YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

From the
COLLECTION OF OXFORD BOOKS
made by
FALCONER MADAN
Bodley's Librarian

THE LIFE OF
ARCHDEACON PHELPS.

THE LIFE

THE EEVEEEND AND VENEEABLE

Milium W&lgtimmlg f^Ips, P&,
Formerly Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxon,
Late Archdeacon and Canon op Carlisle ;
Vicar op Appleby, Westmorland;
And sometime Incumbent op Trinity Church, Reading.

o>««o

THE REV. CHARLES HOLE, B.A.,
Of Trinity College, Cambridge,
Rector op Loxbear, Devon,
Author op "A Brief Biographical Dictionary."

IN TWO VOLUMES.
Vol. II.

^oniron ;

HATCHARDS, 187, PICCADILLY.
Reading : Babcham & Beecroft.
1873.

BARCHAM & BEECROIT, PRINTERS, READING.

Drtfate.

In sending forth the concluding portion of this biography, the
Author desires permission to express his thanks for the kindly
greetings of encouragement, and those not a few, which have
reached him from time to time from private sources, as well as
through the press.
After an earlier preface of some length, there is need to add
but little on the present occasion. The reader will find before
him the same character he has already perused, only more
matured and developed in spheres of higher usefulness. The
man of generous and appreciative feelings, controlled however
by definite views of truth, according as he apprehends it by a
lifelong and conscientious study of the Word of God, does not
escape being reckoned as narrow by those of wandering sympa
thies and open opinions ; but may the Christian ministers of that
type, of which Archdeacon Phelps was certainly an example, long
survive as the salt of the earth, and as an honour to our beloved
Church !
A great English public school can never fail to offer some
attraction to an English reader ; and the Harrow of Mr. Phelps's
time will not prove less interesting perhaps because it was in a
fluctuating and comparatively struggling stage of its history.
But the friends of Mr. Phelps will remember with a special
gratification that he, during his Assistant-Mastership, had some

vi. Preface.
little share in helping forward the prosperity which is now estab
lished, by his introducing, with mingled enterprise and prudence,
among the pupil accommodations of the school a noble mansion
and grounds, on the footing of private property, at an unsettled
period too of the school prospects, and at a juncture when, if it
had not occurred to him to do it, the opportunity would not in
all probability have been reserved for any one else.
The natural termination of such a position, after no very brief
tenure, was some preferment which it would have been a credit
to any of the influential acquaintance his school-work had
gathered to have found for an unobtrusive man. But his heart
was too much set on the office of a pastor to make him very
anxious on that score ; and he could see his reward in his work,
even though its emoluments (which with a family looking up to
him he never affected to treat with indifference) were but scanty.
For the post which in his declining years he accepted from his
beloved friend the late Bishop of Carlisle he was quite fit on the
day he quitted his responsible charge at Harrow Park to recom
mence his clerical life in curacies ; nor would the Church have
been worse served had his worth been acknowledged and his
abilities drawn forth by an earlier Waldegrave. Happy to both
these Christian men, and no less a blessing to others than a
happiness to themselves, were the few years they were permitted
to serve their Lord in company ! Humanly speaking that con
nexion might not have been brief. The younger man was in the
prime of his days, and the elder, as though he had been begin
ning fife yet once more, was in the full tide of zeal and endued
with an elasticity of spirit sufficient to second all his ardour, when
both of them were summoned, nearly together, into their Master's
rest. A few words in conclusion will introduce the Poems which are
appended to this volume. All through life the Archdeacon was
wont to pen these little effusions when any occasion of interest led

Preface. vii.
him so to give expression to his thoughts, and now and then he
would let one appear in print. There is no reason to think he ever
intended .them as a whole for publication, although' they are
copied with extreme neatness for his private use ; nor would they
perhaps now have been called out of their "manuscript for any
especial and independent merit that they possess ; but illustrating
as they do the various incidents of his life, and ever with taste
and feeling, the reader of these volumes will perhaps accept them
with indulgence as an addition intended for his gratification.
C. H.
Loxbear Rectory, Devon,
April 30th, 1873.

Catttets.

CHAPTER VI.
^at^ou; on the Hill.
Public schools— Harrow— Mr. Cunningham— Dr. Butler and his staff-
The commencing Assistant — Entertainments— School routine-
Early difficulties — The Harrow world— Islington school— Mr.
Batten's death—" Shall we stay ? "—New openings— The decision
—The great house in the Park— Mr. Phelps as a tutor— Contem
poraries— Life and its trials— Pupils— Old friends— Cholera— Little
Johnny— Hyde Abbey— Success of Harrow Park— John Keble and
the Theological Cataract— Resolution to retire— Descending the
Hillof Harrow  *
CHAPTER VII.
$hree Benfeshtye lunacies.
Journeys and plans— Reading -Sonning— Sulhamstead— The Oxford
contest  " String of Beads "—Mr. Hulme — Farewell to Sulhamstead 141
CHAPTER VIII.
^initu (fihuticb, fteadinj).
Commencement of his ministry — Reading Churches and Vicars — The
Monthly Clerical Meeting — The Weekly Clerical Meeting— Mr.
Phelps as a preacher — As a speaker —As a pastor— Controversy —
Correspondence— Bishop Waldegrave — Examining Chaplaincy —
Greyfriars— The consecration in York Minster — Rose Castle or
dinations — Farewells at Reading — Consecration of Greyfriars. ... 175
CHAPTER IX.
jtychdeacott aad "^icait.
Appointment to a, Canonry — Unexpected difficulties — Resignation of
Trinity — Labours in the North — Lay and Clerical Union — Societies
— Carlisle— Appointed to Appleby— Pastoral labours — Drybeck —
Retrospect — Failing health — Last illness — Death  238

Appendix  283
tfoems.
Miscellaneous   295
Translations  417

LIFE OF
ARCHDEACON PHELPS.

tec vi.
HARROW ON THE HILL.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS — HAREOW  MR. CUNNINGHAM  DR. BUTLER AND
HIS STAFF  THE COMMENCING ASSISTANT  ENTERTAINMENTS 
SCHOOL ROUTINE — EARLY DIFFICULTIES  THE HARROW WORLD
 ISLINGTON SCHOOL  MR. BATTEN'S DEATH  "SHALL WE STAY?"
 NEW OPENINGS  THE DECISION  THE GREAT HOUSE IN THE
PARK — MR. PHELPS AS A TUTOR — CONTEMPORARIES — LIFE AND
ITS TRIALS  PUPILS  OLD FRIENDS  CHOLERA  LITTLE JOHNNY
 HYDE ABBEY  SUCCESS OF HARROW PARK — JOHN KEBLE AND
THE THEOLOGICAL CATARACT — RESOLUTION TO RETIRE — DES
CENDING THE HILL OF HARROW.
We have now to accompany Mr. Phelps to that com
manding Middlesex eminence whereupon three centuries ago
"Lyon of Preston, yeoman, John,"
planted his colony of grammar boys, who he knew would
feed the torch of learning for Reformed England, who he
hoped would prolong old England's reputation for the
arrow, and who are now known all the world over for
classics and cricket.
In 1826 public schools had not attained the commanding
position which they now enjoy. The reformers of the day
accused them of narrowness and inutility, for confining
themselves to ancient learning and to but a limited portion
even of this ; while the consciences of men like Wilberforce,
B

2 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Bowdler, and Babington were shocked that so little was
done to give a Christian tone to the education of the great
body of English gentry. "A complete reformation," says
Dr. Arnold's biographer, " or a complete destruction of the
whole system seemed to many persons sooner or later in
evitable." On no other ground can we account for the fact
that a private establishment like Hyde Abbey School at
Winchester was able to earn its great reputation in the
close neighbourhood of Wyckham's venerable foundation.
The man destined in so great a degree to elevate those noble
institutions to their present standing, Thomas Arnold, had
not yet taken Rugby in hand when Mr. Phelps went to
Harrow, but he was elected the very next year,1 and it was
not long ere all the schools in England began to feel the
effects of his appointment.
The Rev. John William Cunningham, vicar of Harrow,
a man of considerable intellectual mark, a high Cambridge
Wrangler and once a Eellow of St. John's, exercised no
slight influence over the school at this period. He was
intimate with all the religious leaders of the day, Mr.
Wilberforce, the Grants, and others of their stamp. In his
early ministry he had served as curate under the Rev. John
Venn, Rector of Clapham, whose admirable qualities he had
before his mind's eye while portraying the principal charac
ter in his Velvet Cushion. When Mr. Cunningham first
came to Harrow in 1811, nothing could exceed the oppo
sition and dislike manifested towards him by the towns
people, who held for certain that the evangelical vicar
would prove the ruin of their school. Speaking in this
early period he used to say, " It is a happy thing to be
called to preach the gospel ; but it is no great pleasure to
have to carry it into such a stormy pulpit as mine." But
this was only what Simeon, Biddulph and others were ex
periencing elsewhere, and in time the storm subsided at
1 Mr. Arnold, taking private pu- 1827, and commenced his duties
pils at Laleham, was elected head after the summer holidays of 1828.
master of Rugby at the close of

chap, vi.] Mr. Cwrmmgham. 3
Harrow as well as at Cambridge and Bristol. Mr. Cun
ningham in the course of a few years became a very in
fluential governor of the school, the usefulness of which as
a place of Christian education he had at heart equally with
Mr. Wilberforce and his other friends ; and it need not be
said how gladly he welcomed every addition to the staff of
masters which seemed likely to promote this end. Harrow
then had already set the example of improvement some
time before Dr. Arnold went to Rugby ; and we are not
surprised to learn from this eminent man's biographer
that he was glad to take some hints from Harrow when
carrying out his own plans at Rugby. The Christian
leaders of that day therefore were by no means without
their fruit in advancing the education of the English gentry
as well as in proclaiming the gospel to the masses and
evangelising the ends of the earth. Beyond the limits of
Harrow Mr. Cunningham was widely known for his warm
and successful advocacy of the Church Missionary Society,
which as early as 1818, when that institution was in its
early struggles rooting itself in the affections and con
sciences of Englishmen, rewarded him for distinguished
service on its behalf with the title of honorary life
governor. His ministry at Harrow, as it began long
before, so also it long outlasted, the period of Mr. Phelps's
connexion with the school. It was his curate, Robert
Monro, that gave Mr. Phelps his first intimation of the
vacancy, and from some expressions in Mr. Monro's letter
announcing it, we should be led to infer, that Mr. Cunning
ham, in an unofficial way, was enabled to put in a word
in the right quarter for one whom his curate must have
described to him in high and promising terms.
After a ministry of fifty years Mr. Cunningham, who
had been a father to Harrow, died September 30th, 1861,
and his parish followed him to the tomb like one great
family. The Head Master when Mr. Phelps joined the school was
the Rev. George Butler, D.D. His father the Rev. Weeden
B2

4 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Butler, once amanuensis of Dr. Dodd and his successor in
the chapel at Pimlico, kept a classical school for above forty
years at Chelsea, where he educated his sons. George
turned out a great mathematician, and in 1794 was senior
wrangler and first Smith's prizeman, John Singleton Copley,
afterwards Lord Lyndhurst, being second to him in both
these honours. He is not recorded in any of the lists of
classical prizemen. He was now about fifty-four years of
ao-e, had been head-master since 1805, and since 1814 Rector
of Gayton in Northamptonshire, a living in the patronage of
his college, Sidney Sussex. The Rev. Benjamin Evans was
his second in command, or Under Master.1 All the rest of
the staff were " Assistants '' to one or the other of these two,
and the following is a correct list of them2: — the Rev. S.
E. Batten, the Rev. Henry Joseph Drury, the Rev. William
Mills, the Rev. John Edwards,3 and Mr. Cornish's friend
the Rev. William Oxnam,4 who like Mr. Phelps was now
first commencing, but with a slight priority of appointment.
Mr. Phelps's place in the school was third assistant to the
under master, at a salary of sixty pounds a year. The
under master therefore must have had three assistants, and
the head master the same. It had been the custom till then
recently for the under master to appoint his own assistants,
but Mr. Evans had surrendered this privilege to Dr. Butler.8
Mr. Phelps, as we saw, left Chicklade on Monday, April
3rd, and spending the following day in London reached
Harrow in the evening. An extract from his diary shews
some depression of spirit in view of the uncertain future
i Mr. Evans (who came as an as- Ferriby on the Lincolnshire shore
sistant in 1792) succeeded Mr. Mark of the Humber.
Drury as under master. He was * Subsequently written Oxenham
Incumbent of a living at a distance 6 This we learn from a letter of
fr°»^?ariT'<> the Rev. George Smalley of Febru-
2 Ihestatt of assistant masters be- ary 4th, 1826, when Mr Phelps's
came in after years much more nu- application was still under consider-
merous. There will occur other ation. Mr. SmaUey had been a
opportunities of noticing the changes pupil of Mr. Evans at Harrow, and
that occurred during Mr. Phelps's had written to him in Mr Phelns's
stay at Harrow. interest. Mr. Evans replied as in
3 Incumbent since 1814 of South the tex^ r

chap, vi.] The commencing assistant. 5
now before him ; but we shall not be surprised at this. He
was going to begin new duties at the bottom of an able list,
among those who were not only his colleagues in public
tuition but his competitors likewise for private pupils ; and
this experiment he was commencing, not in the unem
barrassed freedom of a young unmarried man, but with the
responsibilities of a family already incurred. He thus de
scribes his feelings on the eve of Harrow life.
" 1826, April ith, Tuesday. iSpent the day in town. Wan
dered in the morning in a part of the city new to me. Want of
rest, (having travelled through the night) and an apprehension of
difficulty in my new situation, with a painful sensation of strange
ness and newness in my circumstances occasioned me a feeling of
solitude and of my own insignificancy truly disquieting. But I
could just look up to the hills from whence cometh my help, and
I was helped. Reached St. Bartholomew's, Exchange, at com
mencement of service, and heard Mr. Wilkinson1 on " These
things will I do unto them and will not forsake them."
On his arrival however the kind and cordial reception he
met with, especially from Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Batten, and
his immediate superior Mr. Evans, in no long time restored
the new assistant to his wonted heart, as the cheery tone of
the next letter will shew. His lodgings were not far from
the bank, on the same side of the road as the park gates,
between these and Dr. Butler's residence.

1 The venerable Watts Wilkinson heard him from ! Ten years later
was now in his seventy-first year, Sir William Knighton, after once
and he went on until 1840 pouring visiting this Church, where he
forth every Tuesday morning at this could only just get in and stand at
famous lecture to a crowded congre- the door, wrote— " This gentleman
gation of city men the precious has the most striking countenance
fruits of his own long experience you ever saw. What a beautiful
of the Christian life and Divine picture might be made of him and
truth. It was something in a man's of the marvellous variety of the
life to have seen him in that pulpit strange care-worn faces— for it is
before that audience. What an oc- near the exchange— by which his
casion for Mr. Phelps to have seen pulpit is surrounded."
him now, and what a text to have

6 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
To Mrs. Phelps.
Harrow, April 11th, 1826.
You cannot think how quiet I am here in my two
rooms ; it is Oxford over again, and with my books duly ar
ranged in a glass bookcase, and looking just as they used to
look, I could almost persuade myself that nothing had ever
happened. My employments too are very similar, as my school
room duties do not occupy much of my time ; and as I have no
boarders to look after, I have set to in good earnest at Latin and
Greek afresh, and find myself very tolerably busy, I assure you.
Now and then my thoughts start off from these graver studies
and in a moment are "over the hills and far away" with you
and Johnny. Lord Calthorpe did me the honour of calling last
Saturday with Mr. Cunningham. If there should be anything
in the letters I should like to see, they can be forwarded through
Lord Exmouth. I hope Mr. Macpherson or somebody did
duty on Sunday. I shall be anxious to know. I thought fre
quently on Sunday of the charge I had left.1 My duties on that
day consisted of hearing a class of little boys read from a catechism
for half an hour before church in the morning, and sitting with the
boys at church morning and afternoon. Two large galleries hold
them all — about 200 ;2 and all the masters sit with them, stationed
at different spots, in hutches appropriated to them, to keep order.
Cunningham preached in the morning and Monro in the after
noon, and I was pleased with each. The church is large, and there
is a tolerable organ. After service in the afternoon I assisted
1 Hindon Chapel continued to be a remark we once heard, to the
served by curates, and by neigh- effect that he, and the Bev. T. V.
bouring clergy, until the appoint- Fosbery, and another clergyman,
ment in 1829 of the Rev. Charles made an early resolution among
Harbin, a relation of Mr. Phelps's themselves to study the plainest
correspondent. In a letter of Miss and most forcible English in their
Sarah Frowd, March 28th, 1828, pulpit addresses. Miss Frowd's is
the Bev. Henry William Majendie a familiar rhyming epistle to her1
is mentioned as having recently sister, and the reader will accept
officiated. Her description of his the extract simply for the sake of
style brings to our recollection the illustration : —
" Mr. Majendie served it two Sundays in course,
And preached with much plainness, much feeling, and force,
His language and style he adapts to the poor,
And I wish such a preacher could fill every cure."
Mr. Majendie, a son of the Bishop Newbury, where he died, December
of Bangor of the same names, had. 17th, 1869, aged 79.
been since 1819 Vicar of Speen near 2 The precise number was 214.

chap, vi.] Harrow routme. 7
Monro by baptising a little girl and reading the burial psalms
and chapter, so that I have not yet been a Sunday unemployed.
,A11 sorts of dinners are going on in compliment to the new
masters. I met a' party on Saturday at six, at Dr. Butler's, and
yesterday at Mr. Cunningham's, and am invited next Thursday to
Mr. Evans's. All this is marvellously grand, you will perceive,
after our quiet goings-on at home.
I have an idea I shall not be able to get the bad house and good
garden I spoke of, on any reasonable terms. There is a house of
Dr. Butler's, close to his own, on a small scale, comfortable within,
but no garden.1 I am inclined to think that our most prudent
plan might be to enter upon some house of that description at
first, and so live in hopes of a better house in course of time when
pupils come and increase. For myself, I am somewhat indifferent
in these matters, and am inclined to look upon you and John as
my garden and carriages and horses, and state and splendour and
comfort. And I would rather begin humbly and hope by degrees
to become qualified for my duties, and to work my way into a
supply of pupils (by the blessing of God), than to take an expen
sive house and launch out in the hope of attracting pupils by that
means.
To his Wife.
Harrow, April 15th, 1826.
I have just ten minutes to spare before the ringing of the
school bell summons masters and scholars to their several posts.
It may give you a little insight into the mode of proceeding
here if I give an outline of my proceedings through a day. And
first let me tell you, this is the finest place that can be for regu
larity, as the school bell rings regularly for each school-hour, and
moreover there is a good church clock within hearing, and a school
clock that strikes the quarters.
My employment for the day commences a little before eight,
when I have to be in the schoolroom for nearly an hour. At
half-past nine my small ptfpil comes to me and stays till nearly
eleven. At eleven the masters meet at Dr, Butler's every school
day to discuss matters, and then proceed en masse to the school,
iThe "very eligible house for a spoken of (vol. I, p. 447) slipped
family likely to be vacant at mid- through, as Mr. Edwards, one of
summer," which Dr. Butler had the masters above him, wanted it.

8 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
where I am engaged till nearly twelve. My one boy then comes
to me again till half-past twelve, when I have done with him for
the day. At one, or soon after, I dine. At half-past four I go
again to the school and remain till half-past five, when my day's
work is over. I then want you, and take a walk and want you,
and take tea and want you very much all the evening, except
some part of the time between nine and eleven, when I write as
many Greek verses as I possibly can, by way of sport like, not
having any to look over for pupils. And so passes the day on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But on Tuesdays there is
no business at all in the school-rooms, nor on Thursdays or Satur
days after dinner.
On the foregoing narrative I believe I have only to comment
that my pupil is a very clever little boy of thirteen,1 a circumstance
on which I cannot but felicitate myself. And as to the walks, I
may tell you that the country is beautiful, and Harrow the most
beautiful spot in it, on an eminence, as its name imports. Last
evening was a fine clear one, and I fancied that I wanted — some
body, or I should have thought my ramble through the green
fields and hedges quite as enchanting as a plain matter-of-fact
person need wish. I saw London in the distance very distinctly,
and the towers of Westminster Abbey. I see by the papers that
Mr. Llewellyn is appointed to the school at Bruton. Well, it
would have been no discredit to have been beaten by a gentleman
of his pretensions. Has dear sister Mary returned to Barley
Wood ? I can't fancy that I have left Chicklade as a residence.
I seem to be on a visit, and am looking to return. You must not
be surprised if I send for you before midsummer and say I cannot
do without you ! Mr. Edwards has brought up his wife and six
children; they (not he) are living at a farm house a mile hence till
midsummer, when they go into their house here. I think more
and more of the house I wrote about, without a garden. It is
next door to Dr. Butler's, and he some time ago added the garden
to his own.2 It looks out pleasantly into his and commands a fine
1 His name was Burnett, boarding the head-masters in 1672. During
at Dr. Butler's. He left at Easter, his head-mastership Dr. Butler is
1829. said to have expended no less than
2 This house, which was very £10,000 upon it, and it then had
much smaller in its original form, accommodation for one hundred-and-
belonged to the school trust, and twenty boys.
was first appropriated to the use of

chap. vi. j Itew friends and old. 9
view. It is near the school, a matter of importance to me in bad
weather, and not far from the church ; a compact house ; and as
Dr. Butler bears the character of a very liberal man, I should like
to be his tenant. I dine to-day with Mr. and Mrs. Mills. He is
one of the masters and has seven or eight children, quite young.
I suppose I shall meet Dr. and Mrs. Butler and nearly the same
party I have met before. The society is good ; Dr. Butler a very
polished gentleman. His wife is young, and they have four little
children. Mr. and Mrs. Evans are about sixty. They have seven
or eight children grown up. Mrs. Batten is a young woman with
two little children, and he has one by a former marriage. They
have lost two or three. Mr. and Mrs. H. Drury I have not seen
much of j they have a large family of young children. Oxnam
is an accomplished, superior, young man, who will have a wife
soon, I believe.1
P.S. The Bishop of Lichfield has just called, he brought
Oxnam with him, whom he came to Harrow to arrange with.
Monday. — I read prayers last evening for Monro. Mr. Cunning
ham preached from notes. He pleased me exceedingly. I hope
it was not only ' pleased.' To his Wife. Harrow, April 26th, 1826.
. . .- . General Macgregor is the greatest personage
in Harrow, and has the finest house.
I dined at Mr. Cunningham's yesterday, and met Mr. and Mrs.
Gerard Noel, and Mr. Daly an Irish clergyman of some celebrity.2
On the 22nd of May, by appealing to Mr. Evans's good
nature he managed to get a week's excursion into Wiltshire,
taking Mr. Quarrington on his way and arriving back on the
morning of May 30th. Early in July he had another snatch,
i Writing September 26th, 1826, mention of the names. Mr. Phelps
to Mrs. Phelps he remarks — "We little then imagined he would one
are all going on at a great rate in the day possess that ' finest house. '
visiting way, dinners twice a week From Mr. Daly (afterwards the
in honour of the new bride Mrs. Bishop) he probably learnt much of
Oxnam, with whom I think you will his friend Mr. Pope. There were
be pleased." "1833.' May 13th. at that time two boys of the name
Mrs. Oxnam died." — Journal. ¦ of Daly in the school.

We insert this fragment for the

10 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
much briefer, and when the summer vacation took him
westward again we find by his journal that he extended
his excursion into Devonshire.1
From a former Fellow of Corpus. August 29th, 1826.
I have just seen a little girl in the village who says that
her mother is going home to-morrow, and their home being in or
near Harrow-on-the-Hill, I must not lose so good an opportunity
of sending you a bit of scribble free of expense. Not however
that I am at all sure that you are now to be found there, as I
heard a report not long since of your having been seen down in
the west. Nevertheless this may go to you and you will be glad
of it, I will be bold to say, wherever you are.
The last time, I think, I heard from you, you were just leaving
Wiltshire, and entering on your new occupation — for new I should
think it must have been in almost all respects, though to be sure
boys and grammar are the same everywhere. When you write
you must tell me all your history, natural, civil, and psedagogical,
but chiefly domestical. If you have been into Devonshire, the
more you tell me about it and its inhabitants, the better you
' will please me. At this time last year I was just leaving the
curacy of Packcombe and Mr. George was coming back to his
academy, though please not to say that I called it so.
I dare say you know Hursley. When you go that way next,
call at the parson's, use my name, and no doubt you will have
some bread and cheese and small ale.
Do you remember when you rode down with me from Oxford ?
That was very kind of you : and when you meant to visit me
at C  ? That was very kind of you too : and how I never
went to Chicklade to visit you? That was very unkind of I.
And do you remember those garrets in which you lived at
Corpus, and what long controversies and conversations we did
use to have in days o' lang syne 1 Oh, what a delight to be a
fellow of a college — but it can't be helped.
Menzies stayed a day with us on his way to Lancashire some
^'August 1st. To Teignmouth" "August 18th. To Odcombe"
(Lord Exmouth's). "August 15th. (Mr. Harbin's).
To Packcombe" (Mr. Cornish's).

chap, vi.] Booting at Harrow. 11
months ago, but I have not heard of him very lately. He has an
uncle living not far from Gloucester, so we are in more hopes of
seeing the good fellow from time to time. Do you ever hear
anything of Mr. Archdeacon Parry ? Did you know that G 
has married a friend of our family, Miss M  ? Also do you
know that Davison is come to live a great deal nearer to us,
namely at Upton near Worcester? Do you know all these things,
Mr. Philip ? Yours in all duty and affection,  .
Returning to Harrow alone again after his summer trip,
and taking his friend Mr. Hunter at Holloway on his road,
he settled down with a new out-pupil,1 and on September
12th his youngest brother Robert, came to reside with him
as a Harrow boy.
On the 26th of September Mr. Phelps was invited to
return as a rector to his old Chicklade quarters. We know
no particulars of this beyond the fact recorded in his
journal — "The rectory of Pertwood offered me." But it
was too late. The roots were all loosened at Chicklade and
were now beginning to take hold of the Harrow soil. At
the former, all had been sold off from the great house except
in a little corner which Mrs. Phelps and her children were
temporarily occupying, and a house already taken was now
in the workmen's hands at Harrow.2 On November 1st he
first awoke in it ; but he was still alone. His wife was too
near her confinement to admit of her taking so long a
journey. On November 10th her second son was born
at Chicklade, an event which brought Mr. Phelps the
following letter.
From Rev. G. J. Cornish,
November 29th, 1826.
Yes, master Philip, and doubtless by this time you begin
to see the wisdom of all those wise unmarried men like myself
i This, his second, was Henry sary that the house should be inha-
Winder. bited without delay, and Mr. Phelps
2 Dr. Butler's house, next his own moved into it out of his lodgings
mentioned before (page 8). When October 31st. The rent was eighty
the repairs were done it was neces- guineas.

12 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
who advised you not to throw up all your brilliant prospects at
college and rush headlong into matrimony. But " wilful bairn
must hae its way." And so you really are the father of two boys !
Well, Sir, and when do you mean to proceed to Vandieman's
Land ? Because I want some one to go there first before I start.
For we are in a fair way to be over educated here, and I should
guess they are rather under educated there.
But ye wad fain ken how we speed. Well, Philip, I have been
wishing Johnny, Hubert that is, good-bye to-day, the puir thing
has been packing up its little all to go to Farringdon, not near
Oxford nor in some other odd part of the world that Tucker has
found out in the Eoad Book, (a fine specimen of book learning,)
but Farringdon half-way between Exeter and Sidmouth that
everybody knows.
Never mind, old fellow. Pupils will come in upon you soon.
Perhaps I may send my son Robert to you — only he cannot come
just yet. Remember me kindly to Oxnam, _and with my wife's
kind regards, Thine, G. C.
A letter from Mr. Thomas Keble consenting to stand
godfather to his boy reached him at Chicklade, whither he
had gone down to spend the Christmas vacation; and a
few days afterwards he welcomed another offering him his
first pupil to take into the new house. This was from Mr.
G. M. Hoare of Morden Lodge, Surrey, who had been in pre
vious communication on the subject with Mr. Cunningham.
Having gone down to Harrow to see both Mr. Phelps and
Mr. Cunningham, and finding they had both left, Mr. Hoare
had been shewn over the house by Dr. Butler, and as all
appeared very satisfactory he wrote as already mentioned,
December 20th, 1826, concluding with these words : —
" To parents earnestly solicitous about the spiritual welfare
of their children, you may believe that the change from a private
to a public school cannot be made without much anxiety, particu
larly on a removal from such a school as Mr. Ward's. But that
anxiety is mitigated by the confidence we feel that you will do for
your future pupil all that human means can effect to induce moral

CHAP, vi.] First hoarder arrives. 13
and religious habits. The prayers of his parents will not be
wanting that the blessing of God may attend your admonitions."
We will answer for it that his first pupil introduced with
such Christian sentiments filled him with double gratitude
to that Heavenly Eather who had thus again directed
towards him the help that was now so much more needed.
We have no diary at this period in which to read the
records of his heart; but we do not for a, moment doubt
the tone with which the joy of Christmas this year at
Chicklade was celebrated. On the 3rd of January, 1827,
he finally quitted the spot endeared to him by many tender
recollections, bringing away his 0 eta via and two little sons,
whom on the 8th he settled in the house at Harrow. In
due time young Henry James Hoare arrived, and is alluded
to in the following letter.
To Rev. R. T. P. Pope.
Harrow, February 10th, 1827.
Mr dear Pope,
I have attributed it to the pressure of your much more
weighty occupations that my two or three last letters have not
been acknowledged by you. I am not therefore discouraged by
your silence from hoping that the time may yet arrive when you
will be able to let me hear from you. In the meantime I must
acknowledge the pleasure it has given me to hear of your pro
ceedings through the medium of the papers which from time to
time you have been so good as to send. The Evening Mail in
particular, received a few days since, afforded me a very sincere
gratification. The account of the Cavan meeting and of the
remarkable circumstances that have led to it is of the most deeply
interesting description ; and I cannot but congratulate you upon
the part which in the appointment of Providence you are per
mitted to bear in the efforts now making for the reformation of
Catholic Ireland. The labour of love which you and your brother
champions for the truth are permitted to witness will not be
lost, whatever be the more immediate results. And for my
own part, I am sanguine with regard to these results, and find it

14 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
impossible not to indulge the hope that the commanding and
inviting attitude which the Protestant cause in Ireland now
assumes will by the divine blessing make an impression on the
minds of the population at large of a salutary nature.
Time passes so rapidly that I hardly know at what period of
my history I left you when I last wrote. It is indeed a history
very little important or worth adverting to, having, alas ! been
almost exclusively absorbed in self, and its poor round of, petty
vanities ; such as it is, however, I indulge the thought that you
have not forgotten to regard it with some little interest.
I must have named to you that I was married in July, 1824.
Since then 1 have become the father of two little boys. From
the time of my ordination in 1822, I continued at Chicklade near
Hindon in Wiltshire till Easter in last year, having the charge of
from three to five private pupils, in addition to the curacy of the
latter place. The charge and responsibility I had for some time
felt too great for me; and judging it necessary to separate my
clerical and lay engagements, and to direct my attention exclu
sively to one of the two, I came to the conclusion that I ought to
relinquish my church duties for the present, and indeed until such
time as they hold out to me adequate means of support.
In the meantime I considered that the situation of assistant
master at this school, which became vacant at the time I was on,
the look out, and for which I made application, was one that was
not altogether uninfluential or unsuitable to a clergyman situated
as I was. I was appointed to it at Easter last, and have not yet
seen reason to think I judged wrongly in that respect ; though
as I have as yet but one boarder in my house, I must expect my
circumstances to be straitened for some time to come.
I shall be much pleased if this little account of my proceedings
elicits a communication from you on the subject of yours. I
need not, I trust, renew my assurance of the lively interest I
take in whatever relates to you. Should I ever be so happy as to
meet you again in this lower scene, I should have much to ask of
you. Let me indulge the hope that as I am now so near London,
I may on some occasion of your being in London see you here.
Believe me ever yours affectionately, W. W. P.
The work of evangelisation in the sister island was now

CHAP, vi.] Mr. Pope's successes. 15
going on warmly, and so encouraging were the results that
the year 1827 was called the "Reformation Year" in Ire
land. The Rev. Richard Murray, who in 1824 began a
missionary movement in his parish of Askeaton in County
Limerick (the first beneficed clergyman who set the example),
gained such success that by the end of 1826 upwards of four
hundred and seventy converts at Askeaton had avowed the
Protestant doctrine. Bishop Jebb of Limerick, having
satisfied himself of the reality and genuineness of this
reformation took a deep interest in its progress, and urged
his clergy to increased activity in it. In the county of
Cavan the reformation progressed on a large scale under
the fostering care of the Earl and Countess of Farnham.
Public recantation was the mode at that time of renouncing
Popery — a very formidable test in Ireland. We are assured
that no fewer than two thousand and fifteen open abjura
tions were made in all parts of Ireland between October
8th, 1826, and April 27th, 1827. It is not surprising, there
fore, that Mr. Pope should be too engrossed to keep up a
regular correspondence even with so dear a friend as Mr.
Phelps. Some interesting details of this Irish Reformation, and of
Mr. Pope's share in it, will be found in the memoir of one
who lived and worked in the midst of it, the Rev. Godfrey
Massey, Vicar of Bruff, in the County of Limerick, written
by his brother the Rev. Dawson Massey.
In a letter from Farnham in Ireland, by Mr. W. H.
Krause (afterwards the well-known clergyman of Bethesda
Chapel, Dublin,) dated December 11th, 1826, we read: —
"The papers will have informed you of the Pope being
here. A meeting was held at Cavan on Wednesday last, for
the Hibernian School Society. Mr. Gordon, Mr. Pope, and
Captain Vernon composed the deputation. The speeches
were excellent. Mr. Pope preached in the court-house to
about two thousand people, nearly half Roman Catholics,
on Thursday and Friday nights. I could not attend ; but
last night I heard him on "Purgatory," when I suppose

16 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
there were more than two thousand. Fifty-seven read their
recantation yesterday, and sixty-one the Sunday before.
The anathemas of the priests have been pronounced abun
dantly, but still their flocks are inquiring. On every side I
hear a thirst for instruction, and we are doing everything in
our power, through the liberality of Lord Farnham, to
supply it."
Again, under December 18th, he wrote: — "Mr. Pope is
still here ; he preached last night to an immense multitude
in the court-house. To-morrow -night he is to preach again;
his subject, ' Come out of her, my people.' You have no
idea of the state of the people's minds in this county. An
inquiring spirit has been excited which I confidently expect
will not be suppressed in a hurry. Some have said that
they believe the prophecy is about to be fulfilled that there
shall be but one fold, and that must be the Reformed
Church. Yesterday, under the very nose of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy, forty-eight conformed, and by far the
best-informed set I have yet seen."
From the Rev. E. Harbin. February 19th, 1827.
My very dear friend,
I trust you are now comfortably settled, and that the
blessing of our God rests abundantly upon you. It will give us
both very great pleasure to hear of you. Do therefore favour us
with as long an account as your time will allow you to give. Mrs.
Harbin and myself are quite agreed that your visit to us shall be
annual;1 of course therefore no objection you may make can be
allowed to prevent it, as I suppose you will visit Chicklade. I
hope to see our friend Scott2 on Wednesday. He is indeed
pressing forward, and his growth in divine things is very apparent.
May I follow him as he follows Christ! Have you seen Dr.
Wilson's Sermons?3 Their substance is strictly the truth as it is
in Jesus, at least so far as I have been taught it. But after all
1 See before page 9. 3 Perhaps the Parochial Sermons,
2 James Scott, see vol. I. p. 388. preached at St. Ebbe's, Oxford,

chap, vi.] Watchfulness. 17
we learn here, we only see through a glass darkly, we know only
in part. However it is an unspeakable mercy to know by the
unction of the Spirit in any degree the things that are freely given
to us of God. May we know more and more of them daily by
experience ! - -

Farewell, my dear friend. May we more and more with one
mind and one mouth glorify God even the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. To His keeping I commend you and yours. May
we lean more simply upon Him ! and may our gracious God lead
us all, both parents and children, through this wilderness of sin,
leaning on the arm of the beloved.
Thus prays your unworthy brother in the gospel, E. H.
P.S. My remembrances to Monro. Do you ever hear of
Withy? A few paragraphs from a diary belonging to this year
have been met with on a loose sheet or two and we regard
them as too precious to be passed over. They shew the
sincere efforts of a Christian man to raise up the drooping
tone of the higher life to its proper level, reminding us that
we ought not to notice with indifference our internal
failures, or to acquiesce carelessly in the natural infirmities
of our fallen being without a struggle to retrieve.
Harrow, Sunday, March l&th, 1827. — It has pleased God to
place me in circumstances that appear to call upon me with
peculiar emphasis to " walk circumspectly, not as fools but as
wise, redeeming the time, knowing that the days are evil."
Within two years a material change in my pecuniary affairs has
taken place. I had at that period an income that exceeded my
expenses by one third ; at the present time my income does not
amount to one third of my expenditure, whilst I am indebted for
a sum that three times exceeds my income. This is a consideration
that surely warns me to consider my ways, and in humble reliance
upon divine grace I hereby resolve to do so ; and as a means to
that end it is my purpose to resume this register which I have
discontinued for nearly three years. Oh ! my God, for the sake of
c

18 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Thy Son Jesus Christ assist me in this my purpose. Shew me
my guilty self. Spare me the visitations of Thy displeasure my
sins deserve ; enable me to break through the trammels of my
many evil habits, particularly of that indolence by which I am
conscious that I have much and long grieved the Spirit of my
God.  " So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy
want as an armed man."
The Easter holidays began on April 3rd, and the fol
lowing day he took a journey into Wiltshire.1 One object
of the journey seems to have been to procure servants, a
most anxious matter in a pupil-house. He wrote to Mrs.
Phelps — " I hope you will be pleased with the servants, if
I bring any back. How important is this part of our
household to our comfort ! We must be sure to make it a
subject of our petitions to the Lord of providence, the God
of the families of Israel." To AN AUNT.
Wilton, Tlwrsday morning, April 12th, 1827.
I am busy in preparing a sermon for Netherhampton8
to-morrow. Robert and I came from Harrow yesterday week,
when I left my household, thank God, in good health. The two
little ones are grown nicely, and indeed the Harrow air appears
to agree extremely well with them both, as well as with their
mother. Could you not jog over to Netherhampton by church
time ? On my arrival here I found that our rector had arranged
the duties of Good Friday thus : Mr. Stock well was to read
'"Beached- Salisbury at three at that period, and it may be read
o'clock" (by the Magnet). ('Went in connection with the letter that
to the A  s, who received me comes next.
most hospitably. I dined and drank 2 A church in the neighbourhood
tea with them, and at seven went of Wilton, in a southerly direction.
with them to St. Thomas's, where I His text was Matthew xxvii. 36.
heard Mr. Seaton, and was much On the previous Sunday he had
pleased that I had stopped in Salis- preached twice at Hindon, from
bury. Jane and Ann had walked Psalm cxix. 165, and Bevelations
in to the lecture, and I footed it iii. 20 ; and on Easter Sunday he
home with them." We give this ex- preached there again once from
tract as appearing to point out one Philemon iii. 10.
of the centres of light in those parts

chap, vi.] A prophet in his own country. 19
prayers here and Mr. Hetley to preach, and immediately at
the close of morning prayer Mr. Stockwell was to leave the
desk and hurry over to Netherhampton to the morning service
there. Hereupon I tendered my assistance at either place, which
the rector has accepted for Netherhampton. Our folks, you will
guess, would rather it was to be here, and Stockwell (who is one
of the best fellows in the world) is sorry that such was not the
arrangement. But the day has not yet arrived in which I am to
feel myself welcome to the use of the pulpit in my native town.1
May God grant that, if I am permitted to open my mouth in His
name to-morrow, there may be some poor soul at Netherhampton
to be comforted and instructed by contemplating the cross and
passion of our Lord and Master. Glorious theme ! never to be
exhausted by the blessed spirits who have not fallen. " Which
things the angels desire to look into." May this be more and
more the subject of our meditations, and may we be enabled to
withdraw our thoughts and affections in still greater measure from
the grovelling pursuits of an unsatisfactory world, through His
grace who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us fault
less before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
The rest of the fragment of diary may come here in its
chronological order.
" 1827, May 6th. That I am too much a trifler in concerns of
the greatest moment is seen in my having permitted so long a
period to elapse since the date of the preceding article, without
inserting a passing record of my course of life. Since that period
I have enjoyed the privilege of visiting Wilton and Chicklade and
finding my beloved friends there in health and in outward tran
quillity and comfort. And I was also permitted to address my
old congregation from the pulpit, and have further been allowed to
exercise my calling as a minister of religion. For these mercies,
alas ! I have not been sufficiently thankful. On the contrary,
the prevalence of my besetting indolence, neglect of devotional
i The Bev. H. Hetley was rector " 1828. April 13th. Preached at
of Wilton in Mr. Phelps's child- Wilton for the first time." Mr.
hood, and gave him his first lessons Phelps's Journal.
in Latin. He died in March, 1832.
c2

20 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
retirement, and an apathetic indifference to the religious improve
ment of those around me, — all these and many more symptoms of
declining grace should (grant, O my God, for Thy dear Son's sake
that they may) awaken me to a salutary sense of the nearness of
danger, to a holy ' carefulness, clearing of myself, indignation, fear,
vehement desire, zeal, revenge,' that having preached to others I
may not myself be a castaway."
" May 20th. For some days past, blessed be God, I have had
a strong impression upon my mind that the only happiness was in
close communion with God and devotedness to his service ; and I
would humbly trust that my conduct has so far been under its
influence as to have discovered more disposition to religious retire
ment, prayer, and the study of God's Word. I have read a con
siderable portion of the prophet Jeremiah, and have been much
struck with the discoveries of God's hatred of sin made in the
judgments there denounced. I have also read a sermon daily,
which I found a profitable exercise as affecting my temper and
tone of mind, and I hope also my improvement in the knowledge
suitable to a minister of the Gospel. I feel strongly that I
should not suffer my sacred function to be ever out of my mind,
or think that it was even now wholly suspended. For some time
past (alas ! I find it has been too too long) I have indulged a
habit of rising late, namely not until just before school-time, and
then my devotions are postponed till an advanced hour in the
morning." " May 21th. During the week past I have, by divine aid, been
enabled to live in habits of rather more devotion and reflection,
and have certainly found the days pass amid a degree of serenity
that I have not often enjoyed under any circumstances and such
as I have never found in a worldly or careless course of life. This
reminds me of what comfort and peace I have lost by seeking it
in self-indulgence ! It should also awaken me to the. serious con
sideration of that much greater enjoyment of the life that is hid
with Christ in God which I might reasonably hope to find if I
gave myself up more heartily and entirely to the service of God.
My conduct is sadly, very sadly, deficient in this particular. For
some days past I have had my mind considerably interested in two
tasks I have set myself, (1) a set of sermons, and (2) gleanings from

chap, vi.] Losing and recovering. 21
the classics. Having some leisure from fewness of pupils,1 I feel
that I should make some little exertion of the nature of that it
would behove me to make for the support of my family had I
ability for such an undertaking. Oh, my God, may my every
undertaking be to Thee and in Thee! Amen."
" June 3rd. During the past week I have risen late and post
poned my morning devotion until after first school. I have some
pretext from broken rest in consequence of sleeping with our little
one. But I have allowed it to operate too far, and feel convinced
that the practice of late rising is very prejudicial to the health and
peace of my mind ; it brings a cloud of self-dissatisfaction, prevents
the energetic discharge both of business and devotion, and makes
the exertions I do make seem objectless and inefficient."
"June 10th. I fear that I have lost ground in the Christian
warfare during the last week. I have, I trust, been engaged in
my Master's service, and it has been the great purpose of my life
to live unto the Lord. But time wasted testifies that I am not
sufficiently on the alert to maintain a healthful state of mind and
heart. Pray more fervently for yourself and others who have a
claim to your supplications and intercessions. If the heart is not
in religion, gloom and dissatisfaction will obscure the sunshine of
heart in which the believer should walk. If I am partially
religious I labour to defeat myself."
"June 17th. I hope I may say I have been somewhat more
earnest in the pursuit of godliness. In the discharge of relative
duty more diligent, and exercised in maintaining a conscience void
of offence towards God and towards man. I cannot but trust that
this has been my habitual state through the past week. Still I
must record what I fear is but too contradictory of this statement,
namely that I have not bestowed much time upon the Bible or
religious reading, nor in prayer. Nor have I improved with
respect to rising in the morning. This latter circumstance, it is
plain to see, precludes the possibility of satisfactorily discharging
either of those duties, as it enervates the mind and leaves no
leisure. True repentance, and Thy Holy Spirit."

'He had Hoare and his own the "gleanings from the classics"
brother in the house ; Burnett and occur among his papers.
Winder as out-pupils. Many of

22 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
" Jvly 1st. A fortnight has elapsed since my last entry.
During that period I have seen the corruption of my heart. In
dolence, my besetting sin, still haunts me. And I see that of late
I have not been sufficiently awake to its encroachment. Study
of Scripture and secret prayer have been negligently conducted.
This originated in the arrival of some visitors, and thence passed
into habitual neglect. Oh the deceitfulness of my heart and arti
fices of Satan ! I hope I am warring against the flesh, though
it is faint. But it is not to this that I can look for satisfaction
of mind. Lord and Saviour ! And dost thou permit even me to
look unto Thee and find in Thee justification, and peace, and
strength, and all I need ! "
" July 8th. Some unavoidable engagements occupying me
during the past week have occasioned it to pass away without
leaving much by which I might notice its progress. I perceive
however that I ought at this season of the year particularly to be
on my guard that T become not remiss in the discharge of religious
duties ; the heat of the weather occasioning an additional degree
of languor that increases my natural indolence. I have been led
to think of altering my plan for the disposal of the summer holi
days (if permitted to see them) and instead of passing that period
among my dear family, to remain and undertake an employment
that would require some degree of exertion on my part. May my
God direct my steps, and may I not shrink from the discharge of
any duty to which the circumstances in which His Providence has
placed me appear to summon me. And may I make this matter
more a subject of prayer than I have been in the habit of making
my steps in life. May I judge rightly of my own abilities, under
take nothing beyond them, and conscientiously discharge what I
undertake. Thy grace alone is sufficient."
" July 22nd. If I were to mention one particular shape in
which especially temptation approaches me, I should say sloth.
This is my inward dreadful enemy, which makes havoc of my
mind, body, powers, efforts, usefulness, and comfort. Looking
back on the last fortnight I see that considerable attention has
been paid to the studies of my profession here, and to the improve
ment of my pupils ; but habitual indolence has pervaded my state
of mind, and what I have done has not been done so efficiently as

chap, vi.] Girding up the lovn,s. 23
it might have been if I had been more alive to the value of time.
I have to-day been reviewing part of a diary written five years
ago, and I am struck with the little progress I have made in
that- period. How very saddening, is that natural propensity
to inertness which was my burthen even at that period ! I
feel that I have made no systematic resistance to it in the strength
of the Lord. Alas ! what a torment it has been to me since that
period ! Oh, may my past experience, by God's grace, lead me
to watch and pray against this sinful habit for the future. I
have a call for such exercises of grace at the present moment, in
which plans are in agitation that may materially affect the com
forts, if not the more essential interests of myself and those dearest
to me. Guide me, Oh ! my Lord and reconciled Father in Christ,
and bless me."

Surely these honest self-reproaches in one whose whole
life seems to other eyes teeming with diligence and charac
terised by rigorous self-control, must shew the high standard
he had set before him ! And if he deserved his own re
bukes, who that now reads them does not feel himself
under the lash likewise V
What the " plans in agitation " were we do not know for
certain, but perhaps they referred to a possible vacancy
among the masters, for the head-mastership at Rugby.

1 The severe tone he employs your nearest and dearest friends, to
against himself compels us to recur deny yourself the pleasure you evi-
to a former lettetf tvh'ich perhaps we denfely experience in such severe and
ought to have given in its proper I may add almost continual studies.
place. It is dated November 28th, I really fear they cause much of that
1822, when he was at Chicklade, delicacy of health you have of late
and was written by one of his rela- so frequently suffered from, and if
tives. "As I have for a long period continued may undermine your con-
left the correspondence with you to stitution . I should not advance the
be kept up by the pens of others, possibility of this, did I not fear you
you will probably be surprised at think little or nothing on that score.
this renewal of address. I will then Yet if you have no apprehension
candidly tell you, that the hope that yourself, consider what may be the
the advice and earnest request I thoughts of your affectionate father,
make may have some influence on mother, aunts, and other friends."
you is the great inducement of it. The letter continues in the same
Let me then entreat you, as you earnest strain of entreaty.
value the happiness and comfort of

24 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
To Rev. R. T. P. Pope, Cork.
Harrow, June 2nd, 1827.
My dear friend,
Eather than draw from your protracted silence a painful
inference before I am actually compelled to do so, I shall attribute
it to the weighty engagements that have latterly pressed upon you,
and not suffer myself as yet to conclude that my correspondence
has ceased to be welcome and my acquaintance agreeable to you.
I will, however, own that it would afford me great satisfaction to
be informed by a line from yourself that this is not the case. You
must ascribe my pertinacity to a vivid recollection of the pleasure,
and I hope I may add advantage, I have derived from your letters
in days that are gone, which renders me unwilling to relinquish
the hope of hearing from you again.
As the eyes of the public have been so much upon your pro
ceedings of late, I feel in some degree as if I were trespassing on
public property in expressing a desire to hear from you a few
particulars relative to the late discussion in which you were
engaged. For this, however, you may probably not have leisure,
and in that case you would much oblige me by naming what
published account of it would be within my reach.
I have said that the public eye has been much upon you of
late. You will forgive me for reminding you that the scrutinising,
may I say the jealous, eye of Christian love and friendship has
also been upon you ; and I doubt not but many an apprehension
(the offspring not of mistrust but of love) has been entertained,
and that many a prayer has been offered up on your behalf, that
amid so much external excitement your heart may not be led
away from close and quiet communion with your God : that in the
atmosphere of controversy you may not inhale aught of a spirit
at variance with the meekness and love of the gospel, that a con
sciousness of publicity may not obscure your apprehensions of
social and domestic obligations and the charities of private life ;
and that you may be directed to steer clear of a rock upon
which not a few who have been similarly situated with yourself
have struck — I mean an imprudent expenditure of health and
strength, a species of self-deception extremely plausible, but which
will, I believe, in a majority of instances place a person in the

chap. VI.] Friendly cautions. 25
dilemma of one who attaches an undue importance to the value of
his own exertions, or who taking too narrow a view of things
expends himself on a labour that ultimately defeats its own
object. But I fear that I have gone too far, and that remarks which
were designed humbly to express an affectionate caution from a
friend have proceeded to a dictatorial strain that would but little
indeed become me, if it was becoming in any one. A Christian
brother will, however, I feel assured, pardon a freedom that has
perhaps led me out of my line, though my object has not been to
rebuke but to warn ; to advise and not to insinuate ; a freedom I'
have rather been emboldened to take because I feel that you are
very peculiarly situated ; and more especially since the providence
of God, in inflicting upon your parents so severe a stroke as the
death of your brother Godfrey, has left you to be the sole human
prop and solace of their declining years, the natural channel
through which to communicate to them those nameless, number
less, lesser alleviations of the sufferings of humanity which He-
who knoweth whereof we are made compassionately scatters
upon our path of existence, and which, tenderly and assiduously
administered by a pious child, have I doubt not often been sancti
fied as the means of softening and removing prejudices, of gaining
a father or a mother and gently leading them back into the fold of
Christ. To the guidance and blessing of the beloved Master you serve,
I most affectionately commend you. Your unworthy brother, W. W. Phelps.
We may imagine how closely Mr. Pope had been occupied
for a long time past when we state that he had recently
been engaged in an important public discussion with a
Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Thomas Maguire, which
came off at Dublin, in April, 1827, lasting six days, Mr.
O'Connell being one of the chairmen on the first day. The
speeches occupy a large volume and the contest takes rank
with the famous " Downside Discussion " at Bath in 1834,
at which Mr. Pope's younger relative Mr. Tottenham (who

26 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
was present at the Dublin discussion) made his reputa"
tion. Mr. Pope must have been preparing for this event
since the preceding November, when the challenge passed.
He attacked -Papal Infallibility, Purgatory, Transubstantia-
tion; and had to defend Private Judgment, the Reformation,
Protestant Unity.1 The Rev. .Caesar Otway has a very
graphic sketch of the scene. We subjoin a few extracts,
as quoted in the life of Massey, which will bring Mr.
Phelps's old schoolfellow vividly before the reader's eye.
" See then the two disputants, one evidently under the
influence of great debility, a mind-worn frame of body, a
form from whence the elasticity of youth had fled before its
time, leaving spirit to invigorate for a season the form from
whence health had departed. Oh, what a tall commanding
figure stands there, in all the lofty proportions of a temple
dedicated to genius, which some ravager had despoiled;
the face once certainly handsome, but its beauty now at
tended with a cast of habitual severity; and yet on the
mouth of this young man* — for young he is, though not in
looks — on his mouth there sometimes plays a smile that
bespeaks benignity and sweetness of temper more than any
Other smile I ever saw decorating human lips. Look at
those high over-arching temples : and far within, under the
shelter of those well-defined eyebrows, see the dark, lucid,
well-set hazel eye. Then the organs of intellect, how ob
servable in their localities on his capacious forehead ; his
black, crisp, and curled hair, so gracefully adorning and
shewing off his well-proportioned and well-set head, these
curls always befitting such a forehead and such a head. It
is only when in the enthusiasm of his feelings he moves
and tosses them on high that you can perceive what an
accompaniment to his peculiar eloquence are the shakings
1 The title of the volume is " Au- Boom of the Dublin Institution, on
thenticatedBeport of the Discussion the 19th, 20th, 21st, 23rd, 24th,
which took place between the Bev. 25th of April, 1827." Dublin:
Bichard T. P. Pope and the Bev. B. Coyne, i827.
Thomas Maguire in the Lecture

chap, vi.] A right spirit in controversy. 27
of these fine natural curls. And his voice ! I never heard
such a voice. It does not appear to come from human
lungs. It seems to rise and roll forth from some deep*
seated and more capacious receptacle, resembling more the
full swells of the diapason tones of a cathedral organ than
the common measure of a human voice. There he sat
before the audience, after having gracefully bowed to it,
absorbed apparently in mental prayer and seeking grace
and aid from that Saviour whose cause he was about to
advocate, under whose banner he had enlisted himself a
faithful soldier and servant unto life's end." Then follows
a description of the priest ; after which Mr. Otway returns
again to the Protestant champion in these terms : " As for
Mr. Pope, if the rapid conception and evolutions of strong
points, if the possession of a happy tact whereby he suc
ceeded in throwing his adversary on the defensive when he
had hoped to rush onward in all the licence of offence ; — if
to suffer sometimes with astonishing patience impertinent
reproach, and at other times to fling back accusations with
tremendous sarcasm and triumphant refutation; — if all
these qualities suppose a good controversialist, then the
Protestants of Ireland may rejoice in such a champion.
But this was not all. For at times, constrained by divine
love, he forgot the polemic in the preacher, and burst forth
from the controversy as a butterfly would break from a
chrysalis, and with rapturous declamation on the glories of
Redeeming love, or the finished work done on Calvary, he
mounted to his proper sphere, and poured down such a tide
of eloquence. — the pure, Christian, heavenly eloquence — that
none but a Romish priest, a bigot priest, could stem the
torrent or refuse to give himself up to the current that
swept along, bearing all before it."
To AN AUNT. Harrow, June 13th, 1827.
I don't know if such is your experience, but I find
myself more and more inclined to converse with the past ; and

28 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
may truly say that amid much, very much, to be most thankful
for, amid great domestic comfort and engaged in occupations con
genial to my inclinations, I yet derive a very considerable portion
of my pleasure in life from conversing, as it were, with those who
have left it. I love to dwell upon their excellencies, upon their
affection for myself, and even upon those circumstances of trial
and difficulty in which we have jointly participated, and out of all
which it is my delight to indulge the hope that they have found a
happy issue. This last perhaps is the predominant feeling, for I
may truly say that the result of my reflections has never once been
a serious wish that any one of these beloved individuals had been
permitted to continue longer than they did in this state of ex
istence, with the prospects that in all fairness of human calculation
lay before them. The return of this month has reminded me that
it will have been ten years ago next Sunday (the 17th) that my
late beloved aunt and yourself paid me a visit at Oxford.1 That
date may perhaps be not improperly assigned as the commence
ment of a period of trials from which our family had been for a
considerable number of years exempted.
" Heaven from aB creatures hides the book of fate,
AU but the page prescribed — the present state."
Happily for us ! For if we could have seen then what the next
ten years would contain, we should have asked with the poet,
"Who could suffer being here below?"
As it is, by the great compassion of our heavenly Father, we have
been sustained through the many dark and gloomy hours and are
now living monuments of His mercy. And I am sure our serious
conviction must be that it was good for us and for ours to be
afflicted, we must see that goodness and mercy have attended us
still notwithstanding the most distressing appearances. And

'Mr. Phelps's mode of keeping his the year annexed. This plan cer-
journal was one especially adapted tainly brought the facts of life con-
to recall anniversary occurrences, stantly under the eye, although for
even the more trivial ones. The the biographer's purpose it has to
journal was arranged like a calen- be altered to a chronological ar-
dar, and the events were recorded rangement. He was fond of recur-
against the day of the month, with ring to it down to the close of his life.

chap, vi.] Rev. James Scott. 29
further, I am sure that what we have seen and felt was calculated
to teach us our duty for the future, namely to survey with the
sober eye of Christian philosophy whatever may occur to us in
this transitory scene, and reduce to their own very moderate di
mensions both the joys and the sorrows of this life, to trust a
reconciled God in Christ implicitly for all to come, and with
increased diligence to pursue that glory, honour, and immortality
of another and a better world. To AN AUNT. Harrow, July 31st, 1827.
Robert will have given you some account of my holiday
pupil, who has been with me now nearly a week. He is a very
agreeable nice young fellow to all appearances, but in a delicate
state of health. He is a grandson of the late Lord Eardley.1 He
is to be with me altogether between eight and nine weeks. You
will readily conceive that as Mr. C  is of two years' standing
at Christ Church, our reading is interesting to me as reviving
my Oxford studies. Besides this, his conversation throws me
back a good deal into my college associations and feelings, which
I think does me good.
From Rev. E. Hakbin.
October 25th, 1827.
I must now come to the immediate object which I have
at this time in writing to you, namely to communicate the painful
intelligence of the death of our dear friend Scott.2 It has pleased
the Lord to remove him from us after a very short illness. He
had been suffering from an attack of the small-pox, which appeared
to pass off very favourably, with the exception however of leaving
1 This Irish peerage, created in passed through the rocks on the
1782, became extinct in 1824. Lord romantic road by moonlight. "
Eardley's daughter, the Hon. Mrs. "September 9th. The collection,
Childers, is thus mentioned in Legh including two donations of ten
Bichmond's Journal : — guineas each from Lady E. Perceval
" 1814, September 7th. Went to and the Hon. Mrs. Childers, after
Matlock to preach there. Beturned my sermon last night amounted to
after service with Lady Elizabeth £40 9s. 6d.
Perceval and Mrs. Childers, and had 2 See page 16.
much Christian conversation as we

30 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
a pain in the side  Thus far the poor body. Whilst
the outward man decayed, the inward man was indeed renewed
day by day. Divine grace-shed abroad an astonishing peace and
calmness of soul ; yea, I never witnessed, nor do I recollect ever
to have heard, such a beautiful illustration of the Psalmist's
observation, — " Mark the perfect man and behold the upright :
for the end of that man is peace." It was truly a privilege to be
permitted to be with him, and it was pleasing to observe at the
closing scene all the persons at the thouse where he lodged as
sembled around his bedroom door to witness his peaceful and
happy state. It was very remarkable, as he himself noticed to
me, that on the day he was first taken he sat down to write a
sermon on Hebrew iv. 9, when he could get no further than
merely transcribing the text, little thinking he was so soon to
enter on the rest which he purposed to describe to his people.
The Lord seems to have blessed his labours to a considerable
extent and the Word of the Lord appeared to flourish through his
instrumentality. He had the care of Kingsdon for the last three
months, in addition to the parish of Kingweston, and it was at the
former place that the work of the Lord seemed so to prosper in
his hands. I have lost a friend and a brother, dear indeed in the
gospel of Christ.
I must now thank you for procuring for me Bingham's last
sermons. I wish I had some opportunity of remitting to you the
amount. I am to settle Scott's account with Bingham. You
intend coming into the country at Christmas 1 If so, we do
depend on your coming on to us. I need not say what pleasure
it would afford us to see you face to face. Do remember me most
kindly to your brother and friends at Wilton, and also to Monro.

From Rev. H. B. Tristkam.
Egglingham, November 21st, 1827.
For this last year I have been affected with a degree of
debility which has rendered me very much indisposed to writing,
and indeed unequal to much exertion. I had become very weak,
so that persons who came to see me said they never saw me look
so ill, when I was requested to officiate at the funeral of a gentle-

chap, vi.] The evidence of faith. 31
man of my parish at Cornhill, about twenty-three miles off. This
I was able to do. In returning in a post chaise alone, the driver
got off the seat as the horses were going up a hill, and lagged
behind. Being blood horses — belonging to a mail, which the
post-office had given up about a fortnight before, they soon set off
at a sharp pace and left the driver far behind. [Here follows a
minute account of the horses running away and coming into
collision with another carriage and Mr. Tristram's life saved as if
by a miracle — but with severe injury to him].
It was indeed a most merciful deliverance ; as all those around
me expressed themselves, quite miraculous. Their kindness was
exceedingly great in every respect. I think I have given you a
very long account of one of the most trying events of my life. I
have not written so much about it in all my letters put together.
My text on the next Sunday after my return home was from
Ps. cxvi. 12 — 14. I would walk before the Lord in the land of
the living, for I owe Him a second life.
On my bed of suffering I learnt more of the nature of true
Christian faith than I ever did before. Some passages in the
last volume of Scott's posthumous Letters and Papers came home
very forcibly to me. I saw more clearly than ever what the
faith of the believer is in opposition to the infidel, the self-
righteous, and the antinomian. I could have no peace or hope
except in Christ, nor in Him without the evidence of holiness
and actually walking in the path of obedience. Talking to my
man-servant a few weeks afterwards upon this point, he observed
— " Ah, Sir, you would not have felt so comfortable if you had
been after the hounds." What did I not feel for the error of
another person, who about the same period, talking highly about
privilege, and saying that the pulpit of the Church of England
was too much the pulpit of duty rather than privilege, main
tained that holy obedience to the will of God was no evidence to
the believer of his state; he might judge of the characters of others
by this test. So that a man living in the habitual practice of
gross iniquity may feel assured of his salvation, which is believing
— not against hope, but against the express word of God. . . .
I purpose to write another full sheet in reply to your last with
an account of my parish, &c.

32 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
To Mrs. Phelps at Harrow.
Wilton, Wednesday, December 19th, 1827.
Your letter reached me at Winchester1 on Saturday and
rejoiced me by the good account it brought of you all. The con
tents of the first page are, as you say, of some importance. They
have occupied my thoughts a good deal since I received your
welcome letter, and I have not yet been able to dispose of them
by coming to a positive decision, either by discarding the consider
ation altogether, or of following it up by making further inquiries
about it. Do you think you could make up your mind to follow
my misfortunes so far northward ?2 I suppose that at this moment
you may be in possession of the important Rugby information,
about which I am in total, and perhaps happy ignorance.3
The weather during my stay at Winchester was such as not to
admit of my looking much about me. Still I enjoyed the' visit
much, and was received with the greatest kindness and hospitality.
On Friday two of Mr. Zillwood's friends met me at dinner at his
house and they were persons whose acquaintance I was happy
with the opportunity of making. On Saturday I met a family
party at the Richardses, who made me very welcome and treated
me so handsomely that I almost began to fancy I must be a
personage of some importance.4 Mr. Wilson, of Southampton,
was very happy to see me of course. I slept at his house, and he
pressed me to stay another day; but as my visit here was likely to
be sufficiently short for the satisfaction of the Wiltonians, I
1 On a visit of a few days to Mr. became premier and at once com-
Zillwood, from Eriday December municated with the Bishop of Win-
13th, to Monday December 16th. Chester with a view to secure the
2 This refers to some idea of ap- next vacant stall in that cathedral
plying for the Edinburgh Academy. for his former tutor, to whom he
See the next letter. had been long and affectionately
3 Mr. Phelps was building some attached. On the 8th of August,
hopes of his own prospects on the after his brief tenure of office, Mr.
possible event of Mr. Batten's elec- Canning died; but this did not prove
tiontoBugby; he expected to obtain fatal to Mr. Bichards's prospects, as
some of Mr. Batten's pupils. We the new premier Lord Goderich
find an entry under Sept. 19th, shewed himself quite ready to carry
" Bugby walk with Batten to Ken- out the intentions of his late friend
ton," a spot north-east of Harrow. and predecessor. On December
• 4 The school had been since 1818 22nd Erancis North, having recently
under Mr. Bichards senior, who succeeded to the Earldom of Guild-
was now on the point of becoming a ford, resigned his stall, and Mr.
dignitary of the church. In April, Bichards was appointed to the va-
1827, his old pupil Mr. Canning cancy.

chap, vi.] A second pupil. 33
thought I ought to get forward. So, as you may suppose, we set
up to a late hour cozing.1
P.S. I have just heard that Mr. Arnold, a Corpus man,2 is the
successful candidate for Rugby.

To Rev. J. Hunter, Leamington.
Harrow, February 15th, 1828.
For the last month 1 have been more than usually busy,
having been called upon to assist Mr. Cunningham (who has been
confined to his house from lameness) by undertaking his Sunday
evening and Thursday evening lectures. Indeed I could not have
undertaken them if I had had to prepare written sermons, instead
of which I have for some time past adopted the plan of preaching
from brief notes. You know I am always gratified with an
opportunity of thus occasionally exercising my ministry.3
By the blessing of God I have now, as you know, a second
pupil in my house.4 Had Mr. Batten succeeded at Rugby, I
have reason to suppose that some of his boys would have been
placed under my care.
I am not insensible to the kind interest you take in my pros
pects, particularly in respect of the Edinburgh Academy. Further
consideration has confirmed me in the opinion that that was not
the sphere in which I was calculated to be most useful or most
happy. I knew a little of Mr. Williams who now vacates the
head mastership, as formerly an assistant to my old schoolmaster.5
Mr. Edwards, one of the assistant masters here, is one of the

i He went to Southampton on of James second Marquess of Aber-
Monday, December 17th, slept the corn and step-son of George fourth
night there, and proceeded to Wil- Earl of Aberdeen. " 1827. Novem-
ton the next day. ber 27th. Lord Aberdeen called." —
2 Did Corpus men then hold the Journal. Lord Aberdeen's chief
indelibility of their dear "C.C.C.," residence at this time was at Stan-
and believe that once a Corpus more Priory near Harrow. He was
man always a Corpus man? How an old Harrovian and now one of
unkind a cut to neighbour Oriel ! the governors. Lord Claud (as well
3 Since coming to Harrow he had as his brother the Marquess of
preached eleven times at Harrow Abercorn) was at Harrow when Mr.
Weald, commencing January 21st, Phelps first went there, and came
1827 ; and twenty-five times on the to him from another house, January
Hill, commencing February 12th, 14th, 1828.
1827. 6 See before, page 198, volume I.
4 Lord Claud Hamilton, brother
P

34

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

candidates. Should he succeed it may be of some service to me
by reducing the number of our masters.1 Another of my col
leagues, Mr. Mills, who has been here upwards of twelve years,
has become a candidate for the vacant mastership of Bury school.
His succeeding, I should think, would certainly be of service to
me.8 You see from these statements that Harrow is not in the most
thriving condition. I should be insincere were I to say that this
circumstance occasions me unmixed regret. I trust that the
severe shaking the school is receiving may give occasion for the
introduction of improvements upon the system of education,
which are much wanted.3
I feel at all events that should I be enabled to maintain my
ground here, my weight among my colleagues will be greater than
it would have been if the school had been as flourishing as it was
some time ago. Some amendments have already originated with
the upper masters since I have known Harrow, and I am not

1 He did not succeed; or he with
drew and applied for Bury St.
Edmunds, which he got. But why
should Mr. Edwards's removal be
expected to reduce the Harrow
staff? The vacancy would not re
quire filling up because the school
was going down. The 214 which
Mr. Phelps found in April 1826 had
become in successive Terms 193,
173, 160, 148, and now the number
was only 132.
2 He obtained the Exeter grammar
school some years after.
3 It was a sign of prevalent dis
satisfaction with the state of our
educational institutions at this pe
riod, that the London University
(to include a junior department or
school) was founded, by the exertions
of Lord Brougham and others, and
was now in course of erection. The .
first stone was laid April 30th, 1827,
and on October 1st, 1828, the build
ing was opened. Arnold wrote
(March 14th, 1828,) a month after
Mr. Phelps's letter: "Just before
I stood for Bugby, I had offered
myself as a candidate for the his
torical professorship at the London
University, and had indulged in

various dreams of attaching myself
to that institution, and trying as far
as possible to influence it. In Bugby
there is a fairer field, because I start
with greater advantages. You know
that I never ran down public schools
in the lump, but grieved that their
exceeding capabilities were not
turned to better account; and if I
find myself unable in time to mend
what I consider faults in them, it
will at any rate be a practical lesson
to teach me to judge charitably of
others who do not reform public in
stitutions as much as is desirable."
After his election he wrote to Mr.
Tucker, December 28th, 1827 : "Our
united warmest thanks to you and
to your sisters for the joy you have
felt about Bugby. Eor the labour
I care nothing, if God gives me
health and strength as he has for
the last eight years. But whether
I shall be able to make the school
what I wish to make it — I do not
mean wholly or perfectly, but in
some degree — that is, an instrument
of God's glory, and of the ever
lasting good of those who come to
it, that indeed is an awful anxiety."

chap, vi.] Hoping for Harrow. 35
without hope that this school may prove a public benefit. • The
system of classical education I consider to be exceedingly good,
and Harrow has certainly great local advantages.
I have not yet beard the busy note of preparation for any
charitable sale1 in these parts. When I do I will let you hear
from me. Mrs. Cunningham is a great acquisition to this place.
She is a superior woman and very pious and laborious.2 I rejoice
at the acquisition to your society at Leamington. I saw Sibthorp
in December, in the vestry of Percy chapel, after hearing him
preach there. He was very friendly, and said the sight of your
writing reminded him that he owed you a letter, which he hoped
soon to write.3

Not long after this date, namely at Easter, Mr. Phelps
wrote to Miss Frowd as follows :
" We have gone through the late campaign with our pupils in
a' comfortable manner, without an unpleasantness of any sort ; and
if their parents are as well satisfied as I am, it will be well. The
end of the last quarter was the period for the trial or general
examinatipn through the school. It will please you to hear that
two of my pupils are considered to have done very creditably. I
cannot help thinking that the school will revive and be greatly
improved by its fajl. Whether or not I may be able to keep my
ground here to witness it, I must leave with humble trust and

'A mode of relieving the great teen years' ministry at Percy Chapel.
distress prevailing about this time. It concluded October 5th, 1828.
On February 13th, 1828, there was Mr. Sibthorp took Percy Chapel for
a ball at the Guildhall, London, for Mr. Stewart in the autumn of 1825,
Spanish and Italian refugees, which and the latter on his return was re-
realized a thousand pounds. joiced to find that the congregation
2 Mr. Cunningham's first wife died had been much edified during his
in 1821. He married secondly in absence,, as we see stated in the Life
June, 1827, the lady mentioned in of Bev. J. Haldane' Stewart. In
the text, Mary, daughter of Lieut.- 1830 Mr. Sibthorp was appointed to
General Sir H. Calvert. He lost St. James's Chapel, Byde, which
her likewise in February, 1849, had been then just erected by Mr.
3 The Bev. B. Waldo Sibthorp. Hughes-Hughes, a resident county
See volume I. page 155. The Bev. magistrate and M.P. for the city
James Haldane Stewart was now of Oxford.
getting towards the close of his six-
P2

36 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
submission to the God of my fathers, who hath led me all my life
long unto this day."
To the Rev. R. T. P. Pope.
Harrow, March 2ith, 1828.
My dear friend, I cannot allow the present opportunity of forwarding a
letter to Cork to pass without reminding you by a hasty line that
you retain the place you ever held in my affectionate remembrance,
and that a separation now of considerable duration has not dimi
nished my desire to be kindly regarded by you.
I should be much gratified if I could have the means of hearing,
either by a letter from yourself or from some other quarter, in
what department of pursuit or study your regular and habitual
occupation runs : and also what has been the state of your health
for some time past.
I have little to tell you of myself. You know me to be
engaged in the humble and uniform employment of a school
master ; and as far as I know myself I think I am following the
line of duties for which I am best calculated. To the higher and
nobler duties of the Christian ministry I should not hesitate to
give the preference did I feel myself called upon to judge between
the two. I am not unfrequently requested to assist our vicar
Mr. Cunningham and other clergymen; and I feel on such
occasions that it is a real and most undeserved privilege to be
permitted to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.
It would afford me sincere delight to be once more in your
company ; that we might relate to each other some of the ways
by which a mysterious Providence has been leading us severally
onward — I trust — in the way of life. I feel assured that however
our experience in other points may have differed, on topics of the
most vital interest that have most habitually exercised our regard
for the last ten or twelve years, there would be found an unison
that would cause our hearts to burn within us by the way. But
I find it necessary to bring my letter to a conclusion. Pray
remember me very kindly to your good father" and mother, and
believe me always, in the bonds of the everlasting gospel, your
affectionate friend and brother,
W. W. Phelps.

chap, vi.] Missionary sermon at St. Bride's 37
To AN AUNT. Harrow, May 12th, 1828.
Mr. Batten drove me up to London last Monday evening
to hear the Bishop of Winchester preach ' in behalf of the Church
Missionary Society, when I was very much gratified. You can
scarcely form a conception of the respectable and numerous con
gregation that filled every cranny of a very large church ; and
when all rose together and sung as from one heart from thou
sands of voices — " Jesus shall reign where'er the sun,''
accompanied by a fine powerful organ, the effect was something
almost too overpowering. It was very gratifying to see a Bishop
of our church, and possessing the known talents of the present
Bishop of Winchester, stand up in such a cause. His sermon will
be printed and I hope do much good. God grant that it may be
instrumental, under His divine blessing, in sweeping away to the
moles and to the bats much of that poor, miserable, wretched,
contemptible prejudice and apprehension and unbelief that have
hitherto kept many amiable and respectable members of our own
church from stepping forward to join in the furtherance of one of
the noblest objects that ever engaged the hands or hearts of man
kind, the cause of God Himself and His express command —
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature."

From a former Fellow of Corpus.
Monday, June 9th, 1828.
My dear Phelps,
To think of such impertinence ! As if you were not as
unprincipled a wretch as myself in regard of letter writing. But
we will not trouble about that now ; but I was very glad to
receive your letter, and you must be very glad when you receive

1 The anniversary sermon at St. Tomline, after having held the see
Bride's was this year preached on of Llandaff for eighteen months).
May 5th, by Dr. Charles Bichard His text was Bomans xii, 5. Three
Sumner the new Bishop of Winches- years previously his brother the
ter (elected December 7th, 1827, in Bishop of Chester had been the
succession to Dr. George Pretyman- preacher.

38 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
this, and that will settle the question very satisfactorily for us
both. I heartily congratulate you on the birth of your little
child. We have been established here since September last. It
is a large straggling parish, full of weavers and beggary, plenty of
methodists but few or no radicals, so we jog on very comfortably
all together. ¦>
It pleases me to hear the like of you. That young pupil of
yours, Lord C. Hamilton, I had heard of before as being rather
a superior sort of a youth.1 Do you ever meet with any of our
Oxford friends 1 Menzies has an uncle living not very far from
here, whom he occasionally visits, and then he favours us also
with a little portion of his company. He is looking out for a
curacy on which he may reside, together with his parents.
Sankey you know (I dare say) stays in college, and I saw by
the Oxford paper that he is just put into the little-go. Algernon
Grenfell rode over with Menzies, with whom he was staying in
the winter, and we have some hope that he may repeat his visit
in the course of the summer. He is a very nice person, in my
poor judgment. Firth has been here; he came to assist me on
Christmas day and seemed very comfortable. But I rather wish
that he were established on a college living, as a person may have
too much even of such a good thing as a fellowship, don't you
think so, master Philip 1 As to Tucker and Cornish, one is in
the east and the other in the west ; and I rather think that the
one's sister and the other's brother are at Fairford at this present
writing. You will be glad to know that my father is still pretty strong,

'After a brief half-year in Mr. with you, I cannot help being anxious
Phelps's house, Lord Claud left in that when my son Haddo goes to
the summer of this year, at the age Harrow he should have the same
of fifteen, as a threatening of iB advantage." Lord Haddo, who was
health made it advisable he should born September 28th, 1816, did not
not spend another winter at Harrow, go to Harrow, but became a private
and Lord Aberdeen had decided to pupil of Mr. Henry Elliott at Brigh-
place him with the private tutor ton and afterwards of Mr. E. B.
with whom his elder brother Lord Elliott at Tuxford, by whom his
Abercorn (who had left Harrow in Memoir was published in 1866. Lord
the summer of 1827, being then Aberdeen's younger sons Alexander
fourth monitor) was residing. In and Douglas subsequently became
removing his younger stepson his Mr. Phelps's pupils at Harrow, and
Lordship expressed to Mr. Phelps several entries in Mrs. Phelps's brief
his great reluctance, adding— "after diary record visits paid by Lord
what I have known of his situation Claud to his former tutor at Harrow.

chap, vi.] The Christian Year 39
considering his age, and that my sister has on the whole been in
better health this year than some former. You have probably
heard that Cornish's youngest sister Cornelia is married to Bishop
Ryder's son.1 They will live at a place called Tarvin, in Cheshirej
I believe. Mr. George is still at Packcombe, which has, we hear,
been much improved — I mean the house, and I should like very
well to see them all again.
You don't tell me a bit about your goings on at Harrow, nor
whether you have any curacy, or any friends, or any thing else ;
nor whether you are acquainted with Mr. Cunningham. So I
desire when you write next you will give ine a straightforward
account of all and each of the above matters. I would recommend
you a book entitled " Warton's Death-bed Scenes," as you must like
it. It is written by the Rector of Fulham under a feigned name,
at least so we are told.2  's book has got to the fourth edition,
I believe, and he has added some poems for the state holidays as
they are called, and also for some other days.3 He is at present
in London visiting Coleridge, and I wish he could contrive to see
you when he is so little way from you.
1 Henry Dudley Byder. The Museum catalogue is similarly mea-
marriage took place April 30th, gre. Keble College ought certainly
1828. Tarvin is five miles east to possess a complete set, and Mr.
from Chester. Keble's friends will probably see
2 " Death-bed scenes and pastoral that it shall. Only the first edition
conversations, by Dr. John War- was in two volumes, and it appears
ton," six volumes 12mo., 1828. The to have been published June 20th,
rectory (as distinguished from the 1827, not in July as commonly
vicarage) of Fulham was a sinecure, stated. On June 22nd Mr. Keble
and at this time was held by the announced to Mr. Coleridge that
Bev. William Wood. there was a copy on its way to him.
3 The early editions of The Chris- The preface or Advertisement is
tian Year (the book here referred to) dated May 30tb. The fac-simile
are getting comparatively scarce. also says that the second edition
Neither the British Museum nor the came out at the end of December,
Bodleian Library contains the first 1827, and that the third edition,
edition, but only the fac-simile published in 1828, contained the six
of it struck off in 1868. We have poems on Prayer at Sea, Gunpowder
been told by Mr. Edward Edwards Treason, King Charles, The Bes-
(an authority on public libraries) toration, The Accession, Ordination.
that there is nothing like a com- In the second edition (a copy of
plete series of the editions to be which, in octavo, has been shewn
found anywhere in Oxford, the Bod- us by the Bev. J. E. Bobinson, vicar
leian containing only six very late of Chieveley, who also possesses the
ones, namely the 35th and 36th fourth edition) there was a new
(1849), the 43rd (1854), the 53rd stanza inserted in the poem for the
(1858), the 98th (1866), and thefac- 22nd Sunday after Trinity, begin-
simile of the 1st (1868). The British ning—
" It must be so ; else wherefore falls.*'

40 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
You don't tell me any thing about Wilton; nor whether
George Taunton illuminates Salisbuiy Plain with those shining
trowsers of his. So I don't tell you anything but the above lot
of pure scribble, affording neither amusement nor improvement.
My wife joins me in kind regards and congratulations, and
that I am your affectionate friend, . 
TO HIS BROTHER Mr. JOHN PHELPS.
Harrow, June 23rd, 1828.
I conclude that I may now congratulate you on your
admission to Holy Orders,1 which I do with gratitude to that
kind Providence which has thus removed your difficulties and
crowned your patience even beyond your sanguine expectations.
May the same compassionate God make this solemn event an
eternal blessing to yourself and to many, and cause you to be an
able and willing minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I need not tell you that I look upon the event of your ordination
with peculiar interest ; as being in some sense the consummation
of your university education which commenced eight years ago
from the 12th day of this month. "What mercies have not at
tended us since that period ! We have indeed been through some

Also in the 4th Sunday in Advent, the two opening lines—
" Oft as I gaze on landscape fair,
In thought I feel me poor and base,"
were altered in the second edition fifth stanzafor the 11th Sunday after
to their present reading. In the Trinity, the last two lines, —
" Shall feel the o'erflowing whirlwind sweep,
And will the blessed angels weep ?,"
were " in the fifth edition changed l Mr. John Phelps had since Jan.
to their present form. These were 1824 conducted the Wilton School.
aU the additions and alterations, He took his B.A. November 29th,
except perhaps some merely verbal 1824. On the 7th of May, 1828, the
and unimportant ones, until the Bev. Henry Venn Elliott of Brighton
well-known and remarkable sub- wrote to offer him the curacy of Bur-
stitution made after Mr. Keble's combe close to Wilton, and on June
death in the Gunpowder Treason 1st following Mr. Phelps was or-
poem. Many will recollect the dained. Mr. Elliott had then been
explosion which followed on that minister of St. Mary's Chapel, Brigh-
substitution. Archdeacon Phelps ton, since January 18th, 1827. He
had many of the poems in his was also non-resident Incumbent
possession before they appeared in of Burcombe. In 1829 Mr. John
print. The fifth and eighth editions Phelps succeeded to the Incum-
are in his library. bency, which he held till 1845.

chap, vi.] The Pond House. 41
deep waters, but they were not permitted to overwhelm us. The
God of all comfort hath helped us hitherto, and by His goodness
we yet live (I humbly hope) to trust and praise Him while we
have our being.
The same day he wrote this letter Mr. Phelps's attention
was attracted to the house which Dr. Butler originally sug
gested to him, but which was taken by Mr. Edwards. The
latter was now moving to Bury St. Edmunds1 and the house
was again vacant. He was not long making up his mind ;
he signed the lease, and on his wedding-day moved into the
new abode.2 It was a very pleasant detached residence,
somewhat down the hill, looking out upon a spacious lawn,
away from the village, but convenient enough to the school.
The Harrow Pond close by was then a necessity of that hilly
region, and was doubtless a much more noticeable object
than it is now when improvements in the Harrow hydro
graphy have thrown it into neglect and all but into oblivion.
On the 4th of August he took his wife and children into
Wiltshire for the summer vacation, during which he visited
some of his friends within reach, making also a personal
acquaintance with Mrs. Hannah More.3 Returning to Har-
1 See before, page 7. Mr. Ed- House, as it was called, with two
wards remained head master of pupils, Hoare and Acland.
Bury St. Edmunds until-1841 when 3 "August 9th. To Mrs. More at
he became Professor of Greek (with Clifton. 10th. Heard Bobert Hall.
Canonry annexed) in the University 12th. To Hunter at Leamington.
of Durham. He was succeeded by 15th. Saw Warwick Castle. 16th.
Dr. Donaldson at Bury. From Leamington to Bisley to see
2 " 1828, June 23rd. Thought T. Keble."— Journal. There had
seriously of Edwards's house. Tea then recently issued (in 1827) from
with him. July 1st. Signed lease the press of Mr. Nichols, but not
of Edwards's house. July 8th. My published, and anonymously, some
dear wife and I entered on our new fine Lines written at Warwick Castle,
residence at two in the morning." — enriched with archseologieal notes
Journal. He entered the Pond and engravings of the great vase.
The opening line is —
" I leave thee, Warwick, and thy precincts grey,"
beneath the motto — " rura quae Liris quieti
mordet aqua taciturnus amnis. "
And who that ever viewed that left to swell the number of pictu-
venerable and magnificent pile above resque ' ruins ' !
the Avon but hopes it may not be

42 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
row he received his new pupil,1 (his third, reckoning Lord
Claud) the cousin of his first, a son of Sir Thomas Acland.

From Rev. E. Jacob.2
Gloucester, September 6th, 1828.
Your letter interested me much ; and although I sin
cerely rejoice to find you placed in those circumstances which
would scarcely admit of my being of any immediate use to you, I
have great pleasure in complying with your wish by giving you a
distincter view of my own.
Like yourself, I have had (so it has pleased the allwise Dis
poser of all things) my trials and anxieties, and have never been
enabled to realize toy own fond dream of a rural parsonage and a
competent income without the disturbance of cares foreign to my
pastoral charge.
I left Gloucester for Clifton, whence I was ere long summoned
by an invitation to accept the preceptorship of a seminary about
to be founded in the neighbourhood of Stanstead (the seat of Mr.
Lewis Way) for the education of missionaries to the Jews.3 For
this appointment I could not feel myself qualified, but at the re-
1 Henry Wentworth Acland, the (for the Latin oration) of Sir Bobert
future Professor and sanitary re- Peel's foundation. He took a double
former, who in after years presented first at Christ Church in 1831.
his old tutor with a copy of his * Edwin . Jacob, Gloucestershire
Oxford Museum. Mr. Phelps was Scholar of C.C.C. ; Second Class
indebted for this introduction to 1814. He resided at Oxford until
Mrs. Hannah More, as we gather 1818 the year before Mr. Phelps
from a. Barley Wood letter as far took his degree. He was then
back as October 18th, 1827. Sir ordained and became curate of St.
Thomas Acland was himself an old Michael's, Gloucester (1818-1820)^;
Harrovian of Dr. Drury's time, con- curate of Clifton 1820-21.
temporary with Lord Byron and Sir 3 The Bev. Lewis Way was a
Bobert Peel. He was one of the gentleman of fortune residing at his
numerous and distinguished assem- seat in Hampshire, and a munificent
bly present on the speech-day of friend of the Jewish cause. He
1820, when the new school-room rescued the London Jews Society
was opened and the first prize poems from its early difficulties and became
of Dr. Butler's gift were recited by its second founder. The Bev. J.
Isaac Williams and others. His Haldane Stewart came to occupy
eldest son and successor in the title, Stanstead Park and take Mr. Way's
Thomas Dyke the present baronet, duty in October 1821 and was deep-
was captain of the school when Mr. ly interested in this seminary. See
Phelps joined the staff after Easter, his Life page 111, where Mr. Jacob
1826, and he left the following sum- is mentioned.
mer, after winning the first medal

chap, vi.] King's College, N. Brimswick. 43
commendation of the Bishop of Lichfield and other friends I
consented to receive it. I held it five years, a time of some use
fulness, I may certainly say, but (on various accounts) of as Uttle
personal comfort as can well be conceived. Mr. Way having then
offered his estate for sale and left England, and the institution
being about to be removed to the neighbourhood of London, I
availed myself of the opportunity to resign my charge, and re
mained in the same place as curate of the parish. This happened
in the summer of 1826. In the autumn of 1827 the small living'
which I now hold became vacant, and the patron (who is my
particular friend) presented me to it. Here I consequently con
sidered myself fixed for some years at least, and had formed my
plans accordingly ; but before another year had gone by a greater
change than all which had preceded has been proposed to me. At
the end of June I went into Gloucestershire, to visit my parents.
Five days only after my arrival my father breathed his last. The
first post after his departure to his final rest (of which I had the
happiest assurance) brought me a letter, asking me if I was pre
pared to accept the Vice-Presidentship of King's College in the
Province of New Brunswick. The college is just now founded by
Royal Charter with all the privileges of an university, and the
appointment proposed to me is that of its actual head and con
ductor. I do not however expect to sail before the spring.
To HIS mother. Harrow, October 16th, 1828.
1 have now a few minutes at my disposal, but am so
miserably supplied with pen and ink that I really do not know
that I shall be able to get on. I may truly say with the old song
" Little can you understand, how hard it is to write."
Although my pen resembles a faggot-stick and my ink mud I
know that the mere attempt at a letter will be welcome to you,
and I feel that you will not regard putting on your spectacles in
order to decipher the scrawl that brings you a good account of us
all, especially of Robert, who I am happy to say is not only quite
well but also exerting himself very creditably. Many thanks for
your nice letters ; your last was peculiarly pleasing to me, as it
1 St. Pancras, Chichester.

44 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
dwelt upon themes of everlasting importance. How "good and
gracious is the Lord ; therefore shall He teach sinners in the
way." What cause for endless gratitude it is that He should con
descend to bring us at any period of our lives to a sense of our
own unworthiness and to a heartfelt reception of the Gospel !
When we consider the natural indifference and insensibility of
all hearts, not excepting our own, to these vital subjects, and when
we reflect on past days of levity and vanity and a trifling or
worldly mind, in the midst of which we might have been cut off!
How ought we to bow before God in penitence and gratitude !
Not a repining thought should be entertained for a moment but
banished forth from our bosoms at once, as unworthy of ourselves
and dishonourable to so good and gracious a God. Not a care
should obtrude, but we cast it all upon Him, making this our
main concern, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling,
and to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
To Rev. J. Hunter.
Harrow, February 10th, 1829.
Many thanks to you, my dear friend, for the volumes
you have so kindly added to my library. Owen's treatise I shall
value highly on every account. You will be pleased to hear that
a kind Providence has added to my number of pupils two sons of
Dr. Monro of Bedford Place, who were boarders with their uncle
whilst he continued curate of Harrow.1 I think it not improbable
1 See page 317, the first volume. don, where he succeeded the Bev.
The Bev. Bobert Monro left, De- Henry Budd at the Bridewell Hos-
cember 4th, 1828, for Cheltenham pital. He also became one of the
where he became curate to the Bev. secretaries of the Beligious Tract
Francis Close. He buried two in- Society. In 1850 he accepted the
fant sons at Harrow, Bobert and Bectory of Aston Sandford, and we
Bobert Hugh, who died respectively believe he died in or about 1858.
September 14th, 1825, and January His wife died at Bushey near Wat-
24th, 1827. Perhaps these losses ford, Herts, April 8th, 1832. The
induced him to quit the keen air of Archdeacon's library contains a pre-
Harrow. His two nephews had sentation copy of the Harveian Ora-
been Mr. Phelps's out-pupils since tion, delivered June 26, 1834, by Dr.
midsummer, 1827. Edward, the Edward Thomas Monro mentioned
eldest of these, was subsequently in the text. After passing in re-
well known as a clergyman at Har- view all the great benefactions of
row Weald and afterwards at Leeds. medical science in England, the
He died December 13th, 1866, aged orator had the honour of being able
fifty-one. Bobert Monro in 1831 to conclude with the mention of his
removed from Cheltenham to Lon- own father.

CHAP. VI.] Oxford University pulpit. 45
that two of Dr. Butler's pupils will come to me when he leaves at
Easter ;* and Lord Aberdeen will, I understand, send his son to
me, either at" Easter or midsummer.2 I subjoin a sketch of my
resources in the last year. ... I feel convinced that you will
not consider these minutiae obtrusive or impertinent, nor think
a few moments' consideration of them any time thrown away, if it
may lead to any suggestion from your greater experience of the
world, which may by possibility prevent my committing myself in
any matter or bringing discredit upon myself or my Christian pro
fession in money matters ; which I feel that one may do before
one is aware of it.
You will be pleased to hear that I heard from Filleul last week,
whose health is so far restored that he is able to resume his labours
in the ministry and with considerable encouragement.
By the blessing of God I performed my Oxford visit and de
livered my Master's message with much comfort to myself.3 Being
vacation time the congregation was extremely small. I thought
very much of you and other dear friends at Oxford. The Hills
were not at home  Your ever affectionate friend, W. W. P.
From Rev. H. B. Tristram,
Egglingham, March 19th, 1829.
Since the severe injuries I received4 in August, 1827,
my health has been gradually improving by the blessing of God on
regularity and care in my way of living. I do not think I was
ever so well in my life. I think also the near approach to death
— indeed I believed I was dying when I lay almost speechless by
1 See further on. were attended by thin and listless
2 His Lordship's stepson Lord congregations even in term time. If
Claud Hamilton had left. Seep. 38 any M. A. thus summoned was not
3 " 1829, January 1st. Preached inclined to accept the honour, his
at Oxford before the University. " — place was taken by some resident
Journal. His text was Bom. ii. 28, M.A. Subsequently to this date
29. The. occasion of this sermon the university made other provi-
was Mr. Phelps's " preaching-turn." sions to supply such vacancies as
Every Oxford M.A. was called on occurred, by appointing certain
in turn to preach in the university " select preachers " who took all un-
pulpit, receiving an honorarium for accepted preaching-turns. During
his expenses. But at this period, this visit Mr. Phelps breakfasted
before the rise of the Traptarian with the President of his old college,
controversy, very little interest was Dr. Bridges.
shewn in university sermons, which 4 See before, page 31.

46 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
the road-side and in great danger for some days on my bed — these
things and my merciful restoration to better health have taught
me much. I learned in danger and agony what true faith was,
and was much strengthened in it. I feel more dependence upon
God for everything for time and eternity. This removes my
most anxious thoughts, and I am determined to conform myself
to all God's commands and to live to His glory. The Scriptures
are more valued by me ; and I find by a regular attentive reading
and expounding of a small portion of them daily more insight into
the revealed will of the Lord than ever I had. I see the impor
tance of not being as children tossed to and fro and carried about
by every wind- of doctrine by the sleight of men. After all,
though I have learned much, I am but a learner. But I am
pressing on. I read many books to judge of. The Book of the
Lord is not to be judged but to be believed and obeyed ; and I
believe the blessing of God upon the Word of God is the only
sure means of wisdom.
At present I have no curate ; but I do double duty with more
ease than the half formerly. Our schools prosper : we have about
one hundred Sunday scholars. The congregation fills the church,
which is improved in accommodation and comfort. This winter
it has been warmed by a stove and flue. My engagements are
incessant ; for I have to look after everything and do the church
wardens' duty as well as my own, or nothing is done.
We had an addition to our family in October, a daughter,
making our children five. I do not think we are likely to move
to the south this year. But if you come north, we shall hope to
see you. I- should like to meet and have some conversation about
you and your situation. I hope you will not persevere if it does
not keep you out of difficulties. The ministry of God's Word
with the poorest maintenance is more honourable than any other
situation. As to pupils, I can do little for you. The gentry in
this neighbourhood do not send many sons to public schools in the
south, and I have very little intercourse with them.
Believe me to remain your affectionate and faithful friend,
H. B. Tristram.
Harrow was now changing its head master. For some
reason the prosperity of the school had long been on the

CHAP. VI.]

