administering the 
 sacrament of the Lord's supper, in the same 
 church, three times in a year, on the principal 
 feasts of Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christinas 
 day, to about 35 communicants ; visiting the 
 sick, and administering the sacrament to them 
 at their respective houses ; in baptizing pri- 
 vately at their houses, and publicly at the same 
 church, about 20 children yearly, churching 
 about 20 women yearly, and yearly marrying 
 about five couples, and burying about 14 dead. 
 All which ecclesiastical functions are, and have 
 been for many years past, usually performed 
 by the said John White, and that his duty, as 
 vicar, in the performance of the said functions, 
 
193 
 
 Mould be fully sufficient so far to employ his 
 whole time, as not to leave opportunity for the 
 performance of the ecclesiastical duties of any 
 other parish, or lawfully to gain a subsistence 
 for himself, his wife and family ; and that as 
 such vicar, he has received from the governors 
 an annual stipend of £110, and no more ; that 
 he has glebe lands attached to his vicarage of 
 Exminster, of the clear yearly value of £40, 
 and that he receives about the sum of £4 a 
 year for surplice fees, which are wholly casual 
 and fluctuating. 
 
 And the master found, from the affidavit of 
 the Rev. John Russell, of Crediton, clerk, 
 sworn the 19th of December, 1811, that on the 
 6th of March, 1811, he was duly appointed by 
 the governors, chaplain of the church of Credi- 
 ton, on the resignation of the Rev. John Spry, 
 and that his duty as chaplain in performance 
 of the same functions before mentioned in the 
 parish church of Crediton, would be fully suf- 
 ficient so far to employ his whole time as to 
 prevent his performance of the ecclesiastical 
 duties of any other parish, and that as such 
 chaplain, he receives from the governors, an 
 annual stipend of £110, the further sum of 
 £11 to defray the property tax thereon, and 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 the further sum of £7 towards his assessed 
 taxes, and no more 
 
 And the master found from the affidavit of 
 the Rev. George Bent, clerk, chaplain of the 
 Hamlet of Sandford, sworn the 2 1st December, 
 1811, that the said hamlet contains upwards of 
 6200 acres, and that it extends in length about 
 seven miles, and in breadth in some places 
 four miles, and that its population amounts to 
 1700 persons and upwards ; and that from time 
 immemorial, the said hamlet of Sandford, has, 
 in all respects., been considered as distinct from, 
 and independent of, the parish of Crediton ; 
 and that the care of souls in the said hamlet, 
 has also, for time immemorial, been committed 
 to the exclusive charge of the chaplain thereof, 
 for the time being, and that the ecclesiastical 
 functions exercised within the said hamlet or 
 parish of Sandford, consist in performing 
 divine service twice, and preaching two ser- 
 mons every Sunday in the church of Sandford, 
 to a congregation usually consisting of about 
 900 persons ; in performing divine service on 
 every Saint's day throughout the year, (except 
 within the last three years, by reason of his 
 house having been destroyed by fire, which 
 has occasioned, during some part of that time, 
 
195 
 
 his residing at a distance from the church ot 
 Sandford, but which service on Saint's days he 
 intends to resume, on his occupying' the par- 
 sonage house at Sandford, then building for 
 him,) in instructing and preparing the children 
 of the hamlet for episcopal confirmation ; in 
 administering the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper in the church of the hamlet or parish 
 aforesaid, once every month, twice at the fes- 
 tival of Easter, and twice at Christmas, to 
 upwards generally of forty or fifty communi- 
 cants ; in visiting the sick, and administering 
 the sacrament to them at their houses through- 
 out the hamlet 5 in baptizing children publicly 
 at the church, and privately at their houses, 
 together about fifty yearly on an average ; in 
 churching about forty or fifty women, in yearly 
 marrying alxntt thirteen couples, and in bury- 
 ing about thirty-five dead. AH which eccle- 
 siastical functions are performed by him with 
 the help of his assistant, without whose aid, in 
 consequence of his age, being upwards of seven- 
 ty yeais, he could not duly perform the same. 
 And that as such chaplain, he receives from the 
 governors the annual stipend of £1 10, and the 
 further sum of £11 for property tax thereon, 
 n 2 
 
196 
 
 and that he receives about the average sum of 
 £6 for surplice fees. 
 
 And the master found, from two affidavits of 
 the Rev. Nicholas Lightfoot, clerk, master of 
 Queen Elizabeth's free grammer school at 
 Creditor!, sworn the 28th November and the 
 24th December, 1811, that he was in or about 
 the 8th of March, 1800, duly appointed by the 
 then governors, master of the said school, and 
 hath ever since been, and still is, master 
 thereof; aud that from the time of such ap- 
 pointment, hitherto, the yearly sum, which has 
 been paid to him by the governors as his 
 salary, has amounted to £20 per annum : and 
 that the governors provide him with a house, 
 which they repair, and allow him £3 for pro- 
 perty tax on his stipend, and £1 towards his 
 assessed taxes. And that he has now under 
 his care and tuition, forty-eight scholars, of 
 whom thirty-seven are boarders, none of whom 
 are of the parish of Crediton, or of the hauilet 
 of Sandford, except one, and that his terms are 
 for each of his boarders ,£31 : 10: per annum. 
 And that the eleven other scholars under his 
 tuition, are day scholars, ten of whom are of 
 the parish of Crediton, for whom he makes no 
 
197 
 
 charge whatever; but the parents of such 
 scholars usually pay him £ \ : 1 : at Christmas 
 at their pleasure. And that he teaches the 
 several boys under his tuition the Latin and 
 Greek languages, and that he dedicates the 
 whole of his time to the duties of the school, 
 except at the usual vacations at Midsummer 
 and Christmas, and, except that, he performs 
 the duties of the rectory of Kennerleigh, which 
 is distant about five miles from his school, to 
 which rectory he was presented by the gover- 
 nors ; the income whereof amounts to £100 
 per annum, or thereabouts, subject to the pro- 
 perty tax.'' * 
 
 If to the preceding examples we add the 
 unendowed schools, under the superintendence 
 
 * In consequence of these affidavits, and various evidence 
 produced in the course of the suit, which, we believe, is still 
 undetermined, the salaries were encreased in the following 
 proportion : 
 
 Vicar of Ciediton to £400 per annum, 
 
 .... of Ezminster to £'250 
 
 ChaplainofCrediton to£200 
 
 ofSandfordto£200 
 
 The Master of the Grammar School to £50 per annum, 
 and £5 per annum added for every day-scholar of the parish 
 of Ciediton, and hamlet of Sandford, educated at the said 
 school, according to the regulations of the chanty. 
 
198 
 
 of the clergy, we shall find that three-fourths of 
 the care, anxiety, labour, and responsibility 
 of education, fall to their share. And is this 
 either a profligate or an idle path in life? are 
 these the drones which revel in the hive, whilst 
 the more industrious inhabitants are abroad, 
 collecting' sweets for the society? Surely we 
 have said enough, and shewn enough to con- 
 trovert such insidious reasoning, such vulgar 
 and groundless prejudice. Alas ! if we look 
 around this great and wondrous nation, ob- 
 serve its baronial palaces, its splendid man- 
 sions, its groves, its gardens, and its golden 
 fields ; in which region, or in w hat vicinity of 
 this rich and favoured land, shall we recognize 
 the envied treasures, the luxurious scenes, 
 the enervating indulgences, which ignorance 
 and antipathy have combined, to charge in 
 guilty profusion on the sacred character of the 
 priest. 
 
 As far as temporal objects are concerned, 
 the brightest prospects of ecclesiastical life 
 display no extraordinary fascinations ; an ex- 
 pensive education is followed by no certain 
 equivalent ; a clergyman enters the world with 
 ideas exalted abov e the vulgar pursuits of man, 
 and encompassed by restrictions and djsquali- 
 
199 
 
 fications, which shut every avenue of fortune 
 against him, except here and there a contempti- 
 ble pittance, in return for the arduous exercise 
 of intellectual talent, or the laborious duties 
 of scholastic discipline. 
 
 The paths of literature may be flowery, but 
 they are flowers of expensive culture ; and 
 expose the hand which cherishes them for 
 pecuniary considerations, to trials painful and 
 mortifying' to the lofty sentiments of a scholar, 
 and repellent to every feeling- and faculty of 
 a highly polished mind. 
 
CHAP. XIII. 
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE GREEKS EGYPTIANS — i 
 
 CARTHAGINIANS ASSYRIANS ROMANS 
 
 AND THE ANCIENT BRITONS. 
 
 THE superstitions and errors of the Monks 
 have afforded a fertile field for invective, satire, 
 and romance ; but, however repugnant to 
 modern creeds, the monastic discipline with all 
 its absurd encum ranees and mockeries may 
 appear, it was the prelude to much virtue and 
 real piety ; the reason of man, upon the whole, 
 has been progressively improving, the incur- 
 sions of barbarians have occasionally checked 
 its advance, and sometimes under the influence 
 of despotism, literature and the sciences have 
 retrograded, but the purity of devotion always 
 seems to have been gaining ground upon ido- 
 latry and paganism. 
 
201 
 
 The state of the arts in Greece, and her 
 literary treasures now in our possession, un- 
 questionably prove the Grecians a very accom- 
 plished people, yet the same authorities exhibit 
 them in the processions of the Panathencea, 
 devoted to the disgusting orgies of the Baccha- 
 nalia, and solemnizing the Eleusinian mys- 
 teries, with enthusiastic fervour ; the imagina- 
 tion of Mrs. Ratcliffe fell infinitely short of 
 the initiatory ceremonies dedicated to Ceres 
 Eleusina. " Wonderful things," observes 
 Rollin, " took place upon this occasion, visions 
 were seen, and voices heard of an extraordinary 
 kind ; a sudden splendour expelled the dark- 
 ness of the place, and disappearing imme- 
 diately, added new horrors to the gloom ; 
 apparitions, claps of thunder, earthquakes, 
 improved the terror and amazement ; whilst 
 the person to be admitted, overwhelmed with 
 dread, and sweating through fear, heard trem- 
 bling the mysterious volume read to him, if 
 in such a condition he were capable of hearing 
 at all." 
 
 The noblest Athenians were the slaves and 
 dupes of these prejudices, and to die previously 
 to initiation, was esteemed certain damnation. 
 They seldom moved out of the ordinary path 
 
202 
 
 of life, without consulting their favourite 
 oracle, and were so addicted to auguries, that 
 their most illustrious statesmen, philosophers, 
 and captains, never undertook an affair of 
 importance without a previous conference with 
 the soothsayers. Plutarch himself was an 
 abject observer of the most ridiculous rites, and 
 his belief in miracles, dreams, and supernatural 
 occurrences, is not surpassed by the most cre- 
 dulous devotee that ever visited Loretto. 
 
 The oracle of Dodona adopted oaks and 
 doves as the medium of communication with 
 human beings, and it is doubtful whether the 
 oracle of Claros, did not frighten the great 
 Germanicus to death. The oracle of Delphos 
 was the most celebrated of all, and in point of 
 wealth and splendour, eclipsed every shrine 
 in Christendom, even when the church was in 
 her zenith. 
 
 When this temple was destroyed by fire in 
 the 58th Olympiad, the amphictyons, men 
 eminently wise in the most brilliant period 
 of the Grecian history, voluntarily super- 
 intended the rebuilding of it. The estimate 
 of the architect amounted to between forty 
 and fifty thousand pounds sterling, and the 
 fame of the delphic priestess may be con- 
 
203 
 
 jectured by the following observations from 
 the author already quoted. " The states of 
 Greece were to furnish the money. The in- 
 habitants of Delphos were taxed a fourth part 
 of it, and made gatherings in all parts, even in 
 foreign nations, for that service. Amasis, at 
 that time king of Egypt, and the Grecian in- 
 habitants of his country, contributed consider- 
 able sums towards it. The Alomaeonidas, a 
 potent family of Athens, took upon themselves 
 the conduct of the building, and made it more 
 magnificent, by considerable additions of their 
 own, than had been proposed in the model. 
 
 Gygcs, king of Lydia, and Croesus, one of 
 his successors, enriched the temple of Delphos 
 with an incredible number of presents. Many 
 other princes, cities, and private persons by 
 their example, in a kind of emulation of each 
 other, had heaped up in tripods, vases, tables, 
 shields, crowns, chariots, and statues of gold and 
 silver of all sizes, offerings, equally infinite in 
 number and value. The presents of gold which 
 Croesus alone made to this temple, amount- 
 ed, according to Herodotus, to upwards of two 
 hundred and fifty-four talents, or about thirty- 
 three thousand five hundred pounds sterling, 
 and perhaps (hose of silver to as much. Most 
 
204 
 
 of these presents were in being in the time of 
 Herodotus. Diodorus Siculus, adding those ot 
 other princes to them, makes their amount ten 
 thousand talents, or about a million three 
 hundred thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 A thousand frauds and impostures, repeatedly 
 detected at Delphos, and every where else, had 
 not opened men's eyes, nor in the least dimi- 
 nished the credit of the oracles, which subsisted 
 upwards of two thousand years, and was carried 
 to an inconceivable height ; even in the minds 
 of the greatest men, the most profound phi- 
 losophers, the most powerful princes, and 
 generally amongst the most civilized nations, 
 and such as valued themselves most upon their 
 wisdom and policy." 
 
 Who then can wonder at the growth of 
 superstition, whilst such illustrious dupes could 
 be attracted to its altars. Nations made war 
 for the sake of the booty collected at Delphos, 
 and miracles were avouched to deter the too 
 presumptuous invaders ; but in spite of them 
 all, Nero carried off with impunity, five hun- 
 dred fine brass statues of illustrious men and, 
 of gods, to decorate the city of Rome. 
 
205 
 
 The works of the Egyptians may, perhaps, 
 be considered mighty, rather than scientific ; 
 their buildings and monuments stupendous, 
 rather than graceful ; their learning, however, 
 was great; their monarchs exhibited incredible 
 magnificence, and they possessed all the con- 
 comitants of civilization. In their royal dy- 
 nasties we discover no want of intellectual 
 penetration or energy ; in the people, no want 
 of reflection or ingenuity, yet were they im- 
 mersed in the most disgusting idolatry. It is 
 scarcely credible that a kingdom covered with 
 palaces, that cities which could pour out from 
 each of a hundred gates, two hundred chariots, 
 and ten thousand fighting men ; that Busiris 
 and Sesostris, the mighty Ptolemys and the 
 Pharaohs, whom we read of with amazement, 
 and whose works we regard as scarcely less than 
 miraculous, it is incredible we say, that such a 
 nation and such men, should be found to build 
 palaces for crocodiles, and prostrate themselves 
 in adoration before the ox, the dog, the wolf, 
 the hawk, the ibis, the cat, the monkey, the 
 serpent, in short half the brute creation and 
 half the vegetable world ; surely the worship 
 of a holy man's rags is incomparably more 
 rational than such servility as this ! 
 
206 
 
 We have already seen what it has cost to 
 enshrine a saint, and bury a martyr in England j 
 when the Bull Apis died, all Egypt went into 
 mourning, the funeral pomp cost upwards of 
 eleven thousand pounds sterling, and the splen- 
 dour of his obsequies is inconceivable. The 
 annual expense attendant upon these deified 
 quadrupeds, is an outrage upon common sense ; 
 whether the pyramids are monuments of the 
 vanity of their kings, or of the affection of their 
 people towards them; whether they were in- 
 tended for the repose of mighty men or pam- 
 pered brutes, is a point undetermined, but if 
 we express indignation at the costly shrines of 
 Beckct and St. Edmund, what shall we say to 
 a tomb, erected at so enormous a charge, that 
 the leeks, garlick, and onions, consumed by 
 the workmen, cost twenty-five thousand pounds 
 sterling, which took thirty years in building, 
 and employed constantly an hundred thousand 
 men. 
 
 But, perhaps, a still greater w onder of Egypt, 
 was the city of Oxyrynchus, which formed one 
 great monastery, not only its temples, but all 
 the principal dwellings, public edifices, towers, 
 and suburbs, were crowded with monastics, 
 and every part of the city echoed night and day 
 
207 
 
 with the praises of the deity, chaunted by ten 
 thousand holy men, and twenty thousand 
 virgins. 
 