New head-master.

47

decrease, as the preceding pages have indicated.1 We have
not observed anywhere a reflection cast on the efficiency of
Dr. Butler as a master, but at the breaking up for Christmas,
1828, he notified to the Governors on December 9th his
intention to resign his post.2 Both Mr. Batten and Mr.
Drury were named among his possible successors. As the
election drew near we find Mr. Phelps (in an undated frag
ment) writing to his aunt — " Mrs. Batten felicitates me, as
she says it must be of advantage and increase my numbers
should Drury succeed, but much more if her husband does;"
and then he adds playfully — " so you see it is in the fates
that a great rush of boys is to come down upon me.
Wherever shall I stow them all away ? That's the question
now." However it was thought best to appoint one unconnected
with the present staff, and on March 21st; 1829, Mr. Charles
Thomas Longley, an Oxford first-class man of 1815, was
elected.3 On the 2nd of April Dr. Butler gave a grand
dinner to the boys, and after Easter his .successor com
menced his duties with only 114 boys.4

1 Among Mr. Phelps's manu
scripts are careful lists of theHarrow
boys in the several terms arranged
according to their forms, from which
we are enabled to trace the numeri
cal decline with precision. At Eas
ter, 1826, the number of boys was
214, and at Christmas only 193. In
1827 there were at Easter 173, at
Midsummer 160, at Christmas 148.
In 1828 there were 132 at Easter,
142 at Midsummer, 127 at Christ
mas. At the Easter vacation in
in 1829 there were 124, of whom 14
did not return. Dr. Joseph Drury,
Dr. Butler's predecessor, had brought
the school up to 350 and more.
Going further back, we find that in
1760, under ~Dr. Bobert Sumner, the
number was 250, higher than had
ever been known previously.
2 Dr. Butler retired to his living
of Gayton. In 1842, when his old
Cambridge rival was in office as
Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst, he suc

ceeded Dr. Turton in the Deanery
of Peterborough, to which he was
admitted on November 25th. With
this preferment he still continued
to hold his Northamptonshire rec
tory, and on April 30th, 1853, he
died at his deanery. In 1857 his
daughter Catherine married Dr. J.
Bowen, the devoted Bishop of Sierra
Leone, and died August 4th, 1858.
3 The only instance (since the be
ginning of the 18th century) of an
under-master succeeding as head
was Dr. James Cox (1730-59).
1 Ten had retired with Dr. Butler
and four new ones had entered.
We may be pardoned for noticing
that one of these recruits was Mark
Bichard Jukes, afterwards married
to the lady whose memoir was pub
lished by Mrs. Gilbert under the
title of The Earnest Christian. His
elder brother Andrew, author of
The Law of the Offerings had been
in the school since Midsummer, 1827 .

48 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Miss Sarah Frowd to Mrs. Phelps.
Clifton, (at Mrs. Hannah More's),
[about April 15th, 1829.]
I had much longed, I confess, to hear of the appointment
of Mr. Batten to the head-mastership, for I had in that case looked
for a considerable turn out from his establishment into yours. I am
however glad for smaller things, and that you have another boy
coming in after Easter gave me great pleasure. Sir Thomas
Acland spoke very highly of Mr. Phelps when he was here the
other day. Miss T. wrote in a late letter that her brother (who
is under Mr. Batten) said that " Mr. Phelps's is thought by far
the best house after Mr. Batten's," which (Miss T. adds) being his
own he of course prefers to any.
There is a very interesting little book just come out by Mr.
Roberts the barrister (the Misses Roberts's brother) entitled The
Portraiture of a Christian Gentleman. It is a truly able and
Christian work. Do, dear Mr. Phelps, mention it among your
learned friends lay and clerical. I wish it to lie upon every
drawing-room table. The price is six shillings. Mrs. Hannah
More's kindest regards to you and Mr. Phelps.
From an old pupil.
Camp, thirty miles from Benares, May 1st, 1829.
My dear Mr. Phelps,
It is now so long since I received your letter that I
think you may be disposed to pardon my troubling you again by
replying to it. After being stationed in the neighbourhood of
Calcutta upwards of two years, our regiment was ordered to march
to Allahabad and Juanpore, half of the corps to each place. It
fell to my lot to be kept with the head quarters of the regiment
which is stationed at Juanpore. [Here follows a description of
the country and his duties.]
I like the country still, but often " cast a longing lingering
look behind " to old England. I derive great amusement and I
may say comfort from my Latin and Greek, both of which I have
taken to for some time with an ardour that would, I think,
astonish you. I found till I took to them a great vacuum in the
day, which I could not tell how to employ, as I took a dislike to
card-playing long ago, which is the chief occupation of men here

chap, vi.] An old pupil. 49
in.the.-hot days; I; eagerly; followed it for some time, till I got so
expert at all kinds of games that I found, the novelty cease and I
took a- dislike to it and have given it over entirely., This and my
reading Horace so frequently has gained me the name of " book
worm," which you, who remember what an idle chap I used to be
will hardly think I deserve. I have also made great progress in
the Ars Pun-ica, according to Thomas Hood, and bear a high
character in the mess-room for being able to stop a quarrel with a
pun, tell a story, give a line for the quantity of a word, or quote
Latin and Greek with most men in the service. I have been for
tunate since. I came to the country in, having never lost either a
friend or acquaintance when made, or had an unpleasant word.
with anybody ;, however this I cannot attribute to myself. There
is- nothing I miss so much since leaving Calcutta as female
society., There is not a lady at the station with us, and I, who
used to bear a. very good character among the ladies in Bengal,
am likely to become regularly a savage, or what we term jungley,,
from. jungle, which signifies a thick forest. Horses and, dogs are
still my great favourites. I have a considerable number of both,
and at this very time there is a pointer at my feet, just arrived
from England,, who is puffing and blowing and looks as if he
thought, with Alexander Selkirk, that he would rather be a
plebeian among the curs, at home than a patrician dog as he
is "in this horrible, place,,"
I. observed, some days ago your brother Johnfs marriage an
nounced. Am I mistaken? If not,, pray offer him my warmest
wishes for his happiness,, and assure him that I often think with
the greatest pleasure on the days, we spent together, and hope yet,
" for hope attends us, still," to see both you and him ere I die. I have
often had thoughts of returning to England, but yet in spite of these
' dull times of peace when no distinction is to be gained', I stay, in
hopes that war may again break out in some part of our Indian terri
tories ; or that the Russians, succeeding better than they deserve,
will at last reach India, when a man who distinguishes himself
may have a chance of being rewarded by an extra step in rank,
or medal, or something of the kind, instead of, as it is now with
us, receiving bare thanks from our worshipful masters the shop
keepers of Leadenhall Street, and perhaps a reprimand for being
too forward.

50 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
About three years after the date of this letter Mr. Phelps
received another letter from this old pupil, from which we
may be allowed to make a few extracts, as they shew that
a tutor's conscientious pains are often strongly impressed ¦
upon a youth's heart and gratefully remembered in after
years. He repeats, with much self condemnation, the fact
of his having grievously erred on first coming to India, but
that he had had resolution enough to withdraw from his
associates and study his own higher welfare.
"I have now before me" (he writes October 9th, 1831, from
Juanpore) " the most flattering testimonials of good conduct from
the officers under whom I have served, together with certificates
of character as a good and assiduous officer and one who is
thoroughly acquainted with the various languages used in these
our eastern dominions, which are the Persian, Hindostanee, and
Devanagree. You, my dear sir, who knew me and my idle habits,
will probably wonder what could have had sufficient power to make
me act as I have done. I was certainly not without a motive. I had
as a boy been attached to a girl in England previous to my coming
out to this country. I am not going to inflict a love story upon
you but will confine myself to what occurred to me here. I was
stationed near Calcutta. I was tired of myself, my associates, and
the life I was leading, which I felt was not a suitable one for me ;
when just previous to my marching, in 1828, from Calcutta I
happened to meet the above mentioned lady, who had just arrived
from England. I saw her for about five minutes. I marched
with my regiment, and became from that day an altered being.
Last year I revisited Calcutta, and much to the surprise of all my
friends I appeared as I now am. I knew the oriental languages
and had read over again almost all my schoolbooks, and many
others in Latin. I had not been long in Calcutta when I was
discovered to be the author of a series of literary papers in one
of the periodical publications, and received an offer from the
publishers of the editorship of a weekly literary journal. This
my professional avocations would not allow me to accept, except
pro tempore ; I conducted and remodelled the journal, and when
I was obliged to leave Calcutta about three months ago to rejoin
my corps, I carried with me the strongest assurances of speedy

chap, vi.] Energy. 51
and honourable employment, and a promise from the aforesaid
lady that she would become my wife. I am now (in consequence
of my regiment being ordered to the fort of Agra) about to leave
the corps for some months. I propose visiting Calcutta, and am
in high hopes of immediately obtaining some appointment on the
staff or else (which has always been my aim) a political appoint
ment. Immediately upon . my succeeding in getting either of
these appointments I shall become a benedict, of which you shall
receive due intimation. And now I must make my excuse for
thus egotistically filling half a sheet of paper, which is, that know
ing the trouble I had cost you, I thought it but fair to give you
intimation of my success, being confident that you would feel
interested in the welfare of your old pupil. Here in the jungles,
at a small station where I am together with half a regiment, we
have built a church, a theatre, and a billiard room, and have
established two schools, which are thriving. Our audiences are
not very large, you may suppose. Our regimental surgeon and
myself have a small printing-press, which is now working, throw
ing off playbills for our " last performance " here, as the corps
marches in a month. The playbills form only an interlude ; for
the more solid work of the press is a book entitled — The political
economy of New South Wales and Van Diemen's land. But now
to turn to yourself and family. Are you likely to continue at
Harrow ? Do you like the life there 1 By the bye I have Mills'
translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses lying on the table before me,
lent me by an old pupil of his at (I believe). Buntingford. I hope
your family are all quite well. Pray remember me most kindly
to them. If ever I revisit England (but which I scarcely now
ever expect to do) they will if possible be amongst those whom
I shall first visit. What has become of Parnell 1 and Kingscote 1
 might be of some service in the house, if' he joins the proper
party. I do not mean the whigs or radicals, so you may easily
guess the politics which are grateful to me. Tories are but rarce
aves in this country, where radicalism flourishes as luxuriantly as
herbage in the rainy season. Nothing good has a chance of grow
ing so fast. We shall see whether it be not as short-lived as that
same herbage. Pray write whenever you have leisure. God bless
you, my dear Sir. Your sincere friend and obedient servant,  ,
e2

5% Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
From Rev. G. Harbin.1
Odcombe,,Jime 10th, 182&
My veiy dear friend,
I am quite, grieved that your kind remembrance, of me
and mine should have remained so long unnoticed. At. the; same
time I received it I expected that circumstances would have obliged
me to visit London, and I assure you the only thing that rendered
the contemplated trip desirable was the opportunity it would have
afforded me of reaching Harrow, where I should have rejoiced
to see face to face friends.to whom I feel myself bound with an
inseparable union.
July 8th. Ten o'clock at night. Whilst I was engaged in
writing to you three weeks ago I was interrupted, and I am deter
mined to steal an hour from the pillow. I seem to myself as if
you were by my side, and memory brings before me a realizing
view of such an enjoyment in days that are past. Often, believe
me, do I retrace those happy moments when we- were permitted to,
take sweet counsel together and walk as friends, yea to be instru
mental of quickening each other on our journey Zionwards.
Those were days I never expect so fully to enjoy again, but still
we are one with our common Head, and if I am not deceived, our
pulse of affection beats as firmly as ever. Let us give full proof of
it, by continually bearing each other and ours on our hearts at the
throne of grace.
Has your mind been at all directed to the subject of prophecy ?
I am not prepared to go the length to which many good men have
proceeded yet still I am desirous of learning the important truth
that my Lord and Master is coming, especially as taught not only
in His own Word but also by the dealings of His providence. I
trust I have found that the realizing the fact by faith has a ten
dency to- sanctify and wean the affections from the things of earth.2
l He mentions in this letter that dence of the Christian Beligion.
he had just accepted the small living In 1824 came out Joseph Wilson's
of East Lydford in addition to Horoz Propheticcs or Dissertations
Kingweston, which made three on Daniel. In 1826 Mr. S. B.
parishes to attend to besides superin- Maitland published his work On
tending the erection of a parsonage. the Prophetic 1260 years, and Dr.
2 The study of prophecy was at J. Stonard his Dissertations on the
this time occupying several minds. 70 weeks of Daniel. In 1827 came
In 1823 Alexander Keith published out Dr. Croly's Apocalypse of St.
his work which became so popu- John. In 1828 G. S. Eaber's Sacred
lar, on fulfilled prophecy as an evi- Calendar of Prophecy and J. C.

chap, vi.] Invitation to Canada. 53
I was going to 'say I ¦w&asorry to hear that your temporal pros
pects were somewhat clouded, but faith checks the expression and
says all is well. You 'have a ¦ Jehovah-Jireh as your portion : and
what can you want that He cannot supply ? My God >shall
'supply all your need -according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. I rejoice to commend you and those you love to the care
and kindness of our 'covenant God.
Believe me as ever, yours in the gospel, E. Harbin.
Oai the 28th of June, 1829 the Rev. Dr. Edwin Jacob
wrote to sound him on his being disposed to accept the
prmcipalship of the college of Upper Canada, intimating
that if be could reply immediately in the affirmative, the
.post was probably at his refusal. The situation was an
important one and the emoluments by no means small ; but
it would have been impossible for Mr. Phelps to make a
move of such magnitude within the time offered for his
decision;, and the idea was not pursued.
To the Rev. J. Hunter, Shrewsbury.1
Harrow, January 9th, 1830.
My dear friend,
1 thought you would be interested by a little account of
a clerical meeting I attended the other day. This was the third

Woodhouse's Annotations on the practical results of the Scriptural
Apocalypse. Davison's Discourses doctrine respecting it ; the pro-
ore Prophecy have been already phetic chronology, 'the present and
spoken of. At various times in future dispensations of the Jews ;
1826 Mr. Haldane Stewart speaks the seeOnd advent of Christ, and
of meetings held at Mr. Lewis the practical application of the
Way's, Stanstead Park, and Mr. truth concerning 'it.
Henry Drummond's, Albury Park, ' Mr. Hunter resided at Shrews-
for the 'special study, with prayer, bury (at St. John's 'Hill) for about
of prophetical subjects. Mr. two years from the autumn of
Irving, Mr. -Hatley Prere, Mr. 1829 to that of 1831. Here
Charles Haw trey of the Jews' he officiated occasionally at St.
Society, are mentioned as attending Alkmund's, where his friend the
these meetings. During the whole Rev. John Bichards was curate
of the first week in Advent there in charge, occupying the vicarage.
were twenty persons, many of them This excellent man was a native of
distinguished for their biblical Shrewsbury, and while a youth
knowledge, assembled. They dis- actively engaged in business was
cussed the Gentile Dispensation, th e brought to the -knowledge -of Christ

54

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

annual meeting but the first at which I was present. Mr. D.
Wilson I thought conducted the proceedings of the day admirably
and I hope it was a season of much spiritual refreshment to
myself.1 A much longer time has elapsed since you heard from me than
would have been the case if I had not entertained serious thoughts
of paying you a visit these holidays, a project which I only re
linquished from the necessity of bestowing all the time I could be
absent from home in Wiltshire. It would indeed, were such the
will of God, be a great gratification to me to see you face to face
and to hear your opinion of the signs of the times in which we
live. You afford me' a real treat by your kindness in sending the
Record. Don't you think the spirit of the paper is admirable ? 2

by the preaching of the eminent
Mr. -De Courcy of St. Alkmund's.
By the encouragement and assis
tance of Mr. Miles Atkinson and
Mr. Hey, both of Leeds, he entered
the ministry, and became curate of
Seamer near Scarborough, under a,
vicar advanced in years, on whose
death he went to St. Alkmund's.
the church of his spiritual nativity.
After a valued ministry of 24 years
he quitted this post in 1842, on the
appointment of a new vicar. A
farewell discourse, from Acts xx.
26, 27, preached by him at St.
Alkmund's on Nov. 27th, was pub
lished at the request of the congre
gation (Ward : Paternoster Row,
1843). He was with Mr. Hunter
at his death and died himself at
Shrewsbury, Dec. 14, 1862 at a
venerable age, and was buried in
Shawbury churchyard near the
side of his father in Christ Mr.
De Courcy.
i This meeting at the season of
Epiphany has been held annually
down to this day, and has grown in
numbers and influence. There were
on this occasion about thirty pre
sent, including Simeon, Bickersteth,
Charles Bridges, Charles Hawtrey,
Gerard and Baptist Noel, John and
Erancis Cunningham, Haldane Stew
art, " Marsh of Hampstead," Dr.
SteinkopfF, Mr. Joseph Wilson of

Clapham. We hope to find room
in the appendix for Mr. Phelps's
account of the proceedings, which
is pithy and very interesting. On
January 5th 1836 there were no
fewer than 70 present, Mr. Cun
ningham of Harrow in the chair
and Professor Scholefield the chief
speaker, and this meeting laid one
of the foundations of the Parker
Society for editing and re-editing
the learned works of the Reforma
tion period. (See Canon Hulbert's
letter in the Life of Professor Schole
field, p. 313). Mr. Phelps was not
present on this occasion, being down
in the west of England.
2 This paper was now in its earliest
years, having commenced Jan. 1st,
1828. Its founder was Mr. James
Evans, a man of cultivated intelli
gence and refined taste, with a high
moral standard, and genuine piety.
His prospectus declared the object
of the publication to be " to follow
truth and justice rather than party
in its politics." It was "to pre
sent together with extensive infor
mation of a general character a large
accession of interesting intelligence
relative to the advancement of edu
cation, civilization, and religion;
and without forfeiting respectable
claims to vigour and intelligence,
to exclude from its pages what
ever would render it an objection-

CHAP. VI.]

Milman.

55

On one of the topics that have lately come under its considera.
tion, Milman's History of the Jews,1 I have more than once been
on the point of writing to you. In evil hour Dr. Longley intro
duced the book into the school here, which led me to read the
first volume, with which I was shocked. Batten and I have pro
tested against it and we hope to see it withdrawn. Only the
multiplicity of my engagements prevented my sending some
extracts from the first volume for your opinion on them, some
months ago. I carefully preserve the numbers of the paper which
you have marked.
You will be glad to hear that by the blessing of God, my wife
and children enjoy good health. The prospects of the school in
general appear improving ; my own individually not as yet. Two
of my boys leave me this vacation, and I have heard of no more
to succeed them. 2 Still my number of boarders will be five ; and
oh, how much cause for thankfulness have I for this !
It gave me the most heartfelt pleasure to learn that you had
been permitted to enter the pulpit again. May the Lord give an
abundant blessing on your occasional labours ; and should He see

able guest in that sanctuary of
modesty and refined feeling — the
bosom of a well-regulated English
family." Henry Blunt was one of
the earliest supporters. Mr. John
Henry Newman also assisted it,
both with his purse and pen, but
with the latter only for a short time,
and his subscription was returned.
Daniel Wilson wished it well but
foretold its inevitable failure, from
the impossibility of satisfying so
many different tastes in religious
matters. Mr. Phelps's letter shews
that it was doing good service at
this period, notwithstanding some
bitter remarks by Dr. Arnold re
specting it in the autumn of this
year, when the reform explosion led
him to pen observations which only
the excitement of those terrible
times and his own eager nature can
excuse. 1 It came out in 1829, and the
Record review of it appeared on

November 30th, and December 7th,
in the same year. It was undoubt
edly the searching and seasonable
criticisms in its columns on this im
portant occasion that brought the
Record prominently into notice. It
is now generally acknowledged that
it was this work of Dr. Milman's
that commenced the modern ' ' free-
handling " school of writers within
the Anglican church.
Mr. Simeon said of it — " The book
is in my opinion at bottom infidel.
It apparently endeavours to keep
Jehovah out of view, to fritter away
the miracles, and make out Moses
as merely a clever man." Mr.
-Brown's Recollections of Simeon,
p. 143.
2 It would appear that only one
actually left, Hamersley; the re
maining six were Hoare, Acland,
two Monros, W. S. Holmes, and R.
Atkinson.

56 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
nt, speedily restore you to a permanent engagement in 'the work
of the ministry.
P.S. I must give you a homely remark made by Mr. Simeon
the other day. " Before you instruct a person, stand for five
minutes in his shoes, and you will never make a fool of yourself." '

From Mrs. Hannah More.2
Clifton, January \0th, 1530.
My dear Sir,
I am sure you will kindly allow me to trouble you with
two or three questions, the answers to which from a person of your
experience, ability, and principles will aid a friend of mine in
coming to a conclusion upon some points about which he -feels
doubtful, relative to the education of a beloved boy.
At what age would you recommend that a boy should be placed
at a public school provided he is at once entrusted to the care of
a tutor of sound religious principles, who will conscientiously
watch over his conduct as well as promote his general improve-

1 We will quote another short re- Bishop of London had told him
mark, uttered on this occasion by that, in respect of general know-
Mr. Cunningham, for the sake of ledge, "the bulk of his clergy were
placing it in contrast with one of quite babes." The bulk of the
Dr. Arnold's severe sayings, which clergy of the diocese of London
his impetuous nature could not al- were certainly not evangelical, and
ways restrain. It was in reference they were probably not inferior in
to a deficiency in general education general education to other gentle-
which he had observed in those men in their own rank. In fact the
who in his day professed evangeU- acknowledged state of the public
cal views, a drawback which hin- schools for a long time then past
dered them from becoming in his explains all. The Bishop felt the
opinion complete specimens of the effect of it in the mass of the clergy,
true Christian. His observation and good Dr. Arnold, in some mo-
was penned in 1829, when Arnold ment of vexation probably, saw it
should have remembered what he only in the class that would not
had so recently deplored, the fraternise with him.
lamentable state of our public 2 The signature alone is her auto-
schools, which could not possibly igraph, the letter being in another
have supplied the education he hand most probably Miss Frowd's.
wished for. The vicar of Harrow The venerable lady was born in 1745.
in his Islington address touched, Mr. Phelps's personal acquaintance
under one head, on "Want of gene- with her dates from August 9th,
ral knowledge," and illustrated his 1828, as far as we have found.
remarks by saying that the late

chap, vi.] -Hawh;ah More. 57
tnent? 'Is it better for instance that a boy should be sedulously
prepared at a private school in a mode that will enable him to take
his place well at a public school when he 'reaches twelve or thir
teen ; or is it best to send him as early as ten, though he be as
yet but imperfectly grounded 1
In your reply 'to this question I would entreat you to Under
stand that the formation of the religious character of his boy is
the great 'object of this friend at whose request I write. I learn
from him that the boy, who is about ten, is able to construe the
Latin delectus pretty well, and to apply with tolerable ease the
tules of the Eton grammar in parsing his lessons, but knows as
yet nothing of prosody and is quite ignorant of the Greek
grammar. In case you recommend further previous preparation, in a case
'of this kind, ait a private school, will you name two or three at
which it is a prime object to cultivate religious principles and
feelings in the scholars, and at the same time to train them in
good scholarship %
May I 'further request the addresses of any tutors that you name
and about the number of pupils that they take, and which you
most recommend ?
In case your experience decides in favour of a public school at
once, will you inform me whether you have a vacancy in your
establishment, and if you have not, will you for my sake promise
the refusal of the first you have to me for the friend at whose
request I write ?
Miss Prowd is well and desires her love with mine to her dear
sister, and believe me Your faithful and affectionate friend,
Hannah More.
to an aunt.
Harrow, January 20th, 1830.
I am very busy and have been so from the moment the
boys returned, and am likely to be so jpeculiarly this quarter, as
our scholarship examinations come on in it. The latest news I
have for You is that I have a new out-of-door boy, who joined my

58 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
pupil room yesterday.1 This fresh instance of the kindness of
Providence you know makes an addition of twenty guineas to my
income. You will learn from dear mother's letter that we are all
by the blessing of God quite well and have begun the new quarter
with a pretty sprack household.
How much have we to admire and be thankful for in the kind
Providence of God ! That creatures so feeble, who are crushed
before the moth — that creatures so unworthy as we — should still
have all our wants supplied from day to day, should still be
carried on from year to year ! That of the numberless evils our
unworthiness has deserved so very few have befallen us ! That of
the hundreds of evils we have weakly and foolishly feared from
time to time scarcely anyone should have been realised, and that
the bitterest trials of our lives should have been mixed up with so
much mercy and tempered with so many alleviating considerations !
I am ashamed of myself that I cannot cast literally all my care
' upon God : and that I can waste upon present, and much more
upon anticipated evils, one thought that ought to be given to the
consideration of my sinfulness or of the remedy provided for it in
the sacrifice of my adorable Redeemer.
But while I say this, you will not understand me to mean that
I would shut my eyes to or turn away from the consideration of
the troubles of myself or of any that are near and dear to me.
Far from it ! I desire to look them all in the face : I hope I
should do all in my power to prevent, relieve, or cure them. But
then as the only effectual way of doing this, I could wish to bring
all the burthen and cast it down at the Throne of Grace.
The reader has long been aware that Harrow life began
to Mr. Phelps as did the approach to Harrow town — up a
very steep hill. A new comer must of course have need of
patience and form his pupil connection by degrees. In
January 1827 on first transferring his establishment into a
house of his own, an affectionate college friend came for
ward to float the costly undertaking with a munificent
favour which he called a gift but Mr. Phelps would call
only a loan ; yet so little had his hopes been realised by
i John Broadhurst, recommended seventh out-pupil, and there were
by Dr. Longley. He made the six in the house besides his brother.

chap, vi.] Mr. Batten. 59
the spring of 1828, that a person of rank whose ears it
reached volunteered another generous subsidy, which of
course could be accepted only as such. It was prefaced
with these words : —
" Lady  , fearing that from the low state of Harrow school
at this moment1 Mr. Phelps is not making the progress he or his
friends could wish, is anxious to use the privilege of an old friend
and well-wisher of the family.''
A few months earlier when "he called to pay his rent,
courteous Dr. Butler remarked — " I wish your means pro
ceeding from the school were more proportionate to your
merits than they are."
The correspondence of still later date to this shews that,
although hope was growing, difficulties still predominated
and Mr. Phelps was far from being afloat. And let us re
member that all this while he was boarding his youngest
brother as a Harrow boy and paying all his school fees out
of his own pocket.
The cream of Harrow prosperity at this time was certainly
with Mr. Batten, and his house was beyond that of all other
assistant masters popular with parents.2 With this excel
lent man Mr. Phelps formed his principal new friendship
from the very first. Their religious sympathies were in
unison, which was Mr. Phelps's special comfort — the chief
comfort of Harrow in fact, after his dear friend Robert
Monro left at the end of 1828. He was a strict master, and
a man of earnest piety, and there can be little doubt, we
suppose, that the known harmony between his and Mr.
Cunningham's religious views brought into his house the
sons of many parents who, in days when, as we have seen,
1 The 214 boys Mr. Phelps had jgl50. Later when the Harrow
found there in 1826 had then numbers were much fewer he re-
dwindled to 132. marks that Mr. Batten has thirty-
2 In a letter of Mr. Phelps, Sep- two boarders and must be receiving
tember 8th, 1826, we find — "Batten £5000 a year, half of which was
is to have forty-three boarders this probably clear profit.
quarter ! " Each boarder paid

60 Life of Artih&eacon Phelps.
Christian men were everywhere deploring the practical
^heathenism of public -education, felt that a very great
recommendation of Harrow school was the influence in it
of the Vicar of Harrow. His wife too was related to Mrs.
Pearson, some of whose sons were among his pupils, and
the Dean's recommendations were of course all directed
to the same quarter. Contemplating that great house-full
of pupils at "The Grove," Mr. Phelps in his most hopeful
moods cheered his wife with the anticipation that they
might by Cod's blessing one day do very well though they
would probably never reach to Mr. Batten's prosperity.
Mr. Batten did his best to direct the 'overflow of his own
house into his friend's, and Mr. Cunningham too recommen
ded him. Meantime Mr. Phelps bore his uphill climbing in
perfect patience, without grumbling or complaining of any
-sort whatever. Every accession to his little number filled
him with new hope and new gratitude, and faith in a
ruling Providence ke.pt him cheerful.
But slow progress in pupils was not the only thing he
had to bear patiently. Though he was a most domestic
man and never happier than when in the society of his
wife and wee sons, and had no taste for extended and mis
cellaneous intercourse, he was by no means indifferent to
its limited enjoyments. It must however be confessed
that he was now and then 'thought to hold aloof from, or
not to qualify himself for, those circles in which he might
nave been expected to move freely. But he would not
" launch out " for society any more than he would for pupils,
rigorously and conscientiously restraining his style of house
keeping within the limits of an unostentatious modesty
such as comported with his present means. To no purpose
was it hinted to him that his establishment should exhibit
a more fashionable exterior. This his finances had ren
dered impossible, nor indeed did he scruple to remark to one
of his friends, that if he could afford a more showy style in
this particular " it would be most uncongenial to our habits
and also to our views of propriety." The class of persons

chap, vi.] Islwgfion Propftfabmry School. 61
he was recommended to establish in his house know weE
enough when they are entertained less( for use than for state,
and too well do they shew it. It was just about; this time:
(and the occurrence must have been often talked about in
this family) that "eight pampered minions" had termmated
all the> happiness of Barley Wood and driven aged Hannah
More from her beloved groves to end her days on a Clifton
Terrace.1 At the end of four years then Mr. and Mrs. Phelps were
obliged to confess to themselves that they had formed no
particular attachment to Harrow ; so that when in February
1830 an advertisement appeared in the Record for a head
master in a proprietary college which indefatigable Daniel
Wilson (two years before his appointment to the see of
Calcutta) was projecting for the benefit of his great parish
and for which he was hoping^ for applications from, the
junior masters of the great public schools, Mr. Phelpsi was
very well inclined to become a candidate. The thought of
co-operating in such a work with such a man, the hope of
occupying in London a regular pulpit and exercising a sta
ted ministry, which he found no opportunity of doing at
Harrow,2 was very welcome to his feelings, inducing him to
confront the disadvantage of the very moderate stipend
of £400 a year which was all that the projectors could then
promise.. Two Corpus Fellows, Richard Sankey and Robert
Eden, of junior standing to himself, had recently accepted
appointments somewhat similar at Brompton and Hackney,
and what he heard of their reports was not on the whole
discouraging. Mr. Daniel Wilson, whose acquaintance with
his character dated from 1823,3 cordially welcomed his candi
dature and indeed had almost invited it at a private inter
view before the advertisement was issued and as soon as the

' A detailed and most interesting 2 In 1827 he had preached thirty
account of this curious affair, which times at Harrow and Harrow Weald;
happened in April 1828, is given in 1828, thirty times at the same
in the Christian Observer of 1838, places and Sudbury.
page 360, 3 See before, page 409, vol. I.

62 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Easter holidays began, Mr. Phelps went to town to have a
personal conference with him, and from thence he wrote the
following letter —
To Rev. J. Hunter, Shrewsbury. London, April 1st, 1830.
My dear friend,
Mr. Bickersteth has been presented to Watton, I men
tion at once, that I may not omit a piece of information in which
I know you will be much interested.1
I am now on a visit to Mr. Wilson. His kindness I find very
great, and he clearly would be glad if I offered myself for the
mastership of the school. But he shrinks from actually advising
the step, as he says the situation is a new and untried one ; and
he adds " I am afraid, my dear friend, we cannot afford to offer
you the remuneration it would be worth your while to accept."
At the same time he throws out remarks of an encouraging nature.
He thinks the situation would be one of great usefulness. He
says that two-thirds of the proprietors are pious men who would
be disposed to co-operate with the head master in everything useful
and right. They wait for the appointment of the head master,
that he may be consulted about the byelaws as well as in the
appointment of the assistant masters.
They hope to have in time 150 boys in the school; and for
every boy above 100 an addition of £3 to the salary of the master,
would be made. The fixed stipend is to be £400. I do not yet
know under what restrictions he would be allowed to take boarders,
except that I know he would not be allowed to instruct them
privately. The master is at liberty to undertake any church duty
on Sunday, and Mr. Wilson thinks it highly probable that in course
of time such would present itself, though of course he could not
speak positively.
I subjoin the names of such directors as I have been able to
discover..2 . . .

i See before, page 408, vol. I. Haslope, Rd. PercivaL Jos. Ander-
2 They were as follows :— Rev. Bon, Nathaniel Clifton, Goodenough
H. F. Fell, Rev. W. Marshall, Rev. Hayter, Nathaniel Mason, Robert
J. Sandys, Rev. J. N. Pearson, F. Newman, John Twells, George
and the following laymen — Messrs. Witherby, Charles Woodward,
^Eneas Barkley, A. Chapman, L, Wm. Edwards, Thomas Fletcher,

chap, vi.] Early difficulties at Harrow. 63
On the whole view I can take of the matter at present I cer
tainly feel inclined to offer myself. One point that weighs with
me much is that I believe the exchange from Harrow would not
only be very agreeable to my dear wife, but (if I do not mistake)
spiritually and intellectually beneficial both to her and to me.
I wish you to bear in mind in thinking the matter over, that I
have a considerable debt. I owed about £ — when I went to
Harrow four years ago. That debt has now increased to £ — ,
owing to the declining state in which I found the school and the
little success I met with in the way of pupils. Last year for the
first time my income equalled my expenditure ; and as the pros
pects of Harrow are certainly improving I think I may reasonably
calculate on being able (if I continue there) to recover in course
of time from the heavy expenses attending my first outfit and
establishing myself at Harrow. On this score I shall of course be
anxious to obtain boarders if I go to Islington, or at all events to
see before me the prospect of such an income as would enable me
gradually to get out of debt.
As I have named to you my owing so large a sum, I ought to
add for your satisfaction that I have by me £^— for the purposes
of my current expenditure until I am paid by my boys in Septem
ber ; and that between £ — and £ — are now due to me : so that
in personal property, including my furniture, I feel that if it
should please God to remove me now from this poor world, I
should leave enough to meet all claims upon me.1
I know you will kindly pardon my many details on this subject,
to which I have thus adverted now as I thought it would aid
your judgment on my present project.
On the 5th of April Mr. Phelps wrote his offer of himself
to the Islington directors. His mind indeed was not abso-

I. M. Hole, Thomas Parry, Edward John Hambleton, so long numbered
Chester, J. J. J. Ludlow, B. Older- among the leading clergy of Isling-
shaw, jun. Of the clerical members ton, was at this time curate of the
of this body, Mr. Fell and Mr. parish church. He became minister
Sandys were incumbents, respec- of the Chapel of Ease about June
tivejy, of Holy Trinity and St. 21st.
Paul's, Ball's Pond (both appointed ' His gross receipts from pupils at
this year). Mr. Marshall will be this time were £880,
mentioned further on. The Rev,

6A Life of Archdeacon Phelps:.
lately made up, but as it was the last day allowed for
applications he would not shut himself out, though he
regarded the step as one he could easily retrace some day
before the election if he should finally think it best. On
the same day Dean Pearson, who had known him now so
many years, wrote as follows to the Vicar of Islington.
Dean Pearson to Rev. D. Wilson.
206, Regent Street, Monday Evening, April 5th,,, 1830.
My dearest friend,,
I am just, returned from Chiddingfold, and as you wish
to receive an answer to your note to-morrow, I write; a few lines
and wish I could enter more fully into the important subject of it..
I rejoice for the sake of the Islington Grammar School that Mr.
Phelps. is a, candidate for the head-mastershipi I shall regret, his
loss at Harrow if he should be elected, because having three sons
there I know how highly he is esteemed and valued as a tutor.
Mr. Phelps's qualifications are, I apprehend, of a high order. His
election at Corpus, as you well know, is in itself a decisive proof
of his scholarship ; and he has ever since either as a private tutor
or as a master at Harrow been engaged in the, business of educa
tion. His principles are in a high degree sound and pure,, his
moral qualities most estimable and exemplary, and his manner
particularly amiable and pleasing. In short I think if you elect.
Mr. Phelps, which I can scarcely doubt, you will obtain a prize,
and I shall congratulate you and the directors of your new Insti-
ttation on having secured a head-master whose learning, talents,
and general character cannot fail under the divine blessing to,
realise the highest expectations which you have formed of the
advantages to be derived from its establishment 
I brought up  • with me, who fully concurs in what I have
said of Mr. Phelps as far as Harrow is concerned; and the
opinion of a boy of so much talent and observation is not, on a
point like this, to be despised.
On the evening of April 6th Mr. and Mrs. Phelps went
down to Wiltshire chiefly with a view of conferring with
friends on the new project, there being ample time for the
candidature to be withdrawn, if it should appear advisable,

CHAP. VI.] A difficult position. 65
as the election had been fixed to come off not earlier than
a fortnight's time. This calculation however was entirely
thrown out. The Islington directors, who met on the 6th
to receive the applications sent in the day before, finding
Mr. Phelps had actually offered, and receiving the Dean's
letter, were only anxious to secure what the letter had
called "a prize;" and so instead of waiting for the intended
day of election chose him at once and by acclamation,
believing that they were at the same time paying him
a high compliment — as indeed they were. Accordingly
on the 9th a letter surprised him at Wilton from the Vicar
of Islington informing him of his appointment.1
His first thought was acquiescence, and he spoke of the
matter among his friends as settled. They however were
far from acquiescing, and began to view the position with
serious misgivings, as did likewise Mr. Hunter, which now
made him feel the perplexity into which the sudden action
of the directors had thrown him. On the 19th therefore
he proceeded to London for a personal conference with
some of the influential promoters of the college, and in the
absence of Mr. Wilson, who had gone abroad, called on
Tuesday morning, the 20th, on the Rev. John Norman
Pearson of the Church Missionary Institution, who was one
of them.2 He fairly acknowledged the difficult position in
which Mr. Phelps stood, but urged him to do nothing until
Mr. Wilson's return from Paris, he being the only one able
to smooth the path of retirement (should it come to that)

1 Mr. Phelps's name stands in the 2 Mr. Pearson was the first Prin-
records of the school as that of the cipal of the Institution, which was
first head-master and as elected opened under his charge January
April 20th, 1830 ; from which we 31st, 1825, although the foundation
infer that the election, although stone of the present building was
practically settled on Tuesday, not laid until July 31st, 1826. His
April 6th, did not pass formally principalship ended October 8th,
and officially until the next Com- 1838, and he was succeeded by the
mittee meeting, Tuesday the 20th, Rev. C. F. Childe.
the day on which they were proba
bly pledged by previous notice to
elect.

66 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
among a numerous proprietary1 who might not be in the
best humour on the turn which things had taken. Mr.
Phelps, while maintaining that the option of an honourable
retirement was fairly open to him, and feeling the perplexi
ties of the situation, was on the whole encouraged by the
interview with Mr. Pearson, and wrote in his journal three
days after — " April 22nd. Strong for Islington."
On this very day was written another testimonial to the
directors which was not calculated to make them less
anxious to retain their master.
Dr. Butler to the Islington Directors.
Gayton, April 22nd, 1830.
Gentlemen, Having but this morning received from the Rev.
William Phelps a letter (which but for a mistake in the address
would have reached me much sooner) stating his intention of
proposing himself as a candidate for the vacant mastership of the
Proprietary School at Islington, I almost fear that my testimonial
in his favour may reach you too late for his benefit. Still how
ever I cannot refuse myself the gratification of thus tendering to
you my humble evidence of his merit as an instructor.
He was appointed by me in the year 1826 to the office of
assistant to the under-master of Harrow School, and continued
in that situation until my resignation of the head-mastership in
1829. During all that period he discharged the duties of his
station with great ability and diligence and with the most con
scientious zeal ; and appeared to me, by his classical attainments,
by his correctness of manners and principles, and by his uniform
regard for the maintenance of school discipline fully to justify the
high and honourable recommendations which I had received from
various distinguished scholars previously to his appointment at
Harrow of his character as a gentleman, a Christian, and a man
of learning.
'The proprietors, in number about fee not exceeding ten guineas. The
one hundred, were the bettermost directors, a much smaller body,
people of Islington, and paid £15 comprising many of the clergy of
each, for which they had the privi- Islington, were to appoint the junior
lege of nominating one scholar to masters, but not without consulting
the college who would pay an annual the head-master,

chap. VI.] More difficulties. 67
Should he therefore be so fortunate as to succeed in his present
competition, I can have no doubt that his utmost exertions will
be made for the furtherance of the interests of your school.
I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, Gentlemen,
Your very obedient and humble servant,
George Butler, D.D.,
Rector of Gayton, near Northampton,
late Head-master of Harrow School.
Mr. Phelps's inquiry for a regular Sunday pulpit in Lon
don, without which the Islington mastership would lose
more than half its attraction, led to no encouraging result.
It happened that just then Mr. Natt, whose name we were
so familiar with in the Oxford chapters and who quitted
St. Giles's in 1828, was about accepting from his college
the vicarage of St. Sepulchre's in the City, near Newgate,
and Mr. Phelps, who had never yet made his personal ac
quaintance but was well known to him through the warm
commendations of Mr. Ball, wrote to ask what openings
there might be at that church. He found however that it
was a week-day curate, not a Sunday preacher only, that
was wanted, to relieve Mr. Natt from an excess of surplice
duty in the midst of a dense population of poor. In fact
a stated preachership in London was not a thing to be
obtained on a short notice by any means. Mr. Phelps
accordingly had already returned to Harrow to recommence
school duties in an undecided state of mind, when he re
ceived the following : —
Prom Rev. D. Wilson.
Islington, May 1st, 1830.
My dear friend,
I have just come home. I have seen your letter to Mr.
Marshall,1 which gives me the greatest concern, as it is a matter
i The Rev. William Marshall was 2nd, 1828. He died in June 1834,
in 1824 Mr. Wilson's first- curate at and his funeral sermon was preached
Islington, and was appointed the by Mr. Hambleton. The latter
first Incumbent of St. John's, Hoi- ended his useful life and ministry
loway, which was consecrated July in 1865.
F2

68 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
of the last moment to secure your final acceptance of our school.
Rely upon it eveiything shall be done that can be done to make
things satisfactory. At the same time, as I said on the receipt of
your first letter, I would do nothing to persuade you to come.
God only knows whether it will be for your good or not. My
own impression is that the station here will be so honourable, so
influential, and so useful, as to answer all your expectations. As
to external things, we will do all we can now, and all we can here
after, to render your situation comfortable amongst us.
Let me see you as soon as convenient. The next meeting of
the directors is on Tuesday week, May 11th, &c, &c, D. Wilson.
Mr. Phelps's friends on all sides were more sanguine of
his future at Harrow than he was himself. Mr. Cun
ningham had from the beginning urged him to remain.
Doubtless he was anxious, as vicar of Harrow and gover
nor of the school, for the continuance there of a labourer
of Mr. Phelps's principles. It is not a little touching
(considering the mournful event that was on the eve of
occurring) to read a letter from Mr. Batten himself, written
from Leamington during the Easter holidays, pressing him
to come and visit him for a day or two and talk over
the Islington plan, concluding — "But I think your mind
seems made up and I will not say another word until I
meet you." He signs — " Most truly and affectionately
yours." And now while the question hung doubtfully in the
balance, there came a sudden and awful solution of it.
His beloved Christian friend and fellow master Mr. Batten,
whose position and character were so high in the school,
was suddenly and in the very prime of his days removed
to a better world. On May 1st about midday he was
taken ill, and died about twelve o'clock on the 3rd. Most
deeply did Mr. Phelps feel the blow. They had been
warm friends together. First introduced to one another by
Lord Pembroke,1 their intercourse began early at Harrow.
i See vol. I. p. 448.

chap, vi.] Mr. Batten's death. 69
Batten was the first to call upon him on his arrival there,
and his brotherly spirit had cheered him in his first feelings
of strangeness. He had the advantage in age by upwards
of five years. The perpetual mention of his and Mrs.
Batten's names in the journals of both Mr. and Mrs. Phelps
shews the close, confidential, and uninterrupted intercourse
that existed between the two masters, which was all the
happier from the harmony of their religious views.2
The first shock of this blow seemed at once to snap the
only link that now bound Mr. and Mrs. Phelps's feelings to

2 Amongst the journal entries we grave." His funeral sermon, preached
read one under July 26th, 1828 — on May 9th by Mr. Cunningham,
" Batten thrown from his gig." But was published and was ever after-
there is nothing afterwards indi- wards preserved by Mr. Phelps.
eating that he received any perma- Samuel Ellis Batten, belonging to a
nent injuries from that accident. In Cornish family, was born February
November of that year Mr. Phelps 29th, 1792, and graduated at Pem-
received from his friend a present broke College, Cambridge. The
of Leighton's Prcelectiones, Schole- monument in Harrow Church erec-
field's edition, only published the ted by his pupils records that " ser-
previous month. The latest entries monis gratiS, facilitate morum, et
in the journal are — "May 1st. Saw animi candore, amorem omnium sibi
Batten for the last time." "May mire conciliavit." As a scholar and
7th. Saw dear Batten in his coffin." a Christian schoolmaster he is por-
" May 10th. Attended the remains trayed in these noble words : —
of my dear friend Batten to the
"Ingenio vividus,
omni literarum copiiinstructus
et ad subtiliorem scriptorum venustatem gustandam alacris,
is erat qui juniorum indolem
doctrinae studio optime informaret.
Ingenii vero dotes,
nisi cum Dei cultu consociatas,
parvi sestimans
id potissimum studebat
ut pietate qu& vivebat spectatissima
discipulos imbueret."
His dying hours are thus described —
" Inter angores etcruciatus corporis
animam agens
integram in Christo fidem testatus clamitavit
0 0eos IXda-Q'rfTl juoi T(j> a/j,apT<ok(p."
After her husband's death Mrs. don, and was buried in the chancel
Batten resided at Pinner. She died of Harrow Church, the service
January 26th, 1870, at the house of being read by the Rev. Anthony
her son-in-law the Recorder of Lon- Thorold,

70 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Harrow, and they began to regard the events as a decided
and providential summons to Islington. On May 6th, three
days after Mr. Batten's death, Mr. Phelps's journal records
a visit from Mr. Cunningham which no doubt had special
reference to their common anxieties. On the same day
likewise a letter came from Mr. Hunter.

From Rev. J. Hunter. Shrewsbury, May 5th, 1 830.
My dear Phelps,
What a solemn and affecting illustration of the • uncer
tainty of all earthly prospects and projects is the sudden removal
of Mr. Batten ! I trust however that he is infinitely happier
than had he continued' in his labours here below.
I have opportunity at present only to write a few lines, but I
cannot omit answering yours by return of post, as neglect in this
respect would cause me great future uneasiness, should I find that
I had failed to use my influence with you, such as it is, to weigh
most maturely what is your present duty under the altered cir
cumstances in which you are placed by Mr. Batten's death.
Had this solemn event occurred previously to the election to
the Islington School, would you have felt justified in proposing
yourself for it? If not, does it not seem the voice of Divine
Providence distinctly determining what step you should take in
the midst of the doubts and perplexities with which you were
previously beset? I think it impossible that men of piety and
good sense can for a moment feel that in relinquishing the Isling
ton School headship, under such peculiar circumstances, you act
otherwise than as a Christian man you are bound to act. They
may regret to lose you, but they cannot fail to perceive that it is
not without a most sufficient cause.
Should you still see it right to accept of the situation of Isling
ton, I need not say that I shall feel most deeply interested for
your comfort, welfare, and usefulness in it. I shall however hear
with much thankfulness that you see your way clear for the
present to remain at Harrow.
I would just add however, what it is I doubt not very unneces
sary to add, that if you could hear of any man of piety (who

chap, vi.] Counsellors. 71
would have the smallest prospect of success) to fill up Mr. Batten's
place, you should lose no time in submitting it to him.
Your very affectionate friend, J. Hunter.
The inducement to quit Harrow was however so strong
that on the next day, May 7th, he wrote to Mr. Wilson
saying that he could not presume any longer to prolong the
suspense in which he was, through circumstances so peculiar,
keeping the directors, and which he now therefore termi
nated by accepting the post to which they had in so kind a
manner appointed him. From what follows we infer that
this letter was dispatched in the morning, and that in the
course of the day other things occurred placing his path of
duty in quite a contrary light and bringing him to just the
opposite resolution.
One thing was a letter from Chicklade, dated May 6th,
from his much valued sister-in-law Ellen Frowd to Mrs.
Phelps, strongly counselling patience and hope in the
present situation, and urging that the late melancholy
event called them to stay; for what a blessing it might be
to many a youth, and what a comfort to many a Christian
parent that a man of equal piety and qualified to attain
equal pupil-popularity should step into the vacancy which
Mr. Batten had left ! " May the Almighty Disposer of all
things " — said this excellent lady, in what proved almost
her dying words, for she too was soon about to leave them
in as sudden a manner — " direct your judgment in this
momentous affair, and may the result terminate to His
glory ! " And again, quite prophetically — " You say that
these painful occurrences are not calculated to attract you
to Harrow. But do not trials and death meet us every
where and are they not the appointments of God ? "
Besides this Christian letter, the following likewise must
have been delivered that same day after the morning des
patch.

72 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
From Dean Pearson.
206, Regent Street, London, May 7th, 1830.
My dear Sir,
I need not say how deeply we all feel the melancholy
event which has deprived us of our excellent and valued friend
Mr. Batten. I am of course anxious for the future education of
my sons, thus left without a tutor. Will you have the kindness
to inform me as soon as possible what are your arrangements ;
whether you have actually accepted the Head Mastership of the
Islington Grammar School, or whether under the very painful
circumstances which have just occurred you may not alter your
intention and remain at Harrow, in which case I should be happy
to transfer my sons to your care.
Believe me, dear Sir, very sincerely yours,
H. Pearson.
The journal of this anxious day, May 7th, records also
a visit paid him by the head master Dr. Longley, and
another by the father of three Harrow boys, Colonel Jones,
whose object the sequel shews was to offer him the charge
of his sons. The result of the day's incidents, to him so
eventful, was that he himself followed his letter to London
in the evening after school and slept there.1 On the next
day, May 8th, being apparently disappointed of seeing the
Vicar of Islington, he wrote him a letter containing his
final withdrawal, to which on his return to Harrow he
received the following reply.
From the Rev. Daniel Wilson.
Tuesday morning (May 11th), 1830.
My dearest friend,
Your second kind letter fills me with alarm. What are
we to do if we lose you 1 I entreat you to consider that after our
election made at your own application— made with unanimity —
• At Mr. Bickersteth's, who had at 10 Barnsbury Park, then a de-
not yet gone into residence at Wat- tached residence.
ton. He lived close to the Vicar,

chap, vi.] Islington. 73
made in the midst of a bitter and painful conflict of principles, in
which during several months I thought all would have been lost —
an election which has filled every heart with joy — which is spread
to every part of the parish and is a principal means of a rival
establishment being almost abandoned — What are we to do ? I
allow, dearest friend, that you wished the election not to be de
clared for a week or ten days, that the suddenness of the commu
nication might not distress your friends, but I certainly conceived
the choice final, and your letter to our directors a direct solicita
tion for the appointment. Now against this I fear I have to
contend with the impression on your mind and Mrs. Phelps's that
friends may have produced, which difficulties may have engen
dered, which Harrow air, Harrow associations, may have inspired.
Generally speaking, a grand spiritual duty, beheld by simplicity
and faith, is never a gainer by these subsidiary consultations.
Almost every step in my ministry I have taken against the
secular interest and calculations of friends. The noblest sphere
of my public duties, St. John's, was undertaken against father
and mother and friends, and this was incomparably blessed of
the Lord. A man's life, dearest brother, consisteth not in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth. A little that the
righteous hath is better, is more satisfying, goes farther, lasts
longer, than the riches of the more earthly heart. Besides, what
may we not do for you more in temporal matters ? Marshall and
myself think that the £500 may be obtained, and the 25 pupils
also in some form or other, so as to answer your design. And
what a situation is this ! What a sphere of elevated distinct
usefulness ! What a charge over the youth of the neighbour
hood ! Our parish waits, thirsts for you. And then your
ministry !
But — I leave it to God, I suggest merely, I do not persuade,
God only knows what is best. May that God direct ! Pray let
Monday be the day, or Tuesday. I will drive over this week, if
possible, and spend an hour with you.
Let not, dear brother, Mr. Batten's death, or other circum
stances which have arisen or may arise since your election control
or sway a judgment previously taken. Pray bring Mrs. Phelps
with you on Monday.
D. Wilson.

74 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
This warm and hearty letter must have been received by
Mr. Phelps in time for him to go to town, where he met the
directors at the vicar's house, and by personal conference
with them effected his retirement with mutual friendly
feelings.1 The weight off his mind he quitted London
and re-ascended Harrow-on-the-Hill with better heart for
another campaign. An application however which he had
sent in for Mr. Batten's large and costly house2 the day after
the funeral had been forestalled, the new assistant master
having obtained it, a young Cantab of great repute, Ben
jamin Hall Kennedy, who had been secured for Harrow by
Dr. Longley and was expected to carry all before him.3
The suddenness however of Mr. Batten's removal and the
time necessary for engaging his successor had dispersed
most of his thirty-two boys. Had not Mr. Phelps been
at this crisis entangled with his Islington project, but been
free to offer himself to the parents before the new ar
rangements were made, there is much to indicate that he
could have at once come in for this fine house-full, so
popular among the boys had his name by this time become.
As it was, however, no less than eight now came to
his house, the three sons of Dr. Pearson/ the three of

1 At the next committee meeting " versity scholars and Porson prize-
Tuesday, June 1st, the Rev. John men; and they were all educated
Owen Parr was elected to the va- at Shrewsbury under Dr. Samuel
cancy and became therefore the first Butler.
acting head-master of this success- 4 William Henley the eldest,
ful school. He was a scholar of nearly seventeen, was second in
Brazennose, and on the second class the school. He had gained the
in the Michaelmas term of 1818. governor's prize for Latin hexa-
In 1840 he became vicar of Pres- meters in 1828. On the speech day
ton and in 1853 Honorary Canon of of June 1, 1830 he recited from
Manchester. His brother General Shakespeare's Henry V, and on
Parr is now resident at Harrow. July 3rd left Harrow. He gradu-
2 Paying a rent of £360 a year, ated at Christ Church and became
besides rates, taxes, and repairs. Rector of St. Nicholas, Guildford.
8 The eldest son of the Rev. Bann Henry Hugh the second son left
Kennedy, of Birmingham. He was July 31st, 1832, being then sixth
senior classic and senior medallist monitor, and having recited on
of 1827, and it is remarkable that July 4th his Latin hexameters
his two brothers followed him in Saltus Pyrenoei for the governor's
the same distinction in the tripos, prize. Hugh, the youngest son,
Charles Rann in 1831, and George recited on June 4th, 1834, Byron's
John in 1834. All three were Uni- Ocean and on July 2nd following

chap, vi.] The crisis past. 75
Colonel Jones,1 John Godley a clever Irish boy, and Robert
Patton. Lady Pembroke also was using her endeavours
among friends to recommend him.
So the crisis passed and Mr. Phelps commenced fairly his
ascent up the hill. This summer quarter he had fourteen
boys, some of them, it is true, being of an age to leave in a few
weeks, as they did. It was the largest number ever under
his care at one time in the Pond House. His establishment,
which had hitherto been on a modest and perfectly unosten
tatious footing, now expanded with his requirements.
But while the darkness was rolling from their path, the
one who by her wise and Christian counsel had been so
largely instrumental in bringing this about was, after a
very brief illness like Mr. Batten's, summoned from the
scene without having been permitted to see more than the
beginning of the light, Mrs. Phelps's elder sister, Miss Ellen
Frowd, who had been a true sister to them both, and
especially so in the trials that preceded their marriage.
Her death at the age of forty on June 18th, 1830, was
another heavy blow to the Harrow pair, and with a very
special tenderness was she mourned by them both. The
verse inscription on her marble monument in Chicklade
church was from the pen of Mr. Phelps, who has some
other stanzas to her in his poems. It runs —
A balmy influence o'er each mourner's heart
Flows as a river, whilst Remembrance tells
How thou, blest shade, didst choose the better part
And shine th' example of thy native dells.
For in thy work of faith's exalted scope,
And through thy labours of undying love,
And through the patience of thy Christian hope,
We trace thy progress to the joys above.

Mason's Ode to Truth, besides his came vicar of Sonning, Berks.
Latin hexameters and Latin alcaic ' William, who left at the end
prize verses. He gained one of the of the term ; Henry, who left at
scholarships on March 27th, 1835, Christmas, 1831 ; Pembroke, who
being then captain of the school, left May 30th, 1832. They were
and quitted Harrow on April 7th. related to the Rev. Richard Thomas
He graduated at Balliol and be- Pembroke Pope.

76 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
When at the conclusion of a half year of such straining
anxieties, such trials, such mercies, — their dearest Harrow
friend snatched away, their beloved sister removed as sud
denly, the first certain sign of pecuniary responsibility
lessening, prosperity arriving with its cheerful steps, speech
day over, holidays begun, house silent, the green lawn by
Harrow Pond all their own for a while, the journal briefly
records: — "July 21st. Walked with Mrs. Phelps in the
fields below the cricket ground : bells ringing." We must
be prosaic indeed not to be able to fill up for ourselves the
stream of their reflections.1
With the holidays they started for the west, and leaving
their little family at Wilton Mr. and Mrs. Phelps proceeded
together in the direction of Shrewsbury, on a visit to one
who had followed their path with all a brother's solicitude
and sympathy, the Rev. John Hunter, now in improved
health seeking to renew his ministerial employment. In
troduced by him, Mr. Phelps preached on two successive
Sundays in the noble church of St. Alkmund's,8 where the
eloquent, pious, and gifted De Courcy, who died in 1803,
had left a well-remembered name.
From Shrewsbury they made an excursion into Wales
between the Sundays, and then returned southwards by
way of Clifton, where no doubt they saw Mrs. Hannah
More again. Thence they proceeded to Chicklade to see
their sister's grave, and so all back once more to Harrow.3

1 Three pupils left him this sum- 7th to enter his son Lord Mark
mer, the two Monros and H. J. Kerr, a boy of 14, who arrived
Hoare. The latter, his first house- accordingly after the holidays.
pupil, had been with him two years 2 He preached on August 1st
and nine months. He recited on from Hebrews x. , 22, and on the
the speech day, June 1st, 1830, following Sunday from 1 Kings,
Lord Strafford's Accusation frqm xviii, 21, and Psalm cxix, 165.
Rushworth, and on the second ' " August 1st, preached at
speech day, July 6th, Satan in St. Alkmund's Shrewsbury ; 3rd,
of Adam and Eve. from Liverpool; 4th, Bangor; 5th, Menai

Milton. He left on the 26th of Bridge, Beaumaris, Capel Curig ;
July, sixth monitor. Already 6th, Bedgellert ; 7th, Ahaidr-y-
there was an application for one menol, Capel Curig, Shrewsbury ;
of the vacancies, the Marquess of 8th, preached twice at St. Alk-
Lothian having called on July mund's ; 11th, from Shrewsbury

chap, vi.] The Divine discipline. 77
To an Aunt.
Harrow, September 18th, 1830.
I was in hopes that I should have had an opportunity,
during my late visit to Wiltshire, of expressing to you by word
of mouth how much you and all yours are in my thoughts, not
withstanding we hear and see so httle of each other. We are
here, my dear Aunt, in this poor, low world only as children at
school. We have a wise and good Parent, the Father of Spirits,
and by the teaching of His Holy Spirit He is gradually communi
cating to us that lesson (so difficult to be learned !) that as we
shall find Him in heaven (if we are truly His children) so we
ought to consider Him on earth, the sole source and centre of all
our strength and joy. Oh, what line upon line and precept upon
precept are necessary to bring our stubborn hearts and minds to
this conviction ! Hence all the numerous and varied trials that
are the portion of His people here below. Hence the pains and in
firmities of the body, the cloudiness and bewilderings of the mind.
Hence the frequent calls to weep with those (near and dear to us)
who weep : hence the straits and difficulties, the perplexities and
embarrassments of business and money matters : hence the family
anxieties and the bitter bereavements that wound and burthen
the heart. Hence the partial and interrupted intercourse, and
the wide or total separation of friends upon earth : hence too
the diminution or entire withdrawal (if such be the Divine

to Worcester ; 12th, at Maisemore at Killerton. The venerable lady,
(three miles north of Gloucester) ; who had great disinclination to have
13th day at Maisemore ; 14th, her picture taken, was prevailed on
wet journey to Clifton ; 17th, by Sir Thomas to sit in 1821 to
from Clifton to Wilton ; 20th, to Pickersgill. The engraving is by
Chicklade with children — visited T. A. Dean, and is now well-known
Ellen's grave for the first time." by copies and woodcuts. Mr.
Here he probably received from Phelps's last recorded visit to her
Mrs. Hannah More a portrait of was on December 19th. 1832 ; and
herself which is still preserved, and her parting words — ,; May the
has this inscription — " Presented Almighty bless and protect you,
to the Rev. W. W. Phelps by his Sir ! " occur among his memoranda,
sincere friend Hannah More. He and were evidently prized by him as
will accept the trifle as a small a remembrance of this excellent
memento of her esteem and regard. woman. She died September 7th,
Clifton, August 19th, 1830." This 1833. The Archdeacon afterwards
was a small engraving reduced from saw the original painting while on
the original life-size painting now a visit to the late venerable baronet
in possession of Sir Thomas Acland at Killerton, Nov. 10th, 1865.

78 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
will) of the outward means • of grace and religious advantages.
All, all, are necessary, and I am persuaded that if we feel it not
now, we shall know and feel it hereafter.
You will rejoice to hear that through the divine blessing we
are both well, and so are our three little ones. Our domestic con
cerns also you will rejoice to hear run smoothly at present. I
have also two new boarders in my house this quarter, and one
additional out pupil.

To Rev. J. Hunter, Shrewsbury.
Harrow, October 23rd, 1830.
The very great measure of enjoyment (and I hope also
of benefit) which my dear wife and I enjoyed under your roof
will long be remembered by us. I felt it indeed a great privilege
to be permitted to meet once more in this poor world with friends
so dear to me. What a refreshment it would be to my mind if
you could occasionally peep in upon me here to converse for a few
minutes amidst (and sometimes upon) the many little and great
cares and anxieties attendant upon my present engagements. I
have now in my house eleven boarders ; two of them new-comers,
namely Lord Mark Kerr, whom, you know, I expected, and a son
of Colonel Galloway of the Bengal service, who is placed under my
care by Mr. Zachary Macaulay.1 The circumstance however that
occasions me to be so very much occupied is that the class in the
school which I have to instruct (the fourth form) is increased to

1 Now in his 63rd year and en- and mean and will do what they
gaged in aiding Mr. Powell Buxton say, and more than they say. I
in completing those grand measures shall have no scruple (being so
for the abolition of slavery which kindly encouraged) to apply for
were inaugurated by Wilberforce all the Macaulay interest, and I
and only terminated in 1833. He will also write, under the sanction
died May 13th, 1838. The intro- of Mrs. Hannah More's high autho-
duction came through Mrs. Hannah rity (or get her to write herself) to
More. Miss Frowd wrote from Sir Thomas Acland or any impor-
Barley Wood, October 18th, 1827, tant parent who may have a son
when the Rugby mastership was with Mr. Batten, if you will only
creating so many anticipations, that say you wish it." Archibald Stew-
she had just heard from Mrs. Ma- art Galloway and Lord Mark Kerr
caulay on the subject, who was were the only two new boys in the
interesting herself for Mr. Phelps last quarter of this year at the Pond
in the prospect of Mr. Batten's House, where the entire number
succeeding. Miss Frowd adds — was now eleven.
" The Macaulays are faithful people

chap, vi.] School work. 79
the number of 59 boys.1 By the blessing of God I have hitherto
gone on with them comfortably, but you will easily understand
that it is tolerably hard work. I sometimes am tempted to sigh
for the privilege of spending some of my strength more imme
diately in the work of bringing souls to Christ. However you
must not understand that this round of Latin and Greek teaching
is altogether uncongenial to my taste. And as to spiritual things
it ought to be more my anxiety to be faithful over a few things
than to be ruler over many things.
Mr. Cunningham has been very unwell and under Jephson's
hands at Leamington for some time. He let his house here for
ten weeks but is expected shortly to return. His curate Mr.
Marsden is a man of ability (and a good man) and has been
making himself very popular in the parish during the vicar's
absence.2 Regards to Mr. Richards. To AN AUNT. Harrow, March 1st, 1831.
Tell dear Robert that Dr. Longley has lately put out a
very pretty and useful work to accompany that which I lately
desired him to purchase. I will thank him to order two copies of
it at Salisbury, to accept one himself and beg your acceptance of
the other. The maps were drawn, tell him, by young Thornton.3
1 The school had now risen to died incumbent of St. Peter's, Bir-
169 and was still on the increase mingham, June 16th, 1870. In
(see p. 47). The relative strengths 1859 he succeeded Mr. Cunningham
of the classes were as follows : — as editor of the Christian Observer,
Monitors, 10 ; sixth form, 11 ; fifth but is best known as the author of
form, 13 ; shell, 55 , fourth form, a very good History of the Puritans.
59 ; third form, 21. The Harrow 3 Edward Thornton, who in 1829
classes did not descend below the gained the Peel Gold Medal, and de-
third form ; the number of moni- livered the Latin Oration (De Die-
tors was invariably 10 ; the sixth tatoria apud Romanos Potestate) on
form was always small and select ; Thursday June 4th, and on the next
the bulkiest was the shell and the Speech-day, Thursday July 6th, re-
fourth form. All the forms but the cited his Latin prize lyrics. At
monitorial were subdivided, accord- the following Christmas he left
ingto size, into two or more "Re- Harrow, being then captain of the
moves." school. An elder Thornton, Charles,
2 Mr. John Buxton Marsden came was also captain of the school and
May 16th, 1830 and remained about left at Midsummer, 1829. He was
two years and a half, leaving at the in Mr. Batten's house. In 1826
end of 1832 or beginning of 1833, and 1828 he won the governor's
to become rector of Tooting. He prize for Latin lyrics and in 1829

80

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

The work is called " Maps and Tables of Chronology and Geneal
ogy for the use of Harrow School."1
I go on much as usual, pleased with my employments when I
can get well through them. The pending scholarships keep us on
the alert. One of my boys, Godley,2 ought to have a good chance
— very clever and very diligent. But then he has powerful
opponents who have the advantage of abler tutors. I trust there
has been no room left for a complaint of my want of exertion for
his improvement. So I must quietly leave the result with Provi
dence. I lately had a very affectionate letter from my friend
Pope after a long silence. The oldest friendships are none of the
worst.
To Rev. J. Hunter, Shrewsbury.
Harrow, March 11th, 1831.
(After asking him and Mrs. Hunter to become sponsors
for his infant Hubert). The numbers of Harrow continue gra
dually on the increase. The additional boys come principally to
Dr. Longley's house or to Mr. Kennedy's. I have as yet had no
addition this quarter, but am expecting one at the end of this
week in Lord Ipswich3 the son of Lord Euston. After Easter I
believe 1 may calculate on. another pupil4 in the son of a Mr.
Melvill of the East India House.
Is there any probability of your being led to visit London this
spring? How delighted I should be to welcome you here. I
appear to have more than ever to talk over with you. Is not
that earnest desire within us for the presence and society of those

the same for Latin hexameters.
In 1828 he gained the Peel Medal
for Latin Oration.
1 It was published by Baldwin
and Cradock this year.
2 John Godley, from Mr. Batten's
who had just been placed in the list
of monitors. His father, of the
same names, was of Killigar, Killi-
shandra, Co. Leitrim.
3 This was the only accession to
the Pond House in the first quarter
of 1831, making the number still
eleven, Richard Atkinson having left
the preceding Christmas. William
Henry Fitzroy Viscount Ipswich,

born in 1819, joined on the follow
ing day, March 12th. His father
Henry Earl of Euston was the son
of the fourth Duke of Grafton and
succeeded him as fifth duke. Lord
Ipswich was with Mr. Phelps above
five years, leaving at Midsummer,
1836. In 1863 he succeeded as
sixth Duke of Grafton.
4 Philip Melvill, son of James C.
Melvill, Esq,, came May 2nd,
1831 ; left in the summer of 1835.
He and Moore were the only two
who came in the middle term of
1831.

chap, vi.] Christian intercourse. 81
with whom we have taken sweet counsel together and walked in
the house of the Lord as friends — for more and more intercourse
with those who are to us " dearly beloved and longed for " — is it not
of itself a pledge of its own ultimate and plenary satisfaction 1 I
cannot but think so. How strong and ardent is the desire to be
with those .we dearly love in the Lord ! And how little does it
appear to be in accordance with the divine will that that desire
should be gratified in this world ! Was the sentiment implanted
to no purpose 1 Or did it receive the sanction of a positive pre
cept to love the brethren in order that, when it had taken fastest
and firmest hold, it should be mocked by the cruellest separation
and disappointment ? What a touching picture does the apostle
give of the intercourse of Christian friends here below. — " I trust
to see you m my journey, and to be brought on my way thither
ward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company."
" Somewhat filled." Surely there was more in reserve ! Surely
he was to be filled both almost and altogether with the company
of those who were " his hope and joy and crown of rejoicing
in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming."
Saturday. I had written thus far yesterday, and am glad I was
not able to finish and dispatch my letter, as I am now able to
mention a little circumstance which, though of a local nature, will
give you pleasure who take so kind an interest in my proceedings.
It is that a pupil of mine, Godley, has just gained a scholarship
here after a severely contested examination.1 Two scholarships
were given ; the first to a pupil of Mr. Drury and the other to
mine. This is the first time I have been so favoured, and I can
not but look on it as a peculiarly kind interposition of Providence
in my favour, so soon after the appointment of a new master the
eclat of whose name is so calculated to obscure men of inferior
calibre. The mention of this circumstance will betray to you my
anxiety, after all, to shine in the world. I had better therefore
say no more, lest Mrs." Hunter should become acquainted with
more of my weak points.
To Miss Frowd.
Harrow, March, 1831.
I feel it quite a privilege to tell you this interposition of
1 He resigned however for this year, to try again the next.
G

82

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

a kind Providence on my behalf,1 as I know it will cheer you to
read it. You and I however have read lessons out of the book of
Providence that throw a sober colouring over the brightest of this
world's prospects. Every instance of the Divine bounty (and how
many and how wonderful they are !) sent in mercy to alleviate the
trials of this dark and sinful world seems to say to us —
"Taste — be thankful — and pass on,
And when the journey's done,
At the fountain-head of bliss we a lasting rest shall find."
So it has pleased God to call his afflicted servant Robert Hall
to that rest ! 2 I have always thought very highly of him : he had
a high order of talent ; what is more rare, he was faithful ; what
is most rare, disinterested. We have just lost from this neigh
bourhood a kind friend and I believe a Christian of exalted piety
in Mrs. Evans of Hampstead, who died on Tuesday 3 after three
days' illness. These announcements seem more like news from
heaven. Oh may they quicken our sluggish and reluctant steps !

1 In allusion to his new pupil
Lord Ipswich, who came on Satur
day, March 12th.
, !This eminent man was born
May 2nd, 1764, and died February
21st, 1831. His ministry at Leices
ter extended from 1808 to 1825,
and his second ministry at Bristol
from 1825 to 1831.
3 This was Caroline the wife of
the Rev. James Harihgton Evans.
She arose apparently in perfect
health on Sunday, February 27th,
and was taken ill at the Sunday
school about ten o'clock. She was
conveyed to the private rooms of
ihe chapel, whence she could never
be removed, and in nine days (says
Mr. Evans's biographer) expired.
This would be March 8th. She
was the daughter of Thomas Joyce,
Esq., of Freshford House, in the
County of Somerset, a magistrate
and deputy lieutenant, and was
born at Bradford, Wilts, May 6th,
1787. Mr. Evans was a Salisbury
boy, born April 5th, 1785, the only
child of Dr. Evans, priest-vicar of
the Cathedral, and master of the
Grammar school in the Close. He
was prepared for Oxford by his

uncle the Rev. Isaac Hodgson, who
has been already mentioned in these
pages (vol. 1, p. 456.) Mrs. Hodg
son, who had no children of her
own, loved him as a son. He went
to Wadham College, Oxford, and
took his degree May 26th, 1803,
and was afterwards Fellow. On
June 12th, 1808, was ordained.
While curate of Milford on the
Hampshire coast he became un
settled in mind and quitted the
Church of England for the Baptist
communion. This was in 1816,
when Mr. Baring (see vol. 1, p. 139)
and others of the western clergy
took a similar step, some of whom
(including Mr. Evans temporarily)
fell into serious error on fundamen
tal points. In October, 1818, he
commenced his London ministry at
John Street Chapel, residing at
Hampstead. In Mr. Phelps's Jour
nal under October 5th, 1830, we
find—" To town with Mrs. Phelps,
John, and William. Returned
through Hampstead. Tea with
Mrs. Evans. Mrs. Phelps visited
Mr. Hodgson's grave for the first
time."

chap. Vi.] Religious publicity. 83
To Rev. K T. P. Pope.
Harrow, March 2ith, 1831.
My very dear friend,
I am ashamed to allow longer time to elapse before I
acknowledge your affectionate and most welcome letter of the 8th
ult. I must therefore acknowledge it at once, although much
pressed with engagements at the present moment.
I feel that I owe it to myself to say that I am not conscious of
even a momentary suspension of the affectionate regard you once
knew me to entertain for you, protracted as our silence has been.
Through all your public career (may I not call it so 1) I have fol
lowed you with anxious solicitude, most affectionate interest, and
my poor prayers. And will you be surprised if I add that it has
been a satisfaction to me to think that circumstances had led you
to comparative retirement of late, although I should be much
pained to hear that any serious suspension of health had rendered
such a course necessary. You have been permitted, dearest
brother, to make a noble stand for the truth in your native land,
and I trust, and doubt not, have been the honoured instrument of
much good. But I have said what I have said from a great horror
of that kind of religious publicity, though I feel that in saying so
my own judgment may be sadly influenced by timidity and inert
ness in my own temperament. The grace of God can keep His
servants safe in their most public stations. But whilst I rejoice
for the church's sake that He called my friend to occupy such a
post, I rejoice for my friend's sake that He allowed him, for
a time at all events, to withdraw from it.
My history, I should think, has been much less eventful than
yours. You will easily believe that it has comprised some trials.
Some few bitter ingredients in the cup there have indeed been !
But oh, how necessary ! and how infinitely falling short of the
chastisements deserved ! And most deeply do I enter into the
sentiment of your letter. How wonderful, if from all our sins and
sufferings our blessed Lord and Master should yet be pleased to
bring the most unworthy of His servants to a conversation less
selfish, less inconsistent, less unprofitable ! The unbounded for
bearance and long-suffering of the Lord which we have been per
mitted to taste and experience, and which still maintains us in
g2

84 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
any feeble measure of spiritual life, must surely encourage us to
hope even this. Oh, may we be enabled to aspire to it stedfastly,
to seek it diligently, to embrace and hold it fast, yea to act upon
it from the present moment forward !
But in this freedom of correspondence I feel tempted to launch
out without order and without bounds. I must draw in. I some
times, my dear friend, think that the unlimited desire of com
munication with those we spiritually love, taken in connexion
with the very sparing and interrupted opportunities for its indul
gence here below, is of itself a strong argument for personal
¦ recognition in the world of the blessed. The contrary opinion is
certainly very unwelcome. But as little of a positive opinion is
revealed to us on this subject, perhaps it is unsafe to pursue it far.
This we know, that either believers will in a glorified state find
edification in contemplating and conversing on the way in which
they were led when here below, or they will learn a good reason
why they do not.
You kindly enquire of my welfare as respects temporal things.
My dear widowed mother is in good health. Of her spiritual
state I am privileged to speak very hopefully. My brother John
is recently married to a pious woman. He succeeded my father at
*the school at Wilton. He is in orders and has the Perpetual
Curacy of a small parish of about 120 souls, adjacent to Wilton.
My dear wife and our four children, by the blessing of God "enjoy
good health. Our fourth child and third boy was born in January.
I have had considerable pecuniary difficulties since I came to Har
row. My pupils have been few. Nevertheless the Lord " hath
prepared a table before me " and within the last year my worldly
prospects have been much improved. I have now eleven pupils
in my house and am expecting another after Easter. I have with
me a brother of the Marquis of Lothian and a son of Lord Euston.
One of my pupils (son of Mr. Godley, Killigar, Killishandra, Co.
Leitrim) has just distinguished himself by gaining a scholarship.
My most promising pupil, in the all-important point of view, is
Henry  , who, I am happy to say, has not yet left me, and
I hope he will continue at Harrow till the end of this year.
P  ,- is also with me and is a very pleasing boy. Henry I can
not but believe to be truly and deeply impressed with divine
things. With regard to direct religious instruction under all the

chap, vi.] Old friends. 85
circumstances of a public school, you will be well aware that it
is attended with the greatest difficulty. The word in private is
of the utmost importance. Oh that I may be more and more
instant in discovering and improving those aurea tempora in
which it can be applied ! Pray for me. I have long lost sight
of most of the Winchester people. I paid Zillwood a visit about
three years ago. He is a good man, and I understand he has
lately got preferment from the Bishop of Winchester. Mrs. C.
Richards jun. I was much pleased with. — 's wife was dead.
He is established as a baker in Winchester. Poor fellow, he
looked as if he had felt some of the bitterness of sin. He spoke
with humility, behaved respectfully, and adverted with feeling to
the time in which you and I were at school. I have heard nothing
of George Richards for a long time. Robinson is lately called to
the bar. He occasionally comes to see me and has stood by me
with steady friendship from our school days. He knows and
values the truth, but is much absorbed with his profession. Bing
ham is still the laborious and faithful pastor of Gosport. He
has long left me far behind him in his views of prophecy and the
Second Advent, which have found a deep and I sometimes think
(though as I have so little studied these points I ought not per
haps to express an opinion) a too exclusive lodgment in his
mind. Be assured, dearest friend, you will give me a great and
real gratification by letting me hear from you shortly again.
This being the last letter (except a scrap dated March
30th, 1831) we have met with to or from Mr. Pope, we
here take leave of him with a few remarks on his subse
quent career. To his great sorrow he was obliged (though
we do not find when) through delicacy of health to discon
tinue his ministerial work. In 1834 he married; after which
he resided for many years at Bron Menai near Bangor in
North Wales, the retirement and mild climate of which
suited him. Here he contributed an important work to
controversial literature suggested to him by his earlier
labours. It appears that in 1813 was published a work by
Messrs. Kirk and Berington entitled " The Faith of Catho
lics confirmed by Scripture and attested by the fathers of

86 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
the first five centuries of the church." This was the current
manual on the papal side in all discussions with protestants,
and of course it had been used against Mr. Pope, whose
critical knowledge was not at that time sufficiently exten
sive to make him aware of the gross falsifications of which
it was full. In 1830 a new and enlarged edition of it was
issued and Mr. Pope was led to examine it. In 1840 he
published the result of his studies, entitled " Roman Mis
quotations ; or certain passages from the fathers adduced in
a work entitled The Faith of Catholics brought to the test
of the originals and their perverted character demonstrated."
A full review of this work occurs in the Christian Observer
of August 1840, which describes it as a " useful and very
laborious work." The reviewer adds, " it is impossible to
speak too highly of the transparent candour and calm
moderation which Mr. Pope has preserved through the
whole of it ; and we cannot but think the good spirit in
which he has conducted his examination will be even more
instructive than its literary results. The reader will find in
its pages a proof that extent and accuracy of research are
not incompatible with elegance of taste and the fine accom
plishments of a scholar; and that strong argument loses
none of its force, and clear statement none of its per
spicuity, by the absence of sarcasm and bitterness. Mr.
Pope's object throughout is manifestly seen to be the single
one of truth, prosecuted in the love of it." Mr. Pope having
Bntered on this track was led on to pursue it further, and
the result appears in some important papers contributed
to the Christian Observer in April, May, and June, 1844.
After spending many years in his Welsh retreat to the
great benefit of his health, and desiring most earnestly to be
employed once more in the ministry of the Gospel, he
removed with Ms family in 1858 to Kingstown, Dublin, and
preached at the Mariner's Church, where many who remem
bered him of old rejoiced to hear his voice again. Had bis
health been sufficiently re^estabhsh^d he could have'accepted
a living offered him by the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Eghnton.

chap, vi.] Education and Romanism. 87
His last sermon was preached at the Mariner's Church, from
Rom. iii., 31, shortly after which he was attacked with
bronchitis, of which he died after a struggle of three weeks,
February 7, 1859, in the 60th year of his age. During Jus
illness he spoke, as he ever had done, humbly of himself,
but dwelt on the all-sufficiency of Jesus, rejoicing in the
fulness of mercy and merit to be found in His blood and
righteousness. His frequent exclamation and his last was,
" None but Jesus."
The following interesting letter which it is more con
venient to insert out of its strict chronological order from
the late Lord Herbert of Lea, then the Hon. Sidney Herbert,
has been met with amongst the Archdeacon's papers. It
was occasioned by the Rev. John Phelps sending him an
extract from one of Mr. Melvill's sermons bearing on the
relation of high education to Romanism.
The Hon. Sidney Herbert to the Rev. John Phelps.
5, Carlton Gardens, March 28th, 1831.
Dear Mr. Phelps,
I am too much obliged by your letter to follow your
injunction of not answering it. Any view which may suggest
methods of meeting the spread of religious error is doubly in
teresting at this moment ; and Melvill's eloquence invests every
thing he touches with a charm of its own. But I should not
think he is entirely right Indeed if he were, I should despair.
If ignorance be no safeguard against popery, nor knowledge
either, if education be unavailing, if light cannot dispel darkness
nor truth error, what hope have we ? If would be almost a con
fession that popery has Providence on its side.
But Melvill, I think, confuses two things which are distinct.
I admit that there is much intellectual pride and false philosophy
pervading this age; but in all this religious discord which we
have been lately witnessing there is also an earnest striving after
truth. I doubt whether to the philosophical spirit falsely so
called popery be, because the least spiritual, therefore the least
humiliating. Through all Germany, where the pride of intellect
and this pseudo-philosophical spirit most prevail, it is to rational-

88 ? Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
ism that the human mind inclines. But though that spirit has its
hold here and is much to be feared, there is a strong and deep-
seated religious spirit pervading all classes except those left in
complete ignorance, and it is by religious education and the
diffusion of the gospel into every alley and corner, and by that
alone, that we can keep the enemy out of our fold. I look upon
the church as the appointed instrument for this, and I heartily
wish that some of the time spent in devising inoperative Acts of
Parliament were directed to extending the efficiency of the church
and promoting scriptural education. I will do my utmost to urge
forward and assist such measures, and I firmly believe that we
shall be successful. Your extract however will be valuable to me
when the education question comes on, and I thank you very
much for sending it to me. Pray believe me yours faithfully, Sidney Herbert.
Under the prudent guidance of Dr. Longley Harrovia
advanced at all points, and the tide of pupils rose in every
master's house. It is singular enough that the Harrow
staff had generally put up with incommodious homes at
enormous, rents for the accommodation of their pupils.1
As it requires as much nerve for a boarding tutor at our
public schools to fit himself out as it does to establish an
hotel, it is not wonderful that the junior masters, ever
looking for their promotion to other schools, as the head
ship of their own was never open to them, preferred to
endure an inconvenience that was regarded only as tem
porary. At all events it was Mr. Phelps who first shewed
that Harrow had capabilities for its school which had not
yet been turned to account.
Harrow Park,2 with a large substantial mansion upon it,
was once the property and residence of John Rushout
i The original school-buildings the masters ceased to occupy them.
contained rooms for the accommo- 2 A part of Harrow Park was the
dation of the masters. These must manor of Flambards, so called from
have been very inconvenient, but it Sir John Flambard who possessed
is not ascertained, we believe, when it in the reign of Edward III.

chap, vi.] Harrow Park. 89
second Baron Northwick, a nobleman sprung from a family
of baronets, dating from the Restoration, the first of whom
married a Harrow heiress, which brought the family into
those parts, but their principal residence was and is at
Northwick Park in Worcestershire. While residing at
Harrow, his Lordship, as a governor, took great interest
in the school and gave the boys free access to his beau
tiful grounds, the loveliness of which drew a handsome
compliment from George the Third when His Majesty
on one occasion honoured Lord Northwick with a call.
About the year 1826 General Macgregor, who lived in
the great house, built on an angle of the park a pair of
semi-detached houses which he named Gothic Villas, the
architect being Decimus Burton, of Regent's Park celebrity.
In 1828 or 1829 General Macgregor having left the neigh
bourhood, Harrow Park estate was sold, and in 1831
Gothic Villas were in the market, through the new owner's
bankruptcy. Mr. Phelps's lease of the Pond House was then
expiring, and he was anxious to get into another better
adapted for school purposes. Reflecting on the remarkable
difficulty that the Harrow masters had had from time im
memorial in meeting with suitable houses, that there was
really no other house in Harrow he could have had on
quitting the one he was then in, that the idea of any one
becoming possessed of a piece of Harrow Park for a house
appeared never to have been contemplated by a single
individual, and that now a slice of it was offered for sale
with Gothic Villas, Mr. Phelps felt that there was a clear
and providential call for him to become a purchaser.
Having consulted his old schoolfellows Robinson and
Upton as lawyers, he became a bidder at the London
Auction Mart, and on April 15th, 1831, the property was
knocked down to him. The houses as a building specu
lation had hitherto, owing to their having originally no
ground, not even a garden, attached to them, proved almost
an entire failure, and the purchaser now obtained them on
very advantageous terms. By means of a mortgage, a loan

90 Life of A^rchdeacon Phelps.
from Mr. Robinson, and submitting to some inconyenience
in current expenditure, the purchase money was found.
Mr. Hunter warmly congratulated his friend upon tEe
event, hoped he might enjoy some happy years in his new
abode, but trusted that Harrow was not to be the goal of
his life, and that, after his work was done there he would
be allowed in God's providence to devote many a year to
the exclusive ministry of the gospel. This indeed had
long been no less Mr. Phelps's own ardent desire, but
hitherto he had been unable to accomplish it, and had
followed what seemed to him |ihe guidance of a higher
hand. When he was known at Harrow as the proprietor of
Gothic Villas, one and another began in a half-rallying tone
to drop hints that as he was lopking high he might even
have looked higher, and if on pfothic Villas a+j the park cor
ner, why not oh the great house and the park itself ? It
had been already indeed suggested by the lawyers while the
villas were under negotiation, bufc the hint he had repelled
as an impossibility. The idea however haying once har
boured itself in his poind, he fed upon it as he haunted
the new purchase and walked about the par,k, until he
too began to say — Why not ? In short he quickly became
convinced that the proposal was as sound as it was at first
novel and startling. The cautious judgment of his lawyer
schoolfellows sanctioned the step, and on July 8th he was
in legal possession.1 The terms were as advantageous as
before, the mode of payment was made accommodating,
and the purchase money was managed in a somewhat
similar way. That he should, have made up his mind to
embark in an undertaking of this magnitude, argued his
faith in the Harrow government and a willingness to
commit himself cordially to the work of the school during
some of the best years of his life ; and this was little more

1 In less than a week after the tied the prudence of bis step in a
agreement to purchase he had an pecuniary point of view.
offer .for it, which abundantly justi-

chap, vi.] The great house. 91
than a year after the prospects had seemed so question
able that he was on the point of throwing them all up
for Islington.1
On the 25th of August he awoke for the first time
within the spacious rooms of the great house, and began
to realize the weighty responsibilities that now . rested
upon his shoulders. A well-timbered demesne of five-
and-twenty acres surrounded him.2 A building originally
erected for the accommodation of Lord Northwick's out
door establishment, but by Mr. Phelps afterwards tastily
adapted as a cottage residence, stood within the boundary.3
A walled garden of two acres bountifully supplied all the
requirements of Mrs. Phelps's housekeeping. It was truly
a noble property, and we are not surprised to find some
verses attempted in its honour when the grounds were
arrayed in all their October beauty, a few months after
the purchase. We may be pardoned for introducing a
specimen. The mansion meets the sight —
" In line of Grecian beauty nobly drawn
Crowning with magic grace the sloping lawn ;
While through the bending trees that round it nod
Peeps the tall spire that points the way to God j
Below, amid the thick entangled brake,
Gleam the still waters of the winding lake,
Where many a wandering schoolboy might be seen
The hours of learning and of play between,
While on the mossy bank his limbs recline
Throwing with cautious hand the rod and line.
Such are the charms that deck thee, lovely spot !
Charms which though absent ne'er can be forgot.

> To his great satisfaction he was after his name — "Who sends it
Btill regarded as a friend to this in- not merely officially, but with
stitution, which] had now begun* a many personal recollections of
flourishing career, numbering al- gratitude for the very able and
ready 115 boys, as many as Har- effective manner in which the
row itself had lately seen. Mr. examination was conducted."
Phelps was one of its first year's 2 Out of which he did not„forgeJfc
Examining Masters (June 28th, the Harrow poor when severe win-
1831), and the warm-hearted 'vicar ters made a little extra fuel wel-
on signing the official vote of come.
thanks could not resist adding a First occupied in 1833.

92 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
For oft in fancy I shall meet thee still
Beneath my favourite tree or on the hill,
Muse on the past and hold ideal talk -
In each sequestered bower and lonely walk,
Or watch the sun illume with setting fire
The shades of Harrow Park, its church, and spire." •
But no beauty of nature could charm him unless cheerful
hope associated the future with throngs of youth both in
Harrow School and Harrow Park as well as with dates of
interest and instalments. And indeed it was no common
pledge that he was now giving of his desire to pro
mote the advancement of Harrow, with the interests of
which he had thus so closely linked his own. In so
noble a community of fellow labourers well did he de
serve hearty good will for his encouragement.
Here then for another eight years and with greatly in
creased responsibilities Mr. Phelps continued his honest
toil, seeking to guide the minds and bless the souls of a
youthful tribe.
In the full tide of his prosperity it was a school of itself
that he was presiding over at Harrow Park, as his col
leagues were doing on wious scales in other houses. It
is an excellent idea, that a body of masters should thus
have their personal interests in their pupils' comforts and
morals — not to say their emulation kept alive. And who
is the tutor that would profess indifference to a position
of trust at one of our distinguished schools, as Harrow,
while watching the early years of many bearing historic
names, who might themselves one day be guiding the
national destinies and working in influential spheres for
England's welfare? For this is certain, that men of
highest rank are by no means always the most fortunate
in finding honest and faithful guides for their sons, and
they are sometimes the most ill used and preyed upon.
Above all we should not envy the tutor who would feel
no emotion at learning that his Christian endeavours had
1 Sarah Thaine Frowd.

chap, vi.] Increase of pupils. 93
won the confidence of such as Zachary Macaulay, Hannah
More, George Hoare, and Sir Thomas Acland. Mr. Phelps
was not indifferent to any of it, and there are letters still
preserved among his cabinet archives recording high ap
preciation of his efforts, which records are now — when the
lads of the thirties have made their mark in the world —
not a httle interesting to read, but which it would savour
too much of ostentation to print.
Commencing at Harrow Park in the third term of the
year 1831 with fourteen pupils, only one of whom was a
new one,1 he speedily experienced a justification of the
important step he had taken, as parents began to apply
with a view to the coming year. Accordingly the begin
ning of 1832 brought him six new boys.2 After Easter
came five more,3 and after the summer holidays as many
as eight entries occurred, 4 making no less than nineteen
for the whole year, a larger number than ever occurred
again in the same space of time. But the school was now
decidedly rising.6
His numbers steadily advanced. Discouraging was the
moment when, in the days of his Islington candidature, he
told his friend Hunter that he had but six boys, two of
them going at the end of the quarter and no others in
prospect, his rent beyond one hundred guineas, and he in
debt for his original outfit. Shortly afterwards, when
trying to augur a brighter future for his stay at Harrow,
he still cautiously added, " I might never perhaps approach
to Batten's popularity." With these beginnings and anti
cipations before us, it is interesting to watch the occasional
entries in his journal, which we will now collect together,

1 Andrew Agnew the baronet's Battersby, H. G. G. Duff, G. J.
eldest son. Bevan, T. C. Smith, J. J. Galloway,
2 G. D. Donkin, G. G. Boberts, J. V. Vivian.
A. Wauchope, J. Reilly, E. J. Stra- 5 The number this year reached
cey, K. H. Valpy. 240. In 1833 the rise attained its
8 J. KaBhleigh, R. E. Ward, Hon. maximum under Dr. Longley, 259,
Alexander Gordon, W. Holmes, and that year Mr. Phelps had. four-
W. A. Hyder. teen entries.
* M, Portal, T. G. Wills, J. H.