 The sacrifices to Moloch, by the Cartha- 
 ginians, was a superstition which overpowered 
 every tie of nature, and subdued every human 
 affection ; a savage virtue rendered more poig- 
 nant and bitter, by refinement and cultivation. 
 Every casualty of war, every political and 
 physical calamity, was aggravated by heca- 
 tombs of human victims; no plea of consan- 
 guinity could mitigate their sad fate; the arms 
 of the sucking infant were disentwined from the 
 neck of the infatuated mother, to be cast, 
 without sympathy, or remorse into the devour- 
 ing furnace, whilst the horrors of the scene, 
 awakened a wild and frantic devotion, that 
 converted whatever was most revolting to 
 humanity, into religious inspiration and divine 
 impulse. 
 
 The combined wisdom of the Assyrian 
 empire, was wasted for many centuries, upon 
 judicial astrology ; and the temple of Belus in 
 Babylon, was erected, at an enormous expense, 
 as a theatre for the silly pursuits, and idle 
 
208 
 
 prognostics of the magi and soothsayers. It 
 contained an altar to the sun, and a chapel 
 dedicated to nearly every star in heaven ; its 
 fires were never quenched, and the blood of its 
 victims never ceased to flow. Its images were 
 not only numerous but colossal ; a single 
 statue of gold weighed upwards of a thousand 
 attic talents. The censers, the tables, and 
 sacred vessels, were all of massive gold, and 
 so valuable were the treasures amassed in this 
 idolatrous edifice, that Deodorus estimates 
 them at seven thousand three hundred and fifty 
 attic talents, or about one and twenty millions 
 sterling. The magi or priesthood, were, not- 
 withstanding, men of profound wisdom, and 
 their influence was universal in politics as well 
 as religion. "Before a prince in Persia could 
 come to the crown, he was obliged to receive 
 instruction for a certain time from some of the 
 magi, and to learn of them both the art of 
 reigning, and that of worshiping the gods 
 after a proper manner ; nor did he determine 
 any important aflair of the state, when he was 
 upon the throne, without taking their advice 
 and opinion before hand ; for which reason 
 Pliny says, that even in his time, they were 
 
209 
 
 looked upon in all the eastern countries, as 
 the masters and directors of princes, and of 
 those who styled themselves the kings of 
 kings. They were the sages, the philoso- 
 phers, and men of learning in Persia, as the 
 gymnosophi.ts, and brachmans, were amongst 
 the Indians, and the druids amongst the Gauls. 
 Their great reputation made people come from 
 the most distant countries, to be instructed 
 by them in philosophy, and religion, and we 
 are assured it was from thein Pythagoras 
 borrowed the principles of that learning, by 
 which he acquired so much veneration and 
 respect among the Greeks." * 
 
 In all ages and in every country, taken as a 
 body, the priesthood have been a learned, la- 
 borious, and indefaiigable class of society; 
 science and government, literature and reli- 
 gion, are all seriously indebted to their zeal 
 and perseverance, and whether at the pinnacle 
 of worldly glory, or buried in the deepest re- 
 cesses of the convent, the splendour of their 
 talents has illuminated the sphere of their ex- 
 istence. Rome clothed her priesthood with the 
 utmost sanctity, it was confined to particular 
 
 * Rollin. 
 o 
 
210 
 
 families, and peculiar privileges were decreed 
 to them. It was the duty of the sacerdotal 
 order, to render themselves learned in the laws 
 and customs of their country, to record every 
 event worthy of notice which occurred in their 
 respective curiae or parish, and they frequently 
 presided in courts of judicature. Thus uniting 
 the important characters of priest, historian and 
 judge. 
 
 Either through policy, or piety, wherever 
 Rome carried her arms, she had no objections 
 to borrow or adopt a new deity ; in conse- 
 quence her kalendar grew voluminous, and the 
 offices of religion increased in proportion. The 
 Sun, the Moon, Saturn, Vulcan, Jupiter, Mars, 
 Vesta, Janus, Minerva, &c. had each their train 
 of priests and priestesses, augurs, and virgins, 
 divided into several denominations. The fla- 
 mine was guarded by a lictor, enveloped in a 
 magnificent robe, and had the honors of the 
 curule chair ; his oath was unnecessary, his 
 word being upon the most solemn and import- 
 ant occasions sufficient testimony, and in many 
 cases the respect shewn him was carried to ex- 
 travagant superstition. The augurs of course 
 dealt most bountifully in dreams, phenomena, 
 divinations, and presages. The office of the 
 
211 
 
 vestals, and the melancholy doom which fol- 
 lowed the frailties nature cannot always sub- 
 due however lamentable the consequence, is 
 known to every one that ever heard of Rome ; 
 one privilege however attached to them, of a 
 most gratifying- nature ; if they met a criminal 
 going to execution, provided they aliirmcd the 
 meeling was purely accidental, they had full 
 power to grant a pardon. The pontifices, ac- 
 cording to Tully, had " the honours and safety 
 of the commonwealth, the liberty of the people, 
 the honour and fortunes of the citizens, and the 
 very gods themselves, all committed to their 
 care " 
 
 Besides the other denominations which it 
 is needless to mention, they were overrun 
 with consecrated shields, fountains, groves, 
 bridges, visions, spectres, miraculous voices, 
 monsters, and prodigies ; not forgetting the 
 sybiline books, the saturnalia, lupercalia, 
 and other feasts innumerable, at which it was 
 the fashion for all things to be penciled and 
 reversed, and riot to run mad. In their tem- 
 ples, they were addicted to the same extrava- 
 gance as their predecessors and neighbours. 
 That of Jupiter Capitoliuus, stood upon a con- 
 spicuous eminence, and included about four 
 o 2 
 
212 
 
 acres of ground ; the exterior was adorned with 
 elaborate colonades, the ascent was by an hun- 
 dred steps, and it was endowed with prodigious 
 gifts, and ornaments. Augustus gave at one 
 time two thousand pounds weight of gold, and 
 to the value of five hundred sesterces in jewels 
 and precious stones. The accounts of the 
 brazen beams and thresholds, the gilded roof, 
 the golden bucklers, the huge vessels of silver, 
 and the blazing chariot, induce us to suppose 
 we are reading works of imagination rather 
 than history. The temple was frequently des- 
 troyed during civil commotions, or by acciden- 
 tal conflagration, but every fresh edifice seemed 
 to eclipse its predecessor, and the last, erected 
 by Domitian, surpassed them all, the gilding 
 alone amounting to twelve thousand talents. 
 Such were the gods of the mistress of the world. 
 
 We will now return to our native shores, to 
 Mona of Celtic song, and after a short excur- 
 sion amongst the mysterious relics of a more 
 mysterious faith, proceed to the sequel of this 
 part of our subject. 
 
 Anglesea, the Mona of the ancients, was the 
 principal station of the Druids, and there are 
 few parts of Britain, in which vestiges of their 
 
213 
 
 worship may not be traced. There will be no 
 necessity to dwell on those inhuman sacrifices 
 which blemish the dawn of our history, and it 
 is useless to speculate upon rites and ceremo- 
 nies, rendered more dark and enigmatical, by 
 the jealous principle from which they at no 
 time departed — never to permit a record of their 
 doctrines and opinions. Their moral code, 
 their religious creed, their civil and political 
 institutions, their literature and learning of 
 every description, were entrusted to memory ; 
 from this we may conjecture the extent of their 
 influence; and when we are informed that the 
 circle of their sciences was contained in twenty 
 thousand verses, and required twenty years to 
 inculcate, so that they might be duly impressed 
 upon the minds of the noviciates, the labours 
 of such a priesthood are truly appalling. 
 
 The annals of Carthage are pure, contrasted 
 with the monstrous infatuations of the Druids; 
 they held it to be indisputable that the anger 
 of the gods could only be appeased by blood, 
 and the life of one man preserved by the sacri- 
 fice of another; they anatomized upon the 
 living subject, and one physician is reputed 
 to have had no less than seven hundred wreath- 
 ing under his knife ; their gigantic effigies of 
 
214 
 
 wicker work, gorged with victims for their an- 
 niversary conflagrations, are familiar to us 
 all, and so deliberate were their indivi- 
 dual executions, that ihe pangs of the dving 
 wretch were protracted, that by the fall of the 
 body, the tearing of its members, and the gush- 
 ing of the blood, future events might be pre- 
 saged. Magic and incantations, the inspection 
 of entrails, and the flight of birds, astrology and 
 necromancy, were all auxiliaries of the horrid 
 system, by which they deceived and enslaved 
 their votaries. Yet to these beings the edu- 
 cation of youth was exclusively entrusted, to 
 these men our native princes, and the emperors 
 of Rome, applied for counsel, these were the 
 orators of their age, advocates in the courts of 
 justice, and the solicited advisers of their sove- 
 reign ; in such men friends and enemies re- 
 posed implicit confidence, and contending ar- 
 mies stood motionless at their voice. 
 
 The Druids were chosen out of the first fa- 
 milies in the nation, and were held in the high- 
 est veneration by all classes of the community. 
 Whoever refused them obedience was declared 
 impious and accursed. They had the sole 
 authority of making, explaining, and exeeuting 
 the laws; violation of which was deemed an 
 
215 
 
 offence against heaven, and the Druids alone 
 had the right of assigning the vengeance. All 
 controversies, public and private, were deter- 
 mined by them. Their decisions claimed at all 
 times implicit submission, as it belonged to 
 them to pronounce the sentence of excommu- 
 nication or interdict, against all persons, or 
 whole tribes, where they refused obedience to 
 their decrees. This sentence was so awful, 
 that the persons against whom it was fulmi- 
 nated, were not only excluded from all sacri- 
 fices and religions rites, but were held in uni- 
 versal detestation, as impious and abominable, 
 their company was avoided as dangerous and 
 contaminating ; they were declared incapable 
 of any trust or honour ; put out of the protec- 
 tion of the laws, and exposed to insults and 
 injuries of every kind. Laws ascertaining the 
 honours, rights, and privileges of the Druids, 
 were not forgotten ; their persons were declared 
 inviolate, and they were exempt from all taxes, 
 imposts, and military service. They exercised 
 an authority paramount to their sovereigns, 
 constantly attended their armies, and to them it 
 belonged independently of the kings, to impri- 
 son or punish any of their soldiers ; nor could 
 the princes give battle until the priests had 
 
216 
 
 performed their auguries, and declared that 
 they were favorable. 
 
 Although no splendid temples rose to their 
 gods, they had the same appetite for accumu- 
 lation which seems to have infected all the 
 ancient priesthoods ; they had the entire pro- 
 perty of large districts ; and the offerings to 
 the gods, placed at their disposal, were im- 
 mense ; all, or the major part of the spoils 
 taken in war, were dedicated to religious ser- 
 vices, and the Druids had the appropriation of 
 them. All their prognostics were rewarded by 
 splendid gifts: in the administration of justice, 
 the practice of physic, and from education in 
 general, their emoluments were great Every 
 family paid annual dues to their local priests, 
 and to render evasion impossible, on a certain 
 day in each year, every fire was ordered to be 
 extinguished under penalty of excommunica- 
 tion, and as they could only be rekindled from 
 the sacred flames of the altar, on procuring the 
 means of ignition the claims of the priests were 
 first necessarily complied with, and if they were 
 supplied by any sinister meaus, all parties im- 
 plicated in the transaction, were put under the 
 ban of the church, and outlawed, in the most 
 extensive application of the term. The Druid* 
 
217 
 
 were in short the aristocracy of their age, the 
 patricians of their country ; they possessed the 
 power of the crown, the influence of the mitre, 
 and the treasures of the state. 
 
 The early Christians were exposed to all the 
 horrors which bigotry founded upon such su- 
 perstitions as we have but briefly alluded to, 
 were calculated to inspire, and if we compare 
 the worst period of the monastic age, with all 
 its obnoxious excrescences, its auto da fes, and 
 the inquisition not excepted, we bid defiance 
 to any thing like a parallel being supported 
 against the intolerance of paganism. We have 
 seen their temples blazing in gems and gold, 
 and groaning beneath the load of incalculable 
 treasures, accumulated but to honour the ob- 
 sequies of irrational beings, or to become the 
 spoil of invaders, whose intrepidity or avarice 
 were superior to their credulity. The arts 
 contributed to their splendour and aggran- 
 dizement, but received from the priesthood, 
 neither patronage nor reward, and their pro- 
 gress in science was preserved profoundly se- 
 cret, that it might be rendered subservient to 
 their degenerate and selfish propensities. If 
 the monks were prone to idolatry, their wor- 
 ship at least was directed generally speaking 
 
218 
 
 to the images of virtuous human beings, for 
 although stript of its extravagant legends, all 
 the high colouring of martyrdom, and the mar- 
 vellous testimonials for canonization, the Ro- 
 man kalendar can still display enough to claim 
 admiration and command our reverence. Its 
 shrines we may look upon with disdain, its 
 relics with disgust, but we repeat, the bones of 
 an eminently religious man, are an improve- 
 ment upon the mummy of a brute ; the tomb 
 of an amiable Christian more worthy of pious 
 fegard than the brazen effigies of a monster ! 
 all is remote from reason, all repugnant to 
 modern intellectual attainments,, but still the 
 misconceptions of the heathen were fading 
 away before the cross and the gospel, the hori- 
 zon was becoming gradually auspicious, when 
 with the ostensible motive of cleansing the 
 sanctuary from corruption, injustice and sacri- 
 lege went hand in hand ; good and evil were 
 mingled together in one promiscuous ruin, and 
 the Sun of Truth rose only upon desolation. 
 
CHAP. XIV. 
 MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 BENEDICTINES — DOMINICANS — FRANCISCANS. 
 
 WE have already, we trust, satisfactorily 
 shewn, that if the Romish clergy were eager in 
 the acquisition of wealth, it was not to allow it 
 to accumulate in useless ingots, but to promote 
 the glory of God, by establishments of a bene- 
 volent nature, by extensive alms to the poor, 
 and hospitality to the stranger, the pilgrim, 
 and the unfortunate ; and also by architectural 
 monuments of the most splendid description. 
 The rules of the principal orders will prove 
 that these were the characteristics of their 
 founders, and all history shews, that within the 
 walls of a convent, there was invariably to be 
 found a balm for every sorrow, consolation for 
 the broken heart, and hope for the wounded 
 
220 
 
 spirit. Few., very few, are the human institu- 
 tions which have not suffered from innovation, 
 which have not been partially perverted from 
 their legitimate purposes, by the inroads of 
 bad passions and corrupt times ; but purity is 
 not to be looked for in sublunary things ; age 
 gathers infirmity, and if all were to be anni- 
 hilated which betrays imperfection, if we were 
 continually to destroy, without first making an 
 effort to heal, ephemeral indeed would be all 
 earthly projects. Even the modern rage for 
 missions, bible societies, and penny clubs, will 
 inevitably share the fate of their predecessors, 
 when the existing enthusiasts are no more; and 
 some future Brougham in no distant century 
 may be requisite to remind the public of its 
 privileges, and the governors of their trusts. 
 