94 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
to shew us how the experiment of the great house was
going on.
" 1832 — February 21st. Seventeen pupils in the house."
" 1832 — October 19th. Twenty-eight pupils in the house."
" 1832 — November 21th. Refused two pupils as my number
was full.'"
" 1833— July 30th. Parted with 34 boys in health and peace."
" 1834 — Summer holidays. Broke up with 37 in the house."
" 1834 — Christmas. Broke up with 29."
"1835— June 3rd. Speech-day. Sir Robert Peel: 60 sat
down." a
" 1835— December 8th. Broke up with 27 boys."3
" 1836— June 1st. Speech-day. 70 sat down."
" 1836— July 26th. Broke up with 35 boys."
" 1836— December 6th. Broke up with 35 boys."
" 1837 — June 7th. Speech-day : 71 sat down : Lady Peel"
" 1837— July 25th. Broke up with 40 boys."
" 1837 — October 3rd. My number this quarter 38, being still
a little in advance of any of the other masters."
" 1837 — December 12th. Broke up with 36 boys."
" 1838— April 3rd. Broke up with 36 boys."
" 1838— December 4th. Broke up with 40 boys."
We shall reserve 1839 for a future page.
Judging from the tone of his letters we conclude that
Mr. Phelps was happy in his work, bore its trials pa
tiently if not cheerfully, and sought his reward in
gaining the confidence of his youthful charge, restoring
the wanderers to rectitude, and helping the toilers along
the path of honour. He had the comfort of sending his
1 He afterwards increased his had been one of those entertained
accommodation. by his father in Harrow Park. He ¦
1 On Speech-days each master also found that Harrovians at the
invited to bis table the parents antipodes met each other with a
and friends of his pupils, and this brotherhood more close than any
number relates to Mr. Phelps's freemasonry could cement.
guests alone. These were very 3 At this time the school was
pleasant gatherings. In after years again, after its late rise, shewing
one of Mr. Phelps's sons, a clergy- symptoms of decline. In 1836 we
man in Australia, found that his find the governors seeking reme-
own bishop in that distant land dies by reducing the terms.

chap. VI.] A master's character. 95
youngest brother with credit to Si John's College, Cam
bridge, after a Harrow preparation, and of thus fulfilling
his father's hope of educating all his sons in his eldest.
An old Harrovian of Mr. Phelps's time has communicated
a few of his recollections of him. He writes : —
" I remember Mr. Phelps well as a boy, though I was never
under him, my place in the school when I first entered being
higher than the class which he then taught. I was a boarder at
 's ; and when, as sometimes happened^ — — was ill or absent,
I used to go down to Phelps's pupil-room to construe through the
lessons of the day with his boarders, partly because Phelps's housej
then by the Pond, was nearest to  's, but also because I liked
the way he used hear us go through the lesson.1 I remember
little of Phelps during my school days except that he had the re
putation of being an easy master to be under in class, that is to
say one who rarely ' sent up ' the boys to be flogged, and one
whose impositions and punishments were always moderate.''
One of his boys at Harrow Park wrote home soon after
joining in the following terms: — "I like 'Mr. Phelps more
and more every day; he is so very good humoured and
talks to the boys just as if he were one of them. He is
reckoned much the best master both in and out of the
school." The reader will excuse the last remark and attri
bute it to schoolboy partiality.2 Another of his boys wrote
that " he kept the rough ones in order " and, while as good-
natured as any master, was not " laughed at by the rowdies
behind his back" for any easy weakness. The "easy"
therefore in the first extract will not be misunderstood.
The changes among Mr. Phelps's contemporaries in the
preceptoral staff were, as far as they have come under our
notice, the following. Dr. Longley, who came after Easter
in 1829, was in April 1836 succeeded by Dr. Christopher

1 The boys in each house went to say it again to the masters of
through the day's lesson with the their forms.
master with whom they boarded 2 See another instance at p. 48.
before they went up to the school

96

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

Wordsworth, who continued in office for eight years and
beyond Mr. Phelps's time.1
Mr. Evans died June. 20th, 1833 at the age of 68, and
was buried in the church-yard. He was succeeded by
the Rev. Henry Joseph Thomas Drury, as the under-
masters were usually chosen from among the assistants,
who could not hope to rise higher while they stayed at
Harrow. Mr. Drury outlived Mr. Phelps's time and
dying March -5th, 1841, was buried in the churchyard,
having been a master of Harrow for forty-one years.
Harrow had not for many a year been without a Drury.2
The Rev. B. H. Kennedy, Mr. Batten's successor, after six
years at Harrow, was appointed March 8th, 1836, head
master of Shrewsbury, where he attained, as everyone
knows, great educational distinction. He and Dr. Long-
ley therefore retired from Harrow together, and as Long-
ley introduced Kennedy and arrived only a year earlier,
these two eminent men will be associated with Harrow
together. Dr. Wordsworth, the new head, introduced
in Mr. Kennedy's place the Rev. Thomas Henry Steel

1 He was of Trinity College, Cam
bridge, senior classic and senior
classical medallist in 1830; exa
miner for the classical tripos in
1834, 1835, in which years also he
examined at Harrow for the annual
scholarships, and so was introduced
to the post. We find the following
entries in the journal relating to
Dr. Longley's retirement : — " 1836,
March 1st. Dr. Longley is appoint
ed ; 15tb, dinner at Longley's to
to the boys, plate presented ; 16th,
dined at Longley's with the juniors."
Yet the authorities state that the
bishopric of Bipon was not founded
until October 5th, 1836, and the
date of Dr. Longley's nomination
is given by Le Neve as October 15th,
1836. The report of the Ecclesias
tical Commissioners, in which they
recommend the erection of this see,
is dated March 17th, 1835. A note
of Dr. Longley to Mr. Phelps, ac
companying a parting present of some

volumes, is dated Harrow March
25th, 1836. He writes "in remem
brance of a connexion which I shall
always look back upon with sincere
satisfaction." 2 Dr. Joseph Drury was head
master from 1785 to 1805, and his
brother Mark was under-master.
A son of the gentleman mentioned
in the text, afterwards an assist
ant master, was baptised Benja
min Heath, from which we might
suppose that the Drurys were per
haps related to Dr. Benjamin Heath
who was head-master previously to
Dr. Joseph Drury. Henry, another
son of Mr. Drury of the text, was a
prizeman in 1829 and 1830, editor of
the Arundines Cami, and died Arch
deacon of Wilts and vicar of Brem-
hill in that county January 25th,
1863, aged 50. The Latin oration
was delivered too by a Drury in
1804, 1807, 1809, 1814, 1830,

chap, vi.] Succession of masters. 97
of hi3 own college, next to him on the Tripos and second
Chancellor's medallist, besides being a wrangler; his col
league likewise as Tripos examiner in 1834.
Mr. Oxenham, Mr. Phelps's senior, succeeded Mr. Drury
as under master hi 1841 and died in 1864.1
The Rev. George Edward Gepp came after Easter 1832,
on no special vacancy, but evidently in consequence of the
school then rising after its depression. He left at Christ
mas, 1836 (and he was the third who left in that year) and
went as head-master to the Grammar school of Ashbourne
in Derbyshire, which in three months he raised from the
verge of extinction to something like a flourishing con
dition, his Harrow reputation greatly seconding his own
talents and exertions.
The Rev; William Mills, one of Mr. Phelps's seniors, was
elected about November 20th,- 1835 to the Grammar school
of Exeter.2 Either as his successor or somewhat later came
George Frederick Harris, Esq., who was third on the classi
cal tripos of 1835, and a Fellow of Trinity College. >
In 1838 came J. W. Colenso, Esq., of St. John's College,
second wrangler in 1836. He stayed until 1842 &hd sortie
years afterwards was consecrated bishop of Natal.3
In Mr. Phelps's more domestic interior we may note that
two infants, httle Wiltshire men, came under his roof at
Harrow, and six more children were born to him ere be
i A memoir of him in the Gentle- reputation to mathematical study
man's Magazine (1864 p. 660) stated among those good scholars. The
that he was "An admirable classi- newspapers iri the beginning dl
cal scholar, of the type of Keate 1872 reported a then recent speech
and Drury, and had probably few of an old Harrovian, Mr. C B. M\
living Superiors in sin intimate Talbot, M.P., Lord Lieu'tehatit of
knowledge of all departments of Glamorganshire, recording his ex-
Latin versification." Quoted in perieric'e " between 50 arid 60 years'
the Harrow Gazette. ago," under the regime therefore of
2 His two sisters the Misses Mills Dr. George Butler the senior wrang-
afterwards went to reside at Bead- ler. If the speech is not to be taken
ing, and continued until their deaths cum grano salis, it shews that the"
attached members .of Mr. Phelps's " ingenuse artes" were either' not
congregation at Trinity church. learnt " fideliter " at Harrow or
8 Mr. Steel and Mr. Colenso else that they certainly did allow
seem to have been the earliest the " mores " of the young gentle-
mathematical masters of Harrow men " esse feros," and therefore the
with tripos honours, to give some great need there was at Harrow of
H

98 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
quitted the place ; out of which eight he was called to a
most bitter parting with three. His first-born, a promising
and engaging boy of nine, he buried at Brompton in 1834,
and two baby boys in Harrow church-yard in 1835 and
1838. Their illnesses, their departures, their burials are all
chronicled in his journal in brief but touching notes, and
as might have been expected drew out his feelings some
times in verse, shewing how his affectionate nature was
moved to its depths.
Besides the dispensations of divine Providence, there were
other ruggednesses in his path of life to call for patience —
which, happily for him, he possessed in an eminent degree.
Obscure jottings in his journal without murmurings or
bitterness, but also without particulars, tell us now and
then the dark days, " carb. notand.," as they occurred. A
couplet with his initials and dated October 3rd, 1830, on
the cover of one of his journals runs —
" Perchance my future life may wisdom glean
From what the past hath suffered or hath seen."
In a few places we read the Virgilian line remonstrating
and protesting: —
" State viri : quae causa vise ? quive estis in armis ? "
But we are left to guess what and whence was the attack.
A great house, too, swarming with high-spirited youth, and
offices thronged with servants, bring their inevitable discom
forts. Yet Sunt hie etiam sua prcemia laudi. He could
gain hearts among the young. Their very wrong-doings
sometimes attached them more to him, through the skill he
shewed in rescuing them from their moral perils without

that gentle muse whose name is there was a French master, but he
Mathesis. The report of Mr. Tal- lived the life of a, dog ; and there
bot's speech runs — "It was then ab- were also writing and arithmetic
solute heresy for a master to attempt masters, but whenever they ap-
to teach anything but Greek and peared they were received with
Latin. Mathematics and French hallooing and hooting."
were not allowed. It is quite true

chap, vi.] Dealmg with the young. 99
finding it necessary to crush and humiliate them by proceed
ing to extremities. One young offender, writing him thanks
in a manly yet humbled strain, remarks: — "And I shall
gladly do any punishment to redeem your good opinion ; but
as for punishment, you could not give me a more bitter one
than that of coming to myself and that of the remorse I
suffered yesterday." Parents likewise had reason to be
thankful for his honesty, candour, and good judgment, in
dealing with his charge; for if now and then he had to
endure the petulance of such as could never accept the
genuine truth when it was to a son's discredit, this was
amply balanced by the confidence and gratitude with which
others regarded him.
His chief comfort amid the cares of school life he found
in the society of his wife and their youthful tribe ; although
it would be more proper to say after the cares than amid
them, for in truth there was but small leisure for this ex
cept in vacations. " You will easily conceive," he wrote
August 12th, 1837, "how beautiful the grounds here are
now looking, and how much I enjoy the exchange from my
clattering routine when the boys are here for my lawn and
my book and my children, of all which I see so little
when the school is going on." Some very sweet lines too
in the Poems will be found to shew the tender feelings that
continued to live in his bosom, as the path of life was
lengthening, towards her who in 1824 had linked her
destiny with his —
" The graceful lock that scantier strays
Upon a paler brow,
Unfolds a tale of other days,
That warms my bosom now."
Much intercourse with the Harrow public Mr. Phelps never
had, to the very end, not even when established in a park
and mansion. With some few of congenial disposition he
was glad to associate. With Mr. Cunningham of course he
continued intimate, and at his house every now and then
h2

100

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

came in contact with a current celebrity.1 In Mr. and Mrs.
Phelps's journals we find occurring the names of those
whose intimacy and friendship they enjoyed, and among
them we observe besides the masters and the curates and
their wives, Mr. and Mrs. Hewlett, Mrs. Butticary, Mrs.
Shortlands, Mrs. Ewart, Mrs. Milner, Mrs. DeBernier, Mrs.
Remmett, Mrs. Edgecombe. But the most constantly occur
ring name is that of Copland, a family residing at Sudbury
Lodge, at the foot of the hill, on the London Road. Mr.
Copland and his daughters were warm and liberal sup
porters of various Christian efforts, both local and other.

1 " 1827— October 20th. Met Mr.
Wilberforce at Cunningham's."
" 1831— June 4th. Met the Bishop
of Winchester at Cunningham's."
Journal. The Bishop next day
preached the Harrow missionary
sermon. 2 The Curates of Harrow during
Mr. Phelps's residence succeeded as
follows : —
Bobert Monro. He left for Chel-.
tenham, December 4th, 1828.
Thomas Palmer Hutton. He first
preached January 4th, 1829 and
signed the registers last on May 4th,
1830, after which he left to become
minister of the Old Chapel, Syden
ham. He became subsequently
Vicar of Sompting and of Hemel

John Buxton Marsden. He
preached his farewell sermon to the
boys December 9th, 1832, soon after
which he left. See page 79.
Charles Frederick Childe. He
preached his farewell sermon July
5th, 1835. He was afterwards
Principal of the Church Missionary
College, Islington, and is now Bector
of Holbrook, Suffolk.
C. Sandys. He preached his fare
well sermon, February 28th, 1836.
William Bruce. He first officiated
March 6th, 1836. He resided with
his wife at "The Cottage" belong
ing to Harrow Park, and preached
his farewell sermon April 9th, 1837,
after which he left to become In
cumbent of Wadsley, near Sheffield.

After a valued and laborious minis
try as Incumbent of St. James's,
Bristol, Mr. Biddulph's old church,
he died December 27th, 1870 at the
age of 64.
J. Esmond Biddle.- He last
signed the registers July 3rd, 1838.
He became in 1840 Incumbent of
St. Philip and St. James, Seckhamp-
ton. Edward Monro. He first appears
in the registers May 2nd, 1838, and
last on December 9th following.
He was Mr. Phelps's former pup5.
Having quitted Harrow May 15th,
1830, he afterwards proceeded to
Oriel, where he graduated in 1836.
In 1842, on Mr. Cunningham's
presentation, he became the first
Incumbent of Harrow Weald, where
he was long well known for an
earnest ministry and many religious
publications, especially Parochial
Work, 1850. He gradually attached
himself to the "Anglo Catholic"
school of theology, and died Vicar
of St. John's, Leeds, December 13th,
1866, aged 51.
William Francis Wilkinson. He
had been curate of Sheffield. His
name first occurs in the registers of
Harrow September 27th, 1838, and
he remained until 1844, when he
became Theological Tutor of Chel
tenham College. In 1855 he was
joint Editor with the Bev. W.
Webster of the Greek Testament
with Notes,

chap, vi.] Intercourse. 101
The lawn gatherings in their spacious marquee, where
many able speeches were accustomed to be heard, for many
a good cause, and especially that of the suffering Irish
church, acquired somewhat more than a local Tame. One of
the latest acts of munificence of this family was the " Sud
bury Copland Village Hospital," opened by the surviving
Miss Copland, October 5th, 1871, erected and equipped
at her sole expense, containing a beautiful portrait of her
father, whose memory she wished to associate with the
institution, The eldest daughter died while Mr, Phelps
was at Harrow, and the father a few years after he had
left, but the intimacy established so early as 1827 between
the families, continued unbroken in after life. " He was,"
wrote one of these ladies at the Archdeacon's death, " one
of our earliest friends, and we so entirely relied on his affec
tion and regard for us that his place, cannot be filled up." '
Among such friends as these his society was greatly
prized; while large and promiscuous parties, being con
trary to his taste, he did not seek, owing partly perhaps to
his natural disposition, but more especially to a thoughtful
and religious mind which led him to cultivate on principle
a certain degree of retirement, from which his duties in life
did not then imperatively summon him. It was at all
events no deficiency of sympathy with his fellow men, no
mere hermit selfishness or cynicism, that kept him secluded
within the more retired walks ; for if not specially formed
for general society, if formed with a disposition even
rather to shun it, it may be truly affirmed that in all the

i " 1827— May 12th. First called 1870. The latter was buried at
ontheCoplands." "18S3^Novem- Kensal Green. To the societies and
ber 15th. Dined at the Coplands charities befriended by her in her
and met Captain Boss." "1838— lifetime she bequeathed above
January 27 th. Miss Copland buried £6000. Her funeral sermon preach-
at the cemetery." Journal. In a ed at St. John's, Sudbury, January
letter of March 5th, Mr. Phelps 23rd, by the Bev. Thomas Nolan
wrote— "You saw by the papers was printed. This church, together
that we had lost a most dear and with the schools and parsonage
faithful friend in" Miss Copland." were built by the family and form
Mr. Copland died March 1st, 1843 ; a pleasing group in a lovely spot
and Miss Frances on January 14th, within the Sudbury Lodge grounds

102 IAfe of Archdeacon Phelps.
qualities that fit human beings for the precious intercourse
of friendship, no heart could be more richly endowed
than his. The letters to and from his friends breathe the
most prolonged and the warmest mutual attachments,
which were kept up by visits and personal intercourse as
much as possible, and neither Hyde Abbey nor Oxford
friendships were allowed to cool or drop if he could help it.
Proximity to London, where Mr. Robinson and Mr. Upton
were settled, and the opportunities which holiday excur
sions would permit, favoured his natural bent. Among his
more distant friends he seems to have exchanged visits the
most frequently with Mr. Hunter. One summer, as we saw,
he looked up " George " at Packcombe, and doubtless com
plimented his " academy " there. There is no record of Mr.
Cornish having visited and complimented the " academy "
at Harrow Park. Mi-. Tucker drops out of the scene, as he
went to India in the spring of 1833, but we shall find him
again ere long instructing his old pupil in altered circum
stances. Mr. Bingham occasionally visited him.1 Mr. Filleul
once, in 1828.2 John Keble came to Harrow in 1837 and
saw " good Philip," who, as the journal records on March
11th, drove him to Brentford on his departure. Mr. Thomas
Keble, Mr. Cornish, Mr. and Mrs. Rickards, Mr. and Mrs.
Hunter, Mr. Tristram, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Upton, stood spon
sors to his children. He also visited (as we have seen) Mr.
Zillwood and his old schoolmasters at Winchester, and " Mr.
George" from his Devonshire living wrote him a very
touching letter. Once he was visited after a separation of
1 While these sheets are passing ancestor's works, appeared in the
through the press Mr. Bingham has Church Standard of April 8th, 1864.
passed into his rest. He died at 2 Mr. Filleul in 1823 married a
Sutton January 22nd, 1872, the day sister of Captain Anthony Blagrave
after completing his seventy-fourth Valpy, who was also of a Jersey
year. Among his pupils at Twy- family, and whose son Bobert
ford (where he assisted Mr. Bedford.) Harris Valpy was a pupil at Har-
was the present Archbishop of Dub- row Park from 1832 to 1837. Cap-
lin, and among those he received at tain Valpy, son of the celebrated
Gosport was Bishop Byan. An in- schoolmaster Dr. Valpy of Beading,
teresting biographical sketch of him, resided for some time at Wargrave
with a notice of his patient labours Hill on the Thames near Henley,
(for which he was but indifferently built by Cowper's friend, Joseph
remunerated) in editing his learned Hill, who also lived there.

CHAP, vi.] Interest in the poor. 103
seventeen years by his beloved friend Mr. Pope.1 His sum
mer holiday trips chiefly included Wiltshire, but sometimes
took a wider range. In 1830 he made his first visit to
Wales ; in 1833 his first to the Isle of Wight ; z in 1838, his
first to the continent.
But we should not give a proper view of his life at
Harrow without mentioning the interest he took in the
poor. Some of the years he passed there were years of
great public anxiety and disturbance;3 and he not only
subscribed among others liberally according to his means,
but shewed likewise a personal sympathy with the poorer
classes, endeavouring to promote their spiritual welfare.
We find him very frequently officiating at a lecture to the
poor set on foot by the Coplands at Sudbury Lodge, and he
could likewise enjoy a pastoral visit to sick and dying
beds, when desired to discharge that office.4
Mr. Phelps frequently visited the neighbouring villages
to assist at the Church Missionary gatherings, in which con
nection we find Harrow Weald, Pinner, Wembley chiefly
mentioned. The meeting at Harrow was usually in the
spring, April or May; the sermons in the autumn, about
1 On May 15th, 1832. sermon." On August 24th he copied
2 Some of Mrs. Phelps's entries the following touching epitaph on
on this trip are: — "August 22nd "a little stranger," in Binstead
at Byde ; Sibthorp's lecture on churchyard, near Byde, little then
baptism for the dead. September anticipating his own terrible losses
1st, at Brixton ; heard the rector to begin the following year : —
Mr. Wilberforce ; pleased with his
Happy child !
He came to see the sea ;
and in full enjoyment of boyish wonder,
his Father took him
to see greater things than these.
A bereaved parent
must grieve;
but in the Lord Jesus Christ
may yet rejoice.
3 " 1830 November 29th. Fire at 1831 November 4th. Bead of the
Preston : burnings first seen in the Bristol riots."— Journal.
neighbourhood of Harrow : walked * He records some notes of con-
up to the churchyard and saw the versation with Charlton of Harrow
conflagration. December 3rd. At- Weald, who was apparently a strik-
tended the vestry and gave five ing instance of piety in humble life
guineas to the Harrow poor. De- He died January 19th, 1835,and Mr
cember 4th. The masters attended Cunningham preached his funerai
a magistrates' meeting at Edgeware. sermon.

104 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
October. Besides Mr. Cunningham we find the names of
John Venn, Marsden, Childe ; and from a distance Daniel
Wilson, the Bishop of Winchester, Archdeacon Hoare, Mr.
Baptist Noel, Mr. Snow of Richmond, Mr. Hough,' &c.
We now proceed with the correspondence.
To Miss Maey Frowd. Harrow, June, 1831.
I have now eighty-one boys to teach and manage in the
Fourth Form ; a pretty little band of sweet innocents ! 2 Will
dear Mrs. Hannah More allow us to perform a lesson in her
presence, if we will all promise to be very good and quiet for an
hour? From Rev. S. Hawteey.
Charmouth, Dorset, July ith, 1831.
My very dear friend,
Your truly affectionate letter should have received an
earlier acknowledgment, had I been at home when it arrived.
And now how shall I begin? Not having seen you since our
residence at quiet Broadchalk, I know not wha,t to advert to
scarcely in the first place. I can only say that if what we were to
have seen and known and felt and suffered had been told to either
my wife or myself five years ago, I should have lifted up my eyes
to heaven and said, "Lord, is it possible? and wilt Thou be able to
give us strength equal to our day 1 "
1 The journal records : — " 1829 may I think in part be attributed
June 21st. The Bishop of Calcutta to my Monday's shouting to that
preached." "1830 July 4th. pretty little darling of a Fourth
Gerard Noel preached." "1830De- Form. In school and out, in pre-
cember 8th. Went to Pinner Mis- paring for the Fourth Form trials
sionary meeting in John Venn's which take place to-day, as well
phaeton with Kennedy and Mars- as for the Scholarship trials, it
den." " 1831 May 22nd. Mr. was my lot to be giving oral in-
Shirley preached." " 1833 Decern- struction with scarcely any inter-
ber 25th. Francis Cunningham mission from half -past seven in
preached." "1834 November 6th. the morning till eleven at night."
Went to a little Missionary meeting This was certainly " tightish work "
at the Coplands : old Mr. Dyer, Mr. as old Mr. Bichards would say.
Cunningham, Mr. Childe." And happily for Mr. Phelps an
2 " 1831 — June 6th. Brush with additional master came after Eas-
Fourth Form: 81 boys." Journal. ter (1832) which relieved him of
He writes to Mrs. Phelps March half the Fourth Form, Mr. Gepp.
27th, 1832. " I am to-day nursing "1835 — September 17th. Began
a, bad cold which has made me hearing the Upper Shell."
somewhat hoarse. This however

chap, vi.] Broadchalk. 105
It will not do for me to be minute. I can only say very gene
rally that at present all is mystery with me with regard to the
Lord's intentions in what he has been pleased to do. Doubtless
there was a needs be, and hereafter what he has done I shall
know, although I know it not now. Of course you have been
made acquainted with the suddenness of our removal from
Broadchalk, and the nature of my first illness in January, 1828,
and many subsequent circumstances concerning me. Since Sep
tember 27th, 1829 we first lived in a pretty cottage at Bris-
lington1 near Bristol, till the 25th of March following. We then
took lodgings in the skirts of Bristol, where we resided until
. May 31st, during which period we were hearers of the excellent
Mr. Glover of Bedminster. Charmouth having been considered
a healthy place, and the sea strongly recommended for me, we
determined on making it our home pro tempore, and accordingly
we took a very small but neat ready furnished cottage, which we
have inhabited ever since. I am released from a fourteen years
servitude of Broadchalk. I have two curates. One a most de
cided character who serves Broadchalk and Bowerchalk, and
who takes pupils, the Rev. Joseph Goodhart.2 I receive this
of the Lord. But I suppose your brother has told you some
thing about Mr. Goodhart, for I conclude they visit.
I am extremely happy to find that you succeed so well at
Harrow. One of your associates I saw at Charmouth with his
eldest son on his way to Devonshire last August. We were ex
tremely intimate before my conversion, and had not met for
nearly twenty years. But we knew each other, and the meet
ing was really pleasing. Christianity does not deprive us of
certain social feelings. I should very much wish you to talk
with -^7!tt^ on the subject of your principles and hear what he
says.. He is exceedingly acute, and was the grace of God ever to
reach his heart, he would be a fine character. I do think when

1 The readers of the lives of hart, with whom Mr. Phelps was
Bomaine and Fletcher will be to become one day and elsewhere
familiar with this name. The weU acquainted. He was a scho-
pious and munificent merchant lar of Trinity College, Cambridge,
James Ireland who resided here fourth Wrangler, and Second Class
died July 6th, 1814 at the age of in the Classical Tripos, at his B.A.
eighty-nine. , degree in 1826.
2 The Bev. Charles Joseph Good-

106 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
learned men become deeply pious, they are most useful, most
interesting, and most delightful members of society. O my dear
friend, we are living in eventful times.1 The hand of the Lord
is stretched out upon our guilty Christ-despising country, and
many are apprehensive of what may happen. But if, as I ex
pounded this morning in my family, the Lord is our light and
our salvation, whom should we fear ? If we abide in Him, we
shall have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His
coming. We have a very nice little society here at Charmouth, and at
Lyme Mr. Snow is our minister,2 and we are also very intimate
with & few pious friends at Lyme. I suppose you know that Mr.
Philipps3 has left St. Thomas's, Salisbury, and is succeeded by Mr.
Capel, of Bristol. We spent a day at Hampstead with dear Mr.
Evans, now a widower, where we met Mr. Hodgson and others.
We heard Mr. Evans preach.4 Oh, he is a dear and blessed man.
How I should rejoice to see you once more ! But I fear there
is no chance, unless anything brought you and your family to Lyme
for bathing in the vacation.
Believe me, my dear friend and brother in the Lord,
Ever yours, Stephen Hawteey.5

1 The reader will recollect that ciation which met once a month
the country was now convulsed at each other's bouses for confe-
with the Beform agitation. rence and prayer. Himself and
2 Mr. Phelps's friend, J. W. Dr. Cummiug were the only mem-
Hatherell was incumbent in 1839. bers of it who did not belong to
» See page 380, vol. I. The jour- the Church of England. The late
nal has " 1830, September 1st. Bev. John Wilcox and Francis
Preached at St. Thomas's for Ellaby were members of this
Philipps," he again preached there meeting and were much attached
on Good Friday, March 29th, to him, as also several other
1839. Mr. Capel stayed at St. clergymen now living in London.
Thomas's until September 1844. With' these he was on the most
* See p. 82. Though Mr. Haring- brotherly and affectionate terms."
ton Evans remained a decided non- Life of Rev. J. H. Evans. After
conformist to the close of his life, two years of widowhood Mr. Evans
" his associations, sympathies, and married secondly (1833) a daughter
friendship were most generally of Bobert Bird, Esq., of Taplow,
with churchmen ; differing from BuckB. He died December 1st,
the Episcopalians, whose minis- 1849.
trations he loved., finding little 5 Mr. Hawtrey revisited his old
union of heart with many of parish in March and November,
whose principles in church mat- 1832, and in April and May of
ters he approved." "Mr. Evans 1833. After this he did not visit
was a member of a clerical asso- it again until 1842. There are

CHAP, vi.] Secularising employment. 107
To Rev. J. Huntee, Aberystwith.1
Harrow, February 11th, 1832.
I must manage to send off a line to you of some sort by
to-day's post, or really I don't know when I am likely to answer
the truly affectionate and welcome letter I last received from you.
You will be at no loss to conceive how it happens that my corres
pondence is deferred from day to day, when my boys are with me
and I am in the midst of my numerous and anxious engagements.
In connexion with which I cannot help saying, en passant, how
much I felt your touching remark respecting the probable dangers
of the path in which I am called to walk. When I look back,
I must say " If the Lord himself had not been on our side," &c.
And when I think of the hurry and occupation, and I may add
the general nature of my present pursuits, I cannot but feel and
mourn over their secularising effect, and. dread their future en
croachments. Pray for me, my dear friends, and for my dear
wife and children. I look to the wonder-working Hand that has
still, I trust, kept alive the little spark of spiritual life through
scenes of much and varied temptation, or I should- utterly faint
in the prospect.
What you have told me of your present circumstances and
anxieties I need not assure you is most deeply interesting to
me. May the God of all grace sanctify every occurrence to
yourself and your beloved partner and children; and especially
grant that all accession of this world's goods may be with them,
what it should be, a widening of the sphere of usefulness that
shall redound to the glory of Him who giveth and who taketh
away. Should it be His sovereign will that Mrs. Hunter or
your dear daughters should ever think they could be benefited
by my poor counsel and services, I see every reason why they
should command and I most willingly render them. I think

one or two letters more from him really wonderfidly well. They had
after a considerable interval of been at Broadchalk a month and
time ere we shall entirely bid were much gratified with the state
fareweU to this excellent man. of things there. "
Writing from Bath April 25th, * Mr. Hunter went here from
1832, to his wife at Harrow, Mr. Shrewsbury for the benefit of his
Phelps remarks — "I passed an health about the autumn of 1831.
hour at Salisbury with Mr. and He resided at 3, Laura Place.
Mrs. Hawtrey. The former is

108 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
it right to say thus much in acknowledgment of part of your
letter, I trust if spared, we may again be permitted by word
of mouth to communicate further upon this and other subjects
of deep interest to me and to you. .... My
number is seventeen boys1 in the house and thirteen out. I ex
pect a son of Lord Aberdeen at Easter.
To Rev. John Huntee, Aberystwith.
Harrow Park, May 2nd, 1832.
Godley's success2 1 know you would be glad to hear of.
He has now left me and goes to Christ Church in June. The
other successful candidate (a son of Judge Richardson) was a
pupil of Mr. Oxnam.
Were we permitted to meet, we should doubtless find many
topics for conversation of deep personal interest, and such as can
only be discussed in the unrestrained intercourse of kindred
minds prepared to unburden themselves to each other for the
purpose of obtaining counsel and support, not to be obtained
(humanly speaking) through other channels. You appear to
refer to some such points in your last ; and although I dare not
promise myself that ypu can ever have derived benefit from coun
sel of mine, I should much like (were it the Divine will) to be
present with you in every occasion of perplexity, that I might at
least testify the deep interest I take in all that interests you.
But what a privilege (Oh that I improved it more !) to be enabled
to take our dear friends and their difficulties to a Throne of Grace.
I doubt not that our Lord and Master who has given you a good
desire to do all uprightly and to His glory, will enable you in the
present instance (be the circumstances what they may) to bring
the same to good effect,
I feel inclined to envy you your progress in the Welsh language.
I could draw a picture of you at a sermon drinking in a few in-
i He reports nineteen on the 15th much credit just at this crisis when
of March following. the Harrow Park undertaking was
2 He had gained the scholarship in its infancy was a matter of deep
the year previous, but had relin- thankfulness to Mr Phelps. Wil-
quished it, and Mr. Phelps was no Ham Stevens Bichardson was sixth
less anxious than himself for his monitor and left at Midsummer,
second success . He had left (fourth having won the Governor's prize for
monitor) at Easter. That one of his Greek Iambics and the Peel medal
pupils should have done him so for the. Latin oration.

CHAP. VI.] Mr. Pope. 109
telligible drops from time to time of the Word of Eternal Life.
But I am no limner. Does it never remind you of that incipient
period of -religious impression when, under the preaching of the
Gospel which we did not understand, we were now and then sur
prised by a faint view of the excellency of Christ and the value
and danger of our souls ?
I don't know if I told you that we were about to have an
additional master here. I was this morning introduced to him, a
Mr. Gepp, of Wadham College.1 This relieves me of some part
of my school-room labours, as Mr. Kennedy now divides the
Fourth Form with me.
My number of pupils in the house remains what it was ; as in
the room of Godley and Acland who have just left me, I have
Rashleigh2 and Gordon.3 Another pupil (Jones) leaves me next
month, at Midsummer, and in his place I have reason to expect
two and possibly a third. My present house gives great satisfac
tion to the parents who have seen it. This is encouraging under
the enormous expense I have incurred in getting into it. Did I
ever speak to you of •  ¦ ? I could interest you much by the
account of the state of his mind when he left Harrow, to all
appearances under strong religious impressions and with a feeling
of personal kindness to myself that I must call quite remarkable.
To Rev. John Hunter, Aberystwith.
Harrow, May 23rd, 1832.
I had last week the pleasure of a most unexpected visit
of two days from my old schoolfellow, Rev. Richard T. Pope.
He is dreadfully broken down in health by the unmeasured and
irrational exertions he was induced to make some few years since
in the way of preaching and public speaking. I breakfasted
the week before, by invitation, with the Bishop of Calcutta, who

i He was Second Class in 1830. to Harrow, May 7th, 1832 and left
See p. 97. at Midsummer, 1834. Acland was
2 Jonathan Eashleigh, son of seventh monitor and left at Easter.
William Eashleigh, Esq. , of Mena- Two younger brothers came subse-
billy in Cornwall. He left at Mid- quently to Harrow Park, June 15th,
summer, 1836. 1833 and September 13th, 1837
a The Hon. Alexander Gordon, son respectively.
of the Earl of Aberdeen. He came

110

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

appears in excellent health and in a most suitable and pleasing
state of feeling.1
To Rev. J. Hunter, Abeeystwith.
Harrow, June 16th, 1832.
I do indeed now entertain a hope that it may be the will
of God that I may have the happiness of seeing you and Mrs.
Hunter at Harrow. With regard to your journey and Oxford,
you could not have applied to a worse informant. I have no
friend or correspondent at Oxford whatever. Mr. Cunningham,'
whose son is at Christ Church, thinks very unfavourably of the
preaching there. I have heard him make an exoeption in favour
of Mr. Newman, of Oriel, who preaches at St. Clement's.2
To Rev. John Hunter, Aberystwith. Harrow, August 4th, 1832.
I very reluctantly abandon the hope of meeting you and
yours in the flesh this summer ; although I could latterly hardly
persuade myself you would adventure yourself and family into

1 This was on May 8th, and he
was accompanied by the two Pear
sons, his pupils. The Bishop was
consecrated April 29th and em
barked June 19th. We may men
tion as a coincidence that on Sun
day, October 1st, 1797, the day
Mr. Phelps was born, Daniel Wil
son, then a young man, after much
internal conflict and in token of
his decision for the Christian life,
partook of the Lord's Supper for the
first time, at the hands of the Bev.
John Eyre formerly Mr. Cadogan's
curate at Beading.
2 This remark is suggestive, on
the eve of the commencement of
the Tracts for the Times. Mr.
Natt's journal under May 27th,
1827, records — " I learn that things
are getting more and more anti-
nomian at St. Ebbe's." In another
year Mr. Natt's Oxford ministry
ended. Mr. Hill had no pulpit in
Oxford. The preacher at St. Ebbe's,
the Bev. Henry Bulteel referred to
above, was a man of much pro
minence and had many auditors
among gownsmen, several of whom
received benefit from his ministry.

He was a man of considerable
preaching power. But the ser
mon which he preached before the
university February 6th, 1831, and
more especially the publication of
it, was an unhappy event. The
"Bulteel controversy" immediately
arose and engaged some able pens.
Mr. Daniel Wilson, in a correspon
dence with Dr. Burton growing out
of this event, uses some expressions
as to Mr. Bulteel's preaching no less
decided than Mr. Natt's (See Chris
tian Observer, 1847, p. 192.) No
one who attentively considers what
Oxford must have been, as illustra
ted by this controversy, can wonder
at the attractions which Mr. New
man's pulpit powers were gaining.
His opinions were probably not so
far developed at this time as to ex
cite uneasiness, or at least alarm.
On July 27th, 1828, he preached for
Mr. Henry Elliott at Brighton.
The continental excursion, which
had so much influence on his future
course, was not commenced until
December, 1832, six months after
the date of this letter,

chap, vi.] Cholera at Harrow. Ill
this neighbourhood, seeing the awful return the cholera has made
upon it.1 It is said at the present moment to be decreasing in
London, but I do not attach much credit to the report, and am
fully persuaded that its ravages in the metropolis have been infi
nitely greater than the public are made aware of. Through the
mercy of our most gracious and forbearing God we were permitted
to close our school on Tuesday last, and part with our pupils in
health and at the usual time without any alarm from this awful
disease in the parish of Harrow, although the neighbouring places,
in common indeed with the whole vicinity of London, had been
visited. But on the very day the boys left us, a case of cholera
appeared in the poor house, and the patient a man of fifty died
next morning. On the following day a woman of about the same
age, a laundress and proverbially strong and healthy, was seized
and fell down whilst at her work and died in the course of twelve
hours at her house within twenty yards of my own. There are I
believe one or two other cases to day in the parish.
Thus you see by the providence of God I and my family are in
the midst of it, and some or all of us may be in eternity ere this
reaches you. Most solemn and awful thought ! What can sustain
the mind under it but the hope that the pardoning mercy of God
through the Lord Jesus Christ will be extended even to the chief
of sinners?
Independently of the cholera there has been an unusual mor
tality in the neighbourhood this season. Many too on all sides
of us are sickening in various ways through the effect of fear on
the nervous system ; and we have something to do to try to keep
up our servants in heart, as every ailment of sickness, numbness,
headache, or cramp, is immediately attributed to cholera : and
through the unusually close and oppressive state of the atmosphere
for the few past days, such ailments are by no means uncommon.

1 This pest visited England first in the morning and Mr. Phelps
in 1831 and 1832. The first case oc- delivered the evening lecture. The
curred on October 26th, 1831 at disease first appeared at Harrow
Sunderland : and the first in Lon- on July 30th. On July 31st Mr.
don on February 13th, 1832. March Phelps's journal records a " Cholera
21st was observed as a General meeting at the school." On April
Fast Day and Mr. Phelps records 14th, 1833, Thanksgiving Sermons
that "almost everybody in this were preached on account of the
parish has Mr. Bickersteth's Fast removal of the cholera.
Tract." Mr. John Venn preached

112 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
All the Harrow masters but myself (with one exception besides)
have gone away with their families. In Mrs. Phelps's situation,
expecting her confinement at any time within this month) she
could not well move, and therefore the appointment of Providence
appears to fix us here. Through His mercy we have been pre
served hitherto in a composed state of mind and feel how grateful
we ought to be in having been spared the anxiety which would
have attended such a visitation a week earlier, that is before our
boys left us.
To the covenant mercies of a reconciled God and Father in
Christ we commend you and yours. — Ever your most affectionate
friend and unworthy brother in the bonds of the Gospel,
W. W. P.
I send you a few stanzas I wrote the other day "For the
Cholera." 1
To Rev. J. Hunter, Aberystwith.
Harrow Park, August 28th, 1832.
We have been dealt with most graciously in respect oi
cholera. Hitherto there have been no cases in Harrow except the
three which occurred within the first week (as I believe I named
to you) and all of these proved fatal.
So it has pleased God to remove your former fellow traveller
(Carne) by this visitation ! And his wife also is taken ! I under
stand that the ravages of the cholera at Plymouth are quite
terrific. Dr. Carne 2 and his brother in the ministry there Mr.
Hatchard,3 and two or three Navy Captains, have been most
exemplary in their benevolent and self-denying exertions on this
awful occasion. Carne himself was seized in the burying ground
in the evening, but imprudently (it is said) neglected the ailment.
He mentioned to a friend in his house about four hours after that
i See Poems. " Out of the vale of Vicar of St. Andrews in 1824 at the
shades and death." age-of 31 and remained there till his
s The Bev. James .Carne, Vicar of decease December 1st, 1869 at the
Charles, Plymouth. He was a com- age of 76. The newspapers record-
moner of Oriel and took his B.A. ing his death stated that "his
May 7th, 1817. Tristram was very practical piety during the visitations
intimate with him for a short time of cholera in 1832 and 1847 will be
before he left Oxford. See Hunter's his best claim to the grateful recol-
Remembrance of Tristram, p. 39. lection of all classes in Plymouth."
a The Bev. John Hatchard became

CHAP, vi.] Increase of pupils. 113
he had some degree of pain which came on when he was officiating
at a funeral. His friend was instantly alarmed at his looks, and
sent for a physician who attended without delay, but too late !
Collapse came on directly and he died in the course of the night.
His wife and two of his daughters were also, taken ill of the same
complaint, and /my paper yesterday announced the death of Mrs.
Carne. May the Angel of the Covenant be with you all, to shelter,
preserve, and bless you !
To Rev. John Huntee, Abeeystwith.
Harrow Park, November 23rd, 1832.
. . . . You will be pleased to hear that my number
of pupils continues on the increase. I have now twenty-eight,
and have applications to receive three more at Christmas, which
will complete the number I could receive into my house with
comfort, and indeed I should not wish to exceed it. My daily
work, as it is, is certainly laborious, but I may hope that prac
tice will render it less so. Indeed it would have puzzled me
when I first came to Harrow to have gone through half the busi
ness which, through the Divine blessing, I am enabled now to
discharge with some degree of comfort. . . .
P.S. I am not often engaged in clerical duty,1 but on the Sun
day before last I undertook a double service for my neighbour
Mr. J. Venn of Pinner.2 My third and youngest brother (Robert)
1 His large and anxious establish- sion to the good Henry Gipps (vol.
ment at the Park accounts for this. I. p. 208) who died in his forty-
He seems to have preached on an seventh year December 1832. The
average about once a month. presentation was with Mr. Simeon,
2 The Bev. John Venn, son of the whose letter on this occasion occurs
Bector of Clapham ; Bell scholar at in his Life. Mr. Venn's last Mis-
Cambridge in 1824Ttwelftb,-wrang- sionary Meeting at Pinner was on
ler, 1827; fellow of Queen's, 1828. May 20th, 1833, and Mr. Phelps
He was ordained to a laborious attended. The farewell sermons
curacy in London, but after a year were on Whit-Sunday May 26th.
his health gave way and he was invi- Mr. Venn had an affectionate flock
ted by Mr. Cunningham, his father's at Pinner. His successor was the
former curate, to become Incumbent Bev. Thomas Burrow. Mr. John
of Pinner. Mrs. Phelps's journal Venn at Pinner, and Mr. Marsden
first mentions him on February 4th, curate at Harrow, came and went
1830. Under May 6th, 1833 the nearly together, and some impressive
journal records — " Heard of John sermons by them both in Harrow
Venn's being presented to a living church are occasionally noticed in
at Hereford." This was in succes- Mrs. Phelps's journals.

114 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
has got a sizarship at St. John's, Cambridge, and is gone up to
reside this term. I hope very favourably of him.
Feom the Rev. E. Greswell.
C.C.C., Oxon, January 31st, 1833.
You will no doubt allow an old fellow collegian and
acquaintance to offer you a copy of a recent publication of his,
a version of Milton's two Plays into Greek.1
I am well aware that, besides the list of emendanda and corri
genda subjoined to the volume, there are still some defects.in the
translation in question, to be detected by a critical eye. Perhaps
had I been able at the time of its passing through the press to
give it an undivided attention, these might not have escaped me.
If you think I should not be taking too great a liberty with the
head-master of Harrow, you will oblige, me by presenting the
second copy to him in my name ; if not, to any other literary
friend of your own who is likely to take an interest in the
subject of the work.
I congratulate you on the total want of foundation for the
report which lately appeared in the papers relative to a fire at
your residence.8
1 Samson Agonistes and Comus. but with a bright sun. On the pre-
Oxon : Parker, 1832. vious day Mr. Phelps had joined
* On January 23rd Mr. Kennedy's Mr. Kennedy and a party at Dr.
house The Grove (formerly Mr. Bat- Longley's to meet Dr. Butler
ten's) was burnt down. The fire of Shrewsbury. Mr. Christopher
broke out between seven and eight Cooke, an old Harrovian, in one of
in the morning. Mr. Phelps like his letters on Harrow archaeology
everybody else had hastened to the thus describes a house lying in a
scene and worked hard in stemming south easterly direction from the
the disaster. All at once the thought church, as it appears in an engraved
struck him*that his own house, in view of Harrow dated 1776. "A
consequence of the haste with which mansion with two floors of seven
every one had deserted it, might not windows each, and one floor on the
be safe, and he immediately hurried ground not visible. There is an
home, arriving providentially Justin adjoining wing rather lower. As
time to extinguish a blaze in one of the perspective is. not perfect, it
his pupils' studies. The "tug at his may.be that this house — open to-
heart" which this accident caused wards the front., westward — was
he long after remembered and spoke that subsequently occupied by Mr.
of it in his last illness. Mr. Ken- Batten. This is. probable, as the
nedy returned special thanks to house has on the front, above the
the masters and pupils for their ac- top story, a triangular stone, which
tivity and zeal in combating the I think I recollect in the remaining
flames. We believe it was Mr. wall of that house after the fire in
Phelps who on that occasion or- the year 1833." Harrow Gazette,
ganised the boys with their relays April 13th, 1872,
pf buckets. It was freezing all day,

chap, vi.] The first taken. ll5
To AN AUNT. Harrow, June 25th, 1834.
God graciously supports and comforts dear Octavia and
myself with the conviction of our dear child's unspeakable happi
ness, and the assurance that His own hand is in all this, and as
we would humbly hope, in much forbearance and mercy.
You will be glad to hear that Pearson has gained two prize
poems out of the three for this year ; to look them over and touch
them up with him will afford me much useful occupation for a day
or two. Also, Mr. Mills having left Harrow, I am advanced to
the care of a new remove in the school (the under shell) upon the
duties of which I purpose, Deo volente, to enter to-morrow. I
have not hitherto resumed my school duties. Thus does God
graciously divert my thoughts from themselves to fresh and not
unpleasing occupations. May He vouchsafe to us and all whom
we love grace to run with patience the race set before us, and to
discharge quietly and to His glory the duties of that state of life
into which it hath pleased Him to call us.
From Rev. J. Hunter.
Egglingham, June 27th, 1834.
I need not tell you how deeply I sympathise with you
in the severe affliction with which I have this evening learned
that it has pleased our Heavenly Father to visit you. In almost
my last letter I remember speaking of my little girl to you, as one
who being a father yourself would enter into a father's feelings.
How little did I then think that when but a few weeks were
elapsed I should have to weep with you over one of the most
solemn visitations with which we can here below be tried. Had
I never seen your dear boy, I should have felt for you as a
Christian brother, whose loss could not but be severe indeed.
But when I recollect him and see him as it were this moment
before me, and recall the impression which he made on my dear
wife and myself, and what I have often said of him to others and
to our dear friend Tristram here, I feel that all that was amiable
and lovely in him makes your loss beyond that which most other
parents have ever been called to bear.1
1 Mr. Tristram, whom Mr. Hun- Sheet, and as this is the last letter
ter was visiting wrote on the same from him that occurs in the corres-

116 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
The two preceding letters refer to the death of his eldest
child John Frowd, which took place by scarlet fever on the
18th of June at Brompton, where he was buried. On the
12th of March in the year following his sixth child, Edward
Frowd, was taken, aged six months. On the 21st of May,
referring to these trials he wrote —
The loss of my sweet little fellow Johnny, and of that other
dear babe, have of course left wounds that now and then flow
afresh and will take some length of time to heal. But I think
I would not have them back if I could. God grant that the
painful stroke so soon repeated may not fail to produce its blessed
sanctifying effects upon my heart and that of my dear wife. You
remember those pretty lines in Parnell's Hermit —

' The child half-wean'd his heart from God ;

(Child of his age) for him he liv'd in pain,
And measur'd back his steps to earth again.
To what excesses had his- dotage run ?
But God, to save the father, took the son.
The poor fond parent, humbled in the dust,
Now owns in tears the punishment was just.'

To Rev. J. Huntee, Aberystwith.
Harrow, September 11th, 1834.
I went to Brighton early in the vacation and remained
a fortnight. I heard some good preaching. Mr. Maitland1 at

pondence we here take our leave of preached August 15th, 1830, by the
him. He was the first of Mr. Bev. Joseph Law. This lady was
Phelps's earliest Christian asso- Miss Charlotte Hely Hutchinson
ciates at Oxford who was called to Smith, a sister of his college friend
his rest, which event occurred May the Bev. Hely Hutchinson Smith.
30th, 1837, His last illness, which Mr. Tristram's second wife survived
was very brief, is recorded in Mr, him.
Hunter's memoir of him. Besides * The Bev. Charles David Mait-
the Fourteen Sermons already men- land, whom Mr. Phelps must have
tioned, the Remembrances contain often heard Mr. Tristram speak of.
Ten Sermons preached by Mr. Tris- In 1813 Tristram, then a Charter-
tram in the later years of his minis- house boy, spent a day at Woolwich
try. Mr. Tristram also drew up an with his elder brother, where he met
Account of the Christian Character Mr. Maitland a fellow officer in the
and Death of Mrs. Tristram, appen- artillery. The conversation soon
ded to a funeral sermon for her turned on religious subjects in

chap, vi.] Brighton preachers. 117
St. James' I heard twice, and Mr. Robert Anderson1 .it Trinity
chapel; Mr. Elliott once at St. Mary's; Dr. Fletcher twice and
Mr Sortain once, at Lady Huntingdon's chapel.2 Mr. Maitland's
were excellent sermons, both on sanctified afflictions. With Mr.
Anderson I was much struck. He preaches a close and searching
morality based on right principles, but I thought the recognition
of the principles rather too occasional. I wanted the Christian
motive more prominent, but yet felt the preaching to be that from
which I ought to learn and profit much ; and for originality of
thought and variety and beauty of expression and the most simple
and unaffected manner, I have not often heard a preacher who won
upon me more.
The little account with which you favoured me of our dear
friend Tristram was highly interesting to me. How delightful it
is to hear of or witness a diligent and faithful minister of Christ !
How unspeakably delightful would it be if one's own character
formed no contrast with such a spectacle !
To Rev. J. Hunter.
2, Western Street, Brunswick Terrace,
Brighton, December 17th, 1834.
It would be entrenching very unprofitably on your time
were I to detail a tissue of domestic trials I have had to encounter

which the two elder men were had purchased from the dissenters.
deeply interested, and the youth He died 1843. His brother, the Bev.
became angry. After the latter J. S. M. Anderson will be men-
left them, Captain Maitland ob- tioned further on. Bobert Ander-
served to his friend that notwith- son, Henry Elliott, C. D. Maitland,
standing what had passed he did all began their Brighton careers
not despair of seeing Henry one about the same time, in 1825, 1827,
day a faithful minister of the Gos- 1828, respectively.
pel. On Trinity Sunday, May 2 The Bev. Joseph Sortain, whose
29th, 1836, Mr. Tristram preached life has been written by his widow,
in the pulpit of St. James's chapel. was born 1809 and died July 16th,
1 Bobert Anderson, son-in-law- of 1860. He is remembered as a
John Shore, first Lord Teignmouth. preacher of considerable ability. It
He was in the India civil service, was a great disappointment to him
but bis health obliging him to come that, owing to some scruples which
home he became Professor of Orien- he could not overcome, he was
tal languages at Haileybury. In unable to take holy orders in the
1821 he was ordained, and in 1825 Established Church, which enjoyed
he commenced his ministry at his warm sympathy as a young
Trinity Chapel, Brighton, which he man.

118 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
during my last campaign, by far the greater part of which have
arisen from my servants. But, my dear friend, what a miracle of
mercy it is that God should deal with us at all in the way of
discipline ! If it were only in judgment, must we not yet say —
"Just and true are thy ways, O King of Saints !" But do I speak
even of discipline ? Surely in the retrospect of the past year my
song should be of mercy, only of mercy. I parted with my boys
last week, all in health, with the exception of one who has since
left me, and whose recovery from a most severe and dangerous
attack of inflammation of the bowels calls upon me for much grati
tude. The number of my pupils this quarter has been twenty-nine
in the house. This is a large number, though you will perceive it
is less than when I last wrote to you, as my number before the
summer holidays was thirty-seven.
What public changes ! If the men who are in1 have learnt the
lesson the last four years ought to have taught them, what may
not I and all good Tories expect of them ?
The following letter is from one of a family which had
been for many years interested in Mr.' Phelps's career, and
it shews how thoroughly he was realizing the expectations
of all who had been the friends of his earliest days.
Wilton House, December 23rd, 1834.
I am afraid my tardy acknowledgment of your most
interesting letter will give you a very unfavourable impression of
the value I attach to it. Indeed, my dear Sir, I can assure you
that I have seldom received one so gratifying to my feelings or one
which was so entirely in accordance with them. It was a severe
trial, the coming back to this scene of so "much past happiness;
but it was so clearly a duty that there was no hesitating, and I
already feel that I am rewarded for the effort in many ways, and
even at this early date I can see the time when it will be a comfort
to me to find myself surrounded by every thing that was so much
cared for. At first, every well-remembered object, every sigh*
i The Conservatives under Sir the Beform Bill in 1832. Peel
Bobert Peel, since December 9th. however could not stand his ground
It was the first return to power of in office yet and was out again in
this party since its great defeat on April, 1835.

chap, vi.] Returning home. 119
and sound, quite overcame me, but as the acuteness of these
feelings subsides, the interest increases and the kindness I have
met with from every body in and near the place excites a degree
of gratitude which I cannot describe. My son is just returned
from his tour in Italy, and my C  children and grandchildren
are with me. I have much to be thankful for, and my life is
spent in constant recurrence to grateful feelings to the Almighty.
After nearly eight' years absence to return here with all my six
children preserved to me in health and happiness is not a blessing
to overlook.
I am truly rejoiced to hear of your success at Harrow, and Mr.
M. has given me a very gratifying report of your brother's well
doing here. With my sincere thanks for the kindness of your
letter, I am ....
P.S. — What a fine manly boy your pupil George Roberts seems
be.1 To Rev. J. Hunter, Aberystwith.
Brighton, December 27th, 1834.
On Sunday (21st) and Christmas day I heard with much
interest, and I hope also profit, Mr. Maitland at St. James' and
Mr. Robert Anderson of Trinity. J am not acquainted with
either of them. Mr. Anderson's brother, of St. George's, is the
popular preacher here.2 I have not yet heard him. I can fully
enter into your' feelings relative to ministerial occupation. But
until I have seen you in permanent enjoyment of a degree of
physical strength which I have not had the happiness of witness
ing in you for many years past, I must be decidedly of Tristram's
opinion. It may not be idle to mention that this was also my

i George Gawen Boberts, son of 2 The Bev. James Stuart Murray
Captain J. C. Gawen Boberts of Anderson, brother of Bobert men-
Bath. He came to Mr. Phelps in tioned in the last letter. He after-
January, 1832, in his fourteenth wards became Chaplain in ordinary
year, but his health failed at Easter, to the Queen and preacher at Lin-
1835, and he was obliged to leave. coin's Inn. In 1851 he was presen-
He died of consumption, and Mr. ted by the Duke of Beaufort to the
Phelps attended his funeral on Bectory of Tormaston in Glouces-
March 19th, 1836. One or two of tershire. He published a History
his letters to his old tutor bear the of the Church of England in the
stamp of a superior and intellectual Colonies and numerous other works.
mind.

120 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
wife's view of it before she heard either Tristram's or my own.
You will be pleased to hear that I have heard of two new pupils
since I wrote to you, and that one of them is the eldest son of Sir
Robert Peel,1 a boy of twelve years of age,
To an Aunt.
Bath, January ith, 1836.
I received Mr. Eden's packet. He is a candidate for the
preachership of the Magdalen Hospital, and I should rejoice if he
succeeded, as he could hold it so well with the mastership of the
school at Hackney.2 .There are however many able and powerful
competitors for it. I was glad to receive his list here, as it was
in my power to make a few applications on his behalf, which I
hope may be of service to him, I suppose in about a week's time
we shall know something about Robert's prospects at Hackney,3
but perhaps it may not be decided so early.
I attended the penitentiary chapel twice yesterday and had the
great gratification of hearing both Mr. Lockey the chaplain and
my friend Hunter4 (his assistant) preach. I was requested to
preach myself, but as I saw no occasion for it I could not
deprive myself of the benefit of being a hearer.
From Rev. G. P. Richards.
Sampford Gourtenay, Forth Tawton, Devon,
My dear Sir, June, 1836.
How many years have passed on since we met ! And
oh, what changes have taken place by death and other causes since
i We presume the following entry " F. Peel, 1836 ; " "W. Peel, 1837."
in Mr. Phelps's journal refers to Harrow Guide. Inl826,whileHome
him—" 1838, June 23rd. Peel. 75 Secretary, Sir Bobert founded the
runs." Sir Bobert himself was a Annual Gold Medal for a Latin
Harrow boy and is mentioned in oration.
the Speech Bill of 1803. He was 2 The Bev. Bobert Eden took his
in the house of Mark Drury the B.A. in 1825, and became a fellow
Under Master. His name occurs of C.C.C . He afterwards held some
among the mural carvings of the responsible posts and edited and
schoolroom, and between the last wrote several valuable works.
two letters another statesman, Per- 3 The successful candidate at
ceval, has cut his name in smaBer Hackney was the Bev, Mr. Eng-
characters. His three eldest sons, land.
Bobert, Frederick, and William (all * Mr. Hunter, who had now left
of them Mr. Phelps's pupils) have Aberystwith, was residing at No. 2
their names on the same panel with Camden Place, in this city,
their father; "B. Peel, 1835;"

CHAP, vi.] Hyde Abbey. 121
that period ! When I last saw you, if you remember, Fred Eobin-
son was with you at your curacy in Wiltshire. I have neither
seen nor heard of him since that day. I rather think he is living
in London, and if so I conclude you will be able to give me his
address. Should you be able to give me this information, I would
trouble you to do so by letter during the next week, as I purpose
leaving home for Hampshire and London on Monday the 20th.
One object I have in view is to be at the Eton election on Monday
the 27th.
I have heard from time to time of your success at Harrow;
but this did not surprise me when I looked back to those sterling
qualities which you exhibited at Hyde Abbey. Alas Hyde
Abbey ! What painful recollections and associations are con
nected with those words ! My dear father's idol, which he had
raised with so much energy and care, was destined to fall down.
My poor brother Henry ! I suppose you are acquainted with his
death, as also with the deaths of my dear brother Charles and
my two excellent parents.1
I have been united since 1831 to an excellent woman, and am
the father of five children. Perhaps you may exceed me in num-
1 Shortly after succeeding to his Southampton. His tablet is in
staU in 1827 (see p. 32) the venera- Hyde Church. Mr. George Peirce
ble Mr. Bichards finally retired Bichards, after quitting Beverley
from the school, which continued in 1828, took the college living of
to be conducted by his sons Charles Sampford Courtenay,and held it un-
and Henry. This was in or about til his death in 1859. He published
1828. The health of Mr. Charles a funeral sermon preached by him
began to fail, and in two or three on the death of the Bev. Cradock
years his infirmities had so increased Glascott vicar of the neighbouring
as to oblige him to withdraw. In parish of Hatherleigh, a venerable
1832 Hyde Abbey School closed its man and a very interesting character,
doors, a misfortune which Canon who died August 18th, 1830, aged
Bichards keenly felt, and did not -eighty-eight. The Canon's brother
long survive (see vol. I. p. 14). In' the Bev. William Page Bichards'
the Vicarage of St. Bartholomew, LL.D., once a Fellow of New Col-
which he had held since April 6th, lege, Oxford, and a Winchester boy
1797, he was succeeded (March 19th, was Master of the Tiverton Gram-
1833) by the Bev. William Williams, mar School (1797—1823), Bector of
whose valuable life and ministry Abbotstoke(1811— 62), and Bector
terminated in 1869. Mr. Charles of East Teignmouth (1823—56). He
Bichards junior retired from the died in 1862 aged about ninety
Bectory of Nunney in 1830. He We may remark that' Silverton the
died at the old school-house, Win- Canon's birthplace is not far from
Chester, November 22nd, 1834, at Tiverton, and that the name of
the age of fifty -one, being then Bee- George Peirce occurs among the
tor of Chale in the Isle of Wight Tiverton rectors in the 17th cen-
and Vicar of South Stoneham near tury.

122 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
ber. About three years since, Bingham (your contemporary and
friend I believe) passed two days with me and preached in my
church. I remember him so well at Hyde Abbey and the pains
he used to take with his lessons and compositions. His "cappins"
also. It would give me I assure you sincere pleasure to see you
again, to talk over former days, and to have some conversation on
subjects of a more recent date. Should you ever come into these
parts, it would give us sincere pleasure if you could spend a few
days at our retired parsonage, which is twenty miles from Exeter.
I remain, dear Sir, yours very sincerely,
G. P. Bichards.
P. S. You will smile perhaps when I tell you that I am now
looking at a copy of your verses on " Cervus Lapponensis," with
the observation at the end — " H.B. Not a word altered."
To an Aun;t.
Upper Shell Room, Harrow School, October 28th, 1836.
I am writing, as you will perceive by the above date,
with my boys about me ; but as they are all engaged in preparing
an exercise for me, I have ten minutes to myself and those I
mean to give to you. There are seven-and-twenty boys in the room
with me, and they are as quiet as lambs, nothing is to be heard
but their nimble pens running over their paper and the rustling of
leaves as they turn over their dictionaries. The reason is that
this is their trial ; and they are competing who shall do the best
exercise and get the best place in their remove. Poor boys,
how important are these matters in their estimation, and how
happily are their minds constituted, that it should be so ! Could
they view things as we graver, and not much wiser, folks do, how
sadly would they be the losers ! These graver hours of theirs but
bring restraint to sweeten liberty ; ' and that glorious roaring
game of football which they will be immersed in an hour or two
hence, and which even now, I take it, sometimes arises in their
imagination, will drown all their petty sorrows in a tide of enjoy
ment. I often think that we despise the pursuits and amusements
of children upon very mistaken grounds. When we become men,
we do well to put away childish things. But our own duties and
i Another favourite with Mr. On a Distant View of Eton College.
Phelps was evidently Gray's ode,

chap, vi.] Educators. 12?
avocations at a mature period of life may have very little more of
intrinsic dignity or importance.
Christian principle makes all the difference. My God has fixed
the bound of my habitation. He has given me duties to perform ;
and whether it be to guide an empire, to teach hie,- hose, hoc, or to
break stones upon the road, it becomes important, most important,
because it is my duty. " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do
¦it with all thy might." And what a blessing is this ; and what a
death-blow it gives to ennui, and impatience, and indolence, and
everything that makes life unnecessarily miserable. But I have
neither room nor time for more philosophy. Our large household
is in good health — what a mercy ! — and going on very comfortably,
and I am thankful to say that nothing of an external nature has
arisen to occasion us any annoyance. This I mention, as I know
you like to have a shoe of the trouble when there is any going.
From a parent.
London, March 2nd, 1837.
The near approach of the Easter holidays makes me
desirous of settling in good time for the return of my boys. . . .
It gave me great pleasure to hear from Lady M. so satis
factory an account of their conduct this half-year; and by the
expressions of both the boys with regard to yourself it is very
gratifying to me to find that you have entirely won their affec
tions, without losing a portion of their respect for your authority.
I can assure you, with their dispositions, this impression makes all
powerful your influence over them. I shall make it a point to
follow any directions you may give me for their studies during
the vacation, though if not otherwise requisite the lighter those
studies are the better.
From Rev. Algernon Grenpell.
Rugby, 8th March, 1837.
Many many thanks to you for your very kind re
membrance, which I received at the beginning of the half-year.
Though I have never thought that our mutual silence proved
mutual forgetfulness, the sight of your hand and the assurance
of your affection, " like the known voice of a brother shepherd in
the mountains " was very dear to me, and heartily do I join with

124 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
you in expressing the pleasure which our meeting again would
give me. I have often wished it, and half seriously planned it
since I have been at Rugby, as I have often remembered the
morning that the mastership of Harrow was offered to you at
Oxford, and have fancied that I had felt your own feelings over
again in my own, and that we must still have many feelings in
common in the life that we have since led. Since too my fairly
taking to the trade at Rugby I have often wanted to compare
matters here with things elsewhere, and to pay both your own
good self and Coleridge1 at Eton a magisterial visit for the benefit
of the working of our Rugby plans. And I do still very sincerely
hope the thing may yet be managed. I can only say if you can
ever manage to find your way here it would indeed be a happiness
to me to receive you.
Of my old Oxford friends I see but Uttle here. Arnold
frightens away all his own friends,2 many of whom were our
common friends too, and one's chief interest in the place is
now its being the receiver of those that carry away so much of
one's interest with them from school. That these poor fellows
do excite and carry away one's interest is one's great solace and
encouragement here. When I tell you that I have for four years
taught the third form you will pity me, and not wonder that I
turn from the work to the beings that do the work as the real
and sufficient objects of one's deepest interest ; and in this, and
this way only, can I make the work square with one's feelings as
a man and a clergyman. Let me some day or other hear from
you. I well know what letter writing is with piles of exercises
before me — but still let me hear from you. My wife sends you
her kind regards, and you must offer the same from both of us to
Mrs. Phelps.3
i The Bev. Edward Coleridge. solely on the ground of the un-
2 This bears out Arnold's biogra- favourable reception which he be-
pher, who mentions that the feeling lieved he would meet among the
against bim was so strong still in clergy. Arnold's Life
1837 — 8 that the school was then s Bishop Shirley wrote to his son
slightly faUing in number. When at Bugby, March 3rd, 1845 — " Poor
Dr. Edward Stanley was nominated dear Mr. GrenfeU is in » most
(April 14th, 1837) to the see of Nor- blessed state of mind ; we shall
wich and wished Arnold to preach all feel his loss deeply. I have
his consecration sermon at Lambeth, known him for thirty years nearly,
the Archbishop, Dr. Howley, felt it and he has been a true Christian
his duty to withhold permission, friend to you and W. H ."

CHAP. VI.] Thankfulness. 125
To AN AUNT. Harrow, August 12th, 1837.
Through the Divine . blessing we are all well and enjoying
this place as well as we can, although it is well-nigh empty of
servants as well as boys. On Thursday we had a visit from
my friend Hunter, who whisked down from London in half-an-
hour in the steam carriage1 and spent the day with us. You
will easily conceive how beautiful the grounds here are now
looking, and how much I enjoy the exchange from my chatter
ing routine when the boys are here for . my lawn, my book,
and my children, of all of which I see so little when school is
going on.
How are you all going on? I should like to hear again shortly.
How much we all have to be thankful for ! And a good and
pleasant thing it is to be thankful. If we are free from pain and
sickness and poverty and oppression, how much we have to be
thankful for ! If our dear friends are exempted from the severe
pressure of these trials how much we have to be thankful for !
If we have a Christian Sabbath, and a house of prayer, and
a leisure hour, and a quiet house, and dear friends (whether
present or absent) who sympathise with us here, and whom we
hope to meet again in the better world hereafter, — how much
have we to be thankful for ! If we have been taught to bring
our sins — so countless and so great — in humble contrite faith and
hope and love to the foot of the cross, to the blood of Christ that
cleanseth from sin — Oh, what grounds we have for thankfulness !
If the grace of God's Holy Spirit in our hearts — even though it be
as a grain of mustard seed — makes us desire from the bottom of
our hearts more grace, more submission, more resignation, more
patience in doing and suffering the will of God (so that patience
may have its perfect work), more devotedness, more love, more
zeal, — then what cause have we to be thankful ! Then let us
be so.

i " July 31st. First saw train on road station and see the arrival of
the railroad at the Weald" August a train. We saw about four hun-
4th. "To town by railroad the first dred persons brought up at the
time. August 2nd. It is a great rate of thirty miles an hour by one
diversion to go down to the rail- train and engine."

126 Life of Archdeacori Phelps.
" Well praise our Maker whilst we've breath,
And when our voice is lost in death,
Praise shaU employ our nobler powers ;
Our days of praise shall ne'er be past,
While thought, or sense, or being last,
Or immortality endures."
I took W  and B  the other day to see St. Paul's.
What little slender slips they looked like under that immense
and gorgeous dome, and beside the colossal statues of the
mighty dead ! As the ceaseless thunder of the rattling wheels
and granite streets resounded around us while I led them in my
hands through the sacred edifice, I could not help thinking
what a hard, noisy, relentless, world lay before and around
them, what frail tender creatures they were to enter upon it,
how utterly powerless I was to guide or shelter them, and how
entirely dependent we were for shelter and safety upon Him
in whose earthly courts we stood ! Blessed be His name, He
is able and mighty to save.

From F. Robinson, Esq.
Temple, January 2nd, 1838.
My dear Phelps, On my return to town yesterday I find your note and
heard from my cousin B. that you had paid him £  on my
account. It gives me very great pleasure to receive it — not
for the money's sake, be assured, but because it furnishes the best
evidence of your complete success at Harrow — for I know you
would not think it necessary to repay me until you could do so
with perfect convenience — at least I trust not. For the rest, you
see it does not always happen that friends cease to be friends
when they begin to be debtor and creditor. I always augured
favourably of your large speculation, though startled by its size
for an instant. I rejoice it has answered to your full expectations
and hopes. But had it not, and had my morsel of money gone to
the winds, I should never have looked at the loss of it with
regret. I know not how I could have placed it more rightly than
in hands so dear to me which for the time wanted strengthening
and were engaged in a good cause.

chap. VI.] Infants taken. 127
To Miss Mary Frowd.
Harrow, May 15th, 1838.
The day on which we propose to have the funeral1 is
Thursday, at half-past eleven. Our precious little inmate (for we
still feel him to be such though in his coffin) looks like a little
angel. We wish you could peep at him. But ohj what a thought,
that the wax-like and marble tenement was once the residence of
an immortal spirit now in glory ! and that sown in corruption,
dishonour, and weakness of the natural body; it shall be raised in
all the incorruption, glory, and power of the spiritual body, ac
cording to the working whereby Christ is able even to subdue all
all things unto Himself. To AN AUNT. Harrow, June 8th, 1838.
I sent off my dear wife to Bath yesterday, that is to say
as soon as I could after our first Speech day was over. I was
anxious for her to have a change of air and scene. The effect of
our recent affliction has been very deep and severe upon her ; and
indeed under all the circumstances' could hardly fail to be so.
Our Speech day went off very well. We did not issue our
usual invitations, but about forty sat down, and as we had of
course taken care to be well provided, they were well entertained.
But now please to think of me, left all alone up here ! And as
Mark Anthony says —
" If you have tears, prepare to shed them now."
You know I like to make you cry now and then, because I know
you like to be made cry now and then. Here am I, as I said
before : and as it has fallen to my lot- more than once ere now to
be somewhat curiously circumstanced, so I seem to myself to be
now. Eight-and-thirty Harrow boys in the house, besides my
i Of his infant son Edmund, born tower, and their epitaphs may still
August 30th, 1836, died May 12th, be read on one stone, between the
1838. There are two or three sweet grave of Mr. Evans the under-master
stanzas on him among the poems, and the altar-tomb of Mr. Batten's
commencing — first wife and infant son. The first
" Best, little Edmund, rest." Mrs. Batten died January 16th, 1819,
This child and another, Edward aged t wenty -three, after giving birth
Frowd, who died March 12th, 1835, to her boy. The two infants of Mr.
aged seven months, were buried in Bobert Monro (1825, 1827) lie not
Harrow churchyard, south of the far off.

128 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
own two young Harrovians ! And yet, though peopled thus with
boys, I seem to be in a desert. 1 am writing this in the large
room which retains all its Speech day garnishing of geraniums,
&c, &c, and the view from the windows is, as you can well
imagine, most exquisite, in all the richness of early summer, and
the air laden with the melody of the feathered choir of warblers.
Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair !
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary, fu' o' care !
Thou'lt break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro' the flowering'thorn ;
Thou minds me o' departing joys,
Departed — never to return.
But why do I send these lines ? First because they are so very
beautiful, are they not ? And secondly, as I told you before, to
make you cry. I am thankful however to be able to add that I
do not send them in order to give utterance to any preponderating
feeling of my own mind. There are a few other associations
which may be connected with loneliness and agreeable scenery.
The calm retreat, the silent shade,
With prayer and praise agree,
And seem, by Thy sweet bounty, made
For those who follow Thee.
There if Thy Spirit touch the soul
And grace her mean abode,
Oh ! with what peace and joy and love
She communes with her God !
There like the nightingale she pours
Her solitary lays,
Nor asks a witness of her song
Nor thirsts for human praise.
Well now, you cannot complain for want of poetry — Shakespere,
Burns, and Cowper ! How sure I am to blunder up against one
or other, or all of them, whenever I think or speak or write
poetically !
From Sir Robert Peel.
December 6th, 1838, Drayton Manor.
I am sure you will be glad to hear that I have nothing
but satisfaction from the accounts I hear of William (my third

chap, vi.] Oxford Tracts. 129
boy). He has made a very favourable impression upon all who
have come in contact with him, and is confirming the hope I
always entertained, that if it should please God to prolong his
days and give him health he will raise himself to eminence and
distinction in the profession he has chosen. As he went out to
the Mediterranean, to the great surprise of his companions he
applied himself to the Grecian history, and told them they would
not laugh at him when they were off Greece and in the Archi
pelago and found how different from theirs the interest he should
take in visiting the remarkable places they were about to see.
His letters home are full of intelligence and a spirit of enterprise
and observation.1
It was within the period of Mr. Phelps's Harrow master
ship that the Oxford Tract movement arose and nearly
reached its maturity. On Sunday, July 14th, 1833, the
Rev. John Keble preached in the university pulpit the
assize sermon National Apostasy, afterwards published,
which Dr. Newman has pronounced the true starting point
of the movement. On September 6th, in that same year,
was issued from Mr. Newman's pen the first of the series
of papers subsequently entitled Tracts for the Times, which
concluded with No. 90 in February, 1841.
Though these publications continued to excite the severest
remarks both in public and in private we have not met
with a single allusion to them in any of Mr. Phelps's letters
of this period. His friend John Keble was so deeply im
plicated in the movement, that we are somewhat surprised
to find no reference either to him or to it in letters penned
in a religious strain. No doubt his school duties and his
great houseful were of too engrossing a character to allow
of his reading much in this direction; or it may be
i How these anticipations were brought by Lady Peel, April 12th,
realised is well known. The name 1837, to Harrow Park and placed
of Sir William Peel, the hero of the under Mr. Phelps. He remained
Naval Brigade, is written among at Harrow only a year, and left at
the many. distinguished men of the the Easter holidays, April 3rd,
Crimean war and the Indian mu- 1838. He died April 27th, 1858 ;
tiny. He was born November 2nd, his father having pre-deceased him
1824 ; in his thirteenth year he was July 2nd, 1850,
K

130 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
that he thought and talked on the subject more than he
wrote. Where we should chiefly look for his remarks are
in his letters to Hunter, but they are as silent as are
Hunter's to him. A letter from Cornish which we shall
give contains reference to it, and so does a fragment we
have met with among the papers without name or date,
and therefore not printed; and these must have elicited
replies which would give his views and feelings.1 But we
must remember that the tracts themselves did not derive
the importance which afterwards attached to them until the
publication of Froude's Remains in 1838, 1839, when the
bitter Anti-protestant character of the Oxford "conspira
tors " (as Mr. Froude himself calls the associates) was fully
appreciated, and from that moment the doctrine of the tracts
got more and more avowedly Roman.
There is however no doubt at all that his mind never
wavered as to the cardinal truths of the Reformation. No
sign whatever appears of his views having found the least
point of attachment with the reviving Laudian theories in
regard to the priesthood and the sacraments. His thoughts
had the same spiritual and evangelical tone as ever. There
was no slackening of the old sympathies, no turning cold
upon the old societies, no avoiding intercourse with the
friends of other days who continued to express themselves
in the old phraseology. We should much like therefore to
have had some hint of what he and Mr. Keble found it most
interesting to talk about in the last hour of their meeting at
Harrow (the last too, as far as it appears, of their personal
intercourse on earth) as they drove together to Brentford,
on March 11th, 1837 ; and just here we much miss such a
diary as we were able to quote from in those touching little
remarks at the end of Mr. Phelps's Corpus life. Mr. Keble
was at the date above mentioned far on the road with those
who subsequently fell from us. He had already published
i We should mention that the the latter half of the Harrow period
letters now remaining among the are by comparison very much fewer,
Archdeacon's papers belonging to

chap, vi.] Corpus friends. 131
his well-known work on Tradition,1 which dealt in the
minds of those who accepted its doctrine such a heavy
blow at the paramount authority of Holy Scripture.
And here we find an opportunity of inserting another
letter from one of the C. C. C. friends : it is the last we
shall have occasion to give by Mr. Cornish, the memory
of whom, as well as of the Kebles, was never otherwise
than dear to Mr. Phelps. And we are the more glad
to insert it as there is evidence of a less hurried pen
and a more deliberate mood, allowing us in the midst of
his merry lines to have a glimpse of what he too was
thinking as to the cloud (as we must call it) which their
friend was helping to bring over the church and the
Christianity of England. From Rev. Geo. Cornish.2 February 23rd, 1839,
Fellorum fakrare
I was right glad to hear something of you from yourself,
and have often designed to demand as much ; but in truth, what
with looking after a large home circle, having to act frequently
for other folks, and above all to superintend all the churches, as
you justly remark, I am running after half-hours all day. Then
of course one must be a politician as well as a divine, or one is
behind the lights of the age. By the way, " behind the lights " —
is not that the very place in the world for discovering of what
materials they are made ? But a plague upon this.
I knew that it had pleased God to visit you, but not, shall I
say ? so heavily.. That it has sometimes been felt heavy I do not
doubt ; nevertheless, even were it evil, it would be hard if we
could not receive evil from the Lord's hand as well as good — and
1 It was originally preached as Protestant fears and jealousies ;
a sermon on September 27th, 1836 nor do I think we shall be ever
in Winchester Cathedral, and pub- quite right till it is restored."
lished in the same year with ad- 2 Now vicar of Kenwyn and Kea
ditions. On October 16th, 1837 Mr. near Truro, to which he had been
Keble, referring to the cessation at collated in 1828 by Bishop Carey,
Oxford of prayers for deceased foun- his old master. Crowds flocked to
ders, wrote : — "The more I think the former church in 1804 to hear
of it, the more I regret it as a most Henry Martyn preach previously
lamentable concession to ultra- to his sailing for India.
K2

132 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
good we both of us have received very largely. The greatest
blessing in this life e^w rSv irvev/i,aTiKmv (if that be Greek — which
is no odds) is to be placed in a situation where one can educate
one's children, and that we can both of us do. I should like to
know something of how Harrow gets on. Longley I have heard
was a failure. Though how it should have been I cannot tell,
for I thought him beyond all others qualified for the post. But
there you see, " power tries men," and when you are Bishop of
Salisbury, that is, supposing episcopal (state) dignity lasts so long,
we shall see what you are. As regards our visits to town, they are,
believe me, few and far between. Depend upon it, it is not so easy
for a poor vicar to run about the country as for you holiday men.
When I had private pupils I could do these things ; but it is not
so easy now. I do not suppose I have so many difficulties to con
tend with as Tom Keble, for our wages among the miners continue
steady ; but still there is enough to do, and a perpetual demand.
Do you hear anything of the roar of the Apostolical or Anti-
apostolical cataract, as it descends on his and John's head ? It is
hardly possible that you should be quite insensible to the noise ;
for it collects the waters of so many lands, that it is a wonder if
you have not a pocket cataract at your door.1 And now I ;think
of it, Cunningham is a very considerable performer in that way.
Well, Sir, well— it is " All in His high hand
Who doth hearts as streams command." 2
1 One very affecting sign of that out — "There was no Puseyism then!
cataractal period, as Mr. Cornish There was no need to ask if an
well expresses it, is the reserve and evangelical clergyman was tinctured
uncertainty, if not suspicion, pro- with Puseyism then ! "
duced where once had been all free- 2 Christian Year. This does not
dom unrestrained. No one knew reveal very much of Mr. Cornish's
whereabouts exactly he might find own views. The Life of Keble (p.
his friend of other days if they had 247) gives us a somewhat clearer
been long out of correspondence. intimation of how he was looking at
Thus one of the Corpus fraternity current questions,' at a rather earlier
in 1837 writing with aU the old date (October, 1837), for he is then
geniaBty to "Philip" cannot help putting Mr. John Keble on his
pulling up short, after having men- defence, wishing to know how he
tioned a new publication, with the reconciles himself with his master
remark evidently intended to be Hooker on the subject of Tradition.
serious — " But in these days one is Mr. Cornish, whose health was
afraid almost to speak about any never very strong and was severely
thing to any body." Mr. Hawtrey tried by illness in his family, died
too, recalling their Broadchalk in- in the zenith of his days September
tercourse of byegone years, breaks 10th, 1849,

chap, vi.] Mastership ending. 133
In reply to Mr. Cornish's question as to the school, Mr.
Phelps could only have said what we find him writing to
Mr. Hunter on February 4th. " At Harrow we are getting
on so-so. The numbers are what they were a year ago;
indeed they have been about stationary for these three
years past."
But this observation reminds us that we are at last
rapidly approaching the conclusion of the Harrow period.
The entire letter to this intimate friend, to whom all
his heart is opened, plainly indicates that Mr. Phelps's
mind was altogether in an unsettled state as to the
advisability of his remaining. The old longing to be
employed in direct pastoral duty, never dormant, was
now returning with more than usual strength. One great
obstacle was out of his path, and an anxious burden was
off his mind ; for his seven years of hard toil had freed
his great purchase from encumbrance and he could there
fore terminate his scholastic servitude with all proper
regard to prudence whensoever he chose. To say that
he was sincerely able to approve of recent changes that,
with the best intentions towards the school, had been
adopted, is more than we can. We fear we must even
say he was losing heart not a little. But a memorandum
found among his own papers will best describe his state
of mind at this important crisis, and shew the reasons that
were alone sufficient, had there been no others, for the
resolution he had taken.
" The emoluments of course were ample ; but I did not consider
them equivalent for the total sacrifice of personal and domestic
quiet, the suspension of clerical duties, and the unsatisfactory
manner in which I found I could discharge my onerous and re
sponsible duties, particularly under some alteration in our system
during the last few years, which appeared to me to diminish my
prospect of being useful to my pupils either in a moral or a
literary point of view."
Accordingly on March 11th he communicated to the

134 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
head master his intention of retiring, and at once entered
on the anxious business. of arranging for the future of Har
row Park. But the correspondence will relate all that
is necessary. To Rev. J. Hunter, Geneva.1
Harrow, June lith, 1839.
My dear friend, The die is cast ! Yesterday my colleague, the Eev. J,
W. Colenso, became my tenant. And now! What am I to do
with myself? Running over and joining the lazzaroni is the
only definite idea that has presented itself to my^ mind as yet,
which may serve to announce to you that your kind and welcome
letter from Naples has reached me this morning, and also that its
predecessor from Rome duly arrived. I am delighted to hear that
your anxiety with regard to J  has received such a gracious
abatement as to enable you to enter into the magnificent objects
that meet a traveller's observation in the parts of Italy you
have visited. What scenery ! And what a climate ! Here am
I, in the midst of June, and at high noon; and I can just discern
the dim outline of my old cart-horse who is grazing on the farther
side of my paddock, through a lovely soft medium of mistico-
foggery-drizzle, or by whatever suitable appellation it may please'
you to designate the grey state of atmosphere enjoyed nowhere.
in greater perfection than here —
Too dark for yeUow, yet too pale for brown,
Too dense to see through, too refined to drown.
I will only further allude to your letter to say that I am struck
with your remark about Pompeii, as illustrative of St. Paul, and
shall hope to have some talk with you, D.V., on that and other
points connected with what you have seen since we parted.
Now again for that dear precious subject " self." First let me
entreat an interest in your best remembrances, that it may please
our gracious reconciled Father in Christ, so to guide His weak
1 Mr. and Mrs. Hunter and their who parted 'from their friends at
children left Bath August 13th, 1838, Geneva on August 27th, and re-
for the Continent. They were ac- turned to Harrow in September.
companied by Mr. and Mrs. Phelps,

chap, vi.] Regrets. 135
and erring servant, that the usefulness and devotedness of his
future life may not be impeded or impaired by error of judgment
or wilfulness in the first steps taken, which are so apt to influence
the steps that follow. I have as yet no plans or projects for my
movements out of Harrow. 1 think that for the interval (should
any occur) before I again get settled the natural and obvious
course will be for me to fall back upon my kindred either at
Wilton or Bath, most probably the latter. A curacy, with a
house that would admit of my receiving four or five pupils, is
what I am most inclined to look after. And as two or three folks
are sounding me about private pupils now, and as I make up my
mind that (with children of my own to educate) I shall find it
necessary to take pupils, perhaps it would be as well to strike into
that course at once, should a post in the ministry, with which I
should find it compatible, present itself.
We cannot resist here adding, if it is not too great a
liberty, two or three of the letters written to him expres
sive of regrets at losing his services as a master and his
influence as friend and guide of the young.
From Lord Verulam.
June 15th, 1839.
I regret that you have come to the determination of
quitting Harrow, where your talents and assiduity have brought
about such a continuance of beneficial effects; and indeed I should
very deeply deplore it on my son's account, did I not feel certain
that you would in no case leave a vacancy unsatisfactorily pro
vided for. ....
From the Marquess of Ely.
London, June 22nd, 1 839.
It is, I can assure you, with very sincere regret I learn
that it is your intention to resign the situation of assistant master
of Harrow school, which you filled with so much credit to your
self and advantage to your pupils, who I am confident are fully
sensible of the loss they will all sustain by your retirement. With
every kind wish to you and your family, I beg, &c.

136 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
From Sir Robert Peel.
House of Commons, June 25th, 1839.
I have been so incessantly occupied by a constant suc
cession of important public business in Parliament that for some
time past I have scarcely had a moment's leisure to attend to any
other concerns. I was unwilling too to consider your intention
to quit Harrow to be finally and irrevocably taken, and to make
any communication to you founded on the assumption that there
was no hope of your recalling it. However I fear there is now
no such hope, and I have only therefore to express my sincere
thanks to you for the care you have taken of my boys committed
to your charge, and my sincere regret at the necessity of with
drawing them from your superintendence.1 ....
From A. G. H. B  , Esq.
July 7th, 1839.
I was very sorry when I heard it rumoured that you
were going to retire from the situation of one of the masters of
Harrow school ; but till I received your circular I was not aware
that you had fully decided on leaving. In selecting Harrow as a
school for my sons I was very much influenced by the desire I
had to place them under your care, and I have had every reason
to be satisfied with having done so, and I beg you to accept my
thanks for the kindness and care and attention they have received
from you.
Similar grateful terms appear in the letters of the
Duchess of Bedford (at an earlier date), Captain Valpy,
and others. But the following letter addressed to Mrs.
Phelps, with a parting token of remembrance, by one of
the boys at Harrow Park reveals perhaps even more than
all the preceding notes what Harrow was losing.
From a pupil. Harrow Park, July, 1839.
I beg you will allow me the pleasure of addressing you
before your final departure, as I cannot bid adieu to you for good
1 In 1841 Sir Bobert Peel had the derick. In two successive years
pleasure of seeing the Gold Medal also, 1840, 1841, Mr. Frederick
which he had founded in 1826 Peel carried off the Governor's
carried off by his second son Pre- Prize for Latin Lyrics.

chap, vi.] Farewells. 137
without again repeating the many thanks which are due to Mr.
Phelps and yourself for your continued kindness to me since I
was first received into your house. I am convinced that no tutor
could have done more both for the happiness and comfort of the
boys placed under his charge, and for their progress and success in
the discharge of their several duties. A few more fleeting years
and our time of schooling and education will be over; we may
then consider ourselves happy in being no longer under the control
of those who were our masters and our betters. But the time
will come when we shall look back with pleasure on these as the
happiest days of our lives ; and how can we reflect but with
double pleasure on these few but happy years we spent under your
roof, and as your pupils ! I need not then say how greatly you
will and must be missed here by one and all ; nor am I the first
who has spoken thus. And if you will permit me, I will take this
opportunity of assuring you you have my best wishes for very
many future years. May you enjoy all that this vain world can
offer you, and may health and happiness accompany you every
where. But if I thus limit my wishes for you, I should be
omitting the most essential of all; they would not amount to
what you chiefly wish yourself, nor express one half of what
my own feelings prompt me to dictate. May you enjoy every
thing in its season here ; and may God, in His own good season,
make you and yours partakers of those real pleasures which never
fade. . In heaven where joys
Are pure, unmixed, without alloys ;
Joys such as mortals never knew,
Nor raptured fancy ever drew,
Joys which shall never pass away
Though heaven and earth should both decay.
May this hope cheer us now, knowing we must all part soon, as
our day is but short ; that though we part on divers days and in
divers ways here, a day will come when with the assembled multi
tudes we shall appear ; and may we cherish the joyful anticipation
of being received into those mansions not made with hands where
separations are altogether unknown ; and while beholding future
worlds, let us say How sudden the surprise, how new !
God grant it may be happy too

138 Life of A^cnWihon Phelps.
Forgive me if you think I have been addressing you too freely
and irreverently ; but as Mr. Phelps is about to leave this spot,
may I be allowed the honour of being termed one of his friends ?
Having hitherto been so happy at, school under his care and in his
house, I must feel a little of that respect' and gratitude due to an
instructor from the least of his pupils ; and however far he may
move out of sight; he can never be out of mind or shifted from my
recollection. And now a word as to the property he was leaving
behind. The facts were, that on joining the school he had
involved himself considerably for his outfit, and that his
debt continued to increase in spite of his utmost economy ;
that, seeing the great tenantless' mansion in Harrow Park
about to be ta!keri down and sold for the value of its
materials he, still but a struggling assistant just begin
ning to float, was the first and the only one who had
courage to save it for the school; that he bought it (at
an advantage of course) without capital — that is without
capital in money, for the man who has sagacity, character,
and courage has capital which coins money ; that he was
enabled to incur this formidable undertaking solely through
the confidence reposed in his, prudence, exertions, competent
scholarship, and skill for the situation of a master, by a
college friend and an old schoolfellow, two men out of
many whom the qualities of his character had retained in
long and close attachment, rendering any application to
his own relatives even unnecessary. At the end of the
first six years of his mastership at Harrow he had sunk
two thousand pounds. When, after six years more, he left
the school, he had paid, or was ready to pay, the last instal
ment of his purchase-money and building expenses, and so
possessed the great house free from debt.
But the great house was worth more now than the old
stones and the timber that formed its pile ! He had spent
money in substantial repairs and in adapting it to purposes
of pupils. He had converted a nobleman's premises into
a master's premises. He had done much more than this :

chap, vi.] Last breaking-up. 139
he had established pupils in those premises, worked Har
row Park successfully into the system of Harrow school,
and was enabled to hand the machinery at full work into
the hands of a successor, who had nothing to do but
keep up there what he found. To have done this was to
have been a benefactor to Harrow; and that Mr. Phelps
was such a benefactor is shewn by the circumstance that
Harrow Park is at this day a prominent feature in Harrow
tuition. Of course the property had increased in value. Mr.
Phelps had been a struggling tutor for sixteen years, or
counting the three years at Oxford for nineteen, swimming
under water, as it Were, for a good deal of that period.
And now he had become possessed of a sufficient capital
to aid his future exertions in putting out four sons in
life, while labouring for Christ in temporary curacies and
for a long period in an incumbency of no great pecuniary
value. As we have no detailed accounts of his winding-up, we
can only quote the few brief jottings of the journal, to
which however it is not difficult, from what we now know
of Mr. Phelps, to add the life and colouring.
" 1839, June 18th. Visited Johnny's grave with Octavia."
" July 3rd. Speech day ; forty-four sat down ; Lord Munster
and Sir Robert Peel."
"July 30th. Broke up for -the last time at Harrow; parted
with thirty-six boys (the largest house in Harrow) in peace."1
" August 16th. Left my house at Harrow."
What his reflections were on descending the familiar
hill as a non-resident we do not know. He might have
recollected the day of his first ascent, and with some such
1 The numbers at the other houses thirteen titled pupils then in the
were as follows : thirty (Mr. Co- school, seven were at Harrow Park.
lenso's), twenty-six, sixteen, nine, By the rules then in force, the head
eight. At home, twenty-six ; at a master was reBeved of boarders, re-
dame's boarding house, nine. Total ceiving additional emoluments in
one hundred and sixty. Out of compensation.