 For many years subsequent to the Norman 
 conquest, the convent was the only place of 
 security for the matron, and the virgin ; the 
 licentiousness of William's nobility was so 
 unbridled, the influence of the monarch so 
 weak or unheeded, that every human restraint 
 was set at nought ; to delicacy the Norman 
 barons were strangers; to be rejected only 
 excited their lust and cruelty ; and to accom- 
 plish their infamous projects, the dwellings of 
 
221 
 
 the citizens and peasantry, were entered with 
 impunity ; the castles of the Saxon chiefs be- 
 leaguered and destroyed ; nothing- but those 
 retreats whose sanctity, even these barbarians 
 acknowledged and respected, could preserve 
 the wife from brutal violence, and the daughters 
 from dishonour ; upon the princess as upon the 
 bond maid, this ignonimy was visited ; the 
 conventual cell was the only spot of ground 
 free from pollution ; the veil the only protec- 
 tion from insult and degradation.* 
 
 The rule of St. Benedict is a perfect epi- 
 tome of the monastic life in its original purity, 
 and as it was contemplated or intended by its 
 benign founder. The abbot or principal, both 
 by precept and example, was to be a pattern 
 of every christian virtue. Disinterestedness, 
 and impartiality, were to characterize his au- 
 thority, and wherever the monks were seen, in 
 whatever pursuit engaged, their deportment 
 
 * Works of fiction are questionable authorities, but the 
 Scotch novels are so full of correct and genuine illustra- 
 tions of character and times, that we refer our readers with 
 satisfaction to the recent publications of Ivanhoe and the 
 Monastery, for many judicious remarks on monastic* and 
 monastic institutions. 
 
222 
 
 was always to evince humility of heart, and 
 conscious imperfection. Every thing - in the 
 convent was to be common property ; no pre- 
 ference or superiority to exist, but the most 
 menial offices undertaken in rotation. The 
 Benedictines were to be abstemious and mode- 
 rate in all things, and to avoid ostentatious de- 
 votion ; the convent gates to be ope i to all 
 who sought protection or relief, and on the poor 
 especially, the kiss of peace and the kindest 
 hospitality bestowed. No excessive austerities 
 were enjoined, and any employment of an 
 innocent nature was permitted, that could 
 promote the general good. Strange monks 
 were welcome to the shelter and fare of the 
 monastery, so long as they pleased to stay, 
 and conducted themselves with propriety ; if 
 they thought proper to admonish the brethren., 
 they were heard with patience ; but if, on the 
 contrary, their preaching was unpleasant, they 
 were civilly requested to depart. The abbot 
 was chosen by the whole convent, " for," ob- 
 serve the statutes, " his good desert of life, 
 learning, and discretion, although he should be 
 in other respects the lowest amongst them ; it 
 behoved him always to prefer mercy before 
 justice, that he himself might obtain mercy ; he 
 
223 
 
 must hate vice and love his brethren ; and in 
 correcting let hiin not be rigorous and exces- 
 sive, lest whilst he seek to scour the vessel he 
 break it. And let him always suspect his own 
 frail tv, and bear in mind that a bruised reed 
 must not be broken." 
 
 Besides religious meditation, and theological 
 studies, literature, in all its modest and usefui 
 branches, architecture, sculpture, painting, and 
 music, (always keeping in view religion as the 
 grand end and aim of all their industry) were 
 sanctioned by the code of Benedict; and to 
 this code, founded upon reason and good sense, 
 our libraries are now indebted for their greatest 
 treasures, the kingdom for its most noble 
 ornaments. 
 
 From the Benedictines, founded in the sixth 
 century, nearly every other monastic order 
 emanated ; but the contrast was material, their 
 imitators promised much more, and performed 
 much less. 
 
 The Dominican Friars arose in the begin- 
 ning of the thirteenth century, and were subject 
 to the most austere precepts and observances ; 
 they took a vow of absolute poverty, to 
 abandon entirely all their revenues, and 
 
224 
 
 possessions, and to dedicate their lives to 
 public instruction; they travelled and preached 
 in the remotest corners of the world, and in 
 course of time acquired an ascendancy where- 
 ever their footsteps had reached ; they were 
 the confessors of half the potentates and princes 
 of Europe ; they filled the most important 
 stations in the church ; they influenced the 
 councils of monarchs, and in domestic circles 
 their opinion was law. 
 
 The Franciscans also began by announcing 
 voluntary, and absolute poverty, as the very 
 essence of the gospel ; humiliation, was the 
 principle which breathed through all their rules 
 and regulations ; it was acknowledged in their 
 words and actions, it was apparent in their 
 manners and habit, it was displayed in their 
 food and lodging, but, a fatal temptation was 
 thrown in their way ; they were invested by 
 the Pope with the sale of indigencies, and 
 before such an unbounded source of wealth, 
 all their vows of abstinence vanished, like 
 phantoms before the wand of magic. 
 
 Unhappily, that which commences in virtue 
 and humility, frequently terminates in arro- 
 gance and ambition ; it was the case not only 
 
225 
 
 with each of the orders we have enumerated, 
 but almost every other ; until by an extraordi- 
 nary accumulation of property, they erected 
 convents in all parts of Christendom, and their 
 emissaries spread like a pestilence through the 
 world, and thus the representatives of a mild 
 redeemer, became metamorphosed into offi- 
 cious, intriguing, and sanguinary politicians. 
 
 Whilst the spirit of Benedict warmed the 
 hearts of his successors, and preserved the 
 grosser passions in subjection, health, content- 
 ment, and serenity, dwelt with the recluse ; 
 then " The monastery was a home for the stu- 
 dious, a refuge for the weak, and an asylum 
 for the unhappy. Queens when divorced or 
 widowed, and princesses for whom there was 
 no establishment, could retire there with dig- 
 nity and comfort. Kings, who in possession of 
 worldly power had learned the late lesson that 
 a!! is vanity, or who were stricken with com- 
 punction for their crimes, retired to the convent 
 to pa s the remainder of their days, the one in 
 peace, the other in penitence. Even ambition 
 was rendered less inhuman, by these institu- 
 tions ; the searing irons were disused, and the 
 usurper or unsuccessful rival contented himself 
 with compelling his victim to receive the ton- 
 v 
 
226 
 
 sure, and take those vows by which he became 
 dead to the world. Here were to be found 
 statesmen who were capable of directing the af- 
 fairs of princes ; and missionaries, to go among 
 those fierce heathens, by whom the Roman 
 empire was subverted, ready to act their part 
 well, as martyrs if they failed, or as politicians 
 if their efforts were successful. Here and here 
 only were the schools of education : the disci- 
 pline indeed was severe and even cruel, and 
 the instruction was barbarous ; still this educa- 
 tion, such as it was, saved the world from total 
 ignorance. The light of knowledge was kept 
 burning, not like the fabled lamps of the se- 
 pulchre to be extinguished when day-light and 
 free air were admitted, it was carefully trimmed 
 and preserved for happier generations : and 
 were the present age divested of all that it 
 owes to the patient and humble labour of the 
 Benedictines, we should be poor indeed. 
 
 These eminently useful monasteries obtained 
 favour among the people in general. Super- 
 stition contributed largely to endow them ; re- 
 laxed morals, and a relaxed observance of the 
 rule, were the consequences of their wealth ; 
 and those retreats which were intended for the 
 nestling place of meek and holy creatures like 
 
227 
 
 Bede, who, while they prepared themselves for 
 another world, seemed scarcely to belong to 
 this, became the eyrie of such high flying- spi- 
 rits as Dunstan. The great body of the monks 
 were however common place men, who went 
 through the routine of their profession, filled 
 their respective offices in the convent with de- 
 corum, and when they were gathered to their 
 predecessors left no memorial behind them. 
 Besides these, there were the patient men of 
 letters, to whose solitary labours we are be- 
 holden for w hat we know of the history of the 
 middle ages. These persons were in their pro- 
 per places ; born neither too early nor too late, 
 they were happy in their generation, and earned 
 for themselves a durable remembrance, not de- 
 pendent upon any change of times and taste, 
 but which will last as long as the records of 
 history endure. How insignificant while they 
 lived — perhaps even in their own estimation — 
 were they to the worldlings of monachisin, the 
 lord abbots — who vied with temporal barons 
 in the splendour of their retinue, and exceeded 
 kings in the magnificence of their abodes! — 
 but their names are forgotten, and their monu- 
 mental brasses, if they have escaped the foun- 
 dry, are trodden under foot, while the writings 
 p2 
 
228 
 
 of the poor unambitious annalist, are published 
 at the national expence, and edited and illus- 
 trated by the ablest antiquarian scholars of the 
 
 age." * 
 
 We may form some criterion of the talents 
 and qualifications of the monks by the following 
 enumeration. The Benedictine records assert 
 that there have been of their order, twenty-four 
 popes, two hundred cardinals, seven thousand 
 archbishops, fifteen thousand bishops, fifteen 
 thousand seven hundred abbots, four thousand 
 saints, forty thousand confessors, and above 
 three thousand martyrs and apostles, who have 
 converted thirty provinces, besides emperors, 
 kings, &c. to the Christian faith. 
 
 The Dominicans mention three popes, sixty 
 cardinals, several patriarchs, one hundred and 
 fifty archbishops, and about eight hundred 
 bishops, with a due proportion of saints, mar- 
 tyrs, apostles, missionaries, &c. 
 
 Banishing from our minds for awhile, the 
 errors and imperfections of monachism, it is 
 impossible not to lament, that so much excel- 
 lence, so many succedaneums of human com- 
 fort and happiness, so many fountains of wis- 
 dom, virtue, and piety, as appertained to it 
 
 * Qi'ar. Review. 
 
229 
 
 even in its decline from the exalted paths of 
 its early fame, should be lost to our country 
 for ever. It is far easier to condemn, than to 
 reflect and investigate, and those who are only 
 acquainted with monasteries as they meet with 
 them in fiction and romance, who look on the 
 mouldered cloister and the vaulted cell, only 
 as the elysiums of vice, or the dark theatres of 
 lust and cruelty, are as unjust as they are un- 
 informed. 
 
 But we have already shewn, this wholesale 
 habit of aspersing entire communities, did not 
 terminate with the abolition of the rosary and 
 the cowl ; the same illiberal inferences, the 
 same indignities, still exist in all their force 
 and enmity against every remaining symbol of 
 episcopacy; and the rant for religious tolera- 
 tion is little elevated above the rant for radical 
 reform. The revolutions of our own days have 
 unfortunately given birth to extravagant an- 
 tipathies against all long respected establish- 
 ments, and the dupes of these overwhelming 
 principles, varying only as between the mitre 
 and the crown, bear a strong affinity to the 
 species of rebel defined by Dr. Johnson as 
 anxious " to destroy that, which he is not 
 permitted to govern;" thus we may pro- 
 
teed repealing and emancipating, until by 
 liberty of speech, liberty of the press, arid 
 liberty of conscience, treason and blasphemy 
 will be claimed as the birth-right and privilege 
 of all. 
 
 If we turn over the pages of our voluminous 
 biographies, what class of individuals are more 
 conspicuous than the established, the dignified 
 clergy ? who have commented more learnedly 
 on the scriptures, who have investigated more 
 profoundly the depths and intricacies of sci- 
 ence, who have developed with greater eru- 
 dition the works of the Almighty, or resisted 
 with more intrepidity the wild theories of the 
 infidel? what association of men or scholars 
 have contributed more useful knowledge or 
 added greater beauties to the literature of their 
 country ? where are the works more elaborate, 
 where the compositions more sublime, where 
 the arguments more edifying, the sentiments 
 more pure, the principles more true, than have 
 been inculcated from the pulpits of the esta- 
 blishment? if we look into history, there the 
 labours of the hierarchy maintain pre eminent 
 rank, the ponderous volumes of theology, are 
 multiplied by their industry, the more flowery 
 paths of study, are daily cherished by their 
 
2S1 
 
 care, and the exalted regions of poetry, receive 
 fresh lustre from their meditations. Let us 
 " render therefore to all their dues ; tribute to 
 whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, 
 tear to whom fear, honour to whom honour." 
 
 The denunciators of tythes, still pertinacious^ 
 ly insist that the principle by which Abraham 
 Mas influenced, when he presented his offering 
 to Melchizedeck, is entirely conjectural, that 
 there does not appear any divine command, 
 any precedent for the gift, nor any circum- 
 stance, that can imply a previous institution, 
 or establish any right ; now if we are driven to 
 conjecture, the field is certainly as fertile for 
 the affirmative as the negative, it may with 
 equal justice be presumed that the incident 
 being introduced without any accompaniment, 
 or explanation, is rather a convincing argu- 
 ment that it was not a novelty, but the con- 
 sequence of example ; and that when an in- 
 dividual is mentioned as having presented tythe 
 of all, an unusual merit is attached to his con- 
 duct, and that compared with his predecessors, 
 he has evinced an extraordinary degree of 
 gratitude ; but admitting, for the sake of ar- 
 gument, that the custom originated with 
 Abraham, the whole law of Moses respecting 
 
232 
 
 the Levites, confirms a belief that the act was 
 the inspiration of the Almighty. Tenths and 
 tythes, recur chapter after chapter, inculcating 
 the example of the great forefather of the house 
 of Israel, and directing such an endowment, to 
 be appropriated to the priesthood, that their 
 minds should not be alienated from iheir sacred 
 duties, by pursuits of a worldly nature. 
 
 We know not in what period of history since 
 the days of the patriarchs, society has been 
 found so constituted, as to enable the ministers 
 of religion, however devout and conscientious, 
 to adhere to the literal words of scripture, " to 
 provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, in 
 their purses, nor scrip, nor other things for 
 their journey." Some commentators, however, 
 whose enmity to tythes carries them into 
 absurdity, not only insist that the clergy should 
 enter upon their missions in the garb of po- 
 verty, but that they should adapt their neces- 
 sities to the benevolence of their congregations, 
 and earn their bread " with labour and travail 
 night and day," that they may not be charge- 
 able. If we could perceive these liberal minded 
 men pay the same regard to the precepts de- 
 livered for their instruction, " Why take ye 
 thought for raiment ? consider the lilies of the 
 
233 
 
 field how they grow; they toil not, neither do 
 they spin, and yet I say unto yon, that Solomon 
 in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of 
 these ?" If we conld satisfy ourselves that they 
 took no thought saying, '• what shall we eat, or 
 what shall we drink, or w herewithal shall we be 
 clothed," the example would doubtless be pro- 
 fitable ; but we shall have all the prejudices of 
 education opposed to this argument, and must 
 despair of a single convert. 
 
 A pure heart and a perfect mind, a disposition 
 free from covetousness and ambition, a desire 
 to perform the duties of the station allotted to 
 us, serenity of temper arising from integrity 
 and truth ; these are the rewards of scripture; 
 these are the riches of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven ; these reconcile the poor peasant, the 
 poor mechanic, and the poor curate, to 
 his contracted stipend ; and unenvious of his 
 neighbour, although he be <c clothed in pur- 
 ple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every 
 day," these teach every honest man to be satis- 
 fied with his lot, to yield to all, their due with- 
 out grudging and without murmur ; but alas ! 
 we too generally thirst for that '.' little more" 
 which makes us trespass on the rights of others, 
 and look with dissatisfaction on the large por- 
 
234 
 
 tion of blessings we ourselves might enjoy, if 
 we only sought for peace ; but from the rest- 
 less nature of man, the perturbations of this 
 existence never end but with his life; some- 
 times we float like bubbles upon the billows, 
 light and prosperous, at others, we sink to 
 the lowest depths of the flood, until cast 
 upon that shore which is involved in awful, 
 fearful, mystery ; how few of us escape this 
 destiny ! good is no where permanent, nor is 
 evil perpetual ; the landscape is not always 
 placid, but the storm does not last for ever; 
 and in seeking the haven of everlasting rest, 
 each takes that path which pleases the eye, 
 or gratifies the busy imagination of youth ; no 
 restrictions of cast, no peculiar privileges, 
 shut any door against the humblest Briton, 
 and the child of charity is not unfrequently 
 seen upon the highest seats amongst us. 
 
 To provide for their offspring is natural to pa- 
 rents, and by the laws of consanguinity mighty 
 possessions are perpetuated under particu- 
 lar names, and treasures rendered unalienable 
 from generation to generation ; there is how- 
 ever a benevolence more enlarged, a considera- 
 tion for posterity more meritorious, a virtue 
 which looks beyond the affinities of kindred ; 
 
235 
 
 and this has been practised by no body of men 
 more extensively than the clergy ; we have 
 already shewn that our country has been 
 adorned by their piety ; a large proportion 
 of our public schools established and endowed 
 by their generosity, our universities clothed 
 with magnificence, and rendered affluent by 
 their bounty ; splendid encouragements, limit- 
 ed to no class of the community — to no rank, 
 no family, but open to the most indigent and 
 the most helpless in the land ; through these 
 avenues have risen to eminence and glory (and 
 but for these 
 
 " How many a flower ' had liv'd' to blush unseen, 
 And waste i(s sweetness on the desert air.") 
 
 individuals whose great deeds or superiour 
 worth, will endure, as long as memory is spared 
 to man, as long as one page of truth is extant 
 ill the great volume of history. 
 
CHAP. XV. 
 
 FEUDAL TENURES. 
 
 Tythes have for so many centuries formed a 
 part of our agricultural system, that we might 
 with almost equal propriety chide the seasons 
 for their variableness, as dispute the claims of 
 the church ; if examined as they ought to be in 
 a religious point of view, there is nothing in their 
 institution incompatible with the rights and li- 
 berties of which we are so jealous. Generally 
 speaking, a most liberal compromise is effected 
 with the clergy, who relinquish a privilege 
 sanctioned in every age of the world, and un- 
 der some synonimous title, existing in every 
 region of the earth, for a recompense in few 
 cases constituting a fair and honest equivalent. 
 
 If it be essential that the ministers of re- 
 ligion should have their minds abstracted from 
 sublunary cares, such resources must be pro- 
 vided for them as shall always retain the same 
 relative value. The wisest men of the best 
 
237 
 
 periods of our country, have deliberated upon 
 this subject; a thousand theories have from 
 time to time amused us; but hitherto no ex- 
 pedient has been discovered, which the hum- 
 blest advocate of justice could desire to see 
 adopted. 
 
 A considerable proportion of this kingdom 
 is still under the influence of feudal laws; 
 many of an oppressive character, and others 
 burdened with servile and disgusting - privileges; 
 the latter it is true are avoided by commu- 
 tation, but the former are frequently exerted 
 with despotic authority, and their ignominious 
 operation is upon melancholy record in many 
 families once prosperous and happy. Yet un- 
 der such influences, far more revolting than 
 any concession made to our ecclesiastical es- 
 tablishment, we voluntarily place ourselves in 
 purchasing copyhold, lifehold, or leasehold 
 property, insensible or unwilling to be con- 
 vinced of the prejudicial effects of such tenures ; 
 labouring with delusive prosperity, and pam- 
 pering and adorning the very object it is rather 
 our interest to depreciate. 
 
 Under certain tenures, the profits of industry 
 seem only to accumulate for the advantage of 
 the landlord; not only upon every decease, 
 
238 
 
 alienation, or renewal, but in numerous in- 
 stances at the expiration of every seventh year, 
 excessive fines and heriots are exacted. Still 
 under such gloomy prospects we see towers 
 and mansions rise, plantations and gardens 
 supersede the waste and the wilderness, im- 
 provement, with all its animating scenes, dis- 
 pensing life and beauty ; and what is the cer- 
 tain result but that in a few years, nay such 
 is our precarious existence here, in a few hours, 
 the fruits of our labours may revert to the 
 lord of the soil, or be redeemed by such a 
 penalty as his ideas of equity shall dictate. 
 
 " It admits of some doubt," observes a ju- 
 dicious writer upon leases for life, or fine leases, 
 " whether this mode of leasing or holding 
 property be more detrimental to the lord, the 
 tenant, or the public in general ; but it is cer- 
 tainly a very unwise method of proceeding, as 
 it is highly injurious to the agriculture of the 
 country, though at first sight the security and 
 great, length of the leases might be supposed 
 to have the contrary effect. It is found how- 
 ever in practice, that the circumstance of most 
 of the holders under these leases, having not 
 only exhausted in their purchase and renewal 
 the whole of tbeir capitals, but often consider- 
 
239 
 
 ably more, raised on them with great disadvan- 
 tage, counteracts every good that might other- 
 wise have been expected. It is asserted that, 
 in common, cultivators of this sort, from the 
 want of capital and other means, as well as 
 the speculative nature of all such tenures, are 
 necessarily feeble and spiritless, and that they 
 live worse, work harder, and are more incon- 
 venienced, than any other kind of holders of 
 land ; and that when the landlords do not re- 
 new, they are frequently sufferers from the 
 dilapidated and exhausted state of the pre- 
 mises." * 
 
 Another commentator upon life lease tenures 
 remarks that, " In order to accomplish this pre- 
 posterous object of the tenant's indolence and 
 pride (renewal by a heavy fine upon a nominal 
 rent), he will employ his last shilling and incnr 
 very heavy obligations among his friends and 
 neighbours, to pay eighteen years purchase for 
 a lease only, of that very farm, the fee of which 
 might readily have been bought for about one 
 third more. Destitute of capital and encum- 
 bered with obligations, the farmer enters his 
 new occupation, depending upon casual and 
 agistment stock for the consumption of his 
 pasture herbage. Having little or no reserved 
 
 * Rees CyClo. Art. Tenure. 
 
240 
 
 rent to provide for, the efforts of himself and 
 his family are directed to the annual cultivation 
 of so much of his land as will pay the parochial 
 and other small disbursements, and supply the 
 bare wants of the most comfortless life it is 
 possible to conceive, leaving no brighter pros- 
 pects to his offspring, than what the lapse of 
 years may do by terminating a lease so inju- 
 diciously purchased." * 
 
 The feudal and copyhold tenures are per- 
 sonally objectionable, for they carry with them 
 the badge of bondage. 
 
 " Copyholders are, in truth, no other but 
 villains, who, by a long series of innumerable 
 encroachments on the lord, have, at last, 
 established a customary right to those estates, 
 which were before held absolutely at the lord's 
 will. Under the Saxon government, there was 
 a sort of people in condition of downright 
 servitude, employed in the most servile works, 
 and belonging, they and their children and 
 effects, to the lord of the soil, like the rest of 
 the cattle or stock upon it. On the arrival of 
 the Normans here, it seems not improbable, 
 that they who were strangers to any other 
 than the feudal state, might give some sparks 
 of enfranchisement to such wretched persons 
 
 * Vancouver. 
 
241 
 
 as fell to their share by admitting them, as 
 well as others, to the oath of fealty, which 
 conferred a right of protection, and raised the 
 tenant to a kind of state superior to absolute 
 slavery, but inferior to every other condition. 
 These were called villains. They could not 
 leave their lord without his permission ; but if 
 they ran away, or were purloined from him, 
 might be reclaimed or recovered by action, 
 like beasts or other chattels. They held indeed 
 small portions of land, by way of sustaining 
 themselves and families, but it was at the mere 
 will of the lord, who might dispossess them 
 whenever he pleased ; and it was upon villain 
 services, that is, to carry out dung, to hedge 
 and ditch the lord's demesnes, and any other 
 the meanest offices; and their services were 
 not only base, but uncertain both as to time 
 and quantity." 
 
 The authority of the lord extended still 
 further, a villain could acquire no property 
 that was not liable to be seized by his superior; 
 nor could he marry his daughter without per- 
 mission ; his children were subject to the same 
 unlimited controul ; indeed little but their 
 Jives appear to have been under the protection 
 of the law ; and all copyhold estates, in point of 
 
242 
 
 fact, remain subject to the servile conditions 
 and hardships above mentioned, but commuted 
 by small quit-rents, or other compensations. 
 Thus we perceive what disgraceful badges 
 many of us live under, without murmuring ; 
 we may laugh at this in England, but our 
 neighbours probably will tell us a villain is a 
 villain, whether he vegetate on the north or 
 the south side of the Tweed ; and this dis- 
 gusting sort of service still exists in Scotland, 
 where, no doubt, an English copyholder would 
 be held not altogether so completely emanci- 
 pated as he flatters himself he is. " In the 
 north of Scotland," Mr. Donaldson remarks, 
 " the rents are, to a certain extent, paid in 
 personal services, the tenants being bound to 
 plough and harrow a proportion of the pro- 
 prietor's farm ; to reap, carry home, thrash, 
 dress, and mill a certain quantity of his crop 
 at their own charges ; and they are also bound 
 to pay poultry, eggs, cheese, sheep, swine, 
 fish, linen, yarn, &c." Such contributions, he 
 states, might have been indispensable when a 
 circulating medium was unknown ; but, he 
 continues, " it must be considered a singular 
 circumstance in the history of Great Britain, 
 that at the end of the 18th century, and at a 
 
243 
 
 period when the introduction of improvements 
 in agriculture afford the chief topic of con- 
 versation, there should exist proprietors, who 
 are so lost to every sentiment regarding- what 
 is due to the community of which they are 
 members., to the people whom providence has 
 placed under their protection, and to the im- 
 provement of their native country, a* to persist 
 in demanding from their tenants a species of 
 rent, which no farmer, who is entitled to the 
 name, would submit to pay, nor any pro- 
 prietor who regarded the good of his country, 
 or his own interest, think of requiring Tins 
 sort of service is not only hostile to all sorts of 
 improvement, but highly distressing and ruin- 
 ous to the tenants at particular seasons, as 
 during the seed time, the harvest, and the time 
 of getting in the hay, by being often under the 
 necessity of neglecting their own operations 
 and business,, in order to perform the various 
 works of their lords or superiors." 
 
 We trust we have now proved, upon good 
 authority, that even at this enlightened period, 
 agriculture is subject to many impositions, 
 more serious and discouraging than tythes. 
 If the emoluments of the church were circum- 
 scribed to any particular tribe or family, if they 
 Q2 
 
244 
 
 were (lie inheritance of the nobility, or annexed 
 as a privilege to any particular society, com- 
 plaint would stand upon a reasonable basis ; 
 but a very large proportion of the benefices of 
 the church are only obtainable by superior 
 talent, or are annexed to foundations whose 
 doors are open to the offspring of the most 
 indigent and needy, and thus the episcopal 
 throne is as accessible to genius, perseverance, 
 and learning, as the bench of justice, or the 
 splendid trophies of chivalry, to the eloquent 
 and enterprizing; although superstition ar- 
 rayed our monasteries in cloth of gold, and 
 adorned their shrines with gems inestimable, she 
 also laid the foundations of half our hospitals 
 and asylums ; but for her how many widows 
 would have sunk to their graves in tears and 
 misery, how many thousands of the lame, the 
 halt, and the blind, have lingered on life's 
 chequered scene, uncommisserated and com- 
 fortless, through how many long a. id dismal 
 years, the hungry, the thirstv, and the naked, 
 might have wandered cheerless and houseless, 
 rending our hearts with sighs, and filling our 
 streets with lamentations. The relics of 
 superstition, notwithstanding the bitter recol- 
 lections they sometimes excite, are what we 
 
245 
 
 still admire and love; we seek them wherever 
 Ave travel ; we learn their virtue wherever the 
 tongue of man is heard ; the eye is delighted by 
 them in the peopled city, and in the pathless 
 desart ; the Hindoo does not more treasure 
 his amulet, or the negro his charm, than many 
 of us the fragments of antiquity collected in mo- 
 ments of pleasurable enthusiasm ; and we have 
 still abundance of monks amongst us, although 
 we have discarded the rosary and the cowl. 
 
 Taken either as a body, or individually, 
 the clergy are neither more affluent, nor are 
 their hardships and necessities less numerous 
 than in any other class of the community ; the 
 fate of the merchant, the soldier, or the ma- 
 riner, is not more precarious than that of the 
 priest ; the latter is hampered by restric- 
 tions, whilst the whole universe, its arts, and 
 its mysteries are open to the flock which he is 
 destined to lead, with a mind as exalted above 
 them, as his means are comparatively con- 
 temptible. Small is the dower he can leave 
 to the wife of his bosom, still less the portions 
 he can offer with his daughters ; his sons are 
 cast amidst the storms of life, whilst youth still 
 needs the hand and council of a parent, with 
 little more than the sanguine spirits of juvenile 
 
246 
 
 years to sustain them in the dangerous career, 
 and unless with wisdom comes content and 
 resignation, what can we find to envy in the 
 destinies of our pastors. 
 
 The tedious years of expectation are some- 
 times compensated by a moderate benefice, 
 when grey hairs and infirmities have overcome 
 half the wants and all the enjoyments of 
 nature ; the prime and vigour of manhood have 
 probably past in celibacy, when the death of 
 an incumbent at length terminates the un- 
 social restrictions of a college fellowship, and 
 existing attachments are confirmed by the 
 matrimonial tie ; then too often in the evening 
 of life, a young and helpless family surround an 
 aged pair, upon whose tender thread of life, 
 their next meal is dependent; and thus the 
 parents standing upon the threshold of a better 
 world, look down upon the thorny path their 
 unprotected offspring must tread ! ! Is this an 
 enviable destiny ? 
 
CHAP. XVI. 
 
 THE REFORMERS. 
 
 To do justice to a learned and respectable 
 body of men, rather than to exalt the cha- 
 racter of the clergy by extravagant panegyric, 
 has been the object of our researches, and 
 without enlarging upon the conspicuous virtues 
 which we have endeavoured to draw forth 
 beyond the influence of prejudice and vulgar 
 antipathy, we will briefly notice some of those 
 brilliant luminaries in literature and religion, 
 whose claims upon the gratitude of their 
 fellow creatures are infinite and undisputed. 
 
 The first individual who had sufficient in- 
 trepidity to impugn the infallibility of the 
 Pope, and the extravagant pretensions of the 
 Romish Hierarchy, was John Wickliffe, the 
 earliest, the mildest, and most reasonable of 
 the reformers ; he unlocked the sacred volume 
 
248 
 
 for the Christian world, he denounced the 
 corruptions of the monks, censured the irregu- 
 larities of his own order, and dedicated a long 
 life, and a mind adorned with all the accom- 
 plishments of his age, to the propagation of the 
 purest principles of religion and morality, to 
 the emancipation of his country from papal 
 dominion, and to the eradication of every 
 species of vice, whether existing in the man- 
 sions of the powerful, or practised by their 
 humblest dependents. Kind, forgiving, just, 
 and liberal, he laboured but to instruct man- 
 kind, and to obtain that eternal crown of glory, 
 which is promised to the true disciple of the 
 Son of God. Diligent in cultivating the habits 
 nature had bestowed upon him, he early 
 shared the respect of the learned, the honours 
 of the University, and the patronage of his 
 sovereign, by whom he was presented to the 
 rectory of Lutterworth, a benefice sufficiently 
 valuable to have rendered him indolent, had 
 inactivity been his characteristic ; but here it 
 was he commenced and finished the translation 
 of the Scriptures into English, and gave fearless 
 utterance to those doctrines, which formed the 
 basis of the reformation. 
 
249 
 
 Ah unostentatious tablet in St. Paul's Ca- 
 thedral, marks the repose of Dean Colet, an 
 individual, if not wholly so amiable, equally 
 pious and learned as Wickliffe ; with a "simi- 
 lar taste for literature and holy writ, and endued 
 with the same persevering spirit, posterity has 
 reason to commemorate his name. Blessed 
 with an ample inheritance, in possession of 
 whatever could gratify human desires, he pre- 
 ferred the useful and honourable path in life, 
 to the indolent and voluptuous, and neither 
 the distinctions nor emoluments of the epis- 
 copacy, could seduce him for a moment from 
 the important duties of a conscientious priest. 
 
 St. Paul's School, which was founded and 
 endowed by the Dean in 150S, has been the 
 nursery of a multitude of distinguished charac- 
 ters, and nothing could better demonstrate 
 his ardour for learning and religious reform, 
 than such an institution at such a period. 
 
 A more amiable character than Nicholas 
 Ridley, is scarcely to be met with. As a 
 bishop he was distinguished by every grace 
 that could adorn the mitre ; as a reformer, with 
 the zeal, the temper, and the firmness, neces- 
 sary to combat deep-rooted errors. He treated 
 
250 
 
 his adversaries with mildness, was an enemy 
 to persecution, and in all his public acts, 
 benevolent and kind ; he was a refined scholar, 
 and his whole life a pattern of purity, con- 
 sistent with the principles he professed and 
 preached. His charity was unbounded ; he 
 delighted in assisting those who differed from 
 him in religious sentiments ; the revenues 
 of his bishopric were a fund for the poor and 
 unfortunate ; and the courage and constancy 
 he evinced during his trial and last sufferings, 
 were most exemplary. His eloquent commen- 
 dation of works of charity, made so deep an 
 impression upon Edward the Sixth, then fast 
 declining to a premature grave, that we are 
 indebted to it for three of the noblest institu- 
 tions that were ever founded in this or any 
 other kingdom, Christ Church, Bridewell, and 
 St. Bartholomew's Hospital. 
 