140 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
feelings as the patriarch of old expressed when he re
passed the river, contrasting his staff and his two bands,
have mused the acknowledgment — " I am not worthy
of the least of all Thy mercies." This was at all events
a sentiment well becoming Mr. Phelps's grateful spirit.
With his increased tribe and his increased substance
however the ex-master was still a wanderer like the
patriarch, and knew not where his tent would be pitched.
But how precious to him must have been the reflection
that many youthful hearts and many parents' hearts had
been knit to his in no common bonds ! "Parted with
thirty-six boys in peace'' We can imagine the Christian
master's look as he wrote those words, and as he thought
upon them while going down Harrow hill.1 We bid him
God speed with the beautiful Virgilian line which we find
prefixed to his diary of the year 1822, his last at Oxford —
" Nusquam abero, et tutum patrio te limine sistam."2
It may interest some Harrovians if we subjoin a few
dates of events gathered from Mr. Phelps's journal, which
we have found no other occasion for inserting.
" 1833, November 16th. Whole holiday on account of Captain
Ross's visit to Harrow."3
" 1836, May 11th. Duck-puddle filled from the Pond."
" 1836, May 15th. Sunday. Great eclipse. Afternoon service
postponed till four o'clock."
"1838, October 22nd. Fire at Dr. Wordsworth's and Mr.
Colenso's."4

1 In the Ajchdeacon's library there givers was reciprocal, he carefully
are stifl to be met the volumes pre- preserved and fondly cherished.
sented by pupils and parents, in 2 iEneid II. 619.
token of affection and gratitude, as 3 Mr. Phelps records having met
Beautiesof Byron, Anthologia Sacra, this eminent explorer on the pre-
Lodge's Portraits in four splendid vious day at dinner at the Coplands.
folios, Napier's Peninsular War, and * A lithograph (by J. C. Oldmea-
some more ; besides pictures, hand- dow) of the scene after the fire, by
some china, gold pencil-case, and which the head master's house was
various ornamental and other works totally destroyed, was afterwards
of art ; memorials which, as the published at Harrow by Mr. J.
affection of the receiver and the Warren.

chap, vii.] Curacies. 141

m$tt VII.
THREE BERKSHIRE CURACIES.
JOURNEYS AND PLANS — READING — SONNING — SULHAMSTEAD — THE
OXFORD CONTEST — " STRING OF BEADS " — MR. HULME — PARE-
WELL TO SULHAMSTEAD.
As Mr. Phelps's removal from Harrow had been decided
upon before any arrangement was made for his future
occupation, we find him moving about for the rest of the
year 1839 entertaining various offers and discussing plans.
Twice in September he visited Dean Pearson at Salisbury.
His forty-second birthday he kept at Wilton, and then
proceeded on a distant circuit with Mrs. Phelps, visiting
Oxford, where Dr. Bridges was then President of Corpus,
and afterwards Cambridge. At each university town some
thing was suggested, at Oxford a chaplaincy and at Cam
bridge a living, but nothing resulted. They then went to
Saham in Norfolk, London, Wargrave, and Bath, where Mr.
Hunter was residing. On this journey the Bath coach took
him through Reading, and the thought crossed his mind
that it was a pleasant town to labour in, and he would not
mind pitching his tent there. At Bath he preached at the
Octagon Chapel, December 29th. The Bishop of Salisbury,
Dr. Denison, whom he had met at the Dean's table, named
some curacies to him. Once or twice he visited Exeter, and
seemed at one moment on the point of settling in that
western capital, whence his talented grandfather had mi
grated to Wilton. All however was uncertainty, and he
was still on the move. The following letter will shew how
he was missed at the great school,

]L42 Life of Archchacon Phelps.
Harrow, October 1st, 1 839.
My dear Sir, I have never before addressed you by letter, but I beg
you to forgive my boldness in doing so now ; only if I rightly
remember you gave me leave to despatch a scribble to you ; par
ticularly to-day, being the first of October, your birthday. I hope
you will be pleased to accept this little book as a remembrance of
 . Pray remember me very kindly to Mrs. Phelps and all
your family, whom I assure you we miss very much. Having
now introduced myself I may write more freely to you, as if I
were chatting to you in your own room. First then  tells me
you took a letter from him in which I had styled you by a very
rude familiar cognomen, which I beg you to fp.rgive, being no less
than " old Phelps." I assure you, Sir, we miss you above all you
can imagine. Old P  is head of the house and is very much
liked, this quarter. Harrow Chapel has been consecrated.1 It
was a fine sight, and we had a beautiful sermon from Mr. Cun
ningham. I should like to have heard Mr. Phelps preach there
very much. We are a very quiet house now. To-day is C  's,
C  's, and C  's birthday, so they are having supper together
in the bow room  Now, my dear Sir, ending my letter
as I began it, by begging you to forgive my scrawl, I remain
Your most affectionate quondam pupil,  .
At the beginning of 1840 he was invited by the former
Harrow curate, Mr. Marsden, to undertake the curacy of
Tooting, the Bishop of Winchester having recommended
the application. He says — " I am almost ashamed to ask
you, but you see I have episcopal authority to back my
application." This came to nothing, and likewise the
curacy of Milton, which was discussed.
On the 28th of January came at length the letter which
proved in due time the end of his peregrinations. The
writer was of St. John's College, Oxford, second class in the
Michaelmas term of 1822, just when Mr. Phelps became
1 The Chapel, a handsome de- the scholars alone, was consecrated
tached building, at some distance by the Archbishop of Canterbury
from the school, erected by sub- on Tuesday, September 24th, 1839i
scriptions for the accommodation of

chap, vii.] Invitation to Reading. 143
Fellow of Corpus and was quitting Qxfojrd. He was after
wards Fellow, Greek Reader, Dean of Ar,ts, and Tutor of his
college, and in 1831 and 1832 was Select Preacher in the
university,1 We saw before 2 that Mr. Ball had spoken to Mr.
Natt in warm terms of Mr. Phelps ; nor was this the only
instance of such commendation. A young man who became
scholar of Corpus in 1821, and afterwards fellow, writing
soon after Mr. Phelps's death his reminiscences of inter
course with him, says — ¦" my attention was drawn to his
Christian character and principles by a common friend, Mr.
Ball." With this introduction we peruse the letter, which
entirely explains the occasion of its being written ; the
warmth and cordiality of the tone is eminently charac
teristic of the writer and could not fail of backing the
application. From the Rev. John Ball.
St. Lawrence Vicarage, Reading, January 27th, 1840.
Dear Phelps, I trust you will forgive me for venturing on that familiar
mode of address to which I was some years ago so much accus
tomed during our residence at Oxford. The immediate cause of
my writing to you just now is as follows. Your younger brother
favoured me with a call yesterday morning and was kind enough
to assist me by preaching a sermon in the morning.3 In the
course of our conversation I mentioned to him the difficulty in
which I was placed from my late curate having left me in con
sequence of ill health, and I asked him if he knew any clergyman
who might be suitable to supply his place. To my surprise and
pleasure he intimated the possibility of yourself being induced to
undertake the appointment. He tells me that you have left
Harrow and are desirous of clerical employment. I can scarcely
form an idea of an arrangement which would be more satisfactory
to myself. I trust that we should work together as brothers,
sharing every duty and assisting each other by friendly counsel.
Our sentiments are I believe on every important subject in unison.
1 See p. 45. coach, the first time of their meeting
2 See p. 67. since Mr. John Phelps had left Ox-
3 They had the previous day re- ford.
cognised each other on the Beading

144 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
You would enter into all my plans and would aid me by your
experience in improving those which I have already formed, or in
devising others, and your coming would be, I confidently hope, a
blessing to my parish, to my congregation, and to myself. Our
prospects here are very encouraging. We have many clergymen
around us who are faithfully labouring in the Lord's vineyard.
Reading is in many respects a very desirable place for residence.
But I will not enlarge. If it be possible to bring you among us,
write to me at once that we may enter into details, or if you can,
come and spend a few days with me.
Two days after receiving this brotherly letter, we find
an entry which may indicate what other destination it may
have (possibly) been just in time to prevent — " January
30th. Nichols offered me Avon Street Chapel." On the
31st Mr. Phelps went to Reading, and on Sunday, February
2nd, he preached at St. Lawrence, his text being John vi.
27. It is clear that the two old friends did not take long in
making up their minds as to becoming colleagues, for on the
following Thursday, the 6th, he took his house, No. 8, Port
land Place, on the London Road. On the 27th he brought
his family to Reading (though he could not enter his
house until the 5th of March), and on Sunday the first
of March he preached his first sermon as curate, his
text being Acts iii. 19.
Mr. Phelps's family annals might have enabled him to
claim acquaintance with two brothers then in medical
practice at Reading; for we observe among some old
letters one dated February 26th, 1799, franked by Lord
Pembroke, from the master of the Wilton School, then a
young father of one little boy, (" poor little William," in
the malady of teeth-cutting) addressed to his medical
brother-in-law, Mr. George Whitmarsh, "at Mr. Work
man's, Surgeon, Basingstoke."
1 This letter, by-the-by, reveals terior, with the dear old coroner —
a pleasant scene of genial hearty "the doctor" rather — as the con-
friendship between the writer and spicuous figure, and touches of filial
the connections to which his recent dutifulness towards him from the
marriage had introduced him, and juniors which it is so pleasing to
describes a charming domestic in- observe reproduced in the next

chap, vii.] Reforming a Sunday School. 145
The record of Mr. Phelps's ministry at St. Lawrence
exhibits him in the fight of a devoted servant of Christ,
going about his work with a quiet earnestness in word and
deed, co-operating with his Vicar in a truly fraternal spirit
and with a friendship which remained unimpaired for a
quarter of a century after. The indefatigable pains of Mr.
Ball during the six years he had worked the parish had
already brought it into a state of order very different to
what it had once been. He found a Sunday school little
better than a shadow — not a school at all in fact, but
a score or so of lads marched to church by an elderly
journeyman. Having long tried in vain to interest the
parishioners in the establishment of something more cre
ditable, until he durst wait no longer, he stepped out of
his vicarage one wintry morning under a driving snow,
resolving not to return without having enlisted one teacher
at least. His energy received its reward ; the recruit was
found, the school began; more scholars came and more
teachers. The Vicar was superintendent, wrote out the
roll-books and marked the attendances, opened and closed,
catechised and addressed — and all without a schoolroom
proper. In due time the St. Lawrence Sunday School was
second to none in Reading, and it is an interesting fact that
two of its teachers offered themselves through Mr. Ball to
the Church Missionary Society, in whose service they were
ordained. One of them, the Rev. Alfred Dredge, died in his
work in India; the other, of whose efficient ministry in
Ceylon an ample record exists, is still engaged in doing
excellent service for the Society at home. Mr. Ball, from a
ready natural sympathy with young men, certainly suc
ceeded in attaching very closely to him several of these
Sunday scholars and teachers, some of whom have still

generation at the Wilton School. Bings, Mr. and Mrs. French, Mr.
In Mr. G. Whitmarsh's diary we Workman and wife, with Miss
have noticed this entry mentioning Baker, dined at Mr. Armstrong's,
Beading names : — "1799, August Wandsborough. August30th. The
29th, Thursday. Mr . and two Mrs. Beading people left us this evening."
L

146

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

reason to bless his memory and be thankful for his interest
in their careers.
The following letter will give a glimpse of the new
curate among his friends and shew what . was doing in
those days to help forward religious action.
To the Rev. J. Hunter at Bath.
8, Portland Place, Reading, March 20th, 1840.
. . . . I also send two numbers of the Reading
Church Guardian.1 . . . Many thanks for both the news
papers. Your speech (in that of this morning) I like much. The
paper was in other respects an interesting one. I begin to look
about me a little here, and to be at length emerging from the
inextricable labyrinth of house-changing. I share all the duties
of the parish with Ball, whom I like much. He is sound,
sensible, and energetic. I was at a meeting (Lord's Day) held
here last Monday, but did not take part, though requested, seeing
I was not wanted. An interesting meeting and well attended.
Joseph Wilson the deputation.2 Ball spoke well. The- stars
were Goodhart3 and Mr. Busfeild4 a neighbouring clergyman.
I was yesterday at a clerical meeting. Met soon after one :
luncheon : discussion (begun and ended with prayer) began at two ;

1 This was a penny monthly pe
riodical of eight pages, printed by
Welch and published under the
sanction of the Beading Church of
England Association. It commenced
in January, 1840, but only survived
a year. It was managed by Mr.
Hulme and the Bev. C. S. Bird, the
literary department being chiefly
under the latter. We observe in
the number published at the end
of August a paragraph on the open
ing of the Boman Catholic Chapel,
which had just occurred in a very
quiet manner. A grand ceremonial
and an imposing muster of digni
taries had been intended, but was
prevented by the sudden death on
July 20th of " that sincere and
zealous Bomanist, Mr. Wheble, who
supplied the funds." The Associa
tion mentioned above was in defence
of Protestantism, and Mr. Bird took
an' active part in its formation and
support.

2 Inheriting a large fortune in
early life, this excellent man, a
cousin of Daniel Wilson, residing at
Clapham, devoted himself to the
good of his fellow creatures in a
variety of ways that were open to
him in his influential position, and
with a zeal rarely witnessed. His
great mission was to promote the
religious observance of the Lord's
Day, and he took a prominent part
in forming the Society for that
object, in which also he laboured
incessantly as an honorary officer.
He was born in 1785 and died in
July 1855.
3 The Bev. C. J. Goodhart quit
ted Broadchalk for Beading in 1836
and became minister of St. Mary's
Chapel, Castle Street.
4 The Bev. William Busfeild was
curate of Englefield near Beading,
and was in the same year presented
by the Duke of Devonshire to the
Bectory of Keighley in Yorkshire,

chap, vii.] Pastors and schools. 147
on the best means of attaching the uneducated to the Church of
England. . Dined at five : broke up at half-past eight. Eight
clergymen present. Among them a Mr. Hulme,1 a valuable man,
between fifty and sixty (edits the Guardian), and Mr. Eyre5 (late
of Calne) very popular here.
Mr. Phelps's curacy at St. Lawrence being only of brief
duration we must not look for anything requiring special
record at this day. It is sufficient to mention that in every
branch of duty he was a comfort and counsellor to his
friend, whose hopes and anticipations were entirely realised
while the connexion lasted. Mr. Phelps's sympathies with
the young and the poor being as strong as the Vicar's, he
entered in no degree less warmly into the work of train
ing their Sabbath pupils Among many old roll-books
of the school written in Mr. Ball's careful hand, and pre
served until his death, was one entirely from Mr. Phelps's
pen ; and truly such lowly tasks and personal offices under
taken by these two college fellows accustomed to Oxford
and Harrow, shew the ungrudging spirit in which they
entered into their Master's employment, waiting for days
when they could enlist in the same cause the services of
some of those whom they were seeking to train for God.
On the last evening of their earthly intercourse, which was
in St. Lawrence Vicarage3 twenty-five years after 1840, they
invited to their company to share the hour with them one
who had been, in the days of Mr. Phelps's curacy, one of
their humble scholars, and was then their superintendent
over numerous others and their personal friend.
The other congregations in Reading to which Mr. Phelps's
ministry was introduced were Mr. Trench's4 at St. John's,
1 The Bev-. George Hulme, who Mr. Phelps met his old master Mr.
will be mentioned again further on. George Bichards at Mr. Eyre's
2 The Bev. Charles James Phipps house in Beading on July 29th next
Eyre. He was serving St. Giles' after the date of this letter.
Church for the Vicar, the Bev. J. 3 This house, adjoining the town-
C. Grainger, who was at that time hall and very near the church, was
absent from ill health. In 1842 he removed in 1871.
became Incumbent of St. Mary's, 4 1840, March 27th, a Friday in
Bury St. Edmunds, and in 1857 Lent, and Sunday, May 9th, 1841,
Bector of Marylebone, London.
L2

148 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
and Mr. Goodhart's at St. Mary's Chapel.1 He had also the
pleasure of introducing to St. Lawrence's pulpit his friend
Mr. Hunter from Bath, who preached for him on May 3rd,
1840. An eminent inhabitant of those days we find too
recorded in his journal. " 1840, April 8th, saw Dr. Ring."
This able physician and pious Christian, an intimate friend
and correspondent of Simeon (a native of the same town
and a frequent visitor there) lived in Friar Street, on the
north side ; and here he died in 1840, his widow residing in
the same house until her death, May 17th, 1848.2
Two severe trials visited him during the brief period of
this curacy, and after he had been but five months at work.
In August, 1840, his youngest child, an infant, was brought
to the very brink of the grave, but recovered, and the
affectionate father was never called to part with another
child till he himself was taken. And this separation seemed
now on the point of occurring ; for no sooner was his httle
one restored than he himself, while on a visit at Sudbury
Lodge, encountered (August 26th) an attack of cholera3 of
so severe a character that during the whole of one night Dr.
Latham never left his bed-side. A man of less temperate
habits and calm nature, Dr. Latham said, could not have
recovered. The solemnity of such an event, as we might
have been sure, was not lost upon him, and very feeling
were the terms in which he spoke of his having been
called on to take a near view of eternity. The lines
commencing —
" My Father, my God, should Thy wisdom ordain ''
1 1841, January 31st, Sunday ; in 1797, the year of Mr. Cadogan's
Thursday Evening, March 11th ; death. Dr. Eing was at the first
Sunday, June 27th j Thursday, meeting of the Beading Auxiliary
July 29th. of the Bible Society. He told the
2 See page 145, note. The Bev. audience that he was no speaker
John Newton in one of his letters, but that in his hand was something
describing a visit to Beading, says that could speak for him,— a purse
— " I never preached so often in of five hundred guineas, contributed
an equal space ; five times in the by himself and his friends.
church, twice in Mr. Young's school, 3 The cholera, after its first visit
every morning at Mr. Bing's, and to England in 1831-2, was not
every evening in a large room of one epidemic in England again until
or other of our friends." This was 1847.

CHAP, vii.] Convalescent. 149
embodying the Christian's answer to the heathen poet —
who saw nothing but nature — were penned while yet
prostrate from the illness. The following letter written
during his convalescence, from a sea-side spot that recalled
all his early days, is not the first proof we have seen in his
correspondence of the depth of feeling that lay beneath the
rippling surface of his spirit.
To his brother.
Sandford Hotel, Mudiford, Christ Church,
October 16th, 1840.
Dear John, What sort of tackle I have got for writing withal time
will tell. It has taken me some time to act thus far. Now for
another pen. Ah ! well ! this is better, and may perhaps do.
We accomplished our journey very nicely and' reached our des
tination a little before five o'clock. We looked at a lodging or
two and then pitched our tent here, where we are well accommo
dated. I have very much enjoyed this fine day. We have
literally been by the sea-side all day long, and as almost every
visitor of the season has left Mudiford, we have had it almost
entirely to ourselves. Oh the soft and balmy breezes ! They
seem inclined to do everybody good if they could. And then the
fine, dignified, calm, serenity of the sea seemed very much disposed
to tranquillize the mind ; and the long range of cliffs that wind
around the bay, and the distant chalky promontory of the Isle
of Wight and the Needle Rocks, looking so very much where they
were and what they were years and years ago as long as I could
remember, all spoke of stedfastness, and seemed to say " con
template us and see through us (its poor faint emblems) the
strength of the Unchangeable : and let the voice that once said to
the troubled element before you, ' Peace, be still ! ' hush into
silence all the petty cares and disquietudes of this life, which a
few more ebbings and flowings of the stream of time shall
obliterate for ever.
On November 4th he resumed his duties at St. Lawrence.
Mr. Phelps was able to stand his ground in an expensive
town house on a curacy while the Harrow property was
yielding a full return. A few of the neighbouring gentry

150 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
were glad to send him their sons, whom he educated with his
own, though he could not receive them as boarders; and
thus he found himself, at home and in his parish, actively
and happily engaged. But in the spring of 1841 the great
house was not producing what he had calculated upon, and
heavy sums had to be laid out for alterations and repairs.1
Gratifying testimonies of his past usefulness at Harrow
continued occasionally to drop in. An old pupil, writing
from Italy at the end of 1840, remarked — "I have often
thought with pleasure of those hours which I spent in
reading with you, and daily reap the benefit of your
kindness while continuing to follow up what you ex
plained to me. I cannot be too sensible of what I gained,
as far as I myself can judge." One influential nobleman
wrote — "It is impossible for any one to receive greater
satisfaction than I continue to do from the conduct
of your former pupils, who I am happy to say always
recollect you with regard and friendliness." But none could
assist in promoting his advancement in the church. On
the resignation of Lord Melbourne, in August, 1841, Sir
R. Peel came into power, and if that statesman could have
found him a living in crown patronage this was the time
when it would have been most welcome.2 At all events Mr.
Phelps felt himself obliged to turn his eyes to some other
sphere of duty more suited to his means, believing that
sooner or later there would be a revival at Harrow.
In the course of the summer of 1841 an opportunity
presented itself at Sonning, a village on the Thames three
miles below Reading, the newly appointed vicar of which
(one of his old Harrow pupils) was abroad for his health
and required therefore a locum tenens, for an uncertain
period. Mr. Phelps met Dr. Pearson on the 1st of July
at Sonning, and on the I lth he preached there for the
i "1841, February 19th. Great years that career of prosperity
house and little- cottage. Domine, which it has maintained ever since.
dirigenos. May 21st. A mist over 2 Mr. Phelps was on May 7th,
Harrow." — Journal. The school, 1841, offered a curacy by the Bev.
which was at this time declining, S. E. J)ay, of St. Philip and St.
commenced in the course of a few Jacob, Bristol.

chap, vn.l A deliverance. 151
first time.1 Being requested to occupy the post, he con
sidered it on the whole an advisable step to take and accor
dingly he bade farewell to St. Lawrence's congregation,2
after a ministry of eighteen months, on Sunday, September
5th, 1841. On the following Sunday he commenced his
new curacy,3 going over in solitude and taking his meal
between the services at the White Hart ; for hot until the
24th was he able to bring his wife and children into this
pleasant rural parsonage. ' With his usual industry and
method he proceeded at once to survey the parish and take
a census. A list of the districts, the inhabitants thereof,
and the visits paid to them, is still among his records.
We find one letter of sufficient interest to the readers
of his life written from this spot, and another which he
received from Mr. Hunter. The latter we do not like to
omit, as the writer was then not far from the termination
of his earthly pilgrimage, and we have been so long familiar
with his intercourse with this affectionate friend.
To AN AUNT.
Sonning Vicarage, October 26th, 1841,
As I know there is no one more ready than yourself to
rejoice when I rejoice and weep when I do weep, I think it right
that you should be informed by a line from myself of the merciful
deliverance we last week received, although you may have heard
it from Wilton.
I was driving my dear wife, P  , and the baby in my pony
chaise, and stepped out to walk up the hill, leaving the reins in
poor P  's hands, an indiscretion of which I have scores of
times been guilty, relying on the steady old pony. Just at the
top of the hill however the child dropped the reins out of his
1 His text was Ps . cxliii. 8. buried railroad men and addressed
2 Acts ii. 37. the assembly. 1841, May 26th,
3 Jerem. v. 24; John i- 29. Hulme preached at the Visitation;
It may interest some of the older June 25th, conservative dinner at
residents of Beading if we subjoin a Dr. Smith's ; June 30th, chairing
few dates of current events jotted of Bussell and Chelsea." Sir H.
down in the journal during Mr. Bussell and Lord Chelsea were con-
Phelps's curacy there. "1840, servative members; Lord Melbourne
March 28th, saw trains start from resigned August 30th.
Beading for the first time ; 29th,

152 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
hands under the pony's heels, and away he ran with the party and
was soon out of my sight. My feelings at such a moment may be
better conceived than described.1 A gracious God however most
mercifully heard my cry in a moment of the deepest distress, and
when at length I came up with the carriage, after going a con
siderable distance, I had the unspeakable happiness of finding that
not a hair of either of their heads was hurt. What a mercy !
What a call for gratitude as long as I live !
This is a large and widely extended parish ; and the glad tidings
of great joy want sadly to be rung through the length and breadth
of it.2
From the Rev. J. Hunter.
Maison Gauthier, Nice, January 8th, 1842,
It has pleased God to give me an increased measure of
health since I have been here 
We have a very large religious society.3 Between forty and
fifty persons attended a prayer meeting for a blessing on the year
at my rooms on the first of January. A number of clergymen and
laymen meet at my house for reading the Scripture and prayer
every Friday morning. We are from ten to fifteen in number,
about half clergy. Besides our two Sunday services, there is a
lecture in the chapel on Wednesday ; a meeting of young people
in the vestry and of servants on Thursday. On Thursday evenings
there is a meeting of a religious character at the house of a Major
'Green, but it being in the evening I do not attend. We are full
of privileges.
1 There must have been then Hartley, Lady O. Sparrow, Captain
another "tug." See page 114. He (afterwards Admiral) Bichard H.
more than once referred to this Pearson. The idea originated with
circumstance when driving in Son- Mr. Evans in 1818, who saw that
ning Lane, and, remembering other Nice and Villafranca would become
providences likewise, would ejacu- a great resort of English invalids.
late — "For mercies countless as At his instance Haldane Stewart
the sand ! " warmly took up the subject, and
2 During the Bev. Hugh Pearson's occupied the chair at Nice, April
Incumbency a new church was built 12th, 1820, at the meeting of British
at Earley, two miles distant from the residents which commenced active
parish church, and the latter was measures. The jealousy of the
beautifully restored. Boman Catholic authorities obliged
3 The Protestant Church at Nice them to build the church in the
was erected through the exertions form of a house surrounded by a
of Mr. James Evans, the Bev. J. high waU to exclude it from view.
Haldane Stewart, Lewis Way, J. (Life of Haldane Stewart, page 82).

chap, vii.] A peculiar case. 153
" So once on Gideon's fleece the dew was found,
And drought on all the thirsty land around."
But there is something melancholy in having all these privileges
ourselves and doing nothing spiritually for the people amongst
whom we dwell.
You mention S^'">r/ I think I told you in my last that I had
written to him. He sent me a very affectionate answer, begged
me to write to him again and told me he should be happy to see
me again in England. His case is one of great peculiarity.
Though he has joined the Roman Catholic Church his views
appear to be as evangelical as before he left Protestantism. I
cannot enter into particulars, but I send you an extract from his
letter of December 13th, 1841 : —
" I humbly truRt that I have no other ground whatever of
hope of eternal life but Jesus Christ and Him crucified : His
atoning blood pleading before God is my sole confidence. I trust
I am conscious that without holiness I cannot see God, and that
by His grace I long after that holiness, and wish from day to day
to follow after it, I- know that the Author and Finisher of that
holiness in me is God the Holy Ghost, who will work it in me
while I diligently use the appointed means. If there is any one
text of Holy Scripture I wish to have perpetually in recollection,
it is this — This is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I wish this to be the hourly
scope of my life, as it respects myself and others, to know the
truth and to bring others to know it.''
The ways of God are very mysterious. I cannot give you the
reasons of my opinion, but I think it probable that poor S 
will continue now to the end in the Church of Rome. I pray and
hope that it may be otherwise, but I am not sanguine that it will.
At the same time' I trust and feel much assurance that he will
retain to the end the same principles as those which he has- ex
pressed in the above extract.
The very awful railroad accident in your parish must have been
a solemn warning to your people and the relatives of those who
perished. You will, I trust, see the pillar of cloud going before
when your time of leaving Sonning arrives. " Take no anxious
thought .for the morrow " must be our motto, though there are
seasons when it is difficult to act upon it as we could desire. If

154 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Sir Robert's patronage is large, I suppose his appKcants are almost
boundless.1 We have as usual a considerable number of nobility here:
Dukes of Devonshire and Manchester, Marquis of Ely, Lord
Granville, Lord Mandeville, Baroness Clifford, &c, &c. Amongst
others we have a very sweet dispositioned fellow, who appears
truly pious, a Captain Caldwell, who was a Harrow boy at the
time you first took up your abode there. In our younger days,
amongst the aristocracy piety was like angel's visits, few and far
between ; and it is certainly a sign of the times to see so many in
that class now making a reputable profession.
The catastrophe referred to by Mr. Hunter, and which
was long remembered in Reading and the neighbourhood,
happened on Christmas Eve, 1841, at a spot where the
railway passes through the deep depression known as the
"Sonning cutting." Of eight persons killed four were
buried in Sonning churchyard by Mr. Phelps, who composed
the following lines for their epitaph —
" Four travellers within this churchyard crave
The sacred shelter of a stranger's grave.
Dire was the shock by which their souls were hurl'd,
In life's f uU course, abruptly from the world ;
'Mid cries and groans, and the loud engine's roar
And piercing shriek, they fell to rise no more.
Were they prepared ? The last great day wiU teU !
Thine own days, reader, go and number weB. "2
The Sonning curacy was not of quite half the duration
of the preceding one, and only lasted eight months. But
short as it was, his quiet earnest ministry had made itself
appreciated by various classes, from the park to the cottage,
as the following letter will shew. It seems to imply that
Mr. Phelps's removal had not been -long anticipated, but
we know of no further particulars. He preached his fare-
1 Sir Bobert Peel came into power their memory, so the lines remained
September 1841, and remained until in manuscript, and we found them
June 1846. to have been carefully preserved at
2 The travellers seem to have had Sonning, by Mr. Sadler the parish
no friends to erect a tomb-stone to clerk.

chap, vii.] Leaving Sonnmg. 155
well sermons on Sunday, April 24th, 1842, his texts being
Luke xii. 6, 7, and Ephes. v. 16. Sonning, April 25th, 1842.
Dear Sir, With feelings of the utmost concern I have learnt that
the time of your sojourn amongst us is just drawing to a close,
and that we are now to be deprived of the blessing of your
ministry. Short indeed appears to have been the period of its
continuance, yet not so short but that I trust a permanent
benefit may result to the souls of all amongst whom you have
laboured. For myself, I feel that in being for a season of the
number of your flock, and in hearing Sabbath after Sabbath the
truths of God's Word brought home powerfully to my conscience,
I have partaken of a blessing for which I must ever be thankful
and incurred a responsibility I hope never to forget. I ask for
a remembrance in your prayers. I ask also your acceptance of
this little volume ; and I trust you will believe that a deep sense
of gratitude alone emboldens me to offer my petition. I will only
add my sincerest wish that in this life " every good and perfect
gift " may be yours, and in that which is to come may I behold
you in the number of those who, having turned many to righteous
ness, " shine as the stars for ever and ever."
If the transition from the preceding excellent letter does
not savour of too much lightness in a biographer, he would
ask leave to record the following incident, indicative of
no real levity whatever but certainly of a little innocent
frolicsome humour which even in our serious moods is not
necessarily intrusive. The circumstance occurred, to speak
historically, within a certain period of eight months, and
the truth of it we will answer for although we need not
authenticate it with names. A troop of Reading schoolboys
wearing the well-known garb of blue, in the course of their
holiday ramble, arrived at the village of Sonning, and no
sooner had they reached the vicinity of the. Vicarage house
than they found themselves most strangely greeted with a
shower of projectiles, which fell among them in pretty good
numbers, and were, to speak the truth, by no means ill-

156 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
looking — nor ill-tasting ; they had in fact once grown upon
some neighbouring trees, and might have been — perhaps
apples. On a more careful scanning of the situation, the
magazine of this assault was detected, in the shape of a loft
half hidden behind the foliage, and the operator himself
was not altogether concealed. If we must not tell his name,
there can be no harm in saying that he had been once a
Corpus " boy," had mixed much with boys on the hill of
Harrow, had a spice of humour in his composition from his
early Winchester school days, loved to shew the kindness
of his heart towards the young, and was now curate in
charge of a river-side rural church about three miles from
one dedicated to St. Lawrence.
Mr. Phelps's next engagement was on the opposite side of
Reading, six miles south-west of it. Sulhamstead was a
Queen's College (Oxford) living and the then rector, the
Rev. Alan Briscoe, was out of health and non-resident. It
was the Rev. Charles Smith Bird, mentioned some pages
back, through whom Mr. Phelps was introduced to this
curacy. He had long resided with pupils in the adjoining
parish of Burghfield, without any parochial charge but
nevertheless in various ways a great blessing to the sur
rounding locality, his able advocacy of the religious societies
being well known in Reading.1 Being about to leave the
neighbourhood, and finding Mr. Phelps looking out for
clerical work, Mr. Bird felt very anxious to secure him for
Sulhamstead, assuring him that his services would be
thoroughly appreciated by all classes in the parish,
adding — "I do think that Divine Providence is calling
you hither, where you will find a people thirsting for the
word of life."
1 A former fellow of Trinity Col- the Bev. George Hulme, as weB as
lege, Cambridge, Mr. Bird bad with the Bev. B. B. Fisher of Basil-
resided in Burghfield parish as a don, with Mr. Wilberforce also,
private tutor since 1823. He after- and likewise with Mr. Cunningham
wards came out as a vigorous writer of Harrow. He was born in 1795
in the Tractarian controversy, which and died November 9th, 1862. His
led to his being appointed Chancellor Life was published by Nisbet in
of Lincoln. He was intimate with 1864.

chap, vii.] Sulhamstead. 157
Mr. Phelps looked upon it in the same light, and- all
things being settled he opened his ministry in each of the
two churches, Sulhamstead Abbots and Sulhamstead Banis
ter, on Trinity Sunday, May 22nd, 1842.1 After a holiday
with his family in Wilts he brought them all back and
established them in the Rectory house on July 23rd. But
he had set to work even earlier, as we find July 1st the
date of the " parish book " in which he had surveyed and
mapped down all his pastoral work with his usual detail.
But before we mention this more particularly, we will insert
a letter from his valued old friend, whose tone, as his
pilgrimage lengthened, grew none the less refreshing and
stimulating to the younger brother who had received his
reminders at Oxford in other days with so much profit.
From the Rev. S. Hawtrbt.
3, Dowry Square, Bristol, November 15th, 1842.
My very dear friend,
Had I imagined that to receive a letter from me was a
thing you were expecting, long before this I would have written ;
and now, learning from your good brother Robert that this is the
case, I take pen in hand without further delay. First I will
observe that the above named person made a trio with my dear
wife and self yesterday at dinner, and we enjoyed his company
much. There is decided piety in him, with much mind, and
general sincerity of character, and I really think he may be made
very useful in our church in the present awful day when the chain
of Satan is certainly lengthening and her evangelical pastors are
assaulted by "that old serpent " in a new way.2
And so you have " pitched " in another part of " the wilder
ness ! " I hope you are outwardly comfortable and are privileged
to perceive that " God giveth the increase " on your planting.
Oh, my brother ! Are not souls of equal value now as heretofore ?
Is not the Word of God intended for the same end through our
instrumentality as it was by St. Paul's 1 If he preached so that
by all means he might " save some," ought not also we! I know
'His texts, 2 Corinthians xiii. 14; St. Philip and St. Jacob. Seep.
Ephesians ii. IS. 150, note.
2 Mr. Bobert Phelps was curate of

158 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
you reply " yea, verily ! " I can assure you that though it has
been pleasing to God to " make my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth, that I shall be dumb " from my pulpit, I am quite, by
His grace, as alive to the high calling of a minister of Jesus
Christ as ever, if not more so, and trust that with my years my
zeal will increase.
Do give me some little account of yourself, dear Mrs. Phelps
and family, your parish, objects, &c. ; for we still take an interest
in you and hope to hear of your general health.
I must tell you a little of ourselves. We have this beautiful
summer made three excursions — to Exeter,1 Broadchalk, and
Clevedon, and returned from the last in October. It was how
ever Broadchalk that was a source of such delight to us. It was
after an absence of nine years that we had again the pleasure of
seeing our beloved flock, and the interview was most affecting,
but delightful. I may tell you what is rather singular in the
present day, that there was no opposition. From the lowest to
the highest of our parishioners we were greeted with cordial smiles.
Of course we found that " old Time " had altered all of us. Still
there appeared something left besides occasional " rugae seniles.''
You can enter into all this. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman2 received
us under our own roof with much kindness, and the nine days flew
with swift wings. On one day the Misses Newman came over.
The garden is very much improved, and the great growth of
trees planted by me has given quite a little parkish appearance.
Besides this, the roads are now very good. Indeed I may say all
the village is externally improved ; and above all, many appeared
still to feel that " man doth not live by bread alone," and after all
this was the best thing. I imagine you know that an old pupil of
your brother's is my curate at Bowerchalk.3 It was not my, but
the Bishop's appointment. Will you join your prayers for him
with ours ? You and I ought to be indeed grateful — both your
brothers converted and my only brother ! 4
Well, my dear friend, I fear I have been rather egotistic, but
I trust in your unabated regard to forgive me. I am truly glad
1 See vol. 1. p. 130, note 4. Yorkshire.
2 Bev. Abel Chapman, of Queen's 3 Mr. Cooper.
College, Cambridge. He remained * We shall notice him when taking
here until 1854, when he became leave of Mr. Hawtrey.
Perpetual Curate of Bathmel in

chap, vii.] Reminiscences. 159
*
to say my beloved partner's health is considerably improved.
Though no Hercules, I am really wonderfully well. In the hope
of a letter, not a fashionable note, at your leisure, and with kindest
regards from both to both, Believe me very affectionately yours,
Stephen Hawtrey.
P.S. — Your and my old acquaintance, you perceive, is made
Dean of Peterborough.1 To AN UNCLE.
Sulhamstead Rectory, December 7th, 1842.
It was twenty years ago this very day that I went to
Chicklade to enter upon my new residence and curacy there.
What a crowd of reflections does the thought bring back upon
my mind ! I have been in a considerable variety of scenes, and
in some rather anxious and difficult ones, since then. But when
I think of the deliverances I have experienced, the curate of Sul
hamstead may well look back to the curate of Hindon with
admiration and astonishment at the Divine goodness and for
bearance and long-suffering.
You will be pleased to hear that I continue to like my present
situation. It agrees well with the health of all our party. And
though my sphere of action as well as my circumstances are but
limited, I have the comfort of being enabled to educate my own
children, and the high privilege of endeavouring to direct the
flock entrusted to my care to the Saviour of sinners, and of
pouring the balm of heavenly consolation through the Gospel
into the hearts of some of the mourners of Zion. So that I may
well be content. From his mother. Wilton, February, 1843.
My beloved William,
I thank you for your very affectionate letter, particularly
for those dear lines. It is but a few days ago that I read over
that little blue book which you sent me some years back, and
thought it ought to be printed for the good of others. But indeed
1 Dr. George Butler,

160 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
I might even say it has always been your study to reconcile me to
the providence of God in all things. I feel as I grow to age that
I have made idols of my dear children, and never deserved such
love as every one has shewn me. Oh, may those that have
children have such love returned to them again, is my earnest
prayer ! and may those that have them not be reconciled by
knowing that they have not the cares also.
From F. Robinson, Esq.
Temple, February 11th, 1843.
Verily if thou hadst pitched thy tent but within the
bills of mortality I doubt little but that long ere this I should
have appeared before thy tea urn, good my friend. But whoso
hides himself in far places, I cannot, indeed I cannot follow him,
I have been very busy all the year- ; and though I do my endea
vour to keep one day of rest out of the seven I can seldom contrive
to be comfortably absent from home early on the Monday morning;
and am therefore compelled to limit my wanderings within very
narrow bounds indeed. In the summer however, deeming that I
stood in need of rest and change more than of gold and silver, I
resigned my office of Revising Barrister, and making unto myself
a pair of wings I fled right away to Trieste and Venice and spent
two whole months in foreign parts. And much did I enjoy my
almost forgotten liberty, not merely in the delight of visiting fair
and pleasant places, and places full of interesting objects, and
recollections too, but in the novelty also of finding myself once
again well and comfortable ; sensations, I regret to say, that I
had almost lost the memory of, and which I equally regret to say
I fear I left behind me on the shores of the Adriatic, to be picked
up again, let me hope, some future day when I go in quest of
them. Since my return I have been far from well, and sometimes fear
I must grow young again before I shall again taste for a con
tinuance the sweetness of being at ease in my crazy tenement of
flesh and bones. Still I see around me so many others vexed
with plagues far worse than such as fall to my lot, that I must
learn to be not content only but thankful.
In a week or two more I travel northward on my circuit. On
my return the days will have grown longer, and it may be I shall

chap, vii.] The Oxford Thursday Evenings. 161
be tempted to gyrate somewhat further from my nest, and I assure
you it will give me much pleasure to spend a day with you.
You have given me only scanty reports of your young house
hold. But I hope the " house-mother," as the Germans call her^
and yourself continue to enjoy health and peace ; and as for
wealth, the drudgery of your past years has placed you beyond
the reach of want, which is pretty much the best that wealth can
do for us. I am thankful that I am placed equally (or, as having
no bairns depending on me, even more than equally) beyond the
pressure of anxiety for this world's gear. I begin to think that
if I could count on years of health and strength and perseverance
in my profession, I might probably not only flourish but abound.
On years such as these however I cannot count ; but I am without
anxiety as to this world's future, whatever hindrances I may meet
with in the way of health.
Remember me to Mrs. Phelps, and your brother and sister.
The little ones have, I conclude, forgotten the now and then
visitor at Harrow. But I will begin my acquaintance with them
again some fine Saturday evening in the spring.
We subjoin here an extract from the letter of an old
Oxford friend, to shew how the companions of the
" Thursday evenings " remembered each other and were
persevering together in the old paths. February 20th, 1843.
My dear friend, Your letter cheered me very greatly in a season of much
trial and anxiety, and though I have often thought of you since I
received it, I have really been so absorbed and occupied that I
have not been able to reply to it till this time 
I have as yet met with no improvement upon that simple,
spiritual, and experimental religion based upon the Word of God
which we endeavoured to cultivate when we took counsel together
upon the things of God and walked to the House of God as
friends. I have thought and read somewhat upon the follies and
heresies of the Tractarian school, and I look upon this movement
as originating in the pride of the fallen heart of man, which would
arrogate to itself a boundless authority and prefer the formality of
M

162 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
ritual observances to the humbling and heart-searching doctrines
of the Cross of Christ. But upon this subject I will not now say
more than that I rejoice that you hold still to the principles of
the blessed Reformation.
I did not know where you were ; and if your letter has given
me pleasure, how much more pleasure should I derive from seeing
you ! This of course I shall not fail to do if I come into your
neighbourhood and I wish you were likely to come into mine.
From Rev. J. Hunter.
Nice, March 22nd, 1843.
I fear that you must think me shamefully backward in
acknowledging your kindness in forwarding my letters and in the
amusement you have afforded me by your poetry, &c, &c. . . .
Through mercy I am now recovering, and if it please God, hope
to see England again this summer. You will 1 am sure be glad
to hear that my historical work1 progresses, and I do hope that I
Bhall be able to get a volume through the press, if it be the Divine
will to spare my life and eyesight, the beginning of next year.
It seems that a letter which I either wrote to you or dreamed
to you never reached you. I had certainly intended to ask you
whether your Flea Poem2 was an original thought or an imitation
of Scaliger's famous work on the same subject. Of this same
poem of Scaliger's all . I know is derived at second hand from
Hallam's Literature of Europe, — a book, by the way, the theologi
cal chapters of which have been to me invaluable.
The poem on the Charges3 1 wish you had somewhat abridged,
and somewhat enlarged and then allowed to pass through the press.
Dear Natt is gone to heaven4 — a blessed translation. If I
mistake not, though he had no fear of death, he had a fear of
dying. I think that I have a recollection of something of this
kind, either as having heard it from Tristram or some other of his
i We do not know to what work neous. On Sunday morning Feb-
Mr. Hunter here refers. ruary 12th, 1843, he preached at St.
2 A short satire dn a charity mas- Sepulchre's apparently in as good
querade baB. health as usual, and in two hours
s The Four Charges. A poem after, returning home from church,
hitting off in humorous style some he fefi Bfeless on the floor. He was
of the salient points of the Oxford buried at NettlesweB, the place of
Tract novelties. his birth, in the grave of his parents,
4 Mr.'Natt's death was instanta- according to his request.

chap, vii.] The Zurich Letters. 163
friends ; and if so, God seems to have spared him all the strife, the
groans, the dying tears. He was not, for God took him. I am
glad to see his last sermon and Ball's funeral sermon for him pub
lished. May the Lord prepare us to depart and be with Christ as
he now is !
You have surely got the Zurich Letters by this time 1 I rejoice
in having been the instrument of that book coming before the
British public. It will give some new views to younger men, who
will there learn something that they would seek in vain in the
pages of our Church Historians ; and after reading those letters,
they will see in reading Church History how historians dive into
the thoughts of men and give them a meaning which they never
had. I got rather a long letter from S  this morning. What a
strange picture would his mind exhibit, if all the letters which he
has written during the last eighteen months were put together !
One thing is to me a great comfort : I have no more doubt that he
is going to heaven than I should have had, had he been afflicted
with a mental malady and shut up in an establishment of that
character ten years ago. Here are the last words of his letter —
" To know and do God's will, to love Him, serve Him, and get
ready to be with Him, this this is the matter. Disputations I
leave to others. God as my Father and my Portion I want to
seek and must have for myself. Yet not selfishly. I pray that
He may be more and more yours, and that of all near and dear
to you."
And here we take leave of this truly Christian man and
dear friend of Mr. Phelps. He returned to Bath, but did
not live to see the volume in print to which he refers. The
two series of Zurich Letters are among the most valuable of
the Parker Society publications, comprising original corres
pondence of the English Reformers discovered among the
archives of Zurich.1 The first series was printed in a volume
in 1842, when the Society was only beginning its work.
Mr. Hunter refers to this in his letter. The second series
owes much to Mr. Hunter himself. For while abroad for

' The whole were in the Archdeacon's library.
M 2

164 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
his health he took the opportunity of visiting Zurich, chiefly
perhaps in pursuit of his own historical work which he
mentions. There however he found reasons for believing
that the library and archives had not even yet been suffi
ciently explored for English Reformation letters, and through
his aid and exertions large additions were procured and
forwarded to England, and these became the second series,
printed in 1845.1 Besides his Memorials of Mr. Tristram,
Mr. Hunter published a small work on the Calvinism of the
Church of England, as contained in her formularies and
elucidated by the writings of the chief Enghsh Reformers,2
Hearing of his alarming illness, Mr. Phelps on the 21st of
March 1844 went to him at Bath and saw him for the last
time. He died on April 19th. His old Shrewsbury friend
the Rev. John Richards was with him in his last moments
and received his whisper — " I am going home ; I am passing
through Jordan ; all is well, all is right, all is bright."3 A
relative of Mr. Phelps wrote from the house of mourning
two days before the funeral — "I do not think that Mr.
Hunter's countenance ever looked so bright as in the moment
of his death, when his spirit left the body. His countenance
expressed joy and surprise, and that expression remained for
an hour or two. It was a pleasure to look at him."
Mr. Richards attended (April 26th) the remains of his old
friend to the grave in the rural churchyard of Charlcomb
two miles out of Bath, on the north ; and on the following
Sunday Mr. East spoke of him in his sermon at St. Michael's.
The duration of the Sulhamstead curacy proved about
three years, and the rural retirement suited him well in the

i The Society's Third Beport, May most part (as moderate men of afl
3,1844, page 6, acknowledges Mr. parties now agree in allowing) either
Hunter's services. the effect of pure ignorance or of
2 Nisbet, 1841. He dates from dislike to spiritual religion."
Lansdown Place, Bath, December 3 See a memoir of the Bev. John
30th, 1840. He adopted as a motto Bichards by his widow (Shrewsbury ;
the foBowing passage from Bishop Sandford) page 55. Mr. Phelps's
Daniel Wilson. "The reproaches poems contain one "composed in the
cast so liberally on what is called night after hearing of the death of
Calvinism in England are for the the Bev. John Hunter."

CHAP, vii.] The Church Catechism. 165
education of his boys and the other youths whom he ad
mitted to share their studies. Painstaking characterised all
he undertook here, as- elsewhere, among all classes of his
flock. The Christian instruction of the poorer youth was
earnestly attended to ; in proof of which there still exists a
volume in his beautiful handwriting, containing an explana
tion by question and answer of several important subjects,
such as the Church, the baptismal vow, the creed, the com
mandments, the sacraments, being an expansion in fact of
the Catechism of the Church of England.1 We consider a
testimony like this in favour of that manual, from a man
who had had so much experience with the young, not a
little valuable. It declares not only his deliberate approval
of it as a churchman, but his sense of its practical value as
an instructor. He evidently believed it to be a summary of
truth worthy to be explained for their understandings and
impressed upon their hearts with the utmost care. The
idea of the Catechism being, in any narrow and sectarian
sense, especially distinctive of the Church of England or
embodying a mere denominationalism, is a prejudice and a
mistake engendered by the spirit of controversy, and arising
from the simple fact of that formulary being the Church's
official voice to the young of her flock. The Church does
not in this admirable compendium seek to pre-occupy the
minds of her children with Church organisations and eccle
siastical systems, but in a spirit worthy of a great national
church, to build them up in the broad principles and
practice of scriptural faith and duty.2
It is in 1844, during the Sulhamstead curacy, that we see
for the first time the depth to which Mr. Phelps's mind was
1 The manuscript is entitled " The formulary may be reckoned the late
Sulhamstead Catechism; or the Cate- Dr. Swete of Bristol, who published
chism of the Church of England an excellent Explanation of tfie
explained for the use of the Schools Church Catechism in question and
of Sulhamstead, Berks." His jour- answer. The Bev. Thomas Adam
nal records that he finished it at of Wintringham is well known for
Sulhamstead March 14th, 1844. his Practical Lectures on the Cate-
2 Among others who have acknow- chism, published in 1753.
ledged a similar advantage in this

166 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
stirred by the Oxford Tract movement. Since he left
Harrow it had been going forward at a most violent pace
as we may see from a few dates which- we subjoin in a note.1
To understand the significance of the event of October
8th, 1844, it is to be borne in mind that Oxford Vice
Chancellors succeeded to their office time out of mind accor
ding to a well understood order, and although the forms of
an election were observed as necessary to confer legality on
the appointment, a contest was a thing absolutely unpre
cedented. The incoming Vice Chancellor on this occasion,
Dr. Symons, had been a member of the court of the out
going Vice Chancellor in which Dr. Pusey's teaching was
condemned;, on which account the partisans of the latter
gentleman, led by Mr, Ward, determined to muster and
exclude Dr. Symons by a hostile vote. The design having
become known among Oxonians in time there was a general
flocking up of Masters of Arts from the country resolved to
defeat the manoeuvre.2 The Warden of Wadham was con
firmed in his office by a triumphant majority of 700, 883
voting "placet" to 183 "non-placet." We have only to
reflect on that immense assemblage, above a thousand, of
gownsmen in mature years, scholars and clergymen, to be at
once aware of the intense earnestness and determination
1 1841, February, Tract No. 90. 1845, October 8th, Mr. Newman
1843, February, Mr. Newman re- secedes to the Church of Borne,
tracted the language he had used 2 It was on the 21st of August in
against the Church of Borne. this year, and possibly in reference
1843, May 14th, Dr. Pusey preach- to this move, that Archbishop
ed in Christ Church a sermon on Whately wrote to the Bev. Francis
the Beal Presence for which he was Close, now Dean of Carlisle, the
silenced for two years. letter which contains the foBowing
1843, September 18th, Mr. New- sentence recently published in the
man resigned St. Mary's and the Carlisle papers — " Of this there can
Chapelry of Littlemore. be ho doubt, that hitherto the
1844, October 8th, Dr. Symons, Tractites have made their advance
Warden of Wadham, appointed Vice by insinuation, by doubling and
Chancellor after a contest. dodging, by tractation and retracta-
1844, November 30th, Mr. Ward tion, phenakism and economy, and in
questioned by the Vice ChanceBor short by every kind of indirect,
as to his being the author of Ideal concealed, and disguised procedure."
of a Christian Church. For the meaning of phenakism see
1845, February 13th, Mr. Ward's Liddell and Scott ; and for economy
Ideal condemned by the Oxford see Dean Goode's Rome's Tactics,
Convocation. p. 73.

chap, vn.] The String of Beads. 167
manifested throughout the University of Oxford upon that
occasion. Mr. Phelps was one of those who went up and
voted affirmative ; and it is pretty evident, as we shall see,
that the exciting proceedings of the day, reflected upon
afterwards in reference to the Tractarian cause at large
deeply impressed him.
The effort to give vent to his feelings opened in him a
vein of the fulness of which it is few who witnessed his
usually staid exterior could have suspected. To those who
knew him it was probably no secret that he had a con
siderable reserve fund of facetice in his nature, which if he
had not brought from Hyde Abbey he would have caught
at Corpus. But even they perhaps were hardly, prepared
for a biting poetical satire such as now came out under the
title of " The Stri/ng of Beads for the Rornanisers, by Peter
Placet."1 It was written on the model of Hudibras, and in its
execution certainly displays a perfect mastery of the old
poet's peculiar humour, with a copiousness of phrase which
shews what he might have done in this style had he chosen
to cultivate his talent for it. The piece is in two Cantos
and contains over a thousand lines annotated with number
less pointed quotations which carry the reader through the
whole Tractarian position. Overflowing as it is with satire,
the candid reader soon finds that it is not really a bitter
tooth, much less a poisonous one, that is biting, and he
certainly does not feel that there is any turning of sacred
things into ridicule. At the same time however it is
thorough earnest all through, and no toying with danger.
And in reading such a brochure this fact is to be borne in
mind, that there was certainly in the whole standing of
Tractarianism that which was of the very essence of satire,
and what, if not actually suggestive of it, afforded unlimited
scope for satirical treatment to any one disposed that way.
For to take the broad facts of the case, here were men bound
1 "1844, October 8th, Oxford, to 6th, slept at Clatford. String of
vote for Dr. Symons. November Beads." Journal.

168 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
and pledged as office bearers to a position which they were
actually seeking to reconcile with one radically and avowedly
antagonistic. And if there is any thing that can surpass
the irony of such a situation, it is this further fact, that the
successors of the original Tractarians are now maintaining
their vei?sion of Anglicanism on a basis planned for them
by one who has himself discovered it to be untenable, has
deserted it, and is now one of the most scornful foes of
Anglicanism of every species, not excluding the Tractarian
species." This indeed could not be said to the fullest extent
when the String of Beads was written ; for Mr. Newman
had not then in formal terms surrendered ¦ to the common
foe. But. he was on the very brink of doing this. He had
retracted all the severe things which his first position as a
Tractist had made it necessary1 for him to say ; which was
nothing less indeed than leaving his followers in the lurch.
He had resigned his church preferment ; and the very fact
of his having not yet terminated his ambiguity, while his
followers were perplexed and many were yet proclaiming a
foolish confidence in his loyalty, only intensified the irony
of the whole situation.2
We can pardon Mr. Phelps for bringing up at that moment
the stick8 of old Samuel Butler. The running commentary
in the notes, consisting to a large extent of citations from
the Tractarian press, enables the reader to see at a glance
the melancholy and portentous spectacle of pious and edu-
1 Mr. Newman's Letter December two extracts, dated 1850, reflecting
12th, 1842, quoted in Dean Goode's on the Bomanisers in terms more
Rome's Tactics page 74. scathing, if that were possible, than
2 Mr. Phelps's private copy of his the lines of this satire and the pithy
" String of Beads " enumerates a extract from the Archbishop of
list of six " Bomanisers referred to Dublin quoted in a preceding note.
in this book, who since its publi- One of these extracts is from Dr.
cation, and in accordance with its Hook, the other from Dr. Newman.
prediction, have becomeBomanists." We hope to include them both in
He has also appended in manuscript the appendix.
3 Peter Placet's motto was —
1 ' A tract, in metre Hudibrastic,
" Writ for the times which caU for a stick."
The maxim of Horace was added — ' ' Bidiculum acri
Fortius et melius magnas plerumque secat res. "

chap, vii.] A spell. 169
cated men's sympathies diverging more and more from, and
their hearts becoming increasingly unreconciled to, the
official language of the communion to which they belonged.
We are accustomed, alas, to this now ; but thirty years ago
it was fresh and startling. Our meaning here will not be
mistaken. For we are not at all alluding to the case of
conflicting interpretations that are unavoidable in a great
and comprehensive national church, interpretations insisted
on by parties who avow their honest loyalty to the church
of which they are common members, and their bona fide
approval of her forms of worship and articles of faith.
Such conflicts are unavoidable, and the opposing parties in
them should bear patiently with one another and give each
other all possible credit. But the case we are now speaking
of is one of an entirely different nature. It is where a
clergyman openly avows his disaffection, and declares his
preference for the very opposite to that to which he con
forms ; when, for instance, he allows that " the discarding of
the Mass by our Reformers gives rise to a feeling of indig
nation and impatient sorrow," and that the Office of Holy
Communion is " a judgment on the church." Verily if Mr.
Phelps's metre be satire, satire also are the prose quotations
(and they contain many such specimens as those here given)
which support it. An attempt like this, to serve the cause
of truth with a weapon that seemed best suited to the
moment, can only be properly appreciated when the contro
versy is still warm and the circumstances of the moment
are fresh in the reader's recollection. We need not therefore
enter into the details of the composition. But we must say
that the humourist made a skilful and a telling hit in the
main idea of his piece, depicting the prime patrons of that
desperate enterprise upon our Protestant Church after the
manner of Shakespeare's Weird Sisters. For nothing can
be more appropriate than the general conception of a spell
as describing the course of the Tractarian movement and the
motive force that carried it forward with such surprising
effect. When the phenomenon of the Oxford school comes

170 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
hereafter to be patiently studied and calmly analysed, and
that state of men's minds which made the movement possi
ble taken into account, we verily believe that nothing will
more suitably represent the strange secret which led pious
dispositions and cultivated intellects to engage in such a
melancholy retrogradation, and to support a system against
which such crushing arguments could be and were brought
to bear, than a spell.
The vision of revived Church antiquity, unity, and apos
tolical authority, all in fond ideal and harmonising with
every thing grand in architecture, beautiful in art, spiritual
in worship, is indeed enough to entrance the imagination of
devout men in a wilful age, and the more wilful the age the
more will such thoughts as these dwell with the devout
men of it as their chiefest consolation. The outbreak of
wilfulness seemed menacing indeed when those Oriel
Fellows and their friends girt themselves to their task ; and
had they but had the grace to take their stand unmis-
takeably upon the glorious foundations of evangelic truth
such as other Oxford men, and Cambridge men too, were
proving the power of in many a dark neglected parish and
in many a stronghold of heathenism, had they toiled in the
simplicity of Christ's ever blessed Gospel on the splendid
platform of Oxford genius and culture for the restoration of
scattered English Christianity to its ancient channels, we
can conceive how they would have carried with them the
euthusiasm of all the noblest spirits in England, blessing
both the nation and the church in a manner to which some
eloquent passages in a Chapter of Autobiography would
have been more applicable than they are. But instead of
this, they took their stand on some of the deadliest though
most specious errors, which could only conduct to the
shameful surrender of all we ought to hold most precious.
Truly it is enough to make one weep to think how grand
an opportunity of carrying forward the revival of the
Church of England, begun among us with so much power in
the last century, has been lost utterly ; and to see how some

chap, vii.] Curacy terminating. 171
of the most self-devoting energy that human hearts are
capable of has all been wasted, in turning elements of
beauty and of blessing into deadly mischief. Well indeed
might the curate of Sulhamstead write as he did on the
threshold of his cantos —
" If you should take a brilliant eye,
" Teeth that with ivory may vie,
"A finely tapering form, a motion
" That glides as free as dance of ocean,
" A tone whose fascinating dart
" Pierces at once into the heart ;
' ' AH these together joined might make —
" Perhaps they might — a rattle-snake."
It is a spell then, we cannot but reiterate, in which those
gifted men were still enchained. Mr. Hunter seemed con
scious of this -idea when he once spoke to Mr. Phelps of
Protean mutability that eluded all powers of grasp while he
was trying to comprehend the melancholy case of one of his
friends who had fallen from a position of eminent usefulness
into the arm of the Roman apostasy ; and if we attempt to
explain the present or the past phenomena of this move
ment, reason is at a loss and we know of no better word to
use than that suggested to us in the String of Beads for
Romanisers. Mr. Phelps while at Sulhamstead made one or two
endeavours to terminate his curacy in the way that curates
usually desire to end their title. On January 2nd 1845 he
applied for the principalship of Cheltenham College. On
the 20th of the same month he sought promotion from the
Dean and Chapter of Windsor to a small vacant living of
theirs near Abingdon. Both applications were backed by
handsome testimonials from Dr. Longley Bishop of Ripon,
Dean Pearson, Dr. Pellew Dean of Norwich and others. He
probably felt that his tenure of Sulhamstead parsonage was
on the eve of expiring, as Mr. Briscoe's health was rapidly
failing. But meanwhile his promotion came from another
quarter. Mr. Phelps had been well known to the founder and

172 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Incumbent of Trinity Church, Reading, Mr. Hulme, who as
early as 1841 had sent him his two sons as pupils, and in
1844 proposed to place him at Grazeley, in the parish of
Shinfield1 where a church was about to be built. This pious
man, whose memory is still fresh at Reading and will long
survive there, was taken to his rest at the age of fifty-eight
on February 9th, 1845. In terms by no means exceeding
his worth he was spoken of by one of the local papers,
which described him as " a clergyman whose earthly career
has been one of unabated zeal in that cause in which he
early embarked." " This town and this county have good
cause to reflect with gratitude upon his ' works ; ' the first
for the structure his devotion raised and which his doctrines
adorned ; the second for his zeal in aiding the erection of a
refuge for the sick, and his ardour that never slackened to
extend and disperse its benefits."2
He died at his residence at Shinfield Grove, and in his
last illness expressed a wish that Mr. Phelps should succeed
him at Trinity. In accordance with this desire Mr. Hulme's
sons presented their father's friend to the Incumbency.3
It was just a month after Mr. Hulme's decease that the
Rector of Sulhamstead died, so that the termination of Mr.
Phelps's curacy there found him happily in possession of a
new and permanent appointment. Two months passed in
arrangements and in leave taking among a people who had
l"1844 February 9th. Hulme stone was laid September 6th, 1849,
offered Grazeley." — Journal. This and the church was consecrated
district was formed out of the September 18th, 1850. The first
parishes of Shinfield and Sulham- Incumbent was the Bev, T. Saulez.
stead. The church and parsonage % Reading Mercury , February 15th,
were built by subscription on a site 1845. The second institution re-
given by Sir B. Simeon. The en- ferred to is the County Hospital, a
dowment of £1000 required by the noble charity and an imposing edi-
Act of Parliament was provided by fice on the outskirts of Beading.
Mr. Hulme. 3"1845, February 27th. First
Mr. Phelps commenced a Wed- heardfromG. Hulme aboutTrinity."
nesday evening service in a, large "March 1st. To Shinfield (G.
cottage room at Grazeley on April Hulme's)." On this day he wrote
3rd, 1844, ending September 5th the "Epitaph on the Bev. George
following. He spent two afternoons Hulme " in his poems.
and one whole day in the week in "March 10th. Heard of Mr.
this district, and his cottage service Briscoe's death."
was highly prized. The foundation

chap, vii.] Farewell to Sulhamstead. 173
learnt to prize, and some of them in a peculiar degree, his
ministrations ; and on Sunday May 4th he took leave of his
charge in both his churches in sermons which revealed the
true tone of a Gospel ministry though characteristically
humble sentiments as regarded his own services in so high
and holy a calling. His texts were Acts viii. 39 and Acts
xx. 7. In his morning sermon, after describing the fruits
that ought to be prevailing among a people who had heard
the joyful sound, he added —
"Some such results, in however small a measure, I
would hope have attended the ministrations which are now
drawing to a close in this parish. The feeblest and most un
worthy ministers are permitted to hope this, because it is not of
him that planteth ov of him that watereth, but of God that
giveth the in'crease. To Him, the God of all comfort, to the word
of His grace, and to the teaching of His Good Spirit I now com
mend you. And to all such as have been taught by that Spirit to
be deeply in earnest for the salvation of their souls, and who are
endeavouring to shape their lives at this time as those who believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and seek first the Kingdom of God and
His righteousness, I would say — dear Christian brethren, go on
your way rejoicing. You may be, as the Ethiopian Eunuch was,
still far from home ; you may have, like him, a wilderness to pass
through; but like him you have found Him whom your soul
loveth, or rather you are found of Him. Therefore rejoice in the
Lord always, and again I say rejoice. In the blessed assurance
that He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto
the day of the Lord Jesus, go on your way rejoicing ; assured that
as your day is so your strength shall be ; that not a duty shall you
be called to but you shall have strength to perform ; not a trial
shall be sent but it shall bring its support along with it, not a
temptation permitted without a way to escape. Go on your way
rejoicing. The Lord will not suffer the souls of the righteous to
famish." These animating words, so truly pointing to the right
source of help, doubtless he meant for himself as well as for
his flock, and he was including his own future as well as

174 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
theirs in the " wilderness to pass through." And we know
that there were some listening to him who could respond
inwardly to it, though doubtless in various degrees of
experience. A note from one of the upper class of his flock
received by Mrs. Phelps on their leaving and acknowledging
a parting memento, observes — " They will, alas, be a painful
remembrance of our great loss of so valuable and excellent
a pastor. Nothing can recompense us but its leading to
something more worthy of our good friend's merits."
The Sulhamstead people testified their good will and
regrets at parting from their pastor by conveying his house
hold goods in their waggons to Reading. And so ended
another stage of his journey of life. We will mark it by
transcribing the inscription of a monument then preparing
for the church he was going to fill, shewing what manner of
man it was he was succeeding, and how well his predecessor
had completed his final stage of life and. ministry there.
The reader will appreciate the responsibility which the new
incumbent was incurring in following such a man.
To the memory of
The Bev. Gjeorgb Hulme, M.A.
incumbent for eighteen years of this church,
which he built at his sole expense,
his bereaved and sorrowing flock have erected this monument.
Moved by the Holy Ghost to take on him
the office of a minister in the Beformed Church of England,
he was singularly useful in his ministry ;
many wiB in the last day rise up and caB him blessed.
Pre-eminent in natural gifts, warmth of affection,
vigour of mind, strength of judgment,
earnestness of speech, unwearied activity,
and unbounded benevolence,
he was led by divine grace to consecrate all
to the service of his Bedeemer.
His ardour in the cause of Christ
was equaUed only by his sobriety of mind and deep humility.
He was throughout the consistent Christian ;
what his last words to his flock recommend he himself exemplified.
He was dead to the world and his fife was hid with Christ in God.
He died on the 9th day of February, 1845, aged 58 years,
and was buried in the family vault
at Shinefield in this county.

CHAP, viii.] Commencing at Trinity Church. 175

}K$&X VIII.
TRINITY CHURCH, READING.
COMMENCEMENT OP HIS MINISTRY — READING CHURCHES AND VICARS
— THE MONTHLY CLERICAL MEETING  THE WEEKLY CLERICAL
MEETING  MR. PHELPS AS A PREACHER — AS A SPEAKER — AS
A PASTOR — CONTROVERSY — CORRESPONDENCE  DR. WALDE-
GRAVE — EXAMINING CHAPLAINCY — GREYFRIARS — THE CONSE
CRATION IN YORK MINSTER — ROSE CASTLE ORDINATIONS —
FAREWELLS AT READING — CONSECRATION OF GREYFRIARS.
On Whit-Sunday May 11th, 1845, Mr. Phelps opened his
ministry at Trinity Church from the words — " Howbeit
when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you
into all truth."1 That holy guidance which he proceeded
to unfold before his new flock was what he had prayerfully
sought for his own soul for many years past. He was now
in his forty-ninth year, and from every token by which a
man can judge in such a matter, the Spirit of God had
blessed his earliest childhood with a sacred influence and
had enhghtened his early manhood with the knowledge of
Himself and the way of Salvation. When he gave out his
second text on that day, " The Kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost,"2 any one who had known him all his life long
might have testified, had he been present, that the preacher
had illustrated the doctrine he had learned and had come
to declare by a life of no ordinary consistency. Nor is it
too much to say that during the eighteen years of his
Reading ministry he maintained that priceless character
1 John xvi. 13. 2 Bpmans xv. 17.

176 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
to the last. Unspeakable is the blessing to a Christian
people when they can meet their pastor on the sacred day
with a feeling of perfect comfort and respect; if, as he
ascends the pulpit-stairs, they are not reminded of flat
contradictions between his life and his sermons ; if no
mournful indiscretions and vexatious foibles force them
selves into their memories and stop the current of their
reverence. Truly the Christian ministry, when carried
out in a genuine Christian spirit, is a wonderful institu
tion among men, and we need not be surprised to find it
reckoned one of the gifts of an ascended Saviour. It is
indeed a merciful appointment in a world like this, that
there should be set every here and there among our habi
tations a chosen man willing for the task of assisting his
brethren with his best ministries ; seeking, both on his
own account and on theirs likewise, an experimental
acquaintance with all divine knowledge ; with every
motive in him also to cultivate such a disposition as
may make him a blessing to each one about his path ; so
that people may find in him sympathy which they are
not always sure of even from their own kin; reaping
from a wise, experienced, and disinterested judgment,
counsel and assistance such as no money could purchase.
Bunyan's portrait of a minister, having the best of books
in his hand, the law of truth written upon his lips, and
the world behind his back, is one that few enough attain
to. And the minister that he describes might well be
called "one of a' thousand." But there are those who
with more or less success aim at that standard, and upon
them too, by God's mercy, will descend in the day of
Christ that which the dreamer saw suspended above the
head of his ideal picture. A scrap occurs among Mr.
Phelps's papers with the following sentence in his hand —
" There is nothing noble in a clergyman but a burning
zeal for the salvation of souls, nor anything mean in him
but idleness and a worldly spirit." And then is appended
the following couplet from Milton —

chap, viii.] Clergy of Reading. 177
" Ccelestive animas saturantem rore tenellas,
Grande salutifera religionis opus." 1
The Reading churches, when Mr. Phelps's incumbency
began, were thus officered. The Rev. John Ball, Vicar of
St. Lawrence, and the Rev. John Cecil Grainger of Downing
College, Cambridge, Vicar of St. Giles, were both instituted
in 1834. In 1835 Sir Robert Peel's cousin the Rev. Samuel
Wildman Yates, a Balliol man, first-class in 1815, was admit
ted to St. Mary's Vicarage; a Chancellor's living, as was St.
Giles's. St. Lawrence was, as already mentioned, in the gift
of St. John's College, Oxford. All three livings passed by
exchange into the patronage of the Bishop of Oxford, then
Dr. Wilberforce, who appointed the successors of those whom
Mr. Phelps found in possession. In the parish of St. Mary
there was, besides Trinity Church, St. Mary's Episcopal
Chapel, in the patronage of trustees, and its minister was
the Rev. Charles Joseph Goodhart, appointed in 1836.
These four clergymen were therefore of pretty even stand
ing. The Incumbent of St. John's (in the parish of St.
Giles) was its founder, the Rev. Francis Trench, a son-in-law
of Dr. Marsh, appointed in 1837. He was a Harrow boy3
and an Oriel man, second-class in 1828, the year in which
Mr. Keble and Mr. Newman, members of that college, first
drew together. Some interesting reminiscences of the Oriel
society of his time, including therefore a few well-known
characters, have appeared from his pen in Macmillan's
Magazine. A paper also of very striking recollections of
Harrow was written by him for the Temple Bar maga
zine in 1870, in the course of which occur graphic portraits
of Dr. Butler and the Rev. Henry Drury.3 He has pub
lished likewise the Portrait of Charity, the Life of St. John,
and other works. Of somewhat later appointment, namely
1 Poemata. Eleg. iv. he gained both Greek Iambics and
2 He gained Latin and Greek Latin Hexameters, Charles Words-
Verse Prizes in 1823 and 1824. worth carrying off the Latin Lyrics.
3 Francis Trench gained the He was also twice chosen to play
Governor's Prize for Latin Lyrics the annual cricket match against
in 1823, Herman Merivale taking Eton at Lords.
that for Greek Iambics. In 1824

178 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
in 1840, was the Rev. John Field, of Magdalene Hall,
Oxford, Chaplain of the County Gaol, author of Prison
Discipline and a good Life of Howard}
With Mr. Yates, who allowed him by courtesy a district
out of his parish, Mr. Phelps's relations were ever those
of mutual amity and respect; for both men, while they
differed considerably in their religious views, were frank,
kindly, and sincere in disposition. With the other clergy
however the Incumbent of Trinity more entirely har
monised, frequently exchanging pulpits and generally
speaking with them on the same platforms. But more
especially, drawn perhaps by old Oxford associations and
their former ministerial brotherhood at St. Lawrence's,
were Mr. Phelps and Mr. Ball associated, concerting as
far as possible their plans together, as for instance em
ploying a Scripture Reader among their poor in common.
There were in his day at Reading two clerical meetings,
a larger one monthly, and a smaller and more private one
every week. The former gathering discussed subjects
bearing on the principles and duties of the Christian
ministry, with reference more immediately to current
questions, but always from a scriptural point of view.
The session occupied three hours of an afternoon, and as
country members were included there followed a five
o'clock dinner and an early ' separation.8 From the rural
livings there came Mr. R. B. Fisher of Basildon, Mr. C. R.
Holloway of Stanford Dingley, Mr. J. F. Howard of Yat-
tenden, and Mr. Gabriel Valpy of Bucklebury. Curates had
the privilege of these meetings without any of their cares ;
and if one such might indulge his reminiscences he could
recall many a pleasant assemblage, with or without a
1 Another Beading clergyman of declined it, taking the small living
those times, but who retired on Mr. of Ashampstead near Beading, where
Phelps's arrival, was the Bev. John he died beloved and respected, No-
Holding, curate of Trinity at Mr. vember 13th, 1870.
Hulme's death and for many years 2 These meetings, after a suspen-
previously. This exceBent man, » sion of a few years, were renewed
warm friend of Mr. Phelps, had the on May 25th, 1846.
first offer of the Incumbency, but

chap, viii.] Clerical meetings. 179
rural drive connected with it, where the general unison
of sentiment, the friendly spirit that reigned, the thorough
practicalness of the subjects, often too eliciting a con
siderable amount of scriptural illustration, all combined to
freshen and profit the mind. Such gatherings among the
clergy do them good, promoting regular and frequent inter
course for the commerce of thought, the cultivation of
friendship, and fellowship in sacred studies and prayer.
An old journal of the meetings enables us to give specimens
of the subjects entertained from time to time. Thus — -
"Faithfulness and honesty in the clergy of the Church of
England shewn in maintaining exclusively the peculiarities of
their Church." July 8th, 1846.
This proposition, suggestive of the strongest conservatism,
was followed by one of a liberal complexion —
" The nature of Christian union, and the line of conduct we
ought to pursue towards those who separate from our communion.
John xvii. 11-21."
Others shew the brethren honestly seeking together their
own improvement in efficiency, for their people's sake : —
" What are the essential qualifications of an able minister of
the New Testament ; and what are the best means of acquiring
and cultivating them? 2 Cor. iii. 4-6."
" The ¦ peculiar dangers of ministers and the best means of
opposing them."
In 1847 and 1848 we find these two consecutively —
" Are there any particulars in the system advocated by the
movement party in the church (especially in practical matters)
which deserve the favourable consideration of consistent church
men, as not having in fact any Romish tendency but as really
calculated to promote edification ? "
"What are the more important points on which there is a
difference of opinion among real Christians, and how may the
difference be accounted for1? Is it desirable that it should

180 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
remain? And if so, to what extent? What are the best means
for its removal, as far as the attempt to remove it is our duty ? "
These subjects shew a spirit of candour in a day of no
Uttle controversial excitement. The furore of the Papal
aggression in 1850 finds the brethren, by these records,
well-balanced and watchful. The last entry is on "The
ministry of angels" at Mr. Holloway's, June 8th, 1852.
Such societies in various parts of the country have confes
sedly been amongst the most useful means of promoting the
revival of spiritual life in the Church of England in recent
times, and some of them have had a local history of no
mean worth ; others even more than a local history, as the
Elland, the Creaton, and the Eclectic, all associated with
honoured names. Annals like theirs the Reading Clerical
Society could not boast ; but it was by no means without
its valuable results. Mr. Phelps however, although in
cordial unison with his brethren in this as well as other
means of usefulness, was unable to participate with them
at that time ; for from the frequent indisposition of Mrs.
Phelps he could not take that share in large receptions
which his position would have required, and which he
could well do a few years previously when " seventy sat
down " was recorded as an event not out of the way.
With the smaller and more frequent meeting it was other
wise; but of this no reminiscent curate can give his
impressions, the reason being that the juniors were not
privileged with the entre\ On the first working morning
of the week the responsible seniors of the town took their
own counsel ; and in that conclave, in brief after-breakfast
'fashion, the questions of the moment were settled (as in the
pleasanter synod the questions of the times were discussed,
if not settled) by those who had the care of the churches,
who thus strengthened each others hands and ran their
race together. They determined on meetings to be held,
special sermons to be preached, societies to be assisted,
petitions or addresses to .be adopted, and such like matters

chap, viii.] The preaching at Trinity. 181
requiring prompt decision. Mr. Phelps was always found
of this number, and has recorded the day when the
measure commenced, December 6th, 1847. The meetings
were held at the different houses in rotation, each member
taking a month. We find such topics as Dr. Hampden's
appointment, the Gorham case, the Great Exhibition, the
Papal Aggression : consultations on benefit clubs, soup
kitchens, Scripture Readers, courses of sermons, parochial
associations, spiritual instruction of railway navvies,1 distress
in Ireland, the cholera, bills in Parliament affecting the
church or public morals, matters of ecclesiastical contro
versy, and such like. Thus it was that by mutual consul
tation and co-operation the interest in old religious societies
and their public meetings were sustained, and the occasional
advocacy of new ones efficiently introduced. Unless fre
quent and stated interviews take place, busy men like
town clergymen can concert no common action and the
result is too often apparent in many ways.
Viewing the Incumbent of Trinity in his more individual
ministry, we may say that in the pulpit he was seldom
listened to by his attached people without interest. With
a deep bass voice and a manner usually staid, but by no
means devoid of animation and sometimes betraying an
undercurrent of most earnest feeling, he placed before his
congregation subjects of which he had made experimental
acquaintance, well thought out, lucidly arranged, and im
pressively delivered, occasionally using a full manuscript;
but more generally notes, and these sometimes of the
smallest dimensions.3 The examination of his sermon
register shews that Mr. Phelps's texts selected from the
Old Testament and from the New were in the proportion
of about four to five. The Psalms occur oftenest of any
one book of the Old Testament, and the next oftenest

i While the Beigate and Newbury and the sick at their lodgings, be-
lines were forming, the Beader sides holding an adult evening
whom they established visited the school.
men at their work, at proper times, * Occasionally laid aside entirely.

182 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Isaiah. In the New the most frequently occurring books
are St. Luke, St. John, Romans. His addresses were calcu
lated to rivet the stated hearer, teach the willing, and per
suade the backward. His special forte perhaps was to lead
the Christian disciple onward and higher, and to draw the
afflicted to the true source of consolation. When the care
less and the indifferent were in his eye, no one could warm
with a truer fire, and the more effectively because with
perfect self-control. His notes of extempore sermons shew
most careful study and preparation, as well as extreme
neatness in arrangement and form. We are not surprised
therefore at his having been so struck with the following
passage from the Life of Mr. Thomason bearing on the
practice of extempore preaching as to have placed it at
the commencement of one of his diaries, with an evident
anxiety never to lose sight of the limits which it contains—
" Many things were said without thought — without knowledge
— without experience — without proof — without judgment."
When preaching in his most effective vein (for there is
none but at times is " impar sibi ") his sermons told forcibly
on the conscience. He could direct the warning voice
against special vices — a duty not to be overlooked and yet
by no means easy to execute wisely — with equal tact and
pungency, and discover the guilty to themselves without
the possibility of escape. Occasionally he would single out
special classes in a special way, as for instance when all the
youth of the congregation would find themselves arrested
by the words — " Now, children, I am going to speak to
you." And these would be sure at some time or other to
hear his grave rebuke of that far too common but prepos
terous fault of lads of a certain age using the parental name
with slang equivalents, not to speak of the more serious
departures from the letter and spirit of the great " com
mandment with promise."
We have been assured that Mr. Phelps's mode of con
ducting the entire service is remembered for the evident

chap, viii.] The services at Trinity. 183
sign it evinced that he did not regard it as holding a place
second to the sermon. His whole character was essentially
that of a man of peace and order. It has been remarked
that his very reading of the service while fostering a
devotional spirit by its earnestness, was also soothing to
the feelings, while a tone of sobriety and reverent devotion
characterised the psalmody under his direction. One
stranger, we have been told, was so struck with this,
while on a visit to Reading, as to remark — " Oh that I
might have the happiness of attending this little church
if I should leave London and my lot should be cast in
Reading," — a wish subsequently gratified. One of his old
Sonning congregation too, whose appreciation of his minis
try has already been recorded in these pages, used to drive
in regularly to his Wednesday morning service. And thus
we see how, as the fruits of all his godly pains, Trinity
Church was most truly a house where God was known, and
many of those whose habitation lay around it found within
its walls, both in the sacred hours of the Sabbath and in
the busy week, a home for the soul.
On the platform he was an effective speaker and his
rising was always expected and welcomed. All he said
appealed to the highest principles and was urged with
seriousness and feeling, but with a vein of playfulness en
livening his speech sometimes, and ever in good taste.
Among the great Societies to which he was most deeply
attached, and at the anniversaries of which he was sure
to be seen, were the Bible Society, the Church Missionary,
the Jews,i and the Church Pastoral Aid. The first two
(the fourth being of later origin) he associated himself
with in his Oxford days, and he never lost his affection for
them. He joined the British and Foreign Bible Society not
without having first carefully weighed the step, for he was
not altogether then free from scruples. Speaking of this
1 The earliest date we have ob- curate of Hindon. The Church
seved of his supporting the Jews' Pastoral Aid Soeiety was not found-
Society was 1824 when he was ed until 1836.

184 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
forty years after he said, at one of the Reading meetings,
" I found in the opportunity it afforded me of joining with
many of different rehgious convictions from my own — not
merely in the same work but also in agency and operation
— a source of gratification, to call it by no higher name,
that I had hardly expected on this side of heaven. If I
had ever found myself required to compromise my attach
ment to the Church of England or my position as one of
her ministers, that enjoyment I should at once have fore
gone. But if I had abstained from co-operating in the
circulation of the Word of God till all with whom I was
united interpreted in one way I never could have belonged
to any Bible Society. With regard to that elder Society in
connexion with my own Church, the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, to which I have been for many years
a subscriber, however efficient, I could not consider it ade
quate to the supply of Bibles to all the world, and I might
yet have rejoiced to join also some one whose object was
to spread the Bible abroad without note or comment. But
seeing in an agency such as the British and Foreign Bible
Society effects beyond precedent or even calculation, and
the history of whose benefits have been the history of
vigour and prosperity of all other societies, I should con
sider it a derehction of duty and a most unnecessary sur
render of Christian privilege and enjoyment not to belong
to it." He occasionally advocated some of the societies
above mentioned in other places.
In Mr. Phelps's pastoral ministry we should think that
one of the most marked features was the strong personal
attachment which he inspired among those who knew him
long enough. His qualities for friendship so perceptible in
his youth and early manhood had survived his experience
of mankind and were still fresh in his fifties. Instances
not a few were there of deep-seated affection towards him
among his own equals in years and of his own sex, quite
beyond the ordinary regard and esteem which a friendly
clergyman always meets in an English congregation, and

chap, viii.] The pastorate at Trinity. 185
certainly distinct from that semi-idolatrous deference of
weak homagers sometimes found, without much influence
for good, among a popular man's subjects. And most
thoroughly did he reciprocate this attachment, as we see
frequently in his journal by some feeling or affectionate
epithet accompanying the name of a parishioner men
tioned in the course of official duty, as
" 1847, April 21st, dear H  • died."
'" 1852, November 12th, dear H  ¦ died."
" 1853, November 26th, sent for to dear L-

" 1855, July 4th, saw poor Howard. Happy Howard ! July
5th, Howard died last night."1
It is not often that a congregation long accustomed to
a pastor of Mr. Hulme's stamp finds a successor whose
ministry they confess able to carry them on without loss in
instruction, in influence, in example, in spirit and tone. In
this respect Trinity Church was peculiarly happy, and Mr.
Hulme was found by such men as Mr. William Stephens,
Mr. Hoggard, Mr. Light, and others like them, to have made
no mistake in the successor he had provided for their
blessing ; and these pious men continued from first to last
the veneration they had been accustomed to feel for their
first honoured father in Christ.2 Many were the written
communications Mr. Phelps received from the higher and
from the humbler classes of his congregation, couched
in grateful and heartfelt terms and sometimes accompanied
with trifling tokens simply for remembrance sake, ex
pressive of the benefits received within the walls of Trinity
Church, or in the sick chamber, or in the home of affliction.
Some instances of all this could be detailed if it were
1 The Bev. Frederick Howard, an capacity Mr. Phelps preached the
invalid clergyman residing in the Assize Sermons on March 1st, at
Trinity district. St. Lawrence, and at Abingdon, on
2 The new Incumbent of Trinity, July 9th. His texts were 1 Sam.
not long after his appointment, was II. %h, and L Tim. I. 5.. Mr.
(in 1846) invited to officiate as chap- Stephens died April 20th, 1856, and
lain to one of his congregation, Mr. Mrs. Stephens on the 23rd. On the
Stephens, who was in that year 29th they were both buried at
High Sheriff of Berkshire. In this the Beading Cemetery.

186 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
not indelicate to point to individuals and mention names.
From a privately printed statement in the year 1869, we
find a striking occurrence that happened fifteen years before
in the course of his ministry. At the special request of a
husband, who with a numerous and youthful family was
menaced from hour to hour with a terrible bereavement, he
came and joined their long and earnest supplication, and
the result, gratefully recorded as already stated, was ever
afterwards remembered in that house as an instance of God's
goodness in answering prayer.
It occasionally falls to the lot of a Christian minister, in
the exercise of his duty, to become the depositary of con
fidential communications requiring very sound judgment
and delicacy in dealing with them, so that he should use
the opportunity thus placed within his reach for good, and
only good, to his fellow creature so sorely needing a guide
and helper. Two occasions of such a special nature oc
curred to Mr. Phelps at Reading. In one case he had the
happiness of seeing a sufferer during a long and fatal illness
give every possible token of his humble and penitent
resort as the chief of sinners to the Saviour ere he died.
In the other, an unhappy person lost to his friends, flying
from himself and proceeding fast towards self-destruction,
found, as there is reason to believe, the path of reconciliation
with God, peace within, and forgiveness from those whose
resentment he had justly incurred, and never did he cease
to express his gratitude towards the pastor who had been
made the instrument of so much mercy to his dark and
cloudy path. In each of these cases Mr. Phelps's known
wisdom and Christian spirit caused him (though personally
a stranger) to be applied to for his services, the trying
nature of which was compensated by their gratifying success.
Plans of parochial usefulness are in these days too familiar
to all who take any interest in them to render any very
great detail of the Trinity pastorate necessary. Mr. Phelps
was not behind hand with the foremost in promoting
agencies for reaching the various classes of his flock. In

CHAP. VIII.]

Education at Trinity.

187

all he did he was extremely business-like and methodical,
and it would be scarcely too much to say that there still
exist minutes of every duty in which he engaged, and we
could trace his course through every week of his ministry
from these records. Some of the plans he inherited from
his predecessor, and others he originated himself. The
district allotted to Trinity Church comprised some four
hundred and sixty houses inhabited by about two thousand
souls. It was suburban in its character, but not entirely
so, and it had its due proportion of poor.1
Mr. Phelps had not been long in his new appointment
ere the fabric of the church was found to require extensive
reparation. On July 16th, 1845, alterations commenced,
and on October 5th it was re-opened with sermons by Mr.
Yates and himself.2 The aspect of the edifice was much
improved, the new features being a high pitched roof with
bell-gable and entrance arcade. His next improvement
was in the education of the young. Herein Mr. Hulme
had led the way, by opening in 1827 Sunday schools for
girls and boys, who were taught respectively in the vestry
and in a commodious room beneath it. The next step
in advance was in or about 1840, when Mr. Hulme erected
a small but very neat schoolroom, which he placed at the
disposal of a superior person, Miss Lennox, who was then
training a body of pupil teachers in a private house within
his district, though it does not appear that his assistance
in the working expenses of this undertaking was furnished
or required. During Mr. Hulme's time the girls of Trinity
district, in common with those of the rest of St. Mary's
parish, assembled on the week-days with those of St.

1 Trinity Church was built in
1826, but not consecrated until
August 20th, 1832. Besides the
schools mentioned presently, Mr.
Hulme founded (1830) a Dorcas and
a Provident institution, the latter
being connected with the Sunday
school. In 1858 Mr. Phelps became
chaplain of St. Mary's poor-house,

where, by the way, the old people
on Christmas day 1861 were regaled
through him with Christmas cheer
for the first time within memory.
2 His text was Isaiah xxxiii . 20, 21 .
The cost was about £1500, which
was raised by subscription among
the congregation and other friends
in Beading.

188 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Lawrence, and were taught in a building in the church
yard of that parish connected with the grammar school
property and in Dr. Valpy's time (when that school over
flowed with scholars) used by one of the under-masters and
his pupil boarders. These united schools were visited by
the various clergy of the parishes which maintained them,
and were apparently not under any one responsible
guidance in rehgious teaching, an arrangement from which
Mr. Phelps, soon after his appointment to Trinity, found it
advisable to withdraw. In the early part of 1846 he
removed his girls from the St. Lawrence schools and
established them in the room built by Mr. Hulme, which
was thenceforth appropriated to their use. Earlier in that
same year, on February 23rd, he opened a boys' day-school,
in the room under the vestry in which their Sunday school
was held, and where they continued till recently. In
1851 Mr. Phelps commenced an infant school, which he con
trived to locate under the same roof with the girls' school ;
but he saw at once how needful it was to extend the ac
commodation for this advancing cause, and accordingly on
August 27th, 1851, he commenced a subscription for a new
girls' school, and on October 20, 1852 had the gratification
of opening a spacious and handsome edifice, with a most
convenient residence for a mistress annexed, leaving the
infants in possession of Mr. Hulme's building.1
In 1854 he completed a private residence for himself.2
It was in a parsonage style of architecture with a large
garden and shrubbery, and was called, while he occupied it,
Trinity Parsonage. Standing on ground contiguous to the
1 The first advertised list of sub- more, the much respected clerk of
scribers, August 30th, 1851, was Trinity Church, who for many years
headed by £100 from Mr. William gave his services as collector to the
Stephens, who also left a legacy of schools and otherwise promoted
£200 to the Sunday schools. The their interests, bequeathed them
expenditure was above £1100. Mr. £2<). He died June 24th, 1861.
Phelps made himself responsible for a He first resided at 18, Sydney
this sum, but it was not till August Terrace, from whence he removed,
8th, 1855, that his journal records March 26th, 1849, to 15, Bussell
— "reached this fuB amount of Street, and from thence, March 9th,
school building fund." Mr. Dis- 1854, to Trinity Parsonage.

chap, vni.] Building. 189
church, which would have been intruded upon in an
objectionable way had he not been the purchaser, it was a
great benefit. He secured a similar advantage by be
coming the proprietor of other adjoining ground, on which
he erected two good houses named by him Hulme Villas.
Thus was filled up the whole vacant space, securing a re
spectability of precinct for ah future time. Church, schools,
dwellings, formed indeed a group harmonious in style, and
one no less creditable to his taste than beneficial to the
principal edifice, while it was welcomed by the public as
an improvement of a suburb of Reading where an impor
tant road, leading from Oxford, entered the town, not to
speak of the increased efficiency which it contributed to
the pastor's ministry. Thus did Mr. Hulme's foundation
expand itself in the hands of him whom he so truly
judged worthy of being his successor.
Before passing on we will here notice that the erection of
Hulme Villas involved Mr. Phelps in a trial which threatened
at one time to become even disastrous to him," but which at
an almost hopeless juncture was happily and providentially
removed. If it could be narrated in full detail it would
read like a chapter in any sensational novel ; but we can
do no more than indicate the circumstances generally.
Abundant evidence exists in his papers that his sole object
in erecting those houses was to protect the church from
being surrounded with unsuitable buildings, and not to
enrich himself or to indulge any mere architectural 'propensi
ties. In digging for the foundations it was discovered that
the ground was nothing but unsubstantial rubbish filling
up an old cavity, which necessitated the builders going
very deep down to reach the native soil, of course at a
great and unlooked-for expense.1 The consequence was
that charges in addition to the original contract were incur-

i Having anxiously waited day 25th, 1852, " Dismore announced
after day for weeks while the the chalk beneath the tan," and
workmen were getting through the then appropriately added — " Creta
rubbish, he at length records, May notand, "

190 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
red, and then came other difficulties, which it is unnecessary
to specify, and finally a lawsuit. Thus it was that Mr.
Phelps in course of time found himself entangled in a laby
rinth from which there seemed no outlet that would not leave
him cruelly crippled in resources, owing to the apparent
impossibility of completing one special link of information
necessary to establish his case. When the prospect seemed
of a hopeless nature light came, and he httle expected this
to arrive out of the cloud of the Crimean War, which was
at that time proceeding. But so it was. On the heights
before Sebastopol, and in the din of war, singular to relate,
a clue was gained, and the making proper and successful
use of it carries on the romance in a manner quite in
keeping with the extraordinary circumstances under which
it was obtained. We can only say that by prompt and
skilful measures that could emanate only from a lawyer's
office the whole plot was most neatly unravelled; and
although much money had been sunk past recall, Mr.
Phelps was happily relieved of a burden that was heavy
enough well nigh to crush him to the earth. He could not
do otherwise than bless the hand of a kind Providence that
had thus interposed so remarkably in his behalf, nor could
he entertain any ordinary feelings towards the instrument
made use of in such a happy relief. A striking passage in
Holy Writ affords more than a hint that God allows His
faithful servants in the ministry to learn, not only in the
letter of the Word but in the terrible school of personal
trial, the true secrets of that consolation which they are
commissioned to take to the broken hearted. Certain it is
that throughout those five anxious years some of his congre
gation who were acquainted with the circumstances, as they
listened to many of his sermons that proved so healing to
others, never failed to apply to him the passage just re
ferred to, 2 Cor. i. 3-6. Prefixed to his diaries of 1854 and
1855, in the middle of that trouble, we find this couplet : —
" Though thy way be through the sea,
Israel ! what is that to thee ? "

CHAP, viii.] Schools and confirmation. 191
With a happy talent for parochial administration, and
diffusing through the usual machinery his own spirit, order,
and method, the poor and the sick were well visited and
cared for by an efficient staff of district visitors, supported
by the societies above mentioned, to which he also added
tract distribution and a valuable lending library. As it
might have been expected, Mr. Phelps took particular inte
rest in his schools, both week-day and Sunday ; and now
and then among the Scripture lessons which he drew out
for them appears a simple hymn composed for his humble
pupils. The teachers, in whom likewise he took a parental
interest, for their own sake as well as their scholars', were
occasionally surprised by some new exercise of his talent
for the common cause, of which The Teacher's Portrait
affords an instance. It was limned thus. The male teach
ers, at one of their meetings, were requested each to name
some one qualification for their office, and the pastor's
ingenuity afterwards grouped and versified their several
rephes. Thus, one who had suggested " To learn something
worth knowing every day," found his contribution rendered
" And something daily fetch from learning's store. "
One of his teachers, connected with him in this rela
tion for several years, became afterwards his assistant in
the sacred ministry in the north.
Among his manuscripts we find his plans and courses of
instruction for the important and beneficial rite of confirma
tion carefully drawn out, and accompanied with memoranda
of useful hints. There occur also some Wonston tracts,
which he used on these occasions, interleaved and annotated.
These youthful members of his flock were never dismissed
from his instructions without an individual and private
interview, and some have gratefully remembered through
many after years the kind and solemn counsels then
received. Who can wonder ? Manhood recurs to its best
friend, who had proved himself such by using his blessed
opportunity at that critical period of life.