 Hugh Latimer was the most celebrated 
 preacher of his day. He was an early convert 
 to the doctrines of the reformation, and at the 
 dissolution of monasteries, struggled hard to 
 preserve some parts of the wreck, as founda- 
 tions for the best interests of human beings. 
 He resigned his bishopric rather than subscribe 
 
251 
 
 to what his conscience could not approve, and 
 dedicated his subsequent life to the propagation 
 of the gospel. " Latimer/' observes Guthrie, 
 " may be called the Demosthenes of the pulpit. 
 His zeal and sincerity inspired him with figures 
 of speech, to which learning and study cannot 
 rise. An honest enthusiasm gave his tongue 
 eloquence ; a primitive freedom gave his elo- 
 quence conviction. His sermons were plain 
 but pointed j no vice was placed so high that 
 he would not attack ; he was sarcastic, but the 
 times required it ; he had vehemence, but it 
 was well conducted ; his discourse rather tended 
 to the reformation of manners than to the con- 
 troversies of religion, and he practised all he 
 preached." Latimer died as a martyr should 
 die, resigned, but without ostentation. 
 
 John' Hooper, although a learned divine, 
 did not temper his zeal with that humility 
 which becomes a Christian pastor, but with 
 all the warmth of a young convert, was for 
 annihilating every thing that appertained to 
 the ancient ceremonies, and entered with as 
 much enthusiasm into a controversy respecting 
 a popish rochet, or an academic cap, as upon 
 a. point of faith. This lost him many friends, 
 
252 
 
 and created him many enemies, but he was 
 notwithstanding scrupulous in every duty, and 
 the magnanimity with which he sustained an 
 excruciating martyrdom, leads us to impute his 
 errors rather to his judgment than his heart. 
 
 Cranmer's birth was humble, and the in- 
 terest he took in the reformed doctrines, sub- 
 jected hiin to much slander during his younger 
 days, but there appears very slight grounds for 
 censure in his conduct. His abilities were 
 soon conspicuous, and an accident having 
 introduced him to Gardiner and Fox, he sug- 
 gested a novel course to be adopted by the 
 King in the affair of Queen Catherine, which 
 so pleased his Majesty, that his future fortune 
 was unequivocal. In whatever he undertook 
 he was zealous, eminent, and successful ; he 
 visited in character of ambassador the prin- 
 cipal courts in Europe, to justify the King's 
 meditated divorce, and it appeared as if he 
 only had to propose the subject to make con- 
 verts to his opinions ; thus, laden with the 
 suffrages of the learned and the powerful, 
 he returned to England, where the divorce 
 and the King's supremacy rapidly followed. 
 
253 
 
 These important services were rewarded 
 with the archiespiscopal mitre of Canterbury, 
 but the reluctance with which Cranmer ac- 
 cepted that much envied dignity, is a satis- 
 factory proof, that he had neither sought nor 
 wished for it, and that all his public conduct 
 had been instigated and governed by strict 
 principles of integrity, truth, and justice. His 
 mind having at this time become deeply im- 
 pregnated with Lutheran doctrines, shortly 
 after his elevation, the influence of Rome was 
 set at defiance, and under a Protestant primate, 
 and a Protestant queen, religious liberty as- 
 sumed a promising aspect. His energies were 
 not abated, nor his industry relaxed, under 
 his new dignity ; he searched the fathers and 
 the works of the learned of every period, to 
 elucidate points of controversy, and the reli- 
 gious world stood amazed at the indefatiga- 
 ble, but judicious enthusiasm, with which he 
 consummated the important work of refor- 
 mation. 
 
 Cranmer was the only man who dared to 
 advocate the cause of Anne Bullen, when the 
 King's affection subsided ; when her friends 
 " forsook her and fled," when her enemies 
 
254 
 
 persecuted and condemned, he resented her 
 injuries and asserted her innocence. Toward 
 Cromwell, his zealous co-adjutor in the refor- 
 mation, he evinced the same intrepid attach- 
 ment, and in all his friendships he was equally 
 firm and unintimidated, although unhappily 
 his sovereign was inflexible, or rather con- 
 tinued too much overpowered by licentious 
 passions to listen to the voice of reason. 
 When stimulated to retort upon his enemies, 
 Cranmer magnanimously rejected the propo- 
 sition, quoting the sentiments of him in whose 
 cause he was so fervently engaged, " do good 
 to them that hate you and persecute you, &c." 
 Whatever his own talents could effect, was 
 never permitted to remain dormant, and the 
 labours of others he munificently purchased 
 and patronized, to promote those changes in 
 the church, which engaged his whole heart. 
 
 Upon the death of Edward the Sixth, faction 
 and bigotry enjoyed a last and short lived, 
 though cruel triumph, but the great citadel of 
 truth remained impregnable, and the key stone 
 which Cranmer had placed upon the labours 
 of Wickliffe, Colet, Ridley, Latimer, and 
 Hooper — of (we may add) Huss, Jerome of 
 
255 
 
 Prague, Erasmus, (Eolampadius, Zuinglius, 
 Luther, Bucer, Melancthon, Peter Martyr, 
 Calvin, Bullinger, and Beza, continued im- 
 movable. 
 
 Such were the unspotted lives and deaths of 
 the English reformers — all prosperous and 
 richly beneficed clergymen. 
 
CHAP. XVII. 
 
 MODERN ECCLESIASTICS. 
 
 L ELAND HOOKER J. PRIDEAUX FULLER- 
 PEARSON CUDWORTH PATRICK. 
 
 TILLOTSON BARROW. 
 
 In our previous Chapters, we have recorded 
 the virtues, talents, and munificence of the 
 ancient Catholic clergy, their charitable in- 
 stitutions, the superb monuments of their de- 
 votional zeal, their love for learning, and their 
 regard for posterity. We have shewn, when 
 possessed of ample means, how far an ardent 
 spirit of piety operated upon them, and when 
 -divested of sublunary cares how much their 
 order has effected to benefit and embellish the 
 world. Let it not however be concluded that 
 under the loss of material possessions the 
 spiritual labours of their successors have re- 
 laxed ; that because they could not erect splen- 
 did temples to the honour of their God, that 
 
257 
 
 they have therefore been supine in the mani- 
 fold duties of their profession ; on the contrary 
 we have it in our power to instance that since, 
 the reformation, every Christian principle has 
 been exemplified in the conduct of ministers 
 of the established church ; and for intellectual 
 excellence and literary industry, the three last 
 centuries are most abundant in works to their 
 immortal honour as men and as Divines. 
 
 John Leland, the great antiquary, over- 
 threw a highly cultivated mind by an ardent 
 desire to rescue from oblivion, such objects of 
 interest and antiquity, as the destroying- zeal 
 of the reformers had fortunately overlooked. 
 He traversed nearly the whole kingdom, visited 
 every wreck of its ecclesiastical grandeur, col- 
 lected the missals and manuscripts, which the 
 piety of individuals had snatched from the ven- 
 geance of the enthusiasts, and was preparing 
 the result of his inestimable labours for the 
 public eye, when the worst calamity which 
 can befal human nature oppressed his faculties 
 and consumed his life. Intellectual applica- 
 tion, bodily fatigue, and aiHiction for the sad 
 desolation he had witnessed, combined to un* 
 dermine his constitution, and after passing two 
 
258 
 
 years in unabated insanity, he terminated an 
 existence incalculably valuable to literature 
 aftd his country, without one returning inter- 
 val of reason. His classic attainments, skill in 
 foreign languages, taste for curious research, 
 and singular industry, procured him the ap- 
 pointment of one of the King's chaplains, 
 keeper of his library, and royal antiquarian ; 
 to these, considerable church preferment was 
 added, but without paralyzing for a moment 
 that energy to which he fell an untimely sacri- 
 fice, and to which Camden, Dugdale, and nu- 
 merous other no less celebrated topographer* 
 are largely indebted for their fame. 
 
 To the patronage of Bishop Jewell, Richard 
 Hooker was indebted for that education which 
 carried him to eminence in letters, and repu- 
 tation in the church. Sandys, bishop of Lon- 
 don, selected him as tutor for his son when 
 only twenty years of age, because, said the dis- 
 cerning prelate, " I will have to direct the steps 
 of youth a man that will inculcate learning by 
 instruction, and virtue by example, but the 
 last shall be my most important object." He 
 was esteemed at the University for piety, ur- 
 banity, and Christian -like deportment; at th£ 
 
259 
 
 age of twenty-four was elected fellow of his 
 College, and at twenty-six deputy professor of 
 Hebrew. Having formed an inconsiderate mat- 
 rimonial connexion, he was obliged to resign 
 his fellowship, but this was the least evil of 
 perhaps the only error of his life ; his wife was 
 a woman of most ungovernable temper, and 
 appeared studiously to disturb all his pursuits, 
 and embitter every hour of his existence, but 
 he submitted to these torments as w ell as every 
 other visitation of Providence, with the w isdom 
 and resignation of Socrates. He was delighted 
 with rural retirement, frequently attended his 
 own flock of sheep, and resigned the master- 
 ship of the temple that, to use his own words, 
 " he might witness the blessings of the Al- 
 mighty issuing out of the earth ; be free from 
 tumult and bustle, and eat the bread which he 
 might call his own in privacy and quietness.*' 
 His benevolent disposition had however made 
 him so many friends, that ample preferments 
 were bestowed upon him, and in the rectory of 
 Boscomb in Wiltshire, he dedicated every lei- 
 sure hour to his work " Of the Laws of Eccle- 
 siastical Polity," which procured him more 
 valuable advancement in the church ; and at 
 Bishop's Bourne in Kent, a Rectory, to which 
 b2 
 
260 
 
 he was presented by the Queen, he finished his 
 great literary labour; acquiring at the same 
 time, the love and affection of all his parishion- 
 ers and neighbours. His " Ecclesiastical Po- 
 lity" was spoken of at home and abroad in 
 the highest strains of panegyric ; Pope Cle- 
 ment the VIII expressed the warmest admira- 
 tion of it, and King James I, in alluding to it 
 observed, that " the works of many men who 
 were celebrated for learning and had written 
 well, would in an age or two be forgotten, but 
 that there was in every page of Mr. Hooker's 
 work the portrait of a divine soul ; such deline- 
 ations of truth and reason, drawn in so sacred 
 colours, that they would never fade, but give 
 an immortal memory to the author." 
 
 Avidity in the pursuit of learning, recom- 
 mended John Prideaux to those patrons, who 
 opened to him a path in life more brilliant than 
 his most enthusiastic thoughts could have con- 
 templated. So humbly was he situated pre- 
 viously, that he conceived he was aspiring very 
 highly, when he offered himself a candidate for 
 the office of Parish Clerk of Ugborow in De- 
 vonshire ; the chagrin he evinced upon his de- 
 feat on that occasion, and an apparent dispoj-i- 
 
261 
 
 lion to cultivate his understanding, induced a 
 female friend of his family to be at the charge 
 of obtaining him better instructions than his 
 parents could provide. His progress was deem- 
 ed so remarkable, that with some trifling pe- 
 cuniary assistance from his neighbours, he re- 
 paired to Oxford, and was contented to fulfil 
 the servile duties of a College for the opportu- 
 nities the situation afforded him of prosecuting 
 his studies. He soon rendered himself conspi- 
 cuous — at the age of eighteen was admitted a 
 member of the University, took his degrees 
 rapidly, and at the age of thirty-four was elect- 
 ed Rector of his College ; his elevation to that 
 dignity is considered the dawn of its prosperity 
 and fame. Three years afterwards he was ap- 
 pointed Regius Professor of Divinity, and con- 
 sequently Canon of Christ Church and Rector of 
 Ewelme in Oxfordshire. He officiated as Vice- 
 Chancellor several years, and was ultimately 
 nominated to the see of Worcester ; but his 
 zeal and loyalty marked him out for persecu- 
 tion, and to so low a state of poverty was he 
 reduced, that even the " Clerkship of Ug- 
 borow" became once more in his estimation 
 a munificent provision. As a bishop he ex- 
 perienced more wretchedness and greater pri- 
 
mi 
 
 vations than in the humble cottage of hi-, jm- 
 rents, and on his death-bed, he had no com- 
 fort but what his conscience imparted, no le- 
 gacy to leave his children but what this short 
 and verbal testament expressed, — " Pious po- 
 verty ; God's blessing ; a father's prayers ; and 
 an example of strict integrity and honour." 
 
 Thomas Fuller, the author of the " Wor- 
 thies of England," although amply provided 
 for by his earliest patrons, dedicated all his life 
 to literary pursuits. He took his degrees with 
 so much applause at the ages of sixteen and 
 twenty, that he was chosen a minister in the 
 University, at the age of twenty-three a Fellow 
 of his College, and shortly after a prebend of 
 Salisbury. He performed all his duties with 
 zeal and cheerfulness, and submitted to many 
 privations with humility and patience. His lei- 
 sure was dedicated to works of divinity, his- 
 tory, and topography ; and through life he so 
 attached men by his amiable qualities and men- 
 tal accomplishments, that the society in which 
 he moved lamented his loss as irreparable. 
 Two hundred clergy followed his hearse, and 
 a multitude of mourning friends contributed 
 to the last offices which mortality can require. 
 
263 
 
 John Pearson, Bishop of Chester, in the 
 reign of Charles II, was the author of " An 
 Exposition on the Creed, &c." which we have 
 the authority of Bishop Burnet for esteeming 
 " the best that our church has produced ; " 
 besides which he left behind him many useful 
 works, each of which bears favorable testimony 
 to the mind of the scholar, and the heart of the 
 divine. He received the rudiments of his edu- 
 cation at Eton, and finished his studies at King's 
 College, Cambridge. He had scarcely entered 
 into holy orders, when he was collated to a 
 Prebendary in the Cathedral of Salisbury, ap- 
 pointed Chaplain to the Lord Keeper, and pre- 
 sented to a living in Suffolk. Whilst accom- 
 panying Lord Goring as his Chaplain in the 
 civil wars, he preached that series of sermons, 
 from which the celebrated work above men- 
 tioned was compiled, and which doubtless laid 
 t he foundation of the good fortune that attended 
 him upon the restoration of the king, in whose 
 service he had always been an assiduous and 
 loyal subject in the paths of his profession. As 
 a member of the Savoy conference he was so 
 free from bigotry, so mild in manner, and yet 
 so forcible in argument, that Baxter deemed 
 him the most powerful advocate of the episco- 
 
pal party: u He disputed" says the noncon- 
 formist," " accurately, soberly, and calmly, 
 being but once in any passion, breeding in us 
 a great respect for him, and a persuasion that 
 if he had been independent, he would have 
 been for peace, and that if in his power it 
 would have gone well. He was the strength 
 and honour of that cause which we doubted 
 whether he heartily maintained." 
 
 He filled the see of Chester thirteen years, 
 but his infirmities commenced almost imme- 
 diately upon his elevation, which gave room 
 for Burnet to observe that " he was too remiss 
 and easy in his episcopal functions, and a much 
 better divine than a bishop but the truth 
 would have been that his intellects so entirely 
 failed, that for several years he was from loss 
 of memory and general decay of nature entirely 
 childish. The same prelate however does him 
 justice in another place when he mentions him 
 as " in all respects the greatest divine of the 
 age, a man of great learning, strong reason, 
 and of a clear judgment. He was a judicious 
 and grave preacher, more instructing than af- 
 fecting, a man of spotless life, and of an excel- 
 lent character." 
 
265 
 
 Ralph Cudworth was so great a prodigy in 
 learning-, that at the age of thirteen he was ad- 
 mitted a pensioner of Emanuel College, Cam- 
 bridge; and became subsequently so celebra- 
 ted as an instructor, that at one period he had 
 twenty eight pupils ; a number unprecedented 
 in the Universities. Amongst these were Arch- 
 bishop Tillotson, and Sir W illiam Temple. He 
 was so great an Orientalist that he was unan- 
 imously elected Regius Professor of Hebrew, 
 and after quitting College with a view to im- 
 prove his circumstances, he was solicited to re- 
 turn from the value of his presence to the Uni- 
 versity, and chosen Master of Christ's. From 
 this period he was presented with several con- 
 siderable benefices, and was installed a pre- 
 bendary of Gloucester ; but his mind was never 
 absent from professional obligations, and in 
 1678, with a view to counteract the rapid in- 
 roads which atheism and immorality had made 
 at that licentious period, he published " The 
 true intellectual system of the universe." His 
 other printed works and manuscripts, adapted 
 to promote the best interests of religion, were 
 numerous, and acquired him great celebrity. 
 AH his biographers agree in attributing to hkwt 
 " extensive learning, and profound knowledge. 
 
266 
 
 exemplary piety, great moderation and recti- 
 tude of character, and every qualification which 
 rendered him an honour to the institutions 
 where he presided, to the University of Cam- 
 bridge which he adorned, and to the church 
 and age in which he lived. 1 ' 
 
 Simon Patrick, whose commentaries and 
 paraphrases constitute an important branch of 
 divinity, was a voluminous author: at the age of 
 twenty-one he was elected a Fellow of Queen's 
 College, Cambridge ; at thirty-two his patron, 
 Sir Walter St. John, presented him with the 
 living of Battersea. Three years afterwards 
 he was elected Master of Queen's, even in op- 
 position to royal influence. The Earl of Bed- 
 ford presented him with the rectory of Covent 
 Garden, where he constantly resided during the 
 dreadful plague in 1666 to afford the conso- 
 lations of religion to his parishioners, whose 
 friendship and affection he had previously ob- 
 tained by his piety and kind deportment. He 
 was about this time appointed Chaplain to the 
 King, and his promotion as a prebendary of 
 Westminster and dean of Peterborough soon 
 followed. In 1680 he was offered the valuable 
 living of St. Martin's in the Fields, but esteem 
 
267 
 
 for his parishioners of Covent Garden, super- 
 ceded every selfish feeling ; and the same dis- 
 interested conduct actuated him in the subse- 
 quent reign, when he hazarded all his worldly 
 prosperity by his strenuous support of the pro- 
 testant cause, by his denunciations against the 
 errors of Rome, and by contributing to the es- 
 tablishment of a school to check the operation 
 of the Calholic designs upon the children of the 
 poor. In 1689 he was nominated to the see of 
 Chichester, and in 1691 was translated to Ely, 
 " where he consecrated his labours to the in- 
 terests of piety and virtue, by many valuable 
 writings." Neither dignities nor emoluments 
 could for a moment suspend his labours, or 
 cramp that benevolent disposition which ren- 
 dered his days happy, and have gilded his 
 memory. At the age of eighty-one, he died 
 regretted by all the good and all the learned 
 of his country. 
 
 In the reigns of Charles II, and James II, 
 Archbishop Tillotson exerted himself to re- 
 concile the differences and soften the asperities 
 which had grown up amongst Papists, Puritans, 
 awd Episcopalians. Educated himself in the 
 principles of Calvin, his bias, or as others would 
 
268 
 
 term it his liberality, towards dissenters and 
 nonconformists was conspicuous, too much so 
 probably for the primate to avow ; but Tillot- 
 son had no seeds of hypocrisy in his nature, 
 and was disinterested in all his thoughts and 
 actions. He was active through life in attempt- 
 ing what in these days we are fully convinced 
 are impossibilities — the union of the respective 
 classes of Christians. In private life he was 
 amiable, in his public character " philanthropic, 
 tolerant, and liberal," — " he was humble, open, 
 and sincere, of kind and tender affection, ex- 
 tremely bountiful in his charities, and forgiving 
 of injuries, in which virtue he Mas severely 
 tried." 
 
 His sermons were long considered the stand- 
 ard of taste and elegance, in that branch of 
 literature. Addison esteemed them such, and 
 as such Dryden imitated them : modern com- 
 positions have cast a shade over them, but they 
 will long continue to instruct and to improve. 
 So little did he value worldly wealth that the 
 copyright of his works was all he left behind 
 him to pay his debts and provide for his widow. 
 
 The troublesome times of the restoration, 
 and the unsettled state of ecclesiastical affairs^ 
 
269 
 
 induced Isaac Barrow, the most promising' 
 man of his day, to abandon for a time his Col- 
 lege and his country ; it was however but to 
 store his mind with more useful knowledge, to 
 gather fresh acquisitions in literature and sci- 
 ence, to search far and wide for the truths of 
 the gospel, and to accomplish himself in Scrip- 
 ture history and theology. He returned home 
 like a well freighted and prosperous vessel, 
 bringing joy and happiness to his local connec- 
 tions, and diffusing to all around him spirits, 
 animation and hope. Every learned, every re- 
 ligious society, men of science, and men of 
 taste, sought his presence ; his countrymen 
 proclaimed his many excellencies, and the mo- 
 narch rewarded them. His sweetness of man- 
 ners and kind heartedness, made individuals of 
 all principles and all parties rejoice in his pro- 
 motions, and he was an unenvied favorite 
 wherever he appeared. He was chosen Greek 
 Professor at Cambridge ; Professor of Geo- 
 metry in Gresham College, discharging at the 
 same time the duties of the Astronomical de- 
 partment ; he was in the first selection of mem- 
 bers for the Koyal Society ; Lucanian Professor 
 of Mathematics at Cambridge ; w as nominated 
 to the mastership of Trinity College, with the 
 
270 
 
 observation from the king " that he had bes- 
 towed it on the best scholar in England/' and 
 was shortly after chosen Vice Chancellor of the 
 University. 
 
 He declined a valuable benefice from an ap- 
 prehension of being reproached with simony in 
 consequence of the patron's annexing to the 
 presentation a condition that he should educate 
 his son. In the patent of his appointment as 
 Master of Trinity, a clause was introduced, 
 permitting him to marry, but this he insisted 
 upon having cancelled, as inconsistent with 
 the statutes of the College. The emoluments 
 arising from a prebendary of Salisbury, and a 
 sinecure in Wales, he distributed annually in 
 charitable donations. He was unremitting in 
 his studies, scrupulous in every official duty, 
 and proverbially modest. " He was," con- 
 tinues his biographer, " charitable in a mean 
 estate, disinterested in a flourishing one, serene 
 and content in all fortunes, of the strictest in- 
 tegrity, above all artifice and disguise, friend!) 
 and courteous." 
 
CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 MODERti ECCLESIA STICS— continued. 
 
 STILLINGFLEET WHITBY — MARSH BURNET 
 
 H. PRIDEAUX W. LOWTH — WILSON CLARKE 
 
 R. NEWTON SECK.ER T. NEWTON 
 
 Edward Stillingfleet, afterwards Bishop of 
 Worcester, was a laborious writer, and sacri- 
 ficed a good constitution to the sedentary ha- 
 bits of an author. He was elected Fellow of 
 St. John's College., Cambridge, at eighteen, and 
 at the age of twenty-two was presented to the 
 Rectory of Sutton in Bedfordshire. He pub- 
 lished various works in justification of the pro- 
 testants, and on ecclesiastical government ; took 
 a very active part against the Catholics, the 
 Socinians, and Unitarians, exercised his pen 
 upon doctrinal and controversial subjects, and 
 upon the truth and authority of the Scriptures ; 
 and diligently exerted his abilities to promote 
 
272 
 
 en union between the dissenters and the estab- 
 lished church. He was deeply read in theology, 
 history, ecclesiastical and civil jurisprudence, 
 and all the higher w alks of literature. His works 
 eutitled " Origines Sacra " and " Origines 
 Britannicae" entitle him to high literary con- 
 sideration and to an elevated rank amongst 
 the champions of the Christian faith. His in- 
 defatigable labours in the service of religion 
 were rewarded by many patrons and valuable 
 benefices. He was preacher of the Rolls cha- 
 pel, Rector of St. Andrew's, Holborn, Lecturer 
 at the Temple, Chaplain to Charles the second, 
 Canon Residentiary and Dean of St. Paul's, 
 and Archdeacon of London ; but promotion 
 .served only to stimulate that laudable ambition 
 which undermined his health by withdrawing 
 him from all relaxation. His ample services 
 were ultimately compensated by the Bishopric 
 of Worcester, and but for political prejudices 
 the primacy would have followed. 
 
 In Bishop Stillingflcet a good understanding 
 checked the natural pride of the man, and re- 
 strained the lofty principles of the ecclesiastic 
 in consistent subordination ; but if disposed to 
 presume too much upon prerogative, in every 
 duty attached to the pastoral office he was 
 most sedulous, punctual and unwearied. 
 
273 
 
 Daniel Whitby, dedicated a protracted life 
 to the study of divinity and the practice of the 
 virtues which his favorite pursuits inculcated. 
 He was a decided adversary and zealous oppo- 
 nent of popery, idolatry, and superstition, and 
 exerted himself indefatigably to the latest pe- 
 riod of his existence in recommending- an union 
 amongst every class of protestants : he was to- 
 lerant almost to a fault, a stranger to the chica- 
 nery of the world, charitable in the scriptural 
 sense of the expression and an excellent and 
 persevering scholar. His commentaries on the 
 New Testament were extolled in his own day, 
 and continue a monument on which his warm- 
 est admirers need not fear to trust his fame. 
 
 Nicholas Marsh, although an Englishman 
 by birth and education, obtained his prefer- 
 ment chiefly in Ireland. He took his Bache- 
 lor's degree at Oxford at the age of nineteen, 
 at twenty he was elected a Fellow of Exeter 
 College. He proceeded M.A. at twenty-two, 
 D.D. at thirty-three, being in the interims ap- 
 pointed Chaplain to the Bishop of Exeter, and 
 the Lord Chancellor Clarendon. These pro- 
 duced him trilling preferments, but in 1G78, 
 he was nominated provost of Dublin College, 
 s 
 
274 
 
 where his integrity and good conduct were long 
 quoted in example to his successors. Upon so 
 honourable a basis his rise was deservedly ra- 
 pid, having rilled successively the sees of Leigh- 
 lin and Ferus, and the archbishoprics of Cashell, 
 Dublin and Armagh. He erected, and furnished 
 with a valuable selection of authors, a noble 
 library at Dublin ; and presented many scarce 
 manuscripts to the Bodleian at Oxford, endow- 
 ed a hospital at Drogheda for the reception of 
 twelve widows of decayed clergymen, each of 
 whom was provided with an annuity of £20, 
 and an apartment. He was a liberal benefactor 
 to the Society for the propagation of the gos- 
 pel, and many benevolent institutions. He was 
 seven times appointed one of the Lord J ustices 
 of Ireland, and at seventy-five quitted this life 
 doubtless for eternal bliss, leaving behind him 
 the reputation of a profound scholar, a pious 
 Christian, and although so highly dignified, an 
 unassuming priest. 
 
 Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, has shared in 
 no small degree the applause and censure of 
 mankind : the whole tenor of his life was zea- 
 lous and active, always industrious although 
 not infallible, always meaning well although 
 not invariably judicious. 
 
275 
 
 For the part he took in the Reformation we 
 owe him much as a politician ; for his piety 
 and scrupulous performance of his episcopal 
 duties he was universally reverenced, and for 
 his moral principles and amiable domestic vir- 
 tues admired and loved. Preferment and ho- 
 nours, although at his command from an early 
 period of his life, were secondary objects in all 
 he undertook, and in his actions he ever endea- 
 voured to sustain the character of a Christian 
 pastor. His literary labours are evident proofs 
 not of periodical exertion, not of temporary 
 zeal to accomplish selfish views, but of a life 
 of unwearied application ; and although the 
 world may differ w ith him occasionally in sen- 
 timent or principle, his learning and diligence 
 can never be questioned. The protestant cause 
 cannot boast a more able advocate ; his con- 
 version of the profligate Lord Rochester es- 
 tablished him in the good opinion of every 
 Christian, and Dr. Johnson's Comment on the 
 memoir which Burnet published subsequent to 
 the death of that misguided nobleman, is of 
 itself a wreath of glory ; " it ought to be read, " 
 says that extraordinary man, " by the critic for 
 its eloquence, the philosopher for its argu- 
 ment, and the saint for its piety." 
 
276 
 
 From a praiseworthy desire to promote the 
 study of divinity, he established a College or 
 Nursery at Salisbury for ten students, to each 
 of whom he allowed £30 per annum, but no 
 sooner was it intimated to him that such an 
 institution implied a censure upon the Univer- 
 sities than he abandoned it without scruple. 
 As a theologian he received the approving tes- 
 timony of many eminent contemporary prelates, 
 and as a bishop he was most exemplary. 
 
 " The Old and New Testament connected 
 in the history of the Jews and neighbouring 
 nations" will hand down to remote posterity, 
 the name and talents of Humphrey Prideaux, 
 who, independent of many literary productions 
 of great estimation, was an active and energetic 
 minister, at a period when danger seemed to 
 threaten every advocate of the protestant cause. 
 
 William Lowth exhibited such proficiency 
 in learning at an early age, that at fourteen he 
 . was elected at Merchant Taylor's School for 
 St. John's College, Oxford. He first attracted 
 patronage by his publication entitled " A Vin- 
 dication of the divine authority and inspiration 
 of the Old and New Testament," which pro- 
 
277 
 
 cured him the appointment of Chaplain to the 
 Bishop of Winchester, and shortly after a pre- 
 bendary in the Cathedral with a benefice in 
 Hampshire. These instances of good fortune 
 however did not render him supine, but he pub- 
 lished in succession, commentaries on Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah, Ezckiel, Daniel, and the minor pro- 
 phets. He assisted many of his learned con- 
 temporaries in their literary labours, and was 
 " distinguished for unaffected piety, a most ex- 
 emplary zeal in the discharge of the pastoral 
 functions, and for an unremitting desire of be- 
 ing useful to his parishioners." 
 
 In recompense for faithful services performed 
 to the Earl of Derby, who at that period pos- 
 sessed the sovereignty of the Isle of Man, 
 Thomas Wilson was nominated to the Bishop- 
 ric. Although the revenue did not exceed 
 .£300 per annum, the Bishop by applying the 
 collateral advantages of the see in the disin- 
 terested manner which governed all his con- 
 duct, not only repaired the ruined palace which 
 he entered on taking possession, but founded a 
 new chapel, became a liberal patron of agricul- 
 tural improvements, encouraged the study of 
 physic, established parochial libraries which he 
 
278 
 
 supplied with theological works, and became 
 an example of hospitality and charity. The 
 discipline which he established through his 
 diocese was such that King William spoke of 
 it as a pure and perfect system. The offer of 
 an English Bishopric could not tempt this ami- 
 able prelate to rpjit the flock he had so long- 
 watched and instructed, and in such universal 
 estimation was he held, that the French minis- 
 ter procured instructions from his government, 
 that the Isle of Man should be declared exempt 
 from the descent and ravages of the French 
 privateers. 
 
 Samuel Clarke evinced an early propensity 
 to literary pursuits ; the rapidity with which 
 he passed through every College exercise, and 
 the proficiency he exhibited in the examina- 
 tions, soon brought him into notice, and as a 
 judicious advocate of the Newtonian system in 
 opposition to the fallacious speculations of Des 
 Cartes, he confirmed the promises which shed 
 a lustre on his juvenile talents. 
 
 Having selected the Church for his profes- 
 sion, he abandoned the excursive walks of 
 literature and science for the scriptures and 
 divinity, and became so well read in the ori- 
 
279 
 
 filial texts, the primitive fathers, and the evi- 
 dences of Christianity, that Dr. Moore. 13ishop 
 of Norwich, appointed him his domestic chap- 
 lain, and had such unbounded confidence in 
 his truth and integrity, that he placed all his 
 domestic affairs under his superintendence and 
 controul. 
 