192 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
For building up his communicants in the knowledge
and practice of the Christian faith he held monthly meetings
on the Fridays preceding the celebration of the sacrament.1
At one of these he is recollected to have urged upon his
httle band in terms of unusual warmth the duty of their
becoming active instruments of blessing in their separate
spheres, that the Table of the Lord might more —
1 ' honoured be
And furnished weB with joyful guests."
He pressed the matter home to them in nearly the following
terms — " I do entreat every one of you, if you have any
estimable friends who neglect the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, that you will make a point of requesting them to
read with serious attention the Second Exhortation in the
Communion Service of the Prayer Book. Ask them to do
so, if only as a favour to yourselves, and let them be appealed
to to say if they can with any consistency refuse longer
to become partakers in the benefits that are promised to all
who with hearty repentance, true faith, and charity, come
frequently to this holy ordinance."
For creating and keeping alive an interest in the im
portant duty which ought to be dear to the hearts of all
ministers and congregations in a Christian country, the
(liffusion of the Gospel at home and abroad, he held another
meeting on the first Monday of every month, when the
periodicals had been freshly received and he was able to
read from them the newest intelligence from the various
missions both in the cities of Great Britain, in Ireland,
the colonies, and pagan lands. These readings he would
freely illustrate from other sources furnished by his own
researches, and his instructive running comments added to
the interest. Both meetings were highly prized by those
of his people whose engagements would allow of their
i In 1848 the average number of vals. In 1851 these numbers had
communicants was 88 on ordinary increased to 97 and 1 18 respectively.
occasions, and 100 on the chief festi-

chap, viii.] The Missionary cause. 193
attending and whose Christian earnestness prompted them
to do so. And this was a growing number, which after
filling the spacious vestry had in time to adjourn to the
large school-room. Thus it was, that by his keeping up their
information at short and frequent intervals and sustaining
their interest in the progress of the Christian cause, the
Trinity congregation always contributed no small quota
to the anniversary meetings at the Town-hall, and, with^.
their minister's warm advocacy, did their fall share in
maintaining the heartiness which those gatherings are re
membered to have so generally manifested. Among the
annual preachers for the chief societies at Trinity we find
occurring names that will be recalled to mind with affec
tionate interest by all who love to hear great and honoured
causes effectually advocated, among whom may be mentioned
Edward Tottenham, T. Grimshaw, W. Bruce, W. R. Free-
mantle, J. B. Clifford, E. Auriol, R. Bickersteth, C. Clayton.
The congregational collections varied considerably, as every
now and then there were special local calls,1 but they may
be certainly considered liberal when compared with either
the capacity of the church or the stated income which it
furnished to the minister.
Another means of usefulness in which the pastor of
Trinity took great interest was a New Year's Eve meeting,
held in the school-room. Other clerical friends usually
assisted, both in the prayers and the addresses, the latter
being always of an extremely useful character, both for
arousing and encouraging, in reference to the coming year.
These meetings were very largely attended, and many from
other parts of the town were glad of such an opportunity
of spending that evening.
i We may set down the figures full church. The seat-holders be-
for a few consecutive years, com- sides the occupants of the free-sit
mencing with 1846 : £224, £386, tings, were under 400 There wa<
£183, £312, £202, £274, £244, £189, an annual endowment of onlv £3
£257. We may here mention that The minister's income from the
the average congregations were be- church averaged £250.
tween 500 and 600, which made a
O

194 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Mr. Phelps was assisted, after having laboured single
handed for the first twenty months, by a curate, and this
not for his own ease or absentation, but that the district
might be worked by two diligent pastors, and every thing be
thus efficiently conducted.1 We must remember therefore
that the income of this church, amounting to what we have
stated it, was divided (not equally indeed, but liberally as
regards the junior) between two ministers ; which we here
mention, not because such a scale of remuneration is a rare
thing amongst the clergy of the Church of England, but to
afford an instance, one instance out of many, of educated
gentlemen gladly leaning upon their own private resources
that they may more effectually serve Christ in this high
employment. We are now and then invidiously told how
many persons there are who enter the ministry of the
Church of England chiefly for the sake of the emoluments.
We should like to know also how much of the emolu
ments of that ministry comes from the private purses of
those who are glad thus to devote themselves and their
substance. In such works as these Mr. Phelps rejoiced and would
gladly have spent all his time and thought. This was
truly his congenial employment. But at the same time
he did not shrink from the duty that a controversial
period like ours lays upon aU pastors who aim at keeping
their flocks from the contamination of false principles and
wrong doctrine. He felt his responsibility in guarding all
who would take heed to him against the special delusions
of the day. He was thoroughly satisfied with the teaching
and principles of his church and the truths of the Pro
testant Reformation, and he would say with his earnest
measured emphasis, " In my attachment to the Book of
Common Prayer, I am second to none." He was more than
i Mr. Phelps's first curate, com- sermon on Sunday July 2nd, 1854,
mencing Christmas, 1846, was the and after a short interval was suc-
Bev. Frederick Young, of Queen's ceeded by the Bev. Hubert Hunter
CoBege, Oxford, and a native of Phelps, who was curate for seven
Beading. He preached his farewell years,

chap, viii.] Controversy. 195
satisfied; he prized his church and her teaching as the
most precious heritage bestowed by God upon this country
next to the Holy Scripture, which they so closely follow.
He never shrank therefore from open avowal of his own
principles, nor from combating such as appeared to him
to threaten the foundations of the faith, whenever there
occurred an occasion that fairly warranted a word from
him and required it of his conscience. And when he had
anything to say or write on such a topic he would utter
himself in no uncertain manner, but in the most forcible
and unequivocal language, yet at the same time never
with intemperance or in an unchristian spirit. For no man
felt more than he that a disputatious temper is the most
fatal one possible to all spirituality of the soul, and that the
love of controversy for its own sake argues a very meagre
attainment in the Christian life. Often and often would
he quote the text — " The wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God." Most cordially would he have as
sented to the language of a recent writer on this subject —
" Many a zealous controversialist on the right side and on
the wrong may be shut out of God's kingdom at last . . .
He who lives in the atmosphere of continual prayer, like
Stephen of old, will best know how to speak forth God's
truth with a wisdom and power that the adversary cannot
gainsay or resist."1
The statements therefore that did issue from his lips or
his pen, when occasions demanded them, were such as
characterised a man who deeply felt the need of making
them and the responsibility which his silence would have
incurred. For instance he did not hesitate to warn the
young men of the Reading Church of England Christian
Association —
" Beware of the covert design of that professed admiration for
antiquity which would first have us idolize the Prayer Book and

1 The Bev. George Bverard,
02

196 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
then throw it to the moles and to the bats ; bring us back to the
first Protestants in order to unprotestantise us ; laud the middle
ages with no other object than to disparage our present advan
tages ; and bestow all praise upon the times nearest to those of
the Apostles, in order that the doctrines taught by the Apostles
may be stolen away from our ears and shut out from the pulpits
of our land."
We may read his thoughts further in similar trenchant
terms in a draft tract found among his manuscripts, entitled
" Words of Warning on the Confessional addressed to plain
Churchmen." It is headed with his favourite Virgihan
line State viri, and preceded by an extract from a published
letter of the Bishop of Oxford dated July 31st, 1858,
strongly condemning auricular confession. As the piece
has not been pubhshed, that we are aware of, we may be
excused for giving an extract or two which are still as
applicable as they were then —
" When we see ministers and people in the communion of the
Church of England stepping aside from the customs and usages
in religious worship that have been generally adopted from the
time of the Reformation, we have a right to ask why they do so,
who they are, and whither they are leading us. If they think it
wisest to restore what the Reformers were glad to get rid of, we
have a right to enquire — are they wiser then they 1 If, professing
their loyal attachment and dutiful submission to the Church of
England, they adopt a course not progressively improving upon,
but diametrically opposed to, the course of those who have hitherto
been considered her faithful and dutiful sons, we have a right
to ask — are they walking by the same rule ? Do they mind the
same things ? If, professing themselves ministers and members
of a Protestant Church, we see all their footprints leading towards
Popery, not one in a contrary direction ; and if we find these
very persons in large numbers, after having for a little while thus
tampered with Popery actually joining it, we have a right to ask
 Is this Protestantism or Popery ? While the voices of these
persons are in England, are their hearts in England or at Rome f

chap, viii.] Controversy. 197
And again —
" That the Prayer Book, honestly understood and faithfully
interpreted, gives the least sanction to auricular confession we
altogether deny. But before we assign the reason for such denial
by reference to those few passages they allege as in their favour,
we take the liberty to ask what views those persons must have
of the faithfulness and honesty of the Church of England which
can be so silent on the subject. All have sinned. All have
mortal sins to confess and deplore. All need forgiveness and a
conscience cleansed from dead works to serve the living God. A
beautiful, consistent, complete, and efficacious system for the at
tainment of these ends is, by the shewing of these men, provided
in the system of private confession and absolution ; and yet no re
cognition of this occurs in the daily services of the Church ;• none
of her Thirty-nine Articles allude to it ; and not only is no form
provided or directions given for decent and orderly conducting a
service confessedly of much delicacy, but in one of her Homilies she
expressly denies and repudiates auricular confession altogether."2
Referring to the well-known passage in the Communion
Service which advises any one who cannot quiet his own
conscience to go to his minister, Mr. Phelps urges —
" The advocates of auricular confession must indeed be hard
driven for an argument in its support if they rely on this ex
pression. The absolution that comes with its healing benefits and
in the assurance of faith into a soul striken with godly sorrow,
" by the ministry of God's holy word " or the preaching of the
1 This argument is weU illustrated auricular confession into the Church
by a passage in a, pamphlet of a of England! A Second Letter on
clergyman of some position, when the present position of the High
on the point of seceding to Bome Church party in the Church of
because he was convinced that the England. By the Bev. W. MaskeB,
Church of England was not true to 1850.
what he held "Catholic" doctrine. 2 The Second Part of the Sermon
Amongst other charges he brings of Repentance. " It is most evident
against her is one that in the daily and plain that this auricular con-
"Exhortation" she declares that we fession hath not his warrant of
ought to acknowledge our sins be- God's Word." "What need we
fore God " most chiefly " when we then to teB forth our sins into the
assemble and meet together. How ear of the priest, sith that they be
can we, he asks, after this answer already taken away,"
those who resist the introduction of

198 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Gospel, is true absolution, holy, spiritual, comfortable, inestimable.
And blessed be God, it is the inalienable birthright of every new
born soul, whether communicated by a priest after an act of con
fession, public or private, or conveyed into the soul by the Holy
Spirit as the Spirit of adoption and assurance through any other
vehicle or channel of grace. Content with so high and glorious
a privilege, let us, my fellow Churchmen, reject with righteous
indignation the base substitute that is offered us in its stead. Let
us repudiate the pretensions of those would-be father confessors,
and dispense with the peace and repose and comfort so vauntingly
promised as flowing from an institution foreign alike to the spirit
and language of our own Church and of Holy Scripture."
The following letter addressed to • a friend, and without
date, will shew a case forcibly put, and not the less so
because couched in the calmest and most courteous language.
Believe me, I do not suspect you of any disposition or tendency
(beyond what is engrained in our very nature as fallen sinners)
to substitute form for power in religion. Nor will you, I am con
vinced, suspect me of being insensible to the personal merit or
right intentions of the Tractarians (as they are called), or disin
clined to learn any scriptural lesson whatever from them, or to
avail myself of their assistance in girding up the loins of my
churchmanship, which I am free to confess may have required
bracing. But I feel a daily increasing distrust of them as spiritual
guides, because I feel convinced that the educated cannot have the
system without the mysticism. And the unlearned will be sure to
have the veil instead of the transparent medium. In either case I
apprehend that the glory of Christ will (most unintentionally) be
obscured by that with which his spouse the Church is unduly
invested, and that the zeal for magnifying the sacraments is at
the expense of other divinely appointed channels of converting and
sanctifying grace. And I cannot but apprehend that in the long
run, and in an extensive application of the system, it will cease to
be a distinctive attribute of the Gospel that to the poor it is
preached ; and the preaching of the cross will come to be looked
upon again as foolishness rather than as the power of God.
With such views you will hardly wonder at my expressing

chap, viii.] Controversy. 199
myself somewhat strongly, as it would appear that I did, in our
very short interview. If I expressed myself with too much
decision, I regret it, and am sure that such language would in me
be very presumptuous and unbecoming.
The disposition to improve and decently adorn our church
edifices is entirely in accordance with my own taste and feelings.
1 would annihilate, if I could, every thing that was not substantial,
good of its kind, and in keeping with a Temple of God, considered
as a house of prayer as well as a synagogue of exposition. All
high pews and easy corners meet for sermon critics I abominate.
And any amount of costly (but suitable) ornament that speaks for
itself the devout intent of him or them who put it there I could
admit and love, — provided always that these things extend not to
mystical emblems as sine quibus non. What you say of pealing
anthems, long-drawn .aisles, &c, I confess I look on with suspicion
as an argument : as 1 think it would be hard to prove that in
countries and places where they most abound the enlightened and
spiritual religion of the worshippers was at all in proportion to
that abundance.1 My own belief is that it would prove to be
in an inverse ratio ; and that the poetry of religion would be
found to evaporate upon familiarity, and in proportion as we
builded upon it, would give us again the veil for the medium. As
to externals and non-essentials, your reference to the Thirty-fourth
Article " fairly made me trimmel," as my cook said just now at
the thunder-storm, hardly knowing whether you meant to shew
me up for " open rebuke," till I came to recollect that a contuma
cious deviation from traditional usages which in your own private
judgment were an infirmity rather than an embellishment of the
Church was one thing, and a reluctance to re-establish confessedly
non-essentials that happen (happily, it may be) to have fallen into
disuse was quite another. I agree with you that it was the glory
of the English Reformation that it did not destroy for destruction's
sake what might safely be retained. At the same time I cannot
look over the names of those who thought that in some few par
ticulars the Reformation did not go far enough, without feeling
great respect for their scruples : especially when I bear in mind
1 Some of our readers will remem- phlet, ere he returned to the Church
ber a striking confirmation of this of England, attracted so much atten-
furnished by Mr. Ffoulkes, a recent tion in both churches.
convert to Bome, whose able pam-

200 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
the temptation from early associations and from the influence of
Popish connections then living, to an undue tenacity to certain
non-essentials. Nor do I think it quite certain that that tenacity
ought not to bear its proportion of blame as sowing the seeds of
dissent ; more especially when reference is made to the conduct
of those who, in a foreign land, might feel themselves at liberty to
dispense with non-essential usages in the exercise of a form of
worship which was not national in that their adopted country.
Amidst many engagements and much consciousness of incapacity
for entering on these points, I have stated to you my views on the
subject of your letter. My sentiments may be erroneous, and very
imperfectly expressed. But you will believe that my convictions
are sincere, when I say that I fear the general adoption of the
system we have been discussing would be a powerful instrument
in the hand of our " great adversary '' to exhaust the attention
and neutralize the piety of Christian worshippers, obscure the
doctrines of the Fall and the Atonement, substitute a spirit of
bondage for the peace and hope of the gospel, and eat out the
spirit of prayer by an undue attention to forms and observances.
From his language on this strange and unnatural dispute
within the borders of a Protestant Church, we may feel
sure Mr. Phelps was clear and decided on the no less mo
mentous controversy between ourselves and the Roman
Catholics, and the following brief statement of heads shews
that he had carefully studied, and no less clearly appre
hended, the most striking points at issue.
There is not a truth dear to us as Protestants, but it is
mutilated or impaired by Popery.
We differ not merely in circumstantials, but The Question be
tween us is —
1 — Whether the sinner is to go Or to Jesus Christ the Great
to the Priest for absolu- High Priest.
tion and penance ;
2 — Whether we are justified Or by the righteousness which
by superaddition of our is of God by faith.
own good works, alms-
deeds, and sacrifices ;

CHAP. VIII.]

Romanism.

201

Or without money and without
price, the free gift of
God to all believers.

Or the pure, simple, unmutila-
ted Word of God, open
and accessible to all.

Or we are to depart and be with
Christ among the spirits
of the just made perfect
and awaiting a body
raised in power.

3 — Whether salvation is by
masses, penances, austeri
ties, and those perform
ances the Priest knows
how to prescribe ;
4 — Whether the standard of
faith is the Word accom
panied by oral and writ
ten traditions, and ex
plained by the unanimous
consent of the Pathers ;
5 — Whether, even if heirs of
grace, we are subject to
the pains of purgatory —
it may be for ages —
which masses paid for
may mitigate ;
. It is not necessary that we should further dwell upon the
controversial aspect of Mr. Phelps's ministry, the various
merits of which can be fairly understood from the above
specimens, and we now resume the more personal and
miscellaneous correspondence, which will give us several
glimpses of him in his Reading life.
Prom Rev. J. Keble.
Hursley, August lith, 1845.
My dear Phelps,
I ask your pardon very sincerely for not answering your
letter sooner. It is pleasant to hear so good an account of an old
friend, and I do not forget that although, as you say, we have been
on opposite sides of the Theatre1 (which I did not know before
but am not surprised at) we nevertheless sat very lovingly in the
same gig when you were so good as to drive me from Harrow to
Brentford some years ago.2

1 Probably at the Oxford Convo
cation about Mr. Ward, author of
"Ideal of the Christian Church,"
on February 13th in this year. We
have seen no account referring to

this occasion in Mr. Phelps's papers,
his journal for this year being want
ing.
- » March 11th, 1837. See p. 102.

' 202 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
It is very good of you to ask my leave about those Psalms,1 in
such times as these, when good people steal that as is good without
scruple, to do their neighbours good with, and I cannot but reward
so much virtue by saying you are quite at liberty to do as you say.
With kind wishes to your whole self — seven-fold as you now
describe it — I am always, yours very sincerely, J. Keble.
This is the last record we have met with of Mr. Phelps's
intercourse with this old and dear friend.
A short but very affecting passage respecting Mr. Keble
occurs in one of Mr. Cornish's letters2 to Mr. Phelps a few
months later, after inquiring if he ever heard from him : —
" But alas ! such are the changes of life, that when you hear
his name mentioned, perhaps you turn the subject ; so for
fear of accidents I will do the same, and demand what you
have heard of dear old Tucker lately."
Mr. Phelps and Mr. Keble were indeed taking strongly
divergent views on some most important questions, but this
had not altered the sentiments of personal affection in either
of them. It was with deep pain that Mr. Phelps heard,
in March 1867 and soon after Mr. Keble's death, of the
posthumous alteration that had taken place in the Christian
Year and he could scarcely bring himself to credit the fact.
To AN AUNT. Reading, June 18th, 1846.
This is Waterloo day ; a memorable day in my private
history, as well as in the history of the country. My dear boy
Johnny died this day twelve years. That was a bitter day to me
and it is very fresh in my memory still. Had he been living

1 Mr. Keble's metrical version of was one. There were in all thirteen
the Psalms was published in 1839, of Mr. Keble's versions. Mr.
and Mr. Phelps wished to include Hulme was the author of Hymn
some of them for his " Psalms for 40, " He comes, He comes," in
the Congregation " which appeared the Trinity collection.
in 1846. The beautiful Psalm xciii, 2 Dated from Kenwyn, November
" God the Lord a King remaineth," 16th, 1846.

chap, viii.] Memories. 203
among us he would now have been in his 22nd year.1 But
the day is long since past when a wish of mine would have
brought him back again ! I was going to say ' you can't think '
how my heart ached when I heard him trill a Httle hymn in his
delirium the morning of the day on which he died. But you can
think. You have gone through waters of sorrow even deeper than
that ! Must we not however both of us adore the hand unseen
that sustained us then and has brought us hitherto ? Verily the
promise hath not failed — " They shall not overflow thee." Oh
what glory, what joy, what privilege was it to the departed!
What joy to us to have the blessed hope that they fell asleep
in Jesus ! And what cause for adoring gratitude have we that
God has designed to deal with us in wise and gracious chastise
ment, even as a Father dealeth with His own children whom
He loves.
You will be glad to hear that I continue to like my present
sphere of duties. I find myself among many kind and worthy
people who appreciate my endeavours and love the Master whom
I desire to preach and serve. This is no small comfort and I
desire to be thankful. To an aunt. Reading, April 3rd, 1847.
Every evening this week (except yesterday when we had
our usual services in the church) I have held a meeting in our
snug vestry, and given a lecture on the occurrences of each day in
Passion Week, which has been well attended. I wish you could
be amongst us. But as that cannot be, what a blessing is it to
know and to feel that we have not followed a cunningly devised
fable, but that the glorious Object of our faith — a suffering, cruci
fied, buried, risen, ascended Saviour, is the same yesterday and
to-day and for ever. And also blessed is it to be assured that our
interest in Him rests not on such weak, sinful, wretched, and fickle
creatures as ourselves, (who are liable to ten thousand changes of
condition and feelings, and who through the frailty of our nature
i This beloved son's birth day and of verse, one of them accompanvine
burial day, «? they returned every a copy of Mrs. Barbauld's Hvmns
year, touched him like this to the were sent to this child bv Mrs
end of his hie. Some trifling scraps Hannah More. y

204 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
cannot but fall if left to ourselves,) but on the unchanging love of
the Everlasting Father and the finished work of Christ. " Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ?" " Shall tribulation or
distress t " Oh no ! The cloudy day of sorrow (to which man is
born as the sparks fly upwards), and the streaming eye of spiritual
distress, and the growing infirmities of age, may prevent our seeing
the Sun of Righteousness in the glorious firmament of covenant
and unmerited mercy, and may even lead the trembling child of
God to apprehend — as many of His truest servants have done —
that God has forgotten to be gracious, and prompt them to echo
the mournful cry of the Psalmist " Forsake me not when I am
old and grey-headed ! " But oh ! let them say, as David did, " This
is my infirmity : but I will remember the years of the right hand
of the Most High." Oh ! let them discard all such unworthy
considerations. Let them gird up the loins of their minds. Let
them trust and not be afraid, and listen to the voice that says from
Calvary — " It is finished. I gave my life for thee : I have loved
thee with an everlasting love : I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee."
Fbom Rev. John Sanket.
Parsonage, Stoney Stanton, Hinckley, June 19th, 1848.
My dear friend,
It was no ordinary gratification to me to be able to
exchange a very few words with you at St. Bride's Church.
Indeed as soon as I recognised you, I could have said " agnosco
veteris." I had only just before said to my wife " There is one
man who will certainly be here to-night to hear Tucker, oh that I
could see him ! "l I turned my head to look : my eye had not
1 Mr. Tucker preached the Church 1843, on " St. Paul, in his consistent
Missionary Sermon this year on character and circumspect conduct,
Monday evening May 1st, from the an Example to Ministers," 2 Cor.
text 1 Cor. xi. 1. Mr. Phelps had vi. 3, 4.
had the gratification two years Congratulating him in 1863 on
before to hear another returned promotion to the Archdeaconry, Mr.
Indian friend, Bishop Wilson, in Sankey, says :—
the same pulpit and on a similar ' ' I am now old and grey headed
occasion, Monday ,1 May 4th, 1846. and among my recollections more or
Text, Romans xii. 11. less pleasing, none is more grati-
Mr. Sankey published (Hatchards fying or satisfactory than my even-
1843) a Visitation Sermon preached ings with ' Phelps of Corpus.' "
at St. Martin's, Leicester, July 31st,

chap, viii.] Old friends. 205
traversed over many countenances before it rested on a well-
remembered face, which, perhaps, five and twenty years had so
little changed that I recognised it at once. That, of course, was
neither time nor place for lengthened conversation ; I looked in
vain for you at two or three of the meetings. You kindly told me
that you are at Reading, and I adopt this mode of acquainting
you with my habitat ; though I will not add one word to assure
you that should any cause bring you into this neighbourhood, how
truly delighted I should be to. see you under this roof. If I
recollect aright, my previously last interview with you was at
your house, somewhere in the hill-country or downs of Wiltshire,
soon after the birth of your first child. My own ministerial life
has been passed in this one county, and that in only three places,
and I am now, I judge, at my final resting place.
You will, I hope, kindly accept the sermon I send, in proof of
the grateful recollection of hours passed in your room at Corpus ;
ascending to which I have almost stumbled over cases of, I
suppose, organic remains, that blocked up the passage at Dr.
Buckland's door.
Believe me, my dear-friend, Very truly and affectionately yours,
John Sankey.

From a poemee pupil at Haeeow Park.
S  Rectory, November 13th, 1848.
My dear Sir,
You really must allow me to break our long silence and
to make my enquiries after yourself and Mrs. Phelps. I am now
Rector of S  , where I have been these six months ; and on
going over to Harrow, I went through the house where I had
passed so many happy hours under your care, when I determined
to delay no longer, but at the risk of being thought intrusive to
hear how you are.
I am very much pleased with this place ; from having known it
and the people all my life, it is like living at home. .
I hope if ever you can manage it you and Mrs. Phelps will
honour me by a visit. You know what real pleasure it would
afford me to see you again ; for though absent you may be sure I

206 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
never can forget you and your kindness at Harrow. I am delighted
to see the School so prosperous.1 I hope it may long continue so.
From P. Robinson, Esq.
George Inn, Winchester,
Thursday night, October 18th, 1849.
It is not to the mere admonitus locorum that you owe
this letter. Your name has been often present to my thoughts
during the summer, and I have frequently been in act (almost) of
writing. The sight of the " County Museum " and the hammer of
our old friend the Vulcan, neighbour to the "new building," have
however fairly put the pen in the right direction. Of the hun
dreds of schoolfellows few are the names which occur to me.
Those that have kept their places in my memory and regard
through so many lustra ought not now to vanish into thin air,
nor shall they if I can avert the doom. If my necessities keep
me so perpetually away from Reading, and yours so rarely force
you to the great town, at least we may avail ourselves now and
then of Rowland Hill's mode of communication. So please keep
me a little cm courant of the events at Reading, or such of them as'
I take interest in, and be assured any good news concerning you
or your household will always give me real pleasure.
My six weeks' holiday closes on Saturday, when I resume my
oar. The six weeks have not been passed so happily as my short
holidays have generally been ; for most of them have been spent
in taking care of my dear wife, who has been very invalide most
of the autumn and the last month in the Isle of Wight.2 We
crossed over yesterday, and I brought ber to see the cathedral, and
the fields where her husband spent, certainly not unhappily, so
many of his early years. It seems almost a dream and I sometimes
almost doubt my own identity when I look back. Yet I must
thankfully acknowledge that my days have since been marked by
a gracious Providence with more of happiness than has probably
1 Dr. C. J. Vaughan was now the to Bve. Mr. Phelps heard of his
head master. He succeeded Dr. death with deep sorrow on Septem-
Wordsworth in 1844 and retired in ber 2nd, 1850. Some fines written
1359. on unexpectedly meeting with Mr.
2 Mr. Bobinson had not been very Robinson's portrait in 1861 occur
long married, and in less than a year amongst the poems.
from the date of this letter he ceased

chap, viii.] Hyde Abbey. 207
fallen to the share of most of my early companions. The promi
nent feeling in my mind is regret that so promising an institution
as that where you and I first lisped our Latin should have fallen
so sadly into ruin.1

Prom Rev. J. Hill.2
St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford, April 25th, 1850.
My very dear friend,
Many thanks for your affectionate letter. I well knew
that your kind heart sympathised with me, and well also I knew
how you valued my precious one, whom her Saviour has made
partaker of His own heavenly glory. For thirty-eight blessed
years God permitted her to be my comfort, and now He teaches
me to suppress my own feelings of mourning by the recollection
of her blessedness. Sorrow will work and that keenly, yet the
goodness of my God enables me to realize those considerations
which bring with them calm resignation and peace. I feel how
sorrows and bereavements multiply as years advance. Yet I have
abundant cause for thankfulness both in the retrospect of past
mercies and in the consolations by which He supports, me even
under the deepest trials. And age is making rapid advances on
me ; nor can it be long before the close of my own journey

1 It was only a Bttle earlier than grown. Even the little grating in
the date of this letter that the fol- the low door through which the
lowing observations were penned by apple and cake vendors used to ex-
another hand describing the scenes tract the pocket money of the boys
Mr. Bobinson so feelingly depicts. is still extant, and the countless
"The school house has subsequent- names of many an idle aspirant after
ly" (i.e., subsequently to Canning's mural distinction scrawled with
days) "undergone some strange nails and penknives may yet be
reverses, being used at different traced on the surrounding wall.
periods as a Mechanics' Institution Mr. Canning's is not to be found
and a Dissenting Chapel. The amongst them."— Life of Canning
building stands apart from the rest by Bobert Bell, 1846.
of the premises and is said to have Mr. Phelps visited Hyde Abbey
been the first house in Winchester March 27th, 1860, and slept at Mr,
that was covered with slates. It is ZiUwood's.
now lying empty and idle; yet 2 The reader will be interested in
malgri desertion and antiquity it this letter from one so much asso-
has somewhat of a new and jaunty ciated with Mr. Phelps and his
air. The garden and playground of friends at Oxford. Mr. Hill retired
the school are still to be seen just as to his Dorsetshire living in the year
they were sixty or seventy years ago, following. See vol. I. p. 130.
only a little dishevelled and over-

208 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
through the wilderness shall come. The time will be His, and
therefore will be the fittest time. To live is Christ : to die is
gain. Feom the Rev. Samuel RicKARns.
Ventnor, February 21st, 1853.
I am sending you at your desire a copy of my Psalm
Book, and I had a notion that I had done so last spring after I got
home, but I suppose I must do credit to her Majesty's Post and
take blame to myself that I did not.
In regard to the inquiry you made of me as to your son's
theological reading, I will speak my mind to you without any fear
of your misunderstanding me or pressing my words to a sense
beyond what they fairly and reasonably mean. This then is what
I am persuaded of, that it is hardly possible to insist enough with
a young divine upon the immense importance of making the Greek
Testament for a length of time his almost only hard study, so as
to be always catching up and following up the trains of thought
which are laid there.1 Words fail me in speaking of the subject.
A man is all he can be or else good for very little indeed, ac
cording as he does this to the full or does it only after the common
slovenly manner. Only he should not go to work with any
other previous persuasions and convictions on his mind beyond
those first and great and unquestionably true ones which all
decently educated people have got from the Catechism and their
ordinary Church education. These first principles, which it is
nonsense to dispute or to be"sceptical upon, must be greatly cared
for, but they are all that he need care for. Then let him read, as
I have said, mark, learn, and inwardly digest what he under
stands, and let him not be anxious and eager to understand over
much at first reading, or at any reading ; only let him see that
what he understands he does thoroughly get the understanding of
out of the New Testament itself. So let him read again and again,
till light increases greatly in all directions, and dusk becomes
dawn, and dawn daylight, and daylight sunshine, and sunshine
noonday. For clearness, and certainty, and strength of mind and
1 Mr. Phelps would here entirely edition in two volumes, dating from
agree with his friend, if we may his Oxford days and profusely anno-
judge from the evidence of his inter- tated by his studious pen.
leaved Greek Testament, a large

CHAP. VIII.] Advice for young clergy. 209
true largeness of apprehension, there is no method like this. I
write at fifty-seven years old, and therefore in my proper vocation
I scruple not, when asked, to write definitely and with a very
strong assurance unconcealed. Humanly speaking, the goodness
of this method depends upon the not pausing too much or too soon
upon difficulties, but leaving them to clear up and drop off at
future readings.
But do not suppose that I undervalue other theological reading.
No, I only want the right course to have been first and very dili
gently pursued, to make it quite safe and of full avail. The next
thing I should advise a young clergyman to do is to read all he
can find time to read of Bishop Beveridge's Works, his first volume
of sermons first and very carefully, and the other volumes of ser
mons next — a good old edition of which may be bought in ten
octavos for ten shillings. There is more theology deserving the
name for every purpose in these volumes than I know any where
else, and it is all taught by a man who feels what, he teaches, and
who teaches it because he has felt it, and is sure it is true and
knows it to be substantially the will of God.
I have been giving this short advice towards forming a young
working clergyman's mind, without reference to any peculiar diffi
culties existing in his own mind or special vocation, which of
course would need peculiar treatment and reading on purpose, as
the case might be. I suppose also that at odd times he will read
Church history at tolerable length, and books more or less of
criticism on the Old and New Testaments; and especially I
should recommend Lowth's Prselections (the Latin) and Jebb's
Sacred Literature, and works about the Bible rather than upon
any part of it.
The plan 1 have suggested is a very simple one, and will turn
out nothing in slack hands and with unthoughtful minds ; and it
may seem to promise less than is needed to any. And yet I am
persuaded that if mainly kept to for a few years, it is what, under
God's blessing, will make a clear-headed, a strong-minded, and
even a full-minded young man. Afterwards he may read with
full benefit all he has a mind to read. Please to observe especially
— my suggestions are simply to set a man " agoing " in a sure, and
safe, and most profitable way at first.

210 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Feom the Rev. Stephen Hawteet.
Clevedon, Bristol, November l^th, 1855.
My dear friend,
I expect shortly to be suited with a curate. Still I
thank you for writing to me, as you happened to have heard
of one. Doubtless you must have forgotten that Clevedon has
now been our residence for several years. My dear wife joins me
in thanking you for saying that we yet live in your thoughts, nor
have you been forgotten by us. She has been, I regret to say,
confined to her bed for nearly two years. This is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning her, — as it is concerning me that I
should be favoured with very good health, whereby I am enabled
to be a tolerable nurse. She bids me say — " not tolerable, but
very good." Well, I wish to be ! We are all drawing towards
the close of our pilgrimage, and by faith must keep the " delight
some land " in view. With our kind regards to you and Mrs.
Phelps, believe me, my dear friend, yours very affectionately, S. Hawteet.
We have had the company of this good man, though
latterly at long intervals, through more than a quarter of a
century of this memoir, and here at last we part from him.
After the death of his beloved and long afflicted wife he
went to reside with his nephew at Church House, Windsor,
where he died in 1858.1 He lies with Mrs. Hawtrey in
a vault in Broadchalk church, among a people they both
had loved, and there a monument to his memory has been
erected. His younger and only brother John, to whose instru
mentality he owed his rehgious impressions, and to whom
he was deeply attached, was also an interesting character.
Leaving Eton and entering the army at an early age he
became, about the time of his marriage, the subject of very
strong rehgious convictions. Eventually he quitted the

i Mr. Phelps, with some other Society at Windsor, November 22nd,
Beading clergymen, attended a 1853, but he does not appear to have
meeting of the Church Pastoral Aid met Mr. Hawtrey on that occasion.

CHAP, viii.] The Rev. S. Waldegrave. 211
army and was for some years in the society of the Wesleyan
Methodists. He was afterwards ordained to the curacy of
Pakefield, where the Rev. Francis Cunningham was then
Rector. He became minister of St. James's, Guernsey
(1838-1848), and finally Rector of Kingston. Seymour in
Somersetshire from 1850 until his death in 1854. During
his later years he was in the constant habit of visiting his
son, the Rev. S. T. Hawtrey, at Church House, Windsor,
who was Chaplain to Her Majesty's Household Troops.
Here he died, and was carried to his tomb by a party of the
Life Guards.
We have now to introduce the reader to another of Mr.
Phelps's friends. The Hon. Samuel Waldegrave, second son
of the eighth Earl of Waldegrave, took a double-first degree
in 1839 at All Souls, Oxford. In 1844 he succeeded the
Hon. Frederick Gambier in the college living of Barford
St. Martin, three miles from Wilton, a village well known
of course to Mr. Phelps. One son of a former Rector,
Dr. Edward Pole, was Mr. Phelps's early companion at
the Wilton school, and another son was his vacation pupil
in 1819. Mr. Gambier, who became Rector in 1838,
was his friend at Oxford. Barford therefore was familiar
ground to Mr. Phelps, who made Mr. Waldegrave's acquain
tance there in the first year of his appointment, 1844. On
July 20th, 1850, Mr. Phelps preached the missionary ser
mons at Barford and two neighbouring churches, sleeping at
Mr. Waldegrave's. In 1853, when he was in those parts
for change of air after a long illness, he preached in Mr.
Waldegrave's pulpit at Barford again. Writing to his wife
on Monday March 21st from Burcombe, the residence of his
aunt and sisters, who used to make a party to Mr. Walde
grave's church every Sunday, he says — " Yesterday I went
with the cavalcade to Barford Church in the morning, never
dreaming of taking part in the service. But lo ! Mr. Walde
grave had had a sharp attack of bronchitis in the night, and
the two full duties falling unexpectedly upon Carr, he came
to me at the end of the Communion Service and induced
p2

212 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
me to preach for him at two minutes' notice, which I did
from Exod. ix. 20, 21." •
In 1860 this devoted servant of Christ was summoned
from his Wiltshire Rectory and his stall in Salisbury Cathe
dral, to fill an exalted position in the Church for which he
was eminently fitted, at the early age of forty-three, when
a long career of usefulness appeared in all human calculation
before him.
On the 1st of August he wrote to Mr. Phelps saying that
his mind had been for many weeks exercised on the subject
of an examining chaplain, a post for which ,a Bishop
requires not merely a competent man but one with whom
he can share his most intimate thoughts in situations of
great delicacy and difliculty which are continually arising ;
one therefore whom he has known before and has reason to
rely upon as a confidential friend. The Bishop stated that
he had had many names before his mind, but turned with
no httle measure of satisfaction to Mi1. Phelps's. The duties
were to attend twice in a year at ordinations; and the
conditions were that he should hold himself in readiness, at
some future time if the Bishop ever required it, to take any
suitable preferment in the diocese of Carlisle with a view to
his increased usefulness there. A correspondence ensued
breathing a most Christian spirit and the utmost frankness
on both sides, and it ended by Mr. Phelps accepting the
post on the 10th, professing his earnest desire to assist his
friend in his approaching anxious duties to the best of
his power.
Mr. Phelps was now in the sixteenth year of his Reading
Incumbency and the sixty-third of his age, enjoying good
health, blessed with active habits, and with a naturally
sound judgment improved by long experience. His chil
dren were grown up, and he had been a widower about a
year. Among his brethren in the ministry whom he found
at Reading on his arrival there had been great changes. In
i The Journal also records — "1854 came and dined."
January 16th. Mr. Waldegrave

chap, viii.] A new church projected. 213
1852 Mr. Goodhart had left for Park Chapel, Chelsea;1 in
1857 Mr. Grainger had gone to his rest, and Mr. Trench had
accepted Islip; in 1858 Mr. Field had been appointed to
the hving of West Rounton. His old friend Mr. BaU was
still at St. Lawrence ; Mr. Phelps and he were much at
tached to each other; their districts adjoined; they had
pursued together common plans in their ministry whenever
it was possible. How long they might be permitted to do
so for the future, who could tell ?
As a possible termination of his Reading ministry at no
very distant year, should his life be spared, now occurred
to Mr. Phelps, he felt an increasing desire to promote the
spiritual welfare of the town in which he had so long and so
happily, and it may be added with such acceptance,
laboured. On the very day therefore that he accepted
the chaplaincy in the north, August 10th, 1860, he
" thought out a scheme for a new district church," as he
records in his journal. One of the first persons occurring
to him as likely to co-operate in such an important under
taking was the Rev. Peter French, Vicar of Burton-on-
Trent, but connected with Reading by birth, property, and
frequent visits. So soon as August 13th Mr. Phelps
received a letter from this friend promptly offering £100,
if nine others would each give the same sum. A few days
after this the journal records —
" August 17th, Douglas Gordon called : struck with the
window." This was his valued old Harrow pupil, Lord Aberdeen's
son, Rector of Stanmore near Harrow, and Mr. Phelps, when
accompanying him to the station to see him off, pointed
out to him a remarkable relic of antiquity, which requires
here some detailed notice.

Mr. Goodhart's farewell sermons Sunday, June 20th, his successor
were preached on Sunday, June the Bev. G. I. Tubbs commenced.
13th, 1852, and on the following

214 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
There stood within the parish of St. Lawrence at the
western end of Friar Street, at the corner of the Caversham
Road leading into Oxfordshire, and not far from the Trinity
district, a structure of venerable but forbidding aspect,
whose exterior was a common sight to every inhabitant, its
interior familiar only to a few officials and initiated persons.
Ancient Reading possessed two monastic foundations over
looking, in the days of their glory, the meadows and the
Thames. The oldest of these was a stately Benedictine
Abbey, a royal foundation and the burial place of a king,
standing at the eastern extremity of the town, where its
tough ruins still ornament the grounds of the Forbury
in the vicinity of the county gaol. The Roman Catholic
chapel (a work of Pugin's) occupies a part of the site
of the Abbey church. The west end of the town was
colonised by a monastic brotherhood of friars, a family of
the conventual system that sprung into existence much
later than the Benedictines and laid themselves out among
the poorer inhabitants, those for instance whom that wealthy
and luxurious order were overlooking. It was in 1233, only
nine years after these mendicants entered England, that the
grey friars established themselves in Reading. The ground
on which their building was erected belonged to the Abbey,
and it is described in the deed of grant1 as " a certain piece
of waste ground near the king's highway leading to Caver
sham Bridge, containing thirty-three perches in length and
twenty-three in breadth." More ground however was sub
sequently added. A bequest of other pieces of adjoining
land in the year 1288 shews that what is now Friar Street
was then called New Street. The old records state that
fifty-six oaks were allowed by the king in 1306 to be cut
down in Windsor Forest for the building; and that in 1311
the erection was still incomplete. No account of this friary
survives, nor yet of the number of its occupants,2 but from
the small extent of the premises it is inferred that it was
i Dated July 14th, 1233. signed by the superior and ten
'The deed of surrender was others.

chap, viii.] The Greyfriars of Reading. 215
neither roomy in dimensions nor elegant in style. It was
quite in the spirit of those brethren, at least in the early and
best years of their order, to be content with the meanest
accommodation for themselves, their chief anxiety being to
have a suitable church to contain the crowds whom their
zealous preaching and ministry might attract; and this
being substantially built is the only part of their pos
sessions which has withstood the ravages of time. In the
mind's eye we must conceive the spacious and aristocratic
precincts of the abbey as extending from end to end of the
town, and reaching to the humble friars, who doubtless
depended very much upon the bounty of that wealthy
house, while the dwelhngs of the townspeople lay on the
south side, represented now chiefly by the Market-place,
Friar Street, and Broad Street.
After existing rather more than two hundred years the
friary perished, as well as the abbey itself, in the general
wreck of monastic property in the reign of Henry VIII.
The deed of surrender was dated September 13th, 1539.
No sooner was the surrender officially completed than, in
the words of a letter to Lord Cromwell, " the multitude of
the poverty of the town resorted thither, and all things
that might be had they stole away, insomuch that they had
conveyed the very clappers of the bells." Four years after
wards the friary church was granted by the crown to the
corporation for the purpose of a guildhall; and one
hundred and seventy years subsequently, in 1613, it was
converted into a bridewell, which it continued to be down
to 1860. Thus it fell out that, of the two oldest spots of
consecrated ground in Reading, that in the east was, at
the last mentioned date, occupied by the unreformed
worship, that in the west by " a den of thieves."1
The style of architecture of the friary church was the
decorated. The fine west window, with its arch, its mul-
i " While we may have regretted there is no doubt that that use has
that the building had been so long been the means of largely protecting
converted to such a sacrilegious use, it from decay. " — Reading Mercury.

216 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
lions, its tracery, all perfect, but filled nearly to the top with
brick for glass, was for many years a conspicuous object at
the corner of the Caversham Road, and this it was that
Mr. Phelps pointed out to his friend. Inside the fabric
the visitor was surprised to behold considerably more
beauty than he could have anticipated while passing along
outside the high and dreary walls facing the street ; for there
amid cells and other dishonourable fittings of a lock-up he
found himself surrounded with true mediaeval lineaments, a
nave with north and south aisles, and two arcades of five
pointed arches springing from clustered columns, the arch
nearest the chancel of each arcade being narrower and more
acutely pointed than the others. The chancel was no more,
and its site was occupied by the premises of an adjoining
dwelling; but there remained the chancel arch with its
mouldings and jamb-shafts, bricked up like the great window.
The nave however was then roofless and formed airing yards
for the prisoners, the arcades being walled up to convert the
side aisles into cells and other accommodation. A public-
house called "The Pigeons," abutting on the church and
occupying a portion of the site, contained in one of its
upper back rooms the arch of a window belonging to a
fragment of what was evidently a south transept.1 The
south doorway was deeply recessed and consisted of a suc
cession of deep hollows. Immediately opposite, in the north
wall, was a smaller doorway, a very fine remnant of a similar
character. The walls were built of flint, with stone quoins,
and plastered inside. Externally the flint was laid in regular
courses, the flints being split and squared. The skill and
management of the old builders, and the ease with which
they made the most rugged of materials bend to their
purpose were never better displayed than in the construc
tion of these walls ; the thin narrow joints, sharp surface
and beautiful appearance of the flint- work far surpass the

1 This window is one of the two wall of the transept.
(tbe northern) now seen in the east

chap, viii.] The Friary church. 217
best attempts of modern days, and prove, whatever else the
National Church might have been, that it was at least a
school of sound architects and good workmen. The west
window was much the finest part of the edifice, and even
though worn and dilapidated never failed to attract the eye.
The tracery was of the simple and flowing style known
as network, and this window is beheved to display the
finest specimen extant of that elegant design, containing
five lights and ten complete quatrefoils, which are distin
guished also for the elaborate character of their mouldings.1
The mention of bells in the letter above quoted probably
gave rise to the assumption made by some, that the church
possessed a tower ; but this has been now proved a mistake,
no foundations of such a structure and no sign of any
supporting piers having come to hght in the searching archi
tectural scrutiny which the building and the adjacent
ground underwent in the process of restoration. This
scrutiny disposed also of another current belief, that the
roof of the friary nave was in 1786 used in roofing the
nave of St. Mary's church.2 The foundations of the other
conventual buildings were laid open for inspection by the
archselogical society to be mentioned presently ; they are on
the north side of the church at some distance from it.
Year after year this fragment, the character of which
the window alone was sufficient to keep in the perpetual
remembrance of the public, had been observed with regret,
not unmixed with humiliation, that it should have descended
to so vile a use. Mr. Wheble, a gentleman of fortune
residing in the neighbourhood and a liberal supporter of
the Roman Cathohc church, of which he was a member, at
one time desired to purchase it, and it was on the failure
of his application to the authorities that he erected the
1 A smaller specimen of the style original places on the walls with the
may be seen in the chancel window intermediate portions sawn off, and
of the neighbouring church of these latter would have been too
Sonning. short to serve the purpose that had
2 The architect found the extremi- been imagined.
ties of the old roof timbers in their

218 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
present chapel in the Forbury. Mr. Phelps found the
building a subject of remark on his first coming to Read
ing. Well he learned to know the interior hkewise, from
his frequently officiating there for Mr. BaU ; and no one more
than he desired that the old skeleton might be redeemed
from its degradation and be invested with all the taste and
beauty which it was so well calculated to recover. On
the 16th of September, 1859, the Berkshire Congress of the
British Archaeological Association visited Reading, and
the members expressed their bitter regret at the purpose to
which this interesting monument had been converted, and at
learning that steps were in contemplation for even further
destroying it. They urged the duty devolving on the
authorities of a rising town like Reading to preserve the
ancient buildings which remained within it, and deploring
the fact that there was no museum in the town they sug
gested that the Friary should be restored and so appro
priated, if an additional church were not needed.1
One great difficulty down to that time had been that the
site requisite for the purpose of a restoration belonged partly
to private owners, who were not all willing to sell their
interest in it, while the Corporation could not conveniently
provide themselves with suitable premises elsewhere. But
now for the first time the cloud was ready to lift ; for just
at the very moment Mr. Phelps was meditating upon his
district church, by a remarkable conjuncture, he was informed
that the adjoining ground in private hands was actually in
the market. Moreover the magistrates were just then
beginning to desire some more convenient arrangement,
whereby the house of detention and their place of meeting
might be brought into closer contiguity. It was now or
never. Mr. Phelps resolved that it should be now, and that
he himself would challenge the pubhc as well as the re
hgious spirit of Reading. He put himself immediately in
communication with Mr. Ball, within whose ecclesiastical
bounds the ruins stood, and obtained his approval. Some
1 the Builder of September 24th, 1859.

chap, viii.] Bishop Waldegrave's consecration. 219
few other gentlemen of means were consulted, with encourag
ing results. Mr. French's £100 with conditions grew con
siderably, and the projector found the wind filling his sails
before appealing to the promiscuous pubhc.
In December he formally applied to the Corporation for
leave to purchase the property. Here he met with a
ready response, the Mayor, Mr. James Boorne, being the
first to speak in approval, adding that " it had been long
felt that these buildings should revert to ecclesiastical
purposes." Succeeding speakers, Mr. W. Blandy, Mr. H.
A. Simonds, Mr. Andrewes, Mr. Darter, were all in favour,
and no one objected ; so that a unanimous resolution was
recorded in favour of Mr. Phelps's proposal.!
On the 4th of June, 1861, the first printed appeal to the
pubhc appeared in the newspapers, which announced also
that £3514 had been contributed,2 £10,000 being the estima
ted sum needed. On this occasion Mr. Phelps, whose sub
scription circulars at various periods of his ministry were
models of good taste, never betraying importunity yet com
plimenting the pubhc with earnest solicitation, observed : —
"My reasons for occupying so prominent a position are not
because I had means at my disposal that could justify my in
dulging the ambition of being a benefactor to the town, nor that
I had been entrusted by others with funds for carrying out that
object. Undoubtedly, as I most gratefully acknowledge, my
proposal was subsequently strengthened by the offer of various
subscriptions. But I had, previously to this, after much consi
deration, and notwithstanding the magnitude of the undertaking,
addressed myself unhesitatingly and fearlessly to the restoration of
the edifice that has been so long used as the Borough Bridewell.''
Let us leave this appeal for the present and now return
with. Mr. Phelps to Bishop Waldegrave. The consecration

i Reading Mercury, December 2 Of this amount £2000 was con-
22nd, 1860. On January 30th, 1862, tributed by the Bev. Peter French,
Mr. Phelps received the terms of Mr. Neale, Mr. John Simonds, and
purchase (£1250) which he accepted the Bev. W. W. Phelps, in sums of
on the following day. £500 each.

220 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
was fixed for November 9th, 1860, in York Minster, the
Archbishop being Dr. Longley, who had been translated
from Ripon. By him Mr. Phelps had been invited as
chaplain to meet the Bishop elect and his friends at Bis-
hopsthorpe previous to the ceremony, another of the party
being the Rev. Charles Bridges, whom Dr. Waldegrave had
selected to preach the sermon. Writing to his sister a des
cription of the cathedral service and of his visit to Bishops-
thorpe, Mr. Phelps observed of the new Bishop : —
" If any thing was calculated to raise my estimation of the man,
it would be the humble, prayerful, and serious spirit which I have
witnessed in him since I have been here  I assure
you I can bear witness to the fact that the neighbourhood he has
left retains a firm hold on his affections, and that the Barford
congregation is much in his remembrance before the throne of
grace." After describing the consecration, he concluded : —
" As we left the minster a fine pealing volume of sound was
poured forth from the belfry tower in honour of the occasion ; and
certainly, if church bells are to be rung, their musical metal can
hardly be put into requisition on a more suitable or legitimate
occasion than when they announce to the sons and daughters of
the Church of England that a new Bishop, worthy of the office
from his learning, piety, and faithful diligence shewn in another
sphere of duty, is in the good Providence of God raised to the
important and responsible office of an overseer of that Church.
At any rate, the merry peal touched a chord in my heart that
vibrated to the sound."
On Monday, December 17th, 1860, Mr. Phelps proceeded
from Reading to commence his northern duties. After a
long day's journey he reached his destination at seven
o'clock in the evening. " Our excellent Bishop," he wrote
to his sister Ann, " came out to welcome us in his baronial
hall, where a large fire of logs piled up was blazing out a
warm and cheery salutation truly acceptable after the dark
and cold part of a long day's travelling."

chap, viii.] Rose Castle. 221
Rose Castle, an old rural castellated palace of the see,
seven miles south of Carlisle in the beautiful vale of the
Caldew, and near the village of Dalston, is thus described
by Mr. Phelps on this visit, in all its winter beauty of
sparkling frost under a bright sun.
" The palace is a considerable part of an ancient castle, as old
as the Norman Conquest, though not so extensive as it was in
feudal times. It is still a large house (as you will suppose when
I tell you that eleven out of sixteen candidates are entertained in
the castle and accommodated with separate apartments) and in all
the internal arrangements I should say one of the most complete
and comfortable large houses I ever was in. It is equally complete
without, both as respects the building itself and the immediate
vicinity, and as regards the remoter scenery. Nothing can be finer
than the style of country. As far as the eye can reach are parkish
pasture lands with magnificent trees, fine deep skirting woods in
the rear, and striking mountainous scenery and well wooded hills,
with a village or two in the distance, and a river brawling over
large boulders, after the fashion of streams in mountainous
countries, about a quarter of a mile off. The castle is built of
stone. The stone-work is not the old and original stone, but it has
been renewed, stone for stone, in the place and shape of the
original, so that it combines antiquity with all the elegance and
handsomeness of a modern mansion. There is a fine square tower
at one corner, and great part of the front is covered with a beau
tiful glossy mantle of ivy. What was once a wide moat is now
converted into an extensive and exquisitely beautiful garden laid
out with the greatest taste. The whole was finished in its present
masterly style by the last bishop but one, Dr. Percy, who was a
perfect amateur, and being wealthy spared no expense. Our good
bishop has come into it just in its perfection, and you would have
said so if you had walked with me down the long drive leading
from the Carlisle road to the castle, skirted by no end of the very
choicest shrubs and all at the acme of their shape and growth and
age. There is such an abundance of choice evergreens all about
that one forgets it is winter, and for the assemblage of rose plants
and trees everywhere in the gardens it seems determined to keep

222 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
up its name.1 There is of course little to admire in them now,
but I am told they are of the finest sorts.
But this morning (Wednesday) all is changed ! There has been
a considerable fall of snow in the night. Every thing is now also
beautiful, but in a totally different way. I write this seated
among the candidates (with my gown and hood on) while they are
busy in writing a sermon and a specimen of heads for a cottage
lecture. Poor fellows, I have been examined seven times in my
life, so I know something about it."
At this lovely abode the Bishop entertained his chaplain
and the candidates for the week preceding the ordination,
and all engaged together in their serious and responsible
tasks. In the chapel, which Mr. Phelps describes as large
and beautiful, resembling both in size and fittings some
college chapels, expositions were given by the Bishop at
morning and evening prayers, of portions of Scripture se
lected for their especial bearing on the ministerial office;
and before he felt that his work of faithfully and wisely
making choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred ministry
of the church was completed, this Christian prelate made it
a point to converse and pray alone with each of the candi
dates. Assisting in this blessed employment Mr. Phelps
was in thorough harmony with the spirit of the chief pastor,
and his questions searched and sounded heart, judgment,
and brain of the commencing ministers of the Word. At
the primary ordination in Carhsle Cathedral, December
i The name of Bose Castle is an- word signifying a marshy or wet
cient, but the reason of it is not dale or valley, doth not describe
quite certain. William Hutchinson this place, which lies on the incli-
in his History of Cumberland says nation of a hiB of dry gravel, and a
that the first mention found of the . considerable way above the vaUey
castle was when Edward the First through which the river Caldew
in the twenty-eighth year of his flows. We might more easily con-
reign took up his residence there on jecture that it took its name from
his expedition against the Scots. Roux or the red colour of the stone
His writs for assembling the Parlia- of which it is built. The rose on
ment of Lincoln were dated " apud the tower was probably the device
leBose." " Abo ve the gate, " writes of John de Bosse, who was bishop
Hutchinson, " is sculptured a large in the beginning of the 14th century,
rose. No etymology that has been such devices being frequent at that
given of the name of this place is time. "
satisfactory ; that of Rhos, a British

chap. Viii.] Rose Castle in summer. 223
23rd, 1860, he was the preacher, and his text was " Take
heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine," (1 Tim. iv. 16).
This sermon possessed a special interest for the preacher,
as it was in substance the first he ever wrote for delivery,,
and therefore contained the doctrine which he had taught
at the beginning as well as at the end of his ministry. The
following extract shews it to have been one worthy of the
occasion : —
" The Gospel we preach, let it be the Gospel of the grace of
God ; let it be good news ; let our statement of it be clear, dis-
1 tinct, explicit, giving no uncertain sound, delivered in speech that
cannot be condemned; let it be comprehensive, harping on no
favourite topics, limited to no partial or party views, but (like
that of the Apostle Paul) not shunning ' to declare the whole
counsel of God ; ' let it be full of Christ ; and oh ! take we heed
that the Gospel we preach be faithful, be intrepid, that it know
not the fear of man."
In order to present him to the reader somewhat more vividly
in the discharge of his examining duties we shaU here add
a few notes selected from letters addressed at various times
to Mrs. Phelps. For in the autumn of 1861 he again became
a married man, having united himself to the only daughter
and survivor of Mr. John Fisher, a lady reckoning among
her ancestors the old Buckinghamshire name of Darell, and
that of Fettiplace through the Masons of Stokenchurch.
"Rose Castle, Wednesday, June 11th, 1862. Mr. T. and I
arrived here safe and sound at seven o'clock. The Bishop came
out into his old baronial hall to give us a hearty welcome.
I read prayers at chapel this morning; the singing extremely
good, Mrs. W. leading. T. and another read the chapters. The
Bishop gave a beautiful exposition."
" June 12th. Six weeks later, and I should have seen, by the
gardener's account, most exquisite roses ; not one rose to be seen
now, though the moat (that was) is filled with beds of rose trees.
1 See Vol. I. page 379,

224 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
The rhododendrons are very fine, and the shrubberies and hanging
woods out in the richest foliage. The copper-beech abounds and
has a fine effect by contrast. I walked yesterday down to the
bridge and up by the Raughtonhead road. Nothing can be more
lovely. I could hardly get away from the bridge and the braw
ling stream overhung with the rich woods."
We here subjoin a few lines dated " Rose Castle, June
1862," accompanying a pen and ink sketch of the "Port
cullis "' seen from his window.
Thrushes responsive fiB the evening air
With luscious melody : the breeze is hush'd
That stirr'd at noon the multitude of trees,
Bustling soft music : but the lull has left
Space for the cadence low of that sweet fall
Of distant waters ; and amid the chirp
Of nestled warblers piping sleepy notes
The landrail, summer's harbinger, sends forth
Its monotone not inharmonious.
But hark ! upon the stilly ear of night
from out yon ivied tow'r the chapel bell
Summons to calm devotion. Haste away.
"June 14th, Saturday, half-past one. Just this moment
finished the occupation of the week ; every paper looked over
and every candidate spoken and prayed with. Praise to God.
It will recall things to your mind2 when I tell you that we have
had an early dinner and that Mr. M., the Registrar, joined us.
He is now in the examination room winding up with the young
men, and in less than half-an-hour he and all of them will have
cleared off for Carlisle in a large omnibus in which he came over
for that purpose. So after all the bustle of the four past days we
shall be perfectly still ; a new mode of existence and operations
will then ensue. Mr. Carr preaches the ordination sermon at the
cathedral, as Bishop MTlvaine cannot come."
"Rose Castle, December 16th, 1862. The first thing I heard
was that there were to be twenty candidates, and at half-past seven
» The ivied arch containing the » Mrs. Phelps had been with him
original portcullis went by this to Bose Castle on his previous visit
name. * December, 1861,

chap, viii.] OrdAnation at Rose Castle. 225
nearly all of them had arrived, and with the Bishop and Mrs.
Waldegrave, (fee, we all sat down to a meat tea in the dining
room." " December 17th, Wednesday morning. I am writing this at
the end of the long table in the examination room with all the
young men busily employed before me. We assembled at eight
o'clock punctually to breakfast. Chapel at a quarter to nine. I
read prayers. The chapters were Ezek. xxxvii and Luke xv, on
which the Bishop delivered one of his charming addresses. We
assembled here at ten, are to dine at three, and assemble for the
second examination paper at five. Evening chapel is to be at a
quarter before nine, so I am sure you will be able to picture to
yourself all our routine. My room looks out into the park and
on the hill crested with fine timber, at the right hand of the castle
as you approach it."
"December 18th. I have, as you may suppose, barely time to
report that through God's blessing I am well and getting on com
fortably with my work, again favoured by having a very pleasing
and promising batch of candidates, which makes the labour light.
The Bishop's morning and evening addresses to them in the chapel
are a treat to hear; I send you the lessons, read by the young men,
out of which he takes his subjects. Wednesday evening, 1 Kings
vi. 1-10; Ephesians ii. Thursday morning, Leviticus viii ; John
xxi. 1-17. You will recall, from reading them, the style of the
Bishop's remarks."
" December 20th, two p.m. Just finished the interview with
the several candidates, who are to be ordained to-morrow. You
know this is held in the Bishop's study leading out of the library
at the close of our proceedings. And much reason have I for
thankfulness to Him who has brought me smoothly and with much
ease and comfort through my work. The other lessons selected for
the week were — Thursday evening, Isaiah vi. 1-8 ; Ephesians iv.
1-13, Friday morning, Ezekiel ii. .3-11; Galatians i. 1-10. Fri
day evening, Ezekiel xiii. 1-16; Matthew xvi. 1-12. Saturday
morning, Joshua i. 1-18 ; 1 Peter v."
" December 22nd, Monday. Is it not nice to look forward to
•lengthening and brightening days, now that we have fairly done
with the shortest 1 Poor St. Thomas, I wonder why they gave
him the shortest day ! Perhaps it was designed to teach us to let
Q

226 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
unbelief have the shortest possible hold upon us, and to cast
distrust to the winds. Well, let us try to do so. There are some
very nice people here whom I am glad to have met. I must not
forget to say that the ordination service went off very smoothly
and happily. The sermon was preached by Mr. Boutflower of
Brathay, and the singing and organ were most exquisite."
Doubtless there must be many who would feel an interest
in knowing a few particulars of the ordeal to which the
candidates for Holy Orders in the Church of England have
to pass with their Bishop ; a few more words on this subject
therefore will not be amiss, with a chaplain's manuscript
" Ordination Questions " before us. The subjects on which
the candidate at Rose Castle was tested were Holy Scrip
ture, the Greek Testament, Christian doctrine, early and
Reformation Church history, the liturgy, and the evidences
of Christianity. He was to shew a knowledge of Pearson
and Hooker, and an abihty to translate Latin, a passage
from one of the fathers, for instance, or it might be Jewel's
Apology. He was required also to compose a sermon and
sketch out a cottage lecture. His general information on
Missionary subjects was tested, and questions of a practical
and 'experimental nature were submitted to him. Thus, as
an example of the latter, we may cite —
" What do you apprehend will be the main impediments, from
within and from without, to the right exercise of your holy
calling ? "
" What should you say were the essential qualifications for an
effective ministry 1 "
" Against what tendencies do you think St. Paul would caution
a young clergyman ? And in what terms would he encourage
him % "
"By what means would you hope to secure your preaching
from a shallow and superficial style ? "
" Explain what you understand by the argumentative style of
sermon ; also by the practical, experimental, and doctrinal, with
any remarks upon their uses,"

chap, viii.] Ordination questions. 227
" State your views of the best mode of conducting a Sunday
school." " Enumerate certain defects of personal character which prevent
an efficient ministry, especially dilating on a want of Christian
self-denial." In the missionary papers we find such questions as —
" Name the principal missionary fields of Protestant Churches
in the present day. Give some account of the work in one of the
three following fields : — I. Polynesia; 2. Burmah ; 3. Rupert's
Land." " The French Government stipulated for the restoration by the
Chinese of all the Roman Catholic churches in that empire.
How were these churches originally acquired, and how lost 1"
* On Christian doctrine we observe these among others —
" State what cautions are inserted in Article xvii, and what
inference is to be drawn from their insertion. Mention any
theories of Election that are at variance with that Article."
" Explain the terms Justification and Sanctification, and the
relation in which they stand to each other. What doctrine, as
respects the former, does our church pronounce 'most wholesome?'
With what erroneous views does it stand in contrast ? "
" On what passage of Scripture does the doctrine of Absolution
rest ? Give the words of the different forms of absolution used by
our church, and mention what safeguards she has provided for
the above doctrine. Shew from Scripture the necessity of true
confession of sin ; state the parties to whom it is to be made, and
describe the practical evils of auricular confession."
A few extracts from his letters will give us an idea of
how he passed the rest of his brief excursions to the north
when not actually engaged in examination duties. The one
from Liverpool was written on a visit to a son in the course
of one of his journeys up. Occasionally his paper is headed
by a rough pen-and-ink sketch of the view, before him as he
wrote, and now and then his feelings would express them-

228 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
selves in verse.1 There is about these letters a sprightliness
of tone, called forth in a great measure by the lovely scenery
and the warm hospitality he met with at every turn, shew
ing the buoyant spirit that was carrying him easily and
comfortably through all his fatigues. Liverpool, May 15th, 1861.
To-morrow, D.V., I proceed to Windermere by train,
and the remaining short distance to Keswick by coach. To-day
I have seen three sights well worthy of attention ; St. George's
Hall and its appurtenances, Brown's Public Library and Museum,
and the Botanical Gardens. I never saw any thing of the kind
more magnificent and interesting than each of these. In the
second, to see the humble artisans sitting in considerable numbers
in a noble room and at commodious tables, reading books they
had ordered to have brought to them out of a library of forty or
fifty thousand volumes, was a sight to make philanthropists happy
and Englishmen proud. Keswick, May 17th, 1861.
The Vicarage at which I am staying till to-morrow is
near the end of the Lake Derwentwater, and the majestic moun
tains by which the portion of the water visible is embosomed
equals any thing I have ever seen. The Bishop had arrived
about an hour before I did last evening and was glad to see me
driving up in my cab, and came out to the Vicarage door with
Mr. Gipps2 to greet me. We have a Confirmation here this
morning, and a consecration of a small new church near the lake
at Grange in the afternoon. I look forward with much pleasure
to going to Mr. Battersby to-morrow, where I stay till Monday
and then join the Bishop again to proceed to Ambleside. I left
Liverpool at half-past eleven yesterday morning and travelled by
rail to Windermere, and thence on, twenty-two miles, by coach.
You can form no conception of the succession of lovely scenery
all the way along.
> An "Adieu to the Lakes, "under arrived for the Ordination which
an etching of St. John's Church, took place this year in the fine old
Keswick, (where he preached on church of that town. Archdeacon
May 19th) is dated May 23rd, 1861, Cooper was the vicar.
from Kendal, where he had just ? One of the Canons of Carlisle,

chap, viii.] Touring on duty. 229
Kendal, May 22nd, 1861.
You may as well admire the above specimen of my
limning powers,1 for if you don't nobody else will. At any rate
I can vouch for that amount of resemblance to the original in
nature that, done as it is in the plenary ignorance of all the rules
of light, shade, and perspective, I think it would remind me years
hence, if need were, of the look down I had upon it from an
eminence to which I climbed on Monday morning last within
half-an-hour's walk of Mr. Battersby's house. At the borders of
the lake and at the base of the mountains, in the centre of the
picture, is the httle new church which the Bishop consecrated on
Friday. It was built by the labour and efforts, and in good
measure at the cost, of a good gentlewoman of the name of Heath-
cote. Yesterday, Tuesday, I saw the most splendid scenery at
the Ambleside end of Windermere. It was the day appointed for
the consecration of an elegant church of some pretensions built
near his own noble mansion by Mr. Dawson of Wray Castle.
Rose Castle, October 18th, 1861.
I spent an hour and a half before breakfast this morning
in conning over the Bishop's beautiful charge, which I should so
like you to have heard him deliver at Carlisle Cathedral to-day.2
Heversham Vicarage, October 22nd, 1861.
After the Visitation, dinner, &c, were over at Ulverstone,
we proceeded at a quarter to five by rail, about thirty miles, to
Grange, where the Bishop re-opened a pretty church in a pic
turesque spot on the sea coast. The ceremony consisted of
evening prayers and a sermon by the Bishop.3 The church was
quite full, and a collection made for the restoration fund was over
£i0. Archdeacon Evans, a nice old gentleman,4 at whose hos-

1 Lake Derwentwater. ler and second Chancellor's medal-
a This was Bishop Waldegrave's list in 1811, and soon afterwards
Primary Charge to the clergy of the fellow and subsequently tutor of
diocese, which was not published. Trinity. In 1842 he took the
8 The Bishop's text at Grange was college living of Heversham ' at
Ezekiel xxxvii. 1-10. the south-west angle of the County
4 Archdeacon Evans was the of Westmorland, near the estuary
author of several works, of which of the Ken. In 1856 he became
the Rectory of Valehead became Archdeacon of Westmorland and
widely popular. He was of Trinity died March 10th, 1866, at the age
College, Cambridge, seventh wrang- of seventy-six.

230 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
pitable house we are now entertained, met us there and brought
us on in his carriage nine miles by sweet moonlight to this place.
We may turn again to the work of restoration .going on
at Reading. It was not until April 23rd, 1862, that the
Corporation seal legally conveyed the ruins to the Incum
bent of Trinity, the delay being occasioned by the necessity
of obtaining the consent of the Lords of the Treasury. But
the subscription list had not been idle, and by this time six
thousand out of the required ten had been raised, and that
without the aid of any society. There was no supineness
whatever in the promoter of the undertaking. The mag
nitude of it was thoroughly understood from the first
moment by every one, and by none more so than by
the Corporation, one of whom observed that a time for
the completion of the restoration should be stated, even
if they named a liberal limit of ten or fifteen years;
an observation that might have seemed called for, when
it was remembered how many times before the project
had been talked of without anything being done. It
was also suggested that the restorers should be bound to
make their architecture in keeping with the old, to which
the town-clerk, Mr. John Jackson Blandy, replied that
Mr. Phelps's engagement to " restore " guaranteed the style.
Whether as regarded taste indeed or enterprise, the under
taking could not be in safer hands.
As soon as legal possession had been secured, Mr.
Woodman the architect was on the spot and the process
of restoration began. He observed that a wall continuing
the northern arcade towards the east was a modern erection
and made no joining with the old walls and formed no part
whatever of the original structure ; this led to a closer
examination, which issued in the discovery of a north tran
sept, the buried traces of which were soon brought to light.
It was hardly a question whether these discoveries should
be included in the plan of restoration. " It was found
impossible," wrote Mr. Phelps in a subsequent circular, " to

CHAP, viii.] An archaeological curiosity. 231
resist the solemn and touching appeal of exhumed antiquity,
which pleaded for the restoration of so much combined
beauty and simplicity." But lest the extra cost, estimated
at £1840, should alarm the public by its magnitude and
discourage supporters, he quietly took the responsibility
upon himself. The pubhc did not know how he was thus
pledging himself when in his appeal of May 30th, 1862, he
earnestly solicited the support of "every resident in the
town," saying that were it practicable he would have made
his request personally to each individual, and that chiefly
" for the expression it would give of sympathy and good
will " to the undertaking. He did not hesitate to go so far
as to say that he considered this restoration to be a work of
" even national interest ; " which certainly is no exaggera
tion when we consider the circumstances. For we believe
no other instance is known in England of a ruined church
recovered for its original purpose after three centuries of
desolation. St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, contains a
comparatively small fragment of the original structure,
which was not a college. There is no other instance in
England, and only one in Scotland, of a friary church sur
viving. We are not surprised therefore that in the course
of restoration, the works were visited by architects and
gentlemen interested in archaeology from many distant parts
of the country.1
In turning over the leaves of his copy of James Smith's
Daily Remembrancer, we accidentally observed under De
cember 28th the pencil mark in his hand, "Greyfriars
Church." The text for that day in that little manual is
" Let us not be weary in well doing," (Gal. vi. 9) and the
verse is —
i When the bricks were removed singular thing found was a skeleton,
from between the mullions of the without a coffin and quite perfect,
west window, fragments of the old lying exactly under the north pier
stained glass were discovered filling of the chancel arch occupying the
up the grooves. A very few of the place of a foundation to it. The
original tiles were recovered, and pier was found accordingly unsound
these are still to be seen in the pave- and had to be rebuilt.
ment by the font. But the most

232 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
" Put thou thy trust in God,
In duty's path go on ;
Fix on His word thy stedfast eye,
So shaB thy work be done."
Here we see the spirit that animated him and the motives
that sustained him in this anxious work, — not that it re
quired an incident like this to discover these, which all who
knew him were well aware of; and most gratefully did he
receive, as from God's good hand, every new friend that
came forward to support him with sympathy and help.
Dr. William Jackson, Archdeacon and Canon of Carlisle,
having been appointed in 1862 Provost of Queen's College,
Oxford, Bishop Waldegrave, who was spending himself
upon his diocese with a devotion that brought his young
hairs six years afterwards to the grave, nominated his. dear
friend and chaplain to the vacancy.
Mr. Phelps accepted the appointment at the end of 1862,
and in the following February was instituted. But we can
well conceive his anxiety not to sever the pastoral connexion
with his flock beyond the point that was absolutely neces
sary; and he did not in fact beheve that a total separation
was inevitable. Trinity Church, as he understood, was an
Incumbency which the law defines as " a benefice without
cure of souls," and therefore tenable with preferment in
another diocese. Accordingly he made up his mind not to
resign it, but to engage a curate to occupy the post and
represent him in his absence. He at once therefore re
turned to Reading to make arrangements for this. At the
end of May he was at Rose Castle for the Trinity ordination;
on the 8th of June he was presented by his Bishop at Court,
upon the occasion of his promotion,, and then he proceeded
to Reading to make his final remove and terminate his
position as a resident pastor, expecting henceforth to return
only as a periodical visitor.
And now commenced the mournful task of leave-taking
between the minister and an affectionate flock who had
appreciated each other in no ordinary degree. On Wednes-

chap, viii.] Farewell to Reading. 233
day, June 17th, he received in his school-room an address
from the Church of England Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation, in which Mr. Phelps had ever felt a warm and
affectionate interest, frequently attending its meetings and
preaching the annual sermon, as one of its first and best
friends.1 In testimony of their regard the members pre
sented him with a handsome set of Service Books for the
use of the Greyfriars Church, now in rapid progress. In
his reply, while assuring them of his unabated interest and
sympathy and of his prayers for their spiritual advance
ment and for a blessing through them on the town at large,
he reminded them that membership with such a body as
the Church of England, considering what her authorised
worship and confession of faith was, implied much more
than a mere profession of opinion, or a party badge, nothing
less in fact than a renewed nature and a life of faith. He
strongly maintained that the Book of Common Prayer
rightly understood was in genuine accord with Holy
Scripture, and he warmly commended to their continued
attachment the,; communion to which he and they be
longed. The next day, June 18th, the members of his Trinity
congregation met him in the same room, and while
presenting him with a costly service of plate, tendered
him their grateful thanks for his pastoral labours and
the fidelity with which he had made it his chief object to
point their faith and hope to a Redeemer. The speakers
made special reference to the Greyfriars restofation, saying
that the work would remain a monument of his zeal for
the cause of the Church of England and the prevalence
of Scriptural principles among her members. In acknow
ledging their kindness he spoke of th? various expensive
works which the liberahty of the Trinity congregation
'This association was formed in Several of them, since the commence-
1846, and has continued to nourish ment, have been ordained to the
ever since. Its members are nearly ministry of the Church of England,
aU regularly engaged as Sunday and some have gone out] as mis-
school and ragged school teachers. sionaries.

234 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
had enabled him to bring to a prosperous issue, beginning
with the restoration of their own church in 1845. He
owned he had found them what they had had the reputa
tion of being in Mr. Hulme's day, a united people, who
valued Scriptural truth and supported their pastor's hands.
He ended by saying "that his ^endeavours among them
had been to preach Christ crucified, Christ the binder up
of broken hearts, Christ their portion for time and eternity,
Christ the crucified One — His atoning blood, His resur
rection, His ascension, His prevailing intercession and the
everlasting righteousness that He brought in — Christ all in
all. That had been his endeavour, however imperfectly
carried out."
These sentiments did not fall upon unsympathetic ears
any more than they were uttered as an idle form. Nor
can there be any doubt that the distinctness with which he
had ever enunciated these cardinal points of the Gospel,
never shunning to declare the whole counsel of God, and
his being known to mean ah that he said and preached,
had everything to do with the cordial support he had
obtained in all his undertakings amongst them, and notably
in the Greyfriars restoration.1 He had taken care it
should be understood that his grand purpose in this latter
was not simply to recover an ecclesiastical relic. It was
much more than this; it was to promote the spiritual
worship of God and hold forth the Word of Life to all
who were within reach, through the ministry of the
national Church.2
On June 18th he hkewise held his school treat, and as
the young voices on his lawn poured forth their melodies,
none could guess how constantly the scene made him revert
to Brompton and its churchyard ; for it was an anniversary
he could never forget, especially in the presence of happy
children of his own boy's age.
'It may be worth remarking that he required without having recourse
in every one of his large collections to a bazaar.
Mr. Phelps succeeded in raising all 2 Circular, April 24th, 1862.

GREYFRIARS CHURCH, READING,
BEFORE AND SINCE THE RESTOEATION.

chap, viii.] Consecration of Greyfriars. 235
On Sunday the 12th of July Archdeacon Phelps preached
his last sermons at Trinity Church, from the texts Psalm
xlvhi. 9, and Philemon 15. On the 15th he quitted his
Reading parsonage for the north, to keep his legal resi
dence as Canon of Carlisle, leaving in charge of Trinity
Church the Rev. E. W. Pears.
On Wednesday, December 2nd, 1863, the church of old
St. Francis's grey mendicants was for the first time invaded
by a flock of the Reformation's " carissimi fratres." In
civic state the Mayor and Corporation attended and
witnessed the beautiful change — transfiguration it might
be surely called — in their old prison-house. The oak sit
tings, desk, and communion-rails all richly carved, the
pulpit and font of Caen stone, with their marble columns,
eight brass gas standards, and coronse, harmonising with
the architectural style which was strictly in keeping
with the original remains, must have made the town
dignitaries and other friends of taste acknowledge that
ample justice had been done to the old historic site,
and all within sixteen months of the transfer.1 The
morning sermon was preached by the diocesan, Bishop
Wilberforce, from Matthew xiv. 16. "They need not
depart : give ye them "to eat." Archdeacon Phelps oc
cupied the pulpit in the evening and took for his text
" Ho ! every one that thirsteth," (Isaiah lv. 1, 2). It was
a good opportunity, which he did not omit to seize, of
reminding his hearers of the blessings of the Reformation ;
1 The font and the reading-desk of the period in which it was first
were presented respectively by Mr. erected, and it will henceforth form
Wheeler and' Mr. Sheppard the con- a noble and interesting, ornament to
tractors; the communion plate by the town." — Redding Mercury. .
Mr. Neale; the communion cloth by The small premises on which the
Miss Mohck, who worked it herself ; old chancel stood could not be pur-
the pulpit by the youthful daugh- chased except at a price hopelessly
ter of the architect, the result of » beyond what the Archdeacon felt
gathering among her friends. ought to be paid out of public sub-
•'.To Mr. Woodman, the archi- scriptions. Its acquisition there-
tect, much praise is due for the fore was one of the hopes of the
faithfulness of the restoration. The future, in token of which the wall
structure stands now as one of the that fills the chancel arch he left en-
finest specimens of the architecture tirely blank, to be a silent monitor.

236 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
and he pointed out how much more clearly, in consequence
of it, the Church of England now instructs her people in
the way of eternal life. . As he saw before him the large
congregation which crowded the building, he must have
realised the high privileges of those who in all their
needs wait at a throne of grace. But only those who
knew him weU were aware how prayer was the life-long
habit of the man be'fore them, as it is revealed to the
biographer, who, from the day the httle Wiltonian knelt
down by his bedside and put up the prayer for "All
Conditions," traces in his more private records the same
frame, and frequently reads in the jottings of his diary,
amidst his daily difficulties and temptations, the brief re
minders of his source of strength — " to prayer, to prayer."1
By his knowing this resource and his apphcation to it had
issued the scene which Archdeacon Phelps now saw before
him, a noble extension of Mr. Hulme's original foundation
of Holy Trinity Church.2 On the two Sundays following
he occupied the pulpit again at Greyfriars his well chosen
texts being Isaiah xlii. 6, 7; Jeremiah xxix. 12-14. On
Sunday evening, December 13th, his sermon at Trinity
was from 1 Thessalonians v. 14, and on Wednesday the
16th he started for his duties in the north.3

1 The Archdeacon wrote a hymn 3 We subjoin here a paragraph
entitled "Prayer all Powerful" and from one of the Beading papers, al-
composed the melody, which was though it is somewhat earlier in
arranged by Miss Hannah B. Bin- point of date.
field, and sold for the benefit of the " Whilst we add our most sincere
restoration fund. congratulation to Mr. Phelps on the
2 Since that day the site of the dignified preferment which is about
old Friary has been still further to reward his long and faithful ser-
occupied, through the efforts of Dr. vices, we must express the regret of
Barkworth the first Incumbent, the entire community of the borough
and a handsome array of school- at the prospect of losing one for
buildings (to which the Archdeacon whom all entertain sentiments of
contributed £50) now adjoins the esteem, heightened in numerous in-
church. The patronage of Grey- stances into warm personal regard.
friars Church was vested in trus- For many years the Bev. gentle-
tees, the names in the original deed man has laboured amongst us as
being those of the Bev. John Ball, an earnest and eloquent minister,
the Bev. Peter French, Archdeacon and in a position which, though
Phelps, Mr. John Simonds, Mr. important, was very inadequately
John Neale. remunerated. Nor were his ener-

CHAP. VIII.]

Answer to prayer.

237

gies limited to his purely profes
sional duties. In every good cause,
religious or secular, he was ready
and willing to take a prominent
part, and in the paucity of public
spirit and ability the town generally
manifests, we can ill afford to lose
one who devoted both to the best
objects. But Mr. Phelps will not
soon be forgotten as others have
been upon their departure from a
particular locality. He has left ' his
mark ' upon the town, as one of its
ever memorable benefactors. It is
to him primarily and principally
that we owe the restoration of the
beautiful temple, Greyfriars Church,
which when completed, as speedily it

wiB be, will remain to future gene
rations a monument of the pious
liberality and perseverance of its
originator. In his private capacity,
the exceeding amiability and cour
tesy which illustrated and adorned
Mr. Phelps's daily ' walk and con
versation ' endeared him to those
who knew him personally, and will
inspire a lasting regret when he is
taken from us. The best wishes of
all attend him, and their prayers
wiB not be wanting for his health
and prosperity in the new and re
sponsible office to which Providence
has called him." — Berkshire Chroni
cle, February 28«A, 1863.

238 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

)U$tX IX.
ARCHDEACON AND VICAR.
APPOINTMENT TO A CANONRY — UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES — .RESIG
NATION OF TRINITY — LABOURS IN THE NORTH — LAV AND
CLERICAL UNION — SOCIETIES — CARLISLE — APPOINTED TO APPLE
BY — PASTORAL LABOURS — DRYBECK — RETROSPECT — FAILING
HEALTH — LAST ILLNESS — DEATH.
As we have aheady seen, Mr. Phelps was collated to the
Archdeaconry of Carlisle, February 26th, 1863. The cere
mony took place at Rose Castle, and on February 28th he
was installed as Canon in the fourth prebend of Carlisle
Cathedral. On March 1st he read himself in. The Arch
deaconry was without emoluments, and on that account the
Canonry was annexed to the office.
It was the Archdeacon's great desire not to sever himself
from his old flock at Reading, and he hoped that his new
duties in the north might not necessitate his doing so.
When we remember that there is naturally a closer degree
of attachment between the pastor of a district church
situated as Trinity was and the somewhat voluntary con
gregation that gathers round him than often springs up
between the head of a parish and his more miscellaneous
flock; or at all events, when we bear in mind the close
and uninterrupted union which had subsisted between the
minister and people of the Trinity congregation through
the whole of Mr. Hulme's time and the whole of Mr.
Phelps's, we can well understand how the people depre
cated a total severance of their connexion with him and
how he found his comfort bound up with theirs in main-

chap, ix.] Unexpected difficulties. 239
taining it. At first he was in hopes that he might be able
to spend six months of the year at .Reading ; but this
might not be, for the statute required an Archdeacon to
reside eight months within his Archdeaconry. It was then
he began to realize how painful both to pastor and to flock
were the partings inseparable from the appointment he had
begun to hold. For they were indeed inseparable. A more
than two years' episcopate had revealed to Bishop Walde
grave the needs of the Archdeaconry of Carhsle. He
therefore not only discouraged Mr. Phelps's desire to obtain
half the year out of the diocese, but urged him to make up
his mind to a total separation from Reading and give his
undivided energies to the north. Writing on March 19th
the Bishop said — " I will not say how much I have looked
forward to. your permanent residence amongst us. For
subjects are daily presenting themselves upon which I
should wish to confer with you." The Bishop however
could not, and did not, expect a " permanent residence " in
his diocese until some vacancy of pastoral duty should
occur such as the Archdeacon could accept.
The latter was placed in some difficulty, as he was
required to reside eight months of the year in his
Archdeaconry, which only left four months .for Reading,
and he was in doubt whether this short annual residence
would make his tenure of Trinity strictly legal. The
Bishop of Oxford however raised no objection, and the
Archdeacon thought he might at all events go on with a
locum tenens at Trinity1 until the end of 1864, by which
time the path might be made clear one way or the other.
With this understanding he quitted Trinity Parsonage,
as we have said, July- 15th, 1863. On October 22nd
he returned to Reading for the consecration of Grev-
friars, quitting once more for the north on December 16th.
He expected to come back to Reading in April for a
month's residence ; but ere that he was involved in a per-
i We may here remark that on served none of the emoluments of
this arrangement Mr. Phelps re- Trinity for his own purse.

240 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
plexity he had never anticipated. The difficulties he had
felt in regard to Trinity were entirely in the matter of
residence, namely as to whether the amoirht of absence he
could afford from his Archdeaconry was sufficient to make
his Reading Incumbency legally tenable. But this was not
all : a difficulty of quite another nature existed, the insur
mountable character of which forced itself upon him very
soon after his return to Carlisle from the Greyfriars con
secration. Let us explain. Trinity Church had no legally
constituted district annexed to it, but only one allowed by
the Vicar of St. Mary's by courtesy and held on sufferance.
It was a question therefore whether Trinity Church was in
the eye of the law a benefice with cure of souls or a benefice
without one. The Archdeacon had been previously aware
of this doubt, but he had had every reason to regard it as
solved and settled.1 For although ecclesiastical authorities
of reputation had given him their opinion that the benefice
was one with cure of souls, Sir Roundell Palmer, a high
authority too, had pronounced a contrary opinion. Now if
Trinity Church was a benefice with cure of souls, it was not
the small amount of residence Mr. Phelps could afford there
that was his real difficulty ; his holding it at all, whatever
amount of residence he could have given it, would be illegal,
inasmuch as it was beyond the confines of his Archdeaconry.
In fact, if Trinity Church was a benefice with cure of souls,
Mr. Phelps was then no longer Incumbent of it, for it had
been voided by the very act of his acceptance of the Arch
deaconry on February 26th, 1863, and in the eye of the
law the church was vacant. Mr. Phelps's view, in reliance
on an eminent lawyer's opinion, had been corroborated by
the fact that he had been allowed by the Bishop of Oxford
to nominate a curate to Trinity, which plainly amounted to
a recognition of his Incumbency.2 If therefore he had these
many months past been acting under a misconception of
i See above, p. 232. which may have indicated a doubt
2 It may however be remarked in the Bishop's mind.
that the curate was not Bcensed,

chap, ix.j A painful discovery. 241
his legal position, the error was one for which no blame
attached to him. If he had been in error, the patron had
been wronged of his right of presenting to the vacancy,
but the patron had never made any claim to present ; nay,
so long a time had now elapsed since February 26th, 1863,
that the patron's own presentation might already have been
forfeited to the Bishop, yet the Bishop had not presented
nor claimed to present.1 We repeat therefore, that if Mr.
Phelps had made a mistake as to his legal' tenure of Trinity
Church, it was without any wilful fault of his.
The way he learnt the true nature of the law on the
question was this. On the 11th of January, 1864, less
than a month after he had left Reading, he was making a
friendly call on the Chancellor of Carhsle, the Rev. C. J.
Burton, when, in the course of a conversation wholly
unconnected with Trinity Church, something transpired
that led him to describe the position he occupied in regard
to that hving and to ask his opinion about it. Chancellor
Burton was a man of great experience in church law and
one whose opinion could not be disregarded.2 He stated
his view of the present case without any indecision, and
that view awakened the Archdeacon's gravest anxieties.
On reaching home be said to Mrs. Phelps — "I must write
immediately to Mr. Hulme, Mr. Pears, and the Bishop of
Oxford ; I have been unwittingly keeping my neighbour
from his rights ; the Chancellor tells me that Trinity was
Mr. Hulme's the moment I accepted the Archdeaconry."

1 If the patron fails to present to crown the patron's right for that
a vacant living until six months turn is entirely forfeited. — Cripps.
have expired, his right lapses to the 2 He was described publicly at a
ordinary; after six months more meeting for electing proctors for
the ordinary's title lapses to the Convocation at Carlisle, August
metropolitan, and __ after another 2nd, 186S, as a judge whose deci-
similar interval the presentation sions had been appealed against,
lies with the crown. But even even to the House of Lords, but
though the patron's six months never reversed. It was also said
have passed, if he presents before that his legal knowledge induced
the bishop or the metropolitan, his a high authority to call him one
right still holds good; but after of the best " blackletter " or eccle-
the presentation has lapsed to the siastical lawyers living.
R

242 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
His disquietude indeed was truly harassing, and may
easily be imagined ; for if the Chancellor's view were correct,
he not only had been unwittingly defrauding the patron of
his rights, but on the same day that he should be restoring
those rights he would be creating a great disappointment at
Trinity, by unsettling the ministerial arrangement there
which had been going on for six months. And then too
there was the risk, and the all but certainty, that his
procedure would be misunderstood, and might even be
blamed, by some whose good opinion he valued. But come
what would, he was not the man to receive from a com
petent source new hght affecting the rights of others and
keep it to himself. In the true spirit of a motto prefixed
to one of his journals (1856) — " Intend purely, see clearly,
act boldly," — he now shaped his course, and this was one
perfectly consistent with his long tried character, nor
could any thing be conceived fairer or more judicious.
Without acting precipitately and resigning the Incumbency
at once, he determined to get the Chancellor's opinion con
firmed or refuted, and moreover wisely resolved that every
party interested in the matter should have, equally with
himself, an opportunity of doing the same. Without any
loss of time he wrote (Jan. 11th) to the Bishop, the patron,
and the curate in charge, stating the nature of the doubts
that had been raised, and so enabling each, if he chose, to
pursue his own independent inquiries. He himself applied
to his friend Dr. Tristram of Doctors' Commons, Mr. A. J.
Stephens, Q.C., two eminent lawyers, and likewise to Mr.
Hathaway,1 of Lincoln's Inn. All three agreed with the
ChanceUor. On the 11th of February there arrived a letter
from the Bishop of Oxford, stating that what he considered
the very best opinion on the subject, that of the Queen's
Advocate, was against the legality of holding Trinity with
the Archdeaconry. The Archdeacon therefore found Chan
cellor Burton's view confirmed at every step, while nothing
1 Now the Bev. E. Hathaway, Bector of St, Ebbe's, Oxford,

chap, ix.] Archdeacon and Bishop. 243
of a contrary character was adduced. The Bishop of Oxford
further added that he was prepared to accept the Arch
deacon's resignation ; and on the very next day, February
12th, 1864, Mr. Phelps did what no honourable man could
have avoided doing under the circumstances, — sent in his
resignation to the Bishop. We have been particular in the
narration of the exact circumstances of this resignation,
because they were not by all persons properly understood
at the time of their occurrence.
And now we have to review the too brief remainder
of his career, which was spent in the north. His new
diocesan, one of the most spiritually minded and self sacri
ficing men that ever adorned the English episcopate, found
the Archdeacon one of kindred spirit, on whose wisdom as
well as friendship he could thoroughly rely in every trying
situation. It need hardly be said that the whole weight of
Mr. Phelps's position as a dignitary was thrown cordially
into the promotion of all those objects which Bishop Wal
degrave had at heart.
In this diocese, as in some others, the Chancellor claimed
by long prescription the right of holding visitations of the
clergy and dehvering charges.1 But while the more public
parts of the archidiaconal functions were discharged by
another, and that with such eminent ability, Archdeacon
Phelps's voice and influence were not the less heard and
felt throughout his archdeaconry.
The following letter indicates one of the ways in which
he sought to strengthen the hands of his brethren in
various places. The association to which it refers, and
which arose about the time of Dr. Waldegrave's appoint
ment, bore the title of "Evangelical Union for the Diocese
of Carlisle ; " and it consisted of lay and clerical members
who sought by mutual intercourse to uphold the principles,
1 We find Archdeacon Phelps on on May 19th, 1865, at Appleby.
two occasions preaching the sermon His texts were John v. 45-47, and
at Chancellor Burton's visitations, Nehemiah vi. 3.
in July, 1864, at the cathedral, and
B =>.

244 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
as they understood them, of the English Reformation. A
twO days' annual conference, with a discussion of such
subjects as are usually taken up at clerical meetings, a
participation together in the Lord's Supper, with a sermon
addressed to them by some experienced brother clergyman,
served to knit together the bonds of brotherly interest and
to connect the proceedings with the forms of the church
whose highest prosperity the members had at heart. Such
private unions among hke-minded brethren, with proper
and conscientious attention paid to guard against possible
mischief, are among the most encouraging features of our
Church in these divided times, when nobody pretends that
all without exception who profess membership with the
national church are equally cordial in upholding the prin
ciples of the Reformation, and when, alas, not a few are
found who would gladly undo that blessed work. The
following letter indicates Archdeacon Phelps's cordial sym
pathy with these brethren in his neighbourhood, whose
union, at their request, he had joined, and the tone of
the letter, which reflects their spirit as well as his own,
cannot fail to do credit to both. The circumstance that
the writer had been one of his pupils at Harrow must
have increased his interest in receiving the letter. This
sermon was preached at St. Cuthbert's, Carhsle, from
Matthew xvi, 24. From the Rev.  .

Keswick, October 22nd, 1863.
My dear Archdeacon,
I was sorry not to see you again after yesterday's service
and to express to you my own personal thanks for your sermon.
I cannot tell you what deep searchings of heart it produced in
myself, and how truly I felt that to you had been given the
" word in season " for me and such as me, of whom I doubt
not there were others present, who needed alike humbling and
raising up, such as it was the object of your sermon to effect.
May a large blessing follow the delivery of it !

chap. IX.] Augmentation of poor livings. 245
And now I have to ask you to let me have your manuscript for
printing with the report. I took occasion, when we met after the
service, to propose that it should be printed, with your consent, at
the Society's expense, feeling that the quiet perusal of it might be
of great use to those who had already heard it, and that the
benefit would be extended to many brethren who were not
present when it was preached. The proposal was very heartily
and unanimously responded to ; so I hope you will kindly allow
me to have it, and so confer an additional benefit on our
" Union." l
I hope you were favourably impressed with our meetings. I
never remember for myself to have enjoyed or profited by any
so much.
It is well known how dear an object it was to Bishop
Waldegrave to augment the small livings of his diocese,
which exhibited glaring instances of poverty, and those
by no means few. He felt that men of education and
efficiency were quite unable to undertake such cures when
they had only their ecclesiastical incomes to subsist on, and
the wearing exertions he underwent in order to mitigate
this evil entitle his memory to the lasting gratitude of the
diocese. The Archdeacon not only supported the Bishop's
strenuous efforts by assisting in the pubhc appeals; but
he appears to have opened his own purse in individual
instances, to the fullest extent of his means ; at all events
we find one incumbent of a small living writing to him, —
" By your kindness in contributing so liberally towards the
augmentation of the hving of  , I am now receiving
about £53 a year. The additional increase to my salary is
a great assistance and solace to my mind in declining health
and years, for which I cannot sufficiently express my
thankfulness and gratitude to you."
The Archdeacon's first speech on a Carlisle platform was
for the Bible Society, May 26th, 1863. He reminded his

1 The sermon was published under of the ministers of Christ."
the title of "Self-denial required

246 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
hearers of the various characters to whom the Bible was
an unwelcome book, and how many there were who hke
conspirators against it sought under various pretexts, open
or covert, to prevent its supremacy among mankind ; not
however omitting the warning to those who cordially
helped to spread the Bible that they should take heed to
support its honoured cause by their consistent hves.
Other pubhc meetings at Carhsle in which his advocacy
has come under our notice were for the Church Missionary,1
Pastoral Aid, and Jews' societies. We find him also at
Kendal and Penrith advocating, under the Bishop's presi
dency, another cause which his Lordship had very much at
heart, for building churches and parsonages. His sermon
register shews him at many places in the diocese and
preaching for many causes, strengthening the hands of his
brethren with all willingness and true sympathy, as we find
under the names of Dalston, Denton Holme (towards the
erection of which church he contributed), Raughten Head,
Holme Head, Kirkoswald, Houghton, Scaleby, Harrington,
Workington, Stanwix, Upperby, Crosthwaite, Whitehaven,
Silloth, Penrith, Long Morton, Temple Sowerby.
It need not be said that he felt the heartiest interest in
the spiritual advancement of the cathedral city, assisting
both with his personal services and with his purse. He
was a member of the building committee of St Stephen's,
and took part (on March 2nd, 1864) in the ceremonial of its
foundation by Miss Burdett Coutts, whose bounty, besides
defraying the whole cost of the church,2 considerately
included the presentation of a rich peal of bells. To
think of such a thing as " Merrie Carhsle " being without
1 The Carlisle Church Missionary established the Carlisle Branch As-
Association had the honour of being sociation in 1817. When the jubilee
founded by one of the original of the latter was observed fDecem-
" country members "of the Parent ber 5th, 1867) it was stated that
Society nominated in 1800, the during the fifty years upwards of
second year of its existence. This £14000 had been raised by it for
was the Bev. John Fawcett, of St. the Parent Society.
Cuthbert's, who commenced annual 2 The ground had to be provided
sermons for the Society in 1807 and by local subscription.

chap, ix.] Carlisle Church Bells. 247
bells ! The idea is scarcely conceivable. But it cer
tainly was a fact that the Cathedral bells could not be
rung for fear of endangering the structure, while tradition
said that they had been silent since the Pretender's time ;
nor did any other church in Carlisle possess a peal.
Hence the significancy of this benefaction, and we may
well imagine that the Carlislers now always associate the
name of Burdett Coutts with bell music, and likewise
what irresistibly moved Archdeacon Phelps to pen a few
verses on hearing St. Stephen's steeple salute the ears of
the citizens and their " honoured guest " on the Consecra
tion day.1
Canon Phelps's duties in the diocesan capital were
usuaUy discharged in the months of July, August, and
September, when he daily attended at the Cathedral,
morning and afternoon, assisting in divine service by
reading the lessons, and preaching on Sundays.2 The official
residences of the three other canons, as well as the deanery,
all detached, stood within the Eaglefield Abbey grounds
adjoining the Cathedral. It is a pleasant enclosure, like
many others so familiar to the visitors of Cathedral towns,
where well mown turf and noble trees mingling with
historic waUs compose the picture. The Archdeacon's
house, a new and commodious structure of reddish stone,
was built with some of the materials, but not exactly on
the site, of that occupied by his famous predecessor Dr.
Paley. The other Canons were the Rev. Charles Granville
Vernon Harcourt, appointed in 1837, the Rev. Henry
1 See the Poems. The Incumbent, would not allow the verger to dis-
theBev. A. Hodges had the pleasure turb the occupants of the judges'
on October 26th, 1871, of shewing stalls and was therefore conducted
the Baroness and party over St. to a humbler seat, which was liter-
Stephen's Church and his flourish- ally a 'bench,' to, the surprise of
ing School, on which occasion she all the congregation who recognised
inspected the monumental brass him. Shortly afterwards entered
erected by her order in the former the mayor, and he too met with a
to Bishop Waldegrave's memory. precisely similar accommodation.
2 "One Sunday morning during the The preacher was Archdeacon
assizes it happened that Baron Mar- Phelps, and curiously enough the
tin entered the Cathedral, but being subject of his sermon was ' practi-
late and not in any official costume cal humility;' " — Carlisle Paper.

248 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Gipps (1845), and the Rev. Henry Percy (1847). Dean
Close was appointed in 1856.
It might have been supposed that having come, at his
years, from friends of so long standing in the far south, he
would for a long time have felt a stranger's irksomeness.
But the home feeling soon returned. Indeed it could
not well be otherwise when nothing but kindness and
hospitality greeted him in and around Carlisle, not less sur
prising than gratifying to him. He could not help giving
utterance to his appreciation of it on more than one pubhc
occasion. " If my cheeks," said he, '' are not accustomed to
the northern breezes, my experience of the inhabitants of
this county, of their hospitality, geniahty, candour, truth
fulness and justice, was such that I should have thought
the word stranger was struck out of their nomencla
ture." 1 And at another time he remarked — " I cannot
yield to any man in respect for the genuine, substantial,
Enghsh, northern, character of these counties." 2 But while
he made new friends in those distant parts, it gratified him
to come occasionally in contact again, either at Rose Castle
or at his own house, with old friends of the south, especially
if there might chance to come across his path an Oxonian
contemporary, and more especially if one of C.C.C. A
memory of this dear old home of his manhood's prime
the Archdeacon planted in the Cathedral library (in that
interesting and venerable building the "Fratry") by pre
senting to its shelves the twenty-two learned volumes
which Edward GresweU had been toiling at so long and so
successfully. 3 Archdeacon Phelps was certainly not one of
those who affected to shght, as a Bible student, the tomes
of our great theologians and commentators. He did not
blindly follow them, nor expect every difficulty of interpre-
i Speech at the Proctorial election these volumes in October 1866; but
at Carlisle, August 2nd, 1865. owing to delays after the order had
2 The Sheriff's banquet at Carlisle been given, the work did not reach
July 19th 1864. hi™ in his lifetime. It was pre-
3 We find hi™ corresponding with sented in his name September 20th,
Mr. GresweU on the subject of 1867.

chap. IX.] A chapter living. 249
tation to be solved even in the Synopsis Criticorum ; but
he certainly beheved that young divines would succeed in
avoiding crudities, and in making more points in their
sermons, by a judicious apphcation to the stores of those
who have spent their laborious lives in sacred studies.
A former Archdeacon of Carhsle, in his advice to the
junior clergy, hkewise counsehed a resort to the streams
of learning (but alas for those days !) as a good remedy
(it would seem) for ennui. "A Commentary upon the
New Testament," said Paley in his ordination sermon at
Rose Castle in 1781, "read so as to be remembered, will
employ a great deal of leisure very profitably."
Ere long an opportunity was offered to Archdeacon
Phelps of once more engaging in parish work, a sphere
in which he had ever found so much enjoyment, one he
was thankful to have again, and without which he would
never have felt really at home in the north notwithstanding
all the warmth and welcome he received at every house.
The opening occurred through a vacancy in a chapter living;
and as the mode of dispensing capitular patronage is not
always understood, and in this case gave rise to unjust
surmises, we may say a few words on the subject, at least
so far as regards the custom then prevailing at Carlisle.
The vacant benefice first went the round of the Dean
and Canons, who thus had what was briefly termed their
" option," that is they might accept or decline the living
for themselves. If all successively declined, then a clergy
man not connected with their body was eligible, and the
members of the Chapter took it in turn to nominate
some fit person, whom the Dean and Chapter customarily
accepted. Some persons have the idea that the Canons
first take it in turn to nominate to the vacancy, so that
one of them, when it comes round to him, may have the
opportunity of naming himself. So invidious an arrange
ment was not at all likely to prevail, and the one actually
observed was very different. The option was first passed
round in succession, and not until all had waived their
privilege of acceptance could an outsider be thought of.

250 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
The vicarage of Appleby fell vacant by the death of the
Rev. Joseph Milner, November 28th, 1864. The senior
rnembers of the Chapter had the first option, but ah of
them having other hvings which they preferred retaining,1
it came down to the junior Canon, Mr. Phelps. Had he
likewise declined, Canon Harcourt had the first turn to
nominate a stranger.
Archdeacon Phelps was by no means displeased with the
prospect of accepting Appleby. Being, as we have already
remarked, earnestly desirous of re-engaging in pastoral
work, and the law compelling him to reside for eight
months in every year within the limits of his Archdea
conry, and forbidding him therefore to take any living
beyond its bounds, he saw this possibly the only oppor
tunity he might ever have. The Bishop's anxiety in the
matter may be seen from the terms in which he wrote to
urge him. " I do most earnestly hope that you may see
your way to take Appleby. A greater blessing to the
place and a greater comfort to myself I cannot conceive.
Of course you must expect misstatements to be made ; but
I am quite sure that a Vicar of Appleby cannot take his
proper place on the income of the benefice. Do then take
it." After this it was not likely that he would hesitate.
Accordingly he intimated his acceptance to the Dean, and
on January 18th. 1865, he was instituted to the hving.
On the 21st he was inducted, on Sunday, the 22nd, he
read in, and on the same evening preached his first sermon
in the Appleby pulpit, taking for his text Isaiah lv. 1.
The town of Appleby, in the north eastern quarter of
Westmorland, was formerly of some importance, but is
now a mere fragment of itself. Containing only about
nine hundred inhabitants, it hardly differs from a con-
1 Canon Harcourt was Bector of Appleby, and none of them were in
Bothbury, Canon Gipps was Vicar the patronage of the Chapter. Dean
of Crosthwaite, and Canon Percy Close was Perpetual Curate of Christ
was Bector of Graystoke. These Church, a very poor Chapter living
livings were all of higher value than in Carlisle with a large population.

CHAP. IX.] Appleby. 251
siderable village, although it fs an assize town — and by-
the-by, a very favourite one with the judges. A mayor
and aldermen, seahng with the effigy of old Laurentius,
inherit their civic dignities from charters . of the earliest
Plantagenets ; while a massive square tower of a castle
characteristic of the Norman period likewise attests the
rank which Appleby used to hold in the scale of towns.
It lies, as Camden expressed it, "in a pleasant field,"
which is thus alluded to also in the words of an old song—
" When weary Sol gang down the west,
And silver Cynthia rose,
The flower-enamelled meads I press'd
Where crystal Eden flows."
In the immediate neighbourhood is to be found a lovely
dell fondly supposed by some of the natives to rival the
vale of Tempe itself. Appleby lies within the action of a
singular local phenomenon known as the " Helm Wind,"
an occasional tempest that takes a circuit of about forty
miles which it sweeps with considerable violence.
A fine broad street rises with an easy ascent towards the
north, and at the head of it there stands, nearly girdled by
the beautifully winding river, the castle before referred to,
a seat of the Tufton family. Just outside the castle waU,
at Scattergate, is a fine old sycamore, underneath which
John Knox is said to have preached. Camden wrote that a
Roman road was in his time visible by its high ridge at this
town; but he appears to have been mistaken1 in saying that
Appleby was a Roman Station. At the lower end of the
town is the church, a towered structure of some pretensions
and worthy of a county town, restored in 1859.2 There is
also a free grammar school founded by Queen Elizabeth,
reckoning three bishops among its alumni; and other
foundations, with their fragments of old masonry and
1 " Appleby Castle," by the Bev. Archdeacon. During his incuni-
James Simpson, Vicar of Kirkby bency, in the year 1866, a portion of
Stephen ; 1865. the chancel lead was stripped off by
2 The chairs within the com- the Helm Wind, which rolled it up
munion rails were presented by the like a scroll of paper.

252 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
ancient inscriptions that always set the local archaeolo
gist a-thinking, keep up the traditions of the place and
the memory of kind benefactors. Such footprints of past
times, as well as the general appearance of the town, sent
the Archdeacon's thoughts wandering back now and then
to his birth place in old Wiltshire. We will answer for
it that he was often enough fancying two Oxonians posting
up to Scotland, one a handsome Oriel youth, the other a
happy toiling Corpus bachelor with a world of hope before
him; for there at the lower end of this "royal burgh," near
the bridge and the church, hung out the sign of the King's
Head, as it had done five-and-forty years before.
His immediate predecessor at Appleby was the Rev.
Joseph Milner, a relative of two distinguished brothers of
that name. An earher Vicar and occupier of the glebe
house was Archdeacon Paley, the mention of whose name
suggests what historic memories some of our ecclesiastical
residences have in their old walls, under their old trees, in
their old turf and old gardens ! We almost forgive them
for getting not a httle dilapidated at the proper periods,
and we would rather see them, if possible, restored than
rebuilt. The proper period for renewing Appleby parsonage
came with the advent of a vicar who had a fair prebend,
as well as private means, to countenance such an under
taking. We find the Archdeacon writing to one of his sons
(February 28th, 1865), in a hvely mood that made the best
of everything and that never left him, " It would have made
you smile to witness us in some of the quandaries incident
to the process of getting into a rumble-tumble, dingy old
parsonage in such a season ! " And with a racy description
of the plight he and Mrs. Phelps were in, he announced
his full intention, if spared, to build a new vicarage.
Happily his improving hand had not lost its vigour at
sixty-six, and he soon proceeded to restore (for his suc
cessors, much more than for himself, as it turned out ! ) the
modest mansion of the benefice, with the usual aid from

chap, ix.] A steward of the church. 253
Queen Ann's Bounty. Verily the church's revenues found
in him no niggard steward. Those who take for granted
that our dignified clergy must necessarily be hiving a
private store out of their revenues are often very widely
mistaken, forgetting the incessant demands made on clerical
purses in general — which are all popularly believed to be
banks, of which the clerics need nothing for themselves.
The vicarage, including St. Ann's, was £346 a year, and
the canonry was worth above £600, and if we suppose
Archdeacon Phelps enjoyed in the evening of his days
£1000 a year from his preferments, this is what gentlemen
in government and insurance offices attain to at middle
age. We may caU to mind how many years at Reading
he laboured for £250 a year, and paid a curate out of it.
Though he never murmured at this in his own case, it cer
tainly gave point to one of his speeches at the Carhsle
Diocesan Church Building Society, while urging the duty
of the laity to assist in providing curates. " It is certainly
hard upon the clergyman who takes a small benefice and
who undertakes the labour to the full extent, when he finds
himself under the necessity of providing a curate. It is
hard upon him to do the work and also to have the onus
of supporting a curate." Let us imagine all that Mr.
Phelps received from ecclesiastical sources from 1845 tiU
1867 and then divide the sum by the number of years he
served, this will give the annual average income, out of
which he paid a curate, for at Appleby too he was of course
thus assisted. Surely there must be other things than
money that attract some of the excellent of the earth to
the blessed task of ministering the Gospel of Christ, or
the labourers would be found few and few indeed.
While the new vicarage was in the workmen's hands the
Vicar found a home at the " King's Head," but he met on
all sides of him kindness and hospitality truly northern,
which deeply impressed his grateful and affectionate
and unassuming nature. Eight months of the year he
passed at Appleby; for three months he went into resi-

254 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
dence at Carhsle, and one month he allowed himself for
pilgrimages in the south.1
To assist in the duties of Appleby, which embraced
within its parochial bounds a very large country distiict,
and also to supply his place when absent, he had the com
fort of receiving one who had for some years helped him
in his young men's Bible classes at Reading, and to whom
he gave a title for orders, the Rev. Thomas Hodges, of St.
John's College, Cambridge.2
While providing the hving with a comfortable residence,
Archdeacon Phelps was not unmindful of other improve
ments, and sought to reproduce at Appleby the parochial
machinery he had found so useful at Reading. Singularly
enough, though a school for the poor was not wanting,
school-house there was none, and the children had to walk
into the adjoining parish of Bongate for their instruction.
One who had had so much to do with schools all his life
was not likely to allow this drawback to continue if he
could help it ; but on addressing himself to his task, he
found that no ground to build upon was to be obtained.
An old thatched building just outside his kitchen garden
wall, which would have afforded a site for an infant school,
1 His first return to Beading after In 1865 he was at Exeter, from
the consecration of Greyfriars was whence he renewed acquaintance
in 1864, when he preached at that with the venerable Baronet of Kil-
church on Ascension Day, May 5th, lerton Park, the father of three of
and on the two Sundays following. his Harrow pupils, and with an old
On May 29th he preached at St. Hyde Abbey schoolfeBow, Mr. C.
Mary's Chapel, on June 5th at St. Turner, at his charming house at
John's, on June 19th and 26th at Dawlish. He preached at St. Law-
Greyfriars and St. Lawrence. On rence, Beading, October 29th, at
July 3rd he preached twice at his Hatherleigh November 5th, at Grey-
brother's church at Hatherleigh, friars November 19th.
and on July 10th twice at Carlisle. In 1866 he preached at Greyfriars,
In the winter he came again to April 15th ; St. John's, April 22nd ;
Beading, preaching at St. Lawrence St. Mary's Chapel, May 6th and
on December 11th and at Greyfriars 13th. His last sermon at Trinity
and St. Lawrence on December 18th. was on Sunday evening, December
On his way down he visited Oxford 13th, 1863.
for the last time, December 6th, to 2 Now Vicar of Camerton in the
vote as a member of the University Diocese of Cariislc, on the presen-
for the Bev. A. Ashworth's appoint- tation of the Dean and Chapter.
ment to the Vicarage of Holme Cul-
tram in the Diocese of Carhsle,

chap, ix.] Drybeck. 255
he would gladly have purchased, had the owner been
willing to sell.1
Though ah his efforts to provide this blessing for the
town were fruitless, he met in the course of some time
better success in a distant quarter of the parish, three or
four miles from the church and without a school ; this was
the hamlet or township of Drybeck, so named from its
scanty rill that often disappeared from its bed entirely.2
Here the vicar anxiously desired to erect a chapel of ease
and a school, but being unable to obtain a franchise of the
land he was obhged to limit his views to a building that
would serve both purposes. " Difficulties and discourage
ments," he once said, " are made to be surmounted, if it
please God, and not to be succumbed to ; " and if he could
not do all he would, he did what was possible. His last
illness overtook him ere he could carry out his design,
but he bequeathed towards it, if we may anticipate a httle,
a sum nearly equal to one year's income of the living,
to Mr. Hodges, who, with other subscriptions which he
obtained, soon brought the undertaking to a successful
issue. As long however as it pleased God to spare his
laborious life Christian instruction was carried out by
every practicable means. Cottage lectures were set on foot,
and these were held by vicar and curate on the same
evenings at different places among the outlying poor of the
parish. The following extract of a letter from the vicarage
' On February 27th, 1872, were instances " Beaubec, Briquebec
opened the St. Lawrence Girls' and Caldebec, Foulbec, Houlbec, the
Infant Schools, built by voluntary pleasant brook, the birch -fringed
subscriptions, on a site liberally brook, the cool rivulet, the mud-
granted at less than half its value stained rivulet, the streamlet in
by the Earl of Lonsdale. the hollow channel." The famous
2 Some of the older County maps abbey of Bee was on a tongue be-
mention this little spot, which tween two such streams. West-
lies south-west of Appleby and in morland reckons among its waters
1837 contained twenty houses and Crowdundle Beck, Maize Beck, Eas-
one hundred inhabitants, according dale Beck, Helle Beck, the latter
to Moide's English Counties. The being no doubt the same as Houlbec
word beck, bek, or bach is of Scan- in Normandy. The County maps
dinavian origin, and, as Sir F. contain also places marked Bur-
Palgrave has pointed out, names beck, Helbeck, Troutbeck, Base-
of places containing this syllable beck, Swarthbeck.
are common in Normandy. He

256 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
(dated June 18th, 1865) is a charming introduction to
one of them —
" We had such a beautiful walk to the cottage lecture at Hoff
on Wednesday evening, two miles through a wood and such a
lovely valley of wild flowers. Some school children were having
their treat in the wood, and they and their gipsy kettle and
donkey cart of milk, <fcc., gave effect to the picturesque scenery.
The dear Archdeacon's text was the 3rd verse of the 23rd Psalm.
An old man of eighty-two walked some distance to be there."
There was at each end of the cloisters by which the
townspeople entered the churchyard a two-storeyed tower,
and one of these, standing by the vicarage gate, he rented
of the Corporation. Here he fitted up in a most comfortable
manner two rooms communicating with each other, and set
on foot his monthly Sacramental lecture. He likewise had
it in contemplation to hold Missionary readings, to establish
Bible classes, and to give instructive popular readings in
such useful secular subjects as natural history and the
hke. The penny readings which have become so popular,
or at any rate the entertainments in which they have
developed themselves, were not to his taste. The late
vicar's daughters had established a clothing club and tract
distribution, in which they continued to render their assis
tance, forming with a few others a valuable little band
of district visitors. The Archdeacon introduced tracts on
sanitary subjects. The Church Missionary publications too
were circulated among the better classes. The Sunday
schools, first held in the Moot Hah and afterwards in the
Butter Market, were zealously and efficiently superinten
ded by Mr. Nanson and Miss Rosamund Milner. In the
"priest's croft," as the vicarage meadow was called, the
children kept their Easter Monday holiday, and enjoyed the
vicar's gift1 (according to old custom) of oranges and puce-
1 Lord Wharton's annual gift to who can repeat the Church Cate-
the school children is a Bible and chism perfectly and a portion of
Prayer Book %o a certain number the Psalms,

chap. IX.] Appleby Institutions. 257
coloured eggs.1 These "pasch eggs" are not peculiar to
Appleby; they are known in other parts of England as
well as in Germany and Russia, and while symbolising
the resurrection of Christ, they are also considered to re
present a still more ancient and a very wide spread emblem,
the " mundane egg," referring to the original production of
the world.
Curiously enough the Wilton boy found himself at Ap
pleby in the footsteps of the Herberts once more. A
handsome marble monument in the chancel commemorated
Ann Countess of Pembroke, a lady of the house of Clifford
and a hberal benefactress of the town. In the middle of
the seventeenth century she was residing in her castle of
Appleby, and in the year 1651, when the Throne and the
Church of England were lying low in the dust, she founded
a little college of poor elderly widows, whom she designated
The mother and twelve sisters. They were to be always
chosen out of those who had hved on her estate, and their
abode she named St. Ann's Hospital. The endowments of
this institution are still flourishing and the inmates are
appointed by the Countess's heirs and successors at the
Castle. The sisterhood are lodged around a neat quadrangle,
each in her own house with a good garden in common and
£25 a year. The side opposite the entrance gateway contain
ing the tiny chapel, where Archdeacon Phelps, who always
felt pleasure in ministering to the aged, generally made a
point of leading, when at the vicarage, the daily worship
of these poor bedes-women.2
Surely if any one at Appleby had ever surmised that
i They were boiled hard in a cop- Ann's Will, in which it is stated
per with logwood and cochineal. that the Vicar of Appleby in per-
2 It may be well here to notice an petuity is chaplain ex-officio, the
error in Samuel Lewis's Topogra- Countess's successors in the Lord-
phical Dictionary (4th edition, 1840), ship of Appleby retaining only the
which states that the appointment right of "Visitors," which autho-
of the Chaplain, or ' ' Beader," to rises them to appoint a Beader
this foundation is with the owner of in case the duties should remain
the castle (then the Earl of Thanet). unperformed by the vicar. The
This was proved a mistake during emoluments of the chaplaincy were
Archdeacon Phelps's Incumbency s£30 a year,
by a reference to the Countess
S

258 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
their Archdeacon-Vicar was to be merely a dignified non
resident and a pastor by deputy, there was enough in all
this to undeceive them, and the people soon learned to
appreciate his disinterested exertions on their behalf.
The following letter will shew how his old flock at
Reading were not out of his affectionate remembrance.
It was addressed to the lady who during the latter period
of his ministry there, and much to his comfort, took the
oversight of " the dear old Trinity schools," as he continued
to call them. To Miss Sarah C  .

The Abbey, Carlisle, August 20th, 1866.
Sincerely have I and my dear wife followed you, in this
important movement, and your dear sisters, with our affectionate
sympathies, and remembered you at the Throne of Grace. May
every blessing accompany you for time and eternity. I shall
always hold it as one of the great blessings of my life that my
sojourn at Reading of eighteen years fell within the range of
yours of twenty-four, and that during the whole of my Incum
bency at Reading I enjoyed the friendship and most uniform
kindness and invaluable assistance of your whole party. As far
as the sojourn there is concerned "the wind hath passed over"
each of our houses, " and we are gone," forming each in our turn
a further illustration of the solemn truth that man " never con-
tinueth in one stay." The happy hours we have spent in dwelling
together upon that which " abideth for ever," " The word of the
Lord," have not so passed away, but will live perhaps in happy
memories, till from the kingdom of grace we, and those whom we
loved and who have taken sweet counsel together with us, have
passed to the kingdom of glory.
The accompanying lines were written some years ago; I
thought however you would enter into the sentiment, and have
therefore transcribed them.
" Once more, O Lord, forth on my journey sent,
Here for a Uttle span I pitch my tent ;
Prepared to strike it, for the last remove,
When Thy good pleasure calls me from above.

chap, ix.] Work concluding. 259
0 Thou, whose hand, my solace and my song,
Has led, preserved, sustained me all along,
What Thou ordain'st, assist me still to bear,
On Thee to fix all love, and cast aU care ;
What Thou withdraw'st, oh ! help me to resign,
And know no home but heaven, no will but thine.
Still, still be near, my never changing Friend,
And bid me " Welcome" at my journey's end."
The various duties which he cheerfully discharged, and
the plans he was ever devising, shewed an elasticity of
mind and an enjoyment of his Master's work that gave
promise of many more years of usefulness. Old age could
not be said to have begun with him ; yet there was coming
on apace towards him " the night, when no man can work."
One of the last public acts in which he was associated
with his revered diocesan was an Ordination, which was
held for the first time in Appleby Church, on Trinity
Sunday, May 27th, 1866; for Bishop Waldegrave did not
confine this solemn and interesting service to the Cathe
dral town. Though some portion of the new vicarage
was stiU in the workmen's hands, Archdeacon and Mrs.
Phelps contrived the pleasure of entertaining at table the
large party,1 which consisted of fifteen candidates, the
Bishop, his chaplain, and the preacher; the latter being
the Rev. Aubrey Price, and the former the Archdeacon's
own successor the Rev. Thomas Robert Hamilton.
In November 1866, he returned with Mrs. Phelps from
their last visit to Reading, by way of Bath, which they
left on the 21st at seven in the morning, reaching Carlisle
at half-past six in the evening. He writes in his pocket-
book on that day —
Beautiful sunrise — Bright moonlight,
" From first to last on Thee, Lord, we depend,
. Thou art our safeguard to our journey's end."
Never did he fail at the end of his many long journeys
to kneel down with his wife immediately on their arrival
1 Kind neighbours furnished them with beds,
S2

260 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
at home and give thanks for God's merciful care extended
to them.
On Saturday the 24th he entered the new vicarage house,
which he had completed without stint. An excellent resi
dence had taken the place of the one which he found, and
in some of its airy rooms he was pleased to tread the
carpets manufactured to his order and from patterns sent
him by the weavers of his native town. From its windows
eastward the look-out was upon the church, the meadow
bounded by the river, the Penrith road beyond, and a
pretty winding wooded road leading to the station ; while
in the remote distance one of the three " pikes " or moun
tains, Knock, Merton, Dufton, was sometimes visible. A
high wooded and beautiful bank of the Eden was seen in
the northern prospect. Between the house and the church
tower stood a noble sycamore tenanted .by a sociable
colony of jackdaws ; from the western and southern windows
the view was into a sylvan garden. From this now
attractive abode (to be so little tenanted by him ! ) he had
the gratification of dating, on December 21st, 1866, his last
circular on the subject of the Greyfriars : for that too had
been on his mind up to this date, and he had found, hke
others, that the pecuniary finishing off of a great restoring
enterprise was hot hke the beginning of it. The circular
however announced that the whole debt, including his own
responsibility for the north transept, had been subscribed
for by a few attached friends, and the accounts audited
and closed.1
¦The whole building fund was Mr. Neale £653 (besides the Commu-
nearly £9000, and the endowment nion plate). The largest benefactor
fund £3000. This sum was raised, was the Bev. Peter French, who gave
as we have stated, without the help £921. Besides the Archdeacon's
of any church building society. donation, his family and relatives
The bulk of the building fund, or contributed £875 ; his personal
nearly £6500, was made up in friends, entirely unconnected with
twenty-eight contributions. Of Reading, contributed £1486 among
these handsome donations we notice them. The local newspapers made
that Mr. J. and Mrs. C. Simonds no charge for printing and ad vertise-
gave respectively £600 and £320 ; ments ; and Mr. Neale none for law
Mr. Stuart £400 ; the Misses Wil- expenses. The Messrs. Sutton laid
son £500; A rchdeacon Phelps £500; out the grounds in a similar spirit

chap, ix.] Retrospect. 261
William Whitmarsh Phelps, as he looked back along
hfe's journey, from Wilton to Winchester, to Oxford, to
Hindon, to Harrow, to Reading, to Carhsle and Appleby,
often gave utterance to the grateful language so charac
teristic of him, and many a time did he recall to memory
the lines we read in one of his Oxford letters —
" When all thy mercies, 0 my God,
My rising soul surveys."
We are told that he had two or three favourite spots
within a short step from the walls of the vicarage, to one
or other of which he would on a summer morning before
breakfast (for he was ever an early riser) resort for a soli
tary turn, "to chant," as he would say with one of his
quiet smiles, " my Te Deum" Perhaps we should not be
far out if we pictured him in his summer-house on some
Sunday morning, jotting down in his pocket-book a few
echoes to the chimes from St. Lawrence's tower that were
summoning his people to the house of prayer.1
At the time he dated the letter to Reading, near the end
of 1866, announcing the closing of the Greyfriars' account,
his footsteps were aheady bending towards the tomb, and
upon this solemn path we must now accompany him. As
a Reading or an Appleby pastor alone, he might to all

of liberality. Indeed all the Bead- truth, that Beading and its vicinity
ing subscribers gave liberally ac- can justly feel proud, that at this
cording to their means, and with a period of such numerous and diverse
hearty good will. The following solicitations in the cause of promot-
remarks of the local press, which ing Divine Worship, and extending
appeared before the full amount was our Houses of Prayer, in this one
raised, wereno more than was due: — instance more than £10,000 have
"It is not possible to review actually been contributed ! There
the collective and individual efforts is, however, still a little further
which have been made since the work to do: "finis coronat opus,"
year 1861 to raise the above struc- and to complete the building in its
ture, and to carry out the wishes of entirety, and to realise fully the
the Ven. and respected Archdeacon restoration of " exhumed antiquity,"
Phelps, without earnest admiration : one more struggle is necessary." —
each successive appeal has met with Berkshire Chronicle.
a response as hearty and as free as i The lines beginning "Peal the
the most sanguine could possibly notes again." See poems.
expect; indeed, we may say with

262 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
human appearance have trode the vale of hfe for some
years longer; and in truth in either sphere there was
good employment for all the energies of " three-score-andT
ten." But Archdeacon and Bishop were both wearing- out,
though the world at large could little have suspected this
of the latter at any rate, who was then in the very meridian
of life.
On the last Sunday of the year he preached from Reve
lations x. 5, 6. From this passage he turned his people's
reflections to what Time is, and what Time followed by
Eternity, what Time is to us, and what the termination
of Time. On New Year's Day, 1867, he attended church,
but took no further part than reading the Communion ser
vice. The following day a heavy snow-storm occurred, and
the snow continued on the ground.
On the first Sunday in the year, Epiphany Sunday, he
preached from Psalm xc. 1-4, and Matthew ii. 12, and ad
ministered the Holy Communion. Shortly after this he
took a long walk through the snow, in company with his
curate, to visit a distant sick parishioner, and Mr. Hodges
was struck by his more than usual solemnity of manner
when he spoke at various houses where they called. The
result of this exposure was a cold, which in his weakened
bodily health he could not succeed in throwing off. His
sermon on February 10th at Appleby, from Luke viii. 27,
proved his last. On the following Sunday he officiated for
the last time, reading the Communion service. It was the
assize week and the Sheriff's chaplain preached. Judge
Mellor was at church. The Archdeacon still kept about,
and in the course of the month was at Carhsle for a few
days and saw his medical adviser, Mr. Page.
It may be interesting to give the subjects of sermons
which, had it been the Lord's will, Archdeacon Phelps had
arranged to preach at Appleby and Carhsle Cathedral from
the end of May to the end of September, 1867.

chap, ix.] Projected courses of Sermons. 263
1867. Fok Appleby.
May 26th.— Christ's ascension and its benefits.
June 2nd. — Call to repentance.
„ 9th. — Sin, righteousness, and judgment.
„ 16th. — Creation of man.
„ 23rd.— The love of God.
„ ,, — Rich man and Lazarus.
„ 30th. — Salvation the grand object of pursuit.
Poa Cam-isle Cathedral.
July 7th. — The Apostolical salutation.
„ „ — The lost sheep.
„ 14th. — Zacchseus.
„ „ — The prayer of Jabez.
„ 21st. — Way to attain the blessings of the Gospel.
„ „ — David's choice.
„ 28th. — Unchangeableness the source of spiritual blessings.
„ „ — Those who love God.
August 4th. — Justification.
„ „ — The Christian's walk by faith.
„ 11th. — Greatness of salvation. Why neglected 1
„ ,, — Sanctification.
„ 18th. — Blind Bartimseus.
„ „ — The smitten Rock.
„ 25th. — Effectual calling.
September 1st. — The Pharisee and the Publican.
„ 8th. — Superior glory of the Christian to the Mosaic
Dispensation.
„ 15th.-^-The covenant of grace.
„ 22nd. — David's deliverance.
„ 29th. — St. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians.
„ „ - — Reconciliation a pledge of final salvation.
But the foUowing letter shews that his appearance and
his evident inability to rahy gave his friends the greatest
uneasiness.

264 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
From Bishop Waldegrave.
Rose Castle, Carlisle, Ma/rch 15th, 1867.
My dear friend,
Need I say that the kind and touching note of this
morning has given me the deepest concern ? I certainly have been
distressed to see how far from well you have lately been. But 1
had hoped that, with relief from anxious executorships, and the
arrival of finer weather, you would have been yourself again.
And I will still hope and pray that it may be so. Por indeed
your family, your parish, your diocese, and your bishop can ill
afford to lose you. What I should do without your wise and
affectionate counsel, I know not. But I will quit the subject for
• the present, as I can ill spare time for all I should like to say,
having my house full once more of candidates for Holy Orders.
'We have five deacons and two priests, all nice men, and the ordi
nation will be in the chapel on Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon March 16th, the day he received
the above, while conversing with his friend and fellow
labourer in the gospel, the Archdeacon several times re
peated the first verse of Psalm xi., " How say ye to my soul,
Flee as a bird to your mountain ? " and wished the whole
Psalm to be read. Conversation turned upon the work of
the Lord in which he had been so many years engaged.
"- After all, an unprofitable servant," was all that he would
say on this topic. When again it was said that he had
indeed been an instrument of good, he replied with evident
emotion, " I trust it may be so." He desired the 121st Psalm
to be read to him. He now alluded to the York Congress,
to which he had received an invitation — " but, you see, the
night cometh when no man can work."
On the 26th of March he was still so low, that when the
Rev. Abraham Hodges of Carlisle came to see him he was
unequal to much conversation, but assured him — " all is well,"
reminding us of some hnes he had written in a former illness
in his Lucretius, in reply to suggestions of that unbeliever.1
1 See page 148, and the Poems.

chap, ix.] Hopes and thoughts. 265
"One glance of thy love every pain shaB dispel,
For it whispers of peace, and says ' aU shall be well. ' "
In April he appeared to have revived, and even looked
forward to preaching again. The following outline of a
sermon (the last he ever made) shews the subject upper
most in his mind, both for himself and his Appleby
people — Colossians i. 28.
Imperfect in himself,
in all he feels — (desires, joys, sorrows.)
 does — (prayers, praises, performances.)
[Witness] the sigh —
the groan —
the tear.
What says it 1 " Imperfect."
But perfection in Christ.
Atonement.
Righteousness. Holiness.
Wisdom.
We become perfect —
By union to Him.
receiving from Him.
being with Him.
Our full perfection,
Decreed, promised, provided for, will be realized.
Christ now Represents us as \
Will make us V perfect.
Will present us ;
What a genial spring might have done for him, by God's
blessing, we can only surmise ; but the" month of May in
this year was quite remarkable for its extremes of tem
perature, and he suffered a relapse. Hope of recovery was
evidently very slender. AU that medical aid could do was

266 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
done both by Mr. Page of Carhsle and Mr. Dinwoodie of
Appleby ; and five times did Dr. Cowan of Reading, more
intimately acquainted with his constitution, obey the sum
mons to his sick chamber. The bright faith and Christian
intercourse of this old and valued friend proved a rich solace
to his sinking brother, although his eminent abihties could
not arrest the disorder.1 He was sensible of the precarious
tenure on which he held his life after this dangerous relapse,
and when his brother, reminding him of the blessedness
which the exchange would most surely prove to him,
said — " You would not wish it otherwise ? " he answered
with a firm and deliberate voice so indicative of his usual
decision of character — " By no means." Twice during his
illness did his beloved Bishop visit him at Appleby. Alas,
httle was it thought then how soon he too would need the
" rod and staff" whose aid he so affectionately and fervently
implored for his dying friend ! But as if he almost had a
presentiment of soon following his archdeacon to the grave,
he wrote about this time to him, in the midst of some
passing trial in which he needed the brotherly and never-
failing sympathy of this tried friend — " I feel disposed to
wish, when such things happen, that I was in your place,
soon to go to Him whom we love and who will protect us

1 Dr. Charles Cowan, M.D., after supreme authority was dearer than
a medical education at Paris marked any thing to his heart and was a
by indomitable application and no cause that moved his whole nature
mean success, settled at Beading, in to its depths. He died November
succession to Dr. Bailey, in the year 29th, 1868, and was buried in the
1836. His numerous contributions Beading Cemetery amidst a general
to medical literature are weB known assembly of nearly the whole town
and appreciated in the profession ; including every minister of religion
and while his abilities secured him and medical man, all business being
an extensive practice and a high suspended during a greater part of
provincial reputation, he lives in the the day. A volume of his well
affectionate remembrance of a large studied and thoughtful Biblical
circle at Beading who warmly prized Essays was pubBshed in a collected
his undaunted and eloquent advo- form in 1867 (London: Hamilton).
cacy of every sound religious cause. A sketch of his medical career
He studied the sacred Scriptures with an account of his professional
with the earnestness and devotion writings appears in Dr. Barker's
of a man of science, believed their Pliatographs of Eminent Medical
teaching with the simplicity of a Men of all Countries. (London:
child, and the maintenance of their Churchill.)

chap, ix.] Entering the valley. 267
from the least disturbance. But He is a good Master and
we must work for Him while we can."
About the end of May the Bishop wrote again to the
house of sorrow and suffering, dating from Grantham House,
Putney Heath —
. . . . Pray tell him how deeply] we feel for you all;
and that though his departure from among us will be, I am sure,
a very great and unspeakable joy to him, it is a loss which I
cannot but deem irreparable. Tell him that I thank him for all
the faithful and affectionate services he has rendered me. . . .
. . . May the Everlasting Arms be under you both, and
may the Rod and the Staff of the Shepherd comfort him you love
so well.
On Sunday, May 26th, he woke up just as the people
were going into church, and in a clear voice sang a verse
or two from Watt's hymn, beginning
"Then let me join this holy train ; "
after which he prayed for a blessing on the minister and
the congregation.
He greatly enjoyed having hymns read to him, the fol
lowing verse was one of his great favourites : —
" 'Tis joy enough, my AB in AB,
Low at thy feet to lie ;
Thou wilt not let me lower fall,
And higher none can fly."
His love of verse never left him. One of his last books of
a secular character was Cowper's Poems. We may also
mention here that in the winter of 1866-7 he read his old
pupil Mr. Colquhoun's " Wilberforce and his Friends," then
recently published.
A man of prayer always, he was much more so in these
days of failing nature ; and even when his mind was wan
dering, the previous prayerful frame and thoughts of Christ
his Lord were apparent. His family, his flock, his house
hold, his friends, himself, were constantly mentioned in his

268 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
supplications. As long as his strength lasted these morn
ing and evening utterances were audible to those kneeling
beside his bed, and some of them were recorded ; as for
instance —
" O thou God of mercy and all consolation, we come before
Thee in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, pleading His atoning
blood and trusting in Thy tender mercies in Him for the pardon
of all our sins and for simple unshaken faith in Thy promises.
Father of mercies and God of all comfort, look down in mercy
upon us and on all who are near and dear to us, and direct us in
simple faith to wait on Thee for all that is before us, and to say
from our inmost soul, Thy will be done ! Goodness and mercy
have followed me all the days of my life. Thank God, who hath
been with me all my life through, and hath raised me a poor
unworthy sinner from the dust and permitted me to preach the
everlasting gospel more than three thousand times ! "
The mercies of God to his younger days must have been
forcibly recalled to his mind by a letter which reached him
in the beginning of June, from no less old a friend than his
tutor at Hyde Abbey, the "young man just ordained" of
1815, and now in almost patriarchal age.
From Rev. J. O. Zillwood.
Compton Rectory^ Winchester, June 1st, 1867.
My dear old friend,
A letter from your brother John received this morning
has informed me of your painful sufferings and the precarious
state in which you have been for some time lying; and I lose
no time in writing to express how deeply and most sincerely I
sympathise with you in this your hour of trial, and at the same
time to say how thankful I am that our good and gracious God,
who has been your Friend and Protector from your youth up
until now, is fully realizing to you, in this your sore extremity,
the truth and faithfulness of His promise, " I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee ; " " When thou passest through the waters
I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not over
flow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be

chap, ix.] Hope- full of immortality. 269
burned • neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the
Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel thy Saviour," enabling you
to " hear the rod and who hath appointed it," enduing you with
strength in the inward man to bear your sufferings with patience
and meek submission to His will, and cheering you with the
hope full of immortality in Christ Jesus.
Hold on then, my dear old friend, and soon you shall know in
your own blessed experience that " our light affliction which is
but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory."
As for myself, having now reached my 83rd year, I can truly
say, " Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my
life." With the exception of nine months in the years 1864 and
1865, when from illness I was obliged to have assistance, I have
been able by God's mercy to take my two full duties on Sunday
until within the last few weeks ; since which, although my
general health is good, I have experienced such a prostration of
my physical powers as to unfit me for much duty, and am obliged
to have recourse to a curate. For what is past, " Gloria sit
Deo ! " and I can trust him for the future.
"A guilty, weak, and helpless worm
On thy kind arms I fall,
Thou art my strength and righteousness,
My Jesus, and my all ! "
Farewell, my dear old friend ; I commit you to God and His
abundant mercy, in the hope, through the all-sufficient merits of
the Redeemer, of meeting before the heavenly throne, and singing
His praises throughout eternity.
Yours in the bond of Christian love,
J. O. Zillwood.
His eldest son was in India, a senior chaplain to the
forces ; but the other members of his family — his three sons
and daughter — had the consolation of visiting him in his
sick room, and his second son who had a hving near Kendal
was frequently at the vicarage. To him, as he grasped
his hand affectionately, he said, — " We'll praise Him for all

270 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
that is past, and trust Him for all that's to come." His
third son, in medical practice in a distant county, came twice
to his beloved parent, and -his visit afforded him much com
fort, but on being asked if he would wish him to come up
again, the dying father with his characteristic self denial
rephed — " No, not again ; I wish all my sons to be at the
post of duty." An ejaculation afterwards heard from his
hps during the night was, " Dear children, God bless them !"
His brother John came up three times, and he expressed
great pleasure in seeing him and his only surviving sister
Ann, a beautiful Christian character, who had for a while
been the head of his first home at Hindon; she came on
the 30th of March and remained to the last — and, to the
comfort of her who was bereft, till the Vicarage was va
cated October 24th, 1867. His eldest nephew, the vicar of
Houghton, was also among these anxious visitors.
He was visited a fortnight before his death by an
attached member of his Trinity congregation known to him
from boyhood and in maturer years brought into very con
fidential relation with him of a business nature. This
friend, having thus observed his character amid some of the
most trying transactions of hfe, had had his reverence and
affection for him, which had always been strong, deepened
beyond measure, and he now took a long journey to receive
his dying blessing. With the humility that had ever
marked him, the Archdeacon, forgetting all the disparity
between them, received his visitor with the intimacy and
tenderness of a father, and in the solemn conversation
which followed spoke of "that glorious eternity" he was
so soon about to enter, indicating by every expression of
word and feeling that he was enjoying a foretaste of heaven
in an unusual degree, and that he reahsed the "sting of
death" removed and "the victory" through Jesus Christ
obtained. On Sunday, June 9th, he observed to one sitting by his
bedside with solemn emphasis and in measured diction —
" Oh, what store we have of rich provision, what store of

chap, ix.] Trinity Sunday. 271
redeeming love . , . of cleansing blood ... of refreshing
grace ... of everlasting life ; for — you remember the
verse, — 'it hath pleased the Father that in Him should
aU fulness dwell!'"
One night during his last two weeks he woke up with
the words from Isaiah — "I have loved thee with an
everlasting love ; therefore with lovingkindness have I
drawn thee." He would often ask for a text to be repeated
to him, or a hymn to be read or sung. During one night
he sung, faintly but tunefully —
" Awake and sing the song
Of Moses and the Lamb."
When he had finished, and another of longer metre was
suggested to him, he said — " Only short metre now," and
then began — " Not afl the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain."
All this was very very touching to those by his bedside.
On Trinity Sunday, June 16th, his last earthly sabbath,
he repeated on awaking, asking another to repeat it with
him, verse by verse, Mason's hymn, which he had been
accustomed to read nearly every Sunday morning at family
worship, beginning —
" Again the day returns of holy rest."
The last verse of this hymn was one of those frequently
on his lips, —
" Father of heaven, in whom our hopes confide,
Whose power defends us and whose precepts guide,
In life our guardian and in death our friend,
Glory supreme be thine till time shall end."
When the Trinity Sunday collect was read to him, he
observed, "I consider it a great privilege to have been
permitted to hear read daily in the College chapel that
beautiful collect, the result of my being elected scholar of

272 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Corpus."1 Another portion of the hturgy which specially
comforted him towards the end of his illness was the ma
jestic Te Deum,2 which was read to him (June 20th) very
slowly, and which he faintly joined in till his voice failed
him. When ended, he said with ah the emphasis he could
command, " Nice, how very nice ! "
His illness was of a painful character and he had much
to endure ; but strength was given for his need, and his
medical attendant remarked that he had never witnessed
such great patience in such great suffering. On one occa
sion, after bitter suffering, he said, as though wondering at
the tenacity of life, —
" Strange that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long."
A verse he was much pleased with, and which his sister
had repeated to him frequently, was —
" Dear Lord, if I am one of Thine,
Prom anxious thoughts I would be free ;
To trust, and love, and praise, be mine,
The care of afi belongs to Thee."
The last prayer he was heard to utter, only two days before
his departure, was — "Forgive me all my indolence, self-
indulgence, and unprofitableness. 0 God, be merciful unto
me, and accept the prayer of thy poor, sinful, feeble crea
ture, for Jesus Christ's sake, Amen."
This humble language at the footstool of his God was
indicative of the prevailing tone of his mind throughout his
illness. His brother states that the substance of his lan
guage to him was, — "I feel most unworthy, most un
worthy ; but with a hope full of immortality." On that
iThecoflect for Trinity Sunday organist of Salisbury Cathedral, who
was always read in the daily prayers died at a great age, January 28th,
at C.C.C. 1868, having been born April 9th,
2 The Te Deum in Carlisle Cathe- ] 773. His father, Dr. Joseph Corfe,
dral was one of his great musical a composer of much merit, preceded
treats. He had a fine musical taste, him in the same office, dying in
and in his early years was instructed 1806.
by Mr. Arthur Thomas Corfe, the

chap, ix.] Calvary, Calvary. 273
same day, which was Friday, June 21st, he appeared for
awhile distressed, repeating what sounded like the words,
" Ocean, ocean." By a happy thought his wife read to
him the hymn commencing, —
" Why those fears ? behold 'tis Jesus,"
and when at the third verse he heard —
"Led by that we brave the ocean,''
he looked unmistakably pleased, and listened attentively to
the end. At the text 1 Thess. vi. 17, in Clarke's Scripture
Promises (a book he was accustomed to keep in his pocket)
there was written by his hand "York Minster, Nov. 11,
1860." The passage was read to him and he repeated
the words " For ever,'' adding, " delightful, delightful ! "
In the afternoon he parted from his valued fellow-labourer
in the Gospel at Appleby, and after a short conversation
ended with this remark, pronounced with much emphasis,
" Calvary, Calvary — stick there, my dear fellow ! "
One of the later thoughts to which he was heard to give
utterance in much exhaustion was, "I wish every body
happiness," which came from his lips as though he were
sending a message of forgiveness to all who had ever
caused him a pang, and musing upon the concluding lines
of one of his favourite hymns —
" That through the all-atoning Lamb
Bach soul may happy be."
On Saturday morning, June 22nd, his last day on earth,
he received the following letter, one worthy to reach a
dying saint, written by a loved hand, which he had often
grasped in friendship, and which had generously assisted
him in his anxious work at Reading : —
Burton, June 21st, 1867.
My dear dear Friend,
Till the tidings of this hour came, through the kindness
of your dear wife and brother, I knew not that you were so ill as
T

274 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
to be almost well — really nearing the- haven, on the confines of
the keeping of the Sabbath which remaineth for the people of
God. We may well envy you your prospective felicity and your
coming glory, when and where you shall see Jesus as He is,
be made like him, and enjoy His presence for ever ! " Such
honour have all His saints." " The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord." The good Lord refresh and
comfort your spirit with the sweet conviction of abounding grace !
" Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." " Being
justified by His blood we are saved from wrath through Him,"
— our living, lifegiving, and ever adorable Head, who died for
us, that " whether we sleep or wake we may live together with
Him." When this letter had been read to him, he said in a low
voice, but with much feeling — " Dear Peter French ! "
In the evening at half-past six, after many hours sleep,
he woke up free from all pain (his disorder, dropsy, having
caused him great suffering), his countenance serene and
indescribably radiant, never to be forgotten by those who
witnessed it, reminding them of a verse of one of his
own hymns, which his experience now completely inter
preted — And when these earthly scenes remove,
And clouds of death around me lower,
Cast from that cross one look of love,
To cheer and bless my closing hour.
He gazed earnestly for a few moments, and one of his
favourite texts was repeated to him — " When I awake up
after thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it." " Satisfied,
— satisfied," was reiterated to him, and " Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit!" And then without a struggle the ransomed
spirit was taken to its heavenly home, to be " for ever with
the Lord ; " and he realized now what he had before only
sung by faith — See the bright city fuB in view. >
1 See Poems,

chap, ix.] Appleby Churchyard. 275
" Servant of God, wefl done !
Best from thy loved employ ;
The battle fought, the victory won,
Enter thy Master's joy.
The pains of death are past,
Labour and sorrow cease,
And life's long labour closed at last,
His soul is found in peace.
Soldier of Christ, well done !
Praise be thy new employ,
And while eternal ages run,
Best in thy Saviour's joy."

Oh. happy time, when time shall be no more,
When sin and grief shall cease,
Thro' Christ's own sacrifice— made once for all,
And Him to love and to adore !
ShaB be our blest employ
Throughout Eternity — for ever with the Lord ! J-
On Thursday, June 27th, Archdeacon Phelps's remains
were interred within a vault in the parish churchyard.
The church bells were muffled, the shops were closed, and
every respect was manifested by all classes, who attended
the last obsequies in large numbers. The pall was borne
by clergymen from the neighbourhood. The Bishop was
prevented accompanying the body of his friend to its last
resting place, by having to perform the same office for an
uncle elsewhere on the same day; but he sent an affec
tionate message to the mourning vicarage at Appleby,
where were gathered the Archdeacon's three sons1 and
daughter, his brother, sister, and nephew, saying that
" his heart was with them." A monument has been
erected by his widow over the grave, a duplicate in
form of that which he had raised for his former wife
in the Reading cemetery. Speaking of the latter we
1 The eldest son was theD in India. and at Brighton (in 1865-6) , when
but had recently spent nearly four home on furlough.
months with his father at the Abbey
t2

276 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
may notice, as an instance of his busy ingenuity that
was always seeking means of benefiting those nearest
to him, that on the lower sides of the tomb, which was
of an oblong shape and ridged at the top, he had had
inscribed little Scripture mottoes appropriated to the
various survivors of his family, by having the first letters
corresponding with those of their names, as Awake,1
Watch, Hold past, Fight, Peay, Entee in.
Considering that Archdeacon Phelps had been connected
with the diocese no more than seven years, and had mixed
as a member of it for only a brief four years, the lan
guage of the public press on his removal is a remarkable
evidence of the place he had made for himself in the hearts
of the people ; for which reason we are tempted to make
an extract or two. The Carlisle Patriot and Carlisle
Journal both made honourable mention -of him as Arch
deacon, Canon, and Vicar. The former wrote —
" It need hardly be said that in these respective positions he
realised the expectations that had been formed of him. He
was a consistent clergyman, a sensible and earnest preacher, fully
able to deal with any subject he chose for discussion ; nor was he
inactive in his support of our various local institutions. Provi
dence permitted his services here but for a brief space ; still, brief
as it was, the memory of it will not soon pass away. Unassuming
in his manners, and what in these days is no slight merit and en
titled to no little praise, free from offence to all men. His kindly
conduct and steady attention to their welfare have earned for him
the grateful recollection of his parishioners both at Reading and
at Appleby. In the former place he was the main instrument in
the erection of an additional church, and in the latter he has re
stored the Vicarage House, leaving to his successor a suitable and
most commodious house."
A writer in the Carlisle Patriot, under the signature of
" A Churchman," observed —

1 The letter A was for his daugh- the only one he had when that
ter-in-law Amelia Hughes-Hughes, monument was erected,

chap, ix.] Testimonies. 277
" By his decease the diocese has sustained an almost irreparable
loss. He was pre-eminently one of those able, faithful, unosten
tatious men whose sole object was the glory of God in the salva
tion of souls. He was one of a class not uncommon in our
beloved church, who ' do good by stealth, and blush to find it
fame.' In another and a better world he enjoys the blessed fruits
of a life spent in his Master's service. On our worthy Bishop
devolves the responsibility of appointing a successor to this vener
able man, no small responsibility at any time, but especially great
in these days."
Other public testimonies may be quoted from the
speeches of some eminent persons in the diocese, who
were meeting together after the consecration of St. James's
Church, Denton Holme, Carlisle, July 25th, 1867. In
the published report we find that his friend Chancellor
Burton —
" Could not abstain from, nor could he do justice to the com
mittee without expressing his deep regret at the removal from
amongst them of one of the members of the committee, a man
whose character stood high in this neighbourhood and in this
diocese, and for whom he had the greatest esteem and affection —
he referred to the late Archdeacon Phelps. He had known him
some years, and on every occasion when' he had been brought in
contact with him he had met with the most perfect generosity,
faithfulness, and truthfulness ; and a more amiable man, or a
man whose feelings were more those of a gentleman, he had
seldom met."
The Bishop expressed himself- -
'.' Very grateful to the Chancellor for the very kind way in which
he had mentioned his departed friend Archdeacon Phelps. He
was a man of intrinsic modesty, and few persons who were not
brought into intimate relations with him could be fully aware of
his worth. He was a highly accomplished classical scholar, there
being" very few who could come up to him in nice, neat, thorough
going Greek and Latin scholarship. ' He was a sound and able

278 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
divine. He was an effective preacher, and above all he was a
consistent Christian and a wise man."
In his Charge ' at his third Visitation in the month of
September of this year. Bishop Waldegrave, referrmg in
most solemn words to the many deaths that had occurred
since the previous meeting, observed —
" Of these there are two who deserve at my hands something
more than a mere passing allusion. For William Whitmarsh
Phelps, and Robert Wilson Evans, were as Scholars, as Christians,
as Incumbents, men of no common mark. Of the former I will
only say that, had he entered upon his Northern service at an
earlier date, or had it pleased God still further to prolong his days
after he had pitched his tent amongst us, everyone would have
learnt why, after a friendship of sixteen years, I summoned him to
my aid, originally as my Examining Chaplain, and subsequently as
my Archdeacon. As it is, I rejoice to hear, now that he is gone,
from many and sometimes unlooked for quarters, that his intrinsic
modesty had not altogether concealed from view the chastened
piety, the sterling sense, the loyal Churchmanship, and the large
hearted charity of my departed colleague. Of the high minded
and considerate liberality with which he imparted2 to others of
the means which, under God, he owed so much to the exertions of
his earlier days, a touching illustration was given at the very close"
of his life, when he purchased at his own sole cost the site for a
chapel of ease at Drybeck, a hamlet in the Parish of St. Lawrence,
Appleby, greatly needing such provision. The land thus secured
was conveyed to his curate. Nor was this all, he placed in the
hands of the same younger brother in the ministry the sum of
£307 as his own personal contribution towards the erection of
that sanctuary which, as he full well knew, he should never see
1 The Charge was published, he was ever Bberal in his deafings
under the title — "The Christian and most open-handed towards
Ministry not Sacerdotal but Evan- others. As his means increased, so
gelistic."— Hunt, 1867. did his gifts. He made it a rule
2 The Bishop was but just in even from his college days to give
these expressions. Mr. Phelps was away at least one tenth of his in
accurate and careful in money mat- come in religious or charitable
ters, and strict in asserting all objects.
money rights ; but at the same time

chap, ix.] Friends at Reading 279
commenced. And this was but one amongst many proofs which
during a long life he gave, that ' the liberal soul ' doth indeed
' devise liberal things.' He rests from his labours and his works
do follow him."
The Bishop had fully purposed to compose an inscription
for a tablet to the Archdeacon's memory to be erected in
the Cathedral, where he had himself selected the site.1
The necessary dates were communicated to him at his
request, but his own last illness came on very soon after
wards, and no copy of the designed inscription has been
discovered among his papers.
At Reading, as may be supposed, the Archdeacon's
decease was deeply mourned by a large circle of attached
friends, as well as by many others who knew him only by
his works. The intelligence reached on Sunday morning,
and was announced in some of the pulpits. During the
day the bells of every church in the town were tolled.
Many of the inhabitants would have been glad if his
remains could have reposed near the scene of his former
ministry; but he himself had first named Appleby, and
his brother also, on being^ consulted, considered that as the
Lord had brought him to that place as the ultimatum of
his labours, there it would seem that his remains ought to
lie. That his name however might remain amongst them
as a perpetual memento long after the generation which
knew him in the flesh had passed away, a subscription was
set on foot, out of which a tablet was erected in Greyfriars
church. It stands against the north wall, and its design is
in keeping with the architecture of the fabric. The inscrip
tion runs as follows —
1 It was on the wall of the south aisle, opposite the pulpit.

280 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
In Memory of
WILLIAM WHITMABSH PHELPS, M.A.,
sometime Fellow of
Corpus Christi College, Oxford ;
For 19 years
Incumbent of Trinity Church, Reading,
Late Archdeacon and Canon of Carlisle,
and
Vicar- of Appleby, Westmorland ;
Who towards the close of a life devoted to the service
of Christ, conceived and accomplished the
Restoration of this Church.
This Tablet is erected in grateful acknowledgment of his
private worth, his ministerial fidelity,
and his self-denying exertions in behalf of pure
and undefiled religion.
Born at Wilton, October 1st, 1797,
Died at Appleby, June 22nd, 1867.
" Remember them which have the rule over you, who
have spoken unto you the word of God : whose faith
follow, considering the end of their conversation : Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."
Hebrews xiii. 7, 8.
At Greyfriars on December 2nd, 1867, the first anni
versary of the consecration after the Archdeacon's decease,
the preacher, the Rev. H. Barne, Vicar of Faringdon, spoke
most feelingly of him, mentioning him with former wor
thies of Reading, Cadogan, Simeon, Marsh. Shortly after
this, on February 21st, 1868, he was spoken of with
affectionate regret at the Annual Meeting of the Church
of England Young Men's Christian Association, among
others so well remembered in connection with the early
efforts of that body. Not a few of those " young men "
who once listened to the earnest words and wise counsels
of BaU, Grainger, Phelps, Cowan, Trench, Goodhart, Field,
are still pursuing their path of usefulness in Reading.
" God give them good perseverance !"

chap, ix.] Oakbeck. 281
It wiU interest the reader if we insert here an extract
from a letter reporting the opening of the Drybeck school-
chapel.1 " The Room was opened on Sunday last," writes Mr. Hodges,
Tuesday, May 17th, 1870, " for divine worship ; and what is most
gratifying was filled by the inhabitants of the locality for whose
benefit the whole was projected and executed. The adjacent
townships of Asby and Ormside had their representatives present,
and a few came from Colby. I trust many hearts were affected
for good by the stirring address delivered by Archdeacon Bout
flower.2 He spoke very feelingly of his excellent predecessor
through whom the building had been erected ; and from every
one he had heard the feeling expressed, that to have known their
late Archdeacon was to love him. The sermon throughout (taken
from 2 Cor. v. 10 — 21) was listened to with the greatest attention.
To me, I need hardly say, the occasion was as solemn and
affecting as it was certainly gratifying."
When the Thanksgiving Day was celebrated at Oakbeck
School, February 27th, 1872, a party of fifty-four young
and happy faces gathered round the tea table.
The Archdeacon's pubhshed works are —
1. — The String of Beads for Romanisers, 1844.
1 The actual site of the school is Archdeacon and his family contri-
within the township, but not in the buted £352 16s. (his legacy being
village, of Drybeck, and in the 307 guineas). The Carlisle Diocesan
centre of the extensive district Education Society granted £20, the
intended to be benefited. This dis- Dean and Chapter contributed £10,
trict the Education Department Archdeacon Boutflower £20, W.
required to be designated, and the Crackenthorpe, Esq., £5, the Bev.
name of Oakbeck was fixed upon, Thomas Hodges, treasurer of the
from the name of the Beck that fund, £26 7s. 5d. Other subscrip-
flows near it and divides the town- tions (including £14 0s. 6d. from
ships of Drybeck and Hoff. Some Beading and the parish of Appleby)
of the Archdeacon's penciBings of and interest amounted to £42 : 14 : 7.
plans and details, for the school and » The Bey. Samuel Peach Bout-
dweUing house, made during his flower vicar of Brathy succeeded
ifiness, shew how deeply his mind as Archdeacon, Canon, and Vicar
was interested in this undertaking. of Appleby, being appointed to the
The total outlay on this erection latter September 20th, 1867.
was £461 18s. ; of which sum the

282 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
2.— Psalms for the Congregation, 1846.
(These were chiefly selected, but the following were original
versions, 29, 46, 51 (v. 3, by Watts), 55, 59, 69, 81, 87,
91, 98, 109, 126, 128, 135, 147.)
3. — Hymns for the Congregation or the Closet,1 1849.
(These also were chiefly selected, the following being
originals, 1, 49, 54, 86, 96, 110, 142, 219, 229, 262;
besides the Doxologies 9, 10, 11, 12.)
In 1859 the Psalms and Hymns were sold in one volume,
but they are now out of print.
4. — Infant Training, a Sermon preached at Trinity Church,
Reading, November 28th, 1858, on behalf of the Irifant
School. (This was printed at the expense of a member of
his congregation who requested its publication.)
5. — A Sermon preached in Carlisle Cathedral, December 23rd,
1860, at the Primary Ordination of Bishop Waldegrave,
1861. Published by request.
6. — Self Denial required of Chrises followers, a Sermon
preached at St. Cuthbert's, Carlisle, on Wednesday morn
ing, October 21st, 1863, on the occasion of the fourth
annual conference of the Evangelical Union for the
Diocese of Carlisle. Published at the request and expense
of the Union.
1 This work was one of the early character than seemed to comport.
protests against hymn-mutilation, with either the solemnity of Divine
as the following extract from the Worship, or the approach of a
preface will shew : — " It has been fallen though redeemed creature
his aim in the present selection to to the Supreme Being."
restore the most popular of these In the previous volume however
productions to the original form, the various metrical versions of the
introducing none but the slightest Psalms " were without scruple al-
alterations ; such for instance as the tered and combined, with the single
curtailment requisite for the devo- view of exhibiting portions that
tional object of his work ; together should fairly represent the sacred
with the rejection of a few phrases original."
of a more familiar or impassioned

ftpenfoi*.

We are glad of the opportunity of making a few additional notes to
Vol. I. also.
Page 16, note. Among the pupils of Hyde Abbey here mentioned Mr.
Ot. G. Gardiner was recently British Chaplain at Paris ; and Mr. William
Leeke has obtained distinction as an author. He left school at the end of
1812 and entered the army on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, where he
had the honour of carrying the regimental colour of the gallant 52nd Light
Infantry commanded by his relative Sir John Colborne, afterwards Lord
Seaton. After the war Mr. Leeke was ordained and became Incumbent of
Holbrooke in Derbyshire, where he is still living. He published in 1866 a
work which has attracted much attention in military circles, in which he
claims for Lord Seaton and the 52nd the honour of having defeated single-
handed, without the assistance of the 1st British Guards or any other troops,
that portion of the Imperial Guard of Prance, about 10,000 in number,
which advanced to make the last attack on the British position. (Two
volumes and supplement, Hatchards).' It is a. deeply interesting work.
Mr. Leeke is another of the great Bingham's descendants.
Page 55. Mr. Hollis here mentioned was of Winchester, not Gosport.
Dr. Norris, President of Corpus died April 16th, 1872.
Page 95. Miles Atkinson served St. Paul's Church, Leeds, only seventeen
years. He was Lecturer at the Parish Church above forty years.
Page 240, note 1. A newspaper paragraph that appeared on the death of
Mr. Bickard stated that Mr. Keble entrusted to him a duplicate of the
manuscript of the Christian Tear, and as Mr. Keble's own copy was lost in
Wales, the world is indebted to Mr. Bickard for the copy from which the
work was printed.
Page 272. Mr. Bingham was not the hero of Mr. Cox's anecdote men
tioned in this note. He knew the young man however, whose name, was
Clarke, and saw him with his folio Aristotle under his arm in the quadrangle
while the fire was raging.
Page 371. Another good anecdote relating to the fall of Ponthill Tower is
recorded by the late Bev. Wm. Jay of Bath. ' ' On a very clear day my two
nepheWs were riding on horseback, and whilst looking at the elegant struc
ture at the distance of two miles and expressing their mutual admiration of
it, they saw its very high tower fall instantaneously and vanish like a

284 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
dream. They thought they had lost their senses, the shock being so
sudden. I always thought that such would be its fate ; for my father, who
worked at it, told me that the masons who were employed in erecting it
predicted its downfall. The head mason, who had the superintendence of
laying the foundation of the tower, when dying sent for Mr. Beckford and
confessed to him that the base was defective and that the building would
one day tumble down. Mr. Beckford inquired of him whether it could not
be remedied ; and the reply was ' certainly not ; the only thing is to take
the tower down and rebuild it.' What a Providence it was that the tower
did not faU when the building was crowded with nobility and visitors at
the several weeks' sale of its furniture and articles of virtu ! " — Recollections
of William Jay, p. 306.
Vol. II. Page 25. In the year 1825 Mr. Pope was in England. In
February he spoke at public meetings and preached at Manchester and
Liverpool, and in May attended some of the Anniversary meetings at Free
masons' HaB. A deep impression was created upon all these occasions from
the reputation he had acquired in Ireland.
Page 52. For G. Harbin read E. Harbin.
Chap. VI. A letter of Mr. Christopher Cooke's in a Harrow Gazette of
September, 1867, came under our notice after the Harrow chapter had
passed the press, and we are glad to be able to take a few notes from it.
Mr. Cooke was at Harrow from 1833 to 1835, first in Mr. Mills's house, and
when he left, in Mr. Gepp's. He says that Mr. Evans's house was at the
top of the cricket-ground, and Mr. Gepp's nearly opposite to it. The one
Dame's boarding-house, kept by Mrs. Leith (whose name often occurs in
Mrs. Phelps's journal), was near the churchyard. Mr. Mills lived in the
large white house near the King's Head, and his pupil room, at the date of
Mr. Cooke's letter, was a surgery. The church accommodation for the
school, he also observes, was but ill calculated for hearing the service, and
he is surprised that the new chapel was not erected earlier. For persons who
could swim the two ponds within the grounds of Mr. Phelps and Mr. Ken
nedy were used in Mr. Cooke's time, but the canal was more in favour
generally. We have recorded (p. 140) the date of the filling-up of the Duck-
puddle. Since this chapter went to the press we have also heard of the deaths of
two other of the Archdeacon's old Harrow friends. Miss Ann Copland of
Sudbury Lodge died August 10th, 1872. She was the last of a family with
whom Mr. Phelps enjoyed an intimate friendship during almost the whole
of his residence at Harrow (see vol. II. p. 101).
On September 10th, 1872, died Mr. Thomas Hewlett, for forty-six years
the principal medical practitioner of Harrow. The commencement of
this period carries us back nearly to the time when Mr. Phelps begun
his mastership. Mr. Hewlett attended his family and is frequently
mentioned by him (see p. 100). We are glad to transcribe the following
remarks on Mr. Hewlett from an obituary notice in the Harrow Gazette.—
"Few men have ever passed through life more blamelessly and with

chap, ix.] Appendix. 285
less reproach. Few have ever poured out such a shower of deep 'Chris
tian love as they went their daily rounds. Few have ever been so
distinguished by loving courtesy, by gentle manners, by hearty friendship,
by deep love, by cordiality of heart and voice. Few have ever more
thoroughly combined Christianity with their business, or tried to do their
Heavenly Master's work whilst they were engaged on their own. Often
and often did our deceased friend (we were almost going to use the word
1 father, ' for he was as a father to many amongst us) drop a word of consola
tion to the mourner, or of warning to the trifler, when he was caBed to the
bedside of the sick and dying. He was a bright example of all that the
Christian gentleman and the beloved physician should be. Harrow has
indeed sustained a heavy loss. Another of its grey-haired fathers has
passed away, leaving behind him, however, a bright example for us to
follow even as he followed Christ. "
Page 168, note. The extracts here referred to are as follows. Appended
to them stand the significant words, " Exrxtrs acta jkobabit," in the
Archdeacon's boldest hand.
"When I now find them calumniators of the Church of England and
vindicators of the Church of Bome, palliating the vices of the Bomish system
and magnifying the deficiencies of the Church of England — Sneering at
everything Anglican and admiring everything Bomish — Students of the
Breviary and Missal, disciples of the School-men, converts to Mediaevalism,
insinuating Bomish sentiments, inculcating and republishing Bomish Works,
introducing Bomish practices in their private, and infusing a Bomish tone in
their public, devotions, — introducing the Bomish Confessional, enjoining
Bomish penances, adopting Bomish prostrations, recommending Bomish
Litanies, muttering Bomish Shibboleth, and rejoicing in the cant of Bomish
fanaticism — assuming sometimes the garb of the Bomish priesthood, and
venerating without imitating their celibacy — defending Bomish miracles and
receiving as true the lying legends of Bome — almost adoring Bomish Saints,
and complaining that we have had no Saints in England since we purified
our Church — explaining away the idolatry and pining for the Mariolatry of
the Church of Bome, vituperating the English Beformation and receiving
for the truth the false doctrines of the Council of Trent : — When I find them
whispering in the ears of credulous ignorance in high places as well as in
low, that the two Churches are in principle the same — when they who
were once in the pit on the one side of the wall have now tumbled over on
the other side, and have fallen into ' a lower deep still gaping to devour them'
— I conceive that I am bound, as a High Churchman, to declare plainly that
it is not merely in detail — that it is not merely in the application of our
principles, but in our principles themselves, that we differ from the Church
of Bome, and that no man can secede to Bome, the system of which is
opposed to the truth as it is in Jesus, without placing his soul in peril and
risking his salvation." "W. F. Hook, D.D., 1850."
"You attempt to perpetuate in the National Church a, form of religion

286 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
which the National Church disowns ; you do not foBow its Bishops ; you
disown its existing traditions ; you are discontented with its divines ; you
protest against its law-courts ; you shrink from its laity ; you outstrip its
Prayer Book. You have in all respects an eclectic or an original religion of
your own. You dare not stand or fall by Andrewes, or by Laud, or by
Hammond, or by Bull, or by Thorndike, or by aB of them together. . .
In some points you prefer Bome, in others Greece, in others England, in
others Scotland, and of that preference your own private judgment is the
ultimate sanction.
"What am I to say in answer to conduct so preposterous ? Say you go by
any authority whatever, and I shafi know where to find you, and I shall
respect you. Swear by any school of religion, old or modern, and I shall
know what you mean, and wiB Bsten to you. But do not come to me with
the latest fashion of opinion which the world has seen, and protest to me
that it is the oldest. Do not come to me at this time of .day with views
palpably new, isolated, original, sui generis, warranted old neither by
Christian or unbeliever, and challenge me to answer what I really have not
the patience to read. Life is not long enough for such trifles."
"Father Newman, D.D., 1850."
Page 146. 8, Portland Place, is now 20, London Boad.
Page 162. For charges read chargers.
Page 186. A handsome set of Church Service-books (value £45) in an oak
chest was given him by two members of his Trinity congegation, in 1850,
on their leaving Beading, in testimony of their esteem and regard.
Page 216. Bespecting the ancient flint-work of the Greyfriars Church
we may quote an interesting illustration penned in the reign of Charles the
Second. On October 18th, 1671, Mr. John Evelyn paid a visit to the well-
known Sir Thomas Browne, author of Religio Medici, at Norwich. As the
knight was shewing him over the city, Evelyn remarked with astonishment
" the buildings of flint so exquisitely headed and squared." The diary
adds — "but he told me they had lost the art of squaring the flints,. in which
they so much excelled, and of which the churches, best houses, and walls,
are built." — Evelyn's Diary, vol. II. p. 66.
Page 246. Among Archdeacon Phelps's journeys on behalf of religious
societies may be mentioned one which he much enjoyed in September,
1864, to the Isle of Man, on behalf of the Irish Church Missions. He was
the guest of Dr. Dixon (now of Bugby), who was then Principal of King
William's College, Castletown, and the other clergy he met at Peel and
Douglas were Messrs. Stowell, Gray, and Drury.
Page 251. — The stanza here quoted should rather read thus —
" When weary Sol gang'd down the west,
And silver Cynthia rose,
The flower enamell'd banks I press'd
Where crystal Eden flows. "
The Archdeacon had noted down this verse as having been repeated to
him by an aged lady.

chap, ix.] Appendix. 287
Sketch of the proceedings of a Clerical Meeting, held at the
Bev. D. Wilson's, at Islington, on the day of the Epiphany,
January 6th, 1830, referred to Vol. II. p. 54.
There werepresent Dr. Steinkopff, Messrs. Simeon, Bickersteth, C Bridges,
C. Hawtrey, Gerard Noel, Baptist Noel, John W. Cunningham, Francis
Cunningham, Stewart, Marsh of Hampstead, Joseph Wilson, Esq., and
clergy from the neighbourhood, the whole party amounting to thirty.
At one o'clock the Bev. D. Wilson stated the object of the meeting to be
mutual edification ; to be pursued in the discussion of the subject of
Wisdom, to be discoursed on under four several heads by clerical brethren,
whom he named, with prayer at the close of each ; after a pause of five
minutes, by other friends, whom he also named. We then knelt down, and
he himself offered a prayer for the Divine blessing on the proceedings of
the day.
Mr. Simeon then proceeded to discourse on the subject of Wisdom in its
application to Divine Truth. First, in its Acquisition, and secondly, in its
Diffusion. I . In the Acquisition of Divine Truth , he considered it the part of Wisdom —
1st. Not to seek Beligious in the manner that we seek Philosophical Truth.
A direct view must be had to sanctification ; to find the mind of God with
a view to practice. 2nd. To bear in mind the superiority of Divine Truth
to our intellectual powers ; and, in this sense, to become fools that we may
be wise. 3rd. To bring us to the Spirit for illumination. The sun-dial
useless without the sun. 4th. To search after Truth according to its im
portance — not magnifying matters of secondary importance. All Truth is
not of equal importance, nor on equal grounds as respects sanctifying
influence. 5th To guard against the love of novelty, and the impetuosity
in pursuit of Divine Truth which may be compared to the spirit of harriers
following in full cry one dog which has got the scent, or of fox-hunters who
regard not what hedge or ditch tihey clear, so that they may get the brush.
The pica of edification improperly urged in defence of the course against
which he directed the last remark. The word Edification not well under
stood. It is not getting knowledge, or having the mind drawn out. It is
not merely a superstructure. If we do not dig deep in proportion as we
mean to build high, it is not edification but self-deception.
II. In the Diffusion of Divine Truth, there is great need of Wisdom.
1st. That we guard against the tendency to take up and dwell upon one point
to the neglect of others (e. g. Imputed Bighteousness). We may speak on
points upon which our minds are not made up as we could wish them to be,
so far as to shew that we would not shun to declare the whole counsel of
God as far as He has discovered it to us. 2nd. That we make a right
application of Truth to different characters. Not to give Calvinism to
High Calvinists. This is to give brandy to a person who has had too much
already. Urge upon them caution, tenderness, and holy fear. So towards
Arminians ; make for the extreme to which they are opposed. But yet so as
to avoid discussion : this never does good. Study the constitution of each

288 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
hearer, and administer suitable drugs from your dispensary. 3rd. That
young ministers in particular study their audience, and not think that Truth
as Truth should be set forth in the same manner to all. Let the Word
of God dweB in you richly in all wisdom. Our Lord, in His parables,
sanctions this discrimination. And St. Paul had milk and strong meat.
Some might think he was unfaithful on Mars'-hBl. The end of preaching
is to diffuse what wiB instruct and edify souls. Be wise to win souls.
Pearls before swine. Discretion.
Mr. Francis Cunningham then conducted the prayer, containing a particular
confession of sins in respect of wisdom in its bearing on the points con
sidered. After the pause proposed, the Bev. Charles Bridges offered some
remarks on Wisdom in its bearing upon the Work of the Ministry : having
first read 2 Chron. i. 7-12, upon which he observed that a minister of
religion required a wise and understanding heart, not less responsibly and
indispensably than a king. Our Lord describes his servant as a faithful and
wise servant. Faithfulness regards the subject, and wisdom the time or
mode of instruction. Ministers may be useful without knowledge, but not
without wisdom. Wisdom directs the Christian minister —
I. In his Preaching.
1. To give very distinct and detailed views of Truth. Not merely stating
the doctrines of Begeneration, Faith, and Holiness. Of a too general style
of preaching it may be said, " How forcible are right words, but what do
your arguments prove ? " We must lay siege to the conscience. 2. To
give decidedly spiritual views of Truth (e. g. of Sin, Faith, Holiness). The
outward work is not the reality. 3. To preach the Law as well as the
Gospel, not confounding them on the point of justification. " By manifes
tation of the Truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the
sight of God." These words give the Christian minister bis work, his
object, and his witness, flow solemn the witness ! 4. To consider the-
errors or temptations of our people at certain times. It is a significant
word of Peter (2 Peter, i. 12), "The present Truth."
II. In the Superintendence of his Flock.
1. To appear always as the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. "The priest's
lips shoidd keep knowledge." To consider the magnificence of the object on
which he is sent, and the dignity of his office. To come in the deepest self-
abasement as their servants for Christ ; yet with the dignity of a messenger
from God. To temper with due proportions awe and love. "Woe is me,
for I am a man of unclean lips. "
III. In Parochial Visiting.
Wisdom directs that his conversation should be always strictly ministerial.
He must move in the atmosphere of love and kindness, yet of holiness.
Never to be with his people without leaving a message from God. This is
difficult to those who see the bettermost people. Much faithfulness is
necessary, not to keep back the same truths they speak to the poor. Much
preparation of mind necessary ; and there should be a weB-furnished mind.
Yet not the most eminently-gifted most excel here, but the most diligent and

Appendix. 289
conscientious in stirring up the gift that is in them by prayer. Great
natural cheerfulness to be chastened, and brought gracefully to assist in the
work of the ministry. There can be no unction without seriousness —a
character a minister ought never to lose. Experience and practice adds to
this wisdom more than books. Perusing the records of our earlier ministry,
we see much which experience would have managed differently.
In dealing with young people, we should watch that we are winning them
to our Master, and not to ourselves. The temporary absence of a minister
is often a time of sifting. There is such a thing as serving God all the time
of Joshua. We must lead on young people with distinct views of the Cross,
and direct them to relative duties rather than to a forwardness in pro
fession. Towards professors wisdom is much needed to discern the spirits. Of
some who have clear views, and consistency to a certain extent, we yet feel
obliged to say, we stand in doubt of them. When sifted, they are seen to
dislike spiritual godliness. We may discover predominant love of the
world, lightness of conversation, or unsubdued tempers. Some of these
points may be urged home with pungency.
IV. The Lord's Supper.
Great use may be made of, and great injury result from the neglect of,
communications with our flock in reference to this sacrament. Peculiar
advantages are thereby presented for the conviction of sin, and individual
instruction. The unsoundness of professors may be detected. The ordi
nance may be employed as a badge of separation from the world.
V. In visiting the Sick.
Wisdom will guide us to beware lest compassion for the poor emaciated
body, racked perhaps with pain, makes us lose sight of the immortal spirit.
Faithfulness must be blended with affectionate tenderness.
A heart spiritually awakened need fear no material deficiencies. Minis
terial deficiencies are intimately connected with personal. ' ' If any man
lack wisdom," &c. We have only to act out this promise in prayer ; live
in this atmosphere ; then He who gave the caB wiB give the abilities.
Dr. Steinkopff prayed, after reading from St. James, chap. i. verses, 5-8, and
chap. iii. verses 17, 18.
The third topic was Wisdom in its application to Public Societies for the
Propagation of Truth. On this the Bev. C. Hawtrey (after reading Ephe
sians i. ) remarked — 1st. That wisdom would conduct us to aid them by
exertions and prayers. Forty or fifty years ago Christians might read of
God's purpose to make known His saving health among all nations, but
could see no means in which their own exertions might be brought to bear
upon it. 2nd. Not to expect perfection. They were human institutions —
innumerable difficulties attended the superintendence of them. Much
forbearance should be shewn to those who undertook it. Much allowance
made for inexperience as yet. 3rd. To guard against the dangers incident
to them, viz. -. Neglect of ministerial duty, and of the people at home.
Whole streets in London attend no place of worship. District societies

290 Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
recommended. Also the neglect of our own souls (Satan's work may be
doing in us, whilst we are doing the work of God), and of family worship.
The dangers of publicity and popular applause, pride and envy. 4th. To
excite Christian brethren to support them with right motives. If spiritual
motives were generally circulated, a higher tone of feeling would be raised ;
the need of excitement would be diminished, and expense saved. 5th. To
be careful not to overstate effects, nor raise unscriptural expectations. 6th.
To remember, and urge others to remember, that these are means, but
powerless without the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We have not yet
perhaps arrived at this.
Mr. Bickersteth then prayed. After reading Ephes. iv., he observed
that he considered unprecedented dangers to threaten the Church of Christ
at the present juncture, and that there was no wisdom like simplicity of eye
to the glory of Christ, to make known His truth, and do His will.
The Bev. J. W. Cunningham then offered the following remarks on
Wisdom, as regards our Conduct in Life. First reading the 3rd chapter of
Proverbs and Matt. ix. 10. He complained of prevailing error in this
respect, both in himself and others, from
1. The want of good nature and condescension to the infirmities of that
very infirm creature, Man ; to the worldly ; to persons of inferior talents ;
and to children. 2. The facility in beginning a quarrel, and difficulty of
dropping it. 3. Want of general knowledge : in which the late Bishop of
London told him that the bulk of his clergy were quite babes . 4. Illiberality
in money matters. 5. Want of habits of business. 6. Want of economy,
good sense, and diligence in our families. ' ' How vast is art ; how small is
human wit." Children. Table. Servants. House. Bishop Beveridge's
"Thoughts upon Servants" recommended. He was resolved to give his
servants time to serve God. 7. Want of toleration. We were in general
much more intolerant than the Church of England. Mr. C. observed in
conclusion, that wisdom without religion was cunning ; and that, as Cicero
says, Pietas est justitia erga Deos.
Bev. Mr. Stewart (late of Percy Chapel) concluded the proceedings
of the morning by Thanksgiving, at about half -past five. The company
present then dined with Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Stewart preached in the
evening, at Islington Church, from Ephes. iv., 11-16.

Appendix.

291

Calendar arranged by Archdeacon Phelps for reading the
Old Testament through once in a year.
" And he (Jesus) said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which
were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms
concerning me." — Luke xxiv. 44.

The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms.

The

Law.

Ezekiel

October 20.

Genesis begins on January 1.

Daniel

November 28

Exodus

March 11.

Hosea

December 9.

Leviticus

May 14.

Joel

15.

Numbers

June 30.

Amos

17

Deuteronomy

September 2.

Obadiah and Jonah

19

Joshua

October 30.

Micah

20.
Judges
December 7.
Nahum
22
Buth
„ 28.
HabakkukZephaniah
23.
. 24.
The Prophets.
Haggai
25
I Samuel begins
on January 1.
Zechariah
26
II Samuel
February 1.
Malachi
30
I Kings
„ 25.
II Kings
March 28.
The Psalms.
I Chronicles ..
April 26.
Job begins on
January 1.
II Chronicles . .
May 29.
Psalms
March 20.
Ezra
July 1.
Proverbs
September 22
Nehemiah
„ 11.
Ecclesiastes . . .
November 21.
Esther
„ 26.
Song of Solomon
December 11.
Isaiah
August 4.
Lamentations...
22.
Jeremiah
September 8.
January 1.
Genesis 1.
I Samuel 1.
Job 1. 12
February 1.
— 28.
II Samuel 1.
— 19. 20-29
March 1.
— 45. 16- 28
I Kings 3.
— 34. 24-37
April 1.
Exodus 14. 31
II Kings 5. 5.1
Psalms 15.
May 1.
— 34. 19
IChron. 5.
— 37. 29-40
June 1.
Lev. 13. 15-30
HChron. 5.
— 62.
July 1.
Num. 1. 22-35
Ezra 2.
— 80.
August 1.
— 18. 18
Esther 8.
— 106. 12
September 1.
— 36.
Isaiah 53.
— 125.
October 1.
Deut. 17. 11
Jeremiah 31.
Prov. 6. 20
November 1.
Joshua 2. 12-24
Ezekiel 18.
— 22. 14
December 1.
— 21.
Daniel 4.
Eccles. 7. 14
' From v- 31, of chap. 4.
y2
292

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.
Example — The Month of January.

STfje

IUSd.

STfje Propfjeta.

Wht psalms.

January 1.

Genesis 1 .

I Samuel 1 .

Job 1. to v. 12

2.

—

2.

— 2. v. 25

— — 22

„ 3.

—

3.

— 3.

— 2.

4.

—

4.

— 4.

— 3. v. 12

5.

—

5.

— 6. v. 9

— — 26

„ 6.

—

6.

— 7.

— 4.

7.

—

7.

— 9.

— 5. v. 12

„ 8.

—

8.

— — 27

— — 26

„ 9.

—

9.

— 10.

— 6. v. 12

10.

—

10.

— 12. v. 9

~77 38

„ 11.

—

11.

— 13. 10

12.

—

12.

— 14. 23

— 8.

13.

—

13.

— 14. 37

— 9. v. 20

,» 14.

—

14.

— 15. 6

— 10. v. 10

15.

—

15.

— 16. 7

16.

—

16.

- 17- 5

— — 22

17.

—

17.

— — 41

— 11. v. 10

18.

— .

18.

- - 58

— — 20

„ 19.

—

19.

- 18.

— 12. v. 12

20.

—

20.

— 19.

— — 20

21.

—

21.

— 20. v. 29

- 13.

„ 22.

—

22.

— 21.

— 14. v. 11

23.

—

23.

— 22.

— — 22

24.

—

24. v. 14

— 23.

— 15. v. 12

„ 25.

—

— 33

— 25. v. 8

— — 24

„ 26.

—

— 5i

— — 34

— — 35

27.

—

- 67

— 26. v. 15

- 16.

28.

—

25.

- 27.

— 17.

29.

—

26.

— 28.

— 18.

„ 30.

—

27.V.29

— 30. v. 16

— 19. v. 10

„ 31.

¦ —

— 46 1

— 31.

— — ¦ 20

In conducting daily family worship his plan in the mor
ning was to read a hymn first. The Second Lesson of the
day was then read round by all present, verse by verse,
after which he generally made a short comment. In prayer
he took a selection, varied day by day, from the Book of
Common Prayer. In the evening the Second Lesson was
again chosen, either the whole or a portion, which he would
read himself with some brief remarks, following with ex
tempore prayer. On Sundays the Old Testament was read,
and his prayer was extempore.

POEMS.

FIRST PART.

' Thou can'st not learn, nor can I show,
To paint with Thomson's landscape glow ;
Or wake the bosom-melting throe,
With Shenstone's art ;
Or pour, with Gray, the moving flow
Warm on the heart :
Yet all beneath th' unrivall'd rose,
The lowly daisy sweetly blows. " — Burns.

Imtlhmam |§0«ma.

HOPE.
How steal our years away !
And carry with them, as they go,
The gems we choicest held below !
'Till solitary Life seems left,
Of beauty and of worth bereft.
Oh ! then, what prop shall stay
This fabric of. decay,
Till from each other part
Frail flesh and sorrowing heart 1
Memory ! no charm of thine
Can heal the striken bosom's pain.
Thy magic skill can wake again —
To swell enjoyment's present store —
The sense of joys that went before.
In loneliness we pine,
And then thy touches fine
Give poignancy to care,
Tracing the lines that were.
Blest Hope ! to thee we turn.
Friend of our infancy ! thy ray
Must gild our late and cloudy day.
Thy lamp is all in all to me.
Beyond the gath'ring gloom I see
A spark, that yet shall burn
Within the mould'ring urn.
Departed friends shall live :
And buried joys revive.

296 Miscellaneous Poems.
Then haste, with willing feet !
And with thee, nymph, thy sisters bring,
Meek love, and faith with soaring wing ;
So shall I to The Crucified
Myself, my all, for aye confide :
And so — ev'n I — grow meet ;
Ecstatic thought ! to greet-
Again, in realms above,
All I did rightly love.

THE CHUKCH TOWER.'
I love thee much, thou reverend Tower,
Rising from out thy leafy bower,
With many a low-thatched roof around,
And many a spot of verdant ground —
That peaceful stream beside thee flowing,
The joyous herds around thee lowing.
'Mid stacks and barns thou'rt stately sitting,
With sable wings around thee flitting,
Whilst tinkles soft the blythesome bell
From flocks that, sprinkled o'er the dell,
In fleecy whiteness intervene
Amid the varied shades of green.
Nor would I pass in silence by
The tributary harmony
From busy mill, and sounding flail,
And hum of labour on the gale.
'Mid soothing sounds, and rural sights,
Thy modest grace the eye invites ;
Therefore I love thee, reverend Tower !
Emerging from thy leafy bower ;
Thou bid'st the strife of passions cease,
And whisperest of peace — sweet peace.
I love to mark thee stately rising ;
1 The description seems to be that was curate in 1841-2. See Memoir,
of the beautiful church and village chapter vii.
of Sonning, where the Archdeacon

Miscellaneous Poems. 297
The cots o'er-topping — not despising —
Thou seem'st in eminence to stand
A faithful guardian of the. land,
Ordain'd to watch the scene below
And safe preserve from coming foe.
And soothing is the thought it yields
To view thee from the subject fields,
Standing on central spot of ground,
While circling hamlets hem thee round.
Is it that they ambitious are
Thy smiles to court, — protection share ?
Or is it that, in faithfulness,
Their ready zeal they would express
To screen thee from approaches rude,
And shew their guardian gratitude 1
Howe'er it be, gray Tower, thy mien
Sheds sweet composure o'er the scene.
Each cot, each field, each hedge, each tree,
In labour, love, or harmony,
Some of the stir of life is making ;
But thou thy silent course art taking,
And seem'st, with pensive upward eye,
To hold communion with the sky.
Nor be it deemed an idle thought,
If restless man thereby be taught,
That contemplative is the mood
Of all that's holy, great, or good.

JANUARY 1st, 1821.
Peace to the mem'ry of another year !
Short space it seems since forth he walk'd with flow'rs
Fresh from the lap of Spring : ere long, to cheer
The grateful earth, through Summer's fragrant .bow'rs
He breath'd perfume ; and in Autumnal hours
A russet chaplet from the fields he wore,
That nodded o'er his brows 'till, wrapt in show'rs,
Stern Winter gave the winds his tresses hoar :
He too is'passed away, — past to return no more.

298 Miscellaneous Poems.
You sigh ! and 'tis a thought demands a sigh,
That hours of dear enjoyment and delight,
Of social converse, mental luxury,
Or lit with softer beams of heav'nlier light,
That sweetly join'd to throw a radiance bright
And cheer the progress of the bygone year,
Are fled for ever to the realms of night.
Oh yes ! The stoic's self, that sigh to hear,
Might check his rising scorn and drop th' unconscious tear.
Where is the man can bid a cold adieu
To ardent hopes, and schemes of high emprize,
That, since the last year's birth, have spread a hue
Of dazzling glory to his straining eyes ?
— Those days of cherish'd care can realize,
Those restless nights that found him keenly bent
In hot pursuit of some ideal prize,
Nor sigh to think of pains unduly lent,
Of expectations cross' d, and spirits vainly spent ?
And steals no secret sadness o'er the heart
To see the sands of life so swiftly run ;
To find another and so large a part
Of human kind's poor soon-told tale is done ;
To feel so shrewdly hinted, that this sun
On other heads than ours must shortly shine ;
This " pleasing, anxious being " be forgone ;
And all the fondest ties that round us twine
Be burst, and to the tomb these breasts of ours resign ?
'Tis sad, methinks, to cherish thoughts like these,
And yet on such the heart may calmly dwell,
What time in inspiration's page she sees
A truth the mental gloom to temper well.
Heard'st thou, in list'ning to the past year's knell,
A voice that spoke of life's decreasing span ?
List to the notes from heav'nly lips that swell,
That speak of endless life, and beckon man
Thro' the dark glass of death eternity to scan.

Miscellaneous Poems. 299
Or woke that sound the shades of parted bliss,
Hopes blighted, plans that unfulfill'd remain 1
And is it thine, the dreary languidness,
When feeling leaves the bosom, thought the brain %
Oh ! be each palsied sinew brac'd again :
The flagging pulse resume its wonted tone :
Let hope her highest aspirations strain.
Up, racer, wrestler, soldier ! seize thine own,
The joys at God's right hand, the amaranthine crown.

THE CHURCHYARD.
In contemplation wrapt, and silent dread,
I seek the hallow'd mansions of the dead :
Here as I muse, what thoughts successive rise,
Seize on my soul, and waft it to the skies !
Fond memory crowds her visions on my view,
And bids her famish'd embers burn anew :
Lights me to scenes of joy or sorrow o'er,
Such scenes, alas ! as I must view no more.
Beneath yon yew-tree's melancholy shade,
Low in the dust, a faithful friend is laid.
How oft, before the bloom of life was gone,
Together have we trod the village lawn ;
How oft, with mutual affection blest,
We frolick'd then where now his ashes rest ;
Perhaps his kindred spirit hovers near,
E'en now methinks his well-known voice I hear :
It bids the tear for his remembrance cease ;
Tells me he found beyond the grave true peace ;
That death had pow'r to terminate his woes,
To yield his wounded spirit blest repose,
To plume its wings, to teach it how to fly,
And point the road to happiness on high.
Beneath this stone a tender parent sleeps :
O'er this, in speechless grief, a mother weeps :
Here the warm lover, here the plighted maid,
Snatch'd from life's brightest hopes are lowly laid.

300 Miscellaneous Poems.
In truth's stern voice they say, or seem to say,
Fast speed the moments of life's little day ;
And know, fond man, those fleeting moments past,
" To this complexion thou must come at last."

A MIDNIGHT THOUGHT AT FRESHWATER.1
Hark ! how around the winding bay,
Lashing the pebbly shore,
The breaker falls in foam, and spray,
Alternate pause and roar.
The thunder poured from brazen throats,
When war is on the sea,
Were lost amid these fuller notes
Of God's artillery !
The solemn voice, borne by the waves
Up from the hollow deeps,
My soul, thy mute attention craves,
While thought her vigils keeps.
And this the message from the sea,
At every rush and fall':
" Thy God is here alone with thee,
Here God and thou are all."

THE OLD HARPER.
On a sweet vale's sequestered side
Deep hid in forest gloom,
Remote from all the care and pride
That busier life consume, —

1 Mr. Phelps visited Freshwater in 1833. See Memoir, vol. II.
in the Isle of Wight in August p. 103.

Miscellaneous Poems. 301
Reclin'd against an aged oak
By many a wintry tempest broke,
His pensive lyre a Harper strung ;
And whilst the breeze in airy round
Dispers'd the sweet and solemn sound,
In unison he sung : —
" Companion of my lonely hours,
Soft soother of my pains,
Dear Harp ! again unfold thy powers,
Awake thy golden strains.
When round my sad and hoary head
The gathering clouds of grief are spread,
And gloomy storms of sorrow lower ;
'Tis thine my sinking soul to stay,
To chase the rising cares away,
And bid them wound no more.
" Alas, how fleeting are the joys
That life can e'er bestow !
Man's hopes must centre in the skies,
For false is all below.
Now, as I cast a look behind,
What phantoms flit across my mind,
Whilst fancy's lively hand portrays
The friends with whom my childhood grew ;
Remembrance kindles at the view :
The wrecks of happier days.
" See ! see ! they fondly stoop to hear
The strains they lov'd before ;
Now sadly whisper in mine ear,
' Soon shall those strains be o'er.'
Soon soon, I know, the hand of death
Shall steal the little remnant breath
Of life, and lay me in the tomb ;
Then to some other's minstrelsy
Consigned, my Harp, thy strings shall be,
And mourn thy master's doom."

302 Miscellaneous Poems.
He ended : and midst many a sigh
Th' harmonious murmur died ;
The big drop trembled in his eye
From nature's fount supplied.
Then fondly to his lips he press'd
The sweet restorer of his rest,
And gently held it o'er his head ;
Then raised his grateful thanks to heaven
For this one constant comfort given
When other joys had fled.