 He soon became equally celebrated for a di- 
 vine as a scholar, by various essays and reflec- 
 tions on religious subjects, but established a 
 lasting- reputation by his paraphrases on the 
 gospels. Such specimens of his learning - and 
 zeal for religion his worthy patron acknow- 
 ledged by presenting their author with the 
 living of Drayton, and other preferments, and 
 he acquitted himself in the pulpit with the same 
 ability as had marked all \n< prei ions efforts, 
 occasionally preaching extemporaneously and 
 at all times with a peculiarity of devotion which 
 gratified all his hearers. 
 
 The public attention seemed henceforth at- 
 tracted by the purity of his doctrine and the 
 eloquence of his compositions; he was selected 
 to preach several popular lectures, two courses 
 of w hich on the " evidences of natural and re- 
 vealed religion " were afterwards published and 
 contributed to spread his growing reputation ; 
 
280 
 
 and his fame became so established, and was 
 so flattering- to the Bishop his patron, that he 
 removed him to the rectory of St. Bennett's in 
 Thames Street, where he contributed in no 
 small degree to the dissemination of those 
 lights in science and philosophy, with which 
 the immortal Newton was at that period asto- 
 nishing the world. 
 
 The patronage of the bishop was now suc- 
 ceeded by that of her Majesry Queen Anne : 
 he was appointed her Chaplain in ordinary, 
 and shortly afterwards was inducted to the 
 rectory of St. James's. 
 
 Mr. Clarke now took his degree of D.D. and 
 delighted the senate and his auditors by the 
 public exercise he performed upon that occa- 
 sion. These increasing honours, aud emolu- 
 ments, seemed only to impart fresh energy to 
 his mind, and the commendation of Addison 
 gave a stamp of elegance to his labours whieh 
 the literary public well knew how to appreciate. 
 
 Subsequent to this gratifying period of his 
 life, befell into a long, arduous, and dangerous 
 controversy on the Trinity, from which he did 
 not escape without considerable oblocpiy, al- 
 though his reputation as a scholar and divine 
 experienced no degradation. 
 
281 
 
 At tlic death of Sir Isaac Newton, he was 
 offered t he Mastership of the Mint, but with 
 gnsttt disinterestedness declined it as a secular 
 employment, His studies were profound and 
 useful to the last days of his life; which he 
 quitted in the full maturity of his powerful in- 
 tellects in the fifty-fourth year of his age. To 
 superior endowments, observe his biographers, 
 " Dr. Clarke joined a mild, modest, and unas- 
 suming temper, the most amiable and affec- 
 tionate disposition, sincere and elevated piety, 
 and the most unimpeachable uprightness and 
 purity of conduct and behaviour." 
 
 Richard Newton, whom we have had occa- 
 sion to allude to, in commemorating the bene- 
 factors to the University of Oxford, was of so 
 independent a character that although his pu- 
 pils (the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pelham) 
 afterwards became leading political characters, 
 and to whom during their elevation he con- 
 tinued useful, he disdained to solicit any pre- 
 ferment at their hands. He chose rather to 
 trust to that integrity which influenced all his 
 conduct, to his accomplishments as a scholar 
 and his unspotted character as a divine. These, 
 ultimately succeeded. The Bishop of London 
 
282 
 
 collated him to the rectory of Sudbury in North- 
 amptonshire, and through the friendship of Dr. 
 A Id t ick he was inducted Principal of Hart Hall, 
 Oxford, which he succeeded in erecting- into 
 an independent institution, now denominated 
 Hertford College. He was a proficient in an- 
 cient and modern languages, a highly finished 
 scholar and gentleman, and so much respected 
 and confided in, for truth, equity, and a scrupu- 
 lous discharge of every duty, that his trusts 
 were innumerable, and the reputation of the 
 trustee the theme of every family who were 
 favoured by his protection. 
 
 Archbishop Seckek, was the son of a protes- 
 tant dissenter, but conformed to the estab- 
 lished religion, and no one ever filled the mul- 
 tifarious duties from that of a humble parish 
 priest to the archiepiscopal throne with more 
 sincere piety or greater fervency of devotion. 
 Although converts are usually intolerant, this 
 good prelate was lenient towards all who dif- 
 fered from his principles, which he especially 
 evinced in his conduct towards the methodists 
 whose doctrines in his time were making rapid 
 progress. His charges to the clergy of the dio- 
 cesses of Oxford and Canterbury, his sermons, 
 
288 
 
 lectures and theological tracts have given him 
 permanent fame as a didactic writer. Far from 
 availing himself of any indulgence which rank 
 or age might appear to justify, the latest period 
 of his life was marked by an active and con- 
 scientious discharge of his high duties ; he 
 preached and catechised whenever occasion 
 offered, bore his dignities with meekness, sup- 
 ported the burdens of the primacy with pecu- 
 liar patience, and exercised its functions with 
 justice and moderation. He was at all times 
 accessible, and his benevolence fell wherever 
 it. was acceptable His posthumous charities, 
 though often recorded,, necessarily force them- 
 selves upon our attention and demand a place 
 in this volume. 
 
 Subject to the life interests of Mrs. Talbot, 
 widow of his first patron Bishop Talbot, and 
 her daughter, he left £1 1,000 in the 3 per cent. 
 Consolidated Bank Annuities, to be distributed 
 to the following institutions : 
 
284 
 
 To the Society for the propagation of the gospel 
 in foreign parts, for the general purposes of 
 
 the Society rflOOO 
 
 To the same Society towards the establishment 
 of a bishop or bishops in the King's dominions 
 
 in America 1000 
 
 To the Society for promoting Christian know- 
 ledge 500 
 
 To the Trish Protestant working Schools . . 500 
 To the Corporation of the Widows and Child- 
 ren of poor Clergymen 500 
 
 To the Society of the Stewards of the said Cha- 
 rity 200 
 
 To Bromley College, in Kent 500 
 
 To the Hospitals of the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury at Croydon, St. John at Canterbury, and 
 St. Nicholas Harbledown, £500 each . . . 1500 
 To the Asylum in the Parish of Lambeth . . 400 
 
 To St. George's Hospital 500 
 
 To the London Hospital 500 
 
 To the Lying-in Hospital, Brownlow-street . 500 
 
 To the Magdalen Hospital 300 
 
 To the Lock Hospital 300 
 
 To the Small Pox and Inoculation Hospital . 300 
 To the Incurables at St. Luke's Hospital . . 500 
 Towards repairing or re-building of houses be- 
 longing to poor livings in the Diocese of Can- 
 terbury . . , 2000 
 
 £11,000 
 
2S5 
 
 Resides these bequests, his servants, poor de- 
 pendents, relatives and friends, occupied con- 
 spicuous items in his will. The bulk of his 
 valuable collection of books and MSS he be- 
 queathed to the library at Lambeth palace, and 
 whatever of the property of this world he left 
 behind him was distributed where it could be 
 beneficial or was most w elcome. 
 
 Thomas Newton, afterwards Bishop of Bris- 
 tol, stands conspicuously amongst the learned 
 commentators on the Scriptures, for his disser- 
 tations on the prophecies, the Old and New 
 Testaments, and numerous other works on 
 theological subjects. From the Free School 
 of his native town of Litchfield, he entered that 
 of Westminster as a King's scholar ; in due 
 time he was elected to the University, and as 
 an indefatigable student was rewarded with a 
 fellowship of Trinity College. As soon as he 
 had obtained his fellowship, he removed to 
 London, and was first known as Curate at St 
 George's, Hanover-square ; then as a preacher 
 at Grosvenor Chapel, which introduced him 
 into the family of Lord Carpenter, as tutor to 
 his son, afterwards Earl of Tyrconnel. His 
 next step was morning preacher at the Chapel 
 
286 
 
 in Spring Gardens, a certain avenue to prefer- 
 ment to those who pursue it diligently, and 
 Mr. Newton's talents soon touched the charm 
 reputed to exist in his new sphere The Earl 
 of Batli appointed him his chaplain, and pro- 
 cured him the Rectory of St. Mary le Bow., 
 Cheapside. 
 
 In 1745 his sermons were a series of excite- 
 ments to loyalty and attachment to the reign- 
 ing family. In 1747 he was elected Lecturer 
 of St, George's, Hanover-square. In 1749 he 
 edited and published a splendid edition of the 
 Paradise Lost, with a life of Milton, which 
 confirmed his reputation as a critic and biogra- 
 pher, and established him with honour in the 
 republic of letters. At the commencement of 
 his undertaking the " Dissertations on the Pro- 
 phecies," he lost his wife in the vigour of life, 
 and but seven years after their marriage. They 
 were devotedly attached, and the loss would 
 probably have left a settled melancholy upon 
 his mind, had not the important work he had 
 entered upon, withdrawn him from the recol- 
 lections of past happiness. Whilst proceeding 
 with this publication, his popularity continued 
 to increase ; he was successively appointed 
 Chaplain to the Princess of Wales, Chaplain 
 
287 
 
 and Sub-almoner to his Majesty, Prebendary 
 of Westminster, Canon Residentiary of St. 
 Paul's, Bishop of Bristol, and lastly Dean of 
 St. Paul's; having previously refused the pri- 
 macy of Ireland from approaching infirmities, 
 an unwillingness to quit a circle of learned 
 and amiable friends whose society he highly 
 courted, and the elegant pursuits in arts and 
 letters which had become a pleasing relaxation 
 during the necessary intervals of study. 
 
 In the evening of life his books, his paint- 
 ings, and his prints were his only companions ; 
 his library and his gallery the only theatres of 
 his amusement and recreation. These con- 
 tained all the luxuries he had once enjoyed. 
 They were the walks in which he delighted to 
 rove, the garden in which he cultivated those 
 flowers of literature and taste which constituted 
 his felicity whilst living, and upon whose fra- 
 grance his posthumous renown has spread 
 throughout Christianity. 
 
CHAP. XIX. 
 
 MOD ERN EC CLE SI A S TICS— continued. 
 
 It . LOWTH PARK II URST PALEY PORTEl S . 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Robert Lowth, son of the celebrated author 
 of the commentaries, whom we have already 
 briefly noticed, was an excellent classic scho- 
 lar, orientalist, and poet. He was chosen a 
 Fellow of New College, Oxford, at twenty-four, 
 took the degree of M A. at twenty-seven, and 
 was elected Professor of Poetry at thirty-one. 
 In 1748, at the age of thirty-eight, he ac- 
 companied an embassy to Berlin, and on hi? 
 return entered the family of the Duke of De- 
 vonshire as tutor. The esteem which he ac- 
 quired in the elevated sphere in which he now 
 moved soon opened to him a brilliant path ; he 
 was presented with several valuable benefices, 
 filled successively the see of St. David's, Oxford. 
 
289 
 
 and London, ,c in which latter he died full of 
 years, respected as a father and benefactor." 
 As an author, a critic, and a divine, we shall 
 with difficulty find his parallel, for although 
 invariably prosperous, he experienced deeply 
 the calamities of human nature, and by the pa- 
 tience with which he endured personal anguish, 
 and the re signation with which he met severe 
 domestic afilictions, afforded a practical de- 
 monstration of the Christian precepts he was 
 accustomed to enforce. 
 
 His works were numerous, and all tending 
 to promote veneration for the scriptures, and to 
 exalt the attributes of the Deity. He perform- 
 ed all his pastoral duties with conscientious 
 anxiety ; in society he never forgot the clergy- 
 man ; or the prelate, in the refinements of fash- 
 ion ; in literature never disfigured the man of 
 learning by the caprices of the bookworm ; 
 his amiable qualities never sunk into unbecom- 
 ing familiarity, his dignity never swelled into 
 arrogance, " his piety had no tincture of mo- 
 roseness ; his charity no leaven of ostentation." 
 
 John Parkhurst inherited a valuable estate 
 to which Church patronage was attached ; but 
 having selected the clerical life from early pre- 
 
290 
 
 dileetion, he pursued it simply from principles 
 of piety and a wish to do good. When a living 
 in his gift became vacant, he presented an in- 
 dividual without any other recommendation 
 than his own conscientious belief that he would 
 faithfully perforin all the important duties of a 
 parish priest. Sufficiently rich in what provi- 
 dence had bestowed upon him, he never sought 
 or accepted preferment, but with singular hu- 
 mility fulfilled for many years the duty of Cu- 
 rate in his own parish. Although his patri- 
 mony devolved to him unexpectedly, it caused 
 no change in the habits of life he had pre- 
 scribed himself when only a student at College, 
 and all his enjoyment seemed concentrated in 
 promulgating the amiable doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity. He compiled an Hebrew and English, 
 and a Greek and English, lexicon ; applied him- 
 self to the scriptures without plausible apolo- 
 gies for less profitable indulgencies, was de- 
 voted to truth, candour, and benevolence, and 
 combated every constitutional failing with suc- 
 cess. He thus rendered a long life serene and 
 happy, and passed into a better world trium- 
 phant over the passions and temptations of the 
 present. 
 
291 
 
 Archdeacon Paley outstript all his school- 
 fellows in the acquisition of learning;, and dis- 
 played talents of a superior order in every thing- 
 he undertook. He was the first man of his 
 year when he took his Bachelor's degree at 
 Cambridge, and two years after gained the first 
 prize given by the University to senior Bache- 
 lors for the best, disputation in Latin prose. 
 
 Upon leaving College Mr. Paley engaged 
 himself as assistant in an academy at Green- 
 wich, this was in 1763 ; in 1766 he was elected 
 Fellow of Christ's, and shortly afterwards was 
 appointed one of the College tutors. His sub- 
 sequent career was most brilliant, and probably 
 will never be obliterated from the records or 
 traditions of the University His method of 
 instruction, his assiduity, his clear impressive il- 
 lustrations, and his powerful rhetoric will never 
 be surpassed. After ten years spent in these 
 arduous occupations he quitted College and 
 married. His first preferment was a rectory 
 of about £80 a year ; his second a vicarage of 
 little more value. The living of Appleby, in 
 Westmoreland, worth ,£300 per annum was 
 his next promotion, and a prebendal stall in 
 Carlisle Cathedral soon followed. In 1782 he 
 succeeded Dr. Law as archdeacon, and in a 
 t2 
 
392 
 
 short time the celebrated Dr. Burn as Chan- 
 cellor of the diocese. The publication of the 
 " Evidences of Christianity" so operated upon 
 the amiable Dr. Porteus, Bishop of London, 
 that he instituted him prebend of St. Pancras. 
 Dr. Prettyman, Bishop of Lincoln, from the 
 same cause, appointed him subdean of Lincoln, 
 estimated at £700 per annum, and Dr. Barring- 
 ton, Bishop of Durham, from a similar admira- 
 tion of his talents, presented him with the rectory 
 of Bishop Wearmouth, worth £1200 per annum. 
 
 These appointments are at once eulogiums 
 upon the Bishops, the resplendent talents of 
 Dr. Paley, and the ecclesiastical establishment 
 generally, they were the spontaneous effects 
 of that admiration which had been universally 
 excited by the works of this accomplished di- 
 vine, and will remain, let us hope, for ever, 
 a just rebuke to the calumniators of the clergy. 
 No family influence, no political apostacy, no 
 humiliating services, contributed to the eleva- 
 tion of Dr. Paley ; from a sizer at College he 
 rose with no other recommendation but an 
 honest indefatigable zeal in every situation 
 which he undertook to fill, and with no inter- 
 est but what his writings made in the hearts of 
 virtuous and honourable men. 
 
293 
 
 To enumerate,, or offer any observations 
 upon the works of Paley. would be superfluous ; 
 they are in the library of every individual, the 
 accompaniment of every religious man's sab- 
 bath, for to use his own words when addressing 
 one of his munificent and unsolicited patrons, 
 they form a system in which is contained " the 
 evidences of natural religion, the evidences of 
 revealed religion, and an account of the duties 
 resulting from both."' No man was ever more 
 admired by his literarv contemporaries, or more 
 beloved by his particular friends. No indivi- 
 dual has waged a more successful war against 
 scepticism, or rendered piety more lovely. Few 
 men have deserved so well, obtained so nobly, 
 or enjoyed so independently. 
 