THE HORSES OF LYSIPPUS.1
What tho' the fell destroyer's scythe-arm'd hand
Still plucks some wreath from ev'ry subject land,
The thick' ning honours round his brows that glow
Serve but to hide the shame that burns below ;
The blush, Lysippus, kindled at the flame
Whose ambient halo guards thy deathless name ;
For borne, with rival speed, thro' many a clime
Thy coursers fly, and baffle those of Time.
Elate, as conscious of the charmed gaze
That marks how full of life their heads they raise,
Lo, where they stand, proud of the Master's power
Whose name they bear in triumph to this hour.
How glows with life the bronze ! Thro' every vein
How struggles Art disputing Nature's reign ;
What graceful lines the chest luxuriant deck,
Float on the mane, and arch the sinewy neck,
From the tall forehead seems the tow'ring eye
To dart impatience, and upbraid the sky,
Whilst the sharp ear, wide nostril, double spine,
Proclaim proportion fair and nice design ;
Grandeur and Grace in every part unite
To clothe in thunder, or to crown with light.

i Written at Oxford for the New- vol. I. p. 81.
digate Prize in 1816. See Memoir,

Miscellaneous Poems. 303
Such, in the happier towns of Greece, the throng
Admired them, Corinth's wealthy domes among.
And such, in later times, to mighty Rome
They told of Mummius' fame, Achaia's doom.
Nor long but, on the fluctuating tide
Of Empire borne, they swelled Byzantine pride,
'Till Venice brought it down ; and in her train
They flew to grace Hesperian plains again.
But when fierce France dragged from their peaceful bowers,
The works of art to crown her Paris towers, —
Th' astonish'd victors mark'd them where they shone ;
War stopped to gaze, and Conquest seized her own.
Now on high arch they gain, in Gallic skies,
The car of iron, th' attendant "Victories,
Where sedge-crown'd Seine his mazy circuit draws,
Who saw, and smil'd, and murmur'd glad applause.
But short this triumph ; Venice to her shore
Welcomes her steeds and Liberty once more.
Thus have they nobly stemm'd the flood of years,
And trac'd the varying course that fortune steers.
Seen states by turns rise, flourish, and decay ;
Seen vanquished victors swept in turns away.
Yet they survive, to mock, in fancy's eye,
The time-bound precincts of humanity.
Might the warm drops of life within them glow,
And with that crimson tide might reason flow,
With what contempt, or pity, would they scan
The pride, ambition, vanity of man :
How would they bid him check each vain desire,
Nor give to earth a soul that should to heaven aspire !

THE FARNESE HERCULES.1
Their golden charge from Hesp'rus' daughters won,
Thus paused the hero when the task was done.

1 Written at Oxford for the New- vol. I. p. 144,
digate Prize in 1817. See Memoir,

304 Miscellaneous Poems.
Then on his knotty club he leaned for rest,
Whilst the thick breath came labouring from his chest ;
O'er his huge frame such fitful languor ran
As prov'd Alcides' deeds no deeds for man.
With proud reluctant stoop, in pensive glare,
The giant figure stands : that haughty air
Speaks him indignant that a heav'nly birth
Must droop in weariness like sons of earth.
What stormy grandeur wraps the mighty whole
In gloom majestic, — semblance of his soul !
Broad o'er the base the spreading shoulders rise,
Fit prop, as once to bear aloft the skies ;
The bold fair front in valour shines serene,
Small yet august the Grecian head is seen,
And frowning death from orbs that seem to glow,
With happy contrast crowns th' expanse below.
No human form the daring Artist fired ;
To godlike lineaments his hand aspired.
The rock subservient to the vast design,
Spoke mortal lassitude with strength divine.
Art back recoil'd at what herself had done,
And seem'd to view the Thund'rer in his Son.
Fevered in fight no more those limbs abide
The proud encumbrance of the Nemean hide ;
In naked majesty sublime he towers,
And bares to sight his more than mortal powers.
Fierce was the dragon's fire, the war he waged
Mock'd partial strength, and all the foe engaged.
Those muscles waving yet, — those veins that swell
With life's warm tide, — how dire the struggle tell ;
So when a storm has harrow'd up the main,
And, awed at heaven's command, is hushed again,
Not all at once the indignant waves retire,
But heave, and heave, till spent their rage, expire.
Oh ! if a thought might tempt the dangerous height
And soar to Truth's broad blaze from Pagan night, —
Here — nor more pleas'd the distant wanderer hails
Whate'er reminds him of his native vales —
Here faith might sit, uplift her eagle eye,

Miscellaneous Poems. 305
And catch, tho' faint, some glimpses of the sky.
Yes ! the mix'd nature, and the high descent,
The toil-worn life for suffering mortals spent,
The bounds of hell o'erpassed, the serpent's fangs
Spumed in the dust, the death of bitterest pangs, —
AU rise, tho' fabled all, and bid her view,
What they but feign, in her Deliverer true.
 1817.

THE COLISEUM.1
Was it th' applauding thunder of delight 1
Or starts my spirit from the. dreams of night?
Thoughts ! whither had ye led me 1 'twas the blast
Of fitful winds that through the ruins pass'd,
Fled is the pageant all ; the sports are o'er ;
And shouts of myriads shake these seats no more.
Stupendous pile ! how deep the classic gloom
Bespeaks thee what thou art, an empire's tomb.
Not so of old, when festal mornings broke,
Had Rome to pomps of savage lux'ry woke ;
When from her teeming haunts the vulgar throng,
To crowd these courts, exulting rush'd along ;
When heroes rang'd in many a martial row,
And beauty's self approv'd-the guilty show.
Here, as the famish'd monster of the wood
Sprung on his victim shiv'ring where he stood, —
Here, as the gladiator's dext'rous wheel
In Roman life-blood plung'd the Roman steel,
Up to heav'n's gate such impious transports ran,
The stone mass trembled at the deeds of man.
Abrupt, as if commission'd lightning's force
Had cleft the quarried mountain in its course,
A rocky steep first tempts the aching eye
To where th' aspiring cornice courts the sky.
When ruin huri'd the sand-sunk fragments down,
And reft the boast of ages of its crown,
' This remnant height her bitter scorn survey" d,
And left to tell the havoc she had made.
1 Written for the Newdigate Prize in 1818. See Life, vol. I. p. 184.
w

306 Miscellaneous Poems.
For thus, in Coliseum's day of pride,
One robe of grandeur clad the circuit wide ;
Like these, three stately tiers of broad arcade
Bore to the clouds the incumbent pilastrade.
Of boldest Doric was the first; above
Ionic chaste with rich Corinthian strove.
Now inward borne, how strives the sight to fling
One wide embrace around the mighty ring ;
Rests where the corridor extends beneath
Its caverns, gloomy as the shades of death ;
Thence higher soars where, rock-grown weeds among,
The pilgrim trophy of the cross is hung.
Here groaning arches totter to their fall :
Here mould'ring slopes the insulated wall :
Whilst many a widening breach that yawns between,
Unfolds new wonders and expands the scene.
Ye crags, that speak of parted glory ! tell
How once ye frown'd as good Ignatius feU.
Ye saw his wither'd age to monsters thrown ;
Ye echo'd round the dying martyr's groan,
As fled the free soul from its pris'n of clay,
And burst from pangs and death to life and joy away. 1818.

THE IPHIGENIA OF TIMANTHES.1
Oh ! can no pray'r avail the maid to save,
And drive the blust'rers murm'ring to their cave ?
Dian forbids ! And from the stormy north
With sullen force the winds of Thrace rush forth ;
Adown Euripus' angry frith they sweep,
Chain either shore, and lord it o'er the deep.
Their keels fast lock'd to Aulis' dreary strand,
i The Iphigenia was the master- Greek and Roman Biography. Ti-
piece of this celebrated Greek pain- manthes was said to have used only
ter. A description and criticism four colours; respecting which in-
of it, and especially of the striking formation wiB be found in the
feature of the picture, namely the Dictionary of Greek and Roman An-
maiden's father with his face veiled, tiquities, under the article Colores,
will be found in the Dictionary of

Miscellaneous Poems. 307
In fretful sloth th' Achaean warriors stand ;
Whilst hollow blasts that through the cordage fly
Speak heaven's demand, " The royal fair must die."
Immortal master of the fourfold hue !
T'was thine to paint the scene how sadly true.
Timanthes ! thine, in one bold group, to throw
Each line of beauty, all the soul of woe.
And lo ! the pomp of death, th' attendant throng,
Drown'd every eye, and horror-tied each tongue ;
The altar garland-bound, the ruthless knife,
Soon soon to blush with blood of maiden's life. —
It cannot be ! what bride, what goddess comes ?
Ye lyres, awake ; sound, hymeneal drums !
Weave the gay dance — let nuptial hymns arise —
'Tis Hymen's reign — she comes to sacrifice !
Ah no ! Those eyes beam not of joy ; but there
Devotion lights her torch serenely fair.
Tho' from those orbs no crystal sorrows flow,
Nor plaint escapes the ruby lips below,
Wreath'd in those locks tho' rose and lily bloom,
No bridal wreath, — it marks her for a tomb.
Oh ! sole serene amid the wide despair ;
First of the fairest, chaste as thou art fair ;
Bright as the sunny glare of yon white rocks,
And free as winds that lift in sport thy locks,
Fair as thou art, to heaviest ills resign'd,
That mien's composure utters not thy mind.
There female softness holds unequal strife
With patriotic pride that spurns at life ;
A father's safety wings thee to depart ;
A father's after-sorrows rive thy heart ; —
Nor told those eyes an undesigning tale
What time all-conscious fell that saffron veil.
With Calchas first contagious grief began,
And fast the prophet sunk into the man.
Ev'n stern Ulysses' self dares once be weak,
And the big drops surprise his hardy cheek.
But whose that smitten breast, that wilder air ?
How glows the kinsman's tender anguish there !
w2

308 Miscellaneous Poems.
Haply he thinks him of the days gone by, —
Her father's hall — the song — the revelry.
That father now — triumphant Art ! 'twas well
To veil the anguish thought alone could tell.
 September, 1819.
MUSA PEDESTRIS.
Written December 19th, 1825, whilst waiting to be overtaken by the
coach ; addressed to Miss Frowd.
Oh ! who can sing with mire and dirt,
Splash'd and bespatter'd legs and shirt t
Sure, gaiter'd trim and clouted shoe
For gentle lady Muse wont do !
Oh ! who upon the wintry road,
When winds and showers are all abroad,
Flouncing along the hackney'd way
Can wake or grave or sprightly lay ?
A trudging son of verse, good lack !
With shoulders round and bended back —
Wains, pedlars, and all vulgar things
Crossing his steps — he strike the strings ?
Yet wherefore not ? The muse is free ;
Time, place, or presence heeds not she.
Her wings invisible she spreads,
And clouds, as mire, she quickly treads.
Oh ! wherefore not t Sure none will say,
Tho' tenanted in grov'lling clay,
Th' ethereal soul must needs sit here,
Nor struggle for a nobler sphere !
'Tis true, th' immortal part awhile
Along life's jostling road must toil ;
Chill blast of sorrow damp her fire,
And business clog her heels as mire.
Yet yet 'tis given her to arise,
And, panting for her native skies,
To spurn awhile th' ignoble strife,
And breathe ev'n here the breath of life.

Miscellaneous Poems. 309
Then up, my soul ! and should the muse
Her vocal unison refuse,
Yet soar on contemplation's wing,
In melody of silence sing.

THE OPEN GRAVE.
Pause, stranger ! in this open grave
View with awe thy last abode :
Thou the shaft of death must brave,
Thou must tread the beaten road.
Say ! does beauty crown thy head 1
Or does youth thy spirits cheer ?
Youth and beauty soon are fled ;
Both alike must moulder here.
What tho' myriads own thy pow'r ;
Tho' a sceptre grace thy hand ;
Can they stay the circling hour,
Or bid Time's fleeting coursers stand ?
Or if chance, by fancy led
Where the lonely churchyard lies,
Thou, some poet, with the dead ¦
LoVst awhile to sympathise ;
Know the tuneful strain ere long
In this last retreat will end ;
Dust to dust shall close the song ;
Hither all thy honours tend.
Youth's fair spring is quickly gone ;
Manhood's summer soon is o'er ;
Wintry age in turn comes on,
And the flow'ret buds no more.
And perhaps the very tongue
That unfolds this tale of sorrow,
Its last melody has sung —
May be mute in death to-morrow.

310 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE MANIAC.
Say, lovely maid ! why that disordered glare,
That speaks the anguish of too sad a mind 1
What fury-pangs can such a bosom tear 1
Why roves the fancy wilder than the wind ?
She heeds me not ; and scarce her eager eye
Darts on me one quick glance as on she speeds.
'Tis the poor maniac, hapless Emily,
Whose mind the harpies of distraction feeds.
Time was that blythe she trod the village green,
The pride of swains, and mistress of the grove ;
The blended graces in her form were seen ;
No phrenzy held her heart, but all was love.
One youth there was for whom her breast would heave
Love's tender sigh, her eye shed love's warm tear ;
And he with her alone the dance would weave,
Was only blest when Emily was near.
But, summon'd by the brazen trump of war,
From her embrace the valiant youth was torn ;
And, leaving all he prized, was hurried far,
To meet the foe o'er raging billows borne.
No pleasure since has cheer'd the mourner's soul ;
Alone she'd wander on the desert beach,
Drop in the wave her tears as down they'd roll,
And pour in sighs a heart too full for speech.
One eve, as on yon mountain's craggy height
(Such her employ, her faithful Henry lost)
She pil'd on high the beacon's friendly light
To guide his bark if chance by tempests tost,
Far in the surge beneath a skiff she view'd
That struggled with the wave — that moment heard
The cry of deep distress, — th' o' erwhelming flood
Broke on the little bark, — it disappear'd.

Miscellaneous Poems. 311
Swift down the tall cliff's side she ran, she flew ;
Fear bore her instant to the pebbly brink ;
Now at her feet a corpse the billows threw ;
Let thought foreboding at the sequel shrink !
" 'Tis he ! 'tis he !" in agony she cried,
And sunk distracted on the fatal shore ;
Oh ! happy then, thrice happy, had she died,
And sunk from his embrace to rise no more.
But ah ! stern destinies impel her still
To live not living, dying not to die ;
Still is she doom'd affliction's lash to feel,
And heedless wherefore, ever heard to sigh.
Remembrance now forsakes her troubled brain ;
And thus each eve she climbs the mountain's side,
Where erst, when Henry wander'd o'er the main,
She breath'd his name on ev'ry gale that sigh'd.

HUMAN LIFE.
Haustus inter effervescendum sumendus.
Poor human hfe ! I've found thee out at last :
Lov'd, hated thing — brief, noisy — future — past.
The touch so neat of Esculapian thumb
That shows us whence those folded papers come,
The fair white phial, polished, round and clean ; —
The bright transparent lymph that glows within ;
AU these, fond hfe with airy hopes elate,
Paint the calm promise of thine infant state !
But hark ! 'tis come, the stirring time of strife :
Mix we, and mingle, for the zest of life.
Mark the strain'd eye-ball, and the expectant yawn ;
Pop, rush, hiss, sparkle, swallow : bah — 'tis gone.
Galen ! we owe thee much : thy curious craft
Paints human life — an effervescing draught.
Sudbury, September 3rd, 1840.

312 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE FALL OF FONTHILL TOWER.1
Pass, pass, pale envious mist, away ;
And render back to light of day
The stately tow'r that crowns yon height,
On which, with ever new delight,
So oft' I've gaz'd, — now gaze in vain.
Oh ! pass. I'd gaze and gaze again.
Ha ! have I dreamt ? What potent spell
Holds me as on yon wreck I dwell ?
What can portend yon outline clear 1
Nor cloud nor curling mist is here !
Distinctly seen that broken roof
Gives to my fears the stamp of proof;
'Tis desolation's noiseless blast
O'er Fonthill's airy crest hath past :
Deeply she mourns the secret blow ;
Her cloud-enamour'd tower lies low.
Mortal ! the thought should visit thee
In awful, sad sublimity.
For not array'd in robe of flame
The angel of destruction came,
'Mid stifling smoke, and bursting blaze,
The gorgeous edifice to raze : —
Nor o'er these swelling hills, as erst,
Did waters of a deluge burst,
Clap their wild hands with eddying sweep,
And hurl the ruin to the deep : —
Nor winds, in elemental war,
Must'ring their forces from afar,
Came pouring down with direful shock,
The tow'r from its proud base to rock,
And charg'd with hail and driving rain
Propel and wash it to the plain : —
But in the stillest hour it feU,
When all spoke fair, and all seem'd well,
When winds were hush'd, and scarce a spray
1 See Life vol. I., p. 371; and vol. II., p. 283.

Miscellaneous Poems. 313
Shook with the dancing breeze at play.
Slight presage and short warning giv'n,
The torrents left their cloudy heav'n.
At intervals, from painted wall,
Was heard the crumbling plaster fall ;
A few faint groans, with hollow sound,
Peal'd thro' the trembling roofs around ;
And sudden, as each crash was heard,
Chinks of disjointed stone appear'd ;
Down the taU sides, in wavy line,
They ran, and marr'd the fair design.
Then toppling from their treach'rous prop,
Down down th' incumbent-masses drop ;
Such hideous ruin in their train
That scarce may stone on stone remain.
And now, from crown to base o'erthrown,
In one dire crash, the rumbling stone
Rolls to its place, upon the breast
Of mother earth for aye to rest ;
And, lately tow'ring to the skies,
A shapeless ruin now it lies.
And thus it is aspiring man
Builds up to heav'n some giant plan,
ResolvM, presumptuous ! to defy
The course of mortal destiny :
But when, good easy soul-! he deems
Himself to be the thing he seems,
Some silent unexpected blow
Lays the mistaken trifler low.
Chicklade, December 21st, 1825.

BOURNE, NEAR CHRIST CHURCH.
Surely this is, this is the " Bourne "
From whence no sojourners return !
For who thro' yonder wood can stray
Where sweetly winds the mazy way ;
The blossoming heath and furze admire,
That never end yet never tire ;

314 Miscellaneous Poems.
Or watch the crystal brook, that glides
In haste to join old Ocean's tides,
And pours upon the list'ning ear
Murmurs to peace and mem'ry dear ;
Or, borne upon the fitful gale,
Catch sounds that tell another tale,
And summon thought and eye to rise
Where, midway between earth and skies —
And thro' the narrow vista seen
The parting grove of firs between —
The dancing waves are aU at play,
And sparkle in the golden ray,
Bidding the willing feet explore
The beauties of the winding shore ;
To pace the smooth and solid sand,
Or 'neath the beetling cliff to stand,
And elevate the joyous soul
On music of the ceaseless roll
Of heaving waves, that break in spray,
And kiss each other's trace away.
Then up the cliff, and o'er the heath ;
Then rest the charmed sense beneath,
Where, 'mid the massive shade, are seen
The tufted roof and paddock green.
Oh ! who so void of soul and song,
Could rove these peaceful haunts among,
Nor wish his home of age might be
"A cot that here o'erlooks the sea."
September 20th, 1839.

THE FRIEND.
The true and faithful friend,
Oh ! tell me who shall find ?
The man who dares not bend
To flattery his mind ;
Bold to rebuke tho' crowds applaud,
Tender but just, a man of God !

Miscellaneous Poems. 315
Lord ! from the narrow way
Whene'er my steps decline, —
My steps so apt to stray
From that best way of Thine ! —
StiU grant me from the righteous band,
' In love to smite, some friendly hand.
And should this treach'rous heart,
Fir'd at the gen'rous blow,
Keenly resent the smart
And aU indignant glow, —
Thy grace be near my pride to hush ;
And shame, not anger, claim my blush.
Then from its crystal weU
Fast flow the contrite flood ;
And thro' my bosom swell
The tide of gratitude ;
And let me prize, till life shall end,
The fond yet true — the faithful friend.

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION.1
Philosophy.
What does nature ask for ? Oh ! is it not plain 1
A body exempt from the ravage of pain ;
And a mind which can relish the good that is near,
By care unassail'd, unacquainted with fear.
Religion.
My Father, my God ! should thy Wisdom ordain
Many cares for my mind, for my body much pain :
And, to deepen the gloom, if, by mem'ry portray'd,
Thoughts arise whereof conscience is justly afraid ;
One glance of Thy love ev'ry fear shaU dispel ;
1 Suggested by a passage of Lucre- II., pp. 148, 264.
tius (II. 18, sq.) See Life vol.

316 Miscellaneous Poems.
For it whispers of peace, and says aU shaU be well.
The pain Thou bar'st for me Thou'lt help me to bear ;
On Thee, who car'st for me, I'U cast ev'ry care ;
By the waters of comfort my steps Thou wilt lead ;
I'U trust and be happy ; for nothing I need.
Reading, September 12th, 1840.

EXTREMES MEET.
To Sorrow Joy 's so near allied,
Each seems at times t' have chang'd its side.
I've often gravest been when queerest,
And farthest seem'd from thought when nearest ;
Nor can I, for my life, tell why
(Yet dare not, on my troth, deny)
A smile from my sad eyes might fall,
And flicker on a funeral :
Nor why a tear should from them start
In utterance of a merry heart.

fi. a. fi.
At evening's close
I pick'd a rose,
And gave it to my dear ;
Fresh was its bloom,
Rich its perfume ;
She lovelier did appear.
A few hours fled :
The rose was dead :
And oh ! the tale too true,
The next moon pass'd,
But 'twas the last,
My love, that shone on you.
July, 1819.

Miscellaneous Poems. 317
HEBREWS VIII. 8.
Oh ! in the world's lone wilderness
A friend once more to meet,
Who cheered us oft in past distress,
Is sweet — is passing sweet.
'Tis sweet to find the lamp of love,
Lit at the gospel flame,
To guide us to the joys above
Burn on to-day the same.
But bliss, beyond compare, to know
Our hearts no change shall sever,
The bond that knits us here below
Is Christ, the same for ever.

THE WAYSIDE INN.1
Ye whom amid these desert plains
Their last lone Bustard entertains,
If chance beneath this roof ye find
Bed, board, and shelter to your mind,
Then think of Him, whose smiles can bless,
And cheer the world's wide wilderness.
But if — for who can always please 1 —
Ye meet not here the promis'd ease ;
If bed, board, shelter, treatment, all
Short of your expectations fall,
Still think of Him ! Life's journey done,
Faith's battle fought, hope's laurel won,
In mansions of eternal love,
He gives the weary rest above.
1 Written at the Bustard Inn, on Salisbury Plain, July 24th, 1822,

318 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE PENITENTIARY.
Thrice blest, who trace the steps their Saviour trod;
Explore the haunts where misery lies hid ;
Search out the tears of penitence, and bid
The slave be free, the lost return to God.
Blest privUege ! to pluck th' entangled feet
Of woman frail from the destroyer's snare :
To bid her soul divine instruction share,
To fiU her hands with occupation meet ;
Train her to wiUing abstinence, afford
Space for the gush of penitential grief,
To show the stricken conscience its relief,
Weakness its strength, in Christ the risen Lord,
A hope to trembling penitents restore,
And bid the contrite " go, and sin no more.''

THE COMRADE.
" Je vois qu/on bat le rappel en haut."
(Marshall Soult, on being made acquainted with the death of his old
colleague, General Heymls.)
There sat an old warrior, his sword was laid by,
And he mus'd on the days that were fled :
And there came one who brought a warm tear to his eye,
For he told him a comrade was dead.
What ! another (he cried) of the few trembling leaves
That remain'd on the old wither'd tree ?
As each drops to the ground and its fellows bereaves,
I feel 'tis a summons for me.
Hark ! hark ! 'tis the signal that sounds a retreat
From the world and its perilous love ;
'Tis a note my soul cannot mistake ; 'tis the beat
That calls me to Quarters above, •

Miscellaneous Poems. 319
EPITAPH.
The summons came while yet life's onward stage
He walk'd, nor worn by sickness, nor by age :
Dust sank to dust : th' embodied spirit's eye
Saw — Reader, ask not what, but learn to die.
Found if well sought, seek early thou and find
Pardon in Christ, in pardon peace of mind :
So shalt thou stand when life's worst ills arise,
Nor be found sleeping at the Great Surprise. Sep. 10th, 1832.

EPITAPH.1
The sacred walls he labor'd to reclaim
From Time's neglect should guard Montgomery's name.
Each line of pristine purity and grace
'Twas his with happiest effort to retrace ;
And to this age-encumber' d fane restore
The beauty, that in earlier days it wore.
Tho' mute his voice, commission'd to convey
Within these walls the Life, the Truth, the Way ;
In clearest tones let this cold marble cry,
" Prepare ye, in the midst of life, to die." December, 1842.

THE GLOW-WORM.
Ha ! 'tis the glow-worm's tiny ray
That starts to sight at close of day.
How pure the paly lustre beams !
No flickering radiance forth it streams,
But soft and still the blue lamp glows ; —
Emblem of chaste and deep repose.
Gaze on the gem, — it shrinks from sight
Diminish'd to the smallest mite ;
Look off, — the darkness at its side
1 The sentiments of this piece years afterwards, to the restorer of
became strikingly applicable, many Greyfriars,

320 Miscellaneous Poems.
Kindles and brightens far and wide.
ShaU I not say thy tiny light
Looks life through the duU eye of night?
ShaU I not say no purer beam
By stariight twinkles on the stream ;
That torch-lit diamond in the mine
Ne'er cast a splendour such as thine ;
Nor pity's tear on beauty's cheek
E'er dropped so limpid or so meek t
Favour'd thy lot, poor worm ! to glow
Thus wondrous bright, yet creep so low.
By thee let human pride be taught
A fitter aim, a humbler thought.
Oh ! be it ever mine, like thee,
How smaU soe'er my orbit be,
From the light giv'n me to dispense
Benign and useful influence ;
To make another's way more clear,
Whose feet may darkling wander near ;
To show the path the saints have trod,
By faith that lights the soul to God ;
To cheer affliction's gath'ring gloom
By hope that sparkles in the tomb ;
And guide and bless by rays of love
The labours that find rest above.
Yet may not man or shine or burn,
'TiU in the Fount of Light his urn
Be dipp'd, his vesture of decay
Drench' d in the tides of cloudless day.
0 Sun of Righteousness, arise !
Buried in Thee my darkness lies.
In Thee aris'n, the shadows gone,
I see the Day-spring's heavenly dawn ;
The healing from Thy wings impart
To chase my doubts, and warm my heai t.
May I, the live-long night, be known
By beams reflected from Thine own,
And more and more the light display
That spreads and mounts to perfect day.

Miscellaneous Poems. 321
EVENING THOUGHTS.
When threat'ning dangers gather round,
Sweet the lone ev'ning walk abroad ;
I feel I tread on holier ground,
Wrapt in the presence of my God.
Oh ! 'tis a thought of pow'r to charm,
And hush the tumult of the breast,
When conscience rings her loud alarm,
And trembling weakness stands confess'd ;
When clouds of grief that o'er me lower,
Thoughts of the guilty past recall,
And, prelude to the vengeful shower,
Some drops of retribution fall.
'Tis then the flowers of friendship fade,
And love's own accents broken die ;
And onward, through the barren glade,
I look in vain for shelter nigh :
In vain, for human aid. But, oh,
Blest hope ! divinely taught I learn,
At such an hour, from all below
To One above mine eye to turn.
Then as I view the bleeding Lamb,
Hush'd is the clam'rous voice of sin ;
In Christ I live, I move, I am,
Feel Him above, around, within.
My fainting spirit upward springs,
When weakest felt found only strong ;
And mighty, as on angel's wings,
Towards its own heaven it speeds along.

322

Miscellaneous Poems.

TERCENTENARY OF C.C.C.1
If e'er to grace a Patron's honor'd name,
With off'rings due the sons of Science came —
If Poe'sy e'er with rapture seiz'd the lyre,
To sound his praise who fann'd her infant fire —
Well may our shouts of welcome mount the skies
To meet the day that saw these walls arise ;
WeU may our lips pour forth the choral strain,
And tell thee, Fox ! thy labours were not vain ;
Tho' Circling ages o'er its head have past,
Yet stands thy pile and shaU for ages last.
Quick glancing thro' the upward stream of years
Her darkling course Imagination steers ;

i Becited at the Tercentenary
Commemoration of the CoBege,
which was celebrated June 18th,
1817 (see Life, vol. I. pp. 152, 286).
This was the second college (Brazen-
nose being the first, in 1509) founded
at Oxford after the revival in that
university of the ancient classical
learning. Bishop Bichard Fox had
designed his benefaction to the
founding of a monastery, but his
friend Hugh Oldham, Bishop of
Exeter, dissuaded him, saying, pro
phetically enough, that convents
possessed already more than they
would long enjoy; advising him
therefore to found a College instead,
as likely to last longer and certain
to do more good. Bishop Pox took
the advice and Bishop Oldham be
came likewise a munificent bene
factor. Fuller says that Erasmus
was very liberal of his praise of this
college, being " highly affected with
the library, and the study of tongues,
which, according to the founder's
wiB, flourished therein, insomuch
that for some time it was termed -
the CoBege of the three learned
languages —
Est locus Oxonii, licet appellare tri-
linque
Musseum, a Christi corpore nomen
habet."
The Beformation movement, which
began shortly after the erection of
Corpus, had its advocates there.

John Jewel, a Devonshire man, an
undergraduate, and John Parkhurst,
tutor, who both became Elizabethan
Bishops, were the prominent Befor
mation men of the college during
the latter half of Henry YIII's reign.
The biographical sketch of Jewel
(prefixed to his Works by the Parker
Society) gives an interesting gHmpse
of it all : the zealous student and
uncompromising Beformer concilia
ting the papistical dean by the
sweetness of his temper ; rising by-
and-by to be lecturer of the College,
and his old tutor Parkhurst coming
up to Corpus from his college living
to hear and admire him. The reader
of Izaak Walton will not forget how
in after years, when Jewel was a
Bishop, he became the patron of the
poor Exeter lad Bichard Hooker,
and introduced him to C.C.C, and
how Bichard used to call at the
Sarum palace on his journeys from
the west to keep his terms, and the
Bishop's benediction, and the "ten
groats," and the "horse" which had
shared his foreign exile in the Marian
days, and which should now carry
the young man " on foot to the
College," — and the final "and so
God bless you, good Bichard."
Thus the undergraduate of 1817 had
associations of Winchester, Exeter,
and Salisbury to assist him in his
fancy. Bishop Fox's portrait is
referred to in vol. I, page 361.

Miscellaneous Poems. 323
She sees the flag of Ign'rance wide outspread,
And earth's expanse reflect its baneful red :
Whilst Superstition cramps the struggling mind,
And all is bigoted as all is blind.
But lo ! when sudden streams of holy light
Th horizon fringe — now burst upon the sight ;
A white-robed band appears ! To them 'tis giv'n
To chase the clouds, t' unveil the face of heav'n ;
And Fox, 'mid those who foremost hold their way,
Pants to unbar the golden gates of day.
Three tardy centuries have roll'd along
Since first, great Sire, these classic haunts among,
Thy goodly fabric rose ; where Wisdom high,
And Learning famed, and lowly Piety,
In one strict tie thy geh'rous children bind,
By kindred manners knit, and pure exalted mind.
Thus rear'd by thee, to thy fair system true,
Within these aged waUs thy Hooker grew ;
Thro' learning's maze his ardent spirit ran,
Sought the deep things of God, and gave to man.
Here taught by thee the arms of faith to wield,
With filial zeal he rush'd into the field ;
Through danger's hour maintain'd the Church's cause,
Th' unyielding guardian of her rites and laws ;
In darkest days her single champion stood,
To quell the wicked and uphold the good.
Thus, gen'rous Fox, thy noble purpose sped
With many a saint now number'd 'mong the dead.
Thro' life's short day with steady light they shone,
And left a deathless name when they were gone.
What though Time's desolating hand defy
The brass that fain would" tell us where they lie 1
Th' inspiring glow their bright examples give,
Deep in the bosoms of thy sons shall live ;
And kindle, 'neath this consecrated dome,
Fires that shall lighten ages yet to come.
Yes ! when our feeble race is 'swept away,
And others celebrate this festal day,
Haply, as now, shall tributary verse
x2

324 Miscellaneous Poems.
The praise of Hookers yet unborn rehearse ;
And future worthies stiU, to bless thy name,
Successive rise, and throng the courts of fame.

LEAVING OXFORD.1
Hark ! 'tis the packing hammer near !
It binds the covers fast,
And M  's all of college gear,
His volumes clos'd for ever here,
Have left their shelves at last.
And can my friend so calm look on ?
Was that Hght carol his 1
And recks he not of pleasures gone ?
Sees he no cloud to mar the dawn
Of Life's realities 1
Then happy in a world's esteem,
When apathy is bliss !
Be mine to stem the turbid stream :
I would not quit the poet's dream
For happiness like this.
What ! could I quit these classic groves,
These battlements and tow'rs,
Where Isis ripples, Cherwell roves,
The haunts that gentle science loves,
Scenes of my gladdest hours ?
Oh ! could I quit them, nor the dew
Of tenderest regret
FaU, for the joys that here I knew,
Of fancy, hope, and friendship true,
In sweetest concert met ?

> See Life, vol. I. page 362.

Miscellaneous Poems. 325
A thousand recoUections rise —
Nor all unmix'd with woe —
A thousand tender sympathies
Rush from my bosom to my eyes,
And warmly answer " No ! " June, 1821.

BON POUR RIEN.
There was an English gentleman
As sad as e'er was seen,
Who all the day would sigh and say,
" Alas ! I'm Bumpereen."
In vain they try thro' ear and eye,
Sweet solace to pour in ;
'Twas aU the same, his endless theme
Was, " I am Bumpereen."
His comrades sing, and goblets bring
To drown dull care therein —
" Such joys," says he, " are not for me,
For I am Bumpereen."
Though days were bright with much delight,
And blyther ne'er had been,
His cheerless mind no joy could find,
'Twas " I am Bumpereen."
His better part tried every art
To brighten up the scene ;
" Alas ! " he'd cry, " in vain you try,
You know I'm Bumpereen."
Thus, void of fun, his course he'd run,
Sad victim of the spleen ;
TU1 like a dart, he'd take a start,
And laugh at Bumpereen.

326 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE VICTORIA CROSS-.
" See the conquering hero comes,
Sound the trumpet, beat the drums : "
Valour's meed who nobly won
Sweftering 'neath an Indian sun ;
With the band who brought relief
To the sons of dearth and grief ;
Beat the blood-stain'd Sepoy down ;
Bravely earn'd the civic crown.
War is hush'd : a gorgeous scene
Opens on the Palace green.
There, in arms that flout the day,
War's innocuous array,
Bright the serried ranks appear,
Waiting 'till their Queen draw near.
Lo ! she comes, with England's best
Summon'd at her high behest,
Proud spectators of the meed
Dealt to high heroic deed.
Who that owns a Briton's heart
Were not proud to bear a part,
Witness of the due reward,
Thus for Valour's brow prepar'd ?
Who that treads our happy Isle,
To secure his Sov'reign's smile,
Where the death bolts thickest fly,
Would not stand, — and win or die 1
Now approach the Royal hand,
One by one, ye gaUant band !
'Mid the warm and glad acclaim
That salutes each honor'd name.
Raise your eyes of modest merit ;
See the prize your deeds inherit ;
'Tis Victoria's hand bestows it,
Round each gaUant neck she throws it,

Miscellaneous Poems. 327
Lays it on each valiant breast,
Fastens to each honor'd vest ;
Planting there a gem of worth
Never dug from caves of earth ;
But an ornament indeed
Shining Valour's hard-bought meed,
Shedding rays, in Virtue's view,
Such as diamond never threw :
Prize — your homes for aye to grace ;
Prize — to stir a future race.

Past the scene ! The pageant's gone !
Pass we each to duty on.
Pass we on : and chiefly you,
Few amid that honor'd few,
Who, as on your way ye toil'd,
Worn and weary, sad and. soil'd,
Dauntless, howsoe'er distrest,
Till the wreath your brows had blest ;
Ever for the worst prepared,
Sought a higher far reward -
Than e'er was giv'n by Potentate
Who wore a crown of mortal state.
Speed ye on your honor'd way ;
Cheer' d, not dazzled, by the ray
Of a name enshrin'd in story,
And the prize of earthly glory.
Still to faith's unblenching sight
Call, as erst, that scene so bright,
Lighted by no setting sun,
When these heav'ns their course have run,
When, as fig-leaves on the blast,
Stars shall fall, and time be past.
See ! The Eternal's throne is set !
Judgment dawns : — the worlds have met.
Happy then — and only they —
Thus addressed that awful day :

328 Miscellaneous Poems.
" Well done ! Soldier of the Cross
Who didst count thy life but loss,
So thou might'st be faithful found,
So thou might'st but here be own'd.
Thine was march of weary length ;
Thine were foes of direst strength ;
Faded by no touch of death
Wear this amaranthine wreath ;
Thou didst wage a nobler strife
Than where valour stakes its life ;
Thou didst brave, on peril's brink,
Shafts from which the bravest shrink,
Scorn, derision, shame and loss,
To follow Christ, and bear the cross :
In my glory thou shalt shine,
For the shame thou bar'st was mine ;
Rest thou from earth's sad employ,
Enter thou thy Master's joy."
With such glorious scene in view,
Pass ye on, ye gallant few.
Matters not if bed of death
Calm receive your parting breath ;
Circled by domestic band,
Press'd by fond affection's hand,
When that shatter'd toil-worn frame
Sinks to dust from whence it came.
When the signs we now descry,
Pallid cheek, and sunken eye,
Prove but harbingers too dear
Of that hour of parting near : —
Matters not if brief the space
Yon bright gem your breast shall grace,
Matters not, at duty's call,
If in battle's front ye fall
'Mid dying shrieks, and victory's cry : —
For, with you, 'tis " gain to die."
Yes ! for you a brighter splendour
Than death in Victory's arms can render.

Miscellaneous Poems. 329
Streaming from the Cherubim,
ShaU disperse dreams dark and dim,
And half-reveal, ere life be fled,
Joy that may not be uttered. September, 1859.

THE PILGRIM.
Duty calls me from my dwelling,
Life's uncertain waste to tread ;
Storms of care around are swelling ;
Clouds of grief hang o'er my head.
Yet yet I will not, dare not, fear ;
Heaven is my home, and God is near.
Sweet were my hours of youthful pleasure,
And dear the friends that smiled on me :
But youth is gone, and youth's sweet treasure;
Nought but a frowning world I see.
Yet truer joys my path beguile,
For see ! my Saviour deigns to smile.

1827,

BIRTHDAY LINES.
Day of my birth ! Again I greet thy dawn
And bid thee welcome. Though these nineteen years
Have stripp'd the gaudy garland from thy brow
Which childish fancy wove thee, — They have flow'd
So smoothly down the swift and silent stream
Of Time, they have not ruffled thy fair visage ;
Nor from my heart e'er wrung th' impatient sigh
That cursed thee : They but mellow thy complexion,
And for the glowing flush upon thy cheeks
A clear and natural freshness have suffused
A robe of smiles. Yet deem not I disdain
The memory of thine earlier visitings,
Or dead to gratitude forget the joys

330 Miscellaneous Poems.
Thy presence yielded then, with all its train
Concomitant, — the gratulations kind
Of those so dear to me, — the splendid gift
Of birth-day shilling, glitt'ring 'neath the board,
As oft I held it down with quick sly glance,
To con my little store. Nor may the muse
Oblivion's veil cast o'er the big round cake1
In russet richness clad, which many a stud
Of tooth-enticing currant spotted o'er.
Joys such as these thou brought'st, which poor, yet innocent,
Then pleas'd, nor pain me in remembrance still.
But diff'rent far the pleasure I enjoy
Now from thy presence ! Other graces now
Delight, and speak thee to my riper reason
A monument of God's high clemency,
Which thus far hath borne with me on my way :
Proof of His love unmerited, which, with life,
Unnumber'd blessings has extended, Hope —
The beacon of the soul that lights to heav'n, —
With Health and Peace, to strew the path with flow'rs.
I deem thee, too, the goal from which I start
On a new race, the certain race of Faith,
Whose end is endless life beyond the skies.
Should He, in whom I live and move, ordain
Thy smiles again to cheer me, may we meet
Again in peace, as now in peace we part. October 1st, 1816.

BIRTHDAY RETROSPECT.
As thus the circling years
Roll one by one away,
Here let me pause, while Thought endears
The speed it cannot stay.

1 A Wilton lady friend used to went to Hyde Abbey School.
send him one every birthday tiB he

Miscellaneous Poems. 331
Time's silent rolling flood
No force of mortals stops ;
AU downward sail, and 'mid the crowd
My little pinnace drops.
But this returning day —
Like to some little isle
That parts the stream, and in its way
Detains my bark awhile —
Seems as it were design'd
To bid me breathe, and view
In memory what I've left behind,
And scan the future too.
My birth-day ! 'Tis a thought
That awes me ; yet I love
The day my infancy was taught
To prize all days above.
I date my joys from hence ;
And many joys they be
God's " never-failing Providence "
Has richly pour'd on me :
And if my bosom knows '
Experience of pain,- —
Some sympathy for other's woes,
Remorse for guilty stain,
Or sickness' rod,— -with joy
I own that suff 'ring smaU ;
Whate'er my sense of life's alloy
From hence I date it aU.
Then well may thy returns,
Day of my birth ! restore
The love for mercies past that burns,
The hope that waits for more.

332 Miscellaneous Poems.
The just regret for ills
My wayward heart hath done,
And humble self-distrust, that teUs
Of dangers yet to come.
Nor few they are, nor smaU,
The dangers yet to come ;
My thoughtful heart they oft appal,
And every pow'r benumb.
Here mad Ambition stands
In ambush to destroy,
Prepar'd, when in her treach'rous hands,
To hurl the wretch from high.
If, jaded with the tods
Her tyranny exacts,
I turn me from her gnded spoils,
And for an hour relax ;
Pleasure, with Syren voice,
My weary soul beguiles ;
She holds to scorn the harder choice,
And vanquishes with smiles.
See in her hand a cup,
The antidote of care ;
She bids me drink the nectar up ;
But hold ! a poison 's there.
Behind them, Want, and Grief,
And Pain, and Sickness stand ;
Nor singly come, but each a chief
With legions at command.
But hush the weak complaint !
There is a God above
Can strengthen, whensoe'er I faint,
And ev'iy foe remove.

Miscellaneous Poems. 333
Confiding in his care,
Though thousands press me round,
My feet shall spurn the latent snare
And still maintain their ground.
And -I will lift my eyes
Beyond the passing scene,
And view those pastures in the sky
That smile for ever green, —
Content to act my part
While Mercy gives me breath ;
Content to meet the fatal dart,
When it decrees my death.
Roll on, thou stream of time !
Bear swift my bark along :
Thou tak'st me to a better clime,
To join a sweeter song. October 1st, 1819.

MY MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY.
If e'er, by fond affection mov'd,
I fram'd a song for one I lov'd, —
And I have sung, and you approv'd, My Mother, —
Oh ! when mbre gladly should I pay
The tribute of a grateful lay
Than now ? It is thy natal day, My Mother.
Full many be its blest returns,
Unsullied by the tear that burns,
The starting sigh, the thought that mourns !
My Mother.

334 Miscellaneous Poems.
And still with each returning year
May richer blessings hover near,
And brighter hopes thy prospect cheer !
My Mother.
May he, thy fond and faithful friend,
Late to the grave, and ripe, descend,
Thy pride and solace to the end, My Mother.
And ever be it thine to see
A virtuous rising progeny
Each other love, as all love thee, My Mother.
And, — when at last the mandate's given, —
Calm be those sighs as breath of even,
That waft thy gentle soul to heaven !
My Mother. February, 1819.

SORORIS LACRIM^E.
(Supposed to be written by A. H. M.)
Tho' vain the verse that would attempt to show
In half its bitterness a sister's woe,
Yet seeks my soul in plaintive song relief ;
Song cannot cure, but may assuage my grief. ,
Dear  breathes no more ! Entomb'd she lies
Where sad  's arching elms arise ;
 the young, the gentle, and the fair,
Companion, sister, friend, sleeps peaceful there.
Where were ye, guardian angels ! in that hour
That saw her sink beneath death's awful pow'r 1
To save a bleeding nation had ye fled 1
To hover round some dying martyr's head 1
Or were ye summoned to the courts on high,
With saints in light and heav'n's blest hierarchy,
To hold high festival, and join triumphant harmony ?
0 hated day ! blackest of all that swell

Miscellaneous Poems. 335
The circling year ! day when my  fell.
Sure clouds were at its birth, that cursed the air ;
Sure light'nings flash'd, and thunders rumbled there.
Ah ! how unlike those halcyon days gone by,
When life was in its bud ; and she, and I,
And those the same sweet cradle rock'd to rest,
Who hung upon the same lov'd mother's breast,
Woke but to joy, and lived but to be blest.
Endear'd by mutual thoughts, a mutual aim,
Our loves, aversions, hopes, and fears the same,
We cheerily chased down youth's ardent sun,
Nor sigh'd but when we found its race was run.
Scarce had it set before the shaft was huri'd
That bade her quit, ere yet she knew, the world ;
Consumption wing'd the slowly certain dart,
It fell unseen, but quiver'd in her heart.
We mark'd her spirits droop, her strength decay,
And rosy health fade from her cheek away ;
We mark'd her heavier eye, her quicker breath ;
Then first we woke to fear, — then thought of death.
But vain each art the suff'rer to restore ;
Med'cine had fail'd ; the sea-breeze brac'd no more ;
And soon she sunk ; a sigh, and all was o'er.
Where were ye, guardian angels ? Ye did love
In happier days around her path to move ;
To watch her op'ning mind, and bid it rise
To thoughts of heav'n, and commune with the skies.
Ye kept her feet from error's fatal lures ;
Ye formed her heart to meekness mild as yours.
And could ye quit her now ? Unworthy thought !
Ye still were nigh tho' we perceiv'd it not.
Why else that strength, that courage to endure,
The peace that shone in death itself secure,
The hope that could the last sad hour beguile,
And mould her clay-cold features to a smile 1
Yes, ye were near, ye taught her how to die ;
Then wing'd her flight for immortality,
With you to bend before the Father's throne,
And join in songs and pleasures like your own.
September, 1819,

336 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE STRUGGLE.
Visions of rapture, dreams of bliss, depart !
Ye dear delusions ! give me back my heart.
Cherish'd too long your thrill I now repress,
E'en now alas ! not lov'd, but trusted, less.
Nought now avails to trace by what dark way
Ye stole upon my breast with tyrant sway :
• T' enquire how, Unk by link, the strong chain grew,
TiU first my startled soul her thraldom knew.
Enough to say, in youth's tumultuous glow
I came, I saw, I felt th' unerring blow.
A stiU smaU voice that moment whisper'd me,
" 'Twere mad to combat, only safe to flee."
'Tis true, I turn'd — to reason turn'd — for aid ;
Reason suggested pray'r, 'tis true I pray'd.
Remembrance woke and told me, as I knelt,
That glow my boyish bosom oft had felt ;
Bade me distrust the hope before prov'd vain,
And hie me on my heav'nward course again.
Thus rous'd, thus arm'd, I met th' unequal strife,
And braced each sinew for the field of life :
And fondly .hoped, a few fierce struggles past,
My stricken heart would freedom find at last.
Nor deem I yet this confidence had fail'd,
But inward foes, and treachery prevail'd.
Apostate mem'ry said that former flame
With such united sanctions never came.
Reason turn'd traitor, and bespoke the maid
In ev'ry grace of womanhood array'd ;
" Nature and fortune," she exclaimed, " conspire ; "
That waked — this fixes here — thy wand'ring fire !
My willing ear — for ah ! I lov'd them well,
Drank deep the syren accents as they fell.
When aU in undecision as I stood,
Up flew the portals of my heart ; a flood
Of strong affections scornful of control
With timid force swept o'er my yielding soul.
Oh ! the sweet sunshine of those halcyon hours,

Miscellaneous Poems. 337
That balmy fleeting Spring of many flowers,
When hand in hand with  I roved,
And freely, fully, perilously loved.
Hold, treach'rous heart ! the very thought resign.
'Tis past ! I wake ; she never may be mine.
Therefore I said, " Ye dreams of bliss, depart !
Ye dear delusions ! give me back my heart." August, 1822.

HOUR OF TRIAL.
Oh ! 'tis a sharp and trying season,
When inclination wars with reason,
This scaring thee with threats of ruin,
That hugging thee to thine undoing !
But straight though rugged then the way,
Thou canst not ignorantly stray ;
'Tis bright, perhaps too dazzling bright,
Yet follow on, for Reason's right.
But oh ! there is a sharper hour,
I've felt — how deeply felt ! — its pow'r,
When clashing inclinations jar,
And reasons wage with reasons war ;
Successive thoughts each other schooling,
And friends now this now that side pulling.
Unhappy, who in such a season
Leans to his own or other's reason !
More hapless, heir to deep vexation,
Who blindly follows inclination !
Would ye be then secure from hurt 1
Distrust the strength ye yet exert :
And bring your wishes out, to try them,
Not to be regulated by them. September 13tk, 1822.

338 Miscellaneous Poems.
BEREAVEMENT AT MIDNIGHT.1
Lives the sad night in my remembrance yet,
Nor can I e'er that melting scene forget.
Stretch'd on his bed of death my parent lay,
Whilst a dim taper shed its cheerless ray.
A few neglected embers lent the room
No warmth, but flickering Ughtly sweU'd the gloom.
'Twas awful sUence ! Check'd was ev'ry breath ;
Light feU each footstep ; 'twas the hush of death.
One doleful sound was heard, one sound alone,
The labour'd breathing and the frequent moan,
That told the music of that voice was o'er,
Its tender accents would delight no more.
Oh, dearest dearest father ! must it he ?
Oh, rest not thus that glazfed eye on me !
It chills my soul, that fixed and vacant stare ;
Not such was once the look that kindled there,
That cheerful, speaking look, that UVd and smil'd, \
Enhanced each joy, each sadder hour beguil'd, V
And said, in ev'ry tender glance, " my child ! " J
The dear lov'd objects of thy constant care,
Where are they now I Thy wife and children — where 1
Alas ! around in anguish mute .they stand,
Raise thy sunk head, or press th' unconscious hand.
Save when the swellings of too full a heart
Impel them forth, to weep in shades apart
Thy partner ! Oh ! the hearings of that breast,
Untraced by thought, by language unexpress'd.
Assiduous stiU amid th' o'ej^helrning grief,
She tries each wonted source of kind relief ;
'TiU the quick action of her lab 'ring brain
Almost subdues the thought that aU is vain,
And trims the treach'rous lamp of hope again.
There is a time, when griefs are highest grown,
The heart assumes a hardness not its own,
And such I proved that sad and solemn night.
1 For the occasion of this see Life, voL L page 412,

)

Miscellaneous Poems. 339
I sat me down, and bore that piercing sight,
That sight that wrung my soul an hour before
In dull amazement's hardihood I bore.
A dear sad sister, struck with like surprise,
As on my knee she sat, fix'd her stanch'd eyes
On that pale alter'd face, and clung to me,
And ask'd without the tongue, " If this could be."

THE SEPULCHRAL VAULT.
. Oh ! ye dark frowning gates, that sternly guard
Th' insatiate dwellings of the silent tomb,
StiU must I see your iron arms expand
For large admission wide, to egress closed 1
Still must I see them, one by one, receive
Whom most I loved ; the noblest and the best
That I have known of men ; friends of my youth,
Protectors of my infancy, and chief
Him, my best human guide 1 —

HOUSE TO LET.
Closed is that door that once would open fly,
Long ere th' expected visitant drew nigh,
Unfasten' d by affection's nimble hand.
Methinks I see again that ruddy band
Their right good-will in artless guise attest,
And turn the key upon th' admitted guest.
Now silence reigns where joy laugh'd loud before ;
Rests on its hinges now that bolted door,
And closed are now those windows that of old,
When winter gemm'd them with its breath of cold,
Gave the delighted traVUer to admire
A merry circle round a blazing fire ;
Those windows that in blaze of summer day
Flew up, to woo the zephyr's wanton play,
y2

340 Miscellaneous Poems.
Whilst, rushing sportive to the quicken'd room,
He bore upon his wings a rich perfume
From many a fragrant leaf, and many a flower
That graceful curled, the casement to embower.
Yes ! blind-drawn are they now, and suits it weU
The haggard pair within those walls that dweU ;
Darkly and dismally they love to brood —
Stern Desolation and sad Solitude.

THE GRAVES OF JANE AND ELLEN.
How sweet is the spot where my Janie reposes !
The charm of its rest how profound !
Come hither, sweet Spring, with sweet days and sweet roses,
And shed your profusion around,
I look from this spot, down a well-wooded valley,
To two lovely knolls in the west ;
And remember, when forth upon life I did sally,
How I found, in their confines, a nest.
There was home ; there were friends ; and a churchyard now
swelling
With hillocks where some of them he :
There another sweet sister reposes. Dear Ellen !
I lov'd thee : we saw eye to eye.
They rest where they labour'd. And now each bright spirit
Is gone to the Lord they did love :
Joy untold ! yet a joy fuUer still to inherit
In glorified bodies above.
Happy souls ! from your footsteps a track let me borrow,
While to serve here on earth is my lot,
'TiU I join you again in His presence, where sorrow
And parting and pain are forgot. September, 1855,

Miscellaneous Poems. 341
THE DYING BABE'S ADIEU TO DAYLIGHT.
The occasion of these lines is given in the following letter of Mr.
Phelps to Miss Susan Frowd, dated Harrow, June 12th, 1838.
I saw the dear little feUow looking stedfastly at the
window as they were closing the shutters : and it reminded me of
the exclamation of the Emperor Alexander on his death-bed, when
by an accidental motion of the curtain a ray of light broke into
his room : — " Ah ! le beau jour."
The train of reflections that followed led to the verses which
I send you (with the proposed inscription) at dear Octavia's
request.1 Pretty beam of parting day !
Hear a dying babe's adieu ;
Think not baby-boy will stay
Long with you, sweet beam ! with you.
Ling'ring upon tree and tow'r,
Still thou loit'rest here below ;
Yet the solemn twilight hour
Says, " Good-night ! " and bids thee go.
Thou must go, sweet light ! and I,
Ere again thou deck'st the lawn,
Tripping from yon eastern sky,
Pretty daylight ! shaU be gone :
Gone from ev'ry ache and pain,
Wont my feeble frame to tear,
Wasting flesh, and firing brain, —
Burthens hard for babes to bear :
Gone to scenes of endless noon,
Where no ev'ning veils the sky ;
Higher than the pretty moon
That I loved to see so high.
1 See Life, vol. II. page 127.

342 Miscellaneous Poems.
Brighter than the stars so bright,
In the firmament to shine ;
Gone to day that knows no night,
In the presence-court divine.
Pretty daylight, then adieu !
I shall need thy beam no more ;
Much I loved thy ray to view ;
Now my day of life is o'er :
Dreamy day of fleeting life !
Shadowy beam of earthly day !
Cease, 0 cease, the mortal strife !
Speed my longing soul away.
Soon shall heav'nly glories dawn,
Ever cloudless, calm, and new ;
Yet, before the curtain 's drawn,
One more look — sweet day, adieu !
May 10i*„1838.

ON THE PORTRAIT OF F. R.1
Ha ! have I met that weU-known face again ?
Oh joy, oh joy, to meet thee ! But oh pain,
To feel afresh that never more thy smile
Shall the rough places of my life begmle !
That smile the limner's art could not express.
Yet love I not the rare production less :
For had those sev'ral lineaments so true,
Those lips, that bring the clear sweet voice anew,
That finely form'd contour, that nose, ear, chin,
Those eyes instinct with radiance from within,
That galaxy of features aU thine own —
Had it thy cheery smile's expression shown,
i See Life, vol. II. page 206, of their old schoolfeBow, Edward
where the date 1861 is incorrect. Frowd, Bector of Clatford near
The place where Mr. Phelps unex- Andover. In 1866 the portrait
pectedly met with this reminiscence came into Mr. Phelps's possession.
of his dear friend was at the house

Miscellaneous Poems. 343
My sight had back recoil'd, and fled the show
Of joy in thee that moek'd my lonely woe.
Thrice welcome then that pensive cast to me ;
It speaks the friend my sorrows found in thee.
Oh ! I could gaze upon that noble brow,
That tells how stedfast, learn' d, and wise wert thou ;
Recalls the force of thy commanding pow'rs,
The wit and witchery of thy social hours :
That look, the index of a heart that heaved
When wrong was unredress'd, want unrelieved. —
Yes, on thy much-loved image let me gaze
From time to time through life's remaining maze,
Till, through the Saviour's merits, mercy, love,
I meet thee where none pensive are — above. August 30th, 1859.

FRIENDSHIP.
Oh grant me, Lord, to use life's present store
Without th' abuse, that cloys or craves for more.
The choicest gift Thy Providence can send, —
A warm, confiding, fond, and faithful friend,
Ne'er may I clasp so closely to my heart
As once to grudge from him, for Thee, to part ;
But, owning still the Giver in the gift,
Strive towards Thee myself, with him, to lift.
And whilst, with bosoms link'd, the path of life
We tread, unfold each maze, and stem each strife,
Still may we trace to Thee the will to share
With mutual love each joy, each grief to bear :
Our anxious aim— each other's step to guide
To the blest stream that flow'd from Jesus' side :
This thought to cheer us, as our journey ends,
" We walked together in Thy house as friends : "
This thought to arm us for the parting pain,
Love cannot die ; we part to meet again. 1850.

344 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE SIGH.
" And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him Ephphatha,
that is, Be opened." — Mark vii. 34.
What was in man Thou needed'st not,
Saviour ! his tongue should tell ;
Each strife of feeling or of thought,
Thou knewest it full well.
For Thou a man of sorrows wert,
Acquainted weU with grief ;
And cam'st to heal each rankling hurt,
To yield each pang relief.
To hear Thy voice, to feel Thy touch,
Staunch' d many a, streaming eye ;
But yet, methinks, tho' this were much
'Twere more to hear Thee sigh.
Said not the yearning that did heave
Into a sigh that breast,
" Come unto me, all ye that grieve,
And I will give you rest 1 "
Lurks there a wish within the heart,
No human soul may know ?
Comes there no friend, to bear a part
In some imprison'd woe 1
Does restless thought, or gloomy doubt,
Hold all ye prize at stake 1
Does trembling fear at foes without,
Or its own shadow, quake 1
Does conscious guilt oppress the mind,
Or pain the mortal frame,
While yet no human friend ye find
To whom the pang to name ?

Miscellaneous Poems.
Pris'ners of hope ! a gracious sound
Calls hitherward your eye.
Behold at length your freedom found :
Oh ! hear the Saviour's sigh.
It spake, before the tongue, the love
That search'd your suff'rings through,
And brought Him down, your griefs to prove,
And slay them where they grew.
Hark ! as those sacred lips it passed,
Mourner ! it said to thee,
"On Me let all thy care be cast,
Each lab 'ring thought set free."
The prayer thy groans could ne'er express —
The sorrowful desire —
The contrite sigh of thy distress —
The yet uhkindled fire —
Be open'd ! — all to Me are known.
Loosed be thy stamm'ring tongue ;
Open'd thine ears, to catch a tone
No angel's harp had rung.

THE SEAL.
It is a precious metal that encircles it around ;
And precious is the fair white stone within that golden bound ;
And precious is the sentiment and soul of the device ;
But 'tis its stamp of Love that sets my Seal above all price.
There is an hour when gold appears but dim and worthless ore ;
When snowy-white, or rosy-red, cornelian charms no more.
When sick at heart from mansions fair and bowers of bliss we turn,
And 'neath the lonely willow weep o'er some neglected urn.

346 Miscellaneous Poems.
Few, very few, the objects are that then our thoughts employ ;
And shrunk into how smaU a space is all our world of joy !
No sound, but when the wiUow-boughs receive the wind's deep
sigh !
Our hopes, our fears, our wishes all — in that poor urn they he.
Yet, wherefore there ? what make they there 1 beneath, around,
above,
Oh ! heard ye not a voice that said, " not there, but here, is Love1?"
His hand, who lent what once ye lov'd, withdraws but to restore ;
Go ! seek it in Himself alone, and you shall weep no more.

THE PARSONAGE AT SULHAMSTEAD.
Sweet scenes, by many a mercy blest,
Friendly to thought, and peace, and love ;
Deeply I prize your proffer'd rest
That woos to sweeter scenes above.
Once more I pace the terraced mound
And gaze on charms that never tire ;
Hill, wood, stream, meadow, lavish'd round,
And stately hall, and tow'r, and spire.
Or nearer home yon spreading pines,
Those aged yews, these gay parterres,
The sober manse, as day declines,
That still a softer aspect wears.
Sure, scenes like these should set the mind
Awhile from strife and care at ease ;
Make sorrow's anxious self resign' d,
And please, if anything can please.
Yet well I know, sweet shades ! ye claim
No pow'r to fiU the craving heart ;
ToVrds heav'n ye point its higher aim,
And to the loit'rer cry, "Depart."

Miscellaneous Poems. 347
'Tis therefore most I love and prize
Your silent charms, your deep repose ;
A word ye whisper to the wise ;
Refreshed he arms — and onward goes. August, 1844.

TO S. T. F.
Deem not I marvel at the sigh
That pleaded for a sprightlier scene,
Than this lone valley yields thine eye,
Or these still hiUs of endless green.
I marvel not ; nor dare I blame
That mind and feelings framed as thine
Should pant, with souls of kindred flame,
In busier haunts to burn and shine.
I blame thee not ; for well I know,
Not want of love for those who share
Thy present lot of weal or woe
Could tempt thee wand'ring otherwhere.
Oh no ! for 'mid the courtliest throng
Of shapes that to thy mind could come,
The tide of feeling true and strong
Would bear it to thy dear dear home.
But there are breathings of the breast
(And thine I read with such endued)
That rest not but where many rest ;
In none but social solitude.
The tall grey rock, the dark deep river,
The sylvan slope, the sky of blue,
Each natural charm will charm thee ever ;
But kindred souls must share them too.

348 Miscellaneous Poems.
One other heart at least must prove
The joy that elevates thine own ;
Or nature loses half thy love,
And half her sweetness Ues unknown.
Therefore that sigh I censure not :
It speaks the presence of a soul
Too noble for the selfish lot,
Or in oblivion's ease to roU.
And yet there is a thought, should check
And bid that sigh but seldom rise ;
A thought, these hiUs and plains can deck
In beauties fresh from Paradise.
Thou hast it. Yes ! The same, whose power
Has oft controUed the wayward mood ;
The thought of Him, who dress'd this bower,
And placed thee in it for thy good.
Yes ! thou hast found, when days were dark,
His presence bid the darkness cease ;
And when the rude waves toss'd the bark,
His presence awe them into peace.
Think then that His unerring hand,
That might have pointed thy career
To wit and pleasure's crowded strand,
For wisest ends, has placed thee here.
Oh ! trust Him then, to learn His wiU,
And make it thine, thy business be :
Be blest, in blessing others, still :
StiU grace the niche assigned to thee.

THE TEACHER'S PORTRAIT.1
'Tis wisdom's voice. She cries, " Give heed to me,
Whoe'er thou art that would'st a Teacher be."
i See Life, vol. II. p. 191

Miscellaneous Poems. 349
He who would well perform the Teacher's part
Must seek from heaven a new-created heart,
Endued with qualities approv'd by all ;
Decision prompt to act at duty's caU ;
Patient continuance in doing well,
That meekly deals with spirits that rebel,
And sweet consistency of holy life,
Upright, unblamable, remote from strife.
Such ere he occupies the Teacher's chair,
WiU duly seek God's help in fervent prayer, —
The prayer of faith, that dares a blessing crave
In full expectancy the boon to have, —
And something daily fetch from learning's store,
With care and pains, to make his little more.
Sweet gentleness shall guide his looks and speech,
Glad to communicate, and apt to teach.
Utt'rance is his that seeks, nor seeks in vain,
Simply to tell and clearly to explain ;
With punctuality at learning's gate
That waits ere open'd, — dreads to come too late ;
And regularity that never fails,
Found at her post whatever sky prevails.
Courage, dear youth ! Heaven speed thee on thy way,
Strengthen, establish, bless thee day by day !
Within each youngest child that meets thine eye
A soul there dwells, like thine, that ne'er can die ;
Train it for heaven : be this thy high employ,
'Till thy Lord calls thee to partake His joy.

THE TEACHERS PRATER.
Great Teacher ! who would'st have us be
Perfect, as foUowers of Thee ;
Teach us the privilege to claim
That may at such a standard aim.
Relying on Thine arm alone,
Great is our strength, for 'tis Thine own.
Reading, March 21st, 1860.

350 Miscellaneous Poems.
EPIGRAM.
Service and love their changes sweet
Commence on earth, in heaven complete.
Forgiven, whUe here saints dare not swerve ;
The more they love the more they serve.
Join'd with angelic hosts above,
The more they serve the more they love. 1860.

EPIGRAM.
The sorrow that I feel I would not show ;
Far less, unfeeling, wear the mask of woe.

THE WILD-FLOWERS' LAMENT.1
We canna lea'e our ain dear land,
We winna gang away,
But die and wither i' the hand
That tore us fra the brae.
We dare na for a southern clime
Our mossy glen to quit,
Mid scenes sae sweet and sae sublime,
Our hame where nature pit.
Our forest glade where winsome Clyde
In streams majestic fa's,
And breaks in jets o' amber tide
His white and foaming wa's.
Then rushes for the sounding deep,
The whitening rocks among ;
O'er Corra Luin ance maire to leap,
In current bold and strong.
1 Gathered at the FaBs of the Clyde, June 9th, 1856.

Miscellaneous Poems. 351
Stranger, we wad na wrang thy wish,
The thocht was na unkind,
To cherish ev'ry flower and bush
Wi' oft reverting mind.
Tho' fading fast it cheers us still
To think in memory's hall
These bowers, those cliffs, yon cave, the rill,
Ye'U mony a time recall.
Yet syne the mist from mountain's brow
Nae maire our leaves shaU weet,
Thraw us — 'tis a' we ask thee now,
Down on our native seat.

ADIEU TO THE LAKES.1
Sweet scenes, adieu ! while Memory holds her glass
To charm'd Imagination, ye your place
In my delighted bosom shall retain.
A treasure, thro' the visual organs, ye
Have in my heart deposited, that long
Your first gifts shall survive, and serve to gild
The mists and clouds hid in the future now.
Oh ! as I gaze on mountain, lake, and spire,
Does not my bosom burn within, and own
A presence that can fill the largest wish ?
Can 1 yea and will, in yonder realms above.
Not all in brightness comes your image now ;
A film is on the eye-ball, 'tis a drop
Distill'd from thought of some congenial soul.
Absent, that should in ev'ry joy bear part ;
One who once shared, — or one who now should share,
Or, purer stiU, the source from which that tear
May trace its origin. Say, love untold,
And gratitude for all these gifts bestow' d,
1 A pen-and-ink sketch of St. the head of these lines. See Life,
John's Church, Keswick, Derwent- vol. II. page 228.
water, and the mountains, was at

352 Miscellaneous Poems.
And joy itself, not else to be express'd,
May dim, and e'en eclipse these visions fair
With brighter glories yet to be revealed,
And meetings glad of those who part no more.
Kendal, Westmorland, May 23rd, 1861.

WORDSWORTH'S GRAVE.
When yon vast mounds shall crumble to their base,
And God's own finger sin's last mark efface ;
When Earth's wrong'd fabric shall again assume
The untold beauties of its pristine bloom ;
From yon low grave a sainted form shall rise
To tread that earth, or pierce at will those skies,
(Serving as angels that excel in strength)
To its old inmate rendered back at length,
Fit mansion to enshrine a soul set free
From sin, and bathed in heaven's own purity.
Nor till that hour, while truth, and peace, and love,
And lowly faith our sympathy can move ;
While hearts attuned to nature's accents know
A thriU when music swells, or numbers flow,
Shall the deep sense that thro' each graceful line
Bespeaks th' aspirant for a life divine,
Cease, Wordsworth, to hand down thy charming page,
And thy lov'd, honor'd name from age to age.
Grasmere, 10th November, 1861.

FAITH AND WORKS.
Say .when the Great Account shall come,
ShaU we produce the challenged sum 1
Yes, if on Him our debt who paid,
Our aU of hope and trust is laid.
This rule, and all rules right and good,
May be abused, misunderstood.

Miscellaneous Poems. 353
Be thy hope built on hoUow ground,
On mercy by no covenant bound, ¦
On moral worth, on useful life,
On skill to wage polemic strife,
On party principles or sect,
Creed orthodox, or views correct,
On works of guiding faith divested,
On faith by no good works attested ;
If by two ladders to the skies
Thy steps by faith and works would rise, —
The baseless fabric of thy trust,
Tho' fair, shall crumble into dust.
For he alone — so ends the strife —
Who hath the Son of God hath life.

THE BURIAL.
The Roman's leave is given; they take Him down :
Two faithful hearts, albeit clandestinely
Before, and chiU'd by frail timidity
They lov'd and sought Him ; bold, in fortune's frown,
The Crucified, as their dear Lord, to crown
With decent rites, and mournful obsequy.
But who the trembling tearful pair we see
Still following, but at reverent distance shown 1
Daughters of Galilee they seem, afraid
With potent rabbis, e'en at this sad hour,
To approach familiar. They behold the tomb,
And how his lov'd, and sacred body is laid :
Then haste resolv'd, to their warm hearts' best pow'r,
Their gifts to bring, nor be in love o'ercome.

THE MOURNER.
The mourner stood, her soul with grief on fire ;
She wept, she stooped down ; and looking in,
Him whom she sought found not ; but there were seen
Bright ones, in glist'ning robes of heaven's attire !
She fear'd not ; grief had master'd fear ; admire
2

354 Miscellaneous Poems.
She might ; but 'twas not long. As nought had been,
Turn'd her eyes' dulness from that glorious scene ;
Then saw H,im, object of aU hearts' desire.
" Mary !" " Rabboni ! " Thou art all too late
With odorous gums and spices to enshrine
Him dead, who dieth no more ! It was done weU
To anoint beforehand, for the burial,
Him whom death could not hold with .massive gate.
Thou hast done what thou could'st. Blest lot is thine.

TAKEN FIRST.
Dear EUen, oft in drooping hours,
When my sick head hung heavily,
Imagination's airy pow'rs
Have pictur'd what the scene would be,
When stretch'd upon my dying bed,
The closing hour approaching fast,
Thou should'st support my languid head,
And soothe and cheer me to the last.
But never had I paus'd to think
How sadly alter'd things would be,
If thou in death's cold arms should sink
And leave the world to grief and me.
July 16th, 1830.

ELLEN'S TOMB.1
I loved these downs wi' my EUen,
And aye I'll love them still,
For she 'bides in her peacefu' dweUing,
At the foot of yonder hiU.
She 'bides in her peaceful dweUing,
A' in the kirk-yard green ;
Ye see where the sod is sweUing,
' She's there, but she munna be seen.
Aye since I lost my EUen,
Sma' pleasure the warl can impart ;
> See Life, vol. II. pp. 75, 77, n.

Miscellaneous Poems. 355
Ye ken how my bosom is swelling,
But ye ken na', ye ken na', my heart.
Her kindness to' me there's nae telling :
She ca'd me her brither and friend ;
It was but a look from my EUen,
And sorrow would presently end.
But now to the grave she doth dweU in
I carry my heart, fu' a' woes ;
And the valley all valleys exceUin'
Is that where her ashes repose.
The drops, from my een that are welling,
For ever and aye shaU they fa',
On the grave o' my constant EUen ; J
For she lov'd me the maist of a'. 1831.

HOPE FULL OF IMMORTALITY.
And shaU the wilderness again rejoice ?
And shaU the desert yet again.be glad?
Ah, dearest EUen, ne'er again thy voice
Shall cheer the solitary and the sad ;
'Tis a waste world without thee ! Not a flower
But withers as it meets our streaming eyes.
Yet thus without thee stiU, each ling'ring hour,
Must we the dull road tread thro' the wide waste that lies.
Yet shaU the wilderness again rejoice !
I know, I know, this desert shaU be glad.
Hath He not said it 1 'Twas Jehovah's yoipe.
Is it not uttered 1 Why, my soul, be sad ?
E'en now, e'en now, exulting o'er the sod,
The damask rose light springing to our feet
Blossoms abundantly ; and round me nod
Cedars of statehest growth, in wavy pride complete.
Soft airs waft music to my startled sense,
The voice of joy and singing is abroad,
I see the glory of Omnipotence,
I feel the excellency of our God ;
22

356 Miscellaneous Poems.
My heart expands ! Visions of earth and sin,
Too long have ye engross'd my 'wild'ring sight ;
My heart expands ! Now shall aU heav'n come in,
Come Faith, come tow'ring Hope, come Love arrayed in Light.
Whence this inspiring glow 1 Descend my soul !
Heav'n is not yet : stay thy seraphic wing :
Far humbler, whilst the wheels of Time yet roll,
The strain in which it fitteth thee to sing.
Of joy unspeakable, though fettered here,
Thou may'st perchance some few faint glimpses know,
But full enjoyment waits a nobler sphere ;
Mild Peace meanwhile shall light her lamp, thy way to cheer.
I feel the balmy influence o'er my heart
Flow as a river, whilst remembrance teUs
How thou, blest shade, didst choose the better part,
And shine th' example of thy native dells ;
For in thy work of Faith's exalted scope,
And thro' thy labour of undying Love,
And 'mid the patience of thy Christian Hope,
We trace the certain course to the bright realms above.

WHAT WILL YOU SAY OF ME?
Dear sister ! when my spirit's fled,
And what remains of me
Rests in the precincts of the dead,
And thou the spot shalt see, —
Oh ! wilt thou say, " He Uv'd to God ;
Loved much, as much forgiven ;
And whilst the paths of earth he trod,
His heart was aU for heav'n " ?
Would that thou could'st ! Yet say it not,
Far other tale were true.
Sigh that I Uved not as I ought,
Nor practised what I knew.

Miscellaneous Poems. 357
Forgive me if, with phantom light,
Thy steps I e'er misled,
Not armed thee to the Christian fight,
Nor thy soul's hunger fed.
Then if thy tender heart begins
To plead a milder law,
And, o'er the multitude of sins,
The veil of Love to draw.
Let some warm drops gush, if they will,
This their apology : —
With aU his faults I mourn him still,
For dearly he lov'd me.

MOONLIGHT ON THE GRAVE.
Fair moon ! from out yon sable veil
How sweet thy paly beam !
Now thou art gone ! but wilt not fail
To shed a silvery stream,
Where rests my anxious onward eye
Upon the riven cloud,
As here and there a bluer sky
Peeps thro' yon fringed shroud.
Yes ! bright again : yet half conceal'd,
Thine upper disc withdrawn : —
Now to my sight entire reveal'd
Shine on, fair orb ! shine on.
Oft have I loved from earliest days,
My busier thoughts to queU
In magic of the dreamy gaze,
That stiU on thee would dwell.
Then Care, and Fear, and Sorrow fled ;
And Inspiration stole
Soft sketches of the cherish'd dead,
And stamp'd them on my soul.

358 Miscellaneous Poems.
Yet never have I seen thee wear,
Fair moon ! a smile more bright,
Than that which, thro' the fields of air,
Comes beautiful to-night.
It teUs me, thou and I, fair Queen !
One pensive vigil keep,
To hover o'er the distant scene
Where worth and friendship sleep.

THE ANTIDOTE.
On a Lady observing that a sting might be cured by honey.
Thy sting and honey, little bee,
Are bane and antidote, I see :
Sharp pain attends thy point so fine ;
Thy comb supplies the anodyne ;
Thrice happy Insect ! should I e'er
Like thee unconscious wound the fair,
Should clouded brow, or glance unkind,
E'er grieve a warm confiding mind,
May I hke thee a charm possess
The wrong as quickly to redress ;
StiU may some balm from love's sweet store
Bid anguish fly, and peace restore.

THE TRUE FRIEND.
Why turns my thought, where'er my steps I bend,
Lengthen'd howe'er the chain, back to my friend 1
What's in a Friend, that thus beyond compare
Affection fastens, as its centre, there ?
Say, is it one whom most of all we love,
Whose right good-wiU we have not yet to prove,
On whose integrity we most confide,
From whom we've not a secret we would hide,
With whom we've not a joy but we would share,
Whose every sorrow we would wish to bear ?

Miscellaneous Poems. 359
One whom, should heav'n decree so sad a day
As from our bosom's reach to put away,
The cup of life were straight embittered all,
And from the hand its choicest flowers would fall ?
One who at aU times loves, nor change could know
E'en should my pukw of love beat dull and slow,
Nor doubt its truth when least its voice was heard,
Nor make me an offender for a word ?
Born for adversity, when fierce and thick
The storm, would closer than a brother stick ?
Who when I stray'd would scorn the flatterer's part,
And smite with faithful wounds my erring heart 1
By hearty counsel from a loving breast
Reclaim its wanderings, — win it to its rest ?
" As iron sharpens iron " knows to lend
His own edge to " the count'nance of his friend " 1
Dares own him when in crowds he stands alone ?
Holds his fair fame aB sacred as his own 1 —
If such the stuff of which a friend is made,
Ask not why thitherward affection stray'd ;
Nor doubt if such a friend the world hath known,
I know, for such a Friend I call my own.
0 Thou who shedd'st at Lazarus' grave a tear,
Nor didst disdain " The sinner's Friend " to hear !
Whose love — how great ! did bring Thee to lay down
Thy life for those Thou deign'st as friends to own !
On the lov'd friend Thy love to me has given
Pour ever down the choicest gifts of heaven ;
And grant us still, from fond ulusion free,
To love each other evermore in Thee.
May each his trust on Thee alone repose ;
To Thee each breast its every care disclose ;
And, well assur'd that Thou for each dost care,
Rest in the balmy peace that gathers there.
Give each to hear the voice, the love t' attest,
Of Thee, our truest Friend, our earliest, best.
Make us Thy servants ; caU us still Thy friends !
Till friends ne'er part where friendship never ends. 1858.

360 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE CHRISTIAN'S SECRET.
Strife, guUt and fear away shaU fly
Back into darkness hurled ;
The Father sent the Son to be
The Saviour of the world.
No inbred cares shaU trouble thee
In restless vortex whirled :
The Father sent the Son to be
The Saviour of the world.
Shrink not to cross affliction's sea,
Tho' storm each wave hath curl'd ;
The Father sent the Son to be
The Saviour of the world.
'Gainst every foe fight manfuUy,
Christ's banner floats unfurled ;
The Father sent the Son to he
The Saviour of the world.
Dewdrops of blessing thou shalt see
On every thorn impearled ;
The Father sent the Son to be
The Saviour of the world.

SEPARATION.
0 Separation, child of sin,
Is there — oh ! can there be,
The range of possible within,
A cure for thee ?
The Spring returns, the violets come,
Life bursts from the bare tree ;
But carried to your sUent tomb,
Friends ! where are ye 1

1852.

Miscellaneous Poems. 361
" 0 weak of faith and slow of heart
The promise to receive !
Who gave at first, then caUed to part,
Again can give."
There came across the desert air
A spirit in the wind,
That whispered thus in accents fair,
And soothed my mind.
Then aB our onward way we take
Yet once again to part,
Seen thro' our tears a smile shall break
From a calm heart.

HYMNS OF OUR FATHERS.1
(Written in a Friend's hymn-book.)
When death shall stiU the stammering tongues
That lisp Thy praises here,
Lord ! take us to angelic songs
In glory's tuneful sphere.
The hymns our fathers sung of old
We'U echo while we may,
Too oft, alas ! with hearts more cold
In notes more faint than they.
Dull, dark, and mute these hearts of ours,
But when Thy trumpet's voice
Cries " Ephphatha " — our sin-stopp'd powers
Shall open and rejoice.
1 No one could better appreciate succeeded in bringing obBvion over
than the author of this little piece whatever was of ill taste in the past
the really good additions made in generation, there was a stateliness
our times both to the verse and and grandeur in the old church
music of our devotional hymnody ; "melodies nobly contrasting with the
but yet no one was more jealous almost levity and irreverence of
than he for the preservation of what some modern compositions and their
was truly excellent in the old, choral performance. His own MS.
endeared to us by so many hallowed hymn music book, beautifully exe-
associations. He thought that, if cuted and of good size, was begun
much of the poetry which our newer at Oxford in 1820, and is quite
hymn-writers have contributed has filled with his favourite tunes.

362 Miscellaneous Poems.
Then joined with them within the ved,
Time's damps and rigours o'er,
Nor life, nor love, nor speech shaU fail,
Our songs be hush'd no more. 1850.

PRAISE BEFORE THE THRONE.
(Written in a Hymn-book given to another Friend.)
Father ! forgive the sons of earth
If bold, thro' mercy shown,
They raise too high the note of mirth
In songs before Thy throne.
It is not that, aU rash and rude,
Into Thy presence dread
We would, with careless haste, intrude
Where angels fear to tread.
But 'tis that from the loving heart
A tide of feeUng strong
WiU gush, and utt'rance strange impart
To the dull stamm'ring tongue.
Thy seraphs when they sing in heaven
VeU their bright eyes^with wings ;
We strike — for much hath been forgiven —
With eestasy the strings.
Thou know'st what 'tis with lips unclean
We would, but cannot, say ;
Our violence scales a heaven unseen,
But JESUS is the Way. 186.0.

AN INFANT'S EPITAPH.1
Gone from a world of toil and sorrow,
With which he was not fram'd to cope ;
Gone to day which knows no morrow,
To sight that supersedeth hope.
See Life, vol. II. p.p. 115, 116.

Miscellaneous Poems. 363
THE FALLS OF THE RHINE BY MOONLIGHT.
I roved with my loVe by the moon,
Where the chiming waters fall,
And pour on the list'ning ear
Their lulling madrigal.
I rov'd with my love by the moon,
The full, the bright moonshine,
On the lone and winding banks
Of the deep and dashing Rhine.
We had watched the parting sun
As he sank on the western hiU ;
And had traced up the tall cascade
The ray that had lingered still,
TiU it faintly died away
On the smooth and golden top ;
And Night o'er aU the landscape
Had let her curtain drop.
What marvel if the darkness
Inspired a soft alarm,
Detected by the pressure
That faster held my arm,
As darkly down the waters leapt
From many a rocky ledge,
And shook, as they thundered by,
The river's trembling edge ?
But love, that heeds no danger,
Soon whispered who was near,
And swept away as a rushing tide,
That passing thought of fear.
And the twinkling on the river told
That the stars were in the sky, —
And the paly softness gath'ring there,
That the radiant moon was nigh.
But oh ! the world of wonders
That burst upon the sight,.
As slowly o'er the mountain's brow
Uprose the Queen of night.

364 Miscellaneous Poems.
Her beam has kiss'd th' unbroken line
Of the waterfall's topmost wreath,
And a lunar bow with its colourless arch
Spans the dark gulf beneath.
But now the fuU effulgence
Of the moon, as in heav'n she rides,
Down the slope of the broad cascade
In a watery chariot glides.
It kindles the spray as it passes down,
It Ughts up the vine-clad banks,
And plays in the boding surge below
A thousand fantastic pranks.
And the cataract stands to the view reveal'd
Most hke to a sUver waU,
On which shadows are cast by the jutting rocks,
That midway break the faU.
Did the foam dance in a blyther mood ?
Did the depths louder resound ?
Or does fancy but feign that they welcom'd the moon
With livelier echoes around ?
How sparkle the waves as, escap'd from the gulf,
They struggle the grey rocks among !
How fuU is thine image reflected, fair moon,
On the current smooth and strong !
But vain were the effort in numbers to trace
The charms of that bright moonshine,
When I rov'd with my love on the lonely banks
Of the deep and dashing Rhine. 1839.

THE SLEEPING SUFFERER.
Rest, my love, in peaceful slumber,
Prays thy fond and faithful friend,
HeaVnly blessings without number
Gently on thy head descend.

Miscellaneous Poems. 365
'Tis thy husband sits beside thee
Anxious ev'ry pang to quell ;
He whose heart, when griefs betide thee,
Feels a load tongue cannot tell.
Rest, my Love, no sound obtrusive,
Heedless foot, or buzzing wing,
Shall disturb the dreams illusive
Thy forgetful slumbers bring.
Haply now the cruel anguish
Through thy veins that lately shot,
Causing ev'ry power to languish,
Is, a little while, forgot : —
Yet, ah yet, a tale of sorrow
Tells that furrow'd, anxious brow,
Pregnant with a bitter morrow
Are the shades that veil thee now.
Still with love that never endeth,
TiU thy piercing sorrows end,
Shall the form that o'er thee bendeth,
O'er thy pale face watch and bend ;
Bend to watch, and watch to cheer thee ;
For thee bend in watchful pray'r
That good angels may be near thee,
Making aU thy wants their care.
Swiftly pass the gloom that shrouds thee !
Soon may health thy cheeks restore :
And memory's ray the sky that clouds thee
Gild, with tints unknown before.

ON MEETING WITH THE BIBLE OF MY BOYHOOD.
0 blessed Bible ! if in days of yore
The hand that writes had turn'd thy pages more,
i See Life, vol. 1 , p. 19. It has been ascertained to be the identical Bible,

366 Miscellaneous Poems.
0 had these eyeB, with unaverted look,
More search'd the records of God's holy book, —
That so the gracious lessons they impart
Had found more entrance to my youthful heart, —
What painful wounds had mem'ry spared me now :
What scars had left unseamed my spirit's brow !
What dangers had I 'scap'd ! What wishes vain,
What restless schemes had spar'd my laboring brain ?
How had my fingers learnt for God to fight ?
What guilty scenes had never met my sight ?
Then, 'mid the griefs that rend the human breast,
The Saviour's voice had hush'd each storm to rest,
Nor had such clouds of passion, show'rs of tears,
O'ercast the wand'rings of ten thrice told years.

THE BELLS.
I loved the bells — the bonny beUs, —
That rung a merry peal,
When they were young and I was young,
And aU their charms could feel.
I love in beauty's cheek to trace
The roses faded long ;
And from sweet accents catch the grace
Of some forgotten song.
Let others praise the sparkling beam
That laughs in love's young eye :
Give me the smile that wakes a dream
Of rapture long gone by.
The graceful lock that scantier strays
Upon a" paler brow,
Unfolds a tale of other days
That warms my bosom now.
Dance on, ye blythe and blooming band,
I love your joys to view :
I press meanwhile a feebler hand,
That beats with pulse as true,

Miscellaneous Poems. 367
THE SAILOR-BOY.
When borne upon its midnight path
The tempest howls in gloomy wrath ;
Or pours upon her startled ear
The sound a mother dreads to hear,
The sighing of the fitful blast
That rings the knell of pleasures past.
Who then, of all the band that share
By turns her fond maternal care,
Who most, of all the much loved train
That shoot athwart her lab'ring brain,
ShaU then her busiest thoughts employ ?
Say, is it not her sailor-boy ?
Her fancy — cruel fancy then ! —
TeUs her they ne'er may meet again ;
Has placed him on the slipp'ry shrouds,
Where many a shape of danger crowds ;
'Mid the rude surges now he lies ;
He shrieks — he struggles — and he dies.
What marvel, in an hour so dread,
If, all her soul concentrated,
The sailor-boy her ev'ry care
Absorbs, that none, so dear, may share
With him one wish, one pang, or sigh,
Otoe thought, or sensibility.
Yet cease, fond mother ! to molest
With dismal fears thy boding breast :
Rather each cloud that gathers there
Dissolve in calm and peaceful prayer :
And He, who made the land and sea,
Will keep thy darling safe, — and thee.

Extract from a Sermon by Dr. Chalmers.
" When the sighing of the midnight storm sends a dismal foreboding into
the mother's heart, to whom of all her offspring, I would ask, are her
thoughts and her anxieties then wandering ? Is it not to her sailor-boy,'
whom her fancy places amid the rude and angry surges of the ocean ? Does
not this, the hour of his apprehended danger, concentrate upon him the
whole force of her wakeful meditations ? And does not he engross for a
season her every sensibiflty and her every prayer ? "

368 Miscellaneous Poems.
POOR PONY.
How many scenes my thoughts recaU
In which his part poor pony bore :
But something whispers in them aU,
"Thou'lt see thy faithful Cob no more."
No more decked out in harness gay,
He'U proudly prance before the door !
His glossy neck, of brightest bay,
ShaU sound beneath thy pat no more.
To whirl the little chaise along
How fleetly would he trot before,
Sure-footed, wilUng, brisk, and strong !
But pony pricks his ears no more.
To faded cheeks a healthier hue
That drive and breezes might restore,
Full often to the heath he drew
His mistress dear — now draws no more.
FuU well his master's ways he knew,
And many a trick in mem'ry bore :
Would stop as near a hiU he drew,
But he shaU give that hint no more.
No more shaU master walk the hiU,1
And little master's drive is o'er —
So proud to show his guiding skill ;
For pony hears the reins no more.
There stands his staU — 'tis empty now,
And, John ! in vain thine eyes explore
Yon silent mead with sorrowing brow,
He needs the grooming hand no more.
From what he dearly loved to part
Has been his master's lot before ;
But bitterly it grieves his heart
That pony shaU return no more.
' See Life, vol, II. p. 151.

Miscellaneous Poems. 369
FRIENDS TAKEN.
Composed in the night after hearing of- the death of the
Rev. J. Hunter (see Life, vol. ii., p. 16 i).
Another and another dies !
Called by thy summons to the skies,
Lord ! on thy fiery steeds upborne
They leave me thus alone to mourn.
Taught by thy grace life's truest ends,
We walked in thy house as friends ;
Now in those scenes they bear a part
Where Thou thyself the temple art.
Where every tear is wiped away,
Through bowers of Paradise they stray ;
Me, fed with many a briny tear,
Thou biddest yet to linger here.
Thrice happy who, the conflict o'er,
Grieve Thee their gracious God no more ;
No more presume, no more rebel,
Nor parley with the gates of hell !
Yet grant me meek submission, Lord,
And make my will with thine accord ;
Arm me for all the coming strife,
Bring me within the gates of life.

EPITAPH
On M. L., who died February 5th, 1845.
To knock at Mercy's gate her ceaseless care,
A mourner here, she knew no end of prayer :
Found now what then she sought, her blissful gaze
Fixed on the lord, she knows no end of praise.
AA

370 Miscellaneous Poems.
EPITAPH
On the Rev. George Hulme.1
A minister of Grace to sinful man,
One stedfast aim thro' aU his conduct ran.
In doctrine, language, manners stiU the same,
He strove the devious wanderer to reclaim,
To build the just on faith's foundations up,
And neutralize the gaU in sorrow's cup.
The brow of gravity that mark'd a mind
Touch'd with the guUt and danger of mankind,
The joyous eye that in his Master's cross
Read the full remedy for nature's loss,
The look affectionate, that won the heart
Ere the kind accent could its charm impart,
AU spoke a soul enkindled from on high,
To whom 'twas " Christ to live, and gain to die."
March 1st, 1845.

A MEMORIAL.
Come sing a song of sacred cheer,
Come, ye who loved him well !
And whilst 'tis ours to tarry here,
Our brother's bliss we'll tell.
No more oppressed with strong desire,
With anxious doubt no more,
He sings amidst the heavenly choir,
With aU his sorrows o'er. ,
No more to yield, no more to flee,
By fierce temptation press'd,
He holds the palm of victory,
The weary is at rest.

•See Life, vol. ii, p. 172.

Miscellaneous Poems. 371
No more by promise fair led on,
That dazzled but to blind,
With disappointment he has done,
And left e'en hope behind.
No more amidst the dearest joy,
A mother's, sister's smile,
Shall something speak a deep alloy
No solace could beguile.
No more, suppressed with bootless art,
The starting tear shall show
That nothing could a charm impart
To heal the hidden woe.
No more he sighs in lonely hours
For one his lot to share,
But roves amidst Elysian bow'rs,
And those he loves are there.
Shall foreign hands his wants attend ?
His morbid mood control 1
Kind Death the body's pains shall end,
And free the captive soul.
The burthen of the flesh no more
He feebly drags along ;
But God to serve — God to adore —
Flies as an angel strong.
No scruples vain nor dreamy fears
His troubled mind molest ;
His Lord hath wiped away his tears,
And joy has all his breast.
Then hasten, ye who loved him well,
To tread the path he trod ;
That we, with all the saints, may dwell
For ever with our God,

aa2

372 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE LORD OF PEACE.
Thoughts on 2 Thess. iii. 16, written during a thunder storm,
July 16th, 1852.
There is a peace, all peace above,
A peace from heaven sent down ;
It nestles not with earthly love,
Nor sparkles in renown,
Alas ! the peace of mortal birth,
Like blossoms of a day,
Woos but to mock the dreams of earth,
And caught at fades away.
Nor beauty's smile, nor glory's wreath,
Nor pleasure's airy train,
Forego the care that lurks beneath —
The fear — the grief — the pain.
Oh turn we then from all below
The enduring peace to find :
So shall the Lord of peace bestow
That treasure on the mind.
In guUt forgiven, in favour found,
The sin-bound soul's release,
There grows, and in no other ground,
The Saviour's gift — sweet peace.
In every way, whate'er betide,
By every means, 'tis given :
The storms of fate we thus deride
And earth foreshadows Heaven.
Tho' lightnings flash from pole to pole,
The quiet heart hath rest,
Which thunders, when they nearest roll,
Drive never from the breast,

Miscellaneous Poems. 373
THE BUCKLEBURY YEW.
Old Yew Tree, old Yew Tree, how canst thou live on,
When the far better half of thy being is gone,
And thou hang'st all awry and would'st certainly drop,
Were it not for the succour of yon slender prop ?
Methinks it were better thou now should'st give way
For some Yew that might flourish aspiring and gay,
Nor suUy the pride of thy time-honoured fame,
A plaything for truants, the butt of their game.
See their caps on thy branches they wantonly fling,
And handle thee roughly as some worn-out thing,
And pluck the few sprigs of fresh green from the tip
Of thy boughs as they swing, or they clamber and slip.
The poor old Tree quivered, and borrowed a sigh
From a light passing breeze as it chanced to float by ;
And shook to the ground from a tress thin and sere
A dewdrop, that served for a tremulous tear.
" Aye me," he replied, " that tale is too true,
And well may you pity the sorry old Yew
That lingers thus riven in desolate state,
So shattered and bowed by the pressure of fate.
" Oh had you but seen me two centuries past,
When I rose in my glory nor cowered to the blast,
When solid my trunk and my bark was entire,
You had witnessed a tree you could not but admire.
" For then the bare stump that disfigures my base
Rose to heaven at my side, and with loving embrace
We were one, and our branches for ever entwined —
We danced with the tempest and sung with the wind.
"Then marvel no more that averted I stand,
As time passes by, and with pitiless hand
Waves his scythe in the air, while his idiot laugh
Exults o'er the spoil of my far nobler half

374 Miscellaneous Poems.
" Oh, the fair rounded form of the side that is gone
And has left me in widowhood mouldering on !
Oh, the deep massive shade that together we cast —
And oh ! our completeness in days that are past.
" It is gone ! and I own that, of beauty bereft,
I feel half ashamed to survive and be left,
And would wiUingly yield and retire from the strife
But for duty I owe to the Author of Life.
" The vigour I once had was His, and the grace
Did no finger but His of the symmetry trace;
What He gave He hath taken — and shaU I repine 1
AU I am or yet may be to Him I resign.
" And tho' poor is my service, yet faithful and true
My part would I act as a steadfast old Yew,
And be found at my post upon this hallowed ground,
To keep watch and ward o'er the sleepers around.
" Let me stand to the last by yon reverend tower,
Till solemn and slow its clock strikes my last hour,
And encounter contentedly stiU each mishap,
And bear each pelting storm till my last fibre snap.
" And tho' to the Archer no longer I yield
The bow that a Briton so well knew to wield, —
And tho' to my shelter no more from the sun
Rustic sages retire till the worship's begun,
" I'll welcome them still at the Sabbath's return,
And hang o'er the grave where the heart-stricken mourn ;
I'U wave out a sigh in response to the knell,
And look spruce as I can at the blythe marriage bell.
" Meanwhile the good Vicar1 wiU screen me from wrong,
And the Vicar's kind wife, as she passes along,
Will now and then turn a sweet smile upon me,
And her sympathy give to the desolate tree."
' Mr. Phelps's attached friend, the these lines. Mr. Valpy died May
Bev. Gabriel Valpy, under whose 17th, 1872. He is noticed in the
roof he was staying when he wrote Life, vol. ii., p. 178.

Miscellaneous Poems. 375
THE THUNDER STORM.1
Rise, my soul ! adore the Lord,
At whose all-controlling word
Heaven and earth from nothing came,
Praise Jehovah's awful name.
Kindled by his fiery breath,
Heaven assumes the face of death ;
When He bids the tempest rise
Light'nings flash along the skies ;
Riding on the whirlwind's wing,
Lord of lords, of kings the King,
With ten thousand angels round,
Oft He speaks in thunder's sound ;
First in murmurs rumbling low,
Louder now those murmurs grow ;
Deep'ning, mingling, more and more,
Deeper still the deafening roar ;
Now, in thick confusion hurl'd,
Bursts convulsive o'er the world.
Then, oh ! then, with inward dread
Carmel bows his lofty head :
Pine-clad Lebanon resounds
Groaning from his utmost bounds ;
From his side the knotted oak
Upwards by the roots is broke ;
Earth from her foundation quakes
When the Lord his terrors wakes.
Trembles then with inward fear,
Mov'd at thought of danger near,
Such as spurned the God of heaven,
Heedless of his bounties given.
Conscience plies her sharpest fangs,
Wounds his breast with keenest pangs ;
Pointing to the sulphury lake,
Melts the heart she cannot break ;
Shadows forth the pains of hell,
Where the guilty dead must dwell.

1 Psalm xxix,

376 Miscellaneous Poems.
Gently o'er thy suppUant's head,
Lord ! be these thy terrors spread :
Whilst thy thunders round me roll,
Awe, but not distract, my soul ;
Fearless bid me own the sway
Which the elements obey.

THE SKYLARK.
The skylark is not always on the wing :
Yet prompt, at hunger's call, or love's behest,
Or danger's threat, up from his lowly nest
At notice slight can soar, and at heaven's portal sing.
And thou, my soul, albeit thou may'st complain
That in thy soarings on the wings of prayer
Thou strugglest hard t' escape this lower air,
And, short time poised on high, dropp'st down again ;
Yet faint not, fear not : for, if ready stiU
To fly o' th' instant, thou life's little day
Spendest in attitude to mount and pray,
Shunning each scene with which prayer fitteth ill.
Him whom thou lovest thou shalt praise at length,
Ev'n as the angelic host, who aye excel in strength,

THE MOUNTING SOUL.
Hast thou, my soul, in favoured hour,
Upborne on Faith's triumphant wing,
Soared far above the tempter's power
Into the presence of thy king,
And, full of glory gazed, and loved,
And joy unutterable proved ?
Ah ! few and fleet those moments were,
And long and dark the days between :
Too dazzling bright for sense to bear,
They passed as they had never been ;
And clouds of sorrow rolled above,
And veiled that heaven of joy and love.

Miscellaneous Poems. 377
Alas that mists of sinful pride
Should gather round thy tower of trust,
Thy strength and bright reversion hide,
And lay thine honor in the dust,
Tempt thee those scenes of bliss to leave, •
And still to things of earth to cleave !
Such, such the fetter thou must bear
While yet thou tread'st this earthly sod ;
For flesh and blood may not be heir
To the bright kingdom of thy God.
But shalt thou always groan beneath
The painful body of this death 1
Awake, awake ! put on thy strength !
There comes a glad and glorious day ;
Tho' long delayed it comes at length,
And thou shalt spurn this pris'n of clay,
And mount, and list, in yonder sphere,
To words man may not utter here.

PSALM CXLVIII.
Sing praises to your heavenly Lord ;
Praise Him on high with one accord,
Ye hosts of his, in solemn lays,
Ye angels ! hymn his wondrous praise ;
Praise Him, bright ruler of the day,
Who feeds thy lamp and guides thy ray,
Chant forth his praise, fair queen of night ;
And praise Him, all ye stars and light.
Oh ! aU ye heav'ns, the concert join ;
Extol your origin divine.
Ye watery clouds above the skies,
Praise Him,— be this your sacrifice.
Let all adore his mighty name,
Who spake — and all- from nothing came ;
His firm decree hath fix'd them sure
By laws that ever shall endure.

378 Miscellaneous Poems.
And ye, his creatures upon earth,
Love Him and praise ! He gave you birth.
Ye dragon tribes, his mercies tell ;
Ye hollow deeps, the chorus' sweU ;
Fire, hail, and snow, that do his will,
Vapours, that his commands fulfil ;
Sing, whirlwinds, and tempestuous storms ;
Ye mountains, bow your awful forms.
Let Lebanon's dark cedars nod
In adoration of their God.
Let birds, and beasts, and worms declare,
With praise, his wise and fostering care.
Kings, princes, judges, own his sway ;
To Him your vows, all people, pay.
Let old and young, with glad acclaim,
Extol his everlasting name.
That name is excellent alone,
And heaven and earth its glory own ;
But neither earth, nor heaven, can sing
Due praise to their Almighty King.
He shaU exalt his chosen race,
And deck with joy his Judah's face ;
His fame shall every saint prolong :
Be ours to swell the festal song.

DOXOLOGY.
Come, join with ours, ye heavenly choir,
Your loudest notes of glad acclaim :
To strains like yours we would aspire,
And burn with your seraphic flame.
Nought less can match the rolling tide
Of love, that sweeps our souls along ;
Nor channel, dug less deep and wide,
Convey the fulness of our song,

Miscellaneous Poems. 379
With angels then our praise we'll bring ;
Our voices with archangels' blend ;
And heaven's eternal vaults shall ring
With songs of joy that ne'er shall end.
Lord God of Hosts ! in substance One,
The holy, holy, holy Three !
When heaven and earth their course have run,
Thine, Lord, most High ! shall glory be.

EVENING HYMN.
Before we lay us down to rest,
We'll raise our song to Thee,
By whose unfailing mercy blest
This evening hour we see.
What but thy kind protecting care,
Forbearance, love, and power,
Hath kept us from the fowler's snare
Safe to the present hour ?
Why is our heart not harden'd quite ?
And why, torsin a prey,
Are we not left in nature's night
To grope the downward way ?
Whence is it that on ev'ry hand
Death mows his thousands down ;
And yet in life's array we stand,
Nor wither at his frown ?
Whence is it, but that sovereign grace
Th' accepted time prolongs,
That we with heart and voice may raise
Our glad and grateful songs ?

380 Miscellaneous Poems.
We'U praise Thee, Saviour, whilst we've breath,
Give Thou the pow'r and wiU !
And when our voice is hushed in death,
Oh ! may we praise Thee stiU.

LIMITING GOD'S LOVE.
From prejudice and pride dismiss
Thine erring creatures, Lord !
Pluck out each root of bitterness
That contravenes thy word.
Pride held thy chosen saints of old,
And veil'd thy glorious face,
Nor clearly could their eyes behold
' The riches of thy grace.
They knew full well their lost estate ;
The remedy they knew,
The sinner's path were taught to hate,
The road of life pursue ;
Yet looked with scorn on Adam's stock,
Forgetful all too soon
That from the same unsightly rock
Their guilty selves were hewn.
With wonder they beheld the dew
Of heavenly grace descend,
The slighted outcasts to renew,
And Jew with Gentile blend.1
Alas ! in every age the same,
Unthankful and unkind
Another's fault we see and blame,
Nor caU our own to mind.

1 Acts x. 45.

Miscellaneous Poems. 381
On flaws like ours, we deem, the eye
Of mercy may look down ;
But sins of darker, deadlier dye
Demand th' Almighty's frown.
Ah ! what are we that we should set
The limits of thy love ?
Or think the vilest wretch less fit
Than we, for bliss above ?
Rather if aught be strange esteem'd —
Wond'rous if aught can be ! —
Lord ! 'tis to see ourselves redeem'd,
The chief of sinners we.

THE CRUCIFIXION.
And is it thine, that gory head
Bowed low upon the still cold breast ?
The King of Glory pierced and dead ?
Veil, timely darkness ! veil the rest.
Yet, stay ! for never from my sight
Would I dismiss that wondrous cross ;
Sole radiance in a world of night,
Sole gain 'mid ruined nature's loss.
Gaze then, my soul ! and deeply mourn
That e'er, in error's mazes caught,
The blood of sprinkling I could spurn,
Or harbour one self-righteous thought.
And deep, oh ! deeper be my shame
That e'er, obedient to the flesh,
I did a sinful purpose frame,
And rend those purple wounds afresh.
Lord ! let me never strike again -
One thorn into that bleeding brow ;
Nor, held in foUy's gilded chain,
Forget the sight I witness now.

382 Miscellaneous Poems.
And when these earthly scenes remove,
And clouds of death around me lower,
Cast from that cross one look of love
To cheer and bless my closing hour.

TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS.
Here let me live, here let me die !
Then only safe when Thou art nigh,
Thy streaming cross, thy lowly grave,
Alone my guilty soul can save.
I'd be with those that took Thee down ;
And gently gently lift the crown
From off thy torn and bleeding brow.
Gently ! — ah, why? Thou feel'st not now.
Yet would I tenderly explore,
If, hid beneath th' encrusted gore,
One ling'ring thorn I might remove,
And bathe the part in tears of love.
Ah, late in love ! Ah, cold in grief !
Yet would it yield me some relief
To kiss the wounds I could not heal,
And feel what now Thou dost not feel.
For ah ! I nailed Thee to the tree :
Those livid stripes were borne for me :
The hour that brought the mortal smart,
Found guilt of mine upon thy heart.

A CHILD'S HYMN.
0 God, my Maker, hear the prayer
A child puts up to Thee ;
For little children Thou did'st care :
My Saviour ! care for me.

Miscellaneous Poems. 383
When first at early morn I rise,
Ere duty's paths are trod,
To Thee I'll lift my opening eyes,
And call upon my God.
When bed-time comes and dark dark night,
Again I'll kneel and pray :
For darkness unto Thee is light,
And shines as clear as day !

A SINNER'S HYMN.
Say, can a Saviour's arms expand ,
To meet a wretch like me,
Whose sins have pierced that gracious hand
And nailed it to the tree ?
Lost of the lost, sad child of shame,
My due a hopeless grave,
Say — may I breathe that sacred name,
Or think that He will save ?
Bowed down these many gloomy years,
The willing slave of sin,
What day can dawn upon my fears ?
What ray of hope break in ?
What can restore my sinful soul,
My wandering feet recall,
The love of sin what pow'r control,
Or rescue me from thraU ?
That power alone can chase my foes
And dissipate my gloom,
In which my Saviour's self arose
Triumphant from the tomb.
And help is on the mighty laid :
Saviour ! I hear thy voice,
And, though my conscience is afraid,
I tremble — yet rejoice,

384 Miscellaneous Poems.
Let not thy wrath for ever burn ;
In mercy set me free ;
The stricken soul Thou wilt not spurn,
That flies from sin to Thee.

PRAYER IN TIME OF- CHOLERA.1
Out of the vale of tears and death,
Lord ! hear our doleful cry,
Ere by the blasting of the breath
Of thy just wrath we die.
The pestilence at thy command
Now takes its awful way,
And walks in darkness thro' the land,
And doth its thousands slay.
At morn they bloom in manly grace ;
But, ere the day is gone,
Lo ! the wind passeth o'er the place,
And they no more are known.
Oh ! spare us Lord, ere we go hence ;
One little moment spare ;
That some meet fruits of penitence
Our barren hearts may bear.
On holy aims more firmly set,
More prompt to do thy will,
May we our strength recover yet,
And press to Zion's hill.
But if this day the summons brings
That marks us for the grave, —
Rise, rise, with healing on thy wings,
Omnipotent to save !
Oh ! let the blood of Jesus, spilt
When He th' atonement made,
Cancel the great amount of guilt
Whereof we are afraid.
, See Life, vol. II. p.p. 112, 148.

Miscellaneous Poems. 385
We ask, Lord ! for that blood is shed
Sin's foulest stain to meet :
We ask, for Jesus lives and pleads
Before thy mercy-seat.
Knit in one Spirit to our Lord,
Decked in the glorious dress
He to his chosen doth afford
Of spotless righteousness. •*
The sting of death we will not dread,
Nor the grave's victory ;
But, writhing on our dying bed,
Still firmly trust in Thee.
And hail — how rude soe'er the shocks
That bring our bark to shore —
The sunshine on th' eternal rocks
Which sin can reach no more.
August 2nd, 1832.
Revised September, 1840.

THE CHURCH OF THE FIRST-BORN.
Unto Mount Zion, see ! we come,
The living God's abode ;
By faith we view our heavenly home.
Whilst yet we tread the road.
There on his mediatorial throne
The Lord of Life appears ;
Nor reigns in glory all alone ; —
Wide through the boundless spheres
Myriads untold, their Lord around,
Partake his bliss, in glory crowned.
Whence come they ? " From th' empyreal height,"
Seraphic tongues reply —
" Angels are we, in glory bright,
A countless company ;
BB

386 Miscellaneous Poems.
And ever to the Lord ye love
Our gratitude shaU glow ;
For that our blest estate above
We keep, to Him we owe.
Elect from earth ! haste, haste along,
Our joy to share, to swell our song."
And whence are ye who walk in white ?
" Once creatures of the dust,
Like you we bore affliction's fight ;
Now spirits of the just
Made perfect, see, we sing, and shine ;
A joyous hymn we raise ;
Patriarchs and kings, a long bright line,
And saints of earliest days ;
Worthy the Lamb, who made us one
In blest eternal union ! "
Amen ! Amen ! Great Judge of all !
Eternally the same :
We too before thy footstool fall, •
And come in Jesus' name ;
Hear us, in each distressful hour,
What time we sojourn here;
'Till, kept by thine Almighty power,
We too in heaven appear :
Saved from the tyranny of sin
By Him who rules and reigns within.
For Thou wilt gather aU in Him :
It comes ! th' auspicious morn,
And into thy Jerusalem
The church of the first-born,
Assembled from earth's utmost coasts,
ShaU press — a countless throng,
And, mingled with angelic hosts,
One blissful strain prolong.
Then shall aU rebel power be crushed,
The whole Creation's groans be hushed.

Miscellaneous Poems. 387
REVELATION.
Stupendous Truth ! On man's astonished sight
The day-star rises of celestial light ;
The clouds of darkling nature disappear,
And God's own voice is poured on mortal ear.
Stupendous Truth ! In error's fetters bound
The abject nations grovelled on the ground ;
The many hugged the chain they yet abhorr'd,
To sin their task, to suffer their reward.
While groping sages, baffled of their way,
Mourned Truth's long twilight and despaired of day.
Sudden at length the full effulgence broke.
Earth ! didst thou hear Him ? 'Twas Jehovah spoke.
Heard ye not, rulers of the depths below ?
God said, " Let there be light ! " and it was so.

BROTHERLY UNION.
And needs it to the saints be said,
" Be of one mind " — " let anger cease " ?
Shame, shame, that truth should e'er have bled,
By strife amid the songs of peace !
Grieve at the thought, my soul ! and turn
A brighter prospect to survey :
Dwell on the kindlier thoughts that burn
Within believers on their way ; "
Those thoughts of love, that mighty flame
, That melts and cheers their hearts within,
At mention of a brother's name,
That brother tho' they ne'er have seen.
Behold Philippi's Sons embrace
Their brethren of a distant land ;
They long to see them face to face,
Nor hills nor seas their love withstand,
bb2

388 Miscellaneous Poems.
For one m soul, in spirit one,
Thro' holy love's mysterious leaven,
Flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone,
We one with Christ, and Christ in heaven.
We feel our heaven on earth begun,
Whene'er permitted here below
Towards our Father's every son
In love's blest fellowship to glow.

THE PILGRIM COUNSELLED.
Snatched from the shades of awful night,
I hail the dubious verge of light :
Amazed I view the perils past,
And praise the haven found at last.
But hark ! a voice that seems to say,
Up and pursue thine onward way.
For lo ! where prospects wide and drear
To thy awakening soul appear :
Thou bear'st a treach'rous heart within :
Around are mazy paths of sin ;
Thick clouds of sorrow gather o'er !
And heard'st thou not the lion roar ?
Where wilt thou turn ? What hand shall lead
To cooling stream and dewy mead
Thy feet, that tired with wand'rings done
Would cease a bootless race to run ?
^h ! who shall point thy doubtful road ?
Wilt thou confer with flesh and blood ?
Would'st seek to man ? His love may cheer,
His counsel oft direct thee here.
The saints upon the earth who dwell,
Oh ! love and prize and mark them well :
Yet cease from man ; nor vainly trust,
Whose life is breath, whose substance dust.

Miscellaneous Poems. 389
But hold communion with thy God ;
In secret seek his guiding rod.
Approached in sacred solitude
He will be with thee for thy good ;
Unravel all the threads of life,
And arm thee for its hour of strife.

THE SERVANT FOR JESUS' SAKE.
What seek'st thou for thyself, my soul ?
Great things ? Oh, seek them not.
Were earth's best joys at thy control, %
Might streams of gold around thee roll,
They were not worth a thought.
Look not at power, nor wealth ; but higher
Aim the keen shaft of thy desire.
Child of a kingdom not from hence,
Thou know'st that all below
That brightest meets the outward* sense
Shines but a cheat, a fond pretence.
A transitory show.
Then tread the path thy Saviour trod
Of lowliness, that leads to God.
A servant's form once veiled the mind
That yon bright worlds did frame ;
His throne of glory left behind,
Guileless and lowly, meek and kind,
To minister he came :
Nor less his life than precept said
"Who readiest serves let him be head."
Blest servant of the church, 'tis thine — •
That model, made thine own,
Commended in his word divine,
A bright example still to shine,
To every age made known ;

390 Miscellaneous Poems.
Succourer of many a saint of old,
Whose love and zeal th' Apostle told.1
Lord ! not in vain before mine eyes
Be such fair pattern set ;
More than myself may I stiU prize
Each saint ! The heart that lowliest lies
Be mine when saints are met.
Help me to strain each willing nerve ;
And Thee, and those Thou bidst me, serve.

HOUSE OF PRAYER.
Lord, in thy earthly courts we meet
To bow and worship at thy feet,
And for thy mercies past to raise
Our tribute of unfeigned praise.
Whene'er, assembled here below,
We come with reverent hearts to shew
Thy wonders of redeeming love,
0 listen from thy courts above !
And touch the preacher's lips with fire,
As here our thirsting souls desire
The guidance of thy holy Word ;
Nor let us hear in vain, 0 Lord !
Whene'er we seek a Father's face,
And, suppUant at the throne of grace,
Pressed with a thousand wants we plead,
Oh ! hear us in our hour of need.
And though the glories of thy train
The heaven of heavens cannot contain ;
Arise into thy resting place,
And dweU within us by thy grace.

1 Bomans xvi. 2.

Miscellaneous Poems. 391
THE BELLS OF ST. STEPHEN'S, CARLISLE.1
The English Churchman's ear,
What can it more desire,
Than a merry peal of bells
From a pretty modest spire 1
The English Churchman's ear,
It loves the music well
Of notes, or grave or gay,
From sacred towers that swell.
But yet a sweeter sound
The English Churchman knows,
'Tis that of lips from which
The Gospel message flows.
Be such the sound that fills
Thy ears, thrice-honoured guest,
When the rappel shall beat
That calls thee to thy rest. May 31st, 1865.

APPLEBY CHIMES.2
Peal the notes again,
Call the wanderers home :
Angels ! wake the strain ; "
Saints ! reply " We come."
Help, ye heavenly host,
Teach us to adore.
Who should love Him most ?
We whose sins He bore.

1865.

PATIENCE.3
Companions dear ! bear up awhile ;
Nor faint, tho' burthened heavily,
Ye till a cold and stubborn soil,
Beneath a bleak and cheerless sky.
1 See Life vol. ii. , p. 247. s Gal. vi. 9.
2 See Life vol. ii., p. 261.

392 Miscellaneous Poems.
Bear up awhile ! The plant of grace
By patient culture nursed shall grow ;
The dews of heaven, with blest increase,
WiU crown the seeds of faith ye sow.
And tho' the dull invidious ground
May long its sacred charge detain ;
The unfailing blade will yet be found
Where oft ye looked for it in vain.
Then bear awhile the soil's delay,
The heavy hours of ling'ring care ;
The wakeful night, the weary day,
In patient hope's assurance bear.
Your Saviour marks the precious seed
As forth ye bear it ; and each tear
That waters it he deigns to heed,
And stoops your every sigh to hear.
Break up your fallow ground — the heart ;
Sow to the Spirit — do his will ;
And He shall strength for toil impart,
And in the end your treasures fill.
For distant though it now appear,
The joyous gathering-in shall come ;
And all the woes ye suffered here
Will but enhance the harvest-home.

TO BE WITH CHRIST.
Yes ! to depart : — 'tis better far.
I would not 'mid this ceaseless jar
Of care and strife still linger on ; — ¦
Come, Saviour ! quickly come ! I burn
To hear that welcome word "return,"
And from my prison to be gone.

Miscellaneous Poems. 393
Yet, yet I bow ! Thy wise behest '
Hath fixed the hour Thou deemest best ;
With patience let me wear my chains,
And meet with calm tho' tearful eye
The sorrows of mortality,
What time thy sovereign will ordains..
Nor would I, with insensate soul,
Forget the goodly streams that roll
And sparkle in the wilderness ;
Nor fail to own around, above,
The voice, the hand, the smile of love,
That deigns my saddest hours to bless.
And well this boding heart can tell
That when it comes — the sad Farewell —
And I and those I love must part ;
With mixed emotion, soothed and riven,
And half on earth, and half in heaven,
Regret and joy will share my heart.
But oh ! the dark cold bed beneath,
The cheerless dwelling place of death,
How wilt thou, fleshly nature ! meet 1
I know, with trembling awe impressed,
That thou wilt dread to be undressed,
And shudd'ring see the soul retreat.
Yet not for all that charms me here,
Nor ev'n for those I hold so dear,
Would I avert the coming stroke ;
Nor, for the deep and awful gloom
That gathers o'er the silent tomb,
The voice that bade Him come revoke.
For oh, what tongue can tell the bliss
To see my Saviour as He is,
And bear an image like his own !
Whose love shaU staunch the streaming eye,
Whose presence every want supply,
Where sin and sorrow are unknown.

394 • Miscellaneo-ws Poems.
TRUTH.
Hail, Liberty, Zion-born maid,
AU hail to the daughter of Truth !
In the freshness of virtue arrayed,
And the bloom of unperishing youth
From fashion's unhallowed restraint,
We turn for deliv'rance to thee ;
And the heart that was drooping and faint
Has the wish and the power to be free.
Yes, it dares from the world to come forth,
And her pleasures can spurn, tho' alone ;
Counts her riches as baubles for worth ;
Nor would freedom forsake for a throne.
• Thou spak'st the heart solacing word,'
When sin's cruel burthen I bore j
I looked to the cross of my Lord,
And my spirit was troubled no more.
Time was when in fetters I lay,
The slave of my own guilty mind ;
But the arm of the Lord struck away
The chains, and true freedom I find.
Temptations environed my path,
And held me their pitiful thraU ;
'Till I looked to my Saviour by faith,
And by grace I leapt over the waU.
And thus every .barrier removed
That guarded the passes of heaven,
To converse with the Lord, the Beloved,
In prayer and sweet praise it is given.

Miscellaneous Poems. 395
UNSEEN AND ETERNAL.
How blest are they, the chosen few,
No longer dead in sin,
To the vain world who bid adieu,
And heaven unfolded to their view,
Who strive to enter in.
To prize aright each earthly scheme,
They scan it thro' the tomb ;
And life appears a passing dream ;
Its anxious cares but folly seem,
Its sparkling pleasures gloom.
For see upon their wond'ring sight
A new creation rise !
Time's, shadowy forms are put to flight ;
And things eternal burst„to sight,
Unveiled realities.
Behind they view with glad amaze
The jaws of death escaped ;
The flames from Sinai's top that blaze
Disclose to their astonished gaze
The pit that near them gaped.
They see the Lord who plucked them thence :
For them, in smiles of love,
Who clothed his own omnipotence ;
Who died to cancel their offence,
And intercedes above.
They see the heaven his presence yields, —
Unutter'd joys' abode :
He calls them to those happy fields ;
Directs their way ; their weakness shields ;
Is with them on the road.
Then poor to them the trifles here,
Life's bustle, sigh, and smile !
They toil to reach a brighter sphere ;
They weep— for sin demands the tear,
But joy in God the while.

396 Miscellaneous Poems.
THE DYING CHRISTIAN.1
See the bright city full in view !
Hail the celestial walls !
My soul imbibes the vision true
Or ere her cottage falls.
See the bright city ! All around
It beams in glory near ;
And heaven's unutterable sound
Accosts my ravish'd ear. '
Its breezes fan me ! from above
Its wafted odours dart ;
Its spirit all of life and love
Is breathed into my heart.
Nought now from home my soul divides,
But death's dark-flowing river :
Sunk to a rill its angry tides —
A step — and cross' d for ever.

PRAYER ALL-POWERFUL.8
Whatsoe'er ye will to ask Him,
As ye press to Zion's hill,
Be ye sure the Lord will grant it,
Ask, believing, and He will.
Based upon some faithful promise
Treasured in the written Word,
Never suit but won compliance
From the goodness of the Lord.
1 See Life vol. ii., p. 274. " The God gives permission." — Christian
celestial city," said Payson on his Observer, 1833.
death-bed, " is fuB in view : its a Poetry and Melody by Bev. W.
glories beam upon me, its breezes W. Phelps ; arranged by Miss H. B.
fan me, its music strikes upon me, Binfield. The first, second, and
its odours are wafted to me, and fifth verses were published with the
its spirit breathes into my heart : Melody, and sold for £8 13s., for
nothing separates me from it but the restoration of Greyfriars Church.
the river of death, which now At Appleby the tune is known as
appears as a narrow rifl which may Greyfriars.
be crossed at a single step whenever

Miscellaneous Poems. 397
Still in terms of meek submission
Let each fresh petition run ;
" Not my will," the lowly Saviour
Cried, " but thine, 0 God, be done."
Open thus thy mouth, and largely
Spread your inmost wish abroad,
Certain that a gracious answer
Issues from the throne of God.
Nought so great but to expect it,
Simple faith the priv'lege boasts, —
Nought too small to be regarded
-By the omniscient Lord of Hosts.
Spread then each request before Him,
Small or great to Him the same ;
Ask, believing, and ye have it,
Whilst ye plead in Jesu's name.
Loving Him, the Father loves you,
Prompt to hear, and readier still
Than your boldest thought can picture,
Every heart with joy to fill.
Two or three before Him gathered,
And in what you ask agreed ;
All Jehovah's power and goodness
Stand engag'd your prayer to speed.
Nor by those who crave His blessing
Be His mercies past forgot ;
What shall grieve His loving Spirit
More than love remembered not ?
Praise Him in that Spirit's fervour,
Praise Him in that Spirit's power,
Whose unutterable yearnings
Aid you in devotion's hour.
Reading, 10th Oct., 1860.

398 Miscellaneous Poems.
CHRIST'S MESSENGER.
I dare not, thro' the dread of impious sneer,
Deny or heU or the elect of God.
Nor dare I with prompt words, and coarse hard speech,
'Depict that hell, nor launch its terrors forth
Invective on a fellow sinner's head.
Nor flattering titles can I give to man, — l
Soon would my Maker cut me off ! — nor spread
Delusive unction for believing hearts,
Imperilling the sav'd in sin's dark hour.
But God's whole counsel purposed to declare,
And list'ning at heaven's gate for message meet,
One sound is heard, o'erpowering all the rest,
By Jesus uttered — uttered to the worst —
"Come, broken heart, to Me, thou shalt have rest."
Composed during the night of Wednesday,
March 6th, 1867.

CHRISTIAN ACQUIREMENTS, OB,
Occupation for every Day in the Month.
But ill prepared we enter on the day
If grace incline us not to watch and pray ;
To arm for fight, to grasp the Spirit's sword,
And read our duty in God's holy Word.
There what to shun, with anxious care we trace,
And how to follow every Christian grace.
1 . Lo ! Faith in living letters there engraved ;
Believe on Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.
2. Hope, entering into that within the veil,
Shall guard thy brows with helm of bumish'd mail :
3. And Love, unfailing Love, shall there impart
Constraining motives to the willing heart.
4. Let moral Courage brace thy sinews still,
5. Let Knowledge teach thee God's discovered will :
1 Job xxxii, 21, 22.
1. 2 Pet. i 5. 4. 2 Pet. i. 5. " virtue."
2. 1 Thess. v. 8. 5. 2 Pet. i. 6.
3. Gal. v. 22,

3.1

Miscellaneous Poems. 399
6. In temperate Self-Control lies Wisdom's root ;
7. And favour'd Meekness plucks her choicest fruit.
Let Gentleness each angry thought restrain :
Long-suffering shall turn thy wrongs to gain.
Put on, beloved, tow'rds all human kind
10. 11. Bowels of Mercies, Humbleness of mind;
But in the secret presence of her God
12. Let deep Repentance pour the contrite flood.
13. / Gird Truth about thee simple and sincere,
14. I Let thine Integrity shine bright and clear.
15. If inward Purity thy heart possess,
16. Thou shalt see God and follow Godliness.
17. Goodness shall mark each step thy feet have trod ;
18. Love for the Brethren stamp thee lov'd of God.
19. Then whilst thy days thou wisely numberest through,
20. And dost with vigour all thou find'st to do ;
21. Attentive still thy present state to know,
22. A lesson draw'st from former weal or woe ; —
23. Husband'st thy substance for the great account,
Canst give or lend — not squander — the amount ;
24. And casting ev'ry anxious care on Heaven,
25. Canst prize the blessings at this moment given ;
26. The sacred trust of Friendship dar'st not break,
27. 28. Still swift to hear, but ever slow to speak ;
Then, though thy portion be> among the least,
29. A Merry Heart shall spread thy constant feast :
Then, though the storms of Life around thee low'r,
30. f Abiding Peace shall cheer thy darkest hour,
31. I And Joy unspeakable thy soul sustain
Through Death's dark valley and th' expiring pain.

Phil. iii. 13, 14.

6.

Gal. v. 23.

20.

Eccl. ix. 10.

7.

Matt. v. 5.

21.

2 Cor. xiii. 5.

8. 8

'. Gal. v. 22.

22.

Heb. x. 32.

10.

11. Col. iii. 12.'

23.

Luke xvi. 9.

12.

Luke xv. 10.

24.

1 Pet. v. 7.

13.

14. Eph. vi. 14.

25.

Eph. v. 20.

15.

Matt. v. 8.

26.

Prov. xi. 13. .

16.

1 Tim. vi. 11.

27.

2S. James i. 19

17.

Gal. v. 22.

29.

Prov. xv. 15.

18.

1 John iii 14.

30.

31. Gal. v. 22,

19.

Ps. xc. 12,

400 Miscellaneous Poems.
PROVERBS XXIV. 10.
" If thou faint in the day of adversity,"
O Christian, " thy strength" is " but smaU."
If thy trust in the arm of Omnipotence be,
Say why', Christian, faint'st thou at all ?
When the sunshine was bright, and thy path strew'd with flowers,
How light and elastic thy tread !
How blithe didst thou rove thro' the gay blooming bowers ;
Smooth thy brow, and erect was thy head. »
Oh ! didst thou then deem that the strength was thine own ?
Or that life could no changes supply
To turn the sweet accents of joy to a moan,
Or to sadden the bright-beaming eye ?
How fond the delusion ! but now from thy breast
Chase the fair airy vision away ;
In the VaUey of Shadows, oh ! dream not of rest,
But press on to the regions of day.
And if dangers assail thee, if terrors affright,
And flesh and heart fail thee, — oh ! turn
To the stronghold of faith, to the Rock of thy might,
And the Lord, thy Redeemer, discern.
Bright or dark be thy days, — be thy strength great or small,
Thy light and thy strength are in Him :
" As thy days," is His promise, — grace streaming for all,
Yet the fountain still full to the brim.

JESUS WEPT.
Jesus did weep,
As, foremost of the mute and mournful throng,
To the lone cemet'ry he pass'd along,
Where Lazarus, the mould'ring dead among,
A pale cold corse did sleep.
The Saviour wept !
Was it that in the yawning chasm he saw
What fiU'd his own humanity with awe ?
Not so ! His flesh, he knew, in the grave's maw
Might never long be kept.

Miscellaneous Poems. 401
Nor did the flood
That gush'd from many a mourner's heart around,
In sorrow's sympathy there, hold him bound.
A balm, their griefs to heal, would soon be found,
For by that tomb it stood.
He wept for sin ;
Wept for the cause of death and all our woe,
The blight that mars the purest joys below.
'Twas this that bade those gracious drops to flow
From love's warm fount within.
Those tears are o'er :
For the last dregs that lurk'd in sorrow's bowl
The Man of sorrows drank : into His soul
The iron entered : over Him control
Have death and grief no more.
Ascended high,
At God's right hand in bliss no thought can tell
He sitteth, and in glory ineffable ;
Where harpings high, thro' the tuned spheres, do swell,
Of heavenly minstrelsy.
Yet sitting there,
And bearing in each seraph's joy a part,
Though He be high, to ev'ry lowly heart
He hath respect ; nor can one tear-drop start,
One pang the bosom tear,
In the dark night
Of earth's deep degradation, guilt, and pain,
Not one desire the contrite bosom strain,
One sigh be heav'd, — but in heaven's courts amain
'Tis heard, 'tis seen in light. '
The Spirit saith,
He in His bottle putsi the tears they shed ;
In every sickness maketh He their bed ;
Is with them in the caverns of the dead;
Dwells in their hearts by fafth.
00

402 Miscellaneous Poems.
That Spirit grieves,
When from the path of hoUness doth swerve
And God and mammon vainly tries to serve
(Failing to brace for duty every nerve)
The Christian that believes.
Our High-priest weeps,
If any in temptation's awful hour,
Alas ! unmindful of the tempter's power,
Forgetting how the feeble flesh will cower,
Willeth to watch, yet sleeps.
If any faint,
What time affliction's bitterness they prove,!
And will not hear the rod, nor see the love,
That works their weal, and guides to rest above
Each tried and stricken saint.
His spirit mourns,
If any soul that sees the fowler's snare,
Squand'ring in weak complaints the breath of pray'r,
Although Jehovah maketh him His care,
The back in conflict turns ;
If any sigh
From sickly thought of earthly pleasure gone,
In quest of earthly good still wand'ring on ;
And, whilst the veil of heav'nly bliss is drawn,
Passeth with clos'd eyes by.
Saviour and Lord !
Increase our faith : sustain our souls with grace ;
And, tiU thy counsel guide us to the place
Where we shaU share thy joy and see thy face,
Give us to trust thy word,

co 2

Miscellaneous Poems. 403
JOHN XL 43, 44.
" Lazarus, come forth ! " The Saviour spoke ;
The powers of death and hell
Already felt their iron yoke
Burst by that potent spell.
" Lazarus, come forth ! " Through all his veins
The circling fluid ran :
Each startled sense the pale corse strains,
And stands a living man.
" Lazarus, come forth ! " His glaring eye
Asks if it can be so !
A well-known voice soon utters nigh,
" Loose him and let him go."
" Lazarus, come forth ! " If o'er my soul
The voice that spake that word
E'er poured its strong and sweet control,
And waked thy servant, Lord ;
Loose me, and from each wilful bent,
My Saviour ! let me go ;
To learn thy will my fixed intent,
And, practice what I know.
Loose me, and let me go from pride ;
That all self-righteous trust
Before the cross of Him that died
May crumble in the dust.
Loose me, and let me go from thrall,
Whene'er 'tis man I fear ;
Ne'er may I flinch at duty's call,
But feel and own Thee near.
" Loose him " — oh ! let that sound be heard
'Till my last fleeting breath —
From doubts that dare not trust thy word,
And gloomy fears of death,

404 Miscellaneous Poems.
Speak, Lord ! that all my soul may hear,
Quickened in every part ;
Startle to life, and love, and fear,
The deadness of my heart.
So when I close these mortal eyes,
On sorrow, sin, and pain,
" My flesh shall rest inshope to rise "
When Thou shalt speak again.

SONG FOR THE SEA-SHORE.
Ebbing waters ! ebbing waters !
In your current true and strong,
To the unfathomed depths of mercy,
Sweep my willing thoughts along.
Tides returning ! tides returning !
Bring the glorious theme again,
All my inmost soul o'erflowing
With the thought of Jesus slain.
Foaming surges ! foaming surges
Lashing angrily the shore !
Well ye paint the wrath of heaven,
Which for me my Saviour bore.
Heaving billow ! heaving biUow
Ceaseless rolling o'er the sea !
Oh ! may love, of love begotten, .
In my bosom rival thee.
" Songs of ocean ! " songs of ocean !
Murmuring soft or pealing deep !
Teach me strains of joy and wonder ;
" Touch the chords that never sleep I1

Songs of ocean never sleep. — %eble.

Miscellaneous Poems. 40c
Sails that glisten ! sails that glisten
As ye fleetly speed your way !
Me, oh ! me, let breath of heaven
Waft to realms of endless day.
Snowy whiteness ! snowy whiteness
Of the sun-lit cliffs afar !
Help me contemplate the splendours
That more pure and lasting are.
Shore that windest ! shore that windest, *
Still retiring — ne'er withdrawn !
Through th' eternal depths of glory,
Teach my thoughts to wander on.

SONGS IN THE NIGHT.
Job xxxv. 10.
Tell me, angels, tell me where
God my Maker dwells enshrined 1
On your eagle pinions bear
To those courts my wakeful mind.
Silence reigns ! and buried deep
In oblivion's wholesome dews
Mortal cares and sorrows sleep :
All but mine ! who wake to muse —
Wake to dwell on happier hours,
When, with those I lov'd the best,
Day was spent in joyous bow'rs,
Night in pure and dreamless rest.
Not, as now, with fev'rish start,
Ere the honied draught is taken,.
To thoughts that harrow up the heart
From broken slumbers to awaken.

406 Miscellaneous Poems.
Not, as now, to throb, or ache,
In weary tossing to and fro,
And nameless sufferings to awake
' Such as none but taste can know.
Tell me then, celestial band,
Where is God my Maker ? Where ?
Ah ! ye smile. He is at hand !
Bear me to His presence, bear.
Turbid fancies, false and vain,
Thoughts that veil'd Him from my view,
Fumes of a distempered brain,
Causeless fears and glooms, adieu !
Daystar ! rise. My Saviour liveth !
He is near, my soul's delight !
He whose love unfailing giveth
Songs that cheer the livelong night.

CHRISTMAS CAROL.
Again the merry morn we crown
When Christ to earth was given;
The day that brought the Saviour down
Hath rais'd our souls to heaven.
Once angels sung in shepherd's ear
The words of glad surprise :
Now angels stoop our songs to hear,
And aid our worthier joys.
Of mother poor in stable born,
In the cold wintry night,
For swathing bands, and human scorn,
He doff'd his robes of light.
We doff our soiled and mean attire,
In Jesus ris'n and gone ;
Mount up, to join the heavenly choir,
And put salvation on.

Miscellaneous Poems. 407
A low roof bounds the feeble cries
From that rude cradle pour'd :
His throne shall be the boundless skies,
And we be with the Lord.
Thrice welcome then the joyous day
That brought salvation near ;
It summons all our thoughts away
To yonder blissful sphere.

CAROL.1
Once of old upon a mountain
Shepherds, overcome with sleep,
Near to Bethlehem's holy tower,
Kept, at dead of night, their sheep.
Soon a sudden blaze came o'er them ;
Lo ! the angel of the Lord
Shone from heaven, and Jehovah's
Glory all around was poured.
Startling horror seized the shepherds ;
Every limb with awe did quake ;
Till in tones that banished terror
Thus the beaming seraph spake.
" Fear not, shepherds ! Lo, I bring you
Tidings full of joy and mirth,
Welcome news for sons of sorrow,
To the farthest bounds of. earth.
" For to you, in David's city,
Is a wondrous Saviour born,
Christ the Lord his form -of brightness
Veils in flesh this happy morn.
i The opening stanza is a transla- said to be very common in Spain.
tion by another hand from a hymn

408 Miscellaneous Poems.
" In a lowly manger lying, .
Wrapped with swaddling bands around,
(Haste to prove the sign I give you)
ShaU th' auspicious babe be found."
Erejie ceas'd a host of bright ones
Thronging the empyreal height,
Round about that glorious angel,
Sudden burst upon the sight.
God they prais'd : — " To God be glory,"
(Thus th' angelic numbers ran)
" Glory in the highest heavens,
Peace on earth, good-wiU'to man."

A PRAYER.
Father of Mercy, free my heart
From chains that long have held it bound ;
Help me to choose a better part
Than aught that may on earth be found.
From thoughts of blindness and of sin,
That dream of satisfaction here,
From every wish that lurks within,
Of guilty joy my bosom clear.
When films of dark corruption rise,
And aU o'ercloud the mental sight,
Oh, strip from sin its fair disguise,,
And show it black as endless night.
And ever as my faith declines,
And heart and flesh together fail,
Disclose th' unfathomable mines
Of love and truth within the veil.

Miscellaneous Poems. 409
AN ASPIRATION.
I stood beneath the row of elms,
Before me rose a hill,
T'was cover'd o'er with barley ripe,
The mower's hand to fid.
And at my feet a narrow path
That climb'd the hill began,
And up to meet the broad blue sky
Straight as an arrow ran.
The day was one of Autumn's best,
Twas fresh, t'was calm, t'was fair,
And the corn sent a rustling sound,
Bow'd by the gentle air.
How few, methought, the objects now
That claim mine ear, mine eye,
The rustling breeze, the full ripe corn,
The hill, the path, the sky.
Yet is there something here to fill,
Yea make the soul run o'er,
Nor heeds there charms profusely shed
From nature's varied store.
And would I breathe the wish -of one
With that he hath content,
And would I breathe a pastor's pray'r
To the Chief Shepherd sent;
T'were this, that objects grand and few
Might all his bosom fill,
As swerving not to either hand
He mounts life's arduous hill.
The narrow path, the steep ascent,
The fields for harvest white,
The Spirit's breath to cheer him on,
And heaven's untold delight.

410 Miscellaneous Poems.
ECCLESIASTES VII. 1.
" A good name is better than precious ointment ; and the day of death
than the day of one's birth."
Listen ! for the Lord hath spoken,
Never may the word be broken ;
Happiest day that dawns on earth,
Better than the day of birth,
When the saint's expiring breath
Wafts its latest sigh in death. -
Sighs no more, but angels' songs,
Now th' unbodied soul prolongs ;
Never more, to grief a prey,
Shall it plod a weary way.
Now it mounts ; and now it flies
Tow'rds the amaranthine prize.
Welcome, thro' the Saviour's merit,
To the God who gave, his spirit ;
Back to glory it returns,
And with love seraphic burns,
Till the body's blissful trance
End, and heav'n's own joys enhance.
Till that hour in kindred dust;
Sleep the relics of the just,
Whilst a name embalms his tomb,
Sweet as ointment's rich perfume,
Gilding all our eve of sorrow
With bright tokens of to-morrow. Sept. 5th, 1846.

THE RAINBOW.
Bow in the cloud, how soft and fair,
Yet bright thy blended colours are !
Seems as embedded in the earth,
'Tis thence thou draw'st thy dubious birth,

Miscellaneous Poems. 411
An emblem, in thy sparkling treasure,
Of mortal beauty, youth and pleasure.
Yet is thine arch so vast and true,
So deep and undefined thy hue,
A thing of earth no more, thou teliest
That in a brighter sphere thou dwellest,
Set by th' Omnipotent, in token
Of words that never may be broken,
The cov'nant to the Patriarch given,
That spans the gulf 'twixt earth and heaven.

THE SEA-SHORE.1
When life decline's, 0 ! let me stray
Along the cliffs of ocean,
And safe, from out some nook, survey
Its waves in wild commotion.
Or, when 'tis calm, with pensive pace
Muse o'er the slumb'ring past,
And from its depths recall some trace
Of joys that might hot last.
With gratitude each favour given,
Each peril past review,
And calmly wait that bliss in heaven
No danger can undo.

THE OAK.
'Tis now the month of March, a star-lit night,
Bracing the air, yet kindly, calm, serene.
Nature suppress'd is gathering her might,
Soon to burst forth in universal green.

1 In his last illness the Archdeacon it might please God he should suf-
expressed a great desire to go to the ficiently recover.
sea-side (mentioning Darlington) if

412 Miscellaneous Poems.
A bare stem now yon shadowy oak is seen,
Each branch, each tiny spraylet leafless quite ;
The sky in aU its brightness shows between,
Orion's starry-belt and sword of light,
With the pure azure canopy o'erspread. —
A few more roUing moons will pass away,
And then, impervious with its glossy bed,
The tree will not transmit one twinkling ray.
'Tis ever thus, earth's charms soon withered,
Hide from our gaze the beams of" heaven's own endless day.

RESURREXIT :
Mourners ! I know whom 'tis ye seek ;
With fearless step come on.
Resurrexit : non est hie —
Your Lord is ris'n and gone.
Not in the caverns of the dead
Seek now your living Lord.
Before you, up to heav'n He's sped,
According to His word.
The pleasant garden's peaceful' bound,
Where balmy breezes blow,
Detains Him hot ! nor soothing sound,
Nor pleasing sight below !
And Joseph's friendly resting-place,
And thy sweet spicy store,
Blest Nicodemus ! shall embrace
His clay-cold form no more.
Yet turn not back, nor dream to find
'Mid busy haunts of men,
'Mid strife and stir of human kind,
The Crucified again.

Miscellaneous Poems. 413
Thou, Lord, art ris'n ! Thou art not here !
We turn from all below,
To seek with Thee a higher sphere,
Rejoicing as we go.
If pleasure's soft and silken voice,
Fond friend, or earthly love,
Would keep us here, oh guide our choice,
To seek Thee, Lord ! above.
When strife of tongues or carking care
Our thoughts or feelings claim,
Be this our cry — " He is not here ! "
Towards heav'n be all our aim.
If any dwell on gathering gloom,
Or joys for ever past, _
And bid us on the mould'ring tomb
StiU bind our memory fast ; —
If conscience wake the tale of sin,
To tell us heart like ours
No more may peace or solace win,
Or hope's inspiring powers : —
If penance drear, with torturing hour,
(Th' ascetic's wilful dream)
Still bid us dwell where tempests low'r,
And funeral horrors scream ; —
We'll chase the self-sought woes away,
Each earth-born care reprove,
" He is not here," our souls shall say,
" For us he pleads above."

414 Miscellaneous Poems.
DOXOLOGIES. %
S.M. By all the heavenly hosts,
Before aU worlds, adored,
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
AU creatures praise the Lord.
S.M. Thee, Father ! thee we praise
Co-equal Lord, the Son !
Thee, Holy Ghost ! thro' endless days
We worship, Three in One.
Sevens. Praise to God, who gave His Son !
Praise to Christ, whose work is done !
God the Holy Ghost adore,
Three in One, for evermore.

To the Father praise be given ;
Praise the Son, in earth and heaven ;
To the Holy Ghost be praise
Now, and through eternal days.
P.M. God be praised ! to God be glory !
(Thus the angelic numbers ran)
Glory in the highest heavens,
Peace on earth, good will to man.
Swell the chorus
Now, as when the world began.
L.M. Lord God of hosts ! in substance One,
The Holy, Holy, Holy Three !
When heaven and earth their course have run,
Thine, Lord Most High ! shall glory be.

TRANSLATIONS.

SECOND PART.

Et saepe alterius ramos impune videmus
Vertere in alterius.

La traduction ne peut Stre tout au plus que comme une gravure; le
coloris est inimitable." O let me now 
Transplant thee safe ! 
And of my garden be the pride and joy ! Thomson.

Cranshttions.

FROM EURIPIDES.
(Medea, vv. 193—207.;
Fools, and unworthy of the praise
To wisdom's offspring due,
Pronounce the bards of former days,
And I will own it true.
To crown the feast new joys inspire
The jovial board around ;
They borrowed from the golden lyre
Its spirit-stirring sound :
But knew not by harmonious airs
From thousand chords that flow,
To chase the Stygian band of cares,
And smooth the brow of woe.
Yet thence misfortunes dire and death
Rush forth in mad accord,
To blast with pestilential breath
The palace and its lord.
Could music to the drooping heart,
Which madd'ning cares have rent,
One healing remedy impart,
Its aid were kindly lent.
DD

418 Translations.
But where at banquets Luxury sits,
Why idly sweep the strings ?
Suffice for present joy the sweets
That present plenty brings.

FROM LUCRETIUS.
(Lib. IV., v. 581J
In list'ning awe I've stood
Where sportive Echo from the hoUow wood
Thrice on her lyre — for ev'ry borrowed word —
Struck blythe, and thrice again the kindred chord
From hill to hiU in light fantastic round
Caught sharp, and quick returned the trembling notes rebound.
In these retreats, as village fablers tell,
Goat-footed satyrs, fawns, and wood-nymphs dwell,
Whose revel mirth and shouts of wild delight
Burst thro' the silent stillness of the night ;
Whilst touched to sweetest harmony the lyre,
The shrill small voice and mellow pipe conspire,
As o'er the keys the minstrel's fingers fly,
To lap the ravished soul in ecstasy.
But chiefthe startled rustic far and near
Stands tiptoe Pan's transporting notes to hear ;
As oft, while by the magic numbers led,
The pine wreath nods upon his monster head,
His arched lips sweep the gasping reeds along,
And sweetly woo the sylvan muse to song.

FROM ^ESCHYLUS.
(Prom. Vmct., v. 1088J
'Tis wordy threat, no more :
For see I in very deed earth quakes, the roar
Of hoarse-tongued thunder bellows round the shore/
Forth burst the wreathed gleams
Of Ught'ning's sulphury streams ;
Whirlwinds around their dusty eddies sweep ;
Bounding with mutual rage,
Contending winds engage ;

Translations. 419
Heaven mingles with the deep.
Such from Jove descends the dart,
Vainly charged to scare my heart.
Beam of my mother's glory ! see
The sorrows that environ me ;
Witness air, whose trackless way
Guides to all the light of day.
Behold the woes which undeserved I bear :
Behold the gaUing chain a tyrant bids me wear.

FROM CATULLUS.
(Ad Sirmionem Peninmilam)
Sirmio.! of isles and island-cliffs the pride !
Many as in its stiU transluceney
And billowy vastness either ocean bears ;
How glad, how blythe do I revisit thee,
Scarce crediting myself to have escaped
Bithyni'a's plains and thee in safety seen.
Oh ! what so blest as, in Care's bankruptcy,
When the mind shifts its burthen, and worn down
With toil abroad, our household gods we seek ;
And on the bed long sighed for sink to rest,
This, nought but this, such harassment requites.
Delicious Sirmio, hail ! joy for thy lord :
Ye waves of Larium, ripple into smiles ;
Whate'er there be at home can laugh, laugh now.

PP 2

FROM SOPHOCLES.
(CEdip. Tyr., 863 J
Oh ! be it ever mine — -
Fates propitious, hear my prayer —
In word and deed mine may it be
T' observe with rev'rent sanctity
All that the laws have made their care !
Heaven-sprung laws no race of earth —
Jove the sire that gave them birth —

420 Translations.
Laws that no Lethean speU
E'er shall bind in drowsy chains :
Great the power that in them reigns :
His might no time shall quell ;
Insolence that spurns control,
Stamps with tyranny the soul,
Insolence. in madd'ning joy,
Pleasure-crowned without aUoy,
Revelling in every deed
That doth the bounds of right exceed :
Drags its votaries to the steep
Of destruction sudden, deep,
Precipitous ! then with a frown
Hurls them hapless, hopeless down
To the mire of infamy,
Whence not fleetest feet may fly.
Each stablish'd law that guards my country's peace ;
Ye gods ! defend it, never may it cease.
Ne'er will I quit the haUow'd shrine of Jove :
My only bulwark he in heaven above.
Lives there the wretch who- dares ;
Hand or tongue for pride employ ;
Who nor justice recks nor heaven ?
Horrid death his doom be given. ..
Torments for his impious joy,
If he seek dishonest gain ;
If he fly not deeds profane ;
Who shall stay the shafts of fire
O'er his head by conscience raised ?
Why, if acts like these be praised,
Why do I lead the choir ?
I to central earth no more
Hie me humbly to adore ;
Ne'er again to Abse's shrine
Suppliant kneel — no more at thine,
Olympia ! If this prophecy
Flash not truth on every eye,
If in happy hour I call

Translations. 421
Jove almighty king of all,
Look, oh ! look in judgment down,
Vindicate thyself, thy crown.
The oracle of Laius' death that spoke
E'en now they spurn, as all its force were broke ;
No honours now encircling Phoebus play ;
And pale religion dies in tears away.

FROM HORACE.
III. Od. ix.
Horace —
When first our hearts and hands did join,
And you were mine and only mine,
I shone more eminently blest
Than all the monarchs of the east.
Lydia —
Whilst you your love on me bestowed,
And with no warmer passion glowed ;
Nor Chloe did with Lydia vie,
Not Ilia shone more blest than I.
Hot. —
Now Chloe's voice and heavenly lyre,
And beauty, set my soul on fire ;
I'd die to save the Cretan fair,
So fate her dearer life would spare.
Lyd.—
Young Calais now is all my joy,
With mutual flame I meet the boy :
Had I two lives, I'd gladly give
Both to the fates, so he might live.
Hot. —
What if my former love return,
And once again for you 1 burn ;
If Chloe should resign her charms,
And leave for you these open arms ?

422 Translations. Lyd. —
Though he I love is heavenly fair ;
You as the waves inconstant are,
I'd bid the lovely youth adieu,
And gladly live and die with you.

FROM BOURNE,
(Votum)
As through the deep recesses of a grove,
Through shady valleys and through rich domains,
The murm'ring waters of yon streamlet move,
Cutting a secret passage through the plains,
And now meandring, grateful to the eye,
Into a thousand graceful curves they sweep
Precipitate, tiU dashing from on high,
They faU into the bosom of the deep ;
So in the most sequestered paths of hfe,
By riches unmolested may I tread ;
Unknown the sorrowful effects of strife,
No blood-stained laurel twining round my head !
And when secluded from the Ught of day,
And sated with the span my destiny gave ;
May Death his gentlest hand upon me lay,
And peaceful slumbers wait me to the grave.

(Somne levis!)
Calm sleep ! though Death's sad image thou dost wear,
Still to partake my bed I wish thee nigh :
Come, sleep benign ! for thus without life's care
How sweet to live, without death's pang to die !

Translations. 423
FROM DR. JORTIN.
(In vitce brevitatem. )
Ah, me ! the sun but sets again to rise ;
Yon waning moon again her horns shall fill ;
The starry train, from day's approach that flies,
Around night's azure throne shall glitter still.
The humbler sons of earth, whom wintry storms
With cruel rage bade droop and die — in vain ! —
When gentle Zephyr <calls, and summer warms,
Green blade and painted flower revive again.
But we, Creation's heirs, the lords of all,
So fair who promise, who aspire so high,
Past life's short Spring, and ardent Summer, fall
No more to rise, no more to blossom die.
Ne'er shall this light returning chase the gloom
Of death, nor burst the barriers of the tomb.

(Ducit ad csternam te Mors, brevis ut via, vitam ;
Ut mors mteritus non sit, at introitus.)
Death the short path to Life eternal shows :
Death then is Life's commencement — not its close.1

EPITAPH IN WILTON CHURCH.'2
( Quis defiere vetat ?)
Who bids the heartfelt sigh of sorrow cease ?
Why should not his warm tears for ever flow,
Who mourns the object of his earthly peace,
The better part of all he loved below ?
Yes ! she was chaste, JBeyond detraction pure :
Faith in her soul was ever known to shine ;
Calm she resigned her breath, now reigns secure ;
Hers the reward, the pain is only mine.
With thee, blest shade, I found a heaven on earth,
That heaven has vanished now my love's no more,
Sunk is the sun of my short day of mirth,
And all my blooming hopes of joy are o'er.
i See Life, vol. I. p. 178. 2 See Life, vol. I. p. 32.

424 Translations.
Thee will I mourn with morning's earliest ray ;
Thee will I mourn when evening shadows rise ;
TiU on the wings of death I'm borne away,
And once again embrace thee in the skies. 1814.

EPITAPH.
A royal bride was I : 'twas mine to trace
A sire, and grandsire too, of royal race ;
In fruitless expectations, and fond prayers,
I also bore a royal mother's cares :
But lest, in flight too high for men to steer,
My bliss should soar above this mortal sphere,
Stern envious death untimely laid me here.

THE SCULPTOR,
(Dum Bruti effigiem sculptor de marmore ducit,
In mentem sceleris venit — et abstmuit. J
As Michael Angelo in marble traced
The lines old Brutus' manly front that graced ;
His thought reverting, brought to memory's view
Great Csesar's death, he started and withdrew.

JOHN KNOX.
Nocturnal owles, darke nighte, and battes
Aurora she doth route :
So lightsome Knox did darkling flattes
From Scottish londe kicke out.

MEMORY.
(Quo desiderio veteres)
Smit with some charm in Mem'ry's pensive train,
We cry to the sweet Past, " Oh, come again ! "
Old loves and friends long lost we cherish yet,
And bathe afresh in tears of fond regret.

Translations. 425
PSALM XXIX.
MAJESTY.
The voice of God upon the sea
In storm and tempest sweeps ;
The God of glory rides the waves,
And thunders through the deeps.
The voice of God, with terrors fraught,
Of power resistless tells ;
The voice of God through nature's calm
In tones majestic swells.
The voice of God the cedars breaks,
On Lebanon forlorn !
Their stately growth in all their pride
The Lord hath cleft and torn.
The voice of God to flashing fires
Assigns their several course ;
The voice of God the desert shakes,
And Kadesh feels its force.
The Lord will give His people strength
Till aU their conflicts cease ;
The Lord wiU bless His people then
With peace, an endless peace.

PSALM XLVI.
REFUGE.
God is our refuge, God our strength,
Our safeguard always near ;
A present help when danger comes,
We therefore will not fear.
The earth may shake, the mountains part,
Beneath the chafing flood :
There is a stream that gladdens still
The city of our God.

426 Translations.

God in the midst of her blest courts
His holy temple rears ;
She stands secure : her help shall come
Before the morn appears.
The heathen raged, the kingdoms shook ;
He spake, the earth did cower.
The Lord of hosts is with us stiU,
And Jacob's God our tower.
Come, see His works ! O'er all the earth
He maketh wars to cease ;
Breaks bow and spear, the chariot burns,
And awes the world to peace.
" Be still, and know that I am God :
All realms shall own my power."
The Lord of hosts is with us stiU,
And Jacob's God our tower.

PSALM LV.
ANGUISH.
To my prayer, Lord ! give ear ;
From my groan and my tear
Oh hide not Thy face, but in mercy draw near.
Oh speed to mine aid ;
In the dust I am laid ;
Sore vex'd and distracted, my soul is dismay'd.
With terrors oppress'd
Is mine agoniz'd breast ;
Fear and trembling o'erwhelm me, a stranger to rest :
Had I wings like a dove,
Far away I'd remove,
Far away from the storm in the desert I'd rove.
On God wiU I call ;
Thou wilt save me from thraU :
Eve and morn, and at noontide, before Thee I'll fall :
My burthen I'U cast
On the Lord to the last ;
The righteous who trust Him shall ever stand fast.

Translations. 427

PSALM LIX.
DELIVERANCE.
From foes that all around me rise,
Defend me, 0 my God !
From evil-doers save my soul,
And from the men of blood.
They lie in wait with deadly snare ;
The mighty rpund me throng ;
For none offence of mine, 0 Lord !
Nor sin, nor harmful wrong.
For strength, 0 God, on Thee I wait ;
Thou, Lord, art my defence :
The blessing of Thy watchful love
My every want prevents.
Thee will I sing, 0 Power Divine !
Thy mercy in the morn,
That proved a shield in danger's hour,
Nor left my soul forlorn.

PSALM LX1X.
DESERTION.
Save me, 0 God ! the waters dire
Break in to drown my soul ;
Fast held in deep enclosing mire,
The floods above me roll.
I cry till worn and weary quite,
My throat all parched and dry ;
I wait for Thee, my God ! tiU sight
Hath failed my longing eye.
It broke my heart — Thy stern rebuke ;
I look'd some help to see,
But there was none who pity took)
Not one to comfort me.

428 Translations.
Yet shall my prayer to Thee draw near,
In Thy sweet hour of ruth ;
Lord ! in thy countless mercies hear,
Hear in thy saving truth.
Let not the waterfloods devour,
Turn in Thy wonted grace,
Nor from Thy servant in his hour
Of trouble hide Thy face.

PSALM LXXXI.
DISOBEDIENCE.
The voice of my Belov'd !
Hush'd aU within me be !
Thou whom at Meribah I prov'd,
Israel ! I plead with thee.
Would'st thou but lend an ear,
Nor from my precepts swerve ;
No aUen power should e'er draw near,
Thou should'sf no strange god serve.
The Lord thy God am I :
From Egypt thee I brought ;
Enlarge thy pray'r, the rich supply
Shall pass thy largest thought.
My people turn'd away,
And Israel scorn'd my lore ;
In wilful counsels then to stray
My justice gave them o'er.
Oh ! had my people known
My pleasant paths to tread,
Their foes had soon been aU o'erthrown ;
The onset I had led

Translations. 429

UnmoVd by time's rude shock,
With best wheat flour supplied,
With honey from the stony rock
Thou hadst been satisfied.

PSALM LXXXVII.
ZION.
On the hills is His foundation,
Hills that own His holy fear;
Dwelling place of all. the nation
None to Jacob's God so dear.
Zion still His love engages,
All her gates He deigns to bless
With the glories of past ages,
Glories of the wilderness.
" Rahab yet and distant Babel
Will I grant to hear my voice,
Tyre, Philistia, will enable
With the Cushite to rejoice."
Gracious words of love and pity !
But the ransom'd world should know
Thou didst first, 0 favour' d city !
Hear the lips from whence they flow.
God the Highest hath promoted
Zion's claims o'er all the earth,
Gentiles ! read — Jehovah wrote it —
Zion gave the Saviour birth.
Zion ! seek thy slighted treasure ;
Mirth and melody 'twill be.
All my springs of life and pleasure,
Sacred Zion ! rise in thee.
Shout for joy each Gentile nation !
Echo round the glorious news ;
Hither turn ye for salvation,
Lo ! it cometh of the Jews.

430 Translations.
Zion ! seek thy slighted treasure,
Life from out the grave 'twill be ;
All my springs of hope and pleasure,
Sacred Zion ! rise in thee.

PSALM XCVIII.
SALVATION.
0 sing to the Lord a new song,
For marveUous things hath He done /
The arm of His might,- so holy and strong,
For Himself hath the victory won.
FuU proof of His love and His power
In the sight of the nations He gave ;
Jehovah shone forth in His destiny's hour,
The Righteous, the Mighty to save.
His truth in remembrance He bore
For the house of His own guiding rod ; l
That the ends of the earth might behold and adore
The salvation of God, our own God. .
Strike up, all ye lands ! to the Lord ;
With the loud peal of melody sing :
Let cornet and harp with the trumpets accord :
Rejoice to Jehovah the King !
The sea, with its tribes, let them roar,
The universe, dweUers and all ;
Let the floods clap their hands, and the mountains adore,
And their raptures in unison faU.
The present Jehovah they own,
From whose righteousness none hath appealed:
To judgment He cometh — to sit on His throne —
And the sceptre of equity wield.
1 Numbers xvii,

Translations. 431
PSALM cix.
THE MAN OF SORROWS.
Thy glory, Lprd ! reveal ;
0 deal with me in love.
'Tis good Thy saving power to feel,
Thy mercy sweet to prove.
I droop forlorn and poor ;
My heart within me bleeds ;
A shadow that may not endure,
My life departing speeds.
A'locust on the blast
Tossed up and down I'm borne ;
My knees are weak from weary fast,
My flesh to leanness worn.
Their word of spite am I,
Reviled, forsaken, fled ;
They look on me, the passers by,
And scornful toss the head.
Give help, 0 Lord my God !
In wonted mercy spare ;
That aU may speak Thy praise abroad,
And own that God was there.

PSALM cxxvi.
CAPTIVITY.
When Zion's sad captivity
Jehovah turned again,
Our mirth appeared a dream to be,
A vision fair, but vain.
But oh ! what laughter spoke our cheer,
What joy our tongue expressed,
From heathen lips of God to hear
How He our tribes had blessed !

432 Translations.
" Great things for them the Lord hath done,"
So ran their cheery voice ;
He hath done marvels, many an one,
Whereof we will rejoice.
Who sow in tears shall reap in mirth ;
And he whose sad employ '
Bears precious seed with sorrow forth,
Shall bring his sheaves with joy.

psalm oxxvm.
PROSPERITY.
Blessed is the man that feareth,
Walking in Jehovah's ways !
Eat the fruit thy labour reareth ;
Hail ! for happy are thy days.
Mantling rich with many a cluster,
See thy wife a fruitful vine :
Babes, as olives, thou shalt foster,
Round thy cheerful board to shine.
Mark the man whose hopes rely on
God the Lord, with faithful breast :
God, thy God shaU out of Zion
Bless thee, and thou shalt be blest.
AU thy days a smile shall grace thee,
Salem's happy lot to see ;
Children's children shall embrace thee ;
Israel's peace be joy to thee.

psalm oxxxv.
MAJESTY.

Praise God, for it is good ;
Praise — 'tis a blest employ —
Ye, who within His courts have stood,
Ye, His peculiar joy.

. Translations. 433
For Zion is His seat,
And there His treasures be ;
0 praise Him, for the Lord is great.
Above all gods is He.
The Lord their God to please,
Through heaven His spirits sweep ;
His will is done in earth and seas ;
It shakes the gloomy deep.
From earth's remotest bound
He bids the vapours rise ;
The winds are brought — we hear the sound —
From out His treasuries.
The lightnings are His own ;
He sends a gracious rain,
What time the fiery bolts are thrown,
Their terrors to restrain.

INVOCATION.
(Veni, Sancte Spiritus,
Et emitte cmlitus
Lucis turn radium. )
Holy Ghost ! from heaven descending,
Lamp of life ! within us shine :
Come, and nature's darkness ending,
Shed on us the light divine.
Soother Thou of all our sadness,
Ever wisest, kindest, best !
Come with Thy refreshing gladness,
Be Thyself our bosom's guest.
Comfort that from Thee we borrow,
Rests our toil and cools our heat :
Come, and staunch each gushing sorrow
With Thy solace pure and sweet.
EE

434 Translations.
Come, for nought without Thy unction,
Nought of good in man is found :
Nought of holy sweet compunction ;
Nought that righteous is or sound.
Bend what stubborn is and charm it,
That it stony be no more;
What within is frozen, warm it ;
What in us is lost, restore.
Clothe us in the spotless tissue
Of Emmanuel's seamless vest :
Give salvation's joyous issue,
Give, 0 give us, endless rest.

JOB II. 10.
(From the German of Gellert.)
I've had my sunny hours,
And gather'd life's fair flow'rs
From sweet enjoyment's countless store ;
Then let me calmly bow
If sorrows press me now ;
Where is the child of man that never anguish bore ?
My sins how great they are !
But, Lord ! more gracious far
Art Thou than mortal man's desert :
Shall I, whom guilt bows low,
No taste of sorrow know,
Ordain'd in chast'ning love, and never for my hurt ?
Myself wiU I resign
To Thee ; nor rest of mine,
Nor life, hold dearer than my Lord.
StiU trust in Thee will I,
And ne'er on man rely :
Thou saVst, and thou dost still thy willing aid afford,

Translations. 435
Let me the favour gain,
My ev'ry guilty stain
To scan, to mourn, and to forsake ;
Ere yet my spirits fail,
-Thy saving health to hail
Make Thou my task ; Thy word my trust and solace make.
What if in Christ I die ?
An heir of heaven am I :
The grave or death why should I dread 1
While the dark path is trod
I lean upon my God ;
Thou, Lord ! are near me still in that stern hour of need.
I'll bid my fears depart ;
In patience keep my heart ;
On Thee in faith for succour call.
I'll think of my last hour ;
Trust in thy guiding pow'r ;
And what Thou know'st is best thy servant will befall.

Into* to % fife.

Acland, Sir T. t>., i. 316 ; ii. 42,
48, 93, 456. He died July 22,
1871.
Antinomianism , Mr. Natt's opposi
tion to, i. 128. Thomas Scott's
ditto, 440.
Anxiety, support under, i. 227.
Appleby, i. 287 ; ii. 250, 257.
Arnold, Dr. Thomas, i. 50, 230,
235, 252; ii. 2, 33, 34, 55, 124.
Arnold, Rev. Matthew, death of,
i. 284.
Ashley, Lord, i. 287.
Auricular Confession, ii. 196.
Babington, on Christian education,
i. 408.
Baillie, Miss Joanna, i. 291.
Ball, Rev. John, ii. 143, 145.'
Balliol fellowship, i. 263, 453.
Barber, Rev. J. Hurt, i. 421.
Barrington, Shute, Bishop, i. 209,
365.
Batten, Rev. J. E., i. 448 ; ii. 5,
32, 59, 68, 114, 127.
Bellwood near Perth, i. 297.
Bennett, Mr. W. C, i. 83.
Bentinck, Lord W, i. 316.
Bethlehem Hospital, i. 317.
Bible at school, i. 19.
Bible Society, i. 315 ; ii. 183.
Bickersteth, Rev. E., i. 311, 313 ;
ii. 62, 72. 287, 290.
Biddulph, Rev. T. T., i. 113, 428,
455.
Bingham, Rev. R., i. 18, 272, 397 ;
ii. 102. 122, 283.
Blandy, Mr. J. J., ii. 230.
Bird, Rev. C. S., ii. 146, 156.
Boone, Rev. J. S.,i. 144.

Bourke, Mr., of C.C.C, i. 281,
283, 284.
Bradfield, i. 271, 277.
Braham, Mr. i. 451.
Bridges, Rev. C, ii. 54, 220, 287,
288
Bridges, Rev. T. E.,of C.C.C, i.
71, 79, 110; ii. 141.
Brighton Preachers, ii. 117, 119.
Briscoe, Rev. A., ii. 156, 172.
Bristol Clergy, i. 428.
British Review, i. 408.
Broadchalk, i. 130, 139; ii. 105,
107, 146, 158, 210.
Brock, Rev. T., i. 130.
Brotherly counsels, i. 107.
Brownlow, Rev. W., i. 419.
Bruce, Rev. W., ii. 100, 193.
Bruton School, i. 442.
Buchanan's Life, i. 130.
Buckland, Dr. W., i. 442.
Bulteel, Rev. H., ii. 110.
Bunting, Rev. J., i. 316.
Burdett-Coutts, Baroness, ii. 246,
247.
Burgess's Protestant Catechism, i.
158.
Burton, Rev. Chancellor, ii. 241.
Burton, Decimus, ii. 89.
Busby, Dr. W. B.,Dean of Roches
ter, i. 287.
Butler, Dr. George, i. 443 ; ii. 3, 4.
7, 9, 47, 66.
Butler, Dr., of Shrewsbury, ii. 114.
Calendar for reading the Old Testa
ment, ii. 291.
Calthorpe, George, 3rd Lord, i. 316,
344, 346, 370, 373, 381, 435, 450.
Calvinism, i. 138.

Index.

437

Canning, Mr. George, a pupil at
Hyde Abbey, i. 13 ; ii. 207 ; his
oratory, i. 335.
Cards, i. 207.
Carlisle, i. 287 ; ii. 247.
Carne, Rev. J., of Plymouth, ii.
112.
Carr, Mr. John, of Balliol, i. 265,
269.
Carus-Wilson, Rev. W., i. 138,
139, 209.
Caswall, Rev. Mr. , of Egglingham,
i. 365.
Catechism of the Church of Eng
land, ii. 165.
Cecil's Remains, i. 170, 326.
Charmouth, ii. 105, 106.
Charlotte of Wales, Princess, i.
163.
Chicklade, i. 371, 450.
Chobham, i. 265, 289.
Cholera, ii. Ill, 148.
Cholmeley, Rev. R., of Leeds, i.
95.
Christian Guardian, i. 218, 408.
Christian Observer, i. 218, 408.
Christian Year, early editions of,
ii. 39.
Church Catechism, ii. 165.
Church Guardian, a Reading maga
zine, ii. 146.
Church Missionary Society at
Oxford, i. 326.
Clarke's Scripture Promises, ii.
273.
Classes at Oxford, i. 236.
" Clear as you go " i. 18, 1 07.
Clifton Churches, i. 330, 377, 389.
Close, Dean, Archbishop Whately's
letter to, ii. 166,
Coaching, i. 167.
Coelebs,- i. 205.
Coleridge, Rev. J. D., i. 129, 455.
Coleridge, Rev. E , i. 200,
Coleridge, Sir J. T.,i. 50, 60, 88,
110, 177.
Coliseum, Newdigate Poem, i. 174,
184.
College Chapel, i. 70, 71, 73, 102 ;
ii. 271.
Colquhoun, Mr. J. C, i. 262, 274,
278, 286,367; ii. 267.
Commemoration at C.C.C., i. 152,
286.
Controversy, ii. 27, 195.
Cooke, Mr. Christopher, quoted, on
Harrow Archaeology, ii. 114, 284.

Cooke, Dr., President of C.C.C, i.
49, 59, 71, 199,299,337.
Cooke, Rev. G. L., Tutor of C.C.C ,
... i. 429.
Copland family of Sudburv Lodge,
h. 101, 148, 284. Mrs. "Copland
died on or near April 18, 1831.
Corfe, organist family of Salisbury,
i 299 ii 272
Cornish' Rev. G. L., i. 91, 110, 173,
240, 271, 345, 346 ; ii. 131.
Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
Scholarship elections, i. 49 ; so
ciety, 59, 70, 71 ; Chapel, 64, 70,
71 ; ii. 271 ; centenary commem
oration and medal, i. 152, 286 ;
class-list honours, 236 ; tutorial
succession, 248 ; library, 279 ;
determining, 337 ; succession to
livings, 440.
Cowan, Dr., of Reading, ii. 266.
Cox, Rev. Mr., of Bridgnorth,, i.
313.
Creyk'e, Mr. S., i. 93.
Crouch, Rev. Isaac, i. 124, 222.
Culloden, visit to, i. 288.
Cunningham, Rev. P., ii. 211, 288
Cunningham, Rev. J. W.. ii. 2, 34 ;
his Velvet Cushion, i. 205, 290.
Dallas, Rev. A. R. C, at Oxford,
i. 129, 308.
Daly, Bishop, ii. 9. (Died, 1872).
Daphne and Amaryllis, a Pastoral
by James Harris, i. 299.
Davis, Lieutenant, i. 318.
Davison, Rev. John, i. 226.
Determining at C.C C , i 337.
Dodsworth's Salisbury Cathedral, i.
36.
Drury family at Harrow, ii. 96.
Drybeck, near Appleby, ii. 255,
281.
Dummer. i. 355, 380
Dupre, Dr. Michael, death of, i. 220.
Edwards, Rev. Mr., of Baverstock,
i. 178.
Election at Oxford in 1821, i. 323.
Elliott, Rev. H. V., ii. 40.
Ellison, Rev. T. N, i. 72, 88, 263,
280.
Elliston, R. W., actor, i. 37.
Evans, Rev. Mr., of Sherborne, i.
375.
Evans, Rev. Benjamin, of Harrow,
ii. 4, 96.

438

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

" Evans, Archdeacon, ii. 229, 278.
Evans, Rev. J. Harington and Mrs.,
ii. 82, 106.
Evans, Mr. James, founder of the
"Record" ii. 54,152.
Everest, Rev. John, death of, i.
284.
Exeter Hall, i. 317.
Exmouth, Admiral Lord, i. 382,
399, 446.
Pairford, visit to, i. 305.
Father as a friend, i. 80, 223.
Filleul, Rev. P., i. 69, 81, 83, 118,
122, 169.
Fisher, Rev. R. B., of Basildon, i.
156.
Fitzharris, Lord, i. 100.
Flint-work, ii. 216,286.
Fonthill Abbey, sale at, and fall
of tower, i. 371 ; ii. 283.
Freemasons' Hall, i. 316.
Fratery, Carlisle, ii. 248.
Gaisford, Dr., i. 13, 14.
Gilbee, Rev. W., i. 123, 162. 169,
220, 243, 339.
Gipps, Rev. Henry, of Hereford,
i. 208.
Gleed, Rev. G., i. 255.
Gloucester, Duke of, i. 316.
Gloucester, Bishop of, see Ryder. '
Godley, Mr. J., ii. 80.109. He died
1862, after occupying important
posts under Government and in
the Colonies. A selection from
his writings and speeches was
published in New Zealand. He
was nephew of Robert Daly,
Bishop of Cashel.
Gordon, Captain, i. 425.
Grant, C.,i. 316.
Grazeley, ii. 172. (Mr. William
Merry of Highlands, who died
in 1873, left liberal benefactions
to this district.)
Grenfell, Rev. A.,i 123.
Greswell, Rev. E., i. 78, 180, 229,
ii 114, 248.
Greyfriars, "Reading, ii. 214, 230,
260, 286.
Gurney, Mr. J. J., i. 316.
Haddo, Lord, ii. 38.
Harbin, Rev. E., i. 386, 387; ii
10, 52.

Harris, Mr. James, of Salisbury, his
music, i. 299.
Harrow, succession of curates at,
ii. 100.
Harrow Park, ii. 88.
Harrow School, ii. 1 ; succession
of masters, 4, 74, 95, 206 ;
fluctuations, 6, 34, 47, 93, 139,
150 ; masters' houses, 8, 11, 284,
114; chapel, 142; fires, 114,
140 ; mathematics, 97.
Harrowby, First Earl of, i. 316 ;
Second Earl of, 236.
Hatchard, Rev. J., of Plymouth,
ii. 112.
Hawkins, Rev. Edward, i. 253.
Hawtrey, Rev. C. S., i. 311 ; ii. 54,
289
Hawtrey, Rev. S. H. , i. 130, 165,
221, 300, 344, 378 ; ii. 105, 106,
157, 210.
Hawtrey, Rev. John, ii. 210.
" Hear my Praver," anthem, i.
395
Helm' Wind, ii. 251.
Hensman, Rev. J., i. 330, 377.
Herbert, Hon. Sidney, i. 101, 198 ;
ii. 67.
Hetley, Rev. H., ii. 19.
Hewlett, Mr., of Harrow, i. 100 ;
ii. 284,
" Hierosolyma Expugnata," i. 174,
184, 193.
Hill, Rev. John, of St. Edmund
Hall, i. 130, 313; ii. 207.
Hill', Rev. Rowland, i. 379.
Hindon, i. 370 ; the old chapel,
370; ii. 6; Lord. Calthorpe's
interest in, i. 344, 346, 376;
school, 373; the new church
and the Marquess of West
minster, 450.
Hoare, Mr. G. M„ ii. 12.
Hodgson, Rev. Isaac, i. 382 ; ii. 82,
106.
Hoggard, Mr. , ii. 185.
Holding, Rev. J., ii. 178.
Holloway, Rev. C. R., ii: 178.
Hook, Dr. , quoted, ii. 285.
Horace's "Father," i. 223.
Horton, Rev. Mr., of Ormskirk, i.
209.
Howard, Rev. F. , ii. 185.
Howard, Rev. J. F., ii. 178.
Hulme, Rev. George, ii. 147, 151,
172, 174.
Hulme Villas, ii. 189.

Index.

439

Hunter, Rev. J., i. 169, 265, 328,
408 ; ii. 107, 120, 164.
Huntingford, Bishop, i. 138.
Hyde Abbey School, i. 12, 197, ii.
206, 207 ; pupils at, i. 16, 218 ;
ii. 121, 283.
Irving, Rev. Edward, in London,
i. 393.
Irwin, Rev. Mr. , i. 142, 153.
Islington College, ii. 61.
Islington Epiphany Clerical Meet
ing, ii. 54, 287.
Jackson, Rev. Miles,of Leeds, i. 95.
Jackson, Dr: W., ii. 232.
Jacob, Rev. E. , i. 243 ; ii. 42,' 53.
Jeffrey, Mr. , at Glasgow, i. 291.
Jenkyns, Rev. Henry, i. 180.
Jerram, Rev. C. , i. 265.
Jones's Scripture Directory, i. 333.
Jowett's Christian Researches, i.
310, 338.
Keble, Rev. J., i. 50, 252, 281,
305, 306, 308, 444; ii. 102, 129,
131 201 202.
Keble, Rev. T.,' i. 249, 254, 306.
Kempthorne, Rev. J., i. 243, 265.
Kennedy, Rev. B. H. , ii. 74, 96.
Knox, Rev. Andrew, i. 143.
Lacy, Rev. Charles, i. 81.
Langston, Rev. S. H., i. 129, 330,
378.
Lathom House, i. 208.
Laverstock Paper Mills, i. 200.
Law, Bishop, i. 138, 139.
Leeds, religion at, i. 95, 99.
Leeds Grammar School, i. 36.
Leeke, Mr. W., i. 16, 455 ; ii. 283.
Leighton, Archbishop, i. 417, on St.
Peter, 168 ; Preelections, 170 ;
West's edition of his works, 170.
Leopold, Prince, at Oxford, i. 255.
Light, Mr., ii. 185.
Longley, Dr., ii. 47, 95, 220.
Loughton, Lord, i. 316.
Lyon, Rev. Dr. of Sherborne
School, i, 427.
Macaulay, Mr, Zachary, ii, 78.
Macdonnell, Mr. A., i. 97.
Macgregor, General, of Harrow,
ii. 9, 89.-
M'llvaine, Bishop, ii. 224. (Died
March 12, 1873),

Magdalen Hall, fire at, i. 273.
Maitland, Rev. C. D., i. 123, 422.
Majendie, Rev. H. W., ii. 6.
Mant, Bishop, i. 75, 113, 425.
Manwaring, Rev. R. M., i. 243.
Marsden, Rev. J. B.. ii, 79, 100.
Martin, Baron, Anecdote .of, ii.
247.
Marsh, Dr. W., i. 29.
Martyn, Rev. H., life of, 227, 261.
Maximilian, Archduke, at Oxford,
Mease, Mr., of Wilton, his bene
faction, i . 101. (Mrs. Mease died
August, 1841).
i. 201.
Merry, Rev. Mr., i. 380.
"Messiah," The, performed at
Salisbury, i. 451 ; at Oxford,
191.
Midnight Examinations, i. 269.
Mills, Rev. W., ii. 97.
Milman's History of the Jews, ii. 55.
Milner, Revs. J. and I., ii. 112, 113,
124.
Missionary Register, i. 339.
Monro, Dr. Edward, i. 317 ; ii. 44.
Monro, Rev. Edward, i. 317 ; ii.
44, 100.
Monro, Rev. Robert, i. 123, 317
330, 341, 389, 442; ii. 44, 100.
More, Mrs. Hannah, i. 205, 383 ;
ii. 42, 56, 61, 77, 78, 93.
Mudiford, ii. 129.
Natt, Rev. J., i. 102, 125; ii. 67,
110, 162.
Neale, Mr. J., ii. 219, 260.
Newman, Rev. J. H., i. 362 : ii.
129,286..
Nice, religion at, ii. 152.
Noel, Rev. Gerard, ii. 104.
Noel, Rev. Francis, i. 154, 311,
342, 350.
Norris, Rev. Mr., of Hindon, i.
435.
Norris, Mr. J., elected to C.C.C,
i 55
Nott, Rev. S., i. 155, 456.
Oakbeck, ii. 281.
O'NeiU, Miss, i. 37. (She died
Lady Becher, October 20, 1872.)
Ordination Examinations, ii. 222.
Oriel College, i. 88.
Ormerod, Mr. T. H, 187.
Oxenham, Rev. W. , of Harrow, ii.
4, 9, 97.

440

Life of Archdeacon Phelps.

Oxford, approach to, i. 57 ; religion
at, 123 ; commemoration, 191 ;
schools, 231 ; classes, 236.
" Palestine" Oratorio, i 285.
Paley, Archdeacon, ii. 249, 252.
Parker, Sir W., i. 344, 352; 353.
Parker Society, ii. 163.
Parr, Rev. J. O., ii. 76.
Parry, Rev. Thomas, i. 241.
Parsons, Rev. J., of Sherborne, i.
374.
Pasch eggs, ii. 257.
Pearson, Rev. H. N., i. 129, 130,
191, 421 ; ii. 64, 72.
Pearson, Rev. J. Norman, ii. 65.
Peel, Sir Robert, i. 335; ii. 118.
Peel, Sir William, ii. 89.
Peel medal at Harrow, li. 42, 120,
136.
Pegge, Sir C, i. 89.
Pembroke, Earl of, i. 4, 39, 41, 97,
448.
Pembroke, Countess of, ii. 75.
Pembroke, Ann Countess of, ii.
257.
Pertwood, i. 371 ; ii. 11.
Phelps, Mr. John, of Wilton, i.
3, 156, 456, illness and death,
413.
Phelps, Archdeacon. Birth, -i. 3 ;
sent to Hyde Abbey School, 9,
17; elected to C.C.C, 52; ex
amination for B. A., 230 ; fellow,
360 ; ordained, 370 ; married,
421 ; appointed to Harrow, 447;
settles in Harrow Park, ii. 89 ;
quits Harrow, 139; Curate of
St. Lawrence, Reading, 144 ;
Curate in charge of Sonning,
151 ; Curate in charge of Sul
hamstead, 157 ; Incumbent of
Trinity Church, Reading, 175 ;
Examining Chaplain, 212; Se
cond marriage, 223 ; Canon and
Archdeacon of Carlisle, 232,
238 ; resigns Trinity Church,
243; Vicar of Appleby, 250;
death, 274 ; burial, 275.
Philipps, Rev. Sir J. E.. i. 375,
380, 456. (He died February
13, 1873.)
Pinner, ii. 104, 113.
Plumer, Mr. C. J., i. 321.
Pole, Dr. Edward, i. 41, 452.
Pole's Synopsis, i. 271 .
Pond House, ii. 41.

Pope, Rev. R. T. P., i. 35, 86, 109,
116, 335, 422 ; ii. 15, 26, 83, 284.
Porter, Rev. G., i. 308.
Prayer Book and Homily Society,
i. 317.
Prophecy, Studies in, ii. 52.
Prussian Vase at C.C.C, i. 200.
Ramsay, Dr. E. B., i. 339, 349,
351. (He died December 27,
1872.)
Reading Clerical Meetings, ii. 178,
213 ; clergy, ii. 147, 177.
" Record " Newspaper, ii. 54.
Richards, Rev. Charles, Canon, i.
13, 45, 398 ; ii. 32, 121.
Richards, Rev. Charles, junior, i.
13, 30, 76, 197, 398 ; ii. 121.
Richards, Rev. G. P., i. 13, 19, 35,
36, 40, 42, 76, 99, 112, 197, 218,
398; ii. 121,147.
Richards, Rev. John, of Shrews
bury, ii. 53, 164.
Richmond, Rev. Legh, i. 99, 359.
Rickards, Rev. S., i. 92, 240, 312,
346 ; ii. 208, 283.
Ring, Dr. and Mrs., ii. 145, 148.
Roberts's Portraiture ofaChristian
Gentleman, ii. 48.
Robinson, Mr. Frederick, i. 20f 55,
75, 104; ii. 206.
Rochester, Dean of, i. 287.
Roe, Rev. Peter, i. 99.
Romanism, ii. 201.
Rose Castle, ii: 221.
Ryder, Bishop, i. 316, 320, 379,
395.
St. Ann's Hospital, Appleby, ii.
257.
St. James's Chapel, Brighton, i.
130, 191, 422.
St. Lawrence, Appleby, ii. 251.
St. Lawrence, Reading, ii. 145.
Sankey, Rev. J., ii. 204.
Scott, Rev. James, i. 388 ; ii. 29.
Scott, Rev. Thomas, of Aston
Sandford, i. 312, 313, 323; his
Commentary, 157 ; his essays,
439 ; his letters and papers, ii,
31 ; his life, 338.
Sheldon, Mr., i. 40, 100, 156, 318.
Shirley, Bishop, i. 282, 310; ii.
104, 124.
Sibthorp, Rev. R. W., i. 155 ; ii,
35.
Simcoe, Mr. H. A., i. 129, 308, 312.

Index.

441

Simeon, Rev. C, i. 138, 139 ; ii.
54, 56, 287.
Simonds, Mr. John, ii. 219, 260.
Simons, Rev. John, i. 104, 122.
Smalley, Rev. Cornwall, i. 179,
360.
Smalley, Rev. George, i. 179, 360.
Smith, Rev. Hely Hutchinson, i.
210. .
Smith, Rev. Mr., of Yeovil, i. 375.
Snow, Rev. Mr. , of Lyme Regis,
ii. 106.
Snow, Rev. Mr. , of Richmond, ii.
104.
Sonning, ii. 150 ; railway accident,
ii. 154.
Sortain, Rev. J., of Brighton, ii,
117.
' State viri,'ii. 98, 196.
Stephens, Mr. W., of Reading, ii.
. 185.
Stewart, Rev. J. Haldane, i. 310 ;
ii 35, 152, 290.
Still, Prebendary, i. 371.
Stonhouse, Henry, i. 42.
Stourhead, i. 74.
' String of Beads,' ii. 167.
Sudbury Lodge, ii. 101, 148.
Sulhamstead, ii. 157.
Sumner, Bishop R. C, ii. 37.
"Teacher's Portrait," ii. 191.
Teignmouth, Lord, i. 315.
Thorpe, Rev. R. A., i. 92, 246.
Thorpe, Rev. Charles, i. 246, 256.
Thursday Evening parties, i. 123,
161 ; ii. 161.
Tour in Scotland, i. 287.
" Tracts for the Times," i. 363 ;
ii. 129, 132, 166.
Tragett, Mr. T. H., i. 92.
Trench, Archbishop, quoted, i. 145.
Trinity Church, Reading, ii. 175,
187.
Trinity Parsonage, Reading, ii.
188.

Tristram, Rev. H. B., i. 123, 155,
169, 208, 256, 294, 365, 412 ; ii.
31, 116.
Tucker, Rev. John,i. 156, 173, 223,
271, 275, 422, 445 ; ii. 204. (He
died January 16, 1873.)
Tucker, Miss Sarah, i. 349.
Twyford School, near Winchester,
i. 40, 55 ; 'ii. 102.
Valpy, Rev. Gabriel, ii. 178.
Vernon-Harcourt, Capt. F., i. 425.
Waldegrave, Bishop, ii. 211, 219,
223, 229, 245, 247, 259, 264,
267, 277, 278.
Way, Rev. Lewis, i. 311 ; ii. 42,
152.
West's edition of Leighton, i. 170.
Whately, Archbishop, quoted, ii.
166.
White, Rev. Blanco, i. 364.
Wilberforce's Practical View, i.
205.
Wilkinson, Rev. Watts, ii. 5.
Williams, Dr. George, of C.C.C,
i. 59, 177.
Wilson, Daniel, Bishop, 115, 313,
409, 416 ; ii. 110.
Wilson, Dr. William, i. 139, 388 ;
ii. 16.
Wilson, Mr. Joseph, ii. 146.
Wilton, i. 1, 101.
Winchester College, i. 16, 188,
189 ; ii. 2.
Withy, Rev. H., i. 321, 378, 388,
427.
Wolfe, Rev. Charles, i. 276, 330.
Wordsworth, Rev. Dr., of Harrow,
i. 96.
Yates, Rev. S. Y, ii. 178.
Zillwood, Rev. J. O., i. 27, 28, 75,
76, 79, 154, 455; ii. 268.
Zurich Letters, ii. 163.

BARCHAM AND BEECROFT, PRINTERS, READING.

(Strata.
323. — Omit note of interrogation at "lie," eighth line from bottom.
351. — Omit full stop at "soul," sixth line from bottom.

latmts of i\t $)nss
TO VOLUME 1.

"The gentleman whose University career, this volume records was one
of those persons who stood, as an Evangelical, between the old ' high and
dry school' and the Tractarian movement  A book that has very
deeply interested us  Such men as Mr. Phelps, silently ministering
here and there, are the salt of the Church. There is no cause, therefore,
for either discouragement or despair. Magna est Veritas et prcevalebit. If,
therefore, this biography does nothing more, it establishes this fact, and for
that cause at least we tender our best thanks both to the editor and pub
lishers for its timely and truly welcome issue. " Bell's Weekly Messenger.
" This pleasant piece of biography will doubtless be read with much
interest by all those who had the pleasure of any acquaintance with its
• subject during his useful career ; more especially, perhaps, by such as
enjoyed the privilege and benefit of attending upon his ministry. 
Mr. Hole has fulfilled his task with especial skill, judgment, and tenderness;
and out of a mass of materials, probably unusually large, has constructed
a truly readable volume, written in a style good and scholar-like, and, at
the same time, fresh, sunny, and cheerful, as the reader could desire. "
Penrith Observer.
"The biographer has executed his task, as far as it has hitherto proceeded,
with ability and care, and has given us a faithful portrait of the Archdeacon
as a student, as a son, as a friend, as a Christian, and as a faithful minister
of the Gospel of Christ  The volume contains much interesting corres
pondence, and cannot fail to prove interesting to those of our readers who
can appreciate the zealous labours of an earnest servant of the Church."
Salisbury and Winchester Journal.
"The first volume of the life of the above unusually esteemed and
beloved pastor has now appeared, being edited by the Rev. Charles Hole, B. A.,
Rector of Loxbear, Devon. To say that we are much indebted to the Rev.
Mr. Hole for preparing and arranging in biographical order the successive
events in the life of a member of the Christian Church, ' whose light still
shines and whose works perpetuate and hallow his memory amongst all,
who not only were privileged to know his worth by private intercourse and
public repute,' would be a cold and formal avowal. We are under a debt
of gratitude to this rev. biographer for his labours in collecting the remi-

Notices of the Press.
niscences of one of the most faithful of stewards in the disposal of the
talent committed to his charge  The work will be found abounding
with matter interesting, improving, and filled with anecdotes and pleasing
records. " — Reading Mercury.
" This biography traces the equable and lovely life of as gentle, kindly,
and pure-minded a being as God ever made for* His own service ; —of one
who, by the flowing courtesy which was inspired from the heart, by the
charity which preserved him entirely from the prevalent vice of backbiting,
and by his practical sympathy with every good work, earned, if ever man
did, his title to ' The grand old name of gentleman. '
The only question is whether Mr. Hole's memorial in two volumes is not
too elaborate ; but in considering that matter the biographer's explanation
must be kept in view. Those who have read through this first volume will
be the last to complain of the editor's exercise of discretion, and they will
here be able "to recognise, most of the Christian graces and virtues -which
made Archdeacon Phelps so greatly beloved.." — Carlisle Patriot.
"This volume contains an account of his school days, college days, and
his early ministry in the church. It is full of interest. '' — Oxford Journal.
" The life, though by no means an eventful one, is by the happy inter
mingling of story, incident, and correspondence, rendered not only a profita
ble but a pleasurable volume ; and the editor, the Rev. Charles Hole, of
Trinity College, Cambridge, has been most felicitous in the style he has
adopted and the selection of correspondence he has made. "
! Cambridge Chronicle.