 Beiley Porteus, was the eighteenth child 
 of his parents, who left their birth-place and 
 made many severe sacrifices from a desire to 
 bestow upon their children the advantages of 
 education. Beilby imbibed the rudiments of 
 learning in a respectable academy at Rippo i 
 in Yorkshire, from whence he entered Cam- 
 bridge as a sizer at Christ's College, and after 
 a due course of study appeared in the list of 
 Wrangle", obtained the second gold medal 
 
294 
 
 for classical pre-eminence, and a fellowship. 
 This was the summit of his ambition, it placed 
 him in society suited to his taste, imparted 
 competence and serenity of mind, spread wide 
 the paths of literature before him, and in the 
 halls and libraries, the cloisters and gardens 
 of the University he found an earthly elysium. 
 To the reputation of a good mathematician and 
 classic he now added that of Poet, having - ob- 
 tained the Seatonian prize for the best English 
 poem on the subject of Death. As a prose 
 writer he first drew attention by his reply to a 
 licentious pamphlet which at that time made 
 much noise. This publication introduced him 
 to Lambeth palace as domestic chaplain to 
 Archbishop Seeker, his moderate desires and 
 the milk of human kindness which filled his 
 heart had long made his life " a world of happy 
 days;" he had now to add the prospect of 
 affluence and dignity, which to a mind so form- 
 ed could scarcely be deemed precarious. Pre- 
 ferment was the natural consequence of his 
 present situation, and he successively enjoyed 
 the livings of Rucking, Wittersham, and Hut- 
 ton in Kent, and the rectory of Lambeth, with 
 the addition of a prebendary at Peterborough. 
 On taking his degree of D.D. he preached the 
 
295 
 
 commencement sermon which suggested the 
 professorship at Cambridge founded and en- 
 dowed by Mr. Norris for delivering lectures 
 on the doctrines of revealed religion. The same 
 gentleman also instigated by the sentiments of 
 Dr. Porteus, bequeathed by his will a premium 
 of £12 per annum to be bestowed in a gold 
 medal and books on the author of the best prose 
 essay on a sacred subject. Many of these dis- 
 sertations have been honourable to the Univer- 
 sity, but the professorship has been productive 
 of the most important and valuable consequen- 
 ces, as the means of diffusing much piety and 
 scriptural learning, and calling into action 
 talents of the first rank which might otherwise 
 have remained dormant. 
 
 On the decease of Archbishop Seeker, Dr. 
 Porteus published a review of his life, in which 
 he does ample justice, but in mild and modest 
 language, to a prelate whose memory will long 
 be revered, whose principles both religious and 
 moral, he endeavoured to emulate and set up 
 as a standard for pious excellence. His whole 
 attention was now devoted to the duties of his 
 benefices ; he preached, lectured, and cate- 
 chised at every opportunity. He visited the 
 poor, consoled the sick, comforted the afflicted* 
 
296 
 
 and relieved the indigent; leaving' nothing- un- 
 done tn.u ranid be conducive to the interests 
 of man, and prove his zeal in the service of 
 the Almighty. 
 
 In 1769 he was appointed Chaplain to His 
 Majesty, and shortly after to the mastership 
 of the Hospital of St. Cross near Winchester, 
 another institution peculiarly benevolent in its 
 objects, founded and patronized by a succes- 
 sion of prelates. Bishop Henry de Blois about 
 the middle of the twelfth century erected an 
 edifice with all the characteristics of a monas- 
 tery, and every appurtenance of a monastic so- 
 ciety but its oppressive rules. He endowed it 
 for the maintenance and residence of thirteen 
 indigent men, and for the relief of a hundred 
 others, who in an apartment denominated the 
 " hundred men's hall," were each daily pro- 
 vided with a loaf of bread, three quarts of 
 small beer, and two messes for dinner; and 
 there was a second endowment for a master, 
 a steward, four chaplains, thirteen clerks, and 
 seven choristers. 
 
 This institution falling- into decay, and its 
 revenues being abused and misappropriated, 
 William of Wykeham at great personal trou- 
 ble and expencc restored it to its former ad- 
 
297 
 
 mirable state, and Cardinal Beaufort was so 
 prepossessed in its favour that in preference to 
 founding- a new charity he enlarged the build- 
 ings of St. Cross, and augmented its revenues 
 for the support of two priests, thirty-five addi- 
 tional poor residents, and three hospital nurses 
 to attend upon the sick brethren. 
 
 At the reformation, St. Cross shared the fate 
 of the monasteries, its most valuable treasures 
 were alienated, and the establishment now con- 
 sists of only ten resident brethren, three out- 
 pensioners, a master, and a chaplain, besides 
 a daily allowance with which the porter is pro- 
 vided of a certain quantity of bread and beer, 
 of which every traveller and other passenger 
 who chuses to demand it, is entitled to partake 
 gratuitously. 
 
 The buildings are still of so much import- 
 ance as to have called forth an elaborate essay 
 from the historian of Winchester, on the pecu- 
 liarity of their construction and numerous archi- 
 tectural beauties, which though fast moulder- 
 ing beneath the corroding hand of time, still 
 constitute a gratifying monument of the hospi- 
 tality of ancient times, and of the spirit which 
 in the most bigoted ages actuated the bishops 
 and clergy. 
 
298 
 
 In 1776, as unexpected as unsolicited, Dr. 
 Porteus was promoted to the see of Chester, 
 upon which he immediately resigned the lucra- 
 tive living- of Lambeth, although he had per- 
 mission to retain it with the Bishopric, so for- 
 cibly did a sense of duty operate upon this 
 prelate. In 1787 he was translated to London, 
 and to the last moment of his existence sup- 
 ported that character for piety and virtue which 
 had been the sole cause of his dignities and 
 his fame. 
 
 " Example is every thing," was a constant 
 observation of this worthy divine, and he evin- 
 ced it at every opportunity. He was an active 
 patron in all affairs to which he permitted his 
 name to appear, and undertook nothing with 
 a cold or indifferent heart. The observance of 
 the sabbath was a perpetual source of anxiety 
 to him, and he impressed the necessity of it at 
 the foot of the throne, and in the circles of the 
 great. In enforcing his favourite precepts, his 
 zeal was as judicious as it was effectual ; the 
 heir apparent to the crown, the first peers of 
 the realm, the female nobility, acceded to his 
 wishes without hesitation ; and the multitudes 
 from the first ranks in the state who flocked to 
 listen to his doctrine at St. James's church, 
 
299 
 
 proved that the concessions which were made 
 to him, had but increased their esteem and 
 awakened universal admiration. 
 
 The Societies for the propagation of the 
 Gospel, for promoting Christian knowledge, 
 for checking immorality and profaneness, all 
 shared his patronage and professional exer- 
 tions. For the abolition of the Slave Trade 
 he was a strenuous advocate ; and for the reli- 
 gious condition of the Negroes in the West 
 Indies he evinced his concern, by an invincible 
 hostility to the claim of America upon Boyle's 
 Charity, — an estate in Yorkshire producing 
 £1000 per annum, bequeathed by the testator 
 for the purpose of being applied to the conver- 
 sion of the infidel Indians in America, but with- 
 held by the trustees upon the declaration of 
 independence. The Bishop's efforts were sub- 
 sequently rewarded by a decree in Chancery 
 directing a transfer of the endowment " for 
 the conversion and religious instruction of the 
 Negroes in the British West India Islands." 
 
 The situation of the poor clergy in his dio- 
 cese was another cause in which he felt most 
 warmly interested; they yearly experienced 
 his bounty, and previous to his death he trans- 
 ferred £6700. 3 per cent. Consols into the 
 
300 
 
 hands of the five Archdeacons of the diocese, 
 to be applied annually to the same benevolent 
 purposes. He was a great promoter of Sunday 
 Schools, and of the residence of the clergy, — 
 he was a decided enemy to simony, conferred 
 his benefices in the most disinterested manner, 
 and was a liberal contributor to all publ.'c cha- 
 rities. He contemplated the progress of the 
 Frencn revolution, and the diffusion of Freuch 
 philosophy, with horror and alarm, feeling as 
 a Christian for the sanguinary crimes which 
 emanated from the first, and contending like a 
 hero against the principles of the second ; in 
 " thought, word, and deed " it was his great 
 end and aim " to defend, to cherish, and to 
 promote Christianity:/' His heart was as affec- 
 tionate, and his hand as open as his mind was 
 liberal and powerful ; he became domesticated 
 wherever he fixed his residence, and left some 
 token of his kindness wherever he sojourned. 
 At St. Cross he increased the salaries and the 
 comforts of the pensioners. At Ide Hill in his 
 favourite parish of Sund ridge, he erected a Cha- 
 pel of Ease, with a residence for the minister. 
 As an encouragement to " good preaching and 
 good reading," he instituted prizes at Christ's 
 College, Cambridge, for " good elocution and 
 
301 
 
 good composition on religious subjects/' for 
 which purpose he transferred the sum of £1400 
 4 per Cents, to be appropriated as follows : 
 
 1. A Gold Medal of *£15 value for the best disserta- 
 
 tion in Latin by a graduate or undergraduate of 
 any standing, on any of the chief evidences, or 
 fundamental doctrines of the Christian revela- 
 tion. 
 
 2. A Gold Medal of the same value for the best prac- 
 
 tical dissertation in English on any moral precept 
 in the New Testament ; regard being had, in 
 deciding on its merits, both to the excellence of 
 the composition and the graceful and impressive 
 manner of delivering it, when read in chapel. 
 
 3. A Gold Medal of £10 to the best reader of the 
 
 Lessons in the Chapel. 
 
 His testamentary bequests were extensive 
 and numerous. 
 
 To the Poor of the Parish of St. James, West- 
 minster . . f . £100 
 
 To the Poor of the Parish of Fulham . . . .100 
 To the Poor of the Parish of Hunton, in Kent . 50 
 To the Poor of Sundridge, in Kent 50 
 
302 
 
 At the decease of his widow — 
 
 To the Society of Stewards and Subscribers for 
 maintaining and educating poor Orphans of 
 Clergymen .£2000. 3 per Cents. 
 
 To the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy, for 
 the benefit of the maiden daughters of Clergy- 
 men of the Church of England £2000. 3 per Cents. 
 
 To the Society for the Conversion and religious 
 instruction of the Negro Slaves in the British 
 West India Islands . . . £1000. 3 per Cents. 
 
 To the Middlesex Hospital . £1000. 3 per Cents. 
 
 To the London Hospital . . £1000. 3 per Cents. 
 
 To the twelve poor Alms Women at Fulham, — 
 to be divided equally amongst them every 
 year, the interest of . . . £400. 3 per Cents. 
 
 To his successors the Bishops of London, he 
 bequeathed the pictures of his predecessors in 
 that see, together with his own portrait by 
 Iloppner; his numerous and valuable collec- 
 tion of books, and the value of the copyright of 
 his printed books (with the exception of £300) 
 as the commencement of a fund for the erec- 
 tion of a new wing for an episcopal library to 
 correspond with the episcopal chapel at Fulham 
 palace. " Upon the whole," observes his bio- 
 grapher Mr. Hodgson, " the Bishop was, and 
 so at least posterity will consider him, a light in 
 
303 
 
 his generation, an ornament to the times in 
 which he lived. Firm and fixed in his own 
 principles, candid and liberal in his sentiments 
 of others, unalterable in his attachments, un- 
 bounded in his acts of charity, meek and hum- 
 ble in his disposition, affable and courteous in 
 his manner and deportment, ardent in his piety, 
 devoted to his God ; surely such a man well 
 maintained the Christian character." 
 
 The description which the same gentleman 
 has left us of the last moments of his friend and 
 patron are truly affecting. " On Thursday the 
 10th of May I saw him for the last time j and 
 never can 1 forget the affecting solemnity of 
 voice and look, and manner, in which he beg- 
 ged my most earnest prayers for his early and 
 easy release. He said little more to me, for his 
 mind seemed wholly absorbed in the near pros- 
 pect of an eternal world The following day 
 he was at his own desire removed to Fulham, 
 and for a short time the change of air and 
 scene appeared to cheer and exhilarate him. 
 As he sat the next morning in his library, near 
 the window, the brightness of a fine spring day 
 called up a transient glow into his countenance, 
 and he several times exclaimed, " O, that glori- 
 ous Sun !" Afterwards, whilst sitting at dinner, 
 
304 
 
 he was seized with some slight convulsions, 
 which were happily of short duration ; and he 
 then fell, as it seemed, into a gentle Bleep* 
 From that time however he never spake, and 
 scarcely could be said to move. Without a 
 pang or sigh, by a transition so easy, as only 
 to be known by a pressure of his hand upon 
 the knee of his servant, who was sitting near 
 him, the spirit of this great and good man 
 fled from its earthly mansion to the realms of 
 peace ! 
 
 " How truly were his own prayers accom- 
 plished, thus beautifully expressed many years 
 before in his poem upon Death : 
 
 At thy good time 
 
 Let death approach ; I reck not : let him come 
 In genuine form, not with thy vengeance armed, 
 Too much for man to bear. O ! rather lend 
 Thy kindly aid to mitigate his stroke. 
 Then shed thy comforts o'er me ; theu put on 
 The gentlest of thy looks ; then deign to cheer 
 My fainting heart with the consoling hope 
 Of mercy, mercy, at thy hands ! And thou 
 Whom soft-ey'd pity once led down from heaven 
 To bleed for man, to teach him how to live, 
 And, O, still harder lesson ! how to die ; 
 Disdain not thou to smooth the restless bed 
 Of sickness and of pain. Forgive the tear 
 That feeble nature drops ; calm all her fears ; 
 
305 
 
 lux her firm heart on thy triumphant cross, 
 Wake all her hopes, and animate her faith ; 
 Till my rapt soul anticipating heaven, 
 Bursts from the thraldom of incumb'ring clay. 
 And on the wing of ecstacy upborne, 
 Springs into liberty and light and life." 
 
 We could multiply these portions of bio- 
 graphy to the extent of a ponderous volume ; 
 having materials before us sufficient to impart 
 interest and gratification to many thousand 
 pages. 
 
 Chaucer, the father of the British muses, has 
 bestowed immortality on the country parson 
 of his day. The life of Herbert, brother of 
 Lord Herbert of Cherbury, was such a prac- 
 tical illustration of his own " Country Parson," 
 that to use his Lordship's expressions, where 
 he lived in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, 
 *' he was little less than sainted." 
 
 Few individuals have read the Vicar of 
 Wakefield without being reminded of a pre- 
 vious acquaintance with the chief character of 
 the work, from some peculiarities, some virtue, 
 some amiable quality, which they have ad- 
 mired and witnessed in their boyish days, a 
 period of life when affability of manners and 
 
306 
 
 a kind action are indelibly engraven on the me- 
 mory, and which amid the rnde buffets of the 
 world, recur as if to invite a retrospective view 
 of happier days, of the 
 
 " Seats of our youth, when every sport could please." 
 
 The metrical portrait which the pathetic author 
 of the same work has left us, is believed upon 
 very good authority to be drawn from the life, 
 and that the original was to be found in the 
 author's own brother, to whom the Deserted 
 Village is dedicated. " It will also throw light 
 upon many parts of it," observes the poet, 
 ff when the reader understands, that it is ad- 
 dressed to a man, who despising fame and for- 
 tune, has retired early to happiness and obscu- 
 rity, with an income of forty pounds a year." 
 
 " A man he was to all the country dear, 
 And passing rich w ith forty pounds a year." 
 
 And a modern poet* has recently favoured the 
 public with an interesting memoir of the Rev. 
 Robert Walker, sixty-six years curate of Sea- 
 thwaite in Cumberland. 
 
 " Such Priest as Chaucer sang with fervent lays; 
 Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew ; 
 And tender Goldsmith crown'd with deathless praise." 
 
 * Mr. Wordsworth. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 W. Phillips, Printer